The Bundle of Money on the Early Road and the Lesson of the Difficult Path

That morning, mist still clung to the rows of trees along the road. The biting cold air seeped into the skin, making Brother Tu's steps quicker than usual. He was an ordinary laborer, who spent the whole year plowing and digging to care for his small family. In his pocket at that moment, he had only a few small coins for cigarettes and a glass of iced black coffee each day.

Suddenly, his eyes stopped at a strange object lying abandoned in the middle of the deserted road. It was not trash or a broken branch, but a thick bundle of money, carefully bound with a rubber band. Brother Tu approached, his heart pounding in his chest. When he bent down to look closely, he realized they were five-hundred-thousand-dong banknotes, stacked high upon one another. Even a rough estimate came to five hundred million dong — a fortune that a lifetime of hard labor might never allow him to gather.

He stood frozen, his trembling hands rising to his mouth to cover his rapid breathing. Around him was complete silence, not a single passerby in sight. His natural instinct surged like rushing water, whispering powerfully: "Pick it up! Quickly! This is a gift from heaven. Whoever lost it, let it be. I have struggled all my life — now that I have a chance to change my life, why would I let it go?"

He glanced around one last time. Everything was frighteningly convenient. If he bent down now, stuffed the bundle into his loose jacket, and walked away as if he had seen nothing, no one would know, no one would blame him. A feeling of supreme delight rose within his mind. He imagined his wife and children eating well and dressing beautifully, his old shabby cottage replaced by a grand new house. His hand had already touched the bundle of money; the warmth of the banknotes spread to his fingertips, stirring the desire to possess.

But at that very moment, another voice arose — faint yet firm — from the depths of his conscience. It was the voice of reason, of the morality he had been taught since childhood. He thought of the person who had dropped this money. Five hundred million was no small sum. That person might be in despair, might need the money to save the life of a loved one, or to repay a bank loan and avoid having their property seized. Could their suffering compare with his own momentary joy?

Brother Tu withdrew his hand and sat down heavily on the curb, his mind spinning in a fierce inner battle. On one side was instant comfort and wealth; on the other was the lingering heaviness of keeping what was lost. He asked himself: "If I take it, can I live in peace with my conscience? Or will I lie awake each night, anxious, knowing that I built my happiness upon another's pain?"

After a long struggle, he stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes. Instead of hiding the bundle of money, he decided to bring it to the nearest ward police station. His steps felt much lighter than before, though a trace of regret still mingled with a strange serenity in his heart. He understood that this action was precisely "going against the current of life" — going against the easy, natural instinct of greed within human beings.

When he handed over the money, its owner turned out to be an elderly doctor who had just sold his land to donate toward building a school in a remote region. The doctor grasped Brother Tu's hand tightly, eyes brimming with tears: "Thank you. Without you, I don't know how I could have explained this to everyone. You have restored my faith."

Blessings from merit did not arrive immediately in the form of money, but they began to sprout in his soul. From then on, Brother Tu felt that life had more meaning, and his heart grew more open. He realized that choosing the difficult path — the path of reason and morality — though tiring at first, leads to lasting peace, far different from the easy path of instinct, which only draws us into the whirlpool of selfishness and suffering.

The Meaning of the Story

This story clearly illustrates the philosophy "Practice is going against the current of life," as taught by Venerable Thich Chan Quang. Going along with the current of life usually means following natural instinct: greed, selfishness, ingratitude, and laziness — things that are very easy to do but lead to painful outcomes. In contrast, reason and morality require us to resist instinct: to give generously when we find lost property, to remember kindness when we are helped, to be diligent when we wish to rest. Choosing this difficult path is precisely the way to accumulate great blessings from merit, purifying the heart and guiding it toward higher realms.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Venerable Thich Chan Quang