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It was at the age of nine that I came to know the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. People were taking the ten precepts. The Venerable Master called my sister and me first. I remember he asked us,
“Why do you want to live in the City?” My sister was too shy, so I answered. I said,
“Because I want to cultivate and go to heaven.” The Venerable Master laughed and said,
“Why do you want to go to heaven? There’s a lot of trash there. Do you want to clean it?” I was speechless. Then I moved to the City.
When I was ten, I had a dream. I went to a very weird temple, where a lot of people sat eating. It was sort of like a party. So I sat down and ate some cake. Then I saw the Venerable Master with two disciples. There was something that looked like a big cushion, and it opened when Shr Fu came. Inside was a small Buddhahall. Then he walked very fast and the door closed behind him. I should have bowed to him, but I ran away instead because I was afraid Shr Fu would scold me for eating cake. When I left home, Shr Fu shaved the little part of hair on my head. It isn’t easy to leave home under a high Sanghan.
I feel lucky to have such a good knowing advisor to teach me, and although he entered Nirvana so quickly─only one year after I left home─at least I am a disciple of the Venerable Master Hua.
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