In [Chapter 12] we also learn about an eight-year-old girl, the daughter of the naga king, who has the capacity to become a Buddha. This girl has a jewel of incalculable value, equal to the trichiliocosm (the cosmos), which she offered to the Buddha. What is the meaning of this? When we have something that is very precious, we say that it is as valuable as the trichiliocosm. Suppose while practicing walking meditation in the autumn we pick up a red leaf. If we’re able to see the ultimate dimension of that leaf, all the phenomena of the universe that helped create it – the galaxies, the sun and moon, the clouds and rain, the rivers and soil – then quite naturally that one small leaf becomes a very precious jewel, as valuable as the trichiliocosm. And if we give that leaf as an offering to the Buddha, then the merit of our offering is no less than the merit of the daughter of the naga king who offered a precious jewel to the Buddha. So we must not think that if we do not have precious jewels or wealth, then we have nothing to offer the Buddha. A pebble or a leaf, if we are able to see its true nature, has the same value as an incalculably precious jewel. When we can see into the ultimate dimension of things in this way, we can see their true value as something infinitely precious.