Blog » Dharma Friends » Responses from Buddha recitations » Back to Amitabha’s Arm by Great Compassionate Recitation

Back to Amitabha’s Arm by Great Compassionate Recitation 2013-01-10

 

By Pearl Chang
English Translation By Lotus Lee

 

 I would like to thank the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Venerable Master, Dharma masters, and all my Dharma friends who helped recite the Buddha’s name for helping my mother attain rebirth in the western land of Ultimate Bliss without obstacles. My husband has already described the events that took place when my mother was reborn in the Pure Land. Now, I want to talk about some of my experiences and what we, as children, can do.

First of all, we have to recite the Buddha’s name regularly. The Venerable Master was just talking about it in the tape. If we wait until the time of our death to repent and to recite the Buddha’s name, unless we are able to give rise to very strong faith, it will be very difficult for us to be reborn in the Pure Land. When my mother was sick, she recited the Buddha’s name too, but when the cancer was in its final stage and she was staying in the hospital, she could not recite the Buddha’s name, because the only thing she wanted was to get morphine for painkiller. At that point, we kept on encouraging her and comforting her that she should not take the morphine shots unless it hurt very badly. She should be faithful and use the Buddha’s name as painkiller. After she had been in the hospital for a week, she finally picked up her faith and decided take morphine as little as possible. It went from a shot of morphine every two hours to a shot every eight hours, and at the end, it was a shot of morphine every twelve hours. From this, I believe in depth that we should recite the Buddha’s name and repent regularly; we shouldn’t do it at the last minute. If we don’t do it until the very last moment, we will have an overwhelming feeling of despair, because we want to do it, but don’t have the ability .

I would like to mention a response related the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra. When my mother was in the hospital, not only was she in pain, she also could not eat or drink. She was entirely on morphine and intravenous drips. As for the intravenous drips, the spot let the IV in would start to bruise and swell about every three days. The nurses would then change the spot. I once asked my friends about the IV drip needles. They told me that most people cannot go on intravenous drips for more than a month, because after all of the spots on the arms had been used, and then the only spots left would be the blood vessels on the heel. That is even more painful! I remember the third time when the nurses helped my mother change spots for the intravenous needle. I happened to be present. My mother has very thin blood vessels, so when they changed the spot let the IV in, she was screaming from the pain. I was very saddened by the sight. When I remembered that she had to go through this every time, I was even sadder. Originally, my husband and I had already been reciting the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra for my mother. From that day on for about eight days, we started to we recited it twice a day until she was released by the hospital; it was unbelievable that the nurses did not change the spot since then. In addition, the original spot did not bruise and swell. All of the nurses thought it was very strange, because most people who were on IV had to change the spots every three to four days. This goes to show that as long as we recite the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra sincerely and wholeheartedly, we will have very big responses. So regularly, we should have righteous faith and minds. As long as we have faith, make vows, and do them well, then we will be able to go to the western land of Ultimate Bliss.

Just now, the Dharma Master told me to share with everybody what we can do for our parents. Spiritually, we should encourage our parents to recite the Buddha’s name and to participate in Dharma assemblies more often. I remember that after my mother took a fall for the first time in 2003, many problems broke out in her body. Because we often encouraged her to recite the Buddha’s name, and she was quite willing to do, she got well very fast. In 2005, she had heart problems, which made her body very weak. That year for Emperor Liang’s Jeweled Repentance, we encouraged her to come to Gold Sage Monastery to participate in the repentance. Not only did she participate, she also took the Eight Fold Vegetarian Precepts. After the repentance and the precepts, she felt that her body had taken a turn for the better, and felt even stronger. We were even able to take her traveling. After that, she participated in Emperor Liang’s Jeweled Repentance and took the Eight Fold Vegetarian Precepts every year. Although she could not do the whole repentance, she still came on the first and last day. Last year, when she had a stroke, her body was in very bad condition, and her body was too weak to participate in the repentance, but she insisted on taking the eight precepts. Therefore, as children, we should encourage our parents to recite the Buddha’s name regularly. Then, they will very naturally have a kind of Samadhi. Other than reminding my mother to recite the Buddha’s name and to bow to the Buddha, I also reminded her that when she was done with her daily recitation schedule, she should transfer the merit to the beings that she had hurt in her past lives, as well as all living beings.

I would also like to talk about some matters more practical to our life. Before our parents pass away, we should help them understand that being reborn in the land of Ultimate Bliss is a very auspicious thing. Then they know where they are going, and when they are dying, not only will they not be afraid, they will single-mindedly want to go to the Pure Land. At the same time, we should also discuss with them all about the consequences of the necessitation processes and the ceremony to be conducted. Not only should we know what our parents agree to, we must also have legal documents. If the parents are in life-threatening conditions, the family members cannot recite the Buddha’s name to help them attain rebirth, controversially they are arguing in the ways of processes, then that is a very regretful event.

The last thing I want to talk about is how I transferred merits after I am done with my daily recitation schedule. I begged the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the Venerable Master that (1) I don’t dare to ask my mother be an immortal and never die; I just hope that she will be peaceful and healthy, that the illnesses she already has will not recur, and that she will not have any new illnesses. (2) I hope that my mother will always have faith, recite the Buddha’s name vigorously, and that she will be able to attain rebirth in the Pure Land without any obstacles. (3) I hope that all of the people who help recite the Buddha’s name for my mother will all be full in the joy of the Dharma.

Other than sharing my experiences and what I believe, as children, we should do for our parents, I would like to thank the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Venerable Master, all Dharma masters, and my Dharma friends once again for fulfilling my wishes. Amitabha!