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We enter the cultivation hall with utmost piety every day. This pious thought can spread throughout the three thousand realms and reach all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
The power of devotion is incredible, just like a story we once told. Once upon a time, there was a county magistrate. He was an honest official who loved the people like his children and was loved and respected by the people. When he got older and had to retire and return to his hometown, he only had one daughter as his companion. A few years later, the former county magistrate fell ill. He had no money to see a doctor and lived in a remote place, placing him in a difficult position. The daughter felt she should pray to the Buddha devoutly, but her father needed someone to care for him, so she could not go to the temple often. The Master of the temple told her: "As long as you are pious, no matter how far away you are, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be able to hear you. All you need to do is place an altar table at the front door of your home; pray devoutly on the spot in the direction of the temple."
The daughter was very filial and attentive. After hearing what the Master said, she started counting her steps and time on the way home. She knew how much time and how many steps it would take to walk from her home to the temple. Hence, in front of the incense table every morning, she devoutly regarded each bowing as a step. She would bow to the Buddha as many times as she needed to walk and even went around the Buddha after bowing. Perhaps due to her piety, her father's body was getting stronger day by day, but she continued to pray, hoping that her father would be happy and ease both physically and mentally.
In the same year, a young man succeeded in the imperial exam and wanted to return to his hometown to worship his ancestors. The top scholar's mother felt his success was the blessing of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Since he was returning to his hometown, he should go to the temple to pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas first, so she sent someone to inform the temple, saying: "My son will arrive at the temple to burn the first stick of incense tomorrow."
The following day, the scholar arrived at the temple very early, only to find that there were already three sticks of incense in the incense burner. He thought to himself: "I am supposed to be the one to offer the first three sticks of incense. Why is this happening? It doesn't matter. I will come earlier tomorrow."
Although the scholar arrived earlier the next day, there were still three incense sticks in the incense burner, and he was very unhappy. The abbot of the temple said: "It's strange. No one burns incense here. Why do we have these three sticks of incense every day?"
Although the scholar believed that monks do not lie, he still felt strange, so he came up with a plan and said: "Alright, I will stay here tonight and see who comes to burn incense early in the morning."
Before dawn the next day, he paid close attention. "Yes, there was a girl." He could see clearly that before the temple door even opened, she had already come in to pray to the Buddha and circumambulate the Buddha devoutly. He told the abbot what he saw. At this time, the abbot thought: "Yes, the girl you mentioned is the daughter of the former county magistrate. The county magistrate was in poor health not long ago. She was guarding him day and night but also wanted to pray to the Buddhas. I once told her that she could set up an incense burner in front of her house every day and pray devoutly in the direction of the temple. Could it be that when she prays at this moment every day, the power of her piety arrives here?"
The scholar found it incredible that such a thing could happen. He went to visit the former county magistrate. When he saw the girl bringing tea, he was surprised and thought: “That’s right, this beautiful girl came to the temple early in the morning to burn incense and worship the Buddha. The scholar was very touched and liked the girl very much. He told his mother when he got back. The mother quickly found someone to propose marriage to the girl, thus achieving a beautiful thing that everyone talked about.
It can be seen from this that a sincere heart is spiritual, and a pious thought can reach the ears of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and can also spread throughout the three thousand realms, depending on the extent of our piety, not to mention that the heavenly protectors will always protect us too.
Translated by Tan Poh Chin
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