She will open her mouth when she meets with her future husband

Wang Deng walked on and came to a small temple with an earth spirit sitting there. He lighted three incense and started to complain to the earth spirit, ‘Throughout my life I failed in all my undertakings. Now I have to beg for food to survive. What is wrong with me?’ That night he dreamt of the earth spirit who said angrily, ‘So you said you are very unfortunate, right? I have been dwelling in the human realm and working as an earth spirit for the past two dynasties. I have never enjoyed a day of freedom or blessings, only sufferings. I have been waiting for the blessings to befall me until my hair has all turned white now!’
Wang Deng looked at him pitifully.
The earth spirit said, ‘Since we share the same fate. I would like to show you a road, so that we can both be happy soon. In the Western land there is a Sage whose name is Sakyamuni Buddha who is the wise one, who knows the answers for all happenings. If you see Him, please ask on my behalf, when can I leave the earth and rise to the sky, with a positive change in my life?’
So Wang Deng decided to find this Sage in the Western Land, to free him from the doubts in life and to help the earth spirit. He walked on, in the direction where the sun goes down and came to a village. The Head of the village was the officer Zhang. Wang Deng asked Mr. Zhang to let him put up a night in his house. When the officer knew of his aim in looking for the Sage, Sakyamuni Buddha, he got interested and said,
‘Can you help me to ask the Buddha why my daughter cannot talk? She is such a pretty girl but she has never opened her mouth to call me dad.’
He continued to say, ‘Whoever can make her talk will be her husband.’
The next day Wang Deng hurried on in his search for the Buddha. And in the remote outskirts, not far from the seas he saw this strange dragon with a big head and a tiny body. The dragon blocked the path he was travelling and refused to move. He too had a question for the Buddha, ‘Please ask the Buddha why I am born in this ugly shape. Why could not I travel to the great ocean? Why am I always trapped in this terrible shallow water by the shore?’
With the firm resolution Wang Deng finally managed to meet the Buddha. But the Buddha would only answer three of his questions. Wang Deng decided to ask the questions which were put forward by others. He remembers it is always good to bring happiness to others.
The Buddha answered the question put forward by the earth spirits. The Buddha said, ‘The right leg of the earth spirit was in a pot of gold and his left leg in another pot of silver. That is the reason why he cannot rise to the heavens.’
The answer for Mr. Zhang was that his daughter would only open the mouth when she met with her future husband.
The Buddha continued to say, ‘That strange dragon has a bright pearl in his head. He loves the pearl so much that he is thinking of it day and night. The more he thinks about the pearl the bigger his head becomes and finally he ends up having a big head with tiny body.’
Finally the dragon decided to vomit out the pearl and gave it to Wang Deng. When he decided to let go of the pearl, his body had a chance for a balanced development and he was transformed into a giant dragon which flew up to the sky and entered the great ocean.
When Wang Deng arrived at the village, carrying the bright pearl which was offered by the dragon, the dumb girl saw him from the balcony and shouted loudly, ‘Look, Wang Deng is back.’ Officer Zhang was very surprised to hear the daughter’s voice. As promised, he let her marry Wang Deng.
Wang Deng brought his bride and the pearl to pay a visit to the earth spirit. When the earth spirit knew the answer, he quickly took out the right leg from the pot of gold and pleaded Wang Deng to help him to give them away as donation and to relieve the poor. He took out his left leg from the pot of silver and gave it to Wang Deng, to thank him for the help. With the two legs freed from the bondage he rose to the heavens to enjoy the bliss.
Wang Deng did not ask any thing for himself, yet with a good mind to benefit others he was able to live happily, with a beautiful wife, plenty of money and a special wish fulfilling dragon pearl. When the Buddha teaches us to let go of the attachment to a self, it does not mean one will suffer. Instead, the law of cause and effect will take care of a man who cares more for others’ bliss than his personal gain. Sufferings always arise when a man is over attached to external wealth, to his personal gain and when a man does not see the interdependence of people, all worldly activities and environment.

Thank You, Amitabha Buddha for Saving Me…..Thank you…..

In the small village of Luo Dong, there was this upasika Mr. Lai, a very pious Buddhist but his sister did not believe in cultivation, she believed in cooking delicious dishes and sharing them with her friends and relatives who were working in town and who would come to visit her during their holidays. In her compound she had a poultry farm and when her friends told her they would come to pay her a visit, she would get so excited, took a knife, caught hold of her fowls and slaughtered them personally. She took out their internal organs, cleaned properly and simmering them whole in herbs and spices. After eating with them, she would wrap up the extra whole birds one by one, happily presented her favourite dish to every visitor, to be brought home. None of them would leave empty-handed.

And this went on for many years until she was down with cancer which spread from her chest, to the liver, the heart, and her whole body was swollen. Even the doctor asked the family to take her home as nothing could be done to stop the growth. An American Doctor of Medicine says that as long as people eat the fat from animals, including milk and meat they will have a risk to get cancer, the more they eat the higher the risk will be.

