The Mother's Lesson in Cause and Effect

This is a record of an interview with Meng Ding, who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. This account reflects upon his life approximately 650 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on April 11, 2019.

Meng Ding speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Meng Ding. Looking back at my life six and a half centuries ago, I see a child who was stubborn, mischievous, and entirely ignorant of the laws of cause and effect. My mother, however, was a woman of profound wisdom who dedicated her life to guiding me toward the light of the Dharma.

The Stolen Fruit and the Law of Karma

I remember one day, I was hunched over, clutching my stomach, my face twisted in a mask of agony. My mother rushed to my side, her voice filled with concern: 'Meng Ding, what is wrong with your stomach?' I could barely gasp out the words: 'It... it hurts so much!' She pressed me further: 'What have you eaten?' At that moment, I dared not speak. I bit my lips tightly, refusing to utter a sound. When she asked again, her expression grew stern, and I knew I had no choice but to confess. 'I... I stole some fruit from the neighbour's garden,' I admitted. My mother’s voice rose in disbelief: 'You climbed their tree and stole their fruit?' I nodded, trembling with fear. She sighed, a look of helplessness crossing her face: 'I cannot save you from this, my child. You stole that fruit and consumed it; now you must bear the karmic consequences. You are experiencing the retribution right now. If you want the pain to stop, you must go to the neighbour, apologise, and honestly tell them what you have done. If they choose to forgive you, your karma will be cleared, and your stomach will stop hurting.' It was difficult for me to face the neighbour, but the pain was truly unbearable, so I followed my mother's instructions and went to offer my sincere apology.

The neighbour was an elderly woman who lived alone in a large house. I knocked on her door with what little strength I had left. I heard her coughing inside before she called out, 'Who is knocking?' I replied in a weak voice, 'It is I, Meng Ding.' When she opened the door and saw me, I immediately knelt before her and began to repent. I told her, 'This morning, as I passed your house, the gate was open. I saw your fruit—so large and red—and it felt as if they were beckoning to me. I moved a chair under the eaves, climbed the tree, and picked them. I didn't expect that shortly after eating them, my stomach would begin to ache so terribly. Oh, it hurts!' The old woman listened, then quickly reached out to help me up. She led me inside and applied some medicinal herbs to my abdomen. I asked her nervously, 'Are you willing to forgive me?' She replied, 'You silly child, how could I hold a grudge against you over a piece of fruit? But next time, if you want some, just ask me directly. You must not steal; it is simply wrong.' I promised her, 'I understand!' To my amazement, the moment she forgave me, the pain in my stomach vanished. I was stunned: 'Mother was right! The pain was the karmic retribution for my theft, and now that she has forgiven me, the pain is gone!' That experience taught me a profound lesson, for I had always been a disobedient child who would simply take whatever caught my eye. Having suffered, I finally understood that I could never again steal from others.

A Lesson in Obedience

Later, my mother decided to test me to see if I had truly learned my lesson. She placed a bag of colourful, vibrant sweets on the dining table. When I walked into the kitchen looking for a snack, I saw them and immediately climbed onto a bench, reaching out to grab the bag. The sweets looked so delicious that my mouth began to water. Just as I was about to pop one into my mouth, I suddenly remembered the agony of my stomach ache. I realised I had to ask my mother first. I ran to her and asked, 'Mother, may I have one of these sweets?' She asked, 'Which sweets?' I pointed to the one already in my mouth: 'This one.' She exclaimed, 'You have already put it in your mouth before asking me if you could have it!' Suddenly, my tongue felt as if it were on fire! It was incredibly spicy! My mother stood calmly by and explained: 'I had someone mix chilli powder into those sweets, so of course it is spicy! If you had asked me first, I would have told you which ones were safe to eat and which were not. Only the broken one was edible, but I knew you would never choose that one. Since you disobeyed and stole a sweet, you must now bear the consequence!' I was sweating from the heat, begging her, 'Mother, I was wrong! I was wrong! Please, save me!' She handed me a cup of sugar water she had prepared in advance, and only after I drank it did the burning sensation subside.

The Weight of Offerings

On another occasion, a close friend of my mother came to visit, bringing a bag of delicious oranges as a gift. After they finished chatting, my mother walked her friend out. When she returned, she found that only one orange remained, with all the peels scattered on the table. She called out, 'Meng Ding!' I walked out, smelling strongly of oranges. She asked, 'Did you eat them?' I stammered, 'Yes...' She scolded me sternly: 'Those oranges were meant as an offering to the Buddha! How could you eat them without my permission? And you didn't even clean up the peels! Is it truly so difficult to tame the habits of sentient beings?' To teach me a lesson, she demanded that I use all my pocket money—money I had saved for a very long time—to buy more oranges. My heart ached to part with it, but she took the money, bought several bags of oranges, and used them for offerings to the Buddha and to share with our neighbours.

