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3 The Stories Of Cause And Effect (Forward) The cause and effect stories in this book are taken from a particular book written by a highly regarded Chinese Buddhist lay practitioner, named Mr. Gouqing. Through a proper understanding of cause and effect, he and his daughter and many of his students were able to reach a high level of realization and wisdom. This has enabled him to unfold the true contributing facts of one's illnesses, diseases, life encounters/phenomena s and so-forth, much of which is far beyond our normal conceptualization. Having developed high wisdom and realization of the truthof human life, Mr. Guoqing decided to write a book, telling stories through a fictional character, "Master Mio Fa". Through these stories, he has attempted to relate what he has learned through his cultivation of wisdom and in depth study of cause and effect. These stories are recorded from true events, only the real names of people have been replaced with fictional ones. The original book begins with a short introduction: When we stew meat, or fry fish, it s because we re hungry. However we do not understand that these animals do not want to become our food. Nevertheless, a lot of times our kitchens become slaughterhouses. The animal s chests are cut open and are displayed upon a mountain of blades. We deep fry, stir fry, steam and use other forms of punishment against these animals. But we don t realize that their consciousness usually will stay in our bodies, because they want us to return what we have taken from them. Come the end of the day, all virtuous and non-virtuous acts will have their own retribution. Most diseases come from the mouth. One should not take this for

4 granted. When the right time comes the evil acts will be punished and at that time you will be diseased and must then enter the hospital. When you are lying under the light of the operating table, and your chest is cut wide open, this is just a reflection of what you have done in the kitchen. If early on we knew that these things would happen to us, would we be so hungry for meat in the first place? Everyone will experience certain forms of illnesses and diseases that will cause much suffering to both themselves and their families. Whether one is rich or poor, in a position of power or powerless, nobody can escape these diseases. When your life becomes torturous, one bite at a time, money and power are not helpful. So why do human beings become diseased? Other than the normal process of aging, deterioration of organs and such, most people believe that diseases come from the mouth, in terms of eating dirty food, spoiled food, and so forth. If this is in fact correct, then why do all the homeless people we see living on the street not suffer from these same diseases? Surely the food they eat from the dumpster and garbage cans are not as clean as the food we eat in our kitchens. They don t wash their hands, and do not bathe as often as we do. Through the different seasons, sometimes they don t even have the appropriate clothing to cover their bodies. Have you ever heard of these homeless people having diarrhea and such? How many of them do you see with a high fever or catching colds as easily as we do? We look at ourselves and the way we are so careful about what we eat, so conscious of eating clean and healthy food, yet we are the ones who cannot live without medicines, doctors and hospitals. So then what is meant by diseases are coming from our mouths? Remember back to the 1950 s. Pneumonia was a fatal disease, so antibiotics

5 were created in order to fight it. Tuberculosis then took over as the fatal disease, and another medicine was created. Then came cancer, AIDS and so forth, and now we see many diseases that have not even been named, for which even the best doctors and medical experts cannot find a remedy. In today s newspapers, you read about all kinds of weird diseases on a regular basis. As the medical knowledge and equipment have become more and more advanced, our medicine has become more and more expensive. Still, these diseases have never been eliminated. It seems that God is against us. It is as if the path is one yard high and the devil can jump three yards high. You can just never win. I started to understand the true reason why people get diseases once I began studying Buddhist sutra. Through my own practice and experience, I was able to demonstrate my understanding. In simple words, greed, hatred and ignorance are the source of all diseases. To be exact, the ten non-virtuous acts and karmas are the true reason behind these diseases. So when we say that all diseases come from the mouth, it actually means that we ve eaten things we shouldn t have, said things we shouldn t have and done things we shouldn t have. This book presents a few stories that relate to killing animals, eating meat and other causes of some of the different diseases. These stories are taught by Master Mio Fa. People who came to him asking to be taught about cause and effect were given their lessons through his special clairvoyance, using Buddha Dharma teaching them not to do evil, to perform virtuous acts and to purify their minds. This is what Buddha s teaching is all about. Special thank you to Jemma Fong, Dustin Baldwin, Carol Beckmen and all people who have helped out with the translation and edition of this book.

6 ontents Giant Rooster with Golden Feathers Everything That They Have in the Factory, I Have at Home Nyctophobia Wasting Lord's Gifts is a Great Offence Let Thing's Be Used To Their Fullest Although The Toothpick Is Small, Don't Take It The Retribution Of A Slavemaster Dead Father Ask's For His Son's Help To Cross Him Over Weird disease A teacher The Fetus Loves To Listen To The Earthstore Bodhisattva Sutra Eye Disease And The Flooding Of Golden Mountain Temple Who's Fault Is It? Unfilial Son's Who Left Their Mother Starving To Death Cause And Effect Is The Law Of Nature Hysteria