Mr. Lai looked at her sister, who had eaten lots of chickens and who had personally killed the fowls for food for herself, friends and relatives. Now she was near death and Mr. Lai felt very sorry for his sister. As a brother he would like to help her so he went to see his master who stayed in Tu Cheng, the famous Elder Master Guang Qin. He said,

‘Elder Master, Elder Master, my sister is seriously sick. She has committed lots of killing throughout her whole life and now she looks so pitiful. Elder master, please tell me what to do now?’

The Elder kept quiet and thought for a while. Then he told his attendant, ‘Bring me a yellow card.’ He folded it into two and said, ‘Bring me the ink and brush!’
He took the brush and wrote these words on the cover . And inside the Master recited the 18th vow of Amitabha Buddha and asked the attendant to write them down,

After the attendant had written the vows of Amitabha Buddha, the Elder Master folded the yellow card and told Mr. Lai,

‘Bring this card to your sister. She is so sick. Ask her to hold this Jewel card tightly. Tell her it is like a boarding card to go up the plane.’

The old Master took out the Buddha beads he was wearing on his hand and passed it to Mr. Lai, saying, ‘She has committed so much bad karma and there is nothing she can do now except repentance. Ask her to hold the Jewel card tightly in the left hand, the certificate of guarantee to attain a rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. Tell her this is Shifu’s Buddha beads. Ask her to hold it in the right hand and recite Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha. Tell her to let go of everything and recite the Buddha’s Name only. Yes, she must say, “Thank you, Amitabha Buddha, Thank you, Amitabha Buddha for saving me. ”’

Lai’s sister finally believed in the Elder Master’s teaching. She was very confident that she would carry out her duty to pass the card to Amitabha Buddha. In ancient China there was this custom that the deceased hands would be holding the money so that he would not be poor, holding the handkerchief so that he would reunite with his future generation and holding the fans so that he would not be hot while travelling on this road of birth and death.

With lots of confidence Mr. Lai’s sister called upon Amitabha Buddha, saying, ‘Thank you Amitabha Buddha. Thank you for saving me. Thank you Amitabha Buddha….’

So in this way, before passing away, she saw Guan Shi Yin Pusa (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) came. She said, ‘I am leaving now.’ closed her eyes and passed away peacefully.

Faith is very important in the Buddha recitation Dharma Door. We should check ourselves if we have this whole faith, or we only believe half-heartedly? With a total faith we will be sure of a rebirth and free ourselves from this cycle of birth and death. Even though the sister had committed lots of sins, but she also possessed abundant good roots. In the Amitabha Sutra, it is thus stated, ‘A man with little good roots, little blessings and virtues will not be born in that Land.’

What is meant by having lots of good roots? It means to have the total faith in the Buddha Amitabha.

What is having lots of blessing? It means believing in the Amitabha Buddha’s 48 Great Vows, believing that the Buddha will not deceive us and hence we bring forth the vow for a rebirth.

What is meant by abundant virtues? The cultivator will recite the Name of the Buddha diligently and continually and in this state of cultivation, he is enveloped in the Buddha’s light, his wisdom increases tremendously and his body and mind are transformed by the Buddha’s light. He personally witnesses and experiences the existence of this light and the transformation that occurs to him, the people and the surrounding around him will also be benefitted. As such he will dwell in the state of Quietude, Samadhi, Calm and Bliss, the four virtues of a Pure Land cultivator.

A virtuous man will have the power to subdue himself besides bringing a positive influence on all who have affinities with him, leading them to the pure abode of their pure mind.

The Buddha said, ‘A Pure mind is replete with abundant merits and virtues.’ The great strength of a pure mind arises when one faces all difficulties, worries, calamities, adversities with an unmoving mind. The mind is not disturbed by these states, not conditioned by them. A good cultivator is able to replace these turbulent states of mind and channels it to the mind of the mindfulness of the Buddha. As it is very difficult not to be affected by the external chaos, it also helps us to strengthen our mind, and purify it.

The Elder Master Guang Qin is a man of great wisdom who is able to inculcate the local culture into the Buddha Teaching. With the expedient skills in means he managed to transform a woman to bring forth a good faith.

Better committing evils than doing good?

