Inspiring Story of Chanting Buddha 60 - Assist Mother to be Born in the West

(English and Chinese subtitle) 助母生西微妙靈應, written by venerable laywoman Kanzhi Lin 林看治居士 (1906-1992 AD)
Subtitles:
There is a lotus friend named Linhe Zeng in the Wufeng church of the Taichung Buddhist Lotus Society. Everyone calls her Sister Ahe. Her maternal family lives in Taichung County, and her mother is named Lai Wu. Due to the constant persuasion of her children, she firmly believe in Buddhism and is a devotee who recites Buddha's name every day to seek rebirth in the West. Sister Ahe has a younger brother named Wancheng who likes hunting.
Since the mother believed in Buddhism, she often persuaded her son and said: "Wancheng, all animals, whether big or small, crave for life and fear death. They have no grudges against you, but you are annoyed and kill them. Now I am concerned that my son kills so many lives and commits sinful karma.“ However, Wancheng wasn't interested to change his entertainment habits. He turned a deaf ear to her advice and ignored this big set of words from the elder at all.
p. 3
Human beings all have birth and death, and the life for the elder has come to an end.
Sister Ahe invited six lotus friends from the Wufeng church to help with the chanting in separate shifts. Later, this believer has gone to the West with a smile at the age of seventy-nine.
At three o'clock in the afternoon on the 17th day of the fifth lunar month, the prayer assistants completed the chanting for another eight hours after the elderly practitioner breathed her last.
They were sweating profusely and were enjoying the cool air under the tree at the gate. Sister Ahe lit the incense and prayed, "Mom, you can go to the West with peace of mind, but at this time, you need to perform a miracle to make Wancheng and Ayu (her daughter-in-law) reform and cultivate."
At this moment, suddenly: "Bump! Bump! Bump!" Three loud, thunderous boomed, and everyone was startled.
p. 5
It turned out that her brother Wancheng's shotgun placed in the closet went off in his room. The flames protruded from the kitchen and spread to the mosquito net on the bed. Everyone rushed to bring water to put out the fire. It was a dry day in May of that year, and several vats of water were exhausted. At the critical moment, a man drove a load of water to the door and averted this disaster.
Upon inspection, it was found that the shotgun had gone off, and the clothes had burned to ashes.
A paper bag was found among the ashes. They opened it and found the real estate ownership certificate and 20,000 yuan in cash were prepared for her mother's funeral. They were intact and there was no burn damage at all.
Wancheng's wife, named Ayu, was sitting on a wicker chair in the corridor. Suddenly she stared into space and fell unconscious. Everyone thought she were frightened and fell into a coma.
p. 7
Lotus friends loudly called the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guanshiyin Bodhisattva for rescuing her in distress, also sent someone to call a doctor for diagnosis. When the doctor came, Ayu had already been awake.
She herself said to everyone: "I clearly heard every word what you just said. When I wanted to lie down, someone seemed to be pulling me and not allowing me to lie down.”
“I saw a piece of golden light descending in the void, and it was Amitabha Buddha who came to pick up my mother-in-law. She was wearing a big black robe, holding a rosary in her hand, and was smiling. She flew to the West with Amitabha on a golden cloud of light."
Sister Ahe asked her, "What does Amitabha look like?"
Ayu replied! "It's the same as the big image of Amitabha we offered, but it's more solemn in the sky."
p. 9
Dear friends: Buddhism is boundless and incredible. Why is the gun going off on its own? The banknotes and real estate ownership certificates made of paper. Why can't they be burned by fire?
Further, how the daughter-in-law without good root can see the reality of the of the Amitabha's receiving the dead with her own eyes for ten minutes? If only burning guns and not seeing the Buddha's golden body, Ayu would not bring forth the resolve for chanting the Buddha.
It was a marvelous inspiration, not only Ayu saw her mother-in-law reborn, but Wancheng was able to reform and correct his bad habit of hunting because his shotgun was burned.
It is most pitiful for all sentient beings to be trapped in the miserable sea of life and death, with their heads emerging and submerging alternatively.
p. 11
I hope that everyone will truthfully recite the Buddha, persuade others to recite the Buddha, develop bodhicitta, and save people and the world. Consider yourself as a lifeboat in this world, carrying all sentient beings to the Lotus Pond of Sea Gathering. Please recite: Namo Amitabha Buddha.