7 The Evil Young Man Breaking Bones To Suck The Marrow Only Holding Discipline And Reciting The Buddha's Name Will Benefit You Cause and Effect Like This Taking Out The Tumor By Drilling A Hole Pig Feet Stew Egg Pancake Take small advantage and loose big deals Infected Sore's Reading More Sutra's To Increase Your Wisdom Ant Nest and Our House The Faithful Action Of The Rubber Tree How Can A Dharma Protector Be Greedy In Receiving Offerings? Teaching By Your Own Example, And Always Saying Good Things To Others Qi-Gong Treatment, Psychics And So-Called Alternative Healers Soup Of Confusion About Clairvoyance and Spiritual Penetration Beauty and the Bandit Young Man in Green Shirt The Retribution Of A Slavemaster

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9 True Stories of Cause and Effect Giant Rooster with Golden Feathers A peasant named Mr. Cheung had lung cancer. He went to two different hospitals, and doctors at both hospitals said he was at the end of his life. They asked him and his family to make preparations for his funeral. One of his relatives heard about me, brought Mr. Cheung s wife to my house and asked if I had any solutions for him. Master Mio Fa happened to be visiting me, and agreed to speak to Mrs. Cheung, who without hesitation asked him for help. Master Mio Fa said to her, The patient that you speak of has taken many lives. He especially likes to kill chickens, is that right? The wife answered, Yeah, yeah! My husband really likes to cook chickens. In our village, whether there are ceremonies, functions, weddings or funerals, everybody likes to ask him to help with cooking food. He always feels that the other people are not as skilled as he when it comes to killing chickens, because they don t know how to use the knife properly. Normally he would do that on his own. In each ceremony he would need to kill at least a dozen chickens. Sometimes the ditches fill with blood. Master Mio Fa asked, Do you remember that one time you killed somebody else s rooster? This particular rooster had golden feathers around his neck, and the feathers on his body were dark brown, with dark green feathers on his tail. This rooster was very tall, very strong and very handsome! Mrs. Cheung was shocked. Her face changed colour and she got down on her knees right away and said, Old Bodhisattva, we did not know that killing chickens was some sort of an offense. In the days when we didn t have any food, we were so hungry, and our neighbour s rooster flew into our yard. Thinking nobody would notice, we just killed him. I can t believe that you can see all these things! Wow! This is really a bad retribution to bad actions. I would never dare to do this again! Also, in those days when we had a lack of food, we stole food from around the village and the fields. Now I realize that all of this was wrong. 001

10 True Stories of Cause and Effect To tell you the truth, I was the one that had encouraged him to do that. Please help me! I would prefer to see my life shortened instead, in order to help him. She was crying and begging Master Mio Fa, which made me tear up as well. I couldn t believe that she suddenly realized and understood that these actions were truly offensive. I was touched by her dignity and honesty, and her willingness to help her husband. Master Mio Fa himself appeared to be moved as well and replied, What you have just said is true repentance. You will have to ask your husband to also go back home and repent. From now on he has to stop killing. Get the book of the Earthstore Bodhisattva s Sutra and recite this together 49 times, and offer it to all the chickens that your husband has killed over the years. Then dedicate all the merits to them. As far as the big rooster, he is actually the king among all chickens. Do you remember that after your husband killed this rooster it became a normal occurrence for him to easily get a headache? The wife thought about this for a second and replied, Yes, yes! It s so true! From that point on he began to get headaches, usually every two days or so and nothing can really help him. Do you know why? Master Mio Fa asked, and then went on to explain. Because that rooster always stands on top of your husband s head with his two claws digging in, nonstop! He is also using his beak, picking at your husband s head! How can he not feel pain? Go to the temple and recite a prayer for this rooster, and following that, recite Earthstore Bodhisattva s Sutra seven times for him. Also If you are able, ask the monks to help you to ferry this rooster over, because he will then become a phoenix. Oh Master! We do not know how to read. We never went to school, so I don t know how to recite the sutra, answered Mrs. Cheung. Reciting this sutra will help to save your husband s life. And it will be very good for you as well, Master Mio Fa reminded her. If you don t understand a word you can ask for people to help you, or buy a dictionary and try it slowly. Especially during this 002

11 True Stories of Cause and Effect period when you are reciting this sutra, you should stop eating all meat as well as all the pungent plants. Stop drinking and smoking. If you use your stinky mouth to recite sutras, then no heavenly beings will come and listen, and no one will benefit from it. You must realize that if this rooster is not ferried over, your husband s headaches will never be cured. However, if you can follow the precepts, the Buddha s and Bodhisattva s will help you. So the wife said, My husband is very, very sick and I think he is at the end of his life. Is it too late to recite the sutra? Master Mio Fa replied, If your husband had not killed so many chickens his life would not end at this time. Killing will reduce people s life spans, however, because you have repented very deeply just now, things have already changed. A truthful repentance can reduce offenses. If your husband can also repent with sincerity and dignity, recite sutras and the Buddha s name, things will change for sure. Hurry though, and do not delay." When the wife went back to the hospital, to her surprise her husband was already sitting up beside the bed. When she asked him, he said that he had just spat out two buckets full of phlegm, and all of a sudden his chest felt much more relaxed. For the first time since his disease had become so serious, he had been able to spit on his own. His wife felt very, very happy. She told her husband of her encounter with Master Mio Fa. Her husband felt very happy, as well as surprised. The next day they decided to leave the hospital, telling the doctors that they did not have the means to cure him. After awhile, this person who was almost on death s doorstep with lung cancer, magically stood in front of his own house helping people fix their bicycles. Some of the villagers came to ask him about his story, and while they were talking the rain started to fall. He was able to climb up on top of the house and fix the roof, to everybody s surprise. 003

