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佳妮來自中國廣東省汕頭市，小時與外祖母同住。外祖母一生吃齋念佛帶孫子，很快樂，待任何人都如親人一般，往生前對她說：「我是觀音娘娘度的，現在觀音娘娘要我走了」。從那以後佳妮才正式學佛。一天，她夢見自己坐在一片綠色草原上，地藏王菩薩站在左邊，還有聲音清清楚楚地進入她的耳朵：「行菩薩道。」。她醒了，是清晨四點，不知是什麼意思。
有次她到汕頭市佛教協會拜佛，請了佛書。讀了《宣化上人開示錄》，佩服得五體投地。上人說：「念佛可以為全世界消毒，可以間接治療癌症病人。」他的話深深地印在她腦海裏。看完開示錄，她就發願，將來一定要到美國拜見上人。
佳妮曾夢見一位老和尚雙跏趺坐。不久，這位老和尚就變成了釋迦牟尼佛，她耳邊還清楚地響起一個聲音--「功德圓滿」，幾個月後她吃素了。那時她並不認識這位老和尚，後來在萬佛城看到祖師殿的上人塑像，原來就是夢中出現的老和尚。
1997年到99年間，她用毛筆抄寫了《地藏經》，並勸人念佛，或講解學佛吃素的好處。當佳妮遇到一些癌症病人，就到醫院為她們念《地藏經》。一次，一位老太太忽然癱瘓了，佳妮和一些佛友為她念《地藏經》，經過治療，她竟能站起來了，醫生說這很少見的。
1997年底，汕頭市建了海灣大橋，大橋通車後常有車禍。一天市委主席和家人的汽車過橋時，整部車翻了。主席夫婦受重傷，同車的人死了。當時廣化寺首次舉行陸海空大法會，很多人為這件事籌了一大筆款設牌位，超度海灣大橋的孤魂。法會結束後，再也沒聽到那座大橋出事的新聞了。
佳妮的弟弟從美國金輪寺帶回上人的書、錄音帶、錄影帶，她和法師、佛友們同享上人講法的錄音帶。大家看到萬佛城四眾弟子修行的錄影帶，都非常讚歎羨慕，可惜簽證困難，到萬佛城比登天還難。
佳妮的母親聽說萬佛城是正法道場，也皈依了，並於1999年叫她來美，所以佳妮開始拜《地藏經》，拜完後迴向，果然簽證順利通過。到了美國，正趕上萬佛城的冬季禪七；打完七就入法界佛教大學學習。現（2001年2月）已在聖城住了半年多，她說：「雖然忙碌，但身心都得到了鍛鍊，非常感謝上人開創這樣的正法道場，使佛法能久住於世，法界眾生都得到利益。」
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Jiani Zhou came from Shantou City, Guangdong Province, China. When she was young, she lived with her grandmother who recited the Buddha's name all her life and was a vegetarian. Her grandmother always looked happy, treated people as if they were her relatives, and stayed at home to raise her grandchildren. Several days before her death, Jiani Zhou's grandmother said, "I was crossed over by Guanyin Bodhisattva. Guanyin Bodhisattva asked me to go." After that Jiani Zhou learned to recite and formally studied Buddhism. One day she dreamed that Earth Store Bodhisattva was standing to her left and she heard a clear voice say, "Practice the Bodhisattva path." She awoke at four in the morning puzzling over this dream.
Her path then led her to the Shantou City Buddhist Association where she began to read Buddhist texts and Sutras. Her admiration for the Venerable Master grew after she read his talks. His clear and simple words were stamped deeply in her mind: "Reciting the Buddha's name can disinfect the world. It can indirectly cure people of cancer." When she finished reading, she vowed to one day go to America and bow to the Master.
Then in a dream she saw an old monk sitting in full lotus. The monk became Shakyamuni Buddha, and she heard a pronouncement: "Merit and virtue are perfected." At that time, she didn't recognize the Venerable Master, but when she came to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and saw the Master's statue in the Patriarchs Hall, she recognized him as the monk in her dream. Several months later she became a vegetarian.
From 1997 to 1999, Jiani Zhou copied out the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra using Chinese brush calligraphy. She encouraged people to recite the Buddha's name and explained the benefits of studying Buddhism and becoming a vegetarian. Remembering the Master's words, she recited the
Earth Store Sutra for cancer patients, and when she and some friends recited for an elderly paralytic patient, the woman suddenly stood up and was cured. Her doctor said such things seldom happen.
At the end of 1997, a great flyover sea bridge was built in Shantou City. After it opened, many accidents occurred on it. At one time, the car in which the Chairman of the City Municipal Party Committee and his family were travelling overturned on this bridge. The Chairman and his wife were badly injured and the others in the car died. At that time, Guanghua Temple, the temple that Jiani Zhou frequented, had its first Great Sea-Land-Air Dharma assembly. Members of this assembly raised money for a memorial tablet to liberate the souls of those who had died on the flyover sea bridge. No more accidents occurred after that.
Jiana Zhou's brother brought her books and tapes about the Venerable Master from Gold Wheel Monastery, and many Dharma Masters and friends at Guanghua Temple shared the videos and instructional talks about cultivation at CTTB. They were enthusiastic and yearned for an opportunity to cultivate with the fourfold assembly there, but it was difficult to get a visa to go to the United States.
Jiani Zhou's mother, having heard that the City of Ten Thousand Buddha's was a Way place for the Proper Dharma, also took refuge with the Sangha. In 1999 she told her daughter to come. So Jiani Zhou began to bow to Earth Store Bodhisattva. Her visa came through, and one month later she arrived at the City of Ten thousand Buddhas--just in time for the Chan session. After the session, she applied to the Dharma Realm Buddhist University and has resided in the Sagely City for six months. She says: "Though I have been very busy, my body and mind have been fully trained here. I would like to thank the Venerable Master for creating this place where the Proper Dharma dwells. When Buddhism dwells in the world, living beings in the Dharma Realm all benefit."
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