By sister initiate Xiaochau, Taipei, Formosa

A bag of rice with seemingly little significance has brought Master's boundless blessings to my whole family. Someone in my family once made a very small offering of it to Master, and She has given us tens of thousands of times more in return! Each time I think of these experiences, I feel greatly touched all over again.

The story begins with my grandfather, who used to be a tenant farmer. Later he was given a small piece of land of his own, but the ground yielded barely enough food to feed his family. So my father left his village to make a living in Taipei. After each harvest on the farm, Father would bring a few bags of home-grown rice to Taipei with him.

In those early years, Master stayed in Shin-Dian, Taipei county. During one retreat, the chief resident monk reported to Master that they were short of rice. Master reassured him, "Don't worry. Someone will bring us some rice!" Sure enough, just at that moment, my sister was walking up the nearby mountain path with a bag of our home-grown rice, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Master! Master! Your rice is here!"

From that day on, miraculous changes began to occur in my impoverished family, both materially and spiritually. My parents, brothers and sisters, and even the next generation have all become Master's disciples, one after another. Our life has also greatly improved over time, as we have paid off our debts and gradually become self-sufficient. My brother-in-law now owns an electronics company that is listed on the stock market. Who would have thought that a trivial bag of rice could nurture such a large family!

However, most of our family members did not know about the rice story until ten years ago. My sister was going to the Hsihu Center for group meditation when she told us the anecdote. She was filled with much gratitude to Master. But later, to our surprise, in the middle of Her lecture that day, Master suddenly said, "It was merely a bag of rice! It's nothing to keep in mind!" After the lecture, my sister said in amazement, "Master knows everything! We shouldn't talk about this anymore." So this story has been known only among a few people in our family.

My sister just wanted to share with us her gratitude toward Master because of all the improvements in our family. Even today, whenever I think of the innumerable miracles that have occurred among my family members, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude. I had never imagined that a small bag of rice would grow into a forest bearing so much fruit! There is no worldly way to measure Master's love!

The purpose of my revealing this story is simply to share my understanding that Master really does not need us to do anything for Her. And there is nothing we do that is worth bragging about. All of our spontaneous expressions of love for Master are only excuses for Her to bless us with boundless love. At such times, we learn that we are really one with Her!