Once upon a time, there was a bird that always circled above a loquat orchard in an Indian city. Whenever it saw someone picking loquats, it would squeal, "That's mine, that's mine!"

There was a loquat orchard in the suburbs of an Indian city. The loquat fruits were sweet and the leaves could be made into cough medicine. Therefore, during the harvest season when the fruit was ripe, many people would come from the city to pick the fruit and leaves.

There was a bird that always circled above, as though it were guarding the orchard. When people approached the loquat trees, the bird would start crying loudly. If people extended their hands to pick the fruit, it would shriek even more bitterly. If you listened closely, the bird's cry sounded like, "That's mine!" Year after year, the bird seemed to be claiming its ownership over the orchard.

One year, more people than usual came to pick loquats. The bird hovered around and made shrill, urgent cries. But everyone had grown used to it and turned a deaf ear to the bird's panicky squeals. They continued picking the fruit, and the bird kept crying. Finally, the bird coughed up blood and died.

A group of monks heard about the bird's story and asked the Buddha why it acted as it did. The Buddha sighed and said the bird's actions originated from its past stinginess.

Long ago there lived a young man who came into a large inheritance after his parents passed away. Every day he counted his money and always wished for more. In his calculations, he even included the crops he would harvest in the future from his orchard and farmland.

The young man believed that more people in the household would consume more of his wealth, so he never got married or had children, and he fired all the servants. After he died, his property was all confiscated by the royal treasury because he had no successor.

The miser was then reborn as the bird. The bird inherited the stingy nature from its past life and believed it still owned the loquat orchard. That was why it couldn't bear to see others pick the fruit and cried "That's mine!" until its death.

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Stinginess will only result in bitter poverty and anxiety. If you want to elevate your character and accomplish spiritual cultivation, you first have to help other people with love.

Give love and you will cultivate blessings. Let go of what you cling to and your wisdom will grow.