Three Coins

**Summary:** A story of a teacher who realizes that the merit of guiding beings is like "three coins" – small yet enough to sustain life and sow good conditions across lifetimes.

One evening at the temple, pale golden sunlight stretched across the moss-covered tile roofs. In the guest room, an elderly teacher was conversing with a few lay Buddhists. Suddenly, a middle-aged woman spoke up:

"Venerable sir, I listened to your disc recording and practiced the qigong method you taught. My leg pain has not returned since. I am deeply grateful to you!"

The teacher smiled gently, his eyes reflecting thoughtful depth. He recalled an old story about a martial arts master who wrote books on the subject. People would ask him:

"Oh my, teacher, you’ve written so many books, you must be very wealthy, right?"

The martial artist would shake his head with a sad smile.

"Not at all. For each book sold, I only receive three coins."

Three coins – a meager sum, yet it left a deep impression on the teacher's mind. Since ordaining and teaching the Dharma everywhere, he came to realize something: whenever someone hears the teachings and is inspired to do good—whether by building a bridge, repairing a road—their merit is vast, like a great inheritance. But when they meet the teacher, they offer perhaps three sticks of incense—precisely the "three coins" the teacher receives from his efforts in guiding others.

Gazing at his steaming cup of tea, the teacher reflected inwardly: "So it seems, I live on that tiny blessing from merit. It is minuscule, not much at all." Yet this modest blessing from merit is the invisible thread connecting him to beings. Through a piece of health advice, a qigong exercise, or a sincere suggestion, people grow fond of him and remember him. That good condition may not blossom in this life, but three or four lifetimes later, it may suddenly bloom like a flower.

He recalled another story about a teacher in the western region. People said his teachings were ordinary, and many others knew more. Yet followers gathered around him like ants, utterly devoted. Someone once asked:

"Why do people like him so much, even though he teaches so ordinarily?"

It was said this was a condition from a past life. In that former life, he had been an official or a king who had served the people so much that the people’s affection remained in their hearts. In this life, he became a religious teacher, and those very people from the past were reborn and came to seek him out as disciples. Similarly, there were healers in the past who would carry their medicine chests through forests and streams to treat the sick and poor. They took no money, accepted no gifts, and simply came and went quietly. Seven lifetimes later, when such a healer renounced the world, all those former patients found him again to take refuge and become disciples.

The teacher sighed softly, looking out at the quiet temple courtyard. He understood that even though it was just "three coins," every word, every small action, sows a wholesome seed in the hearts of beings. That seed may lie dormant in the earth for many years, but when the season comes, it will sprout. And when it does, the good conditions he once planted in past lives will bloom and bear fruit, drawing beings closer to the shore of enlightenment.

As the afternoon waned and the sunlight faded completely, the teacher rose and stepped onto the temple porch, his heart light and at peace. He thought to himself: "Even if it is only three coins, if I can sow a little good condition each day, then life after life, I will always be present to support and uplift beings."

**Meaning of the Story**

A bodhisattva uses every means, however small, to create good connections with beings. Every piece of advice, every helpful action, creates a thread of karmic connection that may blossom in a future life. Do not underestimate small deeds, for it is these very seeds that nourish the bodhisattva's heart and bring beings closer to the path.

*Compiled from a Dharma talk by Venerable Thích Chân Quang.*