*A GIFT OF LOVE IS NEVER LITTLE

Key ideas: Buddhism, Sacrifice, Humility

Long ago in India, there lived a great teacher - we call him Buddha now - who was wonderfully loving, wise and good. Millions of people in Asia love and honour him still as God. In China there are great temples and in them stand images of gold and silver and bronze of Buddha, the wise teacher who knew and taught so much about love and gentleness.

One of these images stands in a very old temple in a town called Lin-Hsien in China. It is a very tall figure of bronze, nearly ten feet high and on its breast is a copper coin. The coin is not valuable, for sixty such coins make about one-half new pence. So you see it is worth very little indeed. But there is a story about it which Buddha himself would have loved to tell.

There was once a little slave-girl named Ya-teo who lived in the house of the rich merchant. Liu-Teh-Jong. She worked as a slave because her father and mother were poor. She worked all day as she was told. She had food to eat, clothes to wear and a mat to sleep on. Many people had hardly any of these things so Ya-teo did not think she had anything to be sorry for. Nobody loved her or kissed her or played with her; nobody told her stories at night or gave her money to buy sweets and toys. Little Ya-teo had nothing of her own in all the world.

But one day she found something she could really keep as her own. It rolled away when she was sweeping the yard. Ya-teo ran and picked it up as if it were a gold coin. It was only a copper coin. Someone had dropped it in crossing the yard and perhaps had not even cared to look for it; it was worth so little. But it seemed like a whole fortune to Ya‑teo, who had never had anything of her own before. She rubbed it as clean as she could on her blue cotton jacket. It seems very little to us but it was a great deal to Ya-teo.

One day, all the household of Liu-Teh-Jong was called together to listen to a young priest from the great temple of Lin-Hsien. All came - Liu-Teh-Jong and his sons, the ladies of the house, the servants, even the little slave girl - all gathered together to hear what the young priest had to say. He talked to them of Buddha, the beloved.

Everyone listened gladly, for all knew of Buddha, of his gentleness, his wisdom and his goodness. Then the priest told them that a grand statue of the great teacher was to be set up in the temple of Lin-Hsien. He asked for their gifts and everyone gave willingly. The ladies of the household gave gold and silver ornaments, rings, combs and bracelets. The master of the house gave precious vessels and gold and silver money; the servants gave silver and copper coins, and Ya-teo said happily to herself, "I can give too!". She held out her precious coin to the priest and said, "It is mine to give. I found it when I swept the yard".

Instead of taking it, the young priest shook his head as if he disliked it. "Should I put a dirty copper coin with that for the image of Lord Buddha?" he said pointing to the shining heap of treasure that lay before him. And he gathered it up and went away to the temple of Lin‑Hsien without another word to Ya-teo.

The young priest went proudly back with his precious load. Other priests came also, bringing more and more treasure and soon all that was needed had been gathered together. Then the metal for the statue was melted and poured into the mould and set to cool, but when the mould was taken away, it as seen that the statue was marked with ugly lines and patches. "The metal is badly mixed", said the priests and they melted it again, more carefully still. Once more it was poured into the mould but this time too it was spoiled.

Then the head priest called the priests together and asked about the gifts they had brought. "Was all done in love and kindness?" he asked. "For only love must go to the making of the image of him who taught us of love".

When it came to the turn of the young priest, he confessed how he had refused the dirty coin offered by the little slave-girl.

"My son", said the priest, "that was not well done. She loved and gave all she had; none could do more. There can be no greater gift. How do as I tell you. Return and humbly accept it, for there is need of Ya-teo's gift". So the young priest went back to the house of Liu-Teh-Jong and to Ya-teo's great surprise, she was sent for and told that he had come to ask humbly for the treasure which she had offered and which he had refused. She gave it joyfully.

The priest returned and once more the metal was melted and poured into the mould and last of all the coin was dropped in also. When the mould was taken away, there stood the great statue - fair, smiling and perfect. On its breast, just over the heart, was the copper coin, Ya‑teo's gift, no longer dull and dirty but fair and smiling too!

Ya-teo was very glad to know this and after that many people were kind to her. She was not a lonely little slave-girl any more.

From: Religion in the Multi-Faith School

Ed. W. Owen Cole