Supports for Dhamma practice

[Abhishek Venkatesh]

Dear Venerable Sir,

I believe that Sila is the foundation which was recommended by the Buddha as a support for the meditation practice, but there are other practices like generosity of material things, generosity in terms of Dhamma, etc which aid meditation practice. Not to mention even to hear dhamma talks one has to have made merit, and I'm assuming one has to keep teaching the Dhamma also to keep themselves going in the Dhamma. Can generosity be used as a way of accelerating oneself on the path, or is just Sila and the supporting external conditions for meditation practice enough?
The reason why I ask this question is because when I teach Dhamma I have an immediate interest in listening to/reading Dhamma, but when I'm alone and have noone to share Dhamma with, my interest in listening to/reading to dhamma is just not there, how do I keep my interest in Dhamma going?
The reason that I'm able to ask so many questions over here is because I keep answering questions to people on Yahoo Answers

I see that the Kamma that I make by practicing meditation causes me to be interested in Dhamma, but I see that this is not enough and does produce much interest in listening to/reading Dhamma. I'm trying to read the Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of the Anguttara Nikhaya now, but the mind is not interested in it, what are ways that I can spark interest in this?

How do monks who have the best supporting conditions deal with such issues? For example, there are monks here coming out of their seclusion and answering questions here, so is it because you want to do something different and freshen yourself up or you see this as something which aids your practice in a significant way which makes it worthwhile to spend the time and effort required to answer these questions?

I remember one statement by Ajahn Brahm "You want some good meditation, put something in the donation box over there.", Any idea on how much one can be generous for the sake a getting good meditation, since most acts of generosity itself hampers one's stillness of mind?

The questions here have been put in a disorganized manner, please forgive me for that.

With Metta,
Abhishek V

[Bhikkhu Jhanarato]

Dear Abhishek,

Answering questions, either in person or on forums like this, is a good way to practice generosity. Of course it helps if you know what you are talking about. :-)

Generosity is one of the most important meditation objects after the breath and metta practice. Actually, it does involve remembering things, so it is not about complete present moment awareness. You just limit your thinking to the good actions of the day. The Buddha taught this in the suttas again and again, so it is a great practice to learn.

With metta,

J.R.

[Abhishek Venkatesh]

Thank You Ven. Bhikkhu Jhanarato for your reply.