Some Rights ReservedSingapore2014 1 Dāna with Reference to its Relevance as a Leadership Quality Thomas Voss M.A., B.Eng. (Hons) Foreword Thomas Voss has done an interesting and resourceful study on sociological and psychological im- portance of dana, a value promoted in almost every religion. Dana is a term commonly found in many Indian languages for generosity, liberality, charity and sharing what we have with the community. It could be motivated by compassion on humanitarian or religious grounds. Every religion teaches that it will counteract selfishness and greed promoting altruism, goodwill and friendship. In fact, dana is a very positive, sublime and noble act beneficial in many ways. The present study  is mainly centred on the Buddhist approach to dana as it is one religion that has emphasized the value of it in multiple ways. The Buddha has emphasized its mundane and supra-mun- dane value in unequivocal terms. He has gone even to the extent of stating “If people know the value of dana as much as I know, no one would be reluctant to give”. Thomas has extracted the Buddha’s dis- courses on dana and analysed their structure systematically bringing out their practical value. He has evaluated them comparatively in the light of modern sociological and psychological views while demon- strating the meaningfulness of this ethical quality in contemporary contexts. The approach of Thomas is highly rewarding as it is multi-disciplinary and not confining to an exeget- ical demonstration of a Buddhist ethical concept. He, of course, makes the reader think analytically and makes him wiser than before. It is a work one should read more than once. Prof. Chandima Wijebandara Introduction The PED defines dāna (Skt. दान ‘dāna’; Gk. δῶρον ‘dōron’; Lat. donum) as “giving (a gift); almsgiving, munificence”. 1 Even though its synonym is generosity, giv- ing is an act that requires a giver and a re- ceiver, 2 whereas generosity may be what the giver does motivate or drive to give. In regard to this it can be either the cause of giving or it describes a personal quality of the giver. Hence, cāga, also meaning aban- doning, giving up or renunciation, 3 is more frequently used for generosity. Practically, the giver can give some- thing away or give something up; e.g. give away old cloths to charity or give up smok- ing. Giving does not necessarily be material  The paper grew out of a class assignment in 2013 titled “Four Principles of Service (Sangaha Vatthu) with Reference to its Relevance as a Leadership Quality” for which it was intended as the first chapter. but can be immaterial, too; like giving someone one’s cold shoulder or encourage- ments. There are several reasons why one might be motivated to give such as affec- tion, intention to receive in return or the like as we shall see later. Giving can even be- come contagious. 4 Usually, we do have a love-hate-rela- tionship with giving. Since being breastfed in our first days of childhood we are condi- tioned for the goodness coming from the re- ceiving end and turn quite furious once we sight competition. From this perspective it comes very natural to us and in fact can even be a matter of life or death, as any wild life documentary will easily testify, that re- ceiving is the way better option than giving. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2124.0729