Story World

Stories from the Early Years

By sister-initiate Ruan Li-yu,
Taipei, Formosa (Originally in Chinese)

An Undiscriminating Heart

One day during the early years while Master was living in Sindian, the brother in charge of the kitchen told me, “Master dislikes eating such-and-such food.” Then, a few days later, when Master was chatting with a group of disciples, I asked Her, “Brother Tsai said that You don’t like to eat such-and-such food. Is that true?” And Master replied, “If there’s any food that I dislike, you may dump me into the big drainage ditch outside!”

Master’s reply reminded me of the following passage from the Buddhist sutras about the nature of an enlightened Saint: “No discrimination arises from the heart to discriminate against all of Creation.” Thus, to such a being, the five sense organs are merely tools to feel and understand the world. Unlike ordinary humans, the Saint does not add into His or Her experience any deep emotions regarding likes or dislikes, or attachment to the senses. So, although Master’s discourses are simple and easy to understand, and She seldom cites profound passages from the scriptures, Her behavior corresponds absolutely with the qualities of an enlightened being described in the Buddhist sutras, and it is not an exaggeration to refer to Her as “a living scripture.”♥  

Pioneer of Environmental Protection

Perhaps Master perceived the anguished cries of the fish and shrimp living in the above-mentioned drainage ditch outside Her house. Because one day She suddenly called a gathering of the Sindian disciples and announced, “From this day on, we will stop using toxic detergent. If you poison any sentient beings today, you’ll have to come back to heal them later!” Thus, we began using only charcoal ash to clean cooking utensils and stopped using disposable tableware.

On another occasion, Master said with great emotion, “Humankind has been using so many chemical substances and conducting so many nuclear bomb tests that a hole has appeared in the protective layer of the Earth. Many negative forces from other planets have thus penetrated our planet’s atmosphere and generated many human diseases that are difficult to cure. Gambling and all kinds of disasters have also increased.” A month later, the worldwide media reported, “There is a large hole in the Earth’s ozone layer, which has allowed radiation from outer space to cause increasing numbers of cancer cases each year. Scientists are working hard to think of a remedy!”

Upon reading this news, I rushed to Sindian to report to Master, “Master! Your words have been verified. Scientists have discovered that the protective layer of the Earth has been punctured.” And She replied, “Spiritual practitioners know many things without having to read the news.”

Truly, the environmental protection concepts that Master embraces are generated by Her inner wisdom. When one has accomplished perfection in spiritual progress, one becomes omniscient.♥

The Omniscient Master

Around the same time, a sister-initiate was being beaten by her husband, and went to Sindian to tell Master about her problem. Sitting by the sister’s side, I said sympathetically: “I’m fortunate! Though my husband opposes my pursuit of spiritual practice, he would never beat me.” To this, Master responded, “Your situation is different than hers. Your husband is a tour guide who only comes home once every four days. So of course he only says how he misses you.” I was amazed and thought, “How does Master know that my husband is a tour guide? She even knows that he only comes home once in four days!”

Many similar episodes occurred while Master was living in Sindian, and in my conversations with Her, I found that She knew countless details of my personal life without having heard about them from me, such as when I had my hair shampooed at the salon, what time I got up in the morning to meditate, what I said to my students at the school where I taught, and so on.

After many such experiences, one day I could not curb my curiosity any longer and asked, “Master! How much do You really know?” And She replied mischievously, “I have a control switch that I switch on when I want to know something, and switch off when I don’t want to know!”

This relates to the following statement in the Buddhist scriptures: “The Buddha knows all the different thoughts of all sentient beings.” (Diamond Sutra, Chapter of Unification with One, Paragraph 18) Thus, an enlightened Saint is one with all Creation, and everyone is transparent before Master’s gaze.♥