Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Venerable Master, and fellow cultivators, Amitofo!  

I would like to talk about an incident that happened to me in 1994, which led to my encounter with the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. That year, I developed an extremely severe illness where I had bad chest pains and coughed up blood. Since I do building renovation, I thought I had sustained an injury at work. At that time, I would have energy in the early part of the morning, but by 10 am, I would say to my wife, "If you have any work that requires two people, please let me know now; otherwise I need to rest in the car, as I feel weak and have no strength to work." At night, I slept poorly and kept coughing. I was unable to work and sleep at night until I found a chest and lung specialist downtown. After hearing about my symptoms and before giving his diagnosis, he said to me, "If you don't get treatment, you won't be able to see me in six months' time." I wasn't clear what he meant then. I searched around but was unable to find a good doctor. In May 1994, my condition worsened; at night, I could not lie down to sleep. I would sit up, but sometimes that was too painful. I would try to meditate but end up exhausted. All I could do was to lay on my stomach, but my whole body would ache.

At that time, I suddenly had an idea. I would ask everyone I met, "Do you know where the City of 10,000 Buddhas is located?" I did not know where the City was, although I had heard the name before. I had not, however, heard of the Venerable Master. Or perhaps I had heard of his name, but I don't remember. Whenever I asked, people would tell me it was here or there, but where was it actually? They didn't know, and neither did I. This resulted in delay after delay, until one day I asked a layperson, "How do I go to the City of 10,000 Buddhas?" That layperson was very kind and replied, "The City of 10,000 Buddhas is at such and such a place. I read in the newspaper that they will be holding a "Bathing the Buddha" ceremony there. Do you want to go? I replied, "I want to attend this ceremony, but I do not know how to get there." He told me, "There is a tour bus." I asked him, "Would you mind helping me to book a seat so that I can go?" And so I finally made the trip. When I arrived, I saw the Venerable Master Hua.

Later on, I participated in the "Bathing the Buddha Ceremony" and then had lunch. I sat at the far end of the dining hall's entrance. After the meal, I listened to the Venerable Master's Dharma talk. I heard him very clearly as he said that the first thing to do in cultivation is to quit smoking, as it is totally unbeneficial. He said, "Does it look good to be smoking a cigarette as you read a Buddhist book or recite a Sutra?" His talk specifically pinpointed my bad habit. Thinking back, I was very rebellious then. I thought to myself, "Why must I quit smoking before learning Buddhism?" I ran outside and smoked three cigarettes in a row, and when I carne back in, things seemed normal. I left the City when the Dharma assembly ended.  

My health deteriorated with each passing day. I did not notice this until one day, I saw my own photo and was shocked. My face looked like a skull. When I bathed, my thighs were so skinny they could flap in the wind; you can imagine how thin I was. By the end of May, the pain was unendurable. Thinking that I had an internal injury, I went with my wife looking for a physical therapist to treat my chest pain. On the second day, my wife told me, "You stay at home and wait for me. I will go and enquire about the charges. Then she left.

As I was unable to lie on the bed at night, I could only sprawl on my stomach or sit up. As soon as I lay down, the pain would be intense. Now I strongly believe that demons come during the night, because during the daytime, I could at least lie down for a while, but it had to be on the floor. Each time I wanted to get up from the bed, my wife had to help me up and I would clutch at her clothes while she lifted my body.

Since the pain was so intense at night that I could not sleep, I had to nap in the daytime yet could not sleep well either. Therefore, I always say to people when relating the following incident, "It doesn't matter whether you say I am confused due to illness or due to sleep." When the Venerable Master came to visit me in a vision, I immediately tried to get up as it is really impolite to lie down. But before I could get up, the Venerable Master made a gesture and said, "There's no need to get up; it doesn't matter." At that time, from where I was on the second floor I heard my wife opening the door to come into the house, and I called out, "Hey, don't come in now; the Master is here." I was trying to tell her not to interrupt this wonderful opportunity for me to see the Venerable Master, but she rushed up and asked me to get up, so I followed her to see the doctor. The doctor used physical therapy-ultrasound therapy-which had some effect in lessening the pain.

The next day, my wife told me, "Yesterday, I went to look for the plumber, and he will come this morning. Wait for me at home and I will come back and bring you to the doctor. Since I could not get up, I had to comply. She dressed me, and she helped me to lay down beside the bed facing the door.

After she left, the Venerable Master came again. This time it was even better. I think I did get up at that time. The Venerable Master requested the presence of many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and he introduced them to me one by one: "This is Buddha So-and-so; this is Bodhisattva So-and-so .... " I did not know any of them I thought, "Oh, so this is Medicine Bodhisattva, and who is this?" I was very happy. I knew I was really sick, and the Venerable Master said, "Today, I have asked the best doctor to come see you." I looked over and saw the Ji Gong, the Living Buddha. He looked just like the one we see on television and in pictures. After introducing us, the Venerable Master left with all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, leaving me with Ji Gong Buddha.

Ji Gong Buddha was the size of an average man, but he suddenly became very small. I felt like I was watching a movie. He hopped right into my mouth, and I thought, "This isn't right; how come he went in?" So I asked him, "Why did you go inside my body?" I asked again, "How can you go in just like that? It's too filthy!"

"You crazy fellow, I'm not going to bother with you. You say I'm filthy? You're filthier than me," he retorted.  

"Okay, okay, I don't have the strength to argue with you," I replied. We ignored each other. He used his torn fan to fan me, purifying my insides. At that time, I saw that my own lungs were extremely dirty and realized that there was a problem there. He kept scraping away, and when he was done, he paid me no heed but just vanished like a puff of air "Poof!" Perhaps I had offended him.  

After he left, I jumped to my feet right away. Before, I had needed my wife to support me to get up, but this time, I jumped up and walked to the sink to throw up. "Wow!" The vomit was multi-colored: red, yellow, white, green, black and many other colors as well. It all came out. After I vomited, I felt relieved and very comfortable, as if my illness were cured.

From then on, everything went smoothly. Before I met the Venerable Master, all my experiences had been unpleasant, but after meeting him, everything went well for me.

I went to get a thorough check up. I was referred to a doctor and later to a specialist. When the specialist heard about my condition, he assumed I had tuberculosis and put on a mask before examining me. He also did a cerebrovascular exam. Even though I was under anaesthesia, I could see an image of  two black dots. The specialist said that those dots had to be cleaned up. I had no idea what they were cleaning or what those two black dots were. I had simply vomited up everything after I met the Venerable Master. In any case, after they removed the two dots, I was fine, and I am still fine today.

I am very grateful to the Venerable Master for this second chance to live, for without him, I would not be alive today. Before I met the Venerable Master Hua, all those doctors had told me that I was very ill and had made me very afraid. You can imagine what kind of medical ethics they have. We can see that the difference between ethical and unethical doctors and between good and bad encounters is as great as the gulf between heaven and earth.

All cultivators and Dharma friends, think about this. I was merely mindful of the Venerable Master, and he came to rescue me from my suffering. You can see how compassionate the Venerable Master is. We should revere the Venerable Master and follow his teachings daily. Let us all follow his nstructions and diligently learn from and take refuge with the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Amitofo!