Once upon a time, there lived a lady named Mila, who was homeless and begged for a living. One day, Mila went begging for food. As she walked past a temple, a Dharma service was going on, and she saw many people making all kinds of offerings. Some of them offered candles or incense, others offered flowers, fruits or even food.
Feeling inspired, Mila thought, “I wish I too could make an offering, but I have nothing to offer.” As she thought about making an offering and feeling disappointed, she put her hand in her pocket, to her surprise, she found something.

“What’s this? How come I have a penny in my pocket?” Then she remembered that last week, someone gave her a penny and she had forgotten about it. So, happily, she followed everyone into the temple to make her offering.

As she entered the temple, she heard the Buddhist hymns and felt calm and peaceful. As she enjoyed the sounds of the Dharma instruments and chanting, a monk approached her and said, “Welcome, would you like to offer incense?”

“Um...can I?” Feeling slightly embarrassed, Mila took the incense stick and said, “Thank you.”

Mila walked in front of the Buddha, knelt down and prayed. When she was finished, she took out her penny and dropped it into the donation box. As Mila was leaving the shrine, a monk stopped her and said, “Excuse me, could you please wait? Our Abbot would like to meet you.”

Soon the Abbot appeared and greeted Mila, “Auspicious blessings to you.”

Mila stood with her palms joined, feeling anxious and not knowing what to say.

The Abbot said, “I heard you made an offering today, I wanted to come and thank you personally. Please follow me.”

Mila followed the Abbot to the center of the shrine. The Abbot laid three prostrations to the Buddha and began chanting. In the end, a prayer was dedicated to Mila and her family.

Equally touched and baffled, Mila said to the Abbot, “Thank you so much. You didn’t have to do all that for me, I’m just a beggar with nothing.”

The Abbot replied, “You gave everything you had, I see before me a sincere person with a good heart.”

Mila left the temple feeling grateful and fulfilled. From that day on, though she continued to be a beggar, she felt different, more at peace with herself.

A few months later, the whole nation was in mourning. The queen had passed away and the King was inconsolable. The royal ministers saw how unhappy the King was, so they suggested an outing, and the King agreed.

That afternoon, they arrived at a forest, and from afar saw a beam of light shining on a tree. As they got closer, they realized that the light shone on a lady sitting under the tree. The lady was Mila, sitting in meditation. Despite her ragged appearance, beauty flowed from her. The ministers told the King about Mila, and feeling sorry for her, the King decided to bring her back with him to the palace.

Back at the palace, Mila was given new clothes and lodgings. Feeling grateful, Mila would spend her time comforting the King with stories. As the months passed, the King fell in love with Mila and decided to marry her and crown her queen.

After becoming the queen, Mila reflected on her life’s journey and thought that she must have done something good in her past. Suddenly, she remembered the temple and the offering she had made.

The next day, she proposed to the king that she would go make an offering to the temple. The King agreed and asked his ministers to prepare ten wagons filled with offerings.

So, the queen traveled to the temple followed by the ten wagons of offerings. When she arrived, Mila was greeted by a monk. She nodded to him and went straight to the shrine. She waited only for a few minutes, but soon became irritated and said to the monk, “Where is the Abbot? In the past, when I came to offer a penny, the Abbot personally came to thank me. He even chanted and prayed for me and my family. Now I am the queen and come with enough offerings to fill ten wagons. The Abbot should have greeted me upon my arrival, but instead, I am greeted by a simple monk.”

The humble monk said, “I am very sorry, your majesty, our Abbot wanted me to deliver a message to you. In the past, you were a beggar, a penny was all you had. When you made that offering long ago, it was from your heart and utterly sincere. That kind of offering is worth more than anything. But today, though you come with ten wagons of offerings, you have also brought along your arrogance. In truth, this kind of offering means very little. There is no need for our Abbot to meet with you. A humble monk like me is more than good enough for the likes of you.”

This story highlights that the merit born from an act of generosity does not lie in the quantity given, instead it arises from our mindset and attitude when giving. Are we truly sincere and selfless at the moment of giving? Or are we selfish and self-centred, thinking only about the reward or what we gain in return? Just like Mila, when only a beggar she offered the only thing she had with utmost sincerity and respect. After becoming queen, she sought to offer with a discriminative and egotistical mind. It is important to remember that when we give, it must always be with our utmost sincerity and respect. This kind of selfless giving will always surpass all other forms of giving.

There is a saying, “A fragrant mind can spread in all directions.” This means that our mindset and attitude determine the results of our actions.

Just as Venerable Master Hsing Yun says,
“Contented people are rich.
Greedy people are poor.
Those who help are noble.
Those who desire much are degraded.”