The Beggar Woman

Once, there lived a beggar woman in ancient India.

Nobody really knew how old she was - she was old beyond her real age.

Her sufferings showed in the lines of her face, the lack of food has shrunken her body frame until you can see the ribs and the weight of her existence hung on her shoulders until she can barely walk.

She was dirty, smelly and nearly blind. She shuffled in her torn shoes, with a sturdy stick that she depended on to support her fragile frame. Her teeth was rotted and her hands were all withered and diseased.

People avoided her when they saw her. They ignored her and her tragic presence.

Some kind souls would some times give her some food, some water and a coin or two.

One day, this beggar woman walked past a temple. Usually, she would keep on walking pass the temple but on that day, something stopped her. She heard beautiful chants and music coming from within the temple.

She stepped through the doorway and made her way slowly towards the altar which has a statue of Amitabha Buddha.

The chanting stopped when she entered the temple. Everybody looked at her to see what she was doing.

When she stepped into the temple, she felt a sense of peace and a lightness in her heart. When she came to the altar, she knelt in front of the statue of Amitabha Buddha.

From her tattered pocket, she took out a beautiful flower that she had plucked from outside and offered it to the Buddha. She bowed respectfully and muttered something quietly under her breath.

After that, she got up, shuffled slowly to the donation box and drop in a coin. Then she sat down on the bare floor to rest and to behold the beautiful face of Amitabha Buddha.

At the side of the temple, there was a gathering of monks. All the monks of the temple were present and kneeling respectfully in front of a raised platform.

On the platform sat a serene and kind-faced person with a majestic air about him. He was Sakyamuni Buddha, the Enlightened One.

He spoke "Did all of you see what the beggar woman did?"

One monk replied "Yes, my lord. She made an offering to Amitabha Buddha."

Sakyamuni Buddha said "Yes, she did. And do you know the merits that she had earned by her simple deed?"

Another monk replied, "No, my lord."

Sakyamuni Buddha said, "By her giving from a sincere heart, she has earned so many merits that even if the king should come here and offered his kingdom and all his riches, it would pale besides her offerings."

"Her offerings is so immeasurable that if all the money, gold and jewels in the world would be piled high until it reach Mount Sumeru, it would still not be equal."

Sakyamuni Buddha proclaimed, "My disciples, do not look down on this beggar woman. She is suffering in this life because of her bad karmas from her previous lives."

"By her generous act of making an offering of a flower to Amitabha Buddha, she has generated immeasurable merits and good karmas. In many kalpas to come, she will become a Buddha and help deliver sentient beings from all sufferings!!"

Ananda, the Buddha's personal assistant, got up and walked across the temple to the beggar woman. He bowed before her, lifted her up and asked her if she would want to become a disciple of the Buddha.

When she agreed, she was given clean clothes, food and she joined the monks to listen to Sakyamuni Buddha preaching the Dharma.

And for the first time in her life, she was happy and a sense of serenity descended on her heart...

The Dharma that she heard filled her soul with a fullness that she had never felt before.

The above Dharma story has a very simple message :

It is not how much you give, it is how sincere your heart is when you do give. Even the smallest kindness will generate a lot of merit.

So, give. And give with no reservations...