Son Finishes College, Thanks to Poor Father’s Sacrifices

There is nothing that parents can leave to their children that is more priceless than education. The best gift parents can offer is for them to graduate with a degree that will give them high chances for a better life in this world. And the best reward—that they live up to their parents’ aspiration.

This story of a father and his son is a living testimony to that.

This story is from Thailand’s Nan Province, a poor farmer who had very little knowledge and resources to support his son and family. He worked as hard as he could. He wanted to see his son become an educated and successful man. Everything he earned through his sweating as a farmer long working days he spent on his son’s education. It finally paid off. Son graduated and he never forgot the most important person, his father. A man who shed tears and sweat trying to uplift his life.

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The father is a poor farmer of the marginalized Hmong tribe from the Nan Province of Thailand. Widowed by his wife after giving birth to the son, he spent years of his life working to provide his son everything he needs, especially to support his schooling. He even had to sell their meager belongings to pay for his son’s education.

Gratitude is quite a rare quality in human beings. Sometimes we see it more among animals, especially cats and dogs, that will be grateful for even the most minute act of kindness we show on them. Gratitude in an antidote to many toxins we carry within our hearts and minds every day. It’s a solution to many issues and avoids many issues arising. Buddhists believe that Buddha himself taught us the gratitude is the first and the foremost thing by respecting the “Bo” tree that helped him with shelter through his meditation until he attained nirvana. This story is a nice example of simple yet valuable gratitude a human must possess. A Poor Farmer Supported His Son To Finish His College. On the Graduation Day, He Said His Father Is His Biggest Pride.

Buddhists believe that Dharma is the path of righteousness and living one’s life according to the codes of conduct as described by the Hindu scriptures

Every kindness should be returned. It is not an owing but a inspiration for us to help someone else. We should feel gratitude for all that was given to us. The highest giving would be dharma. From those who have given us dharma, we should show a humble and sincere attitude. Always remember their kindness by practicing and applying. Only with dharma can we find genuine lasting happiness. The person who gave us genuine happiness through teaching us dharma should be remembered, celebrated, respected and be shown gratitude always.

Food, clothes, money, housing, and all material items given to us is indeed something to repay. These are of the body. But someone who generously gives us the complete method to happiness and satisfaction (Dharma) should be remembered and assisted. We should serve and assist those who have given us dharma so they may bring dharma to many others to benefit them. The benefit we have derived should be shared to others in deed and words.

Gratitude is a necessary component of life. To be grateful to those who were or are kind to us helps us keep our sanity, soul and dignity. This is beautiful beyond words. Brings tears to my eyes. Do you find this extremely touching?

Tsem Rinpoche of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism says: Remember every kind act done to you and by whom it was done. Never think of the negative but think of the positive. When we have gratitude we avoid anger, bitterness and also the feeling of dissatisfaction. What we make of our mind is what we think. What we feed our mind will be it’s output daily. To live daily with gratitude will generate a soft and kind heart. Shantideva who was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk and scholar, starts his magnificent dissertation in the development of Bodhicitta with meditation and reasoning for gratitude. How to generate gratitude and why. With this understanding when we meditate, we will be on the correct path. (Bodhicitta is a mind including thought, action, feeling and speech totally dedicated to others and to achieving full enlightenment in order to benefit all sentient beings as fully as possible)

Wise men and ignorant men differ radically. Ignorant men never appreciate kindness shown to them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to all living beings. – Buddha

After years of toil, all his efforts paid off when his son successfully graduated from Ratchpatr University in Chiang Rai in far northern Thailand. And now that he has attained success in his life, it is time that he gives back to his father and to his community.

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On his graduation day, the son expressed his great pride in his father’s selfless sacrifices. Their pictures posing together are enough evidence of the immense joy both father and son feel.

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28 Suggested Rules for American Fathers of Sons

1. Love his mother. He will learn to love like you love, and hate like you hate. So choose love for both of you. Devote yourself to it. Love with your whole heart and express that love each and every day. Then, someday down the road, you will see the way he loves his own wife, and know that you played a part in that.

