Giving

The Buddha and the Stupa
in Rajgir India

The late father of mine was not a man
who knew a lot of the religion
he claimed to have vowed.
Little did he know Buddhist scriptures.
He didn't go to the Buddhist temple either.

But he used to do Dharmic things
in his daily life
without even realizing
he was practicing.

I saw it
and I realized, he was actually
a real Buddhist.
He did a lot of things
that the Buddha taught
we can find in Buddhist scriptures,
books, or even movies,
even without reading them.

HE JUST DID !
Without saying too much.

I remember a lesson he gave me:

Giving is like drawing water from a well;
as water is drawn more flows in
It is by giving that blessings continue to flow in.

And I remember,
he specially made a big well for pedestrians
and villagers living around his rice mill
to let them take water from.
He said,
"When it is dry season
people could hardly get fresh water
to drink, to cook, and to bathe with.
It is our duty to help them
so that they do not suffer too much".

He also made public restrooms for them.

This is only a small example he gave,
not through sweet words
but through real actions.

He was, and still is, a Bodhisatva to me.


My simple, compassionate, and generous father