Ven. Sivali's amazing karma: $$$ (video)

Ven. Suddhaso (Empty Cloud Monastery, New Jersey); text: Bhikkhu Bodhi, Dana: The Practice of Giving (BPS Wheel #367, accesstoinsight.org); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Ven. Sivali with goldleaf gilding, Wat Ban Kham Pho (Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand) Luang Phor Sommai: He is a "wealth catcher" for businessmen (Reiki Dreamcrafts)

Sivali Paritta with Bhante Suddhaso

(Buddhist Insights) Streamed live on April 14, 2022, Bhante Suddhaso translates the Sīvali Paritta or "Protective Chant" from Pāli into English and explains the meaning of this popular incantation. To learn more about Buddhist Insights: linktr.ee/buddhistinsights.

Sīvali, a monk in the Buddha's time

(Bhikkhu Bodhi) The story of Sivali in the Dhammapada Commentary [2] is an example of the great merit that even a small gift can yield when presented to the Sangha (monastic community) led by the Buddha.

At the time of Vipassi Buddha, the citizens of a country were competing with their king to see who could make the greatest offering to the Buddha and Sangha.

The citizens had obtained everything for their offering except fresh honey, and they sent out messengers, each with plenty of money, to buy the missing ingredient.

One of these men met a villager who happened to be bringing a newly harvested honeycomb into the city for sale. The messenger was only able to buy it from the peasant when he had offered his entire allowance of a thousand pieces of money, which was far more than a single honeycomb was worth.

The peasant asked, "Are you crazy?... This honey isn't worth a coin, but you offer me a thousand pieces of money for it? What is the explanation for this?"

The buyer told him that the honey was worth so much to him because it was the final item on the menu for the citizens' offering to the Buddha. The peasant spontaneously replied, "If that's the case, I will not sell it to you. If I receive the merit of the offering, I will give it to you."

The citizens were impressed with the faith of this man who so readily gave up a windfall and enthusiastically agreed that he should receive the merit of the offering.

Because of this simple gift at the time of the Vipassi Buddha, the villager was reborn numerous times in celestial planes and the became the prince who inherited the throne of Benares.

In his final lifetime, he became the Elder Sivali and attained full enlightenment as a disciple of the Shakyamuni (the Buddha Gautama). Even after that, his gift of the honeycomb continued to bear fruit.

To honor the one who had made the sweet gift aeons before, the devas provided lodging and food for the Buddha and a large number of monastics, including Sivali, when for several days they had been walking along a deserted road.

The practice of giving is also beneficial when directed to someone who is not spiritually advanced. If the donor's intention is good, then even though the receiver is immoral, the donor will earn merit and further, by his act of giving, he will strengthen within himself his own disposition to renunciation. \

A gift mentally offered to the noble Sangha but physically presented to a monk who is morally corrupt will still bear great fruit. To be sure, we should not pretend that a bad person is good, but we must be most careful of our own attitude while giving, as our attitude is the factor over which we have most control. Dana: The Practice of Giving (accesstoinsight.org)