In the Dharma-Ending Age, we ordinary people should practice in the causal realm, delve into the Buddhist scriptures, understand the Buddha’s knowledge and views, and use the Buddha’s great scriptures and wisdom as the criteria for our life actions. Only in this way, when we face illness and disasters, can we remain fearless, turn danger into safety, and create great miracles in the world. When his mother was critically ill, Guo Zhu, according to the “The Buddha Speaks of the Differentiation of Karma for the Elder Subhuti”, sincerely worshipped the sutra and dedicated it to his mother who was suffering physically and mentally. His filial piety was moving, and his diligence was epic. Finally, he saved his mother who was at the door of death. Now, with great excitement and gratitude, she tells us what happened;
Before retiring, my parents were engaged in scientific research and teaching on protecting plants and removing pests at a university in Zhejiang. My mother is even more knowledgeable, with fruitful scientific research results and profound teaching skills. She can be said to have many students all over the world. She is a first-class professor who enjoys national government subsidies.
My parents are now in their seventies and have retired for many years. Because of their extraordinary achievements in the field of pest control, they were rehired by the pesticide factory. My parents, who didn’t know the terrible consequences of killing, developed insecticide formulas at home and sold them to pesticide factories to earn money from killing!
I knew when I was a child that my father would have nightmares every night, screaming that someone was chasing him. Moreover, he had bad skin and a lot of dandruff. He was itchy here and there, and there were always ointments such as meisu on his bedside table. My father had constipation when he was in college, and this pain always troubled him. Later, he also suffered from coronary heart disease. Long-term worry and fear made him smoke all the time, and his sad face never smiled.
After I had the opportunity to read the “Modern Records of Cause and Effect” written by Guoqing on the Internet, I realized that my father’s symptoms were related to his work and the killing karma we created by eating meat and seafood every day. So, I started to recite the “Earth Store Sutra” for the sentient beings that my parents had eaten and killed. I hope to transcend them and ask for their forgiveness. There was no obvious effect for a period of time at first, so I recited another “Earth Store Sutra” every day. One day not long after, my mother said to me: “Your father has been sleeping very peacefully recently. Although he still has dreams, he no longer has nightmares, and his constipation has also improved. His complexion is much better, he has a smile on his face, and he has quit smoking.” I was very excited, and I sighed at the incredible merits and power of the “Earth Store Sutra”!
Later, I had the honor of reading “Talking about the Compassionate Liang Emperor’s Precious Repentance” written by Guo Qing, and the shocking examples in the book made me feel deeply moved. I deeply felt that my parents’ sins of killing were too serious, and I needed to immediately stop eating meat, repent of killing, and embark on the path of learning Buddhism and practicing. Although my parents are getting older and weaker, they still don’t wake up and continue to kill and create karma. What should I do? My parents raised me with great difficulty, and I have been learning Buddhism and eating vegetarian food for several years. I want to repent to the sentient beings they killed on my parents’ behalf. The Sutra on the Differentiation of Karma and Its Retribution, which was Spoken by the Buddha to the Elder Subhuti, says: “If sentient beings worship Buddha pagodas and temples, they will gain ten kinds of merits: one, they will gain a beautiful appearance and a good voice; two, when they speak, people will believe them; three, they will be fearless in the crowd; four, they will be loved by gods and humans; five, they will be full of power; six, all sentient beings will come to them because of their power; seven, they will always be close to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; eight, they will have great blessings; nine, they will be reborn in heaven after death; ten, they will quickly attain Nirvana.” The Buddhist scriptures are Dharma treasures, representing the wisdom of the Buddha and the relics of the Buddha’s Dharma body. There is no difference between the merits of worshipping scriptures and worshipping Buddhas, and there is no difference between the merits of worshipping pagodas and temples. Ancient sages often became enlightened by worshipping the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra and other sutras.
So, I decided to worship the Ksitigarbha Sutra word by word for my parents, and firmly believed that the power of sincere worship of the sutra would surely be able to gain the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, benefit the harmed sentient beings, and eliminate the sins of my parents’ killing. I worshipped as soon as I said I would. During the worship, I was afraid that I didn’t have enough power, so I worshipped the Lotus Sutra word by word at the same time. I worshipped one page of each sutra at a time, about 500 times. In addition, I squeezed time to read a volume of the Shurangama Sutra every day. During those days, although my body was very tired, my heart was very relieved and full of joy!
