The Supreme Master Ching Hai eNews

Affinity with the Serene Ocean of Love

by a fellow initiate from Hangzhou, Mainland China

In May of 1995, I came across Supreme Master Ching Hai’s sample booklet for the first time at a friend’s home and completely fell in love with it. Master’s words were everything that I had thought they would be. I was practicing qigong (a form of Chinese martial art) at the time, and during a solitary retreat in a dark cave, I experienced an extraordinary vision that changed my destiny and led me to search for a spiritual Master. The vision was of a vast azure ocean, so boundless and crystal clear that I could see its bed. On its shore was a huge rock, beside which was a pair of women’s shoes that did not seem to have been made in China. However, there was no woman in sight. A black ship was sailing on the sea and a man stood at its bow, his white scarf fluttering in the wind. Strangely, there was not a single ripple on the surface of the water, yet the sea seemed to be very much alive! I loved the serene water so much that I wanted to take a dip in it.

After experiencing this vision, I lost interest in practicing qigong and began searching around, but for what, I did not have a clear idea. I visited various temples and asked about scriptures until one day I met a disciple of Master Ching Hai in a temple on a mountaintop. He was a brother from another province bringing Master’s books to the temple. Pointing at Master’s picture on a medallion he was wearing, I observed, “I’ve seen this lady before.” And the brother replied, “Impossible!” I then looked at the image again carefully and insisted, “Really, I’ve seen Her before!” She looked far too familiar, but I could not tell where I had met Her. So I asked, “Who is She?” and the brother replied, “My guiding professor.”

At that point an indescribable feeling of loss came over me. People in China usually refer to university professors as “guiding professors,” but I was already in my forties so how could I go to a university? However, I continued to ask the brother, “What kind of guiding professor? What does She teach? Can I learn it?” The brother then said, “She’s a spiritual teacher Who teaches people how to become liberated. But everyone has a different affinity with the Master, some deep and some not so strong. Some people can only hear Her name, and others may only get a glimpse of Her. It depends on what you want.” So I said, “I don’t want anything. In my opinion, one can be liberated only through death. But I can’t possibly die. For example, once, after I had jumped into water and rescued several people, I wanted to drown myself. But the water pushed me back to shore. And on another occasion, when I rushed to save a group of people from a fire, thinking that I might burn myself to death, the fire went out by itself before I got there!” The brother then said, “Death cannot liberate us because we still have karma following us. My Master can lead you into the way of becoming liberated in one lifetime.”

I thought the brother was sharing some kind of international joke with me. He next told me to read Master’s books first and promised to write to me after he returned home. Subsequently, we exchanged letters every other week. What the brother wrote in his letters was exactly what I had thought in my heart. It frightened me that my inner life was completely apparent to him. It was upsetting that he knew all my thoughts so I wrote to him saying that I would stop associating with him, and he replied, “Sister, you’re wrong! All those comments in my letters were Master’s aphorisms.” I didn’t know what aphorisms were, but I liked them. What puzzled me even more was how Master could read my thoughts even though She did not know me at all. The brother then said, “Master is omnipresent.” That sounded even more absurd — why did I not see Her if She is omnipresent?

I then begged the brother to lend me one of Master’s books, but instead he gave me an address and told me to get a copy myself. Before I started out on a train to get the book, there was an exceptionally heavy snowstorm and traffic was cut off in my area. My family members wanted me to get my ticket refunded, but I refused, thinking that normal traffic would surely resume by the time of my departure and sure enough, it did! Later, I heard that my train was the only one that had left on the day I departed. After the train left the station, traffic was held up again due to a heavier snowfall plus hail! While I was waiting to get Master’s book at the station, for the first time I saw Master giving a lecture in a dream and the brother I knew taking me to see Master in the backstage area. When I saw Her, Master said to me, “You may take a look and listen again.” That was my first experience of spiritual bliss!

