The Story of a Saintly King
-Master's Comments

 

Perfect Alms-Giving

Everything we have, we’ve earned on our own. There’s nothing great about it! No one gives us anything. Everything is created by us, be it wealth or poverty.

What do you think of this story? You see, the people of that country couldn’t enjoy peace and contentment without relying on the merit of their ruler. So we can’t simply become a leader or an enlightened Master just because we want to. We must have sufficient blessings to share with our disciples, citizens and subordinates. So in ancient times, people were overjoyed to meet a wise king, saying that they relied on the king's grace, and acclaimed him as a "saintly king" or "saintly lord."

As the Bible recounts, when King David committed a number of mistakes, God punished his people with three days of plague (see Chronicles 1:21). There’s also an account in Chinese history stating that if a king were perfect with respect to his divine sanction, his prayers could move Heaven and earth. But if he were foolish or tyrannical, his prayers would be futile, he wouldn’t be able to save his own life and his empire would fall with great loss of life.

This historical story brings to mind why we should practice spiritually. We already have the Quan Yin Method today so why must we continue to practice? Why must we make our blessings, merits and virtuous qualities more sublime? It’s good enough to practice the Quan Yin Method and attain liberation. Why do we have to be upright and honest? Master has guaranteed us liberation so why do we have to practice to become moral? The answer is that it’s still necessary so that we can thus influence others, just in case in the future God wants us to become a king or high minister, lead the people or become an enlightened Master. If we have perfect sanction from God, all of our followers or subordinates will benefit from our grace and enjoy contentment and bliss.

So we shouldn’t rush to become a spiritual teacher, king, president or high minister. If it’s so arranged by destiny, it will eventually be ours. We can’t refuse it even if we want to; it’s our fate. If it’s not our destiny but we obtain it by force, the result won’t be good, and our karmic hindrance will increase. In hell, there are many so-called false masters, kings and so-called saints and monastic practitioners! So we shouldn’t desire such fame or superficial positions but instead abide by God's arrangements. When we’re asked to do something, we must do our best. If no one asks us, we should simply sleep and eat.

This King Precious Canopy didn’t do anything great in his previous life to have earned so much merit. All he did was make offerings to a Buddha. However, he was very natural when he made the offerings, and that was the good part. That’s "perfect alms-giving"—both the giver and receiver should be very pure in their actions, speech and thoughts, and free from any intent involving greed, anger or infatuation. Precious Canopy was just happy to make the contribution, and didn’t wish to earn merits, and the Buddha gladly accepted the offerings. Neither party felt indebted to or obliged to repay the other. Only in such cases is it a perfect offering that benefits both parties. That’s why this person definitely profited from his acts.

The Inconceivable Merit of a Living Buddha

From this story, we realize that a person who’s become a Buddha or a great spiritual practitioner can help innumerable people! He [Pratyeka Buddha] benefited the merchant who made offerings to him, and when the merchant later became a chakravartin, he too assisted billions of people. Can you imagine that? It wasn’t a direct benefit but an indirect one! This means that the power originating from innumerable eons ago still existed! Can you imagine how inconceivable such merit is? So for a spiritual practitioner, an enlightened or a living Master who has come into this world, whatever He or She does, be it eating, drinking or playing, everything is for the benefit of others! Do you understand? (Answer: “Yes” and applause.) Besides, this advantage doesn’t last just a couple of lifetimes; it continues for innumerable eons! What terrific merit!

Thus, you’ll also be terrific once you’re accomplished in spiritual practice. (Laughter) Whoever makes offerings to you will be great; the merit too will be great! That’s why we have to make our merit more sublime, and not just think of ourselves. This benefit is too immense, too inconceivable and immeasurable.

