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The wealthiest life in the world is one with the Buddha at heart—everyone always remembers the Buddha's compassion, speaks in accordance with the Dharma, often shares the Dharma with people, acts with love, and lends a helping hand wherever there is poverty or a disaster.
Once, there lived a king who diligently managed the state affairs every day and had no time to leave the city. Some of the court officials often persuaded the king to go out of the palace so that he could gain an understanding of the actual living conditions of the people. However, he always thought that as long as he devoted himself to the state affairs, there was no need for him to leave the city personally. After some days, the king was finally talked round by the court officials, and he decided to visit the places outside the city.
The king first patrolled the areas near to the palace and saw a lot of magnificent and splendid high-rise buildings. However, as he gradually travelled closer to the countryside, almost everyone he saw was poor and destitute. Some of them lived under the trees, some sought shelter by a wall, and some even begged for a living.
The kind-hearted king began to ponder about the cause of the extreme gap between the rich and the poor, and how he could reduce the gap as much as possible. Later, he came up with a solution: Request the rich to list out all their treasures and properties, and if their total wealth exceeded a certain amount, the “extra” would be collected by the state to help the poor.
The announcement of this policy caused great fear among the rich and received strong opposition from them. There was only one elderly man who reacted differently from the rest. He calmly told the king that he not only possessed $1 billion worth of tangible assets but also $300 billion worth of intangible assets. He added that tangible assets were actually shared by the Five Parties (i.e. fire, floods, robber, government and prodigal descendants), which was the source of human afflictions.
To him, his intangible assets were his true wealth. They were: his mindful thoughts on the dignified Buddha and his sharing of the Dharma with others. At the same time, he donated money to those who are poor and suffering. Thus, he lived a relaxed, carefree and happy life every day.
After listening to the words of the elderly man, the king realised that life should be about the pursuit of intangible wealth. Therefore, he thought that instead of making donation mandatory, which caused unhappiness among the people, it was wiser to inspire kindness in the rich so that they would be happy to help the poor. At the same time, it was also important to guide the poor to be independent and self-reliant.
Whether we feel miserable or happy in life depends on our thoughts. A poor person who is content with life will naturally be happy despite living in poverty. A rich person who has a benevolent heart will have more wealth than he already has.
Extracted from Tzu Chi Taiwan website
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
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