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出生於高棉金邊市的蔡果充居士，從小就與佛教結下了不解之緣；家裡專門出售僧人衣物，附近又有座南傳大廟。八歲暑假時，祖母要他跟著一位比丘去化緣。當在家人虔誠地把四層高的飯盒裝滿飯菜後，他負責送回廟裡供養三寶。對他而言這是一段很特殊的因緣。
十二歲移居寮國永珍市，有天上學因下大雨摔倒在大馬路上。一部軍用吉普車從他右腳上輾了過去，感覺像棉花在腳上輕輕彈了一下，一點事也沒有。他不假思索繼續跑進學校，驚魂甫定時愈想愈害怕，或許是佛菩薩冥冥中加被吧！
一九九二年是蔡居士生命的轉捩點。那時正逢華嚴精舍對外開放，他去拜大悲懺並參加放生儀式，頓覺法喜充滿。同日又去聽某位上師的演講，在會場上目睹信眾為打坐修行各持己見，爭執不下。因而深深體會上人的六大宗旨，才是末法眾生所依止的無上妙法。
一九九二年蔡居士到聖城打佛七，行前在床上病了一個星期。佛七第一天，唸《阿彌陀經》時突然心亂如麻，有一股邪念在內心呼喚著：「不要相信，沒有阿彌陀佛。」當他即將失去正念時，曾看過《廣公上人事蹟》上的兩幅畫浮現心頭，平息了這股邪念，得以打完佛七；並受了五戒，更在一九九五年在聖城受菩薩戒。
蔡居士曾經夢見廣公老和尚，把他提起來，猛打屁股，然後說：「好了，業障消去了！」因此深信淨土法門，求生西方極樂世界。師父上人和廣公老和尚是他修行上的兩盞明燈，在善知識的指引下，蔡居士信心十足，知道離家已經不遠了！
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Born in Cambodia, Guocong (Albert) Choua has been very close to Buddhism ever since he was young. His family specialized in selling monks' robes, and there was a large Theravada temple near his home. In the summer when he was eight years old, his grandmother had him follow a Bhikshu on his almsround. When the Bhikshu's four-layer almsbowl became filled with food offerings from laypeople, little Guocong's duty was to carry it back to the temple. That was a very special experience for him.
At age twelve, he moved to Laos. One day as he was walking to school in the rain, he slipped and fell in a large street, and an army jeep drove over his right leg. Yet it felt like cotton brushing his leg, and he escaped unharmed. Without pausing to think, he hurried on to school. It was only later that he reflected and realized how serious the incident had been and became scared. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas must have secretly blessed him!
1992 was a turning point in Upasaka Choua's life. He attened the Great Compassion Repentance and Liberating Life Ceremony at Avatamsaka Hermitage in Washington, D.C., and was filled with Dharma joy. He also realized that the Venerable Master's Six Guidelines are a supremely wonderful Dharma for living beings in the Dharma-ending Age.
In 1992 Upasaka Choua came to a Buddha Recitation Session at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Before coming, he had been bedridden for a week with a grave illness. On the first day of the session, his mind was chaotic and he had a deviant thought: "Don't believe in Amitabha Buddha. He doesn't exist." Just as he was about to lose faith, two pictures that he'd seen in Venerable Master Guangqin's Biography flashed through his mind and quelled the deviant thought. He was able to complete the session smoothly, and he took the five precepts. In 1995 he received the Bodhisattva Precepts at CTTB.
Upasaka Choua once had a dream in which Elder Master Guangqin lifted him and gave him a sound spanking, and then said, "OK. Now your karmic obstacles are gone!" Because of that, he deeply believes in the Pure Land Practice and recites the Buddha's name without cease, seeking rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. The Venerable Master Hua and Elder Master Guangqin are like two bright lamps guiding his practice. Under their guidance, he is confident that he is not far from home!
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