On February 15, 2015, my daughter, Yong-Hong Huang and I attended the Maitreya Bodhisattva Dharma Assembly held at Hua Zang Si. During the intermission, we met with Master. At that time, Master gave me and my daughter each a black Ka Zuo An De pill. At home the following day after my morning dharma practice, I took out the Ka Zuo An De pill from my jacket preparing to take it. Much to my surprise, I found an additional orange Da Ba Bu Qiong pill which seemed slightly bigger than the Ka Zuo An De pill. Also, its taste was stronger. At that time I was amazed and happy about it. I immediately paid my respect to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for their empowerment.
After what had happened, I reported this to Master. Master said, "This is your good fortune." However, I wondered why I would have such great fortune. I have never made any significant contribution. The most I have done is to truly and sincerely cultivate myself every day. No matter how busy I am every day, I will persist on practicing my dharma which was transmitted to me by my master, particularly the mantras transmitted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Sometimes if I cannot do it during the day, I will definitely make for it at night. I have never forgotten to do my dharma practice. All I have kept in mind is that this is something I must do in order to truly learn from the Buddha and cultivate.
A few years ago, before I started my Dharma-listening center, every week I would persist on going to Hua Zang Si to respectfully listen to the dharma expounded by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. My house was kind of far from the temple. Every time I would have to take the bus first, then transfer to BART to get to Hua Zang Si. The BART has more rides but the bus only comes once an hour. One time, after a dharma-listening session, I was a little late for the BART, and I noticed that it was about time for my transfer bus to take off. I was very anxious. I immediately sincerely recited the holy name of Amitabha Buddha, praying that Amitabha Buddha would bless me to be able to catch this bus. Because I am a senior, if I do not make it to that bus in time, a long wait at the bus stop will take a toll on me. While I recited the Buddha's name, I hurried and got off the BART and rushed to the bus stop. When I arrived at the bus stop, the bus was still parked there. There might be many people on the bus, but it had not moved yet. It seemed as if it was waiting for me. As soon as I got on the bus, it took off. I was so happy. That was truly an expression of the compassion and care that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas gave to me. I truly appreciate the empowerment from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
This summer, my daughter's family of four went to Chicago for a graduation ceremony of a friend's daughter who was a foreign student. While they were there, they toured around. When their trip was over and they were about to return home, they found that tickets were all sold out because it was a busy season. They were told that they could only try to come back the next day to check if there was anything available. There was no guarantee. They got very anxious because the grown-ups needed to work and the kids needed to go back to school. After I learned about that, I immediately went to bow to the big Buddha statue of Guan Yin Bodhisattva and sincerely prayed. I hoped that with the Bodhisattva's awesome, magnificent power, She would bless my daughter’s family of four, so they could book an airline and have a smooth flight back to San Francisco. The next morning, a miracle really happened. A flight had exactly four seats available, which seemed to be reserved especially for them. After I learned that, I was very happy for them. I immediately went to the big Buddha statue of Guan Yin Bodhisattva and paid my homage. I expressed my heartfelt gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva for Her compassion and empowerment.
From all these events, I deeply feel that as long as we wholeheartedly rely on the Buddhas, sincerely recite the Buddha's name and cultivate ourselves, then when we genuinely request help from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we definitely will invoke the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and our prayers will be answered.
In this life, I am fortunate to come to America and encounter the correct dharma of the Tathagata personally transmitted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. It is truly the good fortune I have accumulated from many life times and eons. Before I came to America, I might have believed in the Buddhas and been learning Buddhism, but it was difficult to find Buddha Dharma in China that contained correct understanding and views. Some individuals claimed to be able to transmit you dharma which turned out not to be the correct dharma of Buddhism. They did it for fame and profit, and deceived many disciples for monetary gains. I remembered one time when I had encountered a "Master of Dharma Transmission." He claimed to be a graduate from Zhe Jiang Medical School. At his place, he set up a so-called multi-leveled "Mandala for homage to the Buddhas." The more money you turned in, the higher level your name would be placed. In other words, the more monetary offerings you gave, the higher your title would be and the more empowerment you would receive. At that time I doubted how things could work that way. Also, since he was a medical school graduate and he is not a monastic, why didn’t he become a doctor instead of a so called "Master of Dharma Transmission?" He also pressured Buddhists who wanted to learn Buddhism to buy his jade at high prices. How could this be a Master of correct dharma? He is completely different from H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III who is noble and only engages in affairs which will benefit living beings and yet never accepts any offerings. In addition, the Buddha transmits the supreme, rare, and auspicious dharma of the Tathagata to those Buddhists who genuinely want to learn from the Buddha. Luckily, I left the false master and have not fallen for his fraud.
Now, I feel like I have great fortune and lead a very enriched life. Every day my heart is full of dharma joy. I continue to devote my time on learning from the Buddha and continue my cultivation. Other than making sure that I finish my daily dharma homework, I also will find time to study the dharma book, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. May I work even more continuously increasing my correct understanding and views. I am adamant to follow and learn from H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and cultivate myself. May I realize the ultimate Bodhi, attain accomplishment, and reach liberation in this life time. Amitabha!
Buddhist Disciple Mei-Zhen Li (Hua Zhen)