One Person's Spiritual Practice
Benefits His Entire Family
Narrated by Follow Initiate Chen, Nantou, Formosa Recorded by The News Group, Nantou, Formosa
Brother Chen has been initiated into the Quan Yin Method for many years. His family was never interested in religion. Moreover, because of their worldly preconceptions, they were further biased by Master's constantly changing attire for the convenience of saving sentient beings. His whole family believed that brother Chen had followed the wrong Master!
On one occasion, brother Chen's uncle was sleeping in his room. In the middle of the night, his uncle woke up from a dream and saw Master's photograph on the wall emitting very bright golden light, which lasted for quite a while before disappearing. A similar phenomenon occurred to brother Chen's younger sister. She saw a photo of Master on the wall in brother Chen's room transforming into various appearances. These unique manifestations of Master granted brother Chen the opportunity to introduce Master's teachings to his family members.
Once, while dozing off in a chair during the funeral of a relative, brother Chen's mother saw in her twilight state a large hand holding the deceased person's casket and lifting it all the way to heaven. She was extremely curious as to which Buddha, emitting bright, golden light had come to ferry him away. She looked up and exclaimed to herself, "Hey! Isn't that Suma Ching Hai, whom my son follows?" When she mentioned this occurrence to her relatives, one of them, a Buddhist of the Pure Land Sect, was very amazed and said, "How can this be possible? I have been reciting the Buddhas' names all my life. Why didn't they come instead of letting Suma Ching Hai take him away?" Little do they know that Master is truly an omnipresent living Buddha!
Even though brother Chen's mother still cannot let go of the worldly way of life, she has begun to accept the idea of vegetarianism. She tries to adhere to a vegetarian diet as much as possible and has gradually come to understand how being vegetarian and performing spiritual practice are beneficial. Spontaneously, she has stopped objecting anymore to brother Chen's pursuit of Master's teachings!
Reflecting on these experiences of his family members, brother Chen said with deep emotion, "I know that my family has strong attachments to the material world; they are very difficult to change . But our merciful Master has guided them by various means to change their attitudes toward spiritual practitioners. I should practice more diligently. Perhaps, some day, my family will suddenly be enlightened and take on the path of spiritual practice and liberation."
The Story of
A Little House Lizard
By Fellow initiate Qiu, Taoyuan, Formosa
Once a strange gecko entered our house. It was crawling around the cassette player when we first found it. Whenever Master's Buddha's chanting tape was played, it stopped by the machine. Head up, eyes half closed, ignoring the people walking about, the lizard looked as though it were in samadhi and full of blessing.
Gradually, we became accustomed to the behavior of our lizard "friend" who loved to listen to Buddha's chanting. We were very careful while walking in the house for fear of stepping on it.
One day, when the Buddha's chanting tape was played, the little lizard rested at the same place and position as usual. Out of curiosity, I wanted to play with it for fun. I lightly scratched its tummy with something. Strangely, it didn't move at all. Gently I turned it upside down, and to my surprise, it had passed away. Our lizard friend died in samadhi. God bless! God bless!
A Lesson
Narrated by Fellow Initiate Lu, Tainan, Formosa Recorded by Tainan News Group, Formosa
Everyone in sister Lu's family is initiated, except her father. Having resided in a temple for years as a temple keeper, not long ago, he came back to live with his family for health reasons. Either because he had lived in the temple for years or smoked for many years, his body, including his face, was blackened by incense smoke, just like the wooden statue in the temple.
After he returned home, he complained everyday for no reason. Everything was offensive to his eyes. In the house, there was a picture of Master in her early days hung on the wall; She wore a white hat with one hand holding a calabash walking stick, and the other hand pointing afar, like a shepherd. To him, this picture of Master was offensive, as was everything else in the house. He often pointed to the picture and poured out abuse, and the family members could do nothing about it but tolerate him and pray silently to Master, hoping that She would teach him and help him to change.
One day, father became abusive about Master's picture again, and all of a sudden, he saw Her holding Her walking cane and walking out of the picture. The cane turned into a dragon's head pole, and Master became very tall. She stared at father indignantly, roared like thunder, and fiercely knocked the ground with Her pole, making a loud sound. Having resided in the temple for years, father had never experienced such a miracle. He was dumbfounded with fear until Master calmed Her anger and slowly returned to the picture.
Since then, stubborn father has never dared to point at Master's picture and call Her names. With a lingering fear, he has often mentioned to others in the family that Master is mighty and powerful, with a great body that is much taller than his....
This story provides a good example of how Master's transformation body delivers all types of sentient beings in numerous ways. For a stubborn, fierce, and tough person like father, Master's transformation body has to use the fierce visage of a Buddha's guardian warrior to teach him.
When I saw sister Lu's father again, I hardly recognized him! Unlike his previous blackened image, the skin over his entire body had become white and smooth. He had become gentle and polite, and he no longer smelled like cigarette smoke .
The Marvelous Buddha's Chants
By Fellow Initiate Chang, Taoyuan, Formosa
One night, I let Master's "Buddha's chanting" tape play continuously. Late that night, when I was half asleep, I found that the familiar Buddha's chanting had changed; although it was the same melody, Master's voice disappeared, being replaced by the sound of various musical instruments. I felt extremely amused and joyful, and a sweet smile stayed on my face till dawn.
Master once said, "Master is light. Master is sound. Master is power." Through this experience, I came to understand more and more of Master's teachings. The vibration of a living Master's voice has immeasurable frequencies.