Chanting at a Discount

A son who had lost his father went to the temple to ask Chan Master Foguang to chant sutras for his father’s liberation. The Master prepared offerings of incense, flowers, and vegetarian fruits, then began chanting sutras for the departed.

The filial son, however, was fixated on the cost, and kept asking Master Foguang how much it would cost to have one volume of the Amitabha Sutra chanted. Displeased by the son’s tightfisted attitude, the Master replied bluntly:

"Chanting one volume of the Amitabha Sutra costs ten taels of silver."

Unconvinced, the son started to haggle:

"Master, ten taels is far too much! Could you not offer a 20% discount? Eight taels, would that work?"

The Master nodded. "Very well."

As the chanting ritual proceeded, the son overheard the Master murmuring the dedication under his breath:

"All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, please dedicate all the merits from today’s sutra chanting to the departed, that he may be reborn in the Eastern World."

The filial son protested:

"That’s not right, Master! I’ve only ever heard that after death, one is reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss — never the Eastern World!"

The Master replied:

"Rebirth in the Western Pure Land is ten taels of silver. Since you insisted on a 20% discount, the only option left is the Eastern World."

With no other option, the son said:

"I’ll add two more taels. Please let my father be reborn in the Western Pure Land after all!"

Just then, the deceased in the coffin could hold his tongue no longer, and shouted at his son:

"You worthless son! All just to save two taels of silver, you’ve got your old man bouncing back and forth between East and West — I’m worn out from all this running!"

The Dharma is not a commodity, and should never be haggled over like a routine business deal. The Buddhist scriptures teach: When the field of the heart and the nature of the act of giving differ, merit varies in its quality. The same offering of ten coins (the act of giving) can yield wildly different results depending on the worthiness of the recipient (the field of merit) and the sincerity of one’s intention (the state of the heart). The Dharma is beyond price: the magnitude of one’s merit cannot be measured by the amount of money given. Only the sincerity and scope of one’s aspiration can determine the true quality of one’s merit.