Nowadays,
each time I watch a videotaped recording of Master's May 8, 2000 lecture
at the COEX Convention Center, Seoul, my tears flow uncontrollably.
The
title of the lecture is "Experience the Divine." When I attended
the lecture, I wondered as I listened to it about the nature of the
lecture and the identity of the unfamiliar woman speaker. However, it
was my longstanding aspiration to find "God" that had made
me go to the lecture originally.
As
I was sitting in the front of the lecture hall Master entered, and a
feeling as strong as a large fire rose from my chest to my throat. The
ecstasy was so intense that I became absolutely immersed in it. And
because of this powerful experience, Master's unfamiliar hairstyle and
dress did not bother me at all. The lecture made me believe that "there
is only one Truth." Only the names of the world's religions are
different.
I
had lived the life of a Buddhist for more than twenty-five years, but
the Buddhist scriptures were difficult for me to understand, and I found
no satisfaction in chanting the scriptures from memory without understanding
them. So I began to spend more time doing Zen meditation. A monk suggested
that I continuously recite the Quan Yin Bodhisattva's name. So, for
twenty-five years, I did as he recommended; I recited it when I was
sitting, walking, and even working.
Then
one day, I fell ill, which made me think of death and transmigration.
I began to wonder where I would go after I died. For the first time,
I feared death. I had forgotten that life and death co-exist. After
recovering from my illness, I began to read books about the transmigration
of souls, and happened to come across "Traveling through Previous
Lives" written by a psychiatrist. I later sought his advice and
decided to take a journey through my previous lives.
After
several trials, I finally experienced the sufferings of my previous
lives, and discovered that I had shared my last three lives with my
present husband. After this experience, I realized that suffering always
exists in life, and that the good things are always accompanied by those
not so good. There is no such thing as perfect happiness in this life.
For the first time, I came to see why the monk had told me that we all
have to seek liberation. No matter how many times we transmigrate, one
life is not much different than the others. From then on, getting liberation
became the major issue in my life. It seemed to me then that this was
only possible for a noble monk or saint. I was frustrated because I,
an ordinary sentient being, did not know when I could get liberation.
I looked through all the scriptures but could not find a clue. Once
I wanted my soul to disappear because I was very frustrated. Then, finally
and miraculously, I met Master at the Seoul lecture! I was so elated
that I almost jumped up and down!
By
the time I got home from the lecture, it was already late at night,
and I put a volume of "The Key of Immediate Enlightenment"
and a sample booklet on a table in the living room. My eldest son read
the book and went to the place where Master was staying in Korea. After
he returned, he became a vegetarian and we started following a vegetarian
diet together. Whenever I went to the Center in Seoul to watch Master's
videotapes, I would buy one and bring it home. And after my husband
watched them, I would hear his admiring words: "Wow, She is the
Buddha. Yes, She must be." My husband was completely captivated.
All three of us are now initiates. And my other son, who has just completed
his military conscription, feels a change has come about in the family.
On
the day of my initiation, I prayed for the liberation of my father,
whom I admired and loved deeply. He had rarely appeared in my dreams
in the thirty years after his death. But some time after my initiation,
he appeared wearing a very peaceful look on his face. I think he appeared
in my dream to help me after he became liberated. It is true that Master
brings liberation to five generations of our families. For me, meditation
became more pleasant. Now, when I concentrate, my mind is peaceful,
and I have experiences during meditation. I am trying to meditate more
to increase the spiritual nourishment of my soul.
I
had never had many experiences in the twenty-five years of my practice
and study of Buddhism. But ever since I began practicing the Quan Yin
Method, I have had a great many experiences. I realize that sincere
prayer becomes a reality because it has power and attracts the wanted
object. I am trying to concentrate constantly on my wisdom eye. Master
has told us that there is no such thing as fate. The only question is
whether we have practiced well. Now I know that we have to wake up our
real Self, our soul. Only then can we transcend the obstacles that we
have built over many lifetimes and return to the Home of eternally liberated
souls!