A Call to the Dharma

One day, a monk came to our home to beg for alms. My mother was out, and I was home alone. The monk asked for a donation, but I sat in my chair and ignored him. Seeing that I had no intention of offering food, the monk simply chanted 'Namo Amituofo' and turned to leave. Just then, my mother returned. Seeing the monk's empty bowl, she asked, 'A master came to beg for alms; why did you not offer him any food?' I replied cheekily, 'Mother, you said I must always have your permission before taking anything. You were not home, so how could I act on my own?' My mother was furious: 'You never remember my teachings, yet you choose this moment to be so obedient! You are simply trying to oppose me!' She rushed to the kitchen to bring food to the monk. Before leaving, the monk told her, 'This child is very intelligent; you should let him study the Buddha Dharma.' My mother understood his words and was deeply grateful for his compassionate advice.

Following the monk's suggestion, my mother began to consider how to inspire me to study the Dharma. My father had passed away from a heart attack shortly after I was born, leaving my mother and me to rely on each other; thus, I was deeply attached to her. One day, she called me over and asked, 'Meng Ding, do you want to stay with Mother?' I nodded vigorously: 'Yes! I want to stay with Mother forever!' She then asked, 'Well, Mother wants to follow the Buddha. Do you want to follow the Buddha too?' I nodded again: 'Yes! If Mother follows the Buddha, then I will follow the Buddha!' She continued, 'I have decided to become a monastic in three years. What about you?' I paused, stunned: 'Become a monastic?' She replied, 'Yes, I truly intend to.' I looked at her in surprise. She explained, 'I have lived in this world for thirty-four years, and in all that time, I have seen that everyone suffers. At first, I was trapped in that suffering myself—losing my father, my mother, and my husband. It was only after I encountered Namo Amituofo that I stopped feeling so much pain, for I realised that life is illusory. Since I stepped out of the darkness and into the light, I have made a vow to save sentient beings in this lifetime. I have made up my mind to become a monastic in three years, and during this time, I want to practise diligently. You said you wanted to follow me and the Buddha forever, so let us spend these next three years studying the Dharma together.' I was a kind and filial child, and I had seen my mother's hardships. Although I did not yet understand the suffering of the world, I had always wondered why people looked so miserable when they weren't smiling. Now, I understood: it was the suffering of life that bound people's hearts. Whenever they were not smiling, their faces naturally revealed the inner state of their hearts—sorrow and pain.' Namo Amituofo.

Mengding listened to his mother's words and began to study the Buddha's teachings alongside her, performing his daily practice punctually. Knowing that Mengding was still young and could not sit before the Buddha to recite the Sutras and chant Namo Amituofo for long periods like an adult, his mother turned the process into a game, guiding him to memorise the scriptures. She also dedicated time to taking Mengding out into the real world to observe and learn. When Mengding saw other five-year-old children on the street, one hand holding candy and the other clutching toys, he suddenly felt that he had grown up. He was no longer like them, knowing only how to play all day; instead, he felt a budding desire to save the world. The world before his eyes no longer looked the way it once had; he had gained a deeper, more nuanced understanding of it.

The Illusion of Wealth and the Seed of Awakening

In particular, when Mengding saw Shaoqi, a boy of the same age from a wealthy family, he no longer felt the envy he once had. Although Shaoqi was born into a life of luxury, he was not raised in an environment of Buddhist practice. All his wealth was squandered on extravagant indulgences; he ate everything he desired, unknowingly harming countless beings in the process. He played with every toy he could imagine, yet he felt only emptiness and boredom. Nothing could satisfy him anymore because everything he wanted came too easily, leaving him unable to cherish or value anything. He did not even value his own life, often gathering with other wayward youths to pick up various bad habits. In the past, Mengding would have thought Shaoqi lived a wonderful life, doing whatever he pleased. Now, Mengding felt a sense of pity for him, fearing that his entire life would be spent in such a hollow manner. Summoning his courage, Mengding introduced the Buddha's teachings to Shaoqi, but Shaoqi looked down on the impoverished Mengding. Although Shaoqi did not accept the message, Mengding was not discouraged; he loudly chanted, "Namo Amituofo!" to Shaoqi, planting a Vajra Seed of the Buddha within him.

