My
mother had been suffering from liver cancer for a long time when, in January
1999, she caught a cold and fell into a coma. She was hospitalized and regained
consciousness for a couple of days. But she soon was found to have developed
hepatitis and septicemia, which ended her life. During this time, my entire
family witnessed Master's boundless love and power in leading a fellow initiate
through the passage of death.
From
the very beginning of mother's illness, we dared not pray to Master to keep
her in this world. We did not want to increase her suffering. We only prayed
that Master would do what was best for mother. After she was hospitalized,
our family members heard Holy Names reverberating in their minds. While
we meditated outside the intensive care unit (ICU), the sound of Holy Names
pervaded the atmosphere, enveloping us completely. The corridor shone with
light as the Holy Names shook me to the core. My brothers and sisters also
spoke of having very good inner experiences.
Later,
when mother was transferred from the ICU to an ordinary sick ward, we thought
that she was about to take her last breath. Her face darkened and her eyes
bulged. She was an obstinate woman with very strong willpower, for which
she had undergone much suffering. Unable to bear the sight of her suffering,
we recited the Holy Names in our hearts. After a while, I felt dazed but
could still hear the Holy Names resounding at both a low and high pitch
in the room. I also heard the ringing of (invisible) big bells and small
bells. At 11:00PM, one of my elder brothers saw that all of us sisters were
very depressed, so he told us that he had been to heaven with our mother,
where they saw very beautiful, shining structures. A brother initiate who
had come to meditate with us also revealed that he had seen Master taking
my mother to heaven, leaving only a cord connected to her physical body.
This was probably due to the fact that she was concerned about my father,
who was at home at the time.
The
next day, the doctor said that my mother could go at any time. Her eyes
half-closed, she seemed to be waiting for something. It was not until we
saw that her body was completely resistant to intravenous fluids that we
realized she might want to leave the hospital and return home. We took her
home and gathered around her, singing Buddhist chants. She passed away peacefully
then, as though she were falling into a deep, serene sleep. She looked even
more beautiful than ever. For many days afterwards, I felt greatly blessed.
My attention was focused on my wisdom eye, as Buddhist chanting reverberated
in my mind, and the energy from the right side was enormous. Oh, Master!
You are truly the ocean of love and the river of life, just as You say in
Your song.
At
first, we thought that we would help "bless" mother to release
her from her suffering and attachment to us. But we were wrong. When Master's
blessings are so powerful, it is we who are blessed and uplifted. Mother
had wanted to be a nun when she was young. She set a real-life example for
us in her days of living and dying and in her fearlessness about discarding
this body for rebirth in another world. She also showed us that Master's
loving power is infinite. Even at the moment she passed away, mother continued
to help us by bringing us great merits.
Six
days after her death, mother was cremated, leaving colorful relics among
her ashes that reminded us of the heavenly resplendence. We distributed
the relics to our family members to bring home. Two days after being viewed
by my relatives from Taipei, my portion of relics turned a cream color.
When my younger sister returned to Malaysia more than ten days later, she
showed her husband and children my mother's relics and told them that Master
had led mother to her heavenly Home. The relics had not changed to cream
color until two days after being seen by her family. My sister's three non-initiated
children (now initiated) could not help but exclaim, "Mom, this Quan
Yin Method is really great!" Over the past year, the relics have grown
bigger. Their existence is not important, for we have faith that Master
has taken mother beyond the three realms. But I think our mother left them
behind for her 20-odd initiated children and grandchildren as a testimony
to the path of Truth and as an inspiration for our continued progress.
Mother's
passing also gave me another experience of blessings from Master. While
at the hospital, I had complained to my eldest brother, "You are here
to see mother! Why did you go window shopping outside the hospital?"
This is a bad habit of mine: judging others. One of my elder sisters stopped
me right away. The next morning, while looking at mother's half-opened eyes,
I repented to Master in my heart. Suddenly, my heart ached terribly. I felt
a powerful force shake me again and again in my right ear and my body. Words
flashed into my mind, one after another: How dearly do you love your mother?
What right do you have to judge others? You are an initiate. You have Master
to rely on. Who can your eldest brother rely on? You all scorn him, but
he is your mother's child, too! Mother is the only one who loves him and
accepts him totally. Is there anyone who can love him so unconditionally
after mother dies? He is the only child who has not received initiation.
He is already cooperating with you in the best way he can. Who can share
his pain?
This
was the manifestation form of Master teaching me! I felt strong vibrations
and a powerful energy. Tears flowed from my eyes. As soon as my eldest brother
stepped into the room, I hugged him and apologized to him! Master, Your
powerful Love has awakened me! Although I still often get upset in my relationships
with others, I now calm down as soon as I remember that experience. As Jesus
said, "Don't judge others." Only Master's great loving power can
dissolve all hindrances and awaken this lazy disciple's rigid mind.
I
was initiated nine years ago. Although I started out as a not-too-diligent
practitioner who had neither light nor sound experiences, Master never abandoned
me. She continued to find ways to uplift me. In the one year since my mother's
death, I have experienced a tremendous change. I now see that what seem
to be frustrations and setbacks in the real world are actually opportunities
for me to improve spiritually. After settling down this past year, my inner
experiences have shown me clearly that Master's great power is taking care
of my life. All I have in my heart is gratitude -- nothing but gratitude.
Thank You, Master, for giving me such great merits! Without my own personal
experiences, the stories related by others used to be a little too distant.
Now I am touched by the stories in the News Magazine because I know they
are real from my own experience.
