Dana — Generosity as the Root of Merit and Wealth
In Buddhist teaching dana, openhanded giving, is the first of the perfections and a seed of future well-being, loosening attachment while cultivating the goodwill on which prosperity grows.
Dana, generosity, heads the list of the paramitas and is praised throughout the Buddhist canon as the practice that purifies the heart of grasping while planting the seeds of future flourishing. The Buddha taught that what is given is not lost but truly possessed, since the act of giving frees the giver from the anxiety of clinging and generates merit that ripens in well-being. Giving with a glad heart, before, during, and after the gift, multiplies its blessing for the giver as much as the receiver. This dissolves the scarcity-fear that constricts both generosity and earning, replacing it with the confident openness characteristic of abundance. Contemporary studies of charitable giving confirm that generous people often report greater happiness and life satisfaction, an empirical echo of the ancient teaching that dana enriches the giver.
If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving, they would not eat without having given.
Studies of charitable giving find that generosity reliably raises the giver's happiness and life satisfaction, confirming the Buddhist teaching that dana enriches the one who gives.
Pali Canon