One day, Buddha passed a respected philanthropist's house fortuity.

The master was not at home.

He glanced around that sumptuous house. Everything was very cozy and grandiose.

There placed a chaise longue next to the hall.

The master raised some dogs. He specifically doted on one dog very much.

They enjoyed each other's company always. It would be filled with joy whenever the master came home.

Normally, the people were not allowed to sit on the chaise longue, but that dog.

The dog could sit on it for meals every day.

It was fed with the good food in a very nice bowl too.

The dog was having meal when Buddha just walked pass.

It jumped down from the longue and barked fiercely.

Buddha could not get near, but said, ‘What a niggardly nerd. You had never learned in your previous life and

you still carry the bad habit into this life.’ Buddha left, then.

The dog was very depressed after listening to Buddha. It lay on the floor silently.

The master came home later. The dog did not welcome him as it used to.

He tried to stroke and called its name, the dog still lay there like a stone.

It even lost its appetite at last.

The master asked the maid for the reason why.

The maid reported the recent happenings.

He could not figure it out.

The very worried master went to see Buddha at once.

He asked, ‘Merciful Buddha. What had you done to my dog? Why did you make my dog so unhappy?’

Buddha replied, ‘That dog, about which you are so concerned was your father in his pre-existence.

It is fond of you very much. This is natural!’

He was dumbfounded and confused for awhile.

Then he asked, ‘Can you prove it?’

Buddha said, ‘He persisted in the bad habit as an extremely miser with all his life.

He feared his property would be lost when you were just a child.

So, he had buried a lot of gold and jewels somewhere.

But, his strong thoughts had never let go after death.

Somehow, he reincarnated as a dog and was born in your house.

That’s the reason why it adores you very much since it was a puppy.

The chaise longue location is where he usually sat in his pre-existence.

Hence, that dog always occupies the seat.

If you don’t believe in what I said, go to ask the dog where the hidden treasure is!’

He squatted down to stroke the dog gently and said, ‘If you really were my father,

show me where the hidden treasure is, please!’

The dog kept sniffing under the chaise longue and began to scratch on the tiles floor.

Seeing the dog acted like that, he was dubious about its strange behavior.

He ordered the servants to remove the chaise longue aside.

Then, they dug the floor carefully.

As a result, ten big boxes of gold bars and jewels were found three feet beneath the ground.

‘That’s pathetic, sad and terrible!’ he sighed with tears in his eyes.

He continued, ‘My father was a niggard when he was alive and even dead.

Eventually he reincarnated as a dog in order to defend his property.

The persistence of greed is truly ungraceful!’

He told the dog, ‘Father, we are only the passenger in the journey of life.

No matter how much we have possessed, we should know when to let go.

The happiness belongs to the one who is content.

If we do not have a good control of our minds, once they are deeply formed by the bad habit.

It not only exists in this life. It will be taken into the afterlife.

Ultimately we will become slaves forever.

Father, I will donate your property to help the needy.’

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The persistence is likened to a lock. The greed is likened to a key.

Even if the soul departs from his body, the obstacles of karma will pass on to afterlife.

That means the lock and the key will be entangled through generations.

We all come naked and go back with bare hands.

Nothing we can take with us when the time comes.

A divinely brilliant life has no regret when DEATH comes along.
And you say," Yes, I'm well prepared! "