Date: 06/21/2025 06/22/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
The Miserly Elders’ Act of Giving
In ancient times, in the city of Śrāvastī, there were two wealthy elders. One was named “Supreme” (Zuisheng), and the other “Hard-to-Convert” (Nanjian). Though both possessed countless treasures—chariots, servants, slaves, grains, and properties beyond measure—they were the most miserly and stingy individuals in the city.
Their homes were heavily guarded, surrounded by seven layers of walls. To avoid unnecessary trouble, they had specifically instructed the gatekeepers not to let beggars enter. Furthermore, to prevent birds from pecking at their grain, they had enclosed their dwellings with iron mesh. Even the walls were cast in iron to keep out rats from gnawing into the house and damaging their belongings.
At that time, the Buddha’s five foremost disciples manifested their spiritual powers to try to transform them. They emerged from the earth and each took turns teaching Dharma to the elders. However, the elders remained unmoved and unchanged in their habits.
Knowing that the two were destined to be liberated, the Buddha personally visited their home. He manifested miraculous powers in the air—sitting and lying at will, radiating great light—and spoke profound and wondrous Dharma. Yet the elders still could not grasp the essence of the teachings. They merely thought, “Since the Buddha has come, we shouldn’t let him leave empty-handed.”
Thus, one of the elders decided to go to the storeroom to retrieve a piece of white wool cloth as an offering to the Buddha.
Unexpectedly, the cloth he picked, which was of poor quality, transformed into a high-grade wool blanket when brought outside. Unwilling to part with it, he returned to the storeroom and selected an even worse piece. But when examined outside, it again became an exquisite blanket. Again and again, he picked and changed, and each time the cloth turned out to be better than the last.
This miserly elder, torn between his desire to give and his deep-seated greed, struggled internally for a long time, caught in a fierce battle of will.
At that moment, in the heavens, a battle was taking place between the Asuras and the Devas of Trāyastriṃśa Heaven—one moment the Devas prevailed, the next the Asuras gained the upper hand.
With his heavenly eye, the Buddha observed the elder’s mind and saw that the battle between his miserly thoughts and his wish to give mirrored that of the gods and demons. So he recited this verse:
“Giving and war coexist;
This virtue and delusion are not praised.
When giving arises, so does battle—
These two events are equally strong.”
Hearing the Buddha’s words from within his home, the elder was filled with shame and thought, “The Buddha has spoken exactly of my situation. I should change and turn toward goodness.”
So he chose an excellent wool blanket and offered it to the Buddha. The elder Hard-to-Convert also made a sincere offering of five hundred gold coins.
Freed from their inner struggle with miserliness, both elders were blessed through their act of giving. Their minds became clear and open, and they gained insight and understanding into the wondrous Dharma of the Buddha.
