There was a married woman who made pancakes for her family; she would always make an extra serving for hungry passer-by too. She would place the extra pancake on the outer side of the windowsill for the passer-by to help himself or herself to a servin
Everyday, an old hunchback would come to grab that piece of pancake. He had never once expressed gratitude but instead was always muttering to himself as he left with the pancakes, “All evil done will remain by your side. All good deeds done will return to your side.”
Day after day, the old hunchback repeatedly took the pancake and unceasingly muttered, “All evil done will remain by your side. All good deeds done will return to your side.”
After hearing this repeatedly, the woman turned a little vexed.
"Not even a word of thanks!” The woman said to herself, “This old man keeps muttering the same thing to himself. What does he mean by that?!"
One day, she was burning with anger and was very determine to get rid of the old man. “It seems that I must completely get rid of this old hunch back,” she thought to herself. Guess what she did then? She laced the pancake with poison!
Just when she was about to put the pancake on the windowsill, her hands began to tremble. “What am I doing ?!”
Immediately, she threw the pancake into the fire, made a brand new pancake and placed it on the windowsill. As usual, the old man came and took the pancake while muttering the same phrase, “All evils done will remain by your side. All good deeds done will return to your side.”
When doing so, the old man was in a very happy mood, without realizing that the woman was actually struggling to keep her composure.
Actually, whenever the woman placed the pancake on the windowsill, she would offer a prayer, hoping that her son who was in a distant place would return home safely as she had not heard from him for several months.
That night, the woman heard a sound at the door. When she opened the door, she was surprised to find her son in rags standing there looking very thin, famished and debilitated.
When her son saw her, he said, “Mom, it is a miracle that I am standing here now. When I was a mile away from home, I was so hungry that I collapsed onto the ground. I thought I would certainly die there and then. Just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged him for something to eat even if it was just crumbs. He was so kind-hearted that he gave me a whole pancake! As he gave me the pancake, he told me that was what he ate everyday. He decided to give the pancake to me since he felt I was more in need of it.”
The woman’s face turned pale after hearing this. She leaned against the door to support herself. Her mind wandered back to the poisonous pancake she had made that morning. Had she not thrown it into the fire, the pancake would have ended up in her son’s stomach. That would undoubtedly have killed her son.
It was then that she came to understand the meaning of the phrase, “All evils done will remain by your side. All good deeds done will return to your side.”
The moral of the story is - Do good deeds! Do not give up or stop doing good deeds under any circumstances, even if those good deeds are not appreciated or accepted. You reap what you sow. This is the simplest principle of the law of cause and consequences. Everything that happens is of our own creation. When we treat the world with a benevolent heart, we will be blessed. When we treat the world with a malevolent heart, we will receive suffering. - Master Jin Bodhi
[付出什么，得到什么]
一个妇人给全家人煎薄饼吃，她总是多煎一个，留给饥饿的路人。
她将多余的薄饼放到窗台外边，凭谁路过自取。每天，一个驼背老汉都来取走它。但，他不仅不感恩， 还会在离开时自言自语底咕哝：...
“所做之恶，留在身边，
所做之善，回到身边。”
这样日复一日，驼背老汉拿了薄饼，嘟囔着“所做之恶，留在身边， 所做之善，回到身边。”就离开了。 妇人有些恼火。
“连个谢字都没有！”她自言自语到。“这老驼背每天哼叽着这些， 他到底是什么意思？！”
终于有一天，她怒火中烧， 决心摆脱他。“看来我必须彻底甩掉这个老驼背”。然后她做了什么？ 她在薄饼里下了毒！
就在她准备把薄饼放到窗台上时，她的手开始发抖。“我这是在做什么？”她立刻将薄饼投到火里烧掉， 重新做了一张，放到窗台上。驼背老汉如常来到，如常取走了饼，如常哼到：“所做之恶，存留身边， 所做之善，回到身边。”
他这样做的时候，十分地快活，根本没有意识到妇人脑海里翻江倒海的挣扎。
其实，每次妇人将薄饼放在窗台时， 她都会献上一个祈祷——－为她在远方谋生的儿子。儿子一连几个月音信全无。她祈祷儿子能平安归来。
那天晚上， 有扣门声。打开门， 她惊奇地发现儿子站在门廊。儿子很瘦，衣服像碎布条似的，他饿坏了， 虚弱不堪。
看见母亲， 他说到： “妈，我能站在这里是个奇迹。在离家一英里远的地方，我饿得昏倒在地。我肯定是要死了。这时， 一个驼背老人路过。我求他给我一小块能吃的东西，哪怕是些碎屑。他好心地给了我一整张薄饼！”
“给我饼时，他说：‘这是我每天的食物，今天我把它给你，因为你更需要它。’”
听到这里， 妇人脸色苍白，她靠在门上，支撑住自己，想到了早上她做的那张下了毒的薄饼。如果她没有投到火里烧掉，那么吃掉毒饼的就是她的儿子。 儿子必死无疑。
直到这时，她才明白了这些字的含义：
“所做之恶，留在身边， 所做之善，回到身边。”
这个故事的寓意是：
行善！不要在任何情况下放弃或停止行善，即便这些善行一时间并没有得到赞赏或悦纳。
付出什么，得到什么。这是最简单的因果道理。
一切都是自己创造的，用善心对待世界便得幸福，用恶心对待世界便得痛苦。——金菩提禅师
More information available at:
1) Master Jin Bodhi Facebook
2) Official Bodhi Meditation Website
