Mingxia Bai was a native of Shuangcheng County, Jiling Province in Manchuria. When she was three, her mother passed away during her sleep without any illness. Her memories of her mother came from her father: her mother disliked meat and was frugal, cautious, and very responsible. Mingxia sorely regretted that she didn't have much time to learn from her and wished to be like her. She was raised by her grandmother and later got married and had three daughters. Her family was comfortable and led a happy life. Her husband died instantly in a car accident when she was 32. This drastic change caught her totally unprepared. At the time she complained, “The old one can't mount and ride a horse; the young ones can't even pull a precious bow. How can he be so short-lived?” On the ride home after the cremation, she kept thinking, “I must take the children to the United States to get an education!” She understood that in her poverty-stricken hometown, everybody was busy cultivating the fields and it was not easy to pursue an education.

On May 9, 1992, Mingxia accompanied her father and brought her youngest daughter from Manchuria to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB), hearing that the Venerable Master had opened schools here. Half a year later, her two other daughters joined them. Unexpectedly, her father fell ill soon after their arrival. Mingxia took care of her father, bowed the Great Compassion Repentance praying for Guanyin Bodhisattva to bless him, and worked in the kitchen. One night her father dreamt that an elder hit him on the leg three times, and when he woke up the swelling was gone. That wonderful response inspired her and strengthened her faith in the Buddhadharma.

In 1993, her father was hospitalized in critical condition. One day the Venerable Master phoned to ask, “How is your father?” “He's doing okay and is sleeping after a shot,” replied Mingxia. “What shot? Don't let them give him an injection of morphine, or he won't remember to recite the Buddha's name. You take good care of your Papa for me!” Mingxia thought: This is my responsibility. It's my duty to be filial. A hundred days after her father's passing, Mingxia was worried and asked the Venerable Master why she hadn't dreamt of him. That night in her dream, two Dharma Masters told her, “Your father went with the Venerable Master to Mount Jiuhua (Nine Flowers) to leave the home life.” At that time she saw her father from the back as he walked away. His voice still echoed in the air: “You too will go to Mount Jiuhua when the time is right.”

In Manchuria, she had never read a book nor picked up a pen to write. Participating the sutra recitation with the great assembly and reading the Venerable Master's Instructional Talks, her intent to pursue learning and seeking knowledge is earnest. She loves the purity of CTTB and enjoys reciting sutras and mantras and bowing to the Buddhas. When she first learned to recite the Earth Store Sutra, it took her three or four hours to recite it. When her father was in critical condition, she recited it once a day. Later she recited less, but never ceased a day. Two years ago, she resumed her daily recitation of the Earth Store Sutra, because it is the Sutra of Filiality, and she prays to the Bodhisattva to bless her parents wherever they are.

She participated in a Chan Session at CTTB to learn how to meditate. She started by vowing not to release her legs for the duration of the sit. Advancing from half lotus posture to full lotus, after so many years she can now sit quietly without having to take a break. When asked how many hours she can sit, she laughs embarrassedly, “I can't sit really long. Sometimes I change my legs…There is nothing worth competing for in this world!”

Ever since she was young, Mingxia did not like to show off. She was rarely heard talking. She says that talking creates mouth karma and is like dumping garbage, not as good as reciting the Buddha's name or a sutra. In a difficult situation, she thinks: “Patience, patience, gotta have patience. Swo Po He.” When she hears gossip, her attitude is: Each person shoulders his own cause and effect; everyone eats his own food to get full. It's hard to get much information out of her. She will say mildly, “Paying lipservice to samadhi,/ I'm right and you're wrong./ After a while you'll understand people's minds. / People cover themselves with offenses.” Recollecting the changes over the last ten years, the only thing Mingxia likes to say is: I'm grateful to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas’blessings, and I cherish the opportunity to come to the United States to study the Buddhadharma. She also appreciates her fellow cultivators’care and help. After her children grow up, she hopes to advance in her cultivation on the Bodhi Path. We wish her all the best!