One evening, while Shichiro Kojun was reading sutras, a thief with a sharp sword entered and demanded either money or life. Shichiro told him:
- Don’t bother me, you can take some money from this box.
And he continued his reading. After a while he stopped and said:
- Don't take everything. I need some money to pay taxes tomorrow.
The uninvited guest took most of the money and prepared to leave.
“When someone gives you a gift, you have to say thank you,” Shichiro added.
The man thanked him and left. He was caught a few days later and, among others, confessed to the crime against Shichiro. When Shichiro was called as a witness, he said:
- This man is not a thief, at least as far as I am concerned. I gave him money and he thanked me for it.
After his prison term ended, the man came to Shichiro and became his student.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru