Inspiring Story of Chanting Buddha 54 - Driver Chant Buddha's name and Turn Disaster into Dust

(English and Chinese subtitles ) 司機念佛災殃化塵 written by venerable laywoman Kanzhi Lin 林看治居士 (1906-1992 AD)
Subtitles:
The Lotus Society holds Children’s Moral Education every Sunday. The director is Xuexia Lai. Everyone calls her Teacher Lai. All the nearby children come to the society to sing Sanskrit songs and recite the name of the Buddha.
They tell the children some short stories about morality and justice, so that the seeds of good roots can be sown in the young hearts.
Teacher Lai is very compassionate. She not only fulfills her duties and is enthusiastic about teaching children. On the sacred birthday of Buddha and Bodhisattvas, she will also buy some candies with her own money to make affinity with the children.
She has been doing these for more than ten years, and the parents of the children who have benefited from this initiative are all grateful for her kindness.
Teacher Lai now works at a large soda factory in Taichung City as a general affairs director. She works seriously and is respected by her colleagues.
On November 17 last year, the birthday of Amitabha, after Teacher Lai came to the society to pay homage to her ancestors, she said to me: “I saw the inspiring stories that you published at the Bodhi Tree. I thanked the Buddha and Bodhisattvas for their compassion, and I felt extremely joyful in my heart."
She added: "We have a group of young drivers in our factory who make deliveries every morning. When they sit in the driver's seat, I teach them to recite ten phrases of 'Amitabha' before allowing them to set off,
also repeatedly warned that in case of danger, they should recite 'Amitabha' loudly and eagerly.
I explain like this every day, and it becomes a habit over time. The drivers will naturally recite it themselves without my reminder. “
“Once, a driver said to me with a smile on his face: 'Amitabha, why is it so useful?'
I asked him what happened?
The driver said: 'Yesterday I was transporting goods to a distant place and didn't come back until dark. The truck broke down midway and kept going in the wrong direction. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it right, and I immediately recited Amitabha.
The truck suddenly stopped on its own.
I immediately got off the truck to check. It turned out the front wheel was blocked by a pile of dirt. Looking forward, I saw a deep pit. At that time, if Amitabha Buddha had not manifested a pile of dirt to block the wheel, the truck would have moved forward into the pit, and I would be either dead or injured. That was so close.' The truck driver was very grateful to me for teaching and reciting the Buddha's name on weekdays. Hence, he was able to turn a bad omen into a good one and save his life.”
Teacher Lai added: "Another time, another driver happily said to me: 'Amitabha is awesome!'
I asked him: 'What inspiration did you get and made you so happy?'
The driver said, 'If I didn't know how to recite Amitabha today, surely a fatal accident would have occurred. Because while I was driving on a street today, suddenly a child crossed the road and ran in front of my truck.
It was too late to rapidly apply the brakes, and I immediately shouted Amitabha.
I thought that the child would definitely die under the wheels miserably, so I was so scared that I sweated profusely. But when I stopped the truck and looked down, I saw the child was safe and sound, and he slipped away in a hurry.'
This driver also thanked me a lot.”
Teacher Lai said: "Furthermore, an old employee in the factory came to ask me. He said his house was haunting. When in the dead of night, there were often strange noises. Sometimes they were so disturbed that they couldn’t rest peacefully all night long, and he didn’t know what to do.
Then I taught him how to recite Amitabha, and said: Not only should you recite it in the morning and evening, but you should also recite it before going to bed. If you notice anything unusual, you should recite it louder.
A dose of Agatha medicine can really cure all diseases. Within a few months, the old man thanked me and said, 'Thanks for your blessing, now I can sleep all night till dawn, and everything has been peaceful.'"
Teacher Lai has a big heart. In Buddhism, she is dedicated to liberating sentient beings. In the society, she is kind to people, loyal and honest in work. In the family, she lives a harmonious life and plays the role of a good wife and mother. She is perfect in three ways. It can be said that she is an admirable heroine.