Once, there was an old couple who was so poor that they lived in a deserted coal pit. They did not have any possessions and have only a single pair of trousers that they share.
When the husband need to go out, the wife had to stay at home, half-naked. And when the wife went out, the husband was forced to remain in the pit without any trousers to wear.
One day, the Buddha and his disciples came to their neighbourhood begging for alms.
They wanted to pay homage to the Buddha and make an offering but realized that they do not have anything to offer to Him.
The wife sighed deeply and said, "There is nothing here in our pit fit to give the Buddha. What can we offer?"
The husband thought for a while and said firmly, "No matter what, it would be better to starve ourselves to death than to let his great opportunity to pay homage slip by us. We cannot miss the chance to accumulate merit. Well, the only decent piece of property we have is this pair of trousers. Let us take them and make an offering of them to the Lord Buddha."
Happily, they took off the trousers and offered them to the Buddha.
The disciples were startled with embarrassment. Covering their noses, they shoved the pair of dirty trousers back and forth among themselves. They did not know what to do with it.
Finally, Ananda brought back the trousers to the Buddha and asked for his advice.
"Lord Buddha," he said, "This pair of trousers is too filthy to wear. Let me throw them away!!"
The Buddha then compassionately said to His disciples, "Dear bhiksus, do not think that way. An offering from the poor is the most precious. Bring them here and let me wear them."
Ananda, full of remorse, went with Maudgalyayana to the river to wash the trousers. As soon as they dip the trousers into the river, huge waves began to appear and the water started to rise and fall.
In panic, Maudgalyayana used his supernatural power to bring Mount Sumeru to suppress the waves. It did not work and the waves were not calmed. He tried and tried and finally gave up.
The two of them rushed back to the Buddha to report the strange occurrences.
At that time, the Buddha was having his meal. He gently picked up one grain of rice and told them, "The swells on the river are due to the praise of the Naga King of the Four Seas has for the poor couple and their determination to make an offering to me. Thrown this grain of rice into the river, it should take care of the waves."
Ananda was very puzzled, "Lord Buddha, how can a small grain of rice calm the waves if even Mount Sumeru cannot?"
The Buddha smiled and said, "Just give it a try and see."
Skeptically, both Ananda and Maudgalyayana threw the grain of rice into the river. Within minutes, the river returned to it original calmness.
They marveled at such a wonder!! How is it possible that the whole of Mount Sumeru could not compare to a grain of rice?
They rushed back to the monastery and immediately asked the Buddha for an explanation.
The Buddha said, "True nature is without differentiation. From the point when the rice seed is sown, it undergoes irrigation, fertilization, harvest and finally sale. To reach the state of a rice grain, it must go through various efforts and hard work. The merit that is contained in a grain of rice is immeasurable and boundless."
"The same explanation applied to the trousers that the poor couple offered. Those trousers were their entire fortune and because of the couple's enormous generosity, the trousers contained immeasurable, boundless merits."
"Even the Naga King of the Four Seas saw that the merit of the offering of the grain and of the dirty trousers were equally limitless and boundless, both arising from a sincere thought. Recognizing their equivalency in merit, the Naga King gladly retreated, giving praise to such wonderful generosity."
"Thus, we can see that as long as we make offerings with sincerity, the power of even a small rice grain or a dirty article of clothing is equal to that of tens of millions of Mount Sumerus."
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