~Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Three-day Retreat Hong Kong Center, April 1, 1994
(Originally in Chinese)

An old beggar was sitting at the corner of a big market, holding up his bowl to beg. An old lady felt pity for him and gave him some money out of her purse. She comforted him by saying, "Ah! I feel so sorry in my heart seeing that you still have to beg at this old age! How come your life has become this way? It's all right if you will not tell me. I just ask you out of compassion."

The old beggar was very miserable over there. Tears falling, he said painfully, "I don't know why, but I feel even more miserable hearing you ask about this! Seeing you reminds me of my wife. I would not be begging now if she were still alive!" So the old lady asked, "Oh! So your wife was very capable! What was her job while she was alive?" The beggar answered, "She did the begging for me every day while she was alive, therefore I did not have to do it myself."

Watching Video Clip: English, Aulacese, Indonesia