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Bhikshuni Heng Quan first met the Venerable Master in 1988, when he was transmitting the Three Refuges at Wonderful Dharma Monastery in Taoyuan, Taiwan. At that time, Bhikshuni Heng Quan was seriously ill and taking medication. Upon seeing her, the Venerable Master urged her,
Don’t take medicine. Taking medicine only makes it last longer.
The following day, Bhikshuni Heng Quan went to see the Venerable Master again. The Master asked her,
“Do you want to die or live?” She said, “Either one
is okay.” Bhikshuni Heng Quan was then heading the Peisheng (Nurturing Life) Kindergarten at the Yuantong (Perfect Penetration) Hermitage in Dongshi, and the local people there deeply appreciated her. The Master instructed her,
Left-home people should help the nation and work for society, and the best way to do that is to organize and administer schools. It doesn’t matter how much you do, as long as you do your best.
Then the Master hit Bhikshuni Heng Quan’s head with his cane, and a lump immediately swelled up there. Returning to Dongshi, she discovered that a small pimple-like blister had formed on the tumor on her shoulder. One afternoon, the pimple burst while she was taking a nap, and a great deal of pus flowed from it. She tried to wipe up the pus with tissues, and soon the used tissues filled the wastebasket. In that instant, She felt the blood circulation in her chest cavity become very free and unhindered, and she experienced an incomparable coolness and comfort both physically and mentally. Thus, that was how she recovered from the chronic disease that had long been treated without any sign of improvement.
Bhikshuni Heng Quan recalls,
“After the Venerable Master struck me on the head, I
went back and took no more medicine. That was the
first time the Master saved my life.”
During the Chinese New Year Festival of 1993, Bhikshuni Heng Quan suffered a severe case of lung disease and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. One day after she had taken the medicine prescribed by the doctor, she felt her whole body become hot. It was extremely uncomfortable. She imagined that she was swimming and her body was soaked in cool water, and she felt better. That evening around ten minutes past eight o’clock, she saw the Venerable Master holding a cradle in his hands. In the cradle was a boy. The Master said to her,
This boy is you. Your life will end tonight, and in a moment you will go there. This boy has a very good life, full of blessings.
Upon hearing that, Bhikshuni Heng Quan quickly said,
“That’s good!”
Venerable Master: “Sure,
it’s good, but it’s still in the six paths.”
Bhikshuni Heng Quan: “I don’t
want to stay in the six paths. I want to go to the
Land of Ultimate Bliss.”
At that moment Guanshiyin Bodhisattva appeared and stood beside the Venerable Master. Suddenly Bhikshuni Heng Quan remembered that she still had many worldly affairs to take care of, so she hurriedly tried to bargain,
“I don’t want to go to the Land of Ultimate Bliss just yet. I still have many important things to do.” Hearing her, the Venerable Master turned and walked away, looking disappointed. As he walked away, she noticed that he was carrying two slips of paper in his hand.
Two hours later, Bhikshuni Heng Quan was awakened from a fitful sleep by the extreme physical discomfort. When she opened her eyes, she again saw the Venerable Master before her. The Master was no longer carrying the slips of paper and simply said to her,
“That medicine
cannot be taken, for it will take your life. I will
quickly call upon the five brothers to share the
burden.”
Strange to say, but she immediately understood that the
“five brothers” meant the five organs. She then asked Shramanerika Heng Xin, who was taking care of her, to give her some water to drink. She drank all the water. That night, Shramanerika Heng Xin took care of her until two o’clock in the morning and was preparing to go to sleep. Just then, the Venerable Master said to Bhikshuni Heng Quan:
Tell her not to
sleep! She cannot sleep tonight. Recite “Guanshiyin Bodhisattva,” quickly!
At that time, the Venerable Master and Guanshiyin Bodhisattva were both in Bhikshuni Heng Quan’s room. She sensed that there were many beings of the underworld in the room as well, yet she felt that the Venerable Master and Guanshiyin Bodhisattva treated the underworld beings and herself equally, without showing her any favoritism.
When day broke, Bhikshuni Heng Quan negotiated with the chief doctor, saying,
“I have trouble falling asleep at the hospital, so I’d like to leave.” The doctor agreed to discharge her. After she returned to the temple, she recited the
Amitabha Sutra and transferred the merit to those underworld beings. Nevertheless, she showed no signs of recovery, and five minutes didn’t go by without her coughing.
She prayed for aid from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. That day, during her afternoon nap, she dreamed of the Venerable Master bringing a large group of Bhikshus and Bhikshunis to gather around her and recite:
“Nan, shi li duo, shi li duo, jun zha li, suo po he.” When she woke up, the sound of the mantra being recited was still in her ears, but the vision of the Venerable Master and the Bhikshus and Bhikshunis was gone. Not long after, a fellow Bhikshuni came to see her and discovered that she had miraculously recovered.
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