Finding The Miracles In Life's Struggles
Uncategorized
Let Go
03 days
One day, a Buddhist monk and his apprentice came to a big river and saw a beautiful woman standing by it. Because she couldn’t cross it, she was looking worriedly at it.
The monk walked over and asked the woman: “Do you have an urgent need to cross the river?”
The woman replied: “Yes, Master, my mother is seriously ill. I am hurrying to go back and see her. No one knows that I am at the river, and I am worried I will not get there in time.”
The Buddhist monk said lightly: “This is indeed urgent, let me carry you across the river.”
The woman looked at the two monks in front of her and was hesitant, but when she thought of her mother who was lying in bed, she had no choice but to agree.
The Buddhist monk stepped forward and held the beautiful woman firmly in his arms, rushing past the turbulent river and bringing her to the other side of the river.
Afterward, the monk and apprentice continued on their journey.
The image is from Scott Stulberg Photography.
After a half-day journey, the young apprentice couldn’t help but ask him: “Doesn’t the master say that monks should not be close to a woman? Why did you carry the beautiful young woman across the river?”
“Oh, do you mean that woman who couldn’t cross the river and needed help?” said the monk casually. “I already put her down when we passed the river and crossed to the other side. Why have you held onto her?”
The monk then said to his apprentice, “if you want pure land, you need to purify your heart. That is to say, to establish a pure land, first of all, purify your heart. Buddhist practice cultivates the mind. The heart is clean so that all beings are clean.”
The woman who was waiting for crossing the river, in the mind of the older monk, was just a human being and someone who needed help. When the monk put her down on the riverbank, he put her down completely. But the young apprentice, though not directly carrying the woman across the river, “carried” her in his heart and was unwilling to put her down. He, as we call it, “could not put his heart down.”
Happy Mother’s Day
01 week
by Alice Lin
in Uncategorized
Mother’s love is like an idyllic poem, pure and elegant.
Mother’s love is like a landscape painting. It is washed away from lead and carved ornaments, leaving fresh and natural.
Mother’s love is like an affectionate song, euphemistic, softly sing.
Mother’s love is a warm wind, blowing the snow to fly, bringing out the unlimited spring light.
The friendship may fade, the vow may be forgotten, but the love of the mother will live forever.
Dawn comes after dusk; autumn comes after spring.
Every bit of our progress, which one is not the crystallization of the mother’s painstaking efforts?
Mother’s love is so deep and pure, like the wine the longer it brews, the purer it is.
It lets us indulge it, and we do not know it is a millennium wine.
Mother’s love is sacrificial and unconditional.
We are unable to make any repayment.
But we can pay back by our love.
On this mother’s day, we want to say to our mother :
“Oh mom, we love you!”
Is There a Heaven?
01 month
by Alice Lin
in Uncategorized
One day, I met one of my friends that I hadn’t seen for a long time. He does not believe in God, but when he saw me, the first question he asked me was “Do you know whether there is a heaven or not?” I was surprised about this question, knowing his view on religion. He looked at my facial expression and knew that I was confused. He told me the story of his father.
When his father was 38 years old, he passed away. He was put into a morgue drawer, and two doctors had already signed off on his death certificate. A third one had not signed off yet, so he could not be cremated or buried. His father remembers feeling like he was rising, and he looked down and saw himself lying there. As he kept going up, he went through the building and went through the clouds. He rose higher until he could see massive double doors that looked very solemn, but serene. He tried his best to open them, but he couldn’t because they were too heavy. He didn’t know where he was and he wanted to go through the doors to find out. All of a sudden, those doors opened, and when he looked inside, he saw people in there – his father and relatives. They all seemed very happy and joyous. Because they were there, he wanted to go in. But somehow, it was like his feet were nailed to the ground, and he couldn’t move them to take a step.
The image is from Crosswalk.com..
After he struggled, he finally gave up because he couldn’t move at all. All of a sudden, he heard a booming and stern voice and recognized it like his grandma’s voice. But the sound was full of power, and she said to him, “You are too young to come here. Go back.”