Honeymoon after Initiation

Then, after countless trials and tribulations, I was finally initiated by Master! On the way home from my initiation, I found all of God’s creations to be absolutely perfect and loveable. Strangely, I had never noticed this before. I was delighted to observe everything around me, while singing and dancing along the way, greeting passers-by and wanting to hug them. I even felt like kissing the little animals in the environment that I used to fear, as pedestrians nearby said with suspicion, “What kind of crazy woman is that that her family doesn’t watch over well?” At the time, I was too happy to notice what other fellow initiates were worried about. And at the slightest provocation, I would laugh, totally out of control, so wonderful was the effect of Master’s divine love!

In that period I heard from elder initiates that Master carries us spiritually during the first six months after initiation, which was the happiest time of my life. I soon learned that as long as we meditate earnestly, we will be filled with joy every day. It was truly so! I remember attending a group meditation session during that period, where several hours just flew by and I asked, “Is there a mistake? Did someone set the clock ahead?” or “Is your watch out of order?” Everyone said that I was mistaken. I responded that I felt I had sat for only an hour, had contemplated the Sound for only five minutes and had just settled down. How could the time have passed by so quickly? My legs were not yet numb and I had not heard any noise outside, while inside I felt wide awake!

Master’s All-preserving Tonic

In 1997, I was working at a bookstore, and whenever I had the chance, I listened to Master’s tapes, which were not easily accessible. At the time, I had the habit of pouring leftover tea or the residue of herbal medicine onto the weeds across the street from the store, and soon all the weeds thus watered grew abundantly. Seeing the lush growth, the shop owners on both sides of the bookstore came to ask me, “What wonderful tonic have you been taking? Even the weeds grow very well, not to mention the person!” Only then did I realize that, while listening to Master’s tape, even the tea I drank and the medicine I took became fantastic tonic blessed by Master!

Supreme Love Saves My Life

One day while I was working in the bookstore, I felt a sudden sharp pain in my abdomen, became very weak and began sweating profusely. Unable to move, I could only turn on my Walkman to listen to Master’s tape in order to distract myself from the pain. When the tape stopped playing, I thought I was okay and tried to stand up. But I began to sweat profusely again as soon as it stopped. I quickly resumed listening to Master’s tape and dared not stop again until I got off work in the evening. Then I was all right. The next day I realized that I had mistakenly eaten food containing rat poison, and had had a narrow escape from death in my helpless condition! What virtue did I possess to repeatedly deserve Master’s supreme love?

Buddha’s Chanting Restores Vitality

In March 1999, I was working as a doctor at a private university (a job provided through Master’s grace). One morning, I saw earthworms crawling all over the road and my balcony as well. In addition, they had already turned black. Being at a loss as to what to do, I meditated and prayed to Master to take care of them! However, I forgot to turn off my audiocassette player before going to work so Master’s Buddha’s Chanting tape continued to play throughout the morning. When I came back from work for lunch at noon, I found that the earthworms on my balcony had turned red whereas those on my neighbor’s balcony had remained black. At that moment, a strong medicinal odor filled the air and I hurriedly placed the audiocassette player closer to the worms. By the time I came back from work in the afternoon, all the earthworms on my balcony had come alive and were slowly crawling away.

Withered Flowers Bloom Again

From December 27, 1999 to January 2, 2000, Master and fellow initiates held an international six-day retreat in Thailand. Initiates from my region of Mainland China who were unable to attend gathered at a sister’s home for a retreat. One day during the retreat as I sat alone talking to Master’s photo, I found that the flowers in the vase nearby had withered. A sister said she had bought them in May, so the flowers had long ago dried up. How I wished that they were a bunch of fresh flowers that could be offered to Master! I then sat down to meditate and listen to Master’s recording.

The next morning, I was amazed to find the withered flowers in full bloom, the drooping petals having straightened up. I quickly asked the other fellow initiates at the retreat to come take a look. They didn’t believe it at first so they touched the stems, finding them dry and hard, but the flowers felt soft and fresh. In addition, there was not a single drop of water in the vase! Suddenly everyone became busy, bringing all kinds of food and drinks to Master’s photo for Master to bless. Our earlier disappointment at not being able to see Master in Thailand was replaced by peace and contentment, for we knew that Master was with us nonetheless!