True Stories
An Outstanding Model of Courage and Recipient of Master’s Grace
“One day he reached the sea, met an old man and asked, ‘How do I get to the opposite shore?’ So the man replied, ‘It’s easy. Just walk across the ocean.’”
In January 2002 I hired a contractor to construct four condominiums for my family’s real estate business in San Jose, Costa Rica. However, the contractor used up all the funds allocated for the project and fled before completing the work. So, since my husband had stayed behind in Formosa to work and I was alone with two children in a strange land and unable to drive a car, I could only pray to Master for help. I then went into the streets and found a welder to help me, but noticed that his assistant was more reliable so I asked him to stay and complete the project. During the assistant’s trial period, I discovered that besides welding he could do many other types of construction work such as plumbing, electrical wiring and carpentry, and could also make steel windows and doors. So with his help I finished the task without needing to hire an engineer or general contractor.
While the work was proceeding, I often played Master’s Buddhist Chanting tapes at the construction site, and my new builder became fascinated by Her beautiful voice and interested in Her teachings. When discussing Master, he spoke in a pure, childlike manner with a tone softer than a woman’s. Master’s immense love had touched him deeply, especially after he read a letter to Her in The News #36 by an imprisoned Aulacese asylum-seeker. While reading the letter the builder was moved to tears and read it repeatedly. He then learned the Convenient Method, was able to enter samadhi very quickly and was immediately blessed with many spiritual visions. In addition, through Master’s boundless love and his own sincerity, the builder immediately overcame his twenty-year addiction to tobacco and alcohol. Greatly amazed by his experiences, I asked him to tell me about his life. However, he often stopped after saying only a few words because the memories were too painful for him to relate.
It happened that the brother was born into a destitute Nicaraguan family that lived in primitive tree houses when he was a child. The brother’s father was a farmer, but he could only afford to borrow untamed horses that no one else could break to do his farming. And after spending a great deal of effort breaking a horse, he would have to return it to the owner in exchange for another unbroken one. After many years at this toilsome work, his father was able to improve his financial condition enough to move on to another job. Then one day when the brother came home from school, he found that his younger sister had died of malnutrition and his family put the blame on him, saying that she died because he had often snatched food from her. He felt such great remorse that he cried profusely.
The brother also suffered from unrequited love, economic problems and other pressures and many times attempted suicide. He was married in his teens, and although he had a family and children, still felt empty and lost. Once during this period he was proud when a group of foreigners appreciated his talent and engaged him to run a large woodworking factory. Then when he was eighteen Nicaragua was torn by civil war so his older brother was forced to join the military but was killed. And when his body, disfigured by torture, was returned to his home his mother fainted at the sight of it. Later, it was the brother’s turn to enter the army and he too suffered cruel tortures such as being placed in water and given electric shocks, and was once put before a firing squad for execution. Fortunately, however, each time he was captured he escaped death by a narrow margin. In one of his escapes, he jumped into the sea from a height of about fifteen meters and upon regaining consciousness found himself lying alone on a beach.
While the brother was on the battlefield, dangers lurked everywhere as bullets flew in all directions, including one that struck him in the leg. After he was carried from the field, a Russian doctor told him that he would die immediately if the bullet were removed, and so it would be wiser to leave it in place and for him live as long as God permitted. Eighteen years have passed since the incident, and the wound in the brother’s leg has turned silver in color and become inflamed, but he remains brave and earns a living doing heavy construction work.
On another occasion, during a parachute jump at midnight he was reported missing, but was actually lost in the wilderness. He said that during this time he would often hike for a whole day only to find himself back where he had started. Three years after the crash, he finally found his way to his home town, looking like a skeleton. And when he appeared, the villagers hid themselves in fear thinking he was a ghost returning to haunt them. While the brother was missing, only his father believed that he was still alive because one night the father had a dream in which his son told him that he would come home on a certain day. And after his return, many Nicaraguan reporters came to interview him, but the brother refused to discuss his life in the mountains.
While lost in the wilderness, he once cried himself to sleep and when he awoke saw a wild beast resembling a lion staring at him, but it did not attack him. Then one day a group of Indians captured him, and since his face was completely covered with hair and his eyes were very large, they thought he was an ape. But after cutting his beard and hair they found that he was a handsome non-Indian. Hoping to produce more offspring with a similar look, the tribal chief forced him to marry his daughters, and if the brother refused their advances the Indian princesses would threaten him with knives. Then one night, after four months as a captive and many escape attempts, he finally succeeded.
The brother next wandered through the mountains in sadness until one day he reached the sea, met an old man and asked, “How do I get to the opposite shore?” So the man replied, “It’s easy. Just walk across the ocean.” Thinking that the old man was mocking him, he continued on his way, but after a while he looked back and found that the man was already on the other shore. He then came to believe the old man was an immortal. The brother also encountered hermits living in the mountains who seldom spoke but treated the illness he had contracted free of charge. One of the hermits told him to always be very humble, and another advised him to stay far away from friends, speak less and concentrate on the wisdom eye. Unfortunately, however, their precious words were wasted for he failed to heed their advice.
Shortly after the brother was initiated into the Quan Yin Method, Costa Rican initiates received Master’s contribution to the destitute residents of Tibas to help them build bridges and repair the local roads. The area was notorious as an abyss of sin and was thus nicknamed “the triangle of death,” and some locals thought that helping them would bring great trouble. However, although only newly initiated, the brother nonetheless volunteered to take on the building project. And on his first day of work, a drug addict threatened him with a knife, but when the brother began reciting the Holy Names the addict was apprehended and taken away.
Then during the 2004 Christmas season, when the brother was working in Tibas, he accidentally injured himself, adding a new wound to his leg. And due to poor blood circulation the wound has not yet healed as yellow pus continues to ooze from the black, swollen limb, yet he continues to work. In addition, the local initiates depend on the brother for many construction tasks, but few people know of the suffering he endures and of his loving sacrifices.
Due to the pain in his leg, the brother’s work has slowed down, resulting in much misunderstanding and criticism. However, he never tries to explain or defend himself and instead accepts all in silence, saying, “Debts have to be paid!” Also, a doctor recently told him that his leg had to be amputated, and though only in his thirties, the brother is not worried and remains convinced that Master is always with him. Many people would have quickly fallen apart emotionally under such circumstances, and if it were not for the support of Master’s immense love, how could he persist?
Now an initiate, the brother greatly treasures the Quan Yin Method, saying, “Master is God.” And no matter how exhausted he is after work, he gets up regularly at 3:00 AM to meditate. On one occasion he was working in cold conditions on a mountain, where he had to share a shed with several workers, so he meditated in the restroom of the building they were constructing. One day while meditating this way he frightened the guards on patrol, and everyone thought there was something wrong with him. But the brother remains unwavering and states, “Meditation has become an ingrained habit that cannot be changed.” In addition, since he began practicing diligently, the conditions of his life have transformed quickly but he continues to silently endure many injustices, saying, “Debts have to be paid!”
Also, the money that the brother earns through his blood and sweat he uses not to heal his leg but instead to buy bricks and construction steel in hopes of someday building a center in Nicaragua so that Master’s light and love may be brought to his war-torn, bereaved homeland. Thus, Master’s great compassion and grace have completely melted the heart of this “tough guy” who once wandered far and wide and suffered much! ♥