True Modern Karma Stories - Story 01

4. The rooster with golden feathers

There was a farmer surnamed Zhang who contracted lung cancer. He was diagnosed as untreatable by 2 hospitals and they told his family to prepare for his last rites. One of his relatives knew I was studying Buddhism at home, so she brought Zhang’s wife to my house to seek help from the Buddha Dharma. Coincidentally Venerable Miaofa was also around. Thus they pleaded with the Master to help.

Venerable Miaofa asked, “The patient has done much killing, especially of chickens right?”

Zhang’s wife replied, “Yes, my husband is fond of cooking. He is the main cook for all the wedding or funeral events in the village. He believes that the way other people slaughter chickens is not swift and clean enough, so he does it personally. Every time he will slaughter up to dozens of chickens, causing the drains by the road to be flowing with blood.”

Venerable Miaofa continued to ask, “Did you once stole and slaughtered a big rooster from a neighbor? This rooster has golden feathers around the neck, reddish brown feathers on the body and its tail feathers are shiny dark green. When it stands upright, it is almost half a meter tall, very sturdy and handsome.”

Zhang’s wife was shocked after hearing that. She dropped to her knees and started to repeatedly kowtow to the Venerable. “Oh my dear old Bodhisattva, how did we know that it was a sin to slaughter chickens? During the poor harvest years we didn’t have much to eat and suffered from hunger everyday. When our neighbor’s rooster flew into our yard, we secretly killed and ate it seeing that they were not around. The old Bodhisattva is able to see it entirely; such is our retribution isn’t it? We won’t dare to take advantage of others in the future. At that time we also stole feed from the farming team for our food as well as crops from the common fields. Now I realized I have sinned. It is I who instigated the old man (her husband) to do those things.. Please reduce my lifespan! Let me die in his place! …..”

She mumbled and crying at the same time, almost moving me to tears as well. I did not expect this lady to have such a sharp aptitude, allowing her to be awakened by a single prod. Those honest words and sincere feelings for her husband are hard to come by. I quickly helped her up and instructed her to listen to the Venerable’s teachings.

The Master also sounded somewhat agitated in his reply, “Your tearful confession just now is true repentance. When you return you must let your husband repent as well, to refrain from taking any more lives in the future. Go to the monastery to get a copy of the “Ksitigarbha Sutra”. Recite the Sutra 49 times and transfer the merits to all those chickens you have killed. The best would be to let your husband chant himself. That rooster you have slaughtered is a King among the chickens. Did your husband suffered from constant headaches after killing that rooster?”

Zhang’s wife thought for a moment and said assuredly, “Yes, yes. He really did start having headaches from that time, recurring every 2 days. No medicine offered any relief at all for him.”

“That rooster had perched onto your husband’s head all along, sinking its claws onto his scalp and pecking his skull whenever it felt like it; so how could it not be painful? I suggest you create a tablet in the monastery for the rooster and recite the Ksitigarbha Sutra 7 times for its well-being. It may then be able to be liberated and reborn as a phoenix in the heavens.”

“Master, we don’t know that many words. What do we do if we can’t recite?”

“To recite the Sutra is to save your husband’s life. Those words you don’t know you can check a dictionary, or consult others. If you really can’t do it, you can pay others to recite for you, but it will not be as effective as you doing it on your own and obtaining the merits yourself. Take note that during the whole period of chanting you must refrain from taking all meat, pungent vegetables like onions, garlic, chives as well as consuming alcohol and smoking. Because if you chant with a stinking mouth, there would not be any Devas, deities or other divine beings willing to come and listen. No sentient beings will benefit and it is also disrespectful to the Buddha Dharma. What merit can you gain if that’s the case? If the rooster can’t be liberated, your husband will have no chance of recovery. If you can observe the precepts, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will surely give you their blessings.”

Again Zhang’s wife asked, “My husband is in a critical condition now and may die any time. Won’t it be too late to recite the Sutra now?”

Venerable Miaofa replied, “If your husband did not slaughter so many chickens he wouldn’t be dying now; killing reduces one’s lifespan. But because you repented from your heart the situation has taken a favorable turn. True repentance can cleanse away one’s sins. If your husband can do this, reciting the Sutra as well as the Buddha’s name, he is sure to be able to recover from all danger. Please seize this opportunity well.”

Zhang’s wife returned to the hospital to find him miraculously sitting up on his bed. After enquiring she learned that he just vomited 2 and half spittoon-full of white phlegm, giving him much relief in the chest. This was the first time he had vomited phlegm since he had fallen sick! Zhang’s wife was very excited and related to him the whole story about the meeting with Venerable Miaofa. Zhang also felt quite surprised and happy. He discharged himself from the hospital the next day saying, “You people can’t treat me anyway!”

Not long after this dying cancer patient miraculously appeared in front of his own house to repair his bicycle, drawing the attention of many local villagers. Later when the roof of his house leaked in the rain, he again climbed up on top to repair it, to the amazement of the villagers.