12 True Stories of Cause and Effect "Everything That They Have in the Factory, I Have at Home" One afternoon a middle aged man in his 50 s who looked like a factory worker, was led by a lay person to meet Master Mio Fa. He was a very outgoing individual. When he entered he put his hands together, bowed to Master Mio Fa three times and then proceeded to seat himself without anybody asking him to. You could tell that he had a delightful personality. Master Mio Fa spoke. "I know why you have come here. Is it because of your back pain?" he asked the man, who was totally shocked. "Wow Shifu, you are amazing! I haven't told you yet, but you already know that!" the man replied. He then stood up and opened his clothes revealing his back to master Mio Fa. "Please look at my back," the man asked. There was a 15-inch-wide protective brace circling around his back. He then sat down again and exclaimed, "I've been wearing this thing for nearly 10 years. The doctors have said that the muscles in my back have become damaged and this sort of condition is unable to be cured by taking needles or any kind of medicine. So now I need to use this belt to protect myself, otherwise I would not be able to straighten my back. Things seem a little bit better during the winter and spring months, but during the summer I suffer so much. All of this is because when I was younger, I did not take very good care of myself and worked too hard. I heard my friend talking about you, and he said that you were a living Bodhisattva. Could you please help me?" the man asked. "If you can cure my back, then I will burn incense for you every day, and prostrate to you a hundred times!" After saying this he put his hands together and bowed to master Mio Fa once again. Master Mio Fa laughed at him and replied, "First of all, I am not a Bodhisattva. Second of all, I am not a doctor and do not know how to treat people. If I was in fact a Bodhisattva, then how could I possibly be sitting here talking to you? If I could in fact treat people, then I should go and work at a hospital. Whether or not this condition can be cured depends on you, because to unknot the belt you 004

13 True Stories of Cause and Effect will need to find the person who made the knot. "Now, If I were to ask you to stop smoking, stop drinking, stop stealing and stop eating meat, then could you do that? Master Mio Fa asked. "Of course!" replied the man. "If my back can be cured, I will do everything, but I have never stolen, and I have never robbed anyone." Master Mio Fa responded, "OK, however, you have a painful sensation in your back. Do you also feel much heaviness on your back?" "Oh yes," answered the man. "I feel as though there are tons of things pressing on my back." "Have you ever stolen any hinges, screws or nails from your factory?" Master Mio Fa asked. "They are all brand new and still in the package." The man was stunned and said, "Yes, that's true. I'm a mechanic in the company that I work for. As they say, the one who gets the moon is the one who is closest to the balcony. Now who doesn't do that? Everybody takes advantage of the company. This is not called stealing. Even the managers are taking things home." "You take the company's goods home with you! How can you say that is not stealing? Did you bring them home in broad daylight? No, you put them in your lunchbox!" Master Mio Fa scowled. The man was so shocked that he opened his big eyes and just stared back at Master Mio Fa, and couldn't say a word. "Not only that, you stole knives and iron cables, and you also used pieces of iron to make your chimney at home!" Master Mio Fa said. "You used the iron rods to make the accessories for your fireplace." The man stopped Master Mio Fa and cried out, "Oh stop right here please! Don't say that anymore! Yes, you're right. Everything that they have in the factory, I have in my home. How did you know?" Master Mio Fa replied, "That's what is pressing on top of your back." The man quickly lost his outgoing nature. He looked very deflated. The whole 005

14 True Stories of Cause and Effect thing now looked like a scene from a police investigation. The man said, "Yes I have taken away a lot of things, but they were not just for me. I gave plenty to friends and family too! My income is not that high, and those things are all from the company so who cares? I'm a mechanic, I have some skills and I can do things. If I make friends with the warehouse managers, then we can all take care of each other. This is nothing new in the factory, but hearing you say these things today makes me feel like I was hit by lightning. Lord really has eyes!" The man then asked, "How do you know everything that I stole from the factory and why are they all clinging to my back? This is really a bad retribution! I was wondering why it seemed to be getting heavier and heavier. Is this because I was taking more and more stuff? Now I finally understand. It is better if I stop doing this, it's so true! From now on, I will stop smoking, drinking and eating meat. I will never again take advantage of my company this way, honestly! I promise you that I will do what I said I would, and tomorrow I will buy a Buddha statue and set up a shrine in my house. Tell me Shifu, what is the best Buddhist book for me to read? I really wish that I had studied Buddhism earlier. I have made so many mistakes over the years." I had not realized that this man had such amazing insight. Listening to his repentance, I rejoiced with him in my heart. I could see that Master Mio Fa was very happy also. So I told him, "I can give you some books first and then you could go to a temple and get more books later." The man said thank you to me and then asked, "I've been taking so many things from the factory! What can I do? Should I take some money back?" Master Mio Fa responded, "If you take money back then that will bring big trouble to you. As long as you know to repent in your heart, these offences will be reduced or will disappear. You can return the debt in some other way. You could do volunteer work for them and then use your own story to teach your friends and relatives not to ever take advantage of the goods from the company. You will correct your mistake once you know it." Before leaving, the man held the pile of Buddhist books that I gave him and said to 006

