The world of Tzu Chi May 2020 (Vol.122)

2020 • 05 54 D uring the Buddha’s lifetime, he taught with skilful means, using many different methods to help and guide sentient beings. He often used the lives of ordinary people as examples of how to apply the Buddhadharma in their daily living. He told the following story in the Samyuktavadana Sutra . Once, there was a tiny kingdom by the sea where war had broken out. This caused great suffering for the people there and many were forced to flee their homes. Among these refugees was an old woman named Ahlong, who was separated from her family and ended up alone in a neighbouring kingdom. To survive, she had to beg from door to door. By chance, she came to the home of a benevolent elder and his wife. After hearing of the difficulties that she had faced, they generously invited her to become a member of their household. Ahlong gratefully accepted their kind invitation and soon developed a very good relationship with the elder’s wife as she helped out around the house in any way she could. One day, she saw a group of monks as she left the house to do some tasks for the elder’s wife. When she approached them, she saw that their alms bowls were empty. She found out that the monks had gone into the village and begged for alms, but no one opened their doors to them. In her homeland, Ahlong’s family had been devout Buddhists and often made generous offerings to the One Woman’s Generosity Time passes quickly, so we must seize every moment to learn the Buddhadharma. Moreover, when we take the Dharma to heart, we are sowing the seeds of goodness in the field of our minds. If we work hard to cultivate this field, we will reap an abundant harvest. So, once the Buddhadharma is in our hearts, we must diligently put it into practice. In this way, we can also inspire those around us to do the same. aster Cheng Yen Tells Stories Buddhist practitioners. Now, she was stranded in a foreign land with no money, and the sight of the empty alms bowls made her feel sad. She ran back to the elder’s home and beseeched the elder’s wife, saying, “Please lend me 1,000 taels. I need it for a personal reason. I’ll gladly sign a contract to become your servant for life.” The elder’s wife assured her that she would give her the money, saying, “There’s no need for any kind of contract or for you to become anyone’s servant for life. Take this money and do as you wish with it.” Ahlong was very grateful. She quickly returned to the village and went door to door to each of the 60 households there, asking them to make offerings to the monks. Of course, she also told them about the blessings that will come to them from showing generosity to others, especially from making offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha. They agreed to do this, so she divided the money among them, and they reverently prepared their offerings. Then, Ahlong quickly found the monks and told them, “Revered practitioners, if you go back into the village now, I’m sure that you will find many families happy to make offerings to you.” Following her advice, the monks returned to the village and in no time their bowls were filled with delicious food. Over the next several days, every time they went into the village, the generosity of the villagers was repeated. The monks thought of the woman who seemed to