Now there is another story about a Muslim king in Delhi. In all true religious orders, all enlightened Saints in that order act similarly. Either they earn their own money as householders and save it until they have enough to go and preach the Dharma, or if they have to rely on public donations, then they take only enough to survive in order to serve people spiritually.

So, there was a king who was a Muslim and who ruled Delhi at that time. His name is Nasruddin. I will read to you also the preface of this story, called “Honest Earnings.” It is from a Hebrew saying of the Jews. Can you imagine this? By chance we came into Jewish tradition, too! Here it is: “Let your conversation be without covetousness,” (meaning without greediness) “and be content with such things as ye have.” This means whatever you have, be happy with it; no greed, no wanting any more than you already have or what is naturally coming your way. “For Hes have said, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’ The Lord is my shepherd, my helper, and I will not fear what humanity shall do unto me.”

If you have faith in God, you become fearless; that’s what it means. Just be happy with whatever you have, you see? All religions say the same thing: Be honest, earn your living and live simply. Now, the king Nasruddin was one of those who lived exactly according to what we were saying, from the Jewish religious tradition. He was a Muslim ruler who stayed in Delhi, and he never spent a penny out of his treasury for himself; he always earned his own living.

So what did he do to earn his living? How does a king earn a living? Most kings and royalties are not allowed to work actually, for fear of losing their dignity and authority. You become like a commoner then; you become like a worker, a money-earner like everyone else. And how would he rule if he did that? It’s a wonder; we shall see!

After taking care of all the court matters in the daytime, at night he went home and copied the Koran by his own handwriting, and told his servant to go sell it in the market. So it’s just spiritual work. And whatever he earned from that, he spent for himself and his family. Now, isn’t that a very honorable king? We should clap for him! (Applause)

In China, we have a similar tradition. There was a Master who worked all day, and he said that if one day he doesn’t work, for one day he won’t eat. His name is Bai Zhang. Until he was very old, he continued working, working and working. One day he was so old already that his disciples hid his tools, because he would usually go out and plant vegetables to eat. So they hid his tools so that he could not work anymore. And that day he didn’t eat. One day no labor; one day, no food. That’s it. That was his motto. And he lived his example until his ripe old age.

OK, now we go back to Delhi. One of the king’s servants had not gotten any money for many months. And then one day he received a letter from his family from far away, asking him to come home immediately for some urgent matter. So he needed money to go home and give to his family, of course. You must know that a servant of this kind of a king must also have been a very good spiritual practitioner. So probably he just worked; he didn’t even care about salary. But the king probably would give him some pocket money, for monthly snacks. (Master laughs)

So the servant needed to go home. And the king said, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any money just now.” (Master laughs) Oh! What a king! Poor king. “So could you wait a little bit?” Then some months passed by, and the servant really needed to go home because he received again a message from the family saying that he must come immediately. Some family member had been sick and perhaps dying, and they needed some money for that. So he begged the king to please let him go home.

When he was ready to leave, the king gave him two rupees. My God! That’s about two cents in Formosan money, not even two cents in American money! The king told the servant, “Although this money is very little, it is from my honest earning. Therefore, it will attract abundance. It has God’s heavenly blessing. Everyone will know it’s very pure money - Heaven knows that. So don’t worry; you just be happy with it!”

The servant was very surprised at such a ‘great’ amount of two rupees equaling two cents in Formosan NT, meaning nothing at all, even at that time. But the king said, “God will bless you in abundance because my money is honest. So please go on your way and don’t worry about it! God will bless you!” So the servant went. He could not do anything. The king had no money; what could he do? So he went away with the two rupees. But even though he had trust and faith in the king, in his mind he still wondered: How would he face his family with empty hands? When he came home his family would expect some gifts. Being a servant of the king and coming home with empty hands, how would he explain to his family? Because the world’s people are like that: If you work for the king or if you have a high position in the world, your family or relatives expect you to provide grander gifts, monetary or otherwise. This is normal, no?

So the servant was having a hard time, walking with a heavy heart, thinking what to do. Meanwhile, on the way home he did not have money for any luxury items or a car or anything like that. But he happened to see some delicious, ripe, red, juicy pomegranates. Do you know pomegranates? They’re like red apples, and inside they have transparent, ruby-like, small, small seeds and flesh. It’s very beautiful construction inside, like a piece of a jewel when you open it. So he gave the two rupees, he gave it all; he thought he could buy only one pomegranate to satisfy his desire, so he might as well. Since two rupees wouldn’t buy much anyway, there was nothing much he could spend them on. And he wanted to buy the pomegranate to eat. But he was surprised: For two rupees he got a big bag of pomegranates! He was very happy! And he ate just a little bit and then he was satisfied already.

It just so happened that he still had pomegranates in his hand and in his bag, when he passed over the border to another country. Now the queen of that country was very ill at the moment, and the physicians of that country had advised the king that only the juice of the pomegranate would heal the queen’s sickness. But in that country, there was none such thing, and they didn’t know where to find it. So they put up announcements everywhere: “Whoever can find pomegranates, please bring to the court and the king will reward abundantly.”

Now the servant had a big bag of pomegranates, and he was next to the palace already! So he asked to come in and give them to the queen, of course. And the queen took as many as she needed, and the king was so happy that the queen recovered that he rewarded this servant of the Indian king of Delhi with one thousand rupees for each pomegranate! Wow! Now can you imagine how much he has? At least ten or twelve thousand rupees; that’s a lot of money. So he was very, very happy! He gave a little bit to the two soldiers who were sent by the king to accompany him home, since it was feared that with so much money he might be robbed or in danger. What an honor! So after he reached home, he gave the two soldiers a little bit of money, and then the rest he gave it to his family.

Everyone was overjoyed, praising the king of Delhi for his generosity. And the servant said nothing. (Master and everyone laugh) Just as the family expected, the servant of the king brought home lots of money and gifts, because he also bought a lot of gifts on the way home to give to them. Everyone was happy and praising the king to heaven.

So, just from two rupees, the servant earned a rich harvest of property and possessions and made the whole family and clan happy. From now on, of course the servant would be more faithful to the king, even though he was already faithful before. But he probably believed more in the king’s dignity, saintliness, honesty and pure heart inside. End of story! (Applause)

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