15 True Stories of Cause and Effect Master Mio Fa, with a solemn expression, "Please wait and see. In the future I will not disappoint you." After half a month, he came back to my house again. He came inside and bowed down in front of my shrine right away. When he stood up, he opened up his clothes and showed me his back. The belt was gone. Before I began to speak, he said to me, "Once I left your home I immediately felt much, much better, and I did everything that I promised to Master Mio Fa. I turned my old liquor cabinet into a Buddhist shrine and placed many Buddhist books inside. Also, I got a statue of the Compassion Buddha and I now read Sutra's every day. The Sutra's are really, really good. I'm now a changed person. My mind and my heart have become so open and my Chi is running so smoothly, and all my diseases are cured! These days my family feels happy like every day is Chinese New Year! It is all thanks to Master Mio Fa. I have much gratitude towards him." Master Mio Fa helped by using his insight to cure the man s problem. I was so happy for him. As it has been said, once you put down your killing knife, you could become a Buddha. 007

16 True Stories of Cause and Effect Nyctophobia One day a female lay person who was accompanied by her husband came to see Master Mio Fa. She explained to him that from a very young age, she has always been frightened whenever the sun went down, and nightfall came. She never dares to go into any rooms that are not lit. In the evening before dark, she turns on all the lights in her house, because she would not even be able to build up the courage to walk into a room and turn on a light herself. Because of this, whenever she hears something rolling around under her bed or under furniture, she is too scared to use her hand to pick those things up. Whenever she looks toward the shadows, it makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. From a very young age she has visited many doctors in many hospitals, and spent a lot of money, but still there was no answer for the cause of her fear, and no way to heal her. This made her feel greatly troubled. Master Mio Fa said to her that in her previous life she was a male. Their family was very poor, so poor in fact that they did not even have enough money to buy the oil needed to light the lamps. At the gate of their village lived a very kind family. On dark nights when the moon was not bright, this family would hang a lamp outside of their house in the courtyard. This would help any passerby to see the road in front of them, when they needed to travel through the town at night. They would also be able to see the signs to know which direction they would need to travel. With no light for his family, he began stealing. In the dark of night, he would go to the kind people's house and steal the lamp. When the lamp disappeared and people had to walk in the dark, they became more fearful, because they couldn't see where they were going or know which way to take. So this is the cause and 008

17 True Stories of Cause and Effect effect. This is the reason that in this life, she has a fear of the dark. This female lay person believed it deeply. Because she has planted this cause, she was worried that in this lifetime she might not be able to be healed at all. Master Mio Fa told her, "The cause and effect, after you understand it, will be able to have an end, because in this lifetime you have been very dedicated, have recited the Bodhisattva Sutra and the Buddha's name. It is similar to when you have a pimple. When the pimple begins to ripen, that is the time to break it." Master Mio Fa then asked her to prostrate seven times to The Emperor Liang's Repentance in order to repent her past offences. With that, this lay person then left my home very delighted. 009

18 True Stories of Cause and Effect Wasting Lord's Gifts is a Great Offence A female journalist from one of the newspapers had many opportunities to listen to Master Mio Fa's teachings, explaining to people why they have the various conditions and ailments that they do. One day she explained to Shifu that she has had stomach diseases for many years, and after seeking out various treatments she had found no cure. Was this because she had done some wrongdoing in a previous life as well, she wondered. Master Mio Fa asked, "Is is true that when you eat bread, you don't like to eat the crust, and every time you remove it and just throw it away?" The female journalist was very shocked by this and replied, "Oh yes, Shifu! That's true, I have not liked eating the crust from the time I was very little. What kind of offence is that?" Shifu answered, "You don't know that you have actually thrown all of the crusts of bread into your own stomach! After awhile they have become rotten inside your stomach. How could you not feel pain? You have to understand that one who is wasteful of the food from heaven creates a great offence. Food and vegetables come to this world and their mission is to fill up our tummies. Because you don't like it, you waste it. You have to realize that today in this world there are many people who still experience hunger and starvation every day. Many will starve to death. You should be ashamed of yourself! Besides, in many countries there are also people that pick food out of garbage cans, even in the very developed and rich countries. You know why? This is because all of those people in previous lives have wasted food and this is the retribution of their actions. Whatever they throw away in previous lives, they have to pick out of the garbage in this lifetime. Remember this." The woman felt very ashamed and asked, "What can I do now, Shifu?" "Arise the heart of repentance, and stop wasting food! Do this and your disease will heal in the future," Master Mio Fa instructed. "Should I bow and prostrate to the Emperor Liang s Repentance book? she asked. "Yes, indeed," Shifu answered with a big smile on his face. 010

