Honing wholesome habits would not be complete without efforts to perform acts generosity and kindness towards others as part of our daily practice. Giving (Dāna) can be performed in everyday life, even when we don’t leave out home; donating online, purchasing requisites to be delivered to another, or even a kind word to someone suffering.

The Buddha taught that when dāna is performed with Right Understanding, it should be done with the spirit of ‘cāga’. Cāga is the spirit of liberality, relinquishment; to give without expectations and attachments. In its highest form, dāna can be performed with the intention to let go of our attachments. As the cultivation of cāga helps us let go of unwholesome habits, emotions, and views, it leads us to develop a spirit of ‘nekkhamma’ — letting go.

Therefore, as we physically engage in the act of dāna with the spirit of cāga, we gradually relinquish our minds from the bonds of attachment. Thus, it is crucial to our cultivation that the practice of dāna, accompanied with cāga forms a part of our daily cultivation.