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The Thirteenth Mindfulness Training: Generosity
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, we are committed to cultivating generosity in our way of thinking, speaking, and acting. We will practice loving kindness by working for the happiness of people, animals, plants, and minerals, and sharing our time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. We are determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. We will respect the property of others, but will try to prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.
Gratitude and the Blessing of Thần Tài
In Vietnamese folk practice, the figure of Thần Tài (Mr. Lucky) is honored not just as a bringer of prosperity, but as a reminder of the unseen blessings of benefactors and countless causes and conditions that support us in life. His altar is often humble, tucked in a corner near the floor, along with Mr. Land, where offerings of fruit, tea, and incense are offered to them both. Thần Tài embodies a deeper truth than mere luck: we do not walk this life alone. We are upheld by countless acts of generosity, love, and grace, often unnoticed, yet always present.
It's important to note that "luck" in this content is not mere coincidence, random chance, or even divine fate. The energy of luck embodied by Mr. Lucky is the energy of our ancestral lineage. It is due to the good fortune of our ancestors that we are here today. It is this ancestral energy that manifests in this moment through waves upon waves of past causes and conditions all which have perfectly unfolded to bring about who we are today, and this very moment. That is the essence of Mr. Lucky's energy — no different from our ancestral energy.
To live with gratitude is to acknowledge this invisible support—the blessings of Thần Tài in all their forms. It is to recognize that the situation we find ourselves in today is not measured solely in coins or possessions, but in kindness, in connection, and in the subtle ways all the people in our lives who have supported us have said, “I see you, and I care.”
To reflect on Mr. Lucky, we reflect on all who have supported us in this lifetime: parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, friends, colleagues, spiritual companions. Each of them, in their own way, has played the role of Thần Tài—supporting us and offering us something we needed, whether guidance, encouragement, or compassion. Without their presence, we would not be where we are today.
Then, we consider the great benefactors in our lives. Perhaps there is one—someone whose presence radiates generosity, wisdom, and care. Maybe it's a beloved teacher, a spiritual friend, or even an ancestor whose story lives within us. Like Thần Tài, this being becomes a symbol of the prosperity we most long for: the good fortune of a loving heart, of deep kindness, of steady presence. We reflect on this person's qualities and realize that those same seeds live within our own heart.
Gratitude is more than a feeling—it’s a practice. A way of seeing. Sometimes we overlook acts of kindness because they seem too small. We think, “It’s no big deal.” But part of honoring Thần Tài is learning to receive the blessings that are already being offered to us: the stranger who holds the door, the child who smiles at us, the friend who listens when we’re overwhelmed, the teacher who sees our potential.
These are all manifestations of Mr. Lucky. They are the daily fortunes of our lives.
But to receive them, we must be willing to open. Often we resist kindness—maybe because of pride, or fear, or judgment. Maybe we think the person offering it isn't the “right kind” of person. Yet, as in the folk stories of Thần Tài—who sometimes appears disguised as a dusty beggar or a drunk neighbor—the true blessing is often hidden in what we first overlook.
Kindness is always happening, and gratitude practice help us to actually embrace those acts of kindness that are always happening. The world is always trying to love us.
Thần Tài's Gratitude Practice
In order to receive the blessing in gratitude we first ground ourselves. We feel our feet on the floor, our bodies in the chair. We trust the earth to hold us. From this grounded place, we reflect on acts of kindness we received today. And we notice: how does that memory affect our body? Our breath? Our heart?
You can think about and reflect on any other act of kindness that you've ever experienced in your life. And just notice how that makes you feel.
And then we imagine: we are a great golden treasure tree rooted deep into the earth. Our spine is the trunk, upright and alive. Our branches reach up into the sky, and there, in the canopy above, are the faces of all who have ever loved and helped us. You can imagine each of them as a flowering golden coin on the branches of the treasure tree. These are our personal Thần Tài—friends, family, teachers, pets, spirits, ancestors, bodhisattvas all interconnected. All branches on the same tree. Some living, some gone. All smiling at us with love.
From them flows a golden sap of compassion and wisdom, pouring into our crown, down our spine, through our arms and legs, until our entire body is filled with this luminous golden nectar. It reaches into our fears, our shame, our longing—transforming them with warmth and light. This is the true treasure. Not money or coins, but the deep knowing that we are loved, and we are capable of loving.
Rest and continue to receive this warm, golden light into every cell of your body, into every part of your heart and mind. Receive it into your struggles, fears, and hopes. Receive it into the parts of yourself that are rigid or contracted, into your self-doubts and your resistances, into your sense of things not being enough. Just receive. Let this nectar flow through you down into the roots and earth below.
Let any thoughts or reactions that occur be gently embraced in the spacious warmth and acceptance of this interconnected loving fortunate gratitude. Let thoughts simply find their own place in their own time, by letting them all be.
If you lose the feeling of the loving energies of gratitude, freshly recall your many benefactors and those who have shown you compassion in this life as present here now, and let its power draw you back into the feeling of it.
As this practice comes to a close, we allow the boundaries between ourselves and this field of support to dissolve. There is only the energy of gratitude remaining. That energy of interconnection. All that remains is this vast, warm awareness—the treasure house within us, always available, always overflowing in abundance for all.
Now rest. No effort. Just receive. You are worthy of this blessing. You are already full of treasure.
And from this space, we offer our aspiration:
May I and all beings experience the deepest well-being, happiness, and joy.
May I and all beings be free from suffering.
May I and all beings have everything I need to be okay.
And may my own and all other's acts of kindness grow, like the golden tree of fortune,
bringing blessings to all whom we encounter.
When we live from this place of gratitude, we become the embodiment of Thần Tài in the world—not just seeking blessings, but becoming a source of them for others. And that, perhaps, is the greatest wealth of all.
Mr. Land on the left, Mr. Lucky on the right, with the prosperity treasure tree in the center.
Short Daily Reflection On Gratitude
Begin by recognizing how fortunate we are to have been supported by so many in this lifetime, generating gratitude and an aspiration to support others by living an altruistic life. Cultivating a strong aspiration and reflecting on it every day will create the larger container that will help override our habitual reactions to life.
1. Reflect on all beings who have supported you in this lifetime, including: parents, grandparents, other family members, teachers, mentors, friends, work colleagues, spiritual teachers and friends. Cultivate gratitude, realizing that we wouldn’t be where we are today without their support.
2. Reflect on the most important benefactors in your life, those who have been most inspirational and helpful, whether known to us personally or not. Select one very inspirational benefactor, perhaps a spiritual teacher or other very significant being in your life who exemplifies those qualities of kindness, compassion and wisdom that you wish to nurture in yourself, and reflect on all the wonderful qualities of this person. Recognize that the seeds of these qualities are within your heart also, and let this benefactor be a constant presence who inspires you to nourish those seeds.
In Gratitude
Plum Village Song
In gratitude, you have watered seeds
of love in me, in gratitude...
In gratitude, I will water seeds of love
in someone new...
I know you’re there for me
And I am so happy...
In gratitude, you have watered seeds
of love in me, in gratitude...
In gratitude, I will water seeds of love
in someone new...
And when you suffer some,
Please call and I will come...
The Next Steps
Having generated a mind of gratitude, we may wish to cultivate the mind of generosity in the teachings [here]. Or we may wish to start giving back to land and our ancestors for all they have given us by practicing the teachings [here]. Or we may even be inspired to give gifts to this very body, for all it has given us in this life by practicing the teachings [here].
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