19 True Stories of Cause and Effect Let Thing's Be Used To Their Fullest "Amitoufo Shifu! I have travelled from the West, have come back to China for a visit and am a Buddhist. The lady beside me doesn't speak Chinese, but she asked me to ask you about a stomach problem that she has. She has been unable to find a cure for this. She never wastes food! Shifu, do you have an answer for this?" the woman asked. Master Mio Fa kindly looked at the other woman who came all the way from another country and he said, "No, you don't waste food and that's great! But you waste paper. Whenever you write and you don't feel your sentence structure is correct, or when you have misspelled a word, you throw the whole piece of paper into the waste paper basket. Also, when you are eating, you waste a lot of napkins. Normally we only need to use one napkin while we eat, but you always use one napkin for each wipe of your mouth! This is really a waste. All these things must be used to their fullest. You just can't waste things like that. If you understand your mistakes and change your habits, your stomach will be cured right away. The Lady nodded her head. 011

20 True Stories of Cause and Effect Although The Toothpick Is Small, Don't Take It "Shifu! I have been taking refuge for more than 30 years, I have never wasted anything and I am very careful of not doing anything against the law of cause and effect. However in the last two years, I have felt like there are needles in my stomach! When I went to the hospital they said that my stomach is as good as a younger person's. I don't know what kind of karma I have created to have caused this. Please, Shifu could you take a look and tell me what is causing this?" Master Mio Fa laughed and said, "Ha! You would think that I was a stomach specialist, and my business is very good today!" Everybody started laughing. Master Mio Fa continued, "In the last couple of years, whenever you finished eating you always use a toothpick to clean your teeth?" The man replied, "Yeah, there are gaps between my teeth, so after eating I use a toothpick to clean out the food." "And you often go out to the restaurant?" Master Mio Fa asked. "Yes." "After eating and before you leave is it true that you often pick up several additional toothpicks from the container?" Master Mio Fa enquired. This old lay person looked very surprised. "Well, my wife and I often will spend at least 10 or 20 dollars when we eat out at the restaurant. I only pick up several toothpicks. That would be offensive?" he asked. "Yes!" Master Mio Fa answered. "The toothpicks are freely offered to people at the table where they are eating. Even if you spend one or two hundred dollars each meal, you still cannot pick up additional toothpicks and go home, unless you have told the waiters and waitresses. If you take them without telling them although it is not stealing, it is greediness. Although this is small in terms of greediness and everyone wouldn't think of it as a big deal, however, you are a Bodhisattva! You have cultivated Bodhicitta! If they don't give them to you then you shouldn't take them, even a piece of a branch or a blade of grass, you can't be greedy about it. This is a theory that other people just don't understand. You are a Bodhisattva and you should understand." At this point, the old lay person felt very joyful and very happily said to Shifu, "I 012

21 True Stories of Cause and Effect understand now, Shifu!" Then Master Mio Fa said, "If someone is practicing the Bodhisattva's way of life, every thought that stirs in your mind is very important. Just because you have picked up several toothpicks, your stomach feels uncomfortable. This is actually the blessings of the Buddha s and Bodhisattva's because they want you to stop doing further harm, and to help you to be able to obtain correct fruition in this lifetime. It is as we said with the empty space turning even the most minor of doubts, and the smallest bit of dust turning the greatest Dharma wheel. Once you understand this theory, the disease will disappear." 013

22 True Stories of Cause and Effect The Retribution Of A Slavemaster A couple of years ago, I went to a foreign country to visit one of my friends. My friend and his family had invited me to go to a very famous park for the day. Just as we were entering the gates we saw a very luxurious and classy horse and carriage stop in front of us. I was amazed by the pure white, tall and very good looking giant horse. It had a silk-like shiny coat and its mane looked like a snow mountain top. Under the beautiful sun of California it looked so magnificent. The horse would carry all the visitors and guests along the road, giving them a very royal and luxurious ride, while they enjoy the beautiful sights. We didn't want to take the carriage and instead stood and watched the horse walking into the distance. Without our noticing, the day had become dark. We d had a wonderful time. Before we left the gate I saw the big horse again and he was still working hard, carrying all the visitors. By this time, though, he had lost the energy that he had in the morning. His head was drooped and he took much smaller steps. He looked to be extremely exhausted. As I looked at my watch, I noticed from the morning until that point at least 12 hours had passed. Seeing the horse so tired made me feel sorry for him. I couldn't stop thinking what was this horse's past life? What happened and what kind of causes did he plant? He looked so magnificent but was doing some exhausting work. In this entire day, how many guests and visitors had he carried? What about in a year? Why does he owe so many people debts from a previous life? After I came back from California I went to visit Master Mio Fa, and to my surprise Shifu gave me a wonderful teaching about this. This horse in his past life was a Caucasian slave master. On his plantation there were a hundred black slaves that worked for him. The slaves were badly taken advantage of by this slave master. After he passed away he went directly into hell and suffered greatly. 014

