old-path-white-clouds-thich-nhat-hanh

Chapter Fifty-Eight
A Handful of Precious Earth
One day while out begging in a poor hamlet, the Buddha met some children playing on a dirt path. They were building a city from dirt and
sand, complete with a city wall, storehouse, dwellings, and even a river. When the children saw the Buddha and bhikkhus approaching, one
child said to the others, “The Buddha and bhikkhus are traveling past our city. It is only proper for us to make an offering to them.”
The other children liked the idea, but said, “What do we have to offer the Buddha? We’re only children.”
The first child answered, “Listen, my friends, there are great reserves of harvested rice in the storehouse of our city of dirt and sand. We
can offer some of it to the Buddha.”
The other children clapped their hands in delight. They dug out a handful of dirt from their storehouse and, pretending it was rice, placed
it on a leaf. The first child lifted the leaf in his two hands and respectfully knelt before the Buddha. The other children knelt beside him. He
said, “The people of our city respectfully offer this rice from our storehouse. We pray you will accept it.”
The Buddha smiled. He patted the boy on the head and said, “Thank you, children, for offering this precious rice to us. You are most
thoughtful.”
The Buddha turned to Ananda and said, “Ananda, please take this offering and as soon as we return to the monastery, we can mix it
with water and daub it on the earthen bricks of my hut.”
Ananda took the handful of earth. The children invited the Buddha to sit with them on a large rock beneath a nearby banyan tree.
Ananda and the other bhikkhus gathered around too.
The Buddha told the children a story:
“Many lives ago, there lived a prince named Visvantara. He was a very generous and kind-hearted man. He always shared with the poor
and needy, never hesitating to part with anything he owned. His wife, Madri, was equally generous. She knew how much pleasure it gave
her husband to help others, and she never expressed any regret about the things he gave away. They had a son named Jalin and a daughter
named Krishnajina.
“During a famine, Prince Visvantara asked his father’s permission to distribute rice and cloth from the imperial stores to the poor. The
king consented. So great was the people’s need that the stores were nearly exhausted. This caused alarm to a number of imperial advisors.
They wanted to devise a scheme that would prevent the prince from giving any more away. First they told the king that the prince’s
indiscriminate giving would be the ruin of the kingdom. They revealed that the prince had given away one of the treasured imperial
elephants. At this, even the king grew alarmed. He allowed his ministers to talk him into banishing his only son to the remote mountains of
Jayatura, where the prince would experience firsthand the hardships of a simple life. Thus, Visvantara, Madri, and the two children were
sent into exile.
“On their journey to the mountains, they met a poor beggar. The prince removed his fine jacket and gave it to the man. When they
encountered more poor people, Madri removed her own fine jacket and gave it to them. Before long, Jalin and Krishnajina had given away
their jackets, as well. The family also gave away their jewels and ornaments to needy people along the route. Before they reached the
mountains, they had given away everything they owned that could be traded for food. At last, the prince gave away even their carriage and
two horses. The prince carried Jalin, and Madri lifted Krishnajina into her arms. Without regrets, they walked until they reached Jayatura.
They walked and sang as though they didn’t have a care in the world. Their hearts felt light and free.
It was a long trek, and Visvantara and Madri’s feet were swollen and bloody by the time they made it to the remote mountains. They
were lucky to find an abandoned hut on the mountain slope. The hut had once belonged to a hermit. They swept and tidied the hut and
gathered leafy branches to make beds. In the forest, they found an ample supply of wild fruits and greens to eat. The children learned how
to gather food, wash clothes in a mountain spring, sow seeds, and tend a garden. The prince and his wife taught the children how to read
and write using large leaves for paper and thorns for pens.
“Though their life was difficult, they were content. For three years they lived in peace. But then one day when Prince Visvantara and
Madri were out gathering fruit deep in the forest, a stranger came and kidnapped the children. The prince and his wife searched for many
days throughout the forest and in nearby villages, but they could not find a trace of their beloved children.
“Finally, exhausted and discouraged, they returned to their hut, hoping against hope that the children might have returned there on their
own. Instead, they were surprised to meet one of the king’s messengers waiting for them. They were greatly relieved when he informed
them that Jalin and Krishnajina were safe at the palace with the king. When they asked how the children came to be there, the messenger