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Master Knows Everything By a Quan Yin messenger

Six years ago, while on my way back to Formosa after working overseas, I needed to pass through another country where I stayed for one or two days. There I met two local fellow initiates who were very warmhearted and insisted on seeing me off at the airport. They said: "Your flight leaves tomorrow afternoon. Since we have time tomorrow morning, we can take you to visit Sea World. Would you like to go?" Due to their sincerity, plus the fact that there was no pressing work to be done at the time, I accepted their invitation.

The next day at noon, while leaving Sea World, we passed by some gift booths where I saw many lovely figurines in the shapes of dolphins and various animals. I thought of the several little monks who lived in Hsihu Center; if I bought some figurines for them, they would be very happy.

Just when I was about to pay for the items, the two fellow initiates paid for me before I had a chance. I told them, "No, you cannot do this because Master has instructed us that we can not accept offerings." But the two replied, "The figurines are for the little monks, and this is just a way for us to express our love to them." Not being able to persuade them otherwise, I finally accepted the figurines.

As we walked around the gift booths, I saw a hat that I wanted to buy because the sun was very strong. But the two fellow initiates again intervened and bought the hat for me. I tried my best to decline their offer, but they insisted on giving me the hat as a souvenir, telling me, "It's only a hat." Before I left the gift shop, a T-shirt with the Sea World logo printed on it caught my eye. Since it was a rare opportunity for me to do some shopping, I decided to buy the T-shirt. This time, the two fellow initiates also insisted on buying the T-shirt for me. Because I did not want to argue with them in public, I also accepted the T-shirt they bought me.

As the time for my flight was drawing near, we set off for the airport. On the way, the beeper of the brother who was driving rang. It was a call from the local Center. The brother said, "Let's take the Quan Yin messenger to the airport first. Then we can call the Center back later."

At the airport, as I was about to check in my luggage, we suddenly saw the local contact person rushing towards us. Still gasping for breath, the contact person told us, "Master just called and said 'Do not take anything from other people!'" Upon hearing Master's message, I was so startled that my face turned pale and my hands started to shake. The two fellow brothers were still saying, "It doesn't matter. They are only small gifts. If Master scolds, let Her scold us." Nevertheless, I removed all the gifts they had bought for me from my luggage and returned them to the brothers. Knowing that Master was very strict with Her disciples on keeping the precepts, I kept repenting in my heart.

In fact, similar situations had happened to me several times before, and I had made the same mistake over and over again, and my spiritual progress had been stuck for a long time. Master knew that it was difficult for me to get rid of this bad habit, which I had developed when I was in society, so She used this particular opportunity to remind me that I should be honest and not take offerings from anyone. From this experience, I truly understood better that Master knows everything. Sometimes She chooses not to intervene because She wants us to learn our own lessons. Thinking about Her greatness and the pains and efforts She takes to teach us, while looking at the bad habits I had accumulated life after life, I was filled with remorse for the mistakes I had made.

How fortunate we are to have such a great Master, who is always there to remind us of our shortcomings at the appropriate time. I prayed sincerely in my heart that I would be able to follow Her teachings more closely, practice wholeheartedly, and be Her good disciple!

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