When I finished worshipping the first four chapters of the Ksitigarbha Sutra, my mother accidentally broke her left femur and was hospitalized for treatment and replaced with an imported artificial femur. I suddenly remembered that when my mother used to give lectures, she used pins to pin the heads and feet of insects such as longhorn beetles on the display board as teaching aids so that the students could see clearly. Alas, not understanding Buddhism really makes things upside down. Every thought and action is karma and sin. “As the cause, so the result”, the cause and effect are not wrong at all. Now the bad retribution has come to her. If it weren’t for me, her daughter, who worshipped the sutra on her behalf and made the serious crime less severe, her future retribution in the three evil ways would be even more horrible.
When I finished worshipping the seventh chapter, my mother fell again, this time with the back of her head on the ground. The CT scan showed multiple intracranial hemorrhages and edema. The hospital has issued a critical illness notice. The condition is very critical. Mom has already shown hellish appearances, is afraid of light, and can’t open her eyes. At the same time, I was at home, and my daughter couldn’t open her eyes at university, and felt very tired. This may be a response of family affection, or maybe my daughter and I are both doing the karma for Mom. My brother put an eye mask on Mom and used a black cloth to block the light for her. The whole family was very nervous. I asked the whole family not to kill any more animals. One of my brothers vowed to be a vegetarian for three months for Mom. On the afternoon and evening of the day when Mom was hospitalized, we chartered a car to buy things and release animals, spending a total of 14,000 yuan. At the same time, on the basis of the original worship and chanting of sutras, I also chanted two copies of the Ksitigarbha Sutra, that is, I chanted four copies of the Ksitigarbha Sutra every day, worshipped one page of the Ksitigarbha Sutra, and then worshipped one page of the Lotus Sutra. I firmly believe that my sincerity can move the sentient beings who are asking for debts from Mom, and I firmly believe that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will bless me.
The day after releasing the animals, I called my brother to ask about my mother’s condition. He said she was still the same, neither better nor worse, and the doctor asked me to keep a close watch. I felt that the resentful relatives and creditors were unwilling to leave, and their resentment was hard to dispel! I immediately decided to spend another 10,000 yuan to release the animals, and released another 600 kilograms of snails the next day. I knelt in front of the Buddha to repent on behalf of my mother. The love between mother and daughter was deep, and the grace of raising her was hard to repay, so I cried and begged the Buddha and Bodhisattva to have mercy and save my mother! I begged my mother’s resentful relatives and creditors to give my mother another chance to reform for the sake of my learning Buddhism and keeping precepts. If my mother passed away, how would our family live? The Buddha and Bodhisattvas are merciful! The resentful relatives and creditors were generous and forgiving…
A few days later, my mother’s condition gradually improved, and she was out of danger, which made the doctor feel incredible. Although the death penalty was spared, the living sin was hard to forgive! She was suffering from the pain, and her painful symptoms also appeared in me: when my mother vomited in the hospital, I would also vomit at home at the same time, and vomited violently, so much so that I couldn’t worship Buddha, and couldn’t even drink a mouthful of water. I was also determined at the time, and put the washbasin beside me, thinking, since I was going to die anyway, I would die in front of Buddha, and I would pay for my mother’s life! In this way, I insisted on completing the “Earth Store Sutra” word by word!
Layman Guoqing said that some resentful relatives and creditors may punch you hard and kick you before leaving after forgiving you, which is the principle of heavy retribution and light suffering. So, one night at about two o’clock, my mother had convulsions all over her body. The doctor urgently rescued her all night, but the results of various tests were normal. The next morning when I recited the “Earth Store Sutra” for my mother, there was always a black shadow on the upper left of my head. It was not until I started to worship the “Earth Store Sutra” that the black shadow suddenly disappeared. I know that the enemies and creditors who were stationed on my mother’s head have gone, and I also know that my mother will not have any sequelae. The doctor once said that for an old person like my mother, who fell so hard, there is no hope of treatment. Even if she is saved, she will have serious sequelae and will not be able to take care of herself.
