Deepest gratitude to Namo Shakyamuni Buddha!
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!
Thank you to all Buddhist friends.
It is with deep gratitude that I stand before you today to share how my Buddhist practice has navigated me through challenging periods of my life — both in my career and within my family and how I pulled through a 2.5 year period of unemployment, and how I ultimately secured my dream job. Before I start, I would like to seek forgiveness from Guan Yin Bodhisattva and Dharma Protectors if my sharing today is improper in any way.
I previously held the position of CEO for the Asia-Pacific region at a financial software company. However, my life took a dramatic turn in 2022. While I was on a business trip in the United States — I was informed that my mother had been hospitalised due to a brain haemorrhage. Without hesitation, I returned home immediately.
Upon my return, the medical specialists presented me with two difficult options: the first was to proceed with an emergency operation, without which my mother might not survive more than three days. The second option was to accept the significant risk that the operation could leave her permanently bedridden. Sure enough, my mother fell into a coma immediately after the procedure for two agonising weeks.
The doctors explained that the only hope left was for her to regain consciousness on her own. During this harrowing time, I stayed by her side in the ICU every single day, reciting the Great Compassion Mantra.
One night, I distinctly felt the divine presence of Guan Yin Bodhisattva visiting my mother. Shortly after, she miraculously regained consciousness. When she awoke from her coma, I asked if she had sensed the presence of Guan Yin Bodhisattva — she nodded. Even the medical specialists agreed that this was indeed a miracle. I believe this turn of events was deeply connected to the vows I made during her coma: to adopt a life-long vegetarian lifestyle and to continuously perform life liberation on her behalf.
I am truly grateful that my mother’s mental clarity has returned, and she can now get out of bed without assistance. Deepest gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva for Her blessings, granting my mother more time to repay her karmic debts.
Around the same time, problems at work began to surface. I had a dream of a small dog urinating on me—a prescient warning that someone was going to intentionally harm me. Unaware of the significance of this dream, I did not perform any targeted recitations of Buddhist scriptures. As fate would have it, one co-worker seized the opportunity of my mother’s illness to influence our manager into removing me from the key position and subtly suggested that I resign. Considering that my company was about to be taken over, and sensing that there was no prospect of a future for this industry as sales had become increasingly difficult, I made the decision to quit.
To my surprise, it was at this time that the IT industry began a major transition into the era of artificial intelligence (AI). With the uncertainty AI brought, many companies froze hiring, and job opportunities quickly dwindled. Without a job, tensions at home began to rise. On top of caring for my ailing mother, I was under immense emotional strain. As the sole breadwinner of my family, I still had to shoulder our daily living expenses, repay loans, and cover my mother’s ongoing medical care.
There were moments when I felt overwhelmed by episodic depression. But each time despair crept in, I turned to spiritual practice—reciting the Great Compassion Mantra and the Heart Sutra helped me recalibrate emotionally.
Rather than passively waiting for opportunities to come knocking, I thought: why not take advantage of this lull in my career to further my education?
Seeking clarity, I made a special trip to the Practice Centre to pray for divine guidance. In my prayer to the Bodhisattva, I said, “I wish to pursue further studies, but I’m burdened by the high tuition fee and uncertainty about whether I can successfully complete the programme. Is this the right path for me?” At that moment, I witnessed a radiant light emanating from the Bodhisattvas—this gave me the confidence to move forward.
With Bodhisattva’s grace, I was accepted into the prestigious Global Executive MBA (EMBA) programme at NTU, which partners with Tsinghua University and UC Berkeley. I was also offered a place in the CEO Programme at SMU with a partial scholarship.
Academically, I had limited opportunities growing up and only managed to obtain a diploma qualification. However, through sheer perseverance, I worked my way up to become the CEO overseeing the APAC region. All my subordinates held higher academic qualifications than me. My lack of formal education had always been my greatest weakness—one that invited doubt and condescension from many. So, when the opportunity to pursue higher education finally came, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva.
My university classes ran from 7 am to 7 pm, and I would often stay up until 2 or 3 am to complete my coursework. Every morning on my way to campus, I would recite the Great Compassion Mantra and the Heart Sutra, and pray that I would successfully complete my studies. No matter how exhausted I felt, I persisted. I prayed to Bodhisattva to bless me so that I could successfully complete my higher education. The power of recitation recharged me daily, giving me a clear and focused mind.