23 True Stories of Cause and Effect After he finished his retribution in hell, in this lifetime he rose into the animal realm and became a horse. Although he was good looking and had a strong body, it only became a tool for others to make money. He was enslaved by others. Although in his previous life there were only a hundred people who had suffered because of him, by abusing black people, not only had he created very bad offences toward them, but to all humans as well. So in this life he has to be pushed and sat on day after day without any rest. This was his retribution. Because his offences are so deep, who knows just how many times he would need to be reborn as cows and horses. Even if in the future he was to be a human again, he would be very poor, of lower class and will suffer a great deal. After hearing this, my heart felt very, very heavy. Such a beautiful, lovely and great horse has such a dark past. Deeply I thought I will recite more of the Earthstore Bodhisattva's Sutra and dedicate it to the big horse, to help him clean up these offences and to help him to be able to be liberated from the ocean of bitterness faster. Also I want to recite the sutra and to help those slaves to cross over, to calm their anger. At this time, a man from Malaysia who had been listening to us said, "Shifu, we had a dog whose name was Winnie back in Hong Kong. He was with me since he was very little, and was very smart. Ever since our whole family became vegetarians, the dog stopped eating meat as well. This made our family very happy. Two years after we moved to Malaysia, Winnie died of old age. We felt very sad. My mother actually set up a memorial and did a special prayer for him. I'm not sure if Winnie was reborn in the higher realms. Could I ask you Shifu, please, could you help me?" After a moment of silence Shifu said, "Because the dog lived with you in your home, listened to Sutra's and ate a vegetarian diet, after he died, you actually helped him cross over by reciting the Sutra's. Because of this, he has already 015

24 True Stories of Cause and Effect been reborn in the human realm. He lives in Malaysia as well! He is now a beautiful 17 year old girl." After Master Mio Fa said this, this lay person went into deep thought and all of a sudden said, "Yes, Winnie died seventeen years ago! Shifu, you are amazing! Could you please tell me where this girl is now? What is her name? I want to see her right away!" Shifu and everyone else in my room began laughing. I asked this lay person, "OK, if you find this girl, what are you going to tell her? You were the dog that was living with me in my house in the past? She would think you were crazy!" The lay person though about it and then started laughing himself. Master Mio Fa said, "If we have affinity, even if we are a thousand miles apart, we will meet each other. Maybe someday you will meet each other and when you do at first sight you will feel that she is your friend, and she will return your favour two or three fold. There is an old saying that it takes a hundred years of prayer to be able to take the same boat. That's why today all of our colleagues, friends, family, neighbors and even our animals all have affinity with us from the past. Therefore we need to create great and kind affinities and try to resolve those evil or unkind affinities, and then we will be able to keep harmony and auspiciousness in and around our lives". Shifu is so kind and so good at teaching. This visit has made me feel that I had learned a lot. 016

25 True Stories of Cause and Effect Dead Father Ask's For His Son's Help To Cross Him Over Dr. Wong, who worked in the hospital, suddenly had a very strange disease. When the day becomes dark, his eyes become fixed. He stops talking and can't sleep. A lot of the time, he will hit the wall with his fist and kick it with his feet. When morning arrives, everything becomes normal once again. They've said that six different medical experts had come to look at him, but nobody could help. His wife also asked one of the most famous Qi Gong Masters to help him, but Dr. Wong doesn't believe in this and he refused to go. Afterwards, Dr. Wong's wife met a very warm person, teacher Li. Teacher Li knows Master Mio Fa, and so he suggested that Dr. Wong's wife should ask Master Mio Fa to take a look at her husband. His wife said, "Well, my husband does not even believe in Qi Gong, there is no chance that he would believe a monk. He thinks that is superstition." When she came home and talked to her husband about this, to her surprise he stared at her with his eyes wide open and asked in a hurry, "What monk are you talking about?" When his wife told him that it was Master Mio Fa, he couldn't wait. He pushed her to get hold of Teacher Li, and said that he would become a disciple of the old monk. A couple of days later, Teacher Li and I took Dr.Wong and his wife to WuTai mountain to go and see Master Mio Fa. I had called Master Mio Fa ahead of time so he was prepared. The Master asked Dr.Wong, "Isn't it true that your father has passed away?" His wife answered for her husband, "Yes, almost two years ago now." Master Mio Fa asked again, "Does Dr. Wong have two brothers, and his father had favoured just him?" As nighttime came, Dr.Wong's eyes became fixed again, and he couldn't speak. 017

