(Photo source: Pexels)
When the Buddha was still around, he met an old man who was begging along the streets one day. The old man had a hunched back, was holding a crutch, and appeared to walk with great difficulty, for his back was bent as he moved each step forward.
The Buddha took pity on the old man and quickly walked forward to help him.
"Good old man, why are you out begging for food outside? Don’t you have any children?" asked the Buddha.
The old man replied, "Yes I do. I have seven sons, but they have to take care of their wives and children, so they are not willing to take me in."
The old man looked up (at the man who was supporting him) after replying to his question and recognised that he was actually the great compassionate Buddha. Thus, he quickly knelt down and said, "Buddha! Please help me. What can I tell my sons so that (they will be touched to take care of me)?"
The Buddha replied kindly: "They must mindfully listen to the right principles, then their conscience will be touched."
The old man said, "That would be difficult, because they only have their own wife and children in their hearts. They have no extra time to listen to reasoning."
The Buddha replied, "As long as you are mindful, you can still (touch their hearts)."
The old man asked, "How do I do that?"
The Buddha said, "Don't think about anything else; just remember to hold your crutch properly and walk steadily. And be grateful to the crutch with utmost sincerity, because it aids you in walking. If you encounter a fierce dog, you can use it to chase the dog away and protect yourself. When you are crossing a pool of water, you can use the crutch to gauge the depth of the water for your own safety. Therefore, you have to be grateful to it. If you are sincere in your intentions and words, you will be able to touch and influence your sons."
The old man thought, "This is true indeed. Who else can I depend on right now? I can only rely on this crutch. It is most helpful to me; I should be grateful for it!"
From then on, the old man did as taught by the Buddha by expressing his gratitude to the crutch every day as he walked. He would say “Thank you! I thank my crutch for helping me with walking and allowing me to gauge the depth of water. I thank my crutch for protecting my body."
He was constantly grateful. Everything he thought of or said was filled with gratitude.
Our greatest blessing comes from repaying our parents
In the eyes of the old man’s seven sons, their wives and children were the dearest to their hearts. One day, the sons heard that the Buddha, who could bestow blessings upon others, was in the City of Rajagṛha. Thus, they brought along their wives and children to seek for blessings from the Buddha. When they arrived at Vulture Peak in Rajagṛha, the Buddha was expounding the Dharma to the masses.
On that day, the old man was also out begging with a bowl, holding his crutch as he walked. By then, all his troubles and sorrows had disappeared and there was only gratitude is in his heart. So, he was still expressing gratitude to his crutch as he walked.
Someone passed by and saw how kind and full of gratitude the old man was. So, he asked him, "Good old man! You must be a blessed person for being so content and grateful. Do you know that the Buddha is expounding the Dharma at the Vulture Peak in Rajagṛha? Would you like to see the Buddha to receive his blessings?"
After hearing what the passerby said, the old man joyfully replied, "Ah! I am very grateful to the Buddha. (He once gave me a good advice.) So I am living a joyful and carefree life now. I really want to listen to the Buddha again, but I don’t know how to get to Vulture Peak.”
The kind-hearted passerby said, “I am going to pay respect to the Buddha and listen to the Dharma, too. Let’s go together!”
Thus, the old man followed the passerby to the mountain.
The Buddha was in the midst of expounding the Dharma when they arrived. The old man was walking slowly from a distance and speaking the same words of gratitude as he walked. The Buddha was delighted to see him and said to him: "You are here! Look at how happy you are now. How do you express your gratitude to your crutch? Come here and say it to everyone!"
At that time, many people were listening to the Buddha expound the Dharma, and the old man wasn’t aware that his sons were also present. He smiled and said, "I am very grateful for this crutch. It accompanies me as I walk, lives with me, helps me to go through dangerous paths, and helps me gauge the depth of water. If a (fierce) dog comes near me, it can protect me as I can use it to chase the dog away. So, I am grateful to the crutch that I’m holding in my hand."
After hearing what the old man had said, the Buddha stared at his seven sons and seven daughters-in-law, and said solemnly, "That is right! The most important thing in life is to be grateful. There are many people in the world who do not know how to repay and honour their parents. They are not even as good as a crutch. People like this lack gratitude! A truly blessed person is one who is able to repay and support his parents.”
The old man’s sons and daughters-in-law felt greatly ashamed and embarrassed after seeing their father and hearing the admonishment from the Buddha. Their conscience was awakened, so they stood up and walked to the Buddha to pay respect to him and thank him for his guidance. They then turned towards their elderly father and held him to support him.
"We have done wrong. Please forgive us! From today onwards, we will take good care of you!" said the sons.
Then, they started vying to ask their father to go stay with them.
In the past, the sons had let their father live alone outside and beg for a living because they had not felt the kindness and love of their father in their hearts. Now that their consciousness had been awakened after listening to the Buddha, they knew that they should repent and show filial piety to their father without delay. This shows how important it is to be mindful in everything we do! If we are not mindful, we won’t know how to be grateful, and if we are ungrateful, we will be living the saddest life.
In everything we do, we must be mindful. Only then can we accomplish what we set out to do, and grow in wisdom, virtues and blessings. Otherwise, we are merely letting time pass by meaninglessly, and there won’t be any progress in our spiritual cultivation and character virtue development.
Extracted from Tzu Chi newsletter (Issue 222)
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
Share 