During the Northern Son Dynasty, there was this boy who was born lame into a poor family. At the age of about ten his parents passed away leaving him alone, begging for left overs to sustain his life. There was a river in the village. The villagers had to walk across the river to go about their daily chores and this brought great inconvenience to the old folks and the ills. The situation worsened when the river overflowed its bank and the villagers were unable to walk across it. As the years passed by, the difficult situation remained the same as no one took any initiative to better the living condition of the villagers.
And this lame boy would pick the stones, carried the rocks daily and put them together, in a heap of a small hill. When the passerby asked him the reason for carrying those stones and rock, he answered, “I am going to build a stone bridge.” The villagers shook their heads, thinking that he must be crazy, building a bridge! He did not bother about their comments and continued to collect the stones, the rock and they looked like small hills by the river banks. The villagers realized that he was really serious about his project and they joined in to build the bridge. The bridge builder was called in and big rocks were transported to the area. In the process of breaking down the rock, some fragment of rock shot out and wounded the boy’s eyes and he became blind. The villagers complained that the heaven was really unfair, that a kind boy who cared so much for others were blinded. Although he had lost his eye- sight, he continued to go about his daily activities, carrying small stones and rocks to help in the building of the bridge.
After a few months a new bridge was built and all the villagers were very happy. They praised the lame and blind boy for his initiative in building a bridge. Even though the boy could not see the new bridge, gladness was written on his face and he smiled so beautifully, the first time in his miserable life, he felt a success in life, not that the bridge was built but also the winning of the hearts of all villagers who sincerely thanked him.
Suddenly a thunder storm with torrential rain and lightning broke out. It looked as though the heaven also rejoiced and wished to clean up the new bridge for the opening ceremony. And in a lightning strike the boy fell down died beside the bridge which brought great chaos to the crowd. They touched him and he was already dead.
The villagers cursed the heaven and the earth spirits for having no eyes, killing such a kind and innocent boy. And right at that moment, the country High Officer, the famous judge of the emperor, His Honour One the great Judge Bao arrived at the scene. He was sitting inside his carriage and all the villagers surrounded him, telling him about this unfortunate incidence. They asked, “Your Honoured One Bao Master, we do not understand why this has happened. Why didn’t a good man reap a reward, why was he killed by lightning? What is the point of doing good deeds now?”
The great judge Bao was also moved by the emotion of these mundane men and in his mind he could not find an answer. So he took out his brush and wrote these six words on the boy’s hand, “Better commit evils, Don’t do good” and left in a hurry.
When he arrived at the palace, he reported his duty to the Emperor and told him about the fate of the unfortunate boy, leaving out the part on the comments he had written.
The Judge Bao could not understand why a good boy was down with this terrible retribution, why a good deed does not reap a reward. He was thinking about the words that he had written and in his mind he felt it was not very right for him to do so.
After the official meeting with all the officers, the Emperor pulled the judge Bao aside to ask for help. He told the judge of the new prince who was born a few days ago and the baby was crying non-stop. He asked the judge to go and see the prince and solved the problem of non-stop cries. On seeing the baby the judge got a great shock of his life. The prince was very cute and fair. And on his hands were written the six words, “Better commit evils, don’t do good.” His face turned red and he used his fingers to rub away the words. And something strange occurred. The words were rubbed off. For other people they did not see the words, they only saw the birth mark. The Emperor was scolding him angrily, “What are you trying to do, clearing away the birth mark? Are you trying to harm my prince, taking away his blessings?” The judge knelt down and apologized to the Emperor, telling him the whole incidence of that ill-fated boy, how he was greatly influenced by the villagers emotionally and out of great anger he wrote the six words.
Now the Emperor also became suspicious. To solve this mystery, he ordered the judge Bao to sleep on the mandarin duck pillow at night and entered the dark realm to check on this case. That night the judge Bao went to the dark realm to investigate on the boy. King Yama of the Hell told him, “This boy had committed lots of evils in his former lives. He needed to undergo three lifetimes of sufferings in order to pay the debt. In this life he has to undergo the retribution of being poor, lame and lonely, with no family to take care of him. In the next life he will be born blind and suffer the consequences and in the third life he will be struck by the lightning and die on the wild mountain with nobody to take care of his corpse. And now in this life he has changed for good. Even though he was poor and lame, he did not complain and in his mind he only wished to help people. Because of such virtues, the sufferings that he was supposed to undergo were brought forward and he became blind. And when he was blind, he continued to help others to build the bridge, without a word of complain or feeling unfair. He continued to help others happily and the karmic sufferings he had to undergo in the third life were brought forward.”
King Yama continued, “What do you think, great judge Bao, isn’t it good to finish undergoing the sufferings of three lives in one life?”
“In one life, he managed to pay the debts of three lives’ retribution. As he only performed good deeds and in any situation he never took himself into consideration and in this way he had reached the state of no self, a state that there is no cultivation and yet he is cultivating. He had accrued lots of merits and blessings. That is why after passing away he was born a prince, to enjoy the blessings of a prince, the blessing of future Emperor.”
Conclusion:
Cultivating goodness and yet people do not see your goodness,
You are lacking in merits and virtues in your former lives.
Committing evils and yet people do not see your evils,
You still have some merits and virtues you accrued in your former lives.
I exhort you not to commit evils
As you yourself have to undergo the karmic retribution.
I would like to encourage you to cultivate goodness,
Goodness helps to eradicate the bad karmas and to increase one’s merits and virtues.”