By Wild Grass
(originally in Chinese)

One cool summer afternoon in 1987, in compliance with fellow initiates' sincere wishes, Master, along with several initiates, came to the mountainous area in Keelung to look for an ideal place for a future center. On the way back, the setting sun drew long shadows of Master and the initiates, and livestock, including the chicken and sheep of local landlords, could be vaguely seen in the distance.

As we walked by a farmhouse, a feeble whimper from behind made us turn around to locate the source. In the faint sunlight, we saw a dog behind a partially opened door and a fence half the height of a man, standing on its hind legs, pleading with its front paws, and whimpering. The dog pleaded even harder at the sight of Master, which almost moved us to tears. Master mercifully pacified him for a while, and then he calmed down.

A dog should have barked at strangers in such a situation. It must have been the God Nature inside the dog that recognized Master as his savior from the Ocean of Suffering. He was also afraid to miss this precious opportunity.

We moved on before we came close to a sheep shed, where we made a more surprising discovery. Herds of sheep were lined up in order, saluting Master with their glances, as if they were a military troop in a national ceremony. What was more interesting was that their eyes moved with each of Master's steps. I felt gratified for them because they would be liberated simply by the sight of a living Master! And I was very touched when I noticed their reluctance at our departure from their deep gaze at Master. It is no wonder that the first remark Shakyamuni Buddha made after His enlightenment was, "All beings have the God Nature." Even the dog and the sheep recognized a living Master, so what a pity it is that being a human is still not enough to know such a Master!