A hundred cauldrons of rice
Today, give one brief moment of goodwill your full attention, as if it were a large gift.
- Read · about 2 minutes
“Mendicants, suppose one person was to give a gift of a hundred cauldrons of rice in the morning, at midday, and in the evening. And someone else was to develop a heart of love, even just as long as it takes to pull a cow’s udder. The latter would be more fruitful.So you should train like this:‘We will develop the heart’s release by love. We’ll cultivate it, make it our vehicle and our basis, keep it up, consolidate it, and properly implement it.’That’s how you should train.”SN 20.4 · “Cauldrons” · tr. Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0)
From the text
The passage compares giving a hundred cauldrons of rice three times a day with developing a heart of love for as long as it takes to pull a cow's udder, and says the latter is more fruitful. It then says to train in developing the heart's release by love, cultivating it and keeping it up.
In everyday life
A cauldron is a large cooking pot, so a hundred of them three times a day is an enormous gift. The passage does not say giving is worthless; it sets it beside something else and says the second is more fruitful. That something is small: a heart of love for as long as it takes to milk a cow. 'The heart's release by love' you can take as goodwill so complete that ill will has no room in it. The scale of the comparison is the point. A few seconds of real goodwill, while the kettle boils or a bus pulls in, is not a small thing in this passage. Today's sit is about arriving. When the body has settled, let the last part of it hold one simple wish for someone to be well. Then, three times in the day, as the passage counts morning, midday, and evening, give ten seconds to the same wish.
- Sit · 3, 5 or 10 minutes
Arriving and Settling
Sit upright on a chair or cushion, hands resting in your lap. Read each cue as it appears; between cues you may close your eyes or lower your gaze.
- Live · during your day
Three times today, as far apart as the day allows, stop for about ten seconds and silently wish well to whoever is nearest you, a person, an animal, or someone on your mind.
- Reflect · this evening
Which of the three moments of goodwill today came easiest, and which did you nearly skip?
Answer on paper, or in the app’s journal, which stays on your iPhone.