Purple Lotus Publisher > Journal > Volumn NO. 15

The Birthday of an Old Man Living a Solitary Existence

Issue 334 of True Buddha News, published on July 12, 2001

Written by Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu

Edited by Janny Chow.

That day, I vaguely remembered, was my birthday.

On an island in a remote corner of the Earth, inside a small, simple retreat house, I rose early in the morning. I first chanted the True Buddha Sutra, then practiced a session of sadhana, entering into the stability of meditation and dedicating the merits to all my students.

Just as I had done every morning in the past, I had fruit for breakfast: bananas, papayas, oranges, and tomatoes. Then I started the house cleaning--scrubbing the floors, windows, desk and chairs--and doing the laundry. Usually, after finishing these chores, I perform the following three tasks: sutra reading, writing, and practicing the Vajra Fists Exercise.

At noon (the time I was born), I took out a slice of white bread and stuck a candle in it. This candle was saved for emergencies, because water and power outages happened quite frequently on this island. One candle. One is all. Alone, I celebrated my birthday. And before I knew it, my whole face was covered with tears.

A strong emotion welled up in me. I thought of the old days…thousands and thousands of people standing before me wishing me a Happy Birthday. Today, I am alone with a slice of bread that will be my lunch. I could not help but feel melancholy.

I thought of my mother because she had suffered the pains of labor on the day I was born. I cried that she had passed away. I thought of my family, and I cried. I thought of my students, and I cried.

I thought about my father who is also living on his own. It was somewhat of a comfort to know he is being taken care of by a warmhearted student. Father once told me, “One has to often change the backdrop and setting of one’s life. Only this way can one really experience life

Father was right. Living through all kinds of circumstances, tasting wealth and poverty, experiencing birth, aging, sickness, and death, one gains an understanding of the inconstancies of human relationships and the ways of the world.

I thought to myself, “Why not give this dreary lifestyle of living alone in one’s old age a try? Wouldn’t living this way be most valuable, as it is like returning to one’s Original Self?”

Suddenly, from the spiritual realm, I heard the singing of these verses:

Hurry to cultivate to reach the West,

Death and impermanence beckon unannounced;

Outside the window daylight vanishes in a flash;

How much time remains in one’s life!

In the spiritual realm many deities, including the Golden Mother of Jade Pond, Amitabha, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva appeared. Many Vajra Dharma Protectors, devas, and dakinis also manifested.

My mother also came to see me!

Today, though I appear to be celebrating my birthday alone, from the spiritual realm, many “invisible beings” are with me!

This was happiness of a different kind!

(At 7:16 p.m., on July 8^th, 2001, The True Buddha News received the fax of this original article from the Grand Master in Tahiti.)