Finally, I graduated with 16 ‘A’s, successfully completing my higher education. Now, nobody will question my qualifications! Deepest gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva.
After graduating, I managed to land a role in the same industry I had worked in previously. However, the salary package was 40% lower than my last-drawn pay. To make matters worse, the company’s management style was chaotic. I was frequently pressured into taking on tasks that conflicted with my values. Although I often contemplated resigning, I was aware that my savings were quickly dwindling—and I had no idea then how far I could go with what I had. During this trying time, I prayed to Guan Yin Bodhisattva for help every day.
Then, something unexpected happened. Just a month or two later, my former employer in the U.S. reached out via email. The company had successfully completed its sale, and they wanted to reimburse me for the encashment value of my stock holdings. Upon reading the message, I was moved beyond tears. Deepest gratitude to Bodhisattva for turning my situation around.
After leaving that job, I once again pray for a more stable position—one that would allow me flexibility to continue my daily recitations–and ideally, a role within the AI sector. To support this aspiration and to resolve any karmic grievances that might hinder my job search, I recited the Heart Sutra 21 times and the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots 49 times daily.
Before every job interview, I intensified my recitations—reciting the Great Compassion Mantra, the Heart Sutra, the Cundi Dharani, and the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots—in the hope of resolving any karmic grievances with the interviewers, enabling me to be viewed in a positive way and hence, able to breeze past the job interviews.
Most of my earlier applications were with leading U.S. IT giants, the competition was incredibly fierce. Furthermore, these companies tend to favour white male candidates for leadership roles. As the only Asian female in nearly every final round of interviews, I consistently fell short at the final hurdle. To overcome this obstacle, I began offering 3-4 Little Houses each week.
After 2-3 weeks of offering Little Houses, I received an interview invitation with a company in the AI sector. Out of over 100 applicants, only 10 were shortlisted—and once again, I was the only female in the group.
But this time, something shifted, a benefactor emerged. One of the interviewers openly stated, “We shouldn’t keep hiring only male employees. In fact, we should seriously consider having a woman lead this team”. This was a pivotal moment, to say the least.
Interestingly, just before this interview, I received an intuitive message, urging me to put in extra effort for this opportunity. Taking this to heart, I spent several days preparing myself thoroughly. To my amazement, the questions I faced during the interview aligned almost perfectly with the areas I had studied. That turned out to be one of the key factors in my success.
As a result, I was shortlisted for the final round of interviews. The company’s key decision-maker even flew in from the U.S. to conduct the session personally. During our conversation, he shared with me, “You may not possess the same depth of AI knowledge or technical expertise as some of the other candidates, but what stood out was your management and human relation skill”. Once again, deepest gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva for such a favourable arrangement.
It wasn’t until I started the job that I came to understand that what they saw in me was my ability to work as a team. While some candidates were technically outstanding, they came across as arrogant, making it difficult for them to integrate into the team.
To be honest, prior to my Buddhist practice, I was often domineering and a perfectionist. Many who worked with me felt a great deal of pressure. It was only through Buddhism that I learned the value of the Middle Path, as well as compassion and tolerance.
I can still vividly remember, two years ago, when my entire world seemed to crumble, in tears, I asked a fellow practitioner, “What should I do?” With calm conviction, she simply said, “Just focus on your recitation and entrust everything to the compassionate hands of Bodhisattva”.
Looking back now, I realise that every step I took during that tumultuous period was quietly guided by Bodhisattva’s grace. Without that, I cannot imagine how I would have pulled myself out after losing my job.
In closing, my Buddhist practice has been the unwavering pillar of strength in my life. Even when our careers reach their lowest point, and we are engulfed by anxiety and despair, we must never waver to continue to perform recitation, make vows, and release captive lives. We also need to strive to enhance our professional skills. With this, we can surely surmount our career setbacks.
Divine beings are watching over us, just above our heads. As long as we pray with sincerity, Bodhisattva will hear our pleas. As long as we remain steadfast in our practice and accumulate merits through virtuous deeds, once our karmic obstacles are cleared, our wishes will surely be fulfilled.
This wraps up my sharing for today.
Deepest gratitude to Namo Shakyamuni Buddha!
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!
Thank you to all Buddhist friends.
Source: Fellow Practitioner from Singapore
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