The Poor Woman Who Cultivated Merit

In the late afternoon, pale golden sunlight filtered through an old corrugated tin roof in a poor laborers’ neighborhood, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. Inside a tiny home of just a few square meters, Sister Lan sat huddled by her knees beside a meal consisting only of pickled eggplant and cold rice. Her stomach growled with hunger, yet she had no appetite. Past forty years of age, she had long grown accustomed to poverty that had clung to her since childhood.

Sister Lan worked odd jobs: sometimes mixing cement, sometimes carrying heavy loads. On some days, she skipped breakfast to save money for her children’s medicine. Her husband had left long ago, leaving her with two young children. Many nights she lay awake, wondering why her life was filled with such suffering (dukkha). Then one day, a neighbor invited her to the temple to listen to a dharma talk. She sat at the back of the hall, listening as the teacher explained cause and effect (karmic law), describing how stinginess or destroying others’ property in past lives leads to poverty in this one.

Suddenly, Sister Lan remembered an incident from her youth. In a fit of anger over a fence dispute, she had chopped down her neighbor’s entire fruit orchard. At that time, she thought only of her own rage, never considering their suffering. Hearing the teaching now, she realized: “So my poverty is due to the karma I created.” Tears rolled down her gaunt cheeks.

After the dharma talk, she sought out the teacher, speaking with a choked voice. “Venerable sir, I am so poor, eating only when food is available. You say I must cultivate merit to transform my karma, but what can I offer? I cannot even provide adequately for my two children.”

The teacher looked at her with a warm, low voice. “Precisely because you are poor, you need to cultivate merit. It is easy for the rich to give, but their merit is small. It is difficult for the poor to give, but their merit is great. Do not wait until you are wealthy, for then you will lose the sincere heart you have now.”

Sister Lan fell silent, and a determination unlike any before arose in her mind/heart. She thought, “I am truly poor, but I still have health and these hands. I can skip one meal to help someone else.”

The next day, she joined the temple’s volunteer group. Seeing her poverty, some people hesitated. “Sister Lan, you are so poor, yet you want to do good deeds? Let others handle it,” they said.

She smiled, her eyes steady. “I am poor, but I can contribute my labor. I have no money, but I have time and strength.”

She began cooking charity porridge, cleaning the temple, and caring for lonely elderly people. On days when rain poured heavily and roads were slippery, she still pedaled her bicycle to those in need. Sometimes she skipped lunch to save a packet of noodles for an old woman. When people saw her hardship and urged her to rest, she simply replied, “I am very happy. I feel useful.”

A year later, a charity organization visited the neighborhood to distribute gifts to poor households. When they arrived at Sister Lan’s home, they were surprised that she did not accept the gift. Instead, she asked them to pass it on to a family in greater need. “I have enough,” she said. “I have rice every day and a place to sleep. There are many who suffer more than I do.”

The miracle was that from the day she learned to give, her life felt lighter. The anxiety and fear that once plagued her faded. Her children became more obedient, and her health improved. She remained poor, but it was a poverty filled with joy and hope. She understood she was planting good seeds for the future.

Years passed, and people still saw Sister Lan quietly engaged in charitable work. She was not wealthy, but she possessed a peace that money could not buy. She often told those in similar circumstances, “Do not wait until you are rich to cultivate merit. Do good deeds right in the midst of difficulty, for that is when your merit is greatest.”

The Meaning of the Story

The lesson Venerable Thich Chan Quang wishes to convey is this: Although it is difficult for the poor to cultivate merit, the blessings from merit they receive are greater than those of the rich. This is because the effort and perseverance required to overcome hardship multiply the value of the good deed. Do not wait for perfect conditions to begin doing good; instead, strive to cultivate merit immediately within your scarcity to transform your karmic forces.

Compiled from the dharma talk of Venerable Thich Chan Quang