At that moment, he felt like he was falling back to where he was in that freezer. He started to push at the drawer, trying to get out of it. Suddenly, he felt the drawer begin to slide out, and he stepped out of the drawer. It was dark, so he was using his hands to figure out where he was. Suddenly, the lights turned on, and it was so bright that he could hardly see. Later on, he realized it was the third doctor coming into the morgue to sign his death papers.
So my friend asked me again and said, “I think I believe in God now. I think there’s a heaven.”
One day, I met one of my friends that I hadn’t seen for a long time. He does not believe in God, but when he saw me, the first question he asked me was “Do you know whether there is a heaven or not?” I was surprised about this question, knowing his view on religion. He looked at my facial expression and knew that I was confused. He told me the story of his father.
When his father was 38 years old, he passed away. He was put into a morgue drawer, and two doctors had already signed off on his death certificate. A third one had not signed off yet, so he could not be cremated or buried. His father remembers feeling like he was rising, and he looked down and saw himself lying there. As he kept going up, he went through the building and went through the clouds. He rose higher until he could see massive double doors that looked very solemn, but serene. He tried his best to open them, but he couldn’t because they were too heavy. He didn’t know where he was and he wanted to go through the doors to find out. All of a sudden, those doors opened, and when he looked inside, he saw people in there – his father and relatives. They all seemed very happy and joyous. Because they were there, he wanted to go in. But somehow, it was like his feet were nailed to the ground, and he couldn’t move them to take a step.
After he struggled, he finally gave up because he couldn’t move at all. All of a sudden, he heard a booming and stern voice and recognized it like his grandma’s voice. But the sound was full of power, and she said to him, “You are too young to come here. Go back.”
At that moment, he felt like he was falling back to where he was in that freezer. He started to push at the drawer, trying to get out of it. Suddenly, he felt the drawer begin to slide out, and he stepped out of the drawer. It was dark, so he was using his hands to figure out where he was. Suddenly, the lights turned on, and it was so bright that he could hardly see. Later on, he realized it was the third doctor coming into the morgue to sign his death papers.
So my friend asked me again and said, “I think I believe in God now. I think there’s a heaven.”
Healing from Music
01 month
by Alice Lin
in Uncategorized
May this beautiful music bring you the calming, happy and peaceful weekend!!!
Do One Good Deed a Day
01 month
by Alice Lin
in Uncategorized
This article was originally posted in 2012. Somehow it got lost. I reposted it here to share with the readers.
When a news reporter asked a successful businessman what was the most important teaching that his father gave him, he replied, “Do one good deed a day.”
One day when my son came to see me, I started to tell him about the story of this businessman and how he should do the same. He then told me he helped a woman in need a few days ago. He had seen her crying as she paced back and forth in front of her apartment building. My son stopped the car and asked her whether she needed help. She said that her son was in the emergency ward at the UCLA Medical Center due to a car accident, and she was waiting for a taxi to come and pick her up, but there was no sign of the cab. She could not bear to delay being at her son’s side one more minute. So my son gave her a ride to UCLA.
Sometimes a small deed you do for others may be remembered forever by them. I still remember someone stopped to help my family after our car broke down in the middle of the night several years ago as we were passing through Texas. It was late, dark and very scary along that Texas highway. So when this stranger stopped and took us to the repair shop in the middle of the night, we were full of appreciation. We wanted to pay him for his kindness, but he declined and told us one thing we would never forget: just do for others what I’ve done for you.
I also remember well the good deed of my friend’s son. He brought a homeless person to the supermarket on his birthday to let the person pick out whatever he needed and then paid for the items. What a touching act. In fact, this was a birthday present he was giving himself!
In my line of work – marketing for my home health business — I give the doctors I work with my business card which some of them keep with them to remind them of the Chinese proverb written on the back:
If you want happiness for an hour– take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day–go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month– get married.
If you want happiness for a year-inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime-help someone else.
Indeed, when you do one good deed for others, you brighten someone’s day and yours, too.
