A Fulfilled Vow（三）
■Book 148 - The Power of Mantra
■Written by master Sheng-yen Lu
One who stirs no dust of life is already a Buddha.
Thus there is nothing bizarre about transforming into purity.
Every layman is in reality a Buddha.
Yet men lusts for wealth and fortune.
My transmission of a mantra today is done in the name of charity.
An enlightened lotus must bloom in the face of a deluded heart.
* * *
Lee Wei trusted me. He had faith in the Vasudhara Dharani Mantra. Lee Wei was not new to Buddhism. He knew that to follow the Buddha's way, one needs to make these five great vows:
Living beings are innumerable; I vow to liberate them all.
Blessings and wisdom are endless; I vow to gather them all.
Dharma methods are countless; I vow to learn them all.
The Buddhas are supreme; I vow to serve them all.
The ways of Bodhi are limitless; I vow to attain them all.
Everyone in every Dharma Realm shall benefit from this.
Lee Wei has always wanted to learn Buddhism, and he is filial. He thus shared his mother's vow and felt that he should set out to complete whatever vow that his mother could not fulfill.
Everytime he completed his chanting, he would dedicate the merits:
May the prayers of sentient beings, bearing such remarkable vows of this world and beyond, be fulfilled swiftly.
Lee Wei cultivated for a year. His financial state remained unchanged, and there was no response of any kind. But he persisted without losing hope. One night, he had an interesting dream. He dreamed of his mother taking him for a flight.
He asked his mom, 'When will my financial situation improve?'
His mom replied, 'The conditions are ripe!'
He then asked, 'How about the vow to build the pilgrimage road. Will it remain unfulfilled?'
His mom replied, 'The condition is ripe!'
They flew to a hill and landed on the ground. The mother pointed to
the hill and said, 'Remember this. Left of this place lies a little temple of the Earth God. And to your right is a grave. In front there is a bridge over a stream and it is called Pu-li Bridge.'
'This hill?' Lee Wei was sceptical.
'Purchase it.'
'But there's no value to this piece of barren hill!' Lee Wei was in doubt.
Mom said in no uncertain terms, 'Purchase it.'
Lee Wei woke up from this dream and realized he was still lying on his bed. But the conversation he had with his mother still lingered and the two words 'purchase it' came through loud and clear.
One day, a friend was in financial difficulty and he needed to sell off his assets. He pleaded to Lee Wei to purchase his real estates as he was willing to sell it at a bargain.
His friend brought Lee Wei to view a hill. To his astonishment, Lee Wei saw that it was the same hill he had dreamed of. There was an Earth God temple at the left and a grave at the right. In the middle lied a bridge over a running stream.
Lee Wei told his friend, 'The bridge is named Pu-li.'
His friend said, 'When I first purchased this place the bridge was already there. I have never taken notice of its name.'
They approached the bridge and checked. It was indeed named 'Pu-li Bridge'. His friend was shocked and asked, 'You've been here?'
Lee Wei replied, 'In my dream.'
The friend said, 'You must be kidding me!'
Lee Wei did as his mother had instructed in his dream and purchased the barren hill at a real bargain. After the purchase, Lee Wei was at a loss as to what to do with it. Did mom want me to grow laichee, longan, plum, papaya, banana.......
People mocked Lee Wei's stupidity. These days, there was simply no way one could get rich by planting fruits. Lee Wei felt he was foolish indeed! Every now and then he would take a trip to the hill. He realized this
