Narrated by brother initiate Chen Wei-Hwa, Taipei, Formosa
Recorded by the Taipei News Group

Meeting Master through God’s Grace

During my childhood and youth, I lived under the high expectations of my parents, eventually entering medical school and becoming a gynecologist and obstetrician. As I look back at my past, I clearly realize that God has always taken good care of me, and my gratitude is beyond words.

On the operating table at the hospital where I work, I often welcome the arrival of new lives. I have also seen many patients reach the end of the journey of their lifetimes. The two extreme situations of great joy and deep sorrow brought about by these events used to mystify me about the ultimate meaning of life, and I wondered, “Who actually rules our lives?” Many times I attended Buddhist retreats or worshipped Buddha’s statues seeking an answer to this question, but nothing could help resolve the ongoing puzzle in my mind. However, these concerns gradually faded in the midst of my busy life as a doctor until I went to study in Oxford, England. When I read the wonderful lectures by Supreme Master Ching Hai published in the overseas edition of Formosa’s Central Daily News, I suddenly felt enlightened, and the true meaning of life became clear to me, filling my soul with indescribable joy. Master’s words printed every other week in the Central Daily News became the spiritual food that I craved.

It was a remarkable arrangement by God that in the last year of my study in England, Brother Loh from Formosa’s National Defense Medical Center also came to study at Oxford, where he set up a local center for group meditation. With great happiness, I learned the Convenient Method, and began practicing meditation and vegetarianism. However, just as I was preparing for initiation, my father informed me that my mother was undergoing a serious illness and I rushed home. Two operations failed to save my mother’s life. At this time I shared with my father the precious teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai, and he decided to become a vegetarian and request initiation. Mother’s death made me realize the urgency of pursuing spirituality. A few months later, on my flight home with my wife and children after completing my overseas studies, we began to follow a strict vegetarian diet, and sought initiation upon returning to Formosa.

About three months later, Master came back to Formosa, and on a holiday just before a typhoon, our whole family went to Hsihu for initiation. My wife was frightened and anxious on the highway as dark clouds loomed in the sky, but for me it was one opportunity in thousands of eons to be initiated by a living Master. Thank God, we were all initiated into the Quan Yin Method that day. Without my father’s cultivation and Master’s grace for bestowing on me a new life through our initiation, I would not be the person I am today.

Divine Blessings in the Operating Room

Since my initiation, Master’s power has often graced my work and the lives of my patients. Practicing medicine in my hospital’s maternity department is an honor as I can always see the radiance of true love in every mother-to-be. The magnetic field in the baby room is extremely tranquil and beautiful. Being the director of the department, I sometimes have to deliver babies for patients experiencing difficult labor during childbirth, or perform surgery in special cases. During these operations, I often find myself in a dilemma as to how I should continue. For example, once I was removing tumors from the uterus of a young patient while trying to preserve her womb. After I had removed dozens of tumors, my hands felt weak, but there were still some more to be severed. As I prayed for Master’s blessing and repeated the Holy Names, I completed the operation smoothly before I even noticed it.

On another occasion some years ago, a female patient was brought into the emergency room, suffering from liver exhaustion with the complications of serious anemia, a shortage of blood platelets and low white blood cell count. And then I discovered that she was already eight months pregnant. In a group consultation, doctors from various departments told the patient’s family that her life would be in danger whether she had a Caesarean section or natural birth. However, the woman decided to have her baby anyway. After examining her situation, I decided to go for a natural induction. Apart from taking all the necessary precautions such as giving a blood transfusion and injecting preventive antibiotics, I also recited the Holy Names and asked Master to bless the mother and child during the birth. As a result, both were miraculously safe except for the expected postpartum (after-birth) bleeding. Without the great power of Master and the Quan Yin Method as supports, I would not have been able to overcome so many difficulties on the operating table.

The Soul-touching Light of Motherly Love

As I have learned in many other touching incidents during my years of medical service, love is always the best remedy for any illness or problem. For example, I once told a sensitive mother-to-be that her five-month-old fetus was suffering from a congenital harelip and cleft palate, and she soon experienced enormous pressure from her family demanding that she have an abortion. I then had a sincere talk with the woman, hoping that she would be brave enough to keep the baby. Besides, I introduced her to some volunteer workers from a Formosan foundation for children with harelip, who were also mothers, to share her experiences. Finally, the woman decided to keep her baby. Then, on seeing her grandson’s face, the patient’s mother-in-law gave her a sharp reprimand without considering her exhausted condition after labor. I felt heartbroken and could not contain my tears. However, the radiance of maternal love enabled the new mother to overcome her difficulties and helped her through the two surgeries that restored the innocent and pure countenance of her baby. So strong were the woman’s spirit of respect for life and the radiance of motherly love that each time I look at the sweet, innocent smile in the photo of her one-year-old baby I feel greatly touched and encouraged.

