How to Donate?

When we have surplus money and are looking for how to donate, here we find a beautiful understanding of what inner attitude we should maintain while doing so. At the same time, one must also remember that if we spend money donating to temples or charitable causes outside, but let our own parents, family members, or those who work under us struggle for money, then such charity holds no real value. One should first take care of those close to them, and only then give charity outside.

Give in charity, without spoiling your inner intent

When it comes to how to donate to charity, it should be given without spoiling our inner intent. If one wishes to donate to a good cause but feels inner unrest, then not even a single penny would one be able to give. Some people donate a portion of their income regularly for years, but suddenly they stop, the reason is that their inner intent gets spoiled.

If one gives in charity with unity of mind, speech, and body, it is truly exceptional. Many people do not genuinely feel the intention to give in their hearts, yet they say, “I want to donate,” and even go through the act of giving. However, since the intention in their mind is not aligned with the act of giving, such charity bears no real fruit.

On the other hand, if someone sincerely feels the pure intention to give in their heart, speaks the words “I want to donate,” but due to circumstances cannot actually give, that intention is still credited for a future life. For instance, if a person sees a wealthy donor placing a thousand-rupee note into a temple donation box and thinks, “Ah! If I had the money, I would have given too,” then the fruit of that noble thought will be received in a future birth.

There is no real value in giving just for the sake of giving. For example, if our cow is about to die and we donate it, the recipient gains no benefit, in that case, it’s better not to give at all. There’s a big difference between feeding a beggar leftover food from the house and preparing fresh food with love and serving it. Even so, feeding a hungry person is still better than letting the leftover food go to waste.

In giving, the intention matters more than the donation itself

Knowing how to donate to charity involves recognizing that the value does not lie in the item given but in the feeling behind it. For example, if a wealthy person donates five lakh rupees under someone’s pressure but feels in his heart, “It wasn’t even worth giving a single rupee,” then he will receive the result according to that attitude and in the next life, he may not be able to give even a single rupee in charity. On the other hand, if an ordinary person donates just five hundred rupees but sincerely feels, “Here, please take these five hundred; if I had five lakh today, I would have given it all!” then he earns great merit karma and will be able to give five lakh in his next life! The one who harboured the wrong attitude, despite donating lakhs, made his charity fruitless! He may receive praise and admiration for it now, but his spiritual earnings for the next life become zero.

Human nature is such that when a person has no money, he thinks, “Once I earn some money, I’ll start giving in charity.” But when the money comes, he thinks, “I’ve got one and a half lakh now, I’ll donate once it becomes two lakh.” And then he wraps up that thought and sets it aside. When one starts earning, the attachment to money confuses the mind, and they’re unable to give any charity. Eventually after delaying again and again, life comes to an end, and everything is left behind as it is. Instead, whenever the feeling to give arises, one should donate then and there according to their capacity.

If a person regularly donates, practices religion and devotion, and gives money to temples, people in the world may say, “What a deeply religious person!” But if, deep within, that same person is thinking, “How can I gather more wealth and enjoy more pleasures!” then not a single penny of that donation is credited by God. In reality, it is the inner karma being bound within, unseen by others that bears fruit in the next life.

You should know how to donate without being deceitful. On one hand, a person may earn crores of rupees through black marketing or dishonest means, and on the other hand, donate just one lakh rupees only to maintain a good public image and protect reputation. Such an act is like stealing an iron block and then donating a needle. Moreover, people are donating a portion of the money earned through wrongful means; yet when the money earned from a wrong path is spent for a good cause; it frees them from that much sin.

If a person uses black money to help someone who is starving, at least the hungry person gets some food; so one will be benefitted that much through this act. Because the giver has renounced something that was his. The punya (merit karma) earned depends on the intention and purpose for which the money was used.

Do not create obstacles in acts of charity

When someone is giving in charity, and another person intervenes with comments like, “That’s a dishonest organization, they must be taking advantage,” they create an obstacle in the act of giving. The donor is giving and the receiver is accepting it, but they interfere with such words and block the flow of generosity without it being any of their business they end up creating an obstacle to their own prosperity. If we verbally create an obstacle, its effect is felt in this very life but if our inner intent gets spoiled, it creates a much greater obstruction whose results appear in the next life. The outcome of such an obstacle is that, in times of suffering, one finds no benefactor to offer help themselves.

If a person firmly decides, “I will definitely donate my surplus money,” it breaks the obstruction! And whenever negative thoughts arise, if one repents sincerely and washes them away, those obstructions stop from forming. Earlier, we may have thought, “Charity should not be given.” But now, if we think, “It’s good to give this donation,” then that previous negative thought gets erased. Therefore, we should continue to nurture good intentions that our surplus money be spent for a good cause; whether it actually gets donated or not is then in nature’s hands.

One should not have expectations in giving charity

Donors should understand how to donate without any expectation, as such donation is the noblest form of giving. But charity performed with the expectation of recognition, fame, or name is devoid of true value. Giving in charity for the sake of reputation is greatly harmful to one’s spiritual progress.

Some people donate to temples with worldly expectations in return. When one offers money or anything else to God but does so with desires, it is not selfless but selfish giving. They pray to God, “Oh Lord, let my son have a child,” “Let my son pass his exams,” or “Cure my ailing father’s paralysis,” and then offer a few hundred rupees along with such requests.

Most donors seek fame, praise, and recognition in return for their charity. They may donate lakhs of rupees, and when they receive the glory that comes with it, that is their true satisfaction. Outwardly, they may say, “Please keep my donation anonymous,” yet deep inside, they long for recognition, that’s why they give. And then people also praise them, “Oh! They donated lakhs of rupees!” so the donor received their reward then and there.

Some people make grand donations only to make a name for themselves! When one gives just to receive garlands and public praise, that is charity done for fame. Some even refuse to donate again if their name wasn’t printed or announced after the first donation. People may even donate large sums of money to temples, schools, colleges, or hospitals, but much of it is egoism. Only when money is given without ego can it be called true charity. Otherwise, the recognition and praise that follow simply become a subtle way of feeding one’s pride.

The importance of secret charity

Learning how to donate secretly is recommended more than finding out how to do so publicly. If someone donates one lakh rupees and gets their name inscribed on a plaque in return, while another person secretly donates just one rupee, that single rupee of secret charity is actually far more valuable! Because putting up a plaque is like clearing the ‘balance sheet’. Just as when you give someone a hundred-rupee note and take the change back, putting up a plaque in return for a donation means the transaction is complete, nothing remains to be given or received afterwards.

But if even a single rupee is given privately, its balance remains; it carries forward and returns in the next life. When people praise us for our charity, the merit karma we earned through that donation gets spent right here in this life. But if the donation is given quietly, in secret, that merit karma stays with us and accompanies us into the next birth.

Some people quietly offer a large donation to God at the temple without letting anyone know. That kind of donation bears fruit in the next life. Those who keep their giving secret will receive its reward in their future birth.

Giving charity with awareness

While performing the noble act of charity, one should have awareness. Charity given with awareness truly benefits people. When we give in such a way that we do not receive fame or recognition, that is called giving with awareness!

People will always praise a person who gives in charity. But if the giver accepts that praise, it seeps in like a disease; if they remain aware and do not accept it, no such ailment arises. Those who praise the giver, on the other hand, bind merit karma by appreciating a noble deed. Because such praise plants a seed of a positive intent in the admirer’s mind that “this is something worth doing.” But if the giver accepts that praise, they incur a loss, all the merit karma from their act of charity gets washed away.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan explains the concept of giving with awareness in great detail, saying that “If every activity is carried out with awareness, then it will be beneficial for the next life. Otherwise, all of it is being done in a ‘sleeping state’. When he gives a donation, he does so while ‘sleeping’! Even if a donation of four pennies is given with awareness, that is more than enough! When a person gives a donation with the desire of gaining fame and recognition in return, he does so in the state of ‘sleep’. The one who gives a donation for the benefit of his future life is considered ‘awake’.”