1296：Vajra Guru Saves Mother with Cancer

Prostrations to His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche, His Holiness Drikung Chetsang Kyabgon, Dharma protector Achi, Lord Jigten Sumgön, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,  the Lineage gurus, Dharma protectors, fellow Dharma brothers and believers, I am Xie Zhi Jien of Group 7, my Dharma name is Gong Chu Din Xian. My wife is Hsu Hue Jia of group 2, my two children are Xie Guan Hsuan of group 2 and Xie Cheng Yeh of group 7. I am grateful towards His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche for bestowing upon me the chance to share with you, how my mother received Rinpoche’s help, and to repent for my irreverence towards the guru.

In January this year, my mother told my father she had discovered a lump in her lower abdomen. My mother usually has very high endurance towards pain and sickness, so she usually only tells us when she finds it unbearable. Therefore, my father realized the severity of the matter and decided that this could not wait. At this time, I asked my parents whether they were willing to come seek an audience with His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche at the Buddhist Center to implore him for his help through Buddha dharma. My mother immediately said yes, and upon agreeing to come, her panicking mind settled down.

When we sought an audience, I reported my mother’s condition to Rinpoche, and Rinpoche asked whether I had brought my mother to see a doctor. Because of my self- righteousness, I had not brought my mother to see a doctor, and instead shifted the responsibility to Rinpoche. I came with a thin red envelope pleading for blessings, and I wanted everything. As Rinpoche said to me,“You didn’t even make an offering to me equal to the medical examination fee, nor did you bring your mother to see a doctor, you’re treating me like a medical examination device, aren’t you? If you performed 200 grand prostrations each day, your mother wouldn’t end up like this now. You are irreverent and unfilial. I will no longer accept your offerings.” Then Rinpoche told me to come up front, and quickly took out a cane to hit me on the head. My mother squealed loudly.

During the puja the next day, Rinpoche said,“ I hit a disciple yesterday and his mother squealed so loudly everyone present could hear. This son of hers had never been hit before, but I hit him in front of her, this is a type of medicine because of ignorance. Rinpoche is truly incredible because, as a child, my mother spoiled me and never hit me. I’m grateful towards Rinpoche for employing all kinds of virtuous and miraculous dharma methods to help us.

Before our audience with Rinpoche, my mother told me that she had been in great pain for quite some time, and was having irregular bowel movements for a while. However, the moment Rinpoche hit me, my mother’s pain miraculously stopped. After seeking an audience with Rinpoche that day, my mother went to the Glorious Jewel Chinese Medicine Clinic to see the doctor, and that evening, only after having one packet of medicine, she was able to relieve her constipation easily, and her body felt much comfort and ease afterwards. Had it not been for Rinpoche’s great capabilities, and his help through Buddha Dharma, my mother would not have experienced this, and after our audience with Rinpoche, my mother decided to be a vegetarian for the rest of her life. 

Originally, my elder brother did not believe in Buddhism at all, upon returning home after seeking an audience with Rinpoche, my father told my older brother about what happened, he mentioned nothing but the fact that I got beaten. The moment that my father told my brother how Rinpoche beat me, my brother said surprisingly, “Thank you Rinpoche.” Since youth my brother has been a considerate child, if one of our parents felt any pain or sickness he would bring them to the doctor. But that isn’t the case with me, and although my father and brother said nothing about the matter, they felt displeased in their hearts, but I never even noticed these unpleasant feelings. On the day of seeking an audience with Rinpoche, when my father and my brother heard about how I got beaten by Rinpoche, my dull self realized why I got beaten. I’m grateful towards Rinpoche for not only helping my mother, but also enabling my father and brother to have faith towards the True Buddha Dharma. 
 
After returning home I immediately arranged for my mother to have a checkup at the hospital. When the doctor saw the tumors in my mother’s abdomen, he immediately arranged for her to be hospitalized. The following morning, the doctor came to explain my mother’s condition, he said that her entire pelvic cavity was filled with tumors. Afterwards, I told my mother about her condition and said that we needed to repent. Before turning 15 I rarely ever ate green vegetables, during meals there were only meat and animal organs on the table. In the past, I loved to eat pig intestines, which always needed to be cleaned before cooking. In order to satisfy the indulgence of my appetite, my mother often bought it for me. In the evening, my mother needed to have her intestines cleaned for the colonoscopy she had to have the next day. On the evening of my mother’s admission, she kept having to go to the bathroom. The karmic results my mother must bear are exactly so, and I am the one who made her commit the karmic crime of killing, I must repent. 

The next day, when Father called to ask about Mother’s condition, I explained to my father that my mother’s pelvic cavity was filled with tumors, the next step was the colonoscopy planned for that afternoon. In order to undergo the colonoscopy, my mother suffered greatly from getting an enema the evening before. But how odd we never received the notification to go through with the colonoscopy. A sudden inspiration occurred and I phoned my father to tell him about the suffering Mother went through last night, and asked if we could go without the colonoscopy and just get discharged. My father agreed, and I am grateful that under Rinpoche’s blessings my mother did not have to suffer from the colonoscopy. 

