~By sister initiate Tan Yu-ying
Los Angeles, CA, U. S. A (Originally in Chinese)

In May 2000 I went to Korea to attend the six-day retreat. On May 8, we traveled by bus from the Youngdong Center to Seoul to attend Master's lecture, and a sister initiate from Mainland China sat next to me on the bus. As we chatted, I learned that she was a nun. Then she talked about her experience in seeking the Truth. After listening to her, I was very touched and decided to write down her story to share with fellow practitioners.

Many years ago, she got an incurable disease and was being treated in a hospital. An old lady in the ward told her some Buddhist teachings that she had never heard before. She liked them very much and borrowed some Buddhist books from the old lady. Though she had never read those scriptures before, she could understand them all. There also was a sudden awakening deep in her soul. She realized that in her heart she had been waiting all along, and searching all her life for 'liberation from life and death'.

After leaving the hospital, she immediately had her head shaved and became a nun. She was naive then, thinking that the cycles of reincarnation could be stopped just by renunciation. Later she discovered that the reality was basically not like that. And so she started on her journey to search for a master. She had been to Mounts Jiouhua, Wutai, etc., visiting all the famous mountains and monasteries, but was still unable to find a worthy master. At last she went to Tibet and stayed there for a few years. Though she had learned not a little, it all seemed unrelated to liberation from reincarnation. At that time, she was very anxious, as she had run out of places to seek. She could only face the Quan Yin Bodhisattva (the Goddess of Mercy) statue every day, and sincerely pray that the Quan Yin Bodhisattva would point a way to her.

One day by sheer chance she met a tourist from Shenzhen, who was a spiritual practitioner. During their conversation she revealed the longing and anxiety in her heart. She told the practitioner about her eagerness, being uncertain about when she could find a master who could lead her to liberation from life and death. The practitioner seemed to have much affinity with her and asked for her address before leaving. Not long afterwards, that practitioner wrote her a letter of ten pages introducing her to the Quan Yin Method of practice. Inside the letter lay one thousand RMB Yuan in cash (about US$120). She was asked to take a flight to Shenzhen and stay in the practitioner's home to wait for the Quan Yin messenger. She immediately flew there by plane and waited for two months without any news of the Quan Yin messenger. She anticipated daily with such burning eagerness that each day felt like a year.

Suddenly, she heard that the Quan Yin messenger was then in the northeast of Mainland China. Immediately, she went straight to the northeast by train, the journey taking thirty-six hours. Then she waited there again for three months. It was very cold there, so she needed to chop firewood to keep warm. She said she could bear any suffering, but was just unable to chop firewood. But she still bore the hardship and waited. Then, again there was news that the Quan Yin messenger was going to Nanjing. She immediately packed and went to Nanjing. But by that time all her money was used up and she was in a state of extreme need. She had to work in a hospital doing the dirtiest work that no one else liked to do. She said that in the past she had been leading an easy life; so in this way she should have fully repaid all the suffering that she was supposed to bear. As Heaven never ignores sincere seekers, finally she met the Quan Yin messenger and received Master's initiation after waiting there for four months.

In order to be liberated from the cycle of life and death, this sister traveled across mountains and rivers. She went through all kinds of suffering and spent much time and energy before she could find the true Master. One cannot help feeling respect for this type of courage and fearless spirit in seeking the Truth! It also makes us treasure more dearly the blessing we have, such that we can follow a living Master and gain liberation.