26 True Stories of Cause and Effect His wife answered, "Yes, Shifu, you're right! His family lived in the countryside, but after he was discharged from the army he stayed in the city. Ever since he was very little, his father had always liked him better than the others." "His father likes to kill. After he died, he stayed in the evil path and has suffered. He knows that his son has affinity with Buddha and is the only one who can save him. That is the reason his father has tried to reach him in his dreams, but Dr.Wong does not believe in this. His father was very eager, so he used this method and took over his body to try to push him to ask me to help. If you look at his eyes you will see that they have already become normal again," Master Mio Fa answered in a slow pace. When the people looked at Dr.Wong, his face started to turn red and his big eyes were no longer fixated. Master Mio Fa continued, "I think you should take him to the big hall and prostrate to the Buddha, and tomorrow go to the Earthstore Boddhisattva's hall and set up a memorial for his father. With the power of the monastic's Sutra recitation, his father will be able to leave the evil path." Suddenly we all saw Dr. Wong kneeling in front of Master Mio Fa. He was very shy but spoke firmly, "I want to become your disciple, please accept me!" His wife looked a little worried and was unsure how to react. Master Mio Fa laughed at them and said, "Good! You can become a lay person then." When Dr.Wong's wife understood what a lay person is, she felt much more relaxed and took a deep breath. She thought that she had almost lost her husband to the temple. After saying goodbye to Master Mio Fa, we put all the offerings that we had brought with us on top of the table in the big hall, and prostrated together. The same night we stayed in the small inn just outside the temple. After a half year of struggling, Dr. Wong finally was able to have a very nice sleep. Now, Dr.Wong has become a very skillful dharma practitioner When other people praise him, he always answers with his face red, very shy, and he will tell people, "My fortune comes from a disaster." 018

27 True Stories of Cause and Effect Weird disease A female lay person in her 60 s came and spoke to Master Mio Fa. She said that for decades she felt that she had a lot of pressure on her chest. She went to many hospitals and couldn't find a reason for this. She has taken tons of western and Chinese medicine, but there were no results, so she stopped taking them. Once she had heard Master Mio Fa teaching Buddha Dharma and she believed it right away. So she came to Shifu hoping he could help her, and to see what sort of karma she had accumulated that caused her to have this problem. Master Mio Fa asked, "You lived in the countryside before right?" "Oh yes! I was a country person before and after I got married, I moved to the city with my husband," she answered. "When you lived in the country, on the ceiling right above the stove, was there a swallow nest that was removed by you?" Master Mio Fa inquired. "Yeah, that's true. The swallow nest happened to be right above the stove. It was so dirty. So I used a wooden stick to get it down," she answered. "What else happened?" he asked. She responded, "Well the swallows came home and realized that they had lost their nest. They were so upset that they flew back and forth in my kitchen and then they stayed screaming in front of my house for a long time and then disappeared." Master Mio Fa said, "You could have used other ways to move the nest to other places, but were so hasty that suddenly you caused them to lose their home and they had no place to go. In Buddhist teachings, we believe that sentient beings are equal and in our world humans and animals should live in harmony. Harming beings is one of the reasons why you feel that your chest is heavy." Just as if being awakened from a dream, this lay person nodded her head. Master Mio Fa continued. "You know not to waste things and how to treasure things. Each day when you are walking on the road and you see the cans that people 019

28 True Stories of Cause and Effect have left behind or other waste, you pick them up and take them home. You sell this stuff and make lots of money. Is that true?" The female lay person said, "I don't steal, and I don't rob. I pick these things up and sell them for money. What kind of offence is that?" "I didn't say that you have offences," Master Mio Fa explained. "But from the situation with your family, your life is good. You should leave those things for those who have a difficult situation. Your life is not so hard but you don't leave these things for others to pick up and sell. That's greediness. As a Buddhist we can't forget for one moment that we need to be compassionate, kind and generous to others. Do you agree with me? The female lay person felt very embarrassed and said, "Yes, you're right Shifu. I thought those things were just left behind by other people and they were worth money so I didn't think so much of it, but in the future I will stop doing this." Master Mio Fa had a big smile on his face and said, "The mistake you had is not that great, but it is an obstacle to your clean cultivation. That's why your energy channel is not totally open. How do you feel now?" The female lay person had a joyful look on her face and said, "Eyah! I really feel much better now, and my body feels much more light and relaxed. My breath feels more normal now." 020

29 True Stories of Cause and Effect A teacher In the city, there was a young couple who had a son who at the age of two still couldn't walk or speak very clearly. They went to the hospital where the doctors diagnosed the child as having a mild case of cerebral palsy, or mild brain paralysis. The couple became very anxious and they asked me to ask Master Mio Fa whether he had a good remedy for this. When I spoke to Master Mio Fa he said, "This child in one of his previous lives was a famous school teacher. His brain was filled with poems and books. Many people in that location were very interested in learning Buddha Dharma. Because this teacher was very knowledgeable, many people came and asked him questions regarding his views on life and death, and his point of view of samsara. The teacher would usually tell people that all the things taught in Buddhism were false and not real. He would ask people, Have you ever seen samsara? Have you ever seen the six paths? Moreover he would always use Master Confucius's words to support his statement. He would say, If you don't know life, how would you know death? Because of his point of view, many people lost their chance to step onto the path and study Buddhism, and lost their chance to benefit from learning Buddha Dharma. This teacher had ruthlessly blocked other people's chances to develop wisdom because of his lack of knowledge. After his death, for many lifetimes he dropped into animal realms and became pigs. The parents of this child really enjoyed eating pork, especially the meat on the pig s head. When a pig was killed, they brought the pig's head back, cooked and ate it. Because the evil karma had ripened, their current child is a rebirth of that pig. This is not only the teacher's karmic retribution, but it is also the retribution of the parents enjoyment of eating pig head meat. To transform this karmic retribution, the parents need to repent eating meat. They should switch to a full vegetarian diet. They should repent on behalf of the 021

