Neither is it a True Offering if after the act there are feelings of regret or of self-praise; a True Offering is one that is given with pleasure, forgetting oneself as the giver, the one who receives it and the gift itself.

There are seven kinds of offering which can be practiced by even those who are not wealthy. The first is the physical offering. This is to offer service by one’s labor. The highest type of this offering is to offer one’s own life as is shown in the following story. The second is the spiritual offering. This is to offer a compassionate heart to others. The third is the offering of eyes. This is to offer a warm glance to others which will give them tranquility. The fourth is the offering of countenance. This is to offer a soft countenance with smile to others. The fifth is the oral offering. This is to offer kind and warm words to others. The sixth is the seat offering. This is to offer one’s seat to others. The seventh is the offering of shelter. This is to let others spend the night at one’s home. These kinds of offering can be practiced by anyone in everyday life.

Once there lived a poor artist who left his home, leaving his wife, to seek his fortune. After three years of hard struggles he had saved three hundred pieces of gold and decided to return to his home. On his way he came to a great temple in which a grand ceremony of offering was in progress. He was greatly impressed by it and thought to himself: “Hitherto, I have thought only of the present; I have never considered my future happiness. It is a part of my good fortune that I have come to this place; I must take advantage of it to plant seeds of merit.” Thinking thus, he gratefully donated all his savings to the temple and returned to his home penniless. When he reached home, his wife reproached him for not bringing her some money for her support. The poor artist replied that he had earned some money but had put it where it would be safe. When she pressed him to tell where he had hidden it, he confessed that he had given it to the monks at a certain temple. This made the wife angry and she scolded her husband and finally carried the matter to the local judge. When the judge asked the artist for his defence, the artist said that he had not acted foolishly, for he had earned the money during long and hard struggles and wanted to use it as seed for future good fortune. When he came to the temple it seemed to him that there was the field where he should plant his gold as seed for good fortune. Then he added: “When I gave the monks the gold, it seemed that I was throwing away all greed and stinginess from my mind, and I have realized that real wealth is not gold but mind.” The judge praised the artist’s spirit, and those who heard of this manifested their approval by helping him in various ways. Thus the artist and his wife entered into permanent good fortune.

One should get rid of a selfish mind and replace it with a mind that is earnest to help others. An act to make another happy inspires the other to make still another happy, and so happiness is born from such an act. Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared

In a thicket at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains there once lived a parrot together with many other animals and birds. One day a fire started in the thicket from the friction of bamboos in a strong wind and the birds and animals were in frightened confusion. The parrot, feeling compassion for their fright and suffering, and wishing to repay the kindness he had received in the bamboo thicket where he could shelter himself, tried to do all he could to save them. He dipped himself in a pond nearby and flew over the fire and shook off the drops of water to extinguish the fire. He repeated this diligently with a heart of compassion out of gratitude to the thicket. This spirit of kindness and self-sacrifice was noticed by a heavenly god who came down from the sky and said to the parrot: – “You have a gallant mind, but what good do you expect to accomplish by a few drops of water against this great fire?” The parrot answered: – “There is nothing that can not be accomplished by the spirit of gratitude and self-sacrifice. I will try over and over again and then over in the next life.” The great god was impressed by the parrot’s spirit and together they extinguished the fire.

There are three kinds of people in the world. The first are those who are like letters carved in rock; they easily give way to anger and retain their angry thoughts for a long time. The second are those who are like letters written in sand; they give way to anger also, but their angry thoughts quickly pass away. The third is those who are like letters written in running water; they do not retain their passing thoughts; they let abuse and uncomfortable gossip pass by unnoticed; their minds are always pure and undisturbed. There are three other kinds of people. The first are those who are proud, act rashly and are never satisfied; their natures are easy to understand. Then there are those who are courteous and always act after consideration; their natures are hard to understand. Then there are those who have overcome desire completely; it is impossible to understand their natures. Thus people can be classified in many different ways, but nevertheless, their natures are hard to understand. Only Buddha understands them and, by His wisdom, leads them through varied teachings.

Whenever a person expresses the thought of his mind in action there is always a reaction that follows. If one abuses you, there is a temptation to answer back, or to be revenged. One should be on guard against this natural reaction. It is like spitting against the wind, it harms no one but oneself. It is like sweeping dust against the wind, it does not get rid of the dust but defiles oneself. Misfortune always dogs the steps of one who gives way to the desire for revenge.

Once there was a king named Calamity, whose country was conquered by a neighboring warlike king named Brahmadatta. King Calamity, after hiding with his wife and son for a time, was captured but fortunately his son, the prince, could escape. The prince tried to find some way of saving his father but in vain. On the day of his father’s execution, the prince in disguise made his way into the execution ground where he could do nothing but watch in mortification the death of his ill-fated father. The father noticed his son in the crowd and muttered as if talking to himself, “Do not search for a long time; do not act hastily; resentment can be calmed only by forgetting it.” Afterward, the prince sought after some way of revenge for a long time. At last he was employed as an attendant in the Brahmadatta’s palace and came to win the king’s favors. On a day when the king went hunting, the prince sought some opportunity for revenge. The prince was able to lead his master into a lonely place, and the king, being very weary, fell asleep with his head on the lap of the prince, so fully had he come to trust the prince. The prince drew his dagger and placed it at the king’s throat but then hesitated. The words his father had expressed at the moment of his execution flashed into his mind and although he tried again he could not kill the king. Suddenly the king awoke and told the prince that he had had a bad dream in which the son of King Calamity was trying to kill him. The prince, flourishing the dagger in his hand, hastily grasped the king and, identifying himself as the son of King Calamity, declared that the time had finally come for him to avenge his father. Yet he could not do so, and suddenly he cast his dagger down and fell on his knees in front of the king. When the king heard the prince’s story and the final words of his father, he was very impressed and apologized to the prince. Later, he restored the former kingdom to the prince and their two countries came to live in friendship for a long time. The dying words of King Calamity, “Do not search for a long time,” mean that resentment should not be cherished for long, and “Do not act hastily” mean that friendship should not be broken hastily. Resentment can not be satisfied by resentment; it can only be removed by forgetting it.

At one time Shakyamuni Buddha was staying in the town of Kausambi. In this town there was one who resented Him and who bribed wicked men to circulate false stories about Him. Under these circumstances it was difficult for His disciples to get sufficient food from their begging and there was much abuse in that town. Ananda said to Shakyamuni: “We had better not stay in a town like this. There are other and better towns to go to. We had better leave this town.” The Blessed One replied: “Suppose the next town is like this, what shall we do then?” “Then we move to another.” The Blessed One said: “No, Ananda, there will be no end in that way. We had better remain here and bear the abuse patiently until it ceases, and then we move to another place. “There are profit and loss, slander and honor, praise and abuse, suffering and pleasure in this world; the Enlightened One is not controlled by these external things; they will cease as quickly as they come.”

They must eat food to nourish the body so that they may hear and receive and explain the teaching, but they should not eat for mere enjoyment. They must live in the house of Enlightenment to be protected from the thieves of worldly passions and from the storms of evil teaching, and they should use the house for its real purpose and not for display or the concealment of selfish practices.

When they see savory food, they must be on guard; when they see distasteful food, they should wish that greed might never return.
During the intense heat of summer, they must wish to be away from the heat of worldly desires and gain the fresh coolness of Enlightenment. During the unbearable cold of winter, they must think of the warmth of Buddha’s great compassion.

As they fall asleep at night, they should wish that their body, speech and mind might be purified and refreshed; when they awake in the morning, their first wish should be that during that day their minds might be clear to understand all things.