103/Drops in the Ocean of Love/My Mom


Drops in the Ocean of Love My mother was a "breakfast vegetarian" since the days of my earliest memory. I heard that when she was young, she listened to a discourse on Buddhism in a temple in Dah Jiah. Then she immediately decided to forsake meat, and subsisted on a vegetarian diet until she got married; thereafter only her breakfast continued to be vegetarian. During the last decade, her children became vegetarians one after another and received initiation from Supreme Master Ching Hai. Finally, my mother realized her dream of practicing Buddhism, and we became a family of fellow practitioners of the Quan Yin Method. I never knew what time my mother got up each morning. When it was close to the time of my school entrance examinations, I always stayed up late at night and got up early the next morning. After worshipping Quan Yin Bodhisattva, I would recite an English text. Then I found that my mom had already boiled porridge for me, and packed my lunch box. When I returned from school, my clothes had been cleaned, folded and placed by my bed. When I felt most helpless and lost my self-confidence, my mom was always there encouraging me and teaching me to stand on my own two feet. She often said that she was very glad to see that a woman nowadays can also go to school, have a career and hold an outstanding position in society. She urged me to cherish the opportunity and contribute more to society. Later I became a vegetarian and learned to walk the way of Buddha, which is not free of obstacles. Fortunately, my mom was always beside me, silently protecting me. My mother's self-cultivation was exceptional. I never saw her scold anyone. She always spoke softly to her husband and children. When we did something wrong, she never blamed us. She only worried about us, fearing that our wrong deeds might bring about unfavorable consequences to us. She would sometimes analyze the situation with us and give us advice, but she always respected us in making our own decisions. She treated her in-laws, relatives and neighbors nicely and with sincere love. In her eyes, everyone was good. She humbly took care of all the beings that came across her path. Under her care, flowers and plants lived in health and flourished. Her love could even cure sick plants. I have been practicing Buddhism for twenty-seven years and following Master's teachings for ten years. I have maintained a vegetarian diet and meditated. But my temperament is not as good as my mother's. Is that because my mom had always lived a smooth life? Actually she had not. I heard that my mother's family was affluent when she was young. They were not short of food even during the Sino-Japanese war. But after she got married, she lived in a state of worry and poverty. She often had to borrow food and money. To feed her hungry children, she went to the markets to collect discarded vegetable leaves. She preserved, dried, cleaned and cooked them for us. But she never complained or gossiped about others. She was always gentle, polite and thrifty. About a decade ago, Supreme Master Ching Hai came to Formosa teaching the Quan Yin Method. Because of my whole family's affinity with Master, over twenty members have been initiated and are now practicing the Quan Yin Method. Among them my mom was always our model practitioner. Now, my mom has passed away to another world. In my heart, she is not just an ordinary woman. She is one of the saints who descended to this world by their own will to help the people with affinity to follow a living enlightened Master and practice spiritually. She lived as a daughter-in-law, a wife and a mother in a most ordinary way. She did not have a high position or great wealth, but she had the purest heart. Living a most common life with the simplest relationships with others, she took care of us and protected us in silence. We hope we can live as saints, and become bodhisattvas or Buddhas when we ascend to another world, realizing my mom's wishes.

Drops in the Ocean of Love

My mother was a "breakfast vegetarian" since the days of my earliest memory. I heard that when she was young, she listened to a discourse on Buddhism in a temple in Dah Jiah. Then she immediately decided to forsake meat, and subsisted on a vegetarian diet until she got married; thereafter only her breakfast continued to be vegetarian. During the last decade, her children became vegetarians one after another and received initiation from Supreme Master Ching Hai. Finally, my mother realized her dream of practicing Buddhism, and we became a family of fellow practitioners of the Quan Yin Method.

I never knew what time my mother got up each morning. When it was close to the time of my school entrance examinations, I always stayed up late at night and got up early the next morning. After worshipping Quan Yin Bodhisattva, I would recite an English text. Then I found that my mom had already boiled porridge for me, and packed my lunch box. When I returned from school, my clothes had been cleaned, folded and placed by my bed. When I felt most helpless and lost my self-confidence, my mom was always there encouraging me and teaching me to stand on my own two feet. She often said that she was very glad to see that a woman nowadays can also go to school, have a career and hold an outstanding position in society. She urged me to cherish the opportunity and contribute more to society. Later I became a vegetarian and learned to walk the way of Buddha, which is not free of obstacles. Fortunately, my mom was always beside me, silently protecting me.

My mother's self-cultivation was exceptional. I never saw her scold anyone. She always spoke softly to her husband and children. When we did something wrong, she never blamed us. She only worried about us, fearing that our wrong deeds might bring about unfavorable consequences to us. She would sometimes analyze the situation with us and give us advice, but she always respected us in making our own decisions. She treated her in-laws, relatives and neighbors nicely and with sincere love. In her eyes, everyone was good. She humbly took care of all the beings that came across her path. Under her care, flowers and plants lived in health and flourished. Her love could even cure sick plants.

I have been practicing Buddhism for twenty-seven years and following Master's teachings for ten years. I have maintained a vegetarian diet and meditated. But my temperament is not as good as my mother's. Is that because my mom had always lived a smooth life? Actually she had not. I heard that my mother's family was affluent when she was young. They were not short of food even during the Sino-Japanese war. But after she got married, she lived in a state of worry and poverty. She often had to borrow food and money. To feed her hungry children, she went to the markets to collect discarded vegetable leaves. She preserved, dried, cleaned and cooked them for us. But she never complained or gossiped about others. She was always gentle, polite and thrifty. About a decade ago, Supreme Master Ching Hai came to Formosa teaching the Quan Yin Method. Because of my whole family's affinity with Master, over twenty members have been initiated and are now practicing the Quan Yin Method. Among them my mom was always our model practitioner.

Now, my mom has passed away to another world. In my heart, she is not just an ordinary woman. She is one of the saints who descended to this world by their own will to help the people with affinity to follow a living enlightened Master and practice spiritually. She lived as a daughter-in-law, a wife and a mother in a most ordinary way. She did not have a high position or great wealth, but she had the purest heart. Living a most common life with the simplest relationships with others, she took care of us and protected us in silence. We hope we can live as saints, and become bodhisattvas or Buddhas when we ascend to another world, realizing my mom's wishes.