Greediness Wearies a Rich Man to Death

In a small country near Tibet, there lived a rich man who owned land so vast that he could not see it all with his eyes. But he was not satisfied. He thought that no matter how rich he was, he still didn't have as much as the king. Because of this, he fell sick. Seeing that he could not eat or sleep, his wife was very worried. She looked all over the country for a good doctor, but no doctor could cure him.

One day, there came a psychiatrist who said he could cure the man. However, the man said, "It's useless. You cannot cure me." The psychiatrist said confidently, "Sir, I can cure you. Don't you have great desires? If you tell me what you want, I will let you have it."

The rich man had some doubts. He replied, "I hope to have more land and I want to be richer than the king. But how can you let me have what I want?"

The psychiatrist said, "It's very simple. In Tibet, the land is very vast, but there are not too many people. The Grand Lama once said compassionately that if anyone came to Tibet, he could get as much land as he wanted and he wouldn't have to pay one penny." When the man heard this, he immediately jumped up from his bed, his disease completely cured. He told his wife to pack his luggage so that he could leave for Tibet right away.

The man arrived in Tibet, met the Lama and made his request. The Lama asked him kindly how much land he wished to have. The man thought that if he asked for too much, it would be embarrassing, but if he asked for too little, it would not be worth the trip. Therefore, he hesitated. The Lama read his mind and said to him, "Tomorrow morning at daybreak, you start to walk. But you must return here by sunset. I'll give you all the land you have walked on."

The rich man was very happy. The next day he got up before dawn. At daybreak he started to walk very fast toward the east. By noon, he had already walked over a mountain. He raised his head and saw another mountain, flatter and more beautiful, in front of him. He didn't even stop to drink. He ran on and on until he reached the other mountain.

At that time, the sun began to go down. He told himself he only had to run to the other side of that mountain, so he continued to run. However, when he raised his head again, he saw it would soon be sunset. He coveted all the beautiful land ahead of him, but he knew that if he didn't start to go back, he wouldn't be able to return to where he had started by sunset. So he began to run back. When he finally reached the place where the Lama was standing, he couldn't catch his breath. His legs became so weak that he fell on his knees.

"How much land have you covered?" the Lama asked him.

"Not...much," the rich man said breathlessly. Saying this, he fell down and died.

Seeing the man so greedy and discontent even at the moment of his death, the Lama shook his head and said to his disciples, "Bury him. No matter how rich he was before, all the land he needs after his death is only two square meters."

On The Top of The Mountain

A long time ago, there was a great entrepreneur in Japan. When he was young, he was very poor. From primary school through college, he always lived in hardship. In college, his only wish was that he could go on the senior class tour. To reach that goal, he worked very hard in the evenings. His classmates from rich families didn't have to do anything. They had plenty of money and their families prepared abundant food for them to take on the tour.

After much hard work, the young man saved enough to go on the tour. At that time, Japanese trains had three classes of compartments. First class passengers had comfortable seats. Those who took the third class compartment had to board early, or else they had to stand on the train. That poor student could only afford to ride in third class. When he boarded, all the seats had been taken and he had to stand. It was very crowded, and there wasn't even enough room to turn around. At one stop, he squeezed over to the window to buy a box lunch. However, it was impossible for him to eat the lunch inside the train.

The train moved on. At the next station it stopped for five minutes. He stepped down onto the platform to stretch his legs and eat his meal. He walked outside the first class compartment and saw that the passengers inside not only had comfortable seats, but were also enjoying their food and even drinking beer. He became so annoyed that he had the impulse to push someone off and seat himself there.

The class tour continued for three days, and then the poor young man returned to the same station where he had bought the box lunch. One of his classmates had a hut on a nearby mountain, and all the classmates were invited to go up to the hut to drink tea. From the top of the mountain, there was a very broad view of the whole countryside. The poor student saw a train passing by. Suddenly he felt that the train was very small and he himself was only one of the passengers inside. He thought: "Three days ago, I had the impulse to use violence. Now when I look down from here, I feel I was pathetic. Not only I myself, but also the passengers in the first class compartment were pathetic. Human beings are but tiny particles in the vast universe, too small to be mentioned. Why should we bicker?" So he made a vow right there that should he be successful one day, he would be compassionate to his subordinates, and he would especially teach and help those at the lowest level with love.

Years later, he became the successful president of a company. He frequently urged his key staff to be sympathetic to those at the lowest level and to teach them to be confident and to respect their seniors. Only when the seniors love their juniors and the juniors respect their seniors can all their lives be equal. He often spent time with his staff and workers, and he himself set a good example for them. Whenever he wanted anyone to do something for him, he always modestly said "please," and afterwards he never forgot to say "thanks," so "please" and "thanks" became a bridge, building up fellowship and creating harmony in the company.

Later on, the man became a Buddhist. He frequently told people the story from his past. He said he could realize Buddha's position. "It was just like when I was standing on top of that mountain and looking down upon all the living beings. We should really be more understanding and accommodating to each other. Everything is so clear. There is nothing to bicker about."

When he was standing outside the first class compartment, he had the heart of a common man. He was jealous of the passengers inside. When he was standing on the top of the mountain, his heart became the heart of a bodhisattva.

The Gold Ingot

There was a maid-servant in a commissioner's home. One day when she was cleaning the house, she overheard the commissioner mention the hardships of those poverty-stricken families that she had visited. The maid listened attentively while she worked. In the past, she always complained that she was the poorest and the most pitiful woman in the world. Now she realized that she was not. She had a healthy body and she had a job. Her daughter was already married, and so the maid had no more burdens. Compared with those poor families, her life was much easier. So she thought she should start giving alms. She asked her mistress whether she could join her.

The commissioner said, "I always wished you would join me. Our Master said that the field of blessing must be planted by all. We are very lucky to have been born in the human world. Everybody can do almsgiving and should be given the chance to do so as long as he or she has the mind to give."

On the day when Tzu Chi held its first charity sale, the maid asked the commissioner if she could go to the sale. The commissioner agreed and asked what she had for sale. The maid took out a gold ingot. She told the commissioner that she had been given several gold rings and charms at the births of her daughter and her grandchild. She had saved them for more than 20 years. Afraid that they were too trivial, she had asked a goldsmith to melt them down to make a one-ounce ingot. She had paid some more money to make up the shortage of weight. That gold ingot was all the property she had in her life, but she donated it generously and without any hesitation.

Father Will Never Die

An 11-year old boy donated NT$60,000 on behalf of his father to the Tzu Chi Hospital construction funds. A commissioner told me that when the boy was only 11 months old, his parents were divorced. However, his mother taught him with love. So, in his mind his father was a great man and he adored him very much. In April last year, the boy's father passed away. Hearing this news, the boy was very sad. He heard people say that a bereaved child should do some good deeds on behalf of his or her departed parent so that the parent's love can remain in the human world. Therefore, he donated the money.