The Greatest Gift

A married lady was expecting a birthday gift from her husband. For many months she had admired a beautiful diamond ring, and knowing her husband could afford it, she told him that was what she wanted. As her birthday approached, the lady waited anxiously, confident that her husband had purchased the diamond ring. Finally, on the morning of her birthday, her husband called her. Her husband told her how proud he was to have such a good wife, and told her how much he loved her. He handed her a beautifully wrapped gift. Hmmm, this is way too big for a Ring, she thought! Impatiently, the wife opened the wrapper and found a copy of the Dhammapada! Angrily, she raised her voice to her husband and said, 'With all your money you give me a copy of the Dhammapada?' And she stormed out of the house, leaving her husband. Many years passed and the lady had a new family, but she realized her ex-husband was old, and thought perhaps she should visit him. She had not seen him for many years. But before she could make arrangements, she received a telegram telling her that her ex-husband had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to her. She needed to go immediately and take care of things. When she arrived at her ex-husband's house, sadness and regret filled her heart. She began to look through her ex-husband's belongings and saw the copy of the Dhammapada, just as she had left it years before. With tears, she opened the book and began to turn the pages. Her ex-husband had carefully highlighted a verse, Verse 354: The gift of the Dhamma excels all gifts; the taste of the Dhamma excels all tastes; delight in the Dhamma excels all delights. The eradication of Craving overcomes all ills As she read those words, a tiny container dropped from the back of the packaging. It had a diamond ring, with her name engraved on it -- the same diamond ring which she saw at the showroom. On the tag was the date of her birth, and the words. 'LOVE YOU'. How many times do we miss blessings, because they are not packaged as we expected? Please Pass this on to other brothers and sisters. Do not spoil what you have, by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you hoped for. ''The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.''

Anyone wants a copy of the Dhammapada for your loved ones? I can give you mine!