On another occasion, a young mother who was four months pregnant was suffering from a premature water break (leakage of amniotic fluid that surrounds a fetus). Disregarding her own health and the risk of infection, she gave up her secure job to stay in bed for four months to ensure the safe delivery of a fully developed baby. Such a condition during pregnancy often causes bacterial infection, which can lead to blood poisoning in the mother. To avoid medical disputes in such cases, physicians normally recommend an abortion. While praying in my heart to Master for help, I analyzed the risks to the woman and her family members, hoping that we could work together to preserve the little life in this crisis.

Thanks to Master, both the mother and baby ultimately were safe and sound. When the mother returned with her month-old baby for outpatient services and invited me to have a photo taken with her and her child, I was delighted to see the happy family. I was also deeply touched by the great courage and love of the young mother, who had disregarded her own safety and economic pressures to ensure her baby’s survival. There are many similar stories in my medical career that affirm the truth, virtue and beauty in Master’s teachings! Master has enabled me to experience life more profoundly through such events, and even though I help others through my profession, I feel I am actually the main beneficiary and receive the greatest benefit.

Awarded for Meticulous Love

Last year, the hospital informed me that in December 2002 I would be receiving the Eight-Virtue Award from the Association for Citing Good People and Good Deeds R.O.C. In recent years, gaining promotions in my career and holding the concurrent positions of physician, associate professor and hospital administrator have brought me greater responsibilities and obligations. In addition to my research in the life sciences, I have promoted medical education by organizing courses for maternity nursing staff and by encouraging the hospital’s medical personnel to participate in on-the-job training. With regard to medical service, I established the Spicy Mom and Cool Dad Club to teach future parents the Lamaze (natural) childbirth delivery technique in order to lessen their pain and anxieties resulting from labor. I also opened the Happy Mother Delivery Room in which women wait, deliver and are observed after childbirth to eliminate the pain of changing beds. In addition, I encourage future fathers to stay around during their wives’ labor so that husband and wife can welcome the arrival of their babies together. After a child is born, we present to the parents a congratulatory card bearing the footprint of the baby and marking its first step into life. I also suggest that mothers and children share a room and encourage breast-feeding to increase their interactions. The new mothers’ diet is carefully planned by nutritionists to keep mother and baby in excellent physical, mental and spiritual health, thus ensuring a cozy and loving environment during their waiting period and in childbirth. In this way, not only do new babies enjoy parental love and care at birth, but the love between husband and wife is also enhanced while waiting for their baby. And thus family happiness further contributes to social harmony and contentment.

With these ideas in mind, I worked with the hospital staff to re-organize the obstetrics department, delivery room, baby room, maternity ward, outpatient department and nutrition department, in order to create a friendly, family-centered environment for those experiencing childbirth. Not only have many pregnant women benefited from these innovations, but the working staff has also been delighted, while the hospital enjoys a better reputation. I feel it was due to our overall efforts that I received the Eight-Virtue Award. A single person cannot accomplish much. Without a common goal and concerted effort by everyone involved, a good ideal can only remain a dream. The Award is thus the result of our teamwork.

Conclusion

For almost two decades, Master has been silently bringing light and peace into a world of turmoil, leading disciples in a global effort to create a beautiful tomorrow. In comparison, what I have done is less than a millionth of Master’s achievements. I deeply understand that many people anonymously give much more to society than I do, and so are more worthy of receiving the Good People, Good Deeds Award. God’s arrangements mean that I should work harder in spiritual practice in order to do a better job for God in the future!

I am lucky to be graced by God’s love. Had I not been initiated by Master, I would have led a busy life, caring for patients, teaching students, doing research and blindly pursuing fame and fortune. Since I began to practice the Quan Yin Method, however, I have gone beyond such material pursuits and experienced God’s love and blessings, which I share with anyone in need. In fulfilling the role of a physician, I thus feel a worthiness that is beyond language.

On the path of spiritual practice, there is much for me to do, and I sincerely pray that Master’s almighty power will bless me with further progress in spiritual growth and family harmony. Let me continue to be God’s instrument in benefiting more deserving people through my work!

News 143, Media Reports

Formosa Youth Daily News
Tuesday, December 17, 2002