A Millionaire’s Secret – Give A Piece Of Straw

January 27, 2010

A rich man born out of giving!

Given below is a mythological story from Japan about the beauty of giving to others and it tells us how we can receive the most perfect gifts when we’re giving and grateful of what we own.

Here is the story.

A long time ago, there lived a penniless young farmer. Nothing that he did turned out to be profitable. He was completely impoverished without any money, without anyone to help and nothing to eat. One night, totally at his wit’s end, he went to a shrine and sat near the altar and pleaded to Gods to show him what to do.

“I have always been sincere and industrious, but all my industriousness never became beneficial to me. Where have I gone wrong?”

He fell asleep besides the altar just after having asking his question. In the morning, as he was waking up, he saw one of the Gods in his dream surrounded by a blinding golden light. The God’s voice echoed through his mind.

“When you wake up in the morning, cherish what you have in your hand and go on giving it to others liberally as you proceed,” the God commanded.

The farmer was brimming with questions when he woke up but he tried to shake off his sleep and clear his mind of the strange but clear dream he had. However, he saw a bit of a straw in his hand. It must have remained on his clothes while he worked in his fields.

He nearly dropped it to the ground, but stopped for a moment remembering what the God said. He sat down again. And looked at the straw.

He sat for a while unable to comprehend what all that meant. He did not know how a piece of straw can turn out to be useful. Then he saw a wasp hovering around. After a while the wasp settled on one end of his straw. He caught it and with the help of a thread from his clothes, tied it to the straw. And with a wasp at the end of his straw, he went on his way.

He had gone a little way when he found a small boy and his mother coming towards him from the other end of the road. The boy was weeping. When he said hello to the boy, the child noticed the straw that the man had with a wasp at one end. He stopped his weeping and wanted to have the straw. The farmer was hesitant to give it but then he remembered that God had asked him to value what we owned and also give it to others profusely. So he gave the straw to the boy. The mother was relieved as the boy stopped crying when he got the straw and the wasp. In return she gave the man three tangerines.

The farmer moved on. As he proceeded, he felt hungry. He was about to eat the tangerines when he again remembered that what was important was giving things to others, not giving it to himself.

As he went over a steep hill, he saw a merchant sitting down on the ground by a tree. Next to him was a wooden box. The farmer said hello to the merchant. He seemed to be exhausted. The merchant saw the tangerines in the farmer’s hand and asked if he minded giving him the tangerines. He said he was so thirsty.

The farmer was as thirsty as the trader as he had been walking for long on that hot day. Nevertheless, he offered the tangerines to the trader, who then ate all the three tangerines and felt recharged. He felt very happy about the help rendered to him and opened the wooden box that was by his side. Inside the box were rolls of silk that was dyed with hand. The merchant gifted the farmer one roll and proceeded on his way.

So off the farmer went again following the path. He found a stream along the way and he took a deep drink making him feel totally refreshed. Life seemed to be easier and was flowing now.

He walked for some more time but did not come across anyone else. He felt that the silk might be that which would bring him something good. So he chose to go to a town in the vicinity and trade the fabric.

And just when he turned the corner, he saw a group of warriors. One of the warriors who seemed to be the leader was standing by a horse lying on the ground. The farmer heard the voice of the warrior talking to his followers.

“This horse is not likely to live long. We will have to abandon it here. Just look after it and follow me.” Saying this, he climbed on to another horse and rode off and disappeared.

The other warriors were left talking to each other about what to do. They did not want to kill the horse but there seemed to be no other choice. One of them finally drew his sword.

The farmer pleaded with them not to do that. He said he was ready to look after the animal. He said they can have the bolt of silk for letting him care for the horse. They agreed to the deal and left the place quickly.

With the dying horse by his side, the farmer just remained there. He wondered if he had done things wrongly and whether he would never become rich. Suddenly he remembered the river he had seen on the way.

He immediately went back to the stream, took off his shirt and soaked it in the fresh water so he could give water to horse. He returned to the horse still lying there on the ground. The farmer squeezed the wet cloth over the horse’s mouth. Very soon the horse began to respond and regained its consciousness, so the farmer pulled it up with all his might.

The horse finally stood up on its legs so the farmer could take the horse to the stream. As the horse took more water and ate some fresh green grass around the stream, it soon began to regain strength.

So now the farmer owned the horse! The man and the animal traveled together, and the farmer had to run as the horse led the way. They traveled together for miles. Finally, as the sun was setting, the horse came to a halt in front of a big house. The animal pushed the farmer towards the gate when he finally drew level with it.

As the farmer made his way to the gate, all of a sudden the gate opened and an old man was standing there. The man looked drawn and he was hastening out onto the road. The old man took notice of the farmer as well as the animal standing nearby.

The man queried the farmer what he wanted. The farmer replied that he was in need of a place to retire for the night. The old man in his turn said that he had to go to the town on an important matter and requested the farmer to be in charge of the house till such time that he returned. He said that his returning might get delayed.

The old man looked as if he was in a hurry, so the farmer told him he can take his horse. The old man was very grateful about it and immediately left with the horse. As he left, he said something totally unexpected to the farmer.

“If I do not come back in three years’ time, this house belongs to you.”

As you possibly deduced, the old man did not come back.

The farmer stayed in the big house for the remainder of his life with a land that yielded a rich harvest and had friendly neighbours. And he always remembered to give away whatever he had.

I am grateful to you for reading this story. And how did you feel about it?

Perhaps there is a secret to things. When we can turn the business of getting into the business of giving, our life gushes forward with greater plentitude. Still it might not be easy to incorporate into practical life this age old wisdom.

Here are some of the interesting distinctions we can find in this story :

* When we are ready to give what others need, they will consider it more valuable than while we are trying to ‘trade’ it (as basically we are always hopeful of getting something out of that transaction), as then they only consider the price we ask for and tend to pay less.

* When we are not possessive of whatever we have, we will perceive that we thereby have more chances as we can release the existing possessions.

* When life seems to deal us a bad hand, instead of focusing on the problem if instead we focused on giving and caring, life seems to end up bringing better luck later.

* When we try to encash what we have created, believing that “this is the maximum it will bring”, as we think we might be the loser if it is not turned into cash, our life will stagnate. Instead of that, we should continue to give liberally whatever we have got and however wealthy we are or we are not.

Giving is part of many successful people’s lives. When we give first, we have more chance of living a life of magnificence, ease and expansion.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing. This and other unique content ’cause marketing’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

Filed under Family & Home · Tags: BOGO, Business, cause marketing, charity, Children, Family, Family & Home, giving, spirituality, stories, women

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A Millionaire’s Secret – Give A Piece Of Straw

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