2. Let him drive. Every child remembers the first time they drove on daddy’s lap. For that one moment, he will believe that he is just. like. you.

3. Teach him to be picky. Not to compromise and not to be mediocre. Teach him to never settle for less of the best.

4. Take him to a ball game. There is something about sharing a day of hot dogs, sunshine and baseball with your father.

5. Love with bravery. Boys have this preconceived notion that they have to be tough. When he is young, he will express his love fully and innocently. As he grows, he will hide his feelings and wipe off kisses. Teach him to be a man who rubs them in instead. It takes courage for a man to show love: teach him to be courageous.

6. Talk about sex. Sometimes, boys need to know that all men are created equal.

7. Teach him to be a man’s man. Show him how to be brave and tough around the guys. Then, remind him on the ride home that it is OK to cry.

8. Share secrets together. Communicate. Talk. Talk about anything. Let him tell you about girls, friends, school. Listen. Ask questions. Share dreams, hopes, concerns. He is not only your son, you are not only his father. Be his friend too.

9. Teach him manners. Because sometimes you have to be his father, not just his friend. The world is a happier place when made up of polite words and smiles.

10. Teach him when to stand up and when to walk away. He should know that he doesn’t have to throw punches to prove he is right. He may not always be right. Make sure he knows how to demand respect — he is worthy of it. It does not mean he has to fight back with fists or words, because sometimes you say more with silence.

11. Teach him to choose his battles. Make sure he knows which battles are worth fighting — like for family or his favorite baseball team. Remind him that people can be mean and nasty because of jealousy, or other personal reasons. Help him to understand when to shut his mouth and walk away. Teach him to be the bigger — the better — person.

12. Let him dance in tighty whiteys. Dance alongside him in yours. Teach him that there are moments when it is OK to be absolutely ridiculous.

13. Share music. Introduce him to the classics and learn the words to the not-so-classics. Create a rock band with wooden instruments, share your earphones, and blast Pink Floyd in the car. Create a soundtrack to your lives together.

14. Let him win. Sometimes he needs to know that big things are possible.

15. Teach him about family. Let him know family is always worth fighting for. Family is always worth standing up for. At the end of the day, he has you to fall back on, and pray to God that you will have him.

16. Father him. Being a father — to him — is undoubtedly one of your greatest accomplishments. Share with him the joys of fatherhood, so one day he will want to be a father too. Remind him over and over again with words and kisses that no one will ever love him like you love him.

17. Listen to him now. If you don’t listen to the little things now, he won’t share the big things later.

18. Let him try on your shoes. Even if they are old and smelly. Let him slip his little feet in and watch him as he hopes like hell that someday he can fill them. He will fill them.

19. Give him bear hugs. The kind that squeeze his insides and make him giggle. The kind of hug only a daddy can give.

20. Give him baths. Because Mom can’t do everything, damnit.

21. Teach him how to pee standing up. Let him pee outside — such is the joy of being a man. Mom cannot teach this talent, so someone has to.

22. Know the answers. He will assume you do. If you don’t know them, pretend you do and look them up later.

23. Toss him around. Because little boys love seeing the strength of their father. Throw him up in the air, so that he knows you will always be there to catch him on his way down.

24. Ask his mother. He will come to you with questions that he won’t always want to ask his mother, about girls and about love. Ask her anyway, she will know the answers.

25. Love him like you would love a daughter. Little girls are not the only ones who need hugs and kisses. Love is the color yellow of emotions. It is both happy and gender neutral.

26. Grow a big belly. Because every child should get the chance to rest their head on the absolute softest pillow ever. Daddy’s belly is the best place to land.

27. Don’t say, do. American inventor Charles F. Kettering once said, “every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.” Be a good one.

28. Be his hero. You are anyway. To him, you have the strength of Batman, the speed of Spiderman and the brain of Iron Man. Don’t disappoint. Prove to him that Daddys are the biggest heroes of all. Only Daddys can save the day.

After all, good fathers make good sons.