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22 EASTERN HORIZON | FACE TO FACE

Less convincing, however, is the teachings. An example in case as the act of teaching the Dhamma,
suggestion by Banks Findly (2003: is the householder Citta, who at would rather take place when the
184 and 195) that “Dhamma is a times would even make such gift of book is being written.
gift only for renunciant giving,” teaching to bhikkhus.
whereas “āmisadāna is an act If this is correct, it would imply that,
reserved for non-renunciants who It follows that the recurrent as long as an author is sincerely
have and can give material wealth.” distinction in the Pāli texts dedicated to furthering the spread
between material gifts and understanding of the Dhamma,
Bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs can and dhammadāna cannot invariably without any ulterior motivation,
certainly make gifts of their excess be taken to refer to the distinction the act of dhammadāna has been
requisites to their companions. For between laity and renunciants. established, independent of whether
example, the Buddha himself is Instead, it concerns the difference the book is later gifted or sold.
on record for offering his leftover between offering something
food to a bhikkhu. If the latter material and giving a teaching. A Buddhist book on sale need not
accepts, he becomes a “heir in be considered as implying that
material things,” āmisadāyāda. When applied to the question the author must be selling the
The terminology implies that the of publication, it would follow Dhamma, just as a Buddha statue
Buddha’s gift pertained to the from this distinction that the gift on sale would not be considered
category of what is āmisa, “material.” of a book, whatever its contents, as implying that the artist must be
would pertain to the category selling the Buddha. EH
Conversely, lay disciples can of material gifts (āmisadāna). In
make a gift of Dhamma by giving contrast, the giving of dhammadāna,

Living in an Inter-

Connected World

By Dr Karen Derris

Dr. Karen Derris is a scholar of South and Having read her most recent book Storied
Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions and professor Companions (Wisdom Publications, 2021), a work
of religious studies at the University of Redlands. that combines stories from Buddhist literary traditions
Her research focuses on the intersection of with reflections on her lived experiences, Benny Liow
literature and feminist ethics in pre-modern interviewed Dr Derris for Eastern Horizon about her
Buddhist traditions, particularly focusing upon interest in Buddhism, her life as a Buddhist scholar
th
the central importance of community in Buddhist and teacher, her meetings with His Holiness the 17
ethical and spiritual development. Dr. Derris Karmapa, the Buddhist teaching on interconnectedness,
and her response to suffering when she was diagnosed
received her PhD from the Committee on the Study
with cancer.
of Religion at Harvard University in 2000.