However, we can’t gain blessed rewards simply by giving alms to others. We can’t earn God’s grace just by randomly forcing people to accept our offerings. No! No! No! This merely abuses them. Pratyeka Buddha, for instance, was truly in need at the time. He had no money; he was old and infirm, and couldn’t work. He was in an emergency situation and was ill. So at that moment, whoever willingly made an offering to him was doing it at the right time and in the right situation! We shouldn’t give alms randomly just because we want to earn blessings, or force people to accept things from us just because we have too many possessions; because then we’ll be forcing them to accept the items even when they don't want them. It would be like wanting to get rid of something but not wanting to throw it into the garbage bin, so we dump it on someone else. This is also not good. We shouldn’t desire merit.

Giving alms or making offerings to spiritual practitioners can bring great rewards, but we mustn’t abuse them mentally. We should only give when they need it. If they don’t, we shouldn’t offer.

From Shakyamuni Buddha’s case we can see that the merit derived from making offerings to a great spiritual practitioner is inconceivable! That’s why people say, "It’s very rare to meet a Buddha." It is indeed very difficult to meet an enlightened Master! Whatever He or She does is only meant to bring you benefits. He or She only gives, gives and gives. By comparison, whatever you give Him or Her is garbage; it’s nothing! It’s just an excuse to let you feel comfortable. So you see, giving alms to a spiritual practitioner can accrue more benefits than giving to a billion people. It's never mentioned in Buddhist stories that offering charity to countless ordinary people earns great merit. No! All that's ever mentioned is that someone being charitable to a great spiritual practitioner earns enormous merit that lasts millions of eons!

I’ve told you before that whatever an enlightened Master eats or drinks here is only meant to assist the world. When He or She goes to a certain country, it’s to bless that country. If He or She accepts anything, it’s also to give blessings to the people of that country. In fact, He or She doesn’t need anything.

Now do you know why we have to make our blessings and merits more sublime? Just in case God needs us for a certain reason in the future, people who follow or believe in us will also derive perfect grace and rewards.

 

Revelation:
Cultivate the Self before Pacifying the World

Shakyamuni Buddha mentioned the grace of the country and the grace of the ruler—the four kinds of grace. If the ruler is good and the political situation is good, people will enjoy peace and happiness, depending on the divine mandate of the king. If there’s economic stability and political openness, and the citizens are living in peace and harmony, they ought to feel grateful for the blessings of their country and leaders.

But how do we express our gratitude? By becoming more sublime so that the country’s merits will increase further!

Suppose we have enough wealth and material comfort, begin to feel contented and become sluggish, thinking that we have no reason to progress spiritually. This should tell us that we possess far too greatly the qualities of an ordinary human. However, if we have a large amount of money and enjoy a comfortable life yet still aspire to renounce the world, realize the ephemeral nature of existence and become free from greed and attachment, then we know that we’ve practiced spirituality for many lifetimes and have the qualities of a saint.

No grace can surpass that derived from spiritual cultivation. Once we’ve reached perfection, whoever serves us will derive rewards. This is how we bring blessings to the world. Otherwise, the insignificant merit of ordinary humans can never bring about spiritual elevation.

When reading such stories, we should delve deeply into their real meaning and learn the moral within, instead of just being entertained. Oh! This man became like that. That person transformed into such a shape, became a chakravartin and so on. Oh! There was food, there were drinks, rice appeared magically and so on. These elements are not the story’s main essence. Instead we ought to realize the great moral behind it. Only spiritual practice is the highest source of divine grace. Only sharing the supreme teachings is the best form of alms-giving for we thus let people know how to practice the supreme method and how to earn the highest merit.

So, since ancient times, people have said that accomplishing perfection in spiritual development is the best way to deliver the world. And after reading these stories, we come to realize that similar accounts may be found in the Bible, the Buddhist sutras, the Taoist scriptures and others. So no matter what we want to become, we have to first cultivate ourselves before we can manage the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world. The ancient sages weren’t given to exaggeration or excess.?

* According to the Buddhist scriptures, when a chakravartin is born, The Seven Treasures, namely, the precious wheel, precious elephants, precious horses, able ministers, loyal generals, divine pearl and precious women descend to earth at the same time.

Related Articles:
Dealing with Fame and Fortune Requires Spiritual Practice
Cultivating Oneself is Necessary before Governing One's Country

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