One year, during summer vacation, Sarah went to the Coordinating Council of North American Affairs in San Francisco, where she came across a copy of Vajra Bodhi Sea, the monthly journal of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. As she glanced through the magazine, she saw an article called "A Monk in the Grave and the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas" and was surprised to learn that such a place of true cultivation existed. The Master said, “I am a tiny ant—I wish to walk under the feet of all Buddhists. I am a road—I wish that all living beings will walk on me, right from the position of an ordinary being, to the position of the Buddha.” At that time, she did not understand why the Master called himself a tiny ant.

She began to read Vajra Bodhi Sea regularly, and she was very eager to visit the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. One-and-a-half years later, she finally had the chance to visit the City. At the City, she met a Dharma Master who asked her, “Do you read Sutras often?” She had never encountered Buddhism before and did not know where she could find Sutras; and even if she saw one, she might not understand it. Later on, she attended Dharma lectures at the International Translation Institute and began studying the Buddhadharma. Before, when she saw the chaotic state of society or had personal problems, she did not know how to deal with them, even if she wished to make things better. Once she began studying the Dharma, she realized that it was the most important thing, for it provides solutions to all the problems in the world. She also learned that, in everything, she must begin by changing herself and rectifying her own thoughts.

In 1993, she took refuge with the Venerable Master at the City. She is very keen to propagate the Buddhadharma and has introduced the teaching to her family and friends. She hopes everyone can have the chance to listen to the proper Dharma and to benefit from it. Although she considers herself a beginner in the Dharma, she is perfectly sure and grateful that she followed the right teacher. She is prepared to learn the principles of the Dharma through listening to lectures and bowing repentances, so that one day she will be able to practice those principles. She considers the Six Guidelines advocated by the Master—no fighting, no greed, no seeking, no selfishness, no pursuit of personal benefit, and no lying—essential to the study and practice of Buddhism. As the saying goes, “The teacher leads one in the door, but one must cultivate on one’s own.” The good advisor points the way, but how you walk the path is up to you.