In Buddhism, we often talk about giving as one of the practices of bodhisattvas. People sometimes ask me what about those who are unable to give possessions because they themselves don't have much. What can they do if there is nothing extra to give to others?
Not having excess material resources does not preclude us from giving, for we can also give of our abilities and time. All forms of giving allow us to counteract our craving—this is just another way to do so. How many times has somebody asked for our help? And how many times have we excused ourselves by saying that we were very tired; when in reality, we just wanted to stay home and relax.
And what if we had helped? How many of us have thought “I wonder how soon I can leave. There is so much to do. When I go home, I’m going to be exhausted. I wish I had stayed home.”
This is a form of greed. This is thinking that our comfort is more important than that of others. To counteract this greed, we can practice generosity. We all probably know excellent examples of people who do this, people whom we admire and whom we wish we were like. Upon being asked for help or just seeing that somebody needs assistance, these people automatically help the other person. It just seems so natural for them to do so.
When we spend some time to think about it, we will realize this kind person was probably even more tired than we were, but was able to do so much more than we did, or wanted to, and seemingly without getting tired or disgruntled. They looked happy doing exactly what they were doing, which was helping someone else. This is genuine generosity.
We, too, will be overcoming our greed when we can help others spontaneously. If we persevere, the day will arrive when we will be able to help people without waiting to be asked, when we will just do so without any prompting. This practice takes time to develop, but, gradually we will improve.