Everything the Buddha eats is the supreme flavor among foods.

The Buddha received offerings and expounded the Dharma, yet for three months He and five hundred bhikṣus ate horse fodder. The bhikṣus found eating horse fodder unbearably bitter, while the Buddha, eating the same horse fodder, experienced it as the finest of flavors. What does this show? Whatever situation the Buddha encountered, He had no mental preoccupation, no thoughts, no viewpoints, no opinions, because the Buddha had long since ceased to use the mind consciousness to discern any dharma or to analyze and deliberate on any dharma. He forever follows the wisdom habits of the manas, doing whatever needs to be done—how could there be so many thoughts?

Due to His own merit, whatever the Buddha ate was naturally the finest flavor, without the need for intentional attention or mental加持—this is the retributive result of cultivation over three countless eons. So as soon as the caravan of carts left the Ganges, the Buddha had Ānanda go to the Ganges to fetch water to drink; even when someone offered the Buddha sand and soil, the Buddha accepted it just the same, allowing the giver to gain merit. The Buddha's physical body is the most precious body in the threefold world, yet maintaining this body does not require the most expensive materials—cheap materials suffice to meet the needs of the body's functioning. Even without any material offerings, the Buddha's physical body still radiates brilliance, illuminating the entire universe.

Take, for example, starting a company to earn money and support a family. Some people, with a low cost of one hundred or two hundred thousand, can get a company up and running normally, and even achieve high returns—low input, high output, excellent results. Others casually invest tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in costs; with less than ten million they cannot operate normally, and even then the results are not necessarily ideal—truly high input with low productivity. Maintaining each person's physical body and family is just like running a company. Some people, with their families, live on low costs and feel perfectly content and happy, while others and their families require high investment to feel satisfied and happy—without lavish food and high consumption they cannot live. Whose merit are they consuming? Who pays the cost? The final destination of the physical body is the same for all: it will become a pile of dust and white bones. So which kind of life counts as wealth and success? Which company is truly profitable?