A Poor Man Who Knew to Accumulate Blessings from Merit

The late afternoon sun cast a pale golden light over the red dirt road. A gaunt man, shoulders heavy under the burden of a carrying pole, trudged slowly home from the fields. He was a hired laborer. Every day was the same; the ten or twenty thousand dong he earned was just enough to buy rice for his meals. He had no land, no garden, only his two hands and a sincere heart.

But from the day he heard the Buddha’s teachings on cause and effect, a new horizon opened before him. He understood his poverty was due to creating little merit in past lives, not knowing generosity, and sometimes wasting resources. He did not complain or feel resentment. He simply thought, “I failed to accumulate blessings in the past; in this life, I must try to make up for it.”

From then on, every day after work, he set aside half an hour to repair the road. One day he would fill a chicken pothole near the gate, the next he would level a bumpy section. Sometimes in the rain, on the slippery path, he would still intently gather stones to fill the ruts. Neighbors saw this, and some laughed, saying:

“You’re a laborer, just focus on earning your keep. Why tire yourself out with other people’s business?”

He would only smile gently, wiping his mud-stained hands.

“I am accumulating merit. The Buddha taught that we reap what we sow. By repairing the road for others, I too will walk a blessed path.”

People shook their heads, thinking him foolish. But he didn’t mind. He also saved two thousand dong each day from his meager wages. At the end of the week, having gathered over ten thousand, he would buy a little rice and bring it to an elderly neighbor who was poorer than himself. The old woman would take the bag of rice with trembling hands, her eyes glistening.

“Child, you are so poor yourself, yet you still care for me. I am so grateful to you!”

“Please don’t say that. I may be poor, but I know I still have blessings compared to you. The Buddha taught that what we give is ours forever, while what we hoard is ultimately lost.”

Day after day, he continued living this way. Some called him foolish, others pitied his gentle nature. But strangely, ever since he began cultivating merit, his heart felt light and at ease. No matter how hard the labor, he no longer sighed in complaint. In the evenings, he would light an incense stick, sit in mindfulness of the Buddha, and feel a wondrous sense of peace.

Three years passed. One morning, a car stopped before his house. A well-dressed man stepped out, looked around, and made inquiries. It turned out he was the owner of a large farm in the next province. He had seen the well-repaired road while passing by and, upon asking, learned it was this man’s doing. Moved by the heart of a poor man who cared for the common good, he invited him to oversee the farm, offering good wages and decent housing.

The man stood frozen, tears rolling down his gaunt cheeks. He silently thanked the Buddha and the teachings that had transformed his life. From then on, his circumstances gradually improved. He never forgot his days of hardship, often helping his neighbors, still repairing roads, and giving in charity. People began to hold him in affection, calling him by a tender name: “Mr. Ba of the Merit.”

The Meaning of the Story

The lesson that the Venerable Thích Chân Quang wishes to impart: A poor person without blessings must know how to create them. Deeply believing in the law of cause and effect, diligently doing good, accumulating bit by bit—no matter how small—then after just three years, five years, or ten years, a life will be transformed. Do not be impatient or discouraged, for no good deed brings its fruit immediately. Be patient like a farmer sowing seeds; the harvest season will come.

Compiled from a dharma talk by the Venerable Thích Chân Quang