Lay friend Sudatta Anathapindika was a wealthy merchant who wholeheartedly helped the poor, orphans, and the sick, and offered the Jeta Grove monastery to the Buddha and the Sangha. His family had six members in total:

1. Mr. Anathapindika
2. Mrs. Anathapindika
3. Elder sister Subhada
4. Younger sister Subhada
5. Sumagada
6. Kāla

Thanks to Mr. Anathapindika’s encouragement, his son Kāla went to listen to the Dharma and attained the fruit of Stream-Entry. A person’s continuation does not only lie in their children or disciples, but is also expressed through every thought, word, and action (body, speech, and mind). Every seed of thought, speech, and action goes into the future, creating the next life right in the present moment.

When Mr. Anathapindika was severely ill, Venerable Sariputra and Venerable Ananda came to visit and practiced The Four Recollections with him:

1. Recollection of the Buddha
2. Recollection of the Dharma
3. Recollection of the Sangha
4. Recollection of the Precepts

Venerable Sariputra continued to guide him to contemplate that this body is not me, to contemplate the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air, along with the teaching of interbeing, no birth, no death, no coming, no going. Mr. Anathapindika was deeply moved and earnestly requested that this profound teaching be transmitted to lay friends before passing away peacefully. Watering the seeds of happiness and spirituality helps soothe the pain, bringing peace to the dying person.