Greetings!
Now that I have finished the post on The War between LIGHT and Darkness , I am going to focus on writing the post(s) that was supposed to be the first post of 2024. (Re Be a Spark of PEACE)
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While I was growing up, my family * followed the Chinese traditions, but was not into any particular religion. Of course, I had heard of Quan Yin the Great Compassion Bodhisattva, Sakyamuni Buddha, and Amitabha Buddha. I did not know their stories because I had not read any Buddhist book. (*My father's mother / my grandmother was the dominating figure in the family.)
My mother's side of the family might lean toward Buddhism as some Chinese families did, but I did not recall seeing any Buddhist statue in Grandfather's place. When I was small, one day my favorite uncle (my mother's youngest brother) came to visit. He brought with him a buddha statue. He said the buddha statue was an antique and had been consecrated. He gave it to my mother hoping buddha would bless my mother and her family. My mother was kind and gentle. Her parents and siblings loved her. They were sad that my mother suffered a lot in her marriage because the go-between had lied to them.
I loved to sit and look at the painted laughing buddha statue. He was so full of joy. When I was around 8 (?), I began to draw pictures of buddha. Whenever I finished a picture, I showed it to my mother. She always took time to really look at my drawings, and said some encouraging words lovingly. In time, I began to have strange dreams. I dreamed three light beings floated in from the sky. (In the dream, they floated into my place, yet the place did not resemble where I lived in life.) They went to sit by a small table. The whole place was filled with light. They joyfully talked and drank something from small cups. One was broad. He wore a monk's habit, and there was no hair on his head. He broke out into joyful laughs all the time. (I knew he laughed. However, I neither heard his laughter nor what they were chatting about. In the dream, I was a child observing what went on with awe from a corner of this place.) The other male wore a different kind of habit. He had hair, and wore something on his head. He was slim. The female wore a beautiful long dress. She had some sort of hair decorations on/around her hair. After some time, they floated out. I did not use the word fly because float seemed to be the right description of how they came in and out. Years before that, I had realized nobody was really interested in hearing my dreams. Therefore, I had stopped talking about my dreams upon waking up. I dreamed of these three beings once in a while. They seemed to be talking about different things every time they came. I always observed from a corner. Then someone in the family accidentally broke the statue. My dream of them stopped. It happened so long ago. I wondered if I had those dreams because the statue was consecrated.
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In August 2007, we moved to another state because our older son had found a job there. (Re The amazing prophetic dream of moving )
The incredible phenomenon of 'Night Vision - Pieces of a Dream' came to a stop because I could not find a radio station that played similar kind of music. Therefore, I simply set the car radio to a station that played music. I left the radio on so that music would automatically come on after my husband started the car.
Other than the regular grocery stores, we found an oriental store near us. Later, I learned from the phone directory that there were a few oriental stores not far from us. One day, we went to another oriental store. As we entered, I saw a small display stand with Buddhist books and magazines in Chinese. There were also Buddhist chanting CDs. A sign stated that all of these were free to take. After shopping, I took one Buddhist book and a couple of CDs from the stand. I put a Buddhist chanting CD into the car CD player. I did not know another incredible phenomenon would soon begin!
One day, as we were about to leave a store, my husband said he needed to use the restroom. I waited for him outside of the store. After a while, I decided to wait inside the car. I used my car key to open the car doors.
At the time, I had not driven anywhere by myself yet. We did not have a GPS device. My phone was a basic phone that I could only make calls and receive calls. I had a computer, but had not subscribed for Internet service. When we went anywhere, we looked at the map in the phone directory. Later, we went to AAA to get a map of the city. It took me quite a while to have some idea of the way around, and felt brave enough to drive anywhere by myself. It was said that courage and strength were my attributes, and that I was a daring spirit that loved challenges 😃😃😃 !!!!!!
My husband returned. He started the car. To our surprise, the CD began to play! Amituofo, Amituofo, Amitfuofo, Amituofo . . . . . Hearing the chanting, I smiled joyfully. My husband looked at me with a puzzling look, but did not say anything.
Anyway, it remained the case throughout the years while we lived in that state. When I used my car key to open the car doors or when I went somewhere by myself, Amituofo automatically came on; when my husband used his car key, music was on. (There was only one time that the CD did not play. That was the experience of God's love / grace that I mentioned in my previous post. I might share it in another post.)
I did not know much about technology. I did not understand how two car keys to the same car operated differently. It might be the memory box in the car recorded our car keys' operational choices, and what happened might not be a phenomenon at all. But, I felt much joy and beauty in life because of not knowing 😊. (The car I drive now did not have a CD player. If your car has a CD player, it may be you can do an experiment with your car keys.)
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I used to think Buddhism was a religion like Christianity. Reading the books, I learned Buddhism was not a religion. Sakyamuni Buddha / Gautama Buddha / Lord Buddha said we should maintain an inquiring mind, and should not simply believed in what he or others said. Lord Buddha said everybody was equal by nature because everyone was (is) of buddha nature. After his enlightenment, he spent the rest of his life (45 years) traveling to many places to teach Dharma. I was deeply touched by Lord Buddha's pure intention of service to humanity.
After reading the Buddhist books, I understood more about life. In time, I began to chant Amituofo in the morning when my son was at work or was not home. I did not want any conflict because he had said he did not want to hear anything spiritual. Chanting Amituofo brought me peace. As I chanted, I felt the expansive energy field around me. As time went by, sometimes I woke up during the night hearing the chanting. One day, we went to a store shopping for grocery. As soon as we came out of the store, I heard the Buddhist chant loud and clear in the air. It continued to happen every now and then when I was not thinking about the chant at all. I believed this happened naturally after we chanted or sang some words wholeheartedly for some time. When we did something consistently from our heart, sometimes what we did became part of our way of being.
Amituofo was the word on the brochure that came with the CD. I chanted in Chinese Cantonese and was somewhat different from the CD. Below was what I learned online.
"Amituofo" is the Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word "Amitabha", which means immeasurable light and immeasurable life. Saying "Amituofo" to each other is both a kind of greeting and a form of well-wishing.
Cantonese was / is a language older than Mandarin. Many famous old Chinese poems sounded much better when recited in Cantonese than in Mandarin; the words rhymed in Cantonese, and not in Mandarin.
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We went to that oriental store once in a while. Whenever we went there, there were always new Buddhist books, CDs and videos in the display stand. As a result, I got to read many books on Buddhism. In the later months of 2011, the stand was almost empty, or there was nothing new. I did not know then that we would be moving out of that state soon.
I shall continue with my story in my next post.
Love and Blessings,
Q of D
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