I know that my parents are engaged in killing and have serious sins. I decided to bow to the “Earth Store Sutra” for my parents one word at a time, and at the same time add one word at a time to the “Perfect Enlightenment Sutra”, one word at a time to the “Lotus Sutra”, and continue to bow to the “Lotus Sutra” one word at a time, 1,100 times a day, plus recite four copies of the “Earth Store Sutra”, one volume of the “Lotus Sutra”, the “Diamond Sutra”, the “Treasure Box Seal Dharani Sutra”, the “Lotus Sutra”, and the “Four Kinds of Pure and Clear Instructions” every day. I really risked my life. The enemies and creditors of my parents all appeared on me, and my own karmic debt was also extremely heavy, so I was extremely uncomfortable, but I deeply knew that debts must be repaid, which is a matter of course, not to mention that the debt owed is endless. Now, these beings that were killed and eaten did not take my parents’ lives, but only caused them to suffer physically. This would not be possible without the blessing of Buddha’s power. All this has strengthened my confidence in diligently reciting sutras, worshipping Buddha, and spreading the Dharma to benefit sentient beings.
Now my mother has recovered and been discharged from the hospital. When I went back to the hospital for a follow-up examination not long ago, a famous neurosurgeon said that for a patient like my mother who is over 70 years old and has so many intracranial hemorrhages, the edema disappears on its own without any surgery, and the blood stasis can be absorbed on its own without any sequelae. This is the only case since the establishment of the hospital, which is truly a miracle in the world. Looking at my mother who is completely different from when she was critically ill, relatives and friends really can’t believe the fact that she was resurrected. I can’t believe that she can still live after such a serious fall, and I can’t believe that she is not only alive but also living so well without any sequelae. Do you believe it? My mother is now trading stocks online (I am not advocating stock trading, but just using this to illustrate the extent of her recovery), with clear thinking and quick reactions. She herself said that when many relatives and friends came to see her, they thought she must have drooling eyes and half of her body could not move. They were surprised and exclaimed that she was as healthy as before. My mother has become a celebrity in the university where she works. When people heard that it was me, a daughter, who recited and worshipped the “Earth Store Sutra” to save her mother, many people began to recite and worship the “Earth Store Sutra”. Even my father began to copy the “Earth Store Sutra” with a brush. I sincerely hope that those who read this article, even if they are healthy now, will give up all meat and seafood as soon as possible, and recite or worship the “Earth Store Sutra” for the sentient beings they have killed and eaten as soon as possible, so as not to regret it too late when disaster strikes. If I have any merit in writing this article, I will dedicate this merit to my parents, and hope that they will have a great repentance heart as soon as possible, learn Buddhism as soon as possible, and eat vegetarian food as soon as possible. May the two elders live longer and be healthy!
Here is Master Yin Guang’s relevant teaching for those who are interested in worshipping the sutra:
Reciting, chanting, and practicing all kinds of cultivation should be based on sincerity and respect. If sincerity and respect are extreme, the merits and virtues mentioned in the sutra cannot be fully obtained even in the realm of ordinary people. And what is obtained is also inconceivable and difficult to understand. If there is no sincerity and respect, it is the same as singing an opera. The suffering and happiness are all fake, not from the inside. Even if there are merits, they are no more than the foolish blessings of humans and gods. And this foolish blessing must be used to create evil karma. There is no end to the suffering in the future. This idea should be announced to peers so that they must truly practice and truly practice. Then the benefits will be widespread.
If you worship word by word, you should recite and pay homage to a certain word of the Mahayana “Lotus Sutra” with one heart. When you worship a certain word, you should recite a certain word. From “Thus I have heard” to the end of the sutra, you should recite in this way. However, the method of visualization is not easy. If the reasoning is not clear and the mind is confused, it may cause various demonic things. But be sincere and respectful, and watch if you can. Otherwise, pay your respect with all your heart and bow straight, which will also bring you immeasurable merits.
Tip: It is difficult to repay the kindness of our parents, and filial piety comes first among all virtues. Filial piety can create miracles in the world. As children, we should always be filial. When parents are seriously ill, we should not be afraid of danger, raise our right mind and follow the teachings, eat vegetarian food, recite scriptures, worship scriptures, and release animals for our parents, so that they can turn danger into safety. Not only will we cultivate our own blessings and wisdom, but we will also save our parents. This is true filial piety.