The Mirror of the Heart

Mengding’s mother took him everywhere to perform acts of Goodness, walking through one village after another. Confused, Mengding asked his mother, "Why do the villagers in this village look so much like the people in that distant village, yet look so different from the villagers living right next door?" His mother was also puzzled by this question: "Shouldn't the people living in neighbouring villages look more alike?" After meeting with the village head of each location, she finally understood. It turned out that the two villages whose people resembled each other, despite being far apart, shared hearts that were equally pure and kind. In contrast, the other village, despite being right next door, was led by a village head who harboured evil thoughts and would stop at nothing for profit. Under his leadership, every villager had become narrow-minded and calculating. When the heart is different, the face looks different; even if they live next door, they will not resemble one another.

Mengding understood then that the state of a leader's heart and how they guide their people is of vital importance. Consequently, Mengding ran to the home of the village head who harboured evil thoughts to introduce the Buddha's teachings. Seeing that Mengding was only a child, the village head ignored him. But the clever Mengding knew this village head liked to compare himself to the neighbouring village, so he said, "The villagers in the next village are prosperous and joyful because they love to study the Buddha's teachings. Studying the Buddha's teachings naturally leads to contentment and happiness. The reason their village head is loved by everyone is that he loves to perform acts of charity and practice the Buddha's teachings, while also teaching others to do the same." After saying this, Mengding gave the village head a string of prayer beads he had made himself to form a karmic connection. Several months later, when his mother and Mengding returned to the village to perform more acts of Goodness, the atmosphere was completely different. Seeing the village head, Mengding understood: the change in the leader had driven the entire village to change as well. The village head was still wearing the prayer beads Mengding had given him, and he had enshrined a statue of Amitabha Buddha in his home. Though he had not believed in the Buddha at first, after encountering the Buddha's teachings, he had received magnificent benefits, which led him to introduce the Dharma to his villagers and transform the entire village.

A Path of Devotion and Liberation

Mengding grew to understand the preciousness of the Buddha's teachings more and more. In less than three years, he entered a monastery to practice, even earlier than his mother. To his surprise, the monk who had once come to their home to beg for alms was none other than his own master. The master had long known that Mengding would come to the monastery to become a monk and was perfectly clear about Mengding's character. The master taught him according to his capacity, and Mengding received the teachings with humility. Before he turned thirty, he had achieved Awakening, widely saving beings.

As for Mengding's mother, after Mengding entered the monastery, she too went to another monastery to become a nun and study the Way. The mother and son had spent only seven short years together, yet they had come to understand the falsity of worldly life and the preciousness of the human body. Each became a monk and a nun in their respective monasteries, spending their lives propagating the Buddha's teachings and bringing the Buddha's influence to the world. At the end of their lives, they both returned to the Western Land, meeting again in the Western Pure Land to hear the scriptures together before the Buddha and continue their practice on the Buddha's path. Namo Amituofo.

The Light of the Dharma in the Age of Decline

People who study the Buddha's teachings are everywhere in this world. Why do people want to study the Buddha's teachings? Some do so because their family members are practitioners; some do so because they feel suffering; others choose to study because they feel helpless and empty in their hearts. In the era when Mengding lived, many practitioners achieved success because the environment was less polluted and their hearts were pure and bright; as long as they practiced diligently, they could achieve Awakening. But today, in this age of the Dharma’s decline, beings are deeply stained by impurities and burdened by heavy attachments; their personalities are as hard to subdue as steel. In such conditions, suffering is unbearable, and afflictions, delusions, and false thoughts are constant. Even if they study the Buddha's teachings, they cannot understand the true essence of the practice, let alone achieve liberation and leave suffering behind.

Today, Practitioner Su teaches the Dharma every day precisely to relieve the suffering in the hearts of beings and to liberate spirits that are trapped and unable to leave. By using the Buddha's teachings to unravel the confused and deluded hearts of beings, it is like guiding those lost in a maze back to the correct path. Under the leadership of Practitioner Su, many have already begun to receive messages from other spaces. In past eras, this was not a difficult feat, but in today's world, with advanced technology and all sorts of strange gadgets and temptations, the human heart has become cluttered and unclear, causing people to lose this innate ability. Now, Practitioner Su uses his teachings to purify the human heart, adjusting the habits accumulated over many lifetimes. By practicing on this pure land of Australia, one can see the pure light, receive messages from other spaces, and even converse with the Buddha. Mengding sees that in the future, more people with the aspiration to learn will join, allowing this ray of hope of the Buddha's teachings to flourish even more, illuminating the Earth and the entire Dharma realm of emptiness, benefiting immeasurable beings. We are grateful to Practitioner Su for his great compassion; it is because of Practitioner Su that so many beings are able to leave suffering behind. Gratitude to Practitioner Su, Namo Amituofo.

This interview message was recorded by the chief writer, Buddhist disciple Shi Fajing.