The following Saturday when seeking an audience with Rinpoche, I reported to  Rinpoche that my mother‘s entire pelvic cavity was filled with tumors. Rinpoche asked, “ How does the doctor propose to treat her condition?” Self-righteously, I replied, “ My mother is old. She will not undergo any further treatment.” Immediately, Rinpoche asked a doctor dharma brother to come up, and said, “ Tell this self-righteous disciple how much does it cost to treat cancer.” The drama brother reported to Rinpoche, “The targeted therapy drug for cancer has a three-week cycle of 21 days, each cycle costs NT$100,000-$200,000.” Then, Rinpoche said to me, “ You did not even ask how much the medicine cost, and yet you come here with a thin red envelope to plead. Your mother is rich, but she is stingy, who knows where she spends her money!” After our audience with Rinpoche, when I dropped my parents off at the high-speed rail station, I mentioned Rinpoche’s comment about her being parsimonious to Mother. She stuck out her tongue sheepishly as if to say, “How does Rinpoche know everything?”

About a month of Sunday pujas, I got a phone call from my elder brother, telling me that Mother was sent to the hospital last night after vomiting a large amount of blood. This time, with Rinpoche’s teachings, I immediately drove south to the hospital and told my family that I would take care of my mother alone, and asked them to go home and rest. When I thought everything seemed to have settled down, the nurse came in and told me that my mother was in extremis. After hearing that, I was prepared, and accompanied my mother quietly by her side. 
 
The next morning around 4 AM, mother’s breathing became rapid and short. I felt that her time might be near, so I placed a precious and incomparably wondrous nectar pill bestowed upon me by Rinpoche under her tongue. I told her, “Mom, you must only follow Rinpoche.” After hearing my words, Mother nodded once and breathed her last breath soon after. Had I not taken refuge to learn Buddhism under Rinpoche’s dharma throne, I would not have been able to bear the sight of my Mother breathing her last breath, and would have wept, wrenched with grief.  Rinpoche often reminds us, on the Dharma throne, to frequently contemplate the impermanence of death. Under Rinpoche’s blessings, I never wept a single tear over my mother’s death after her passing. 

After our family recited mantras for eight hours, mother’s expression became peaceful, her mouth almost completely closed. Her body was soft, without any postmortem lividity, odor, or ascites, her complexion was rosy, very beautiful! Had it not been for Rinpoche’s broad compassionate aspirations, and the incomparably wondrous nectar pill he bestowed upon me, which I gave to my mother, mother would never have been able to exhibit such calm and peaceful signs, she would’ve definitely gone to the Three Evil Realms, I am grateful to Rinpoche. 
 
On Saturday I pleaded with Rinpoche to transfer my mother‘s consciousness. Rinpoche instructed me to perform 350 grand prostrations each day, and told me my mother still might not receive consciousness transference. I am grateful to Rinpoche for giving me the chance and cause to perform grand prostration at the Buddhist Center. 

I’m grateful for Rinpoche’s teachings to me as a disciple, and I deeply repent for being so self-righteous, thinking that having learned Buddhism, my parents naturally should receive help. In the aspect of mundane matters, I have not even fulfilled the filial piety of a son. Rinpoche once taught, “ Fulfill the path of a human, on the path of Buddha complete.” Since I am unfilial towards my parents, I am naturally not respectful of my elders and teachers. When anything happens, I only shift the responsibility to Rinpoche, I therefore repent for being irreverent towards the guru. I repent for not having any heart of offering; I brought a thin red envelope and wanted everything. Here I also put it on behalf of my mother for being miserly and ungiving with money. In this life my mother has been a full-time housewife, who killed and cooked countless sentient beings for the appetite of her family members, so I repent to these sentient beings killed by my mother. 
 
Rinpoche often expounds to us on the Dharma throne, “ The fastest way to accumulate good fortune is making offerings to the guru.” Before I was forbidden from making offerings, I lived in plenty without appreciating it, and I never cherished it. Instead, I only took advantage of the guru. Dharma brothers, please take me as an example, and seize every opportunity to make offerings to the guru, don’t be like me, I only learnt how precious it is to have such an opportunity after losing it. I am grateful to Rinpoche for allowing me to talk to the board of directors about having the chance to make offerings again.  

Lastly, I am most sincerely grateful towards His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche for his teachings and blessings. I pray for His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s good health, longevity and auspiciousness, and that Rinpoche’s incomparably wondrous dharma lineage may spread eternally at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery. Thank you, fellow believers and dharma brothers, for listening so patiently. 
 

        Respectfully written by Xie Zhi Jien, Group Seven, On July 20, 2025

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Updated on August 7, 2025