Deepest Gratitude to the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva.
Deepest Gratitude to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Dharma Protectors.
Deepest Gratitude to Master Jun Hong Lu.
Good afternoon to all fellow Buddhist friends.
I’m very grateful to be given this opportunity to share with you about my personal experience and true encounter after practising Buddhism.
Sometime in October 2015, a Buddhist friend introduced Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door to me. I was stunned by the miraculous things that Master Lu performed as depicted in the totem programme. For some unbeknown reason, I could feel an indescribable closeness with Master Lu. From there on, I decided to embark on my spiritual cultivation journey with Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door.
My family life began to unravel in 2003 in the aftermath of my husband’s marital infidelity. The extramarital affair ruined our marriage, leaving me with no choice but to bring along my then six-year-old daughter to live separately from him. After the divorce, my husband seemed to have ‘evaporated’ from the face of the earth. There was no news whatsoever about his whereabouts. As a consequence, our only daughter received zero financial support from her father.
Life was tumultuous for me and my daughter in the ensuing 10 over years. Being the sole breadwinner, I could hardly make ends meet. There was no roof above our heads. Our dire situation culminated when my former sister-in-law claimed occupation of the only piece of contracted land that we had. She was insistent and unwilling to accede to our pleas. All forms of negotiation involving the village committee came to naught.
Overwhelmed by the harsh realities life had thrown at me, financially broke and yet having to deal with unruly family members of my former husband, my heart was filled with hatred. I was insistent of changing my daughter’s surname in my quest to terminate all possible links with this family.
In 2008, I got to know that my former father-in-law had a fall prior to the Lunar New Year and broke his leg. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I decided to visit him with my daughter on the pretext of wanting to wish him well. Instead, I took advantage of the opportunity to verbally abuse the old man, causing him tremendous grief. Consumed by hatred and unable to extricate myself from it, my whole life had been nothing but misery.
I started to appreciate and understand the workings of the law of karma after practising Buddhism. I came to a realisation that the twists and turns of my life were none other than the crystallisation of karmic dues that I needed to repay in this life. This helped me to stop bearing any grudges towards my former husband and his family, I learned to let go.
One day, my former father-in-law fell seriously ill and requested to see my daughter. I acceded to his request. However, my daughter was adamant of not meeting her grandfather. After all, she had been with me all those years and hence, was subject to my negative influence.
To break the impasse, I decided to confess my wrongdoings to her. I told my daughter, ”Hatred and the desire to take revenge have clouded mommy’s rational thinking and inner wisdom all these years. I am sorry. I do not wish to walk this path of hatred anymore, can you be with mommy as we take a brand new path?
My sincere repentance, helped convince my daughter and eventually, she relented and promised to return to the village to pay her grandfather a visit. My father-in-law bounced back to health soon after and their relationship started to improve.
It subsequently became a ritual for my daughter to pay her grandfather a visit every year. On many occasions, she would return home to ask me “Mommy, why does grandpa cry whenever he sees me?” I said to her, “Grandpa must be missing your daddy”.
Sometime in October 2018, my former father-in-law rang me and confided that he had a feeling his son was no longer alive as it was impossible that he did not contact any one of us for the past 15 years.
I could only console him by saying, “Don’t worry, I am sure he is still alive. He is too young to die”
Unconvinced, my father-in-law continued to toy with the notion that his son was long gone.
He revealed that the Lunar New Year’s eve had always been the most difficult for him whenever he had to display the ancestral tablets to pay respects. On this day, he would be torn between adding or not adding his son’s name to the ancestral tablets. He was worried that by not doing anything would render his son’s spirit ‘homeless’. On the other hand, adding his son’s name might be a bad omen if he was still alive. He choked as he spoke, and I teared up listening to him.
The second day after my conversation with my former father-in-law, as I was offering the incense and kneeling before the statue of Bodhisattva, I fervently implored for Bodhisattva’s blessings so that I could get through Master Lu’s totem line. All that I wanted to ask was whether my former husband was still alive. If he were, I hoped he would make an attempt to reconnect with his long-abandoned family. If he weren’t, I hoped he would visit his family members in their dreams.
This would provide the much-needed closure to the seemingly endless wait for his return, and put a stop to the long-standing torment that his aged father had to undergo. At that point, all the other personal questions that I had had planned to ask Master Lu ceased to bear any importance.
Master Lu once said, “Those who seek blessings for others and harbour no selfish intentions, their cries for help will be heard and for that, Bodhisattva will answer their prayers”.
Half a month later, out of the blue, I received a call from my daughter who was then studying in a university in the provincial capital. She told me that her father sent her a text message and was curious to know about its authenticity. I told her, “Let’s not get overly anxious about this. We will discuss further once I verify it”.
I immediately rang my former father-in-law to seek confirmation. Overwhelmed by emotions, the old man vouched that he, too, received a call from his long-lost son. I couldn’t believe my ears! Who would have thought that you could still hear from someone who had completely disappeared for 15 years!
When asked about his decision to cut off from his family, my former husband had this to say:
“In the initial few years after I left, I was ashamed of myself for having an extramarital affair that decimated my family life. Deep inside, I told myself that I would only return home once I have some achievement in life. As life would have it, my goals were never achieved. By then, it was too late to reconnect with all of you as all your contact details, except that of my second brother, had changed.
In the recent six months, I kept reminiscing of the past and sorely missed my family. However, there’s nothing I could do as after such a protracted time lapse, I had completely forgotten all your mobile numbers.
Just the day before, I had a dream. There was a crystal clear voice that spoke to me and I was given a mobile number in my dream. I could still remember the number vividly even after I woke up from my sleep. With some doubt and hesitation, I rang the mobile number and surprisingly, it was my second brother who picked up my call. I am still perplexed by how things panned out.”
I was so touched beyond words by what I heard and tears rolled down my cheeks. Deep down, I knew that it would not have been possible if not for the blessings of Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva heard my cry for help and was sympathetic to an 80-year-old’s longing to be reunited with his son. Bodhisattva had made it possible for a son who had abandoned his family for 15 odd years to return home in one piece. This was the greatest consolation for any father who had sorely missed his son for such a long time.
Not only was his father’s wish granted, my former husband decided to bear the bulk of our daughter’s living expenses. This helped reduce my financial burden and make up for our daughter’s lack of fatherly love for the past 15 years. I didn’t expect things to turn out this way. For that, I am deeply grateful to Bodhisattva, deeply grateful to Master Lu and last but not least, I thank my former husband.
Echoing what Master Lu once said, “As long as we remain steadfast in our spiritual cultivation and not expecting anything in return, Bodhisattva will set up the best possible arrangement for us.”
I am a good example. In a short span of 10 over days after my prayer request, I bore witness to the mercy and compassion of Guan Yin Bodhisattva and the boundless power of Buddhism. The outcome was incredible to speak of: “My long-lost former husband was reunited with his family after 15 years of absolute disappearance!”
As long as you have a steadfast faith in Buddhism, remain diligent in your spiritual cultivation journey, get rid of evil deeds and perform good deeds, Bodhisattva and Master will surely shower you with their compassion.
I will stay true to my vow of becoming a life-long vegetarian, honour our Master and revere his teachings, to be single-minded and diligent in my dharma practice, and last but not least, transcend the cycle of rebirth in this lifetime.
If my sharing is improper in any way, I would like to seek forgiveness from the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva, all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Dharma Protectors and Master Lu.
Sharer: Buddhist Friend Liao Yuan
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