30 True Stories of Cause and Effect teacher, recite the Earthstore Bodhisattva's Sutra, and dedicate it to the teacher and all the people who lost the chance to study Buddhism because of him. They need to recite the Earthstore Bodhisattva's Sutra to cross over these pigs. If they do what I ask them to, as well as working closely with medical care and exercise, this child will get better. I believe that one day his body will become normal and he will be able to live an independent life." I reported what Master Mio Fa told me truthfully. Master Mio Fa was right. The child's father told me that his grandparents were working for a meat company under which there are butcher houses, so it was very easy for them to buy very fresh pork. He also told me that his and his wife s favourite food was pig head meat. This was a very bad retribution on their own son, and is truly the cause of what they had to go through now. How regretful they are. The child's mother burst into tears and expressed that they would put earnest effort into what Master Mio Fa asked them to do so that their son's disease can be cured. I hope that they can keep doing this and then all of their distress can become wisdom. 022

31 True Stories of Cause and Effect "The Fetus Loves To Listen To The Earthstore Bodhisattva Sutra" One neighbor told me that her daughter has been pregnant for eight months. During her pregnancy, her reactions have always been very violent. In the last couple of months, the baby often kicks and rolls around in her tummy, which makes her feel very much pain. Some people told her that if she could recite the Buddha's name, that might help reduce her pain. Her daughter believed that, although she had believed in many different types of religions in the past. She didn't feel comfortable reciting Sutra's from the other religions. I told her that Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism and Confucianism are all good religions. They all address love and compassion, and convince people to be kind and virtuous. Although they are called religions, they are in fact schools which help people to explore, regulate and open up the spiritual world. The depth and range of their teachings are different. It is similar to our society, in which we have elementary school, high school, college and university. The knowledge in Buddhism is knowledge that unfolds the truth of the universe and human life. It is recognized by and contains all other religions. It is like a university for general studies, and Shakyamuni Buddha is like the principal of this university. Confucius taught people the fundamental aspects of being a good person, including being kind, honorable, polite, wise and trustworthy. This is just like an elementary school. He is the principal of our elementary school. Lao Tzu taught us how to exercise our body and expand our lifespan, and how to unfold the potential of our human body. He taught us the rules of the universe and the earth, and how to achieve a union of the two, therefore making our lives more harmonious and beautiful. We call him the principal of a middle school. Mohammed and Jesus Christ are the spiritual leaders of many races, countries and people in the world. So they are like the principals of a college and high school. But even those principals and professors are all doctors. Or should we say, they are all the transformation bodies of the Buddha s and Bodhisattva's. For the sake of taking across sentient 023

32 True Stories of Cause and Effect beings, they demonstrate methods based on the actual situation or conditions. They use different bodies to take across different types of people. This is the reason that they create religions in accordance with peoples' capacities. It is just like in our society, we teach people based on who they are, therefore when your daughter is encountering difficulties, she needs to ask for help from a university principal and professor. I am sure they will be very happy to help, because every great teacher with great merit hopes that his or her students will improve. I think my explanation has eradicated her doubt, so I continued. From the Buddhist theory, the baby in your daughter's tummy comes from an unpleasant condition. This baby comes to her to ask that a debt be repaid. Most likely the cause of the baby kicking and causing your daughter pain is killing and eating meat. So today you should ask your daughter to stop eating meat and recite the Earthstore Bodhisattva's Sutra one time, and see if anything happens. If your daughter recites with earnest sincerity, it must have some impact. If she can recite this seven times, and dedicate this merit to the baby, this will help to completely uproot the hatred and debt concerning her baby. If there is no result after doing this, then go ahead and continue eating meat. If I am making false speech here and this makes both of them unhappy, not only will your daughter reciting this sutra have no result, but I will be punished. After saying that, I gave her a copy of the Earthstore Bodhisattva's Sutra. The next evening, we met again in our neighborhood courtyard. She was very happy and thanked me. She said that she told her daughter what I had said, and her daughter believed it in an instant. She washed her hands and immediately started to recite the Sutra. To everyone's surprise, since the day she began to recite the Sutra until now, the baby completely stopped kicking and rolling around. Her daughter could finally sleep peacefully at night, which had not happened in the past month. Her daughter just finished reciting the Sutra once more, and since that day she had not eaten any meat. She said that the Buddha Dharma is so magical. "If I had asked you about this much earlier, then I would 024