There's another nice rebirth story inside this article.
http://www.drbachinese.org/branch/GSM/newsletter/2008_12_152.PDF
Thanks, i was going to email this story to some other
fellow-cultivators... so i extracted it out from the newsletter
pdf.. paste it below for those people who also wish to
email....
(Extracted from
Newsletter “Pure Sound From Silicon
Valley” Issue 152 Dec 2008)
My parents lived
in Australia and they
did not believe in Buddhadharma. When I first started to study
Buddhadharma, I also exhorted my family to study, my mother and
younger sister followed with me, and they became vegetarians and
started to recite the Buddha's name, however, my father still
insisted that we were being superstitious, and he even obstructed
my cultivation.
One day, my parents
and younger sister had a car accident when they were driving. The
accident was quite serious, the whole car was almost wrecked, and
my father went into coma and bled a lot, however, my mother and
younger sister remained safe and sound. After this experience,
mother and sister gained more faith in the Buddhadharma, while my
father was sick in bed and could not walk, but he had a strong
belief that his body would recover as wholesome as before, and he
could walk freely, therefore, he asked many good doctors to treat
him, but all efforts went in vain, his physical health did not get
any better. Because of this, he lose his temper all the times,
which made my mother afflicted a lot, therefore I went back to
Austrialia to visit them.
After I got home, I
explained to my father the truth of "birth, old age, sickness,
death, and other Buddhadharma. I told him," you have already gone
though the suffering of birth and old age, now you are undergoing the suffering of sickness, and the last
one would be the suffering of death." I explained Buddhadharma to
him everyday, so he started to gain a bit of faith, he told me that
one day when he was lying in bed, he saw his room caught on a heavy
fire, but strange indeed was that there were some fish amid the
fire, he hurried to call my mother in, however when my mother came,
she saw nothing.
My father asked me
what did that mean, I told him my personal view " Our physical body
is like the house we are living in, now the house is on fire, it
means that your body is being broken down; as for the fish, when
did you see a fish with closed eyes? Fish always keep their eyes
open, which means that you should wake up soon, don't get attached
and confused any more. You really had a lot of blessings, since
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas showed you these in order to make you wake
up soon! You body condition is getting down soon, do not get
attached to it any longer." From this on, my father changed to a
vegetarian diet and started to recite the Buddha's
name.
Half a year before my
father's rebirth, my elder sister visited him once. She a finial
daughter with a kind heart, but being a Catholic, she believes
animals are created to be eaten by human, as long as human are
kind. So when she found that our father was
sick, weak, and on a veggie diet, she was worried that our father
did not get enough nutrition. Therefore, she explained her concern
to father, and asked him whether she could cook meat for him. He
took her advice at once, and was happy that he could eat meat
again. So one thing led to another, and he could not stop, later on
he even desired to eat pig's feet every day.
My mother called me
and asked me to talk to my father, over the phone, I just said a
few words to him, "Dad, if you eat other beings' feet now, in the
future, other beings will eat your feet." One week later, my mom
called me again and told me that my father had returned to a
vegetarian diet. Two months before my father's rebirth, he could
fall asleep every night. It seemed that he kept talking to someone,
getting angry and yelling.
Therefore, I went back
again to Australia to
visit him. I asked him why he could not sleep. He said that some
beings came to bother him every night, and none of them had feet. I
realized at once that they were his enemies and debtees. I told
him, "It is because you ate others' feet in the past, now they all
came back to you." Then I asked him," How did you treat them?" He
said," I am not afraid of them, I never did a single evil thing or
harm a single person in my life, therefore I do not need be afraid
of them, if they come, I will fight with them!" I
advised. him not behave
like that, because those ghost beings are in great suffering,
without blessings, they have no opportunities of encountering
Buddhadharma, that is why we should be compassionate with them. I
said, "If they come again tonight, you apologize to them, and tell
them because you did not understand principles, you harmed them,
now you are seeking forgiveness from them. Also you can tell them
to recite the Buddha's name, so that they can seek rebirth, and end
birth and death. You yourself also have to recite the Buddha's name
on behalf of them, recite Amitabh Buddha."
The next morning, I
asked father whether they came or not and how was it. He said they
did come, and he addressed them as I taught, then he recited the
Buddha's name on their behalf, and they did not disturb him any
long, they stood there listening to the Buddha's name, after that,
they left. A week before my father's rebirth, one day, it looked
like he was dying, therefore, my mother and
younger sister started to recite the Buddha's name, after a whole
day, my father is still alive. Suddenly, my younger sister smelt
fragrant incense, which lasts for about 5 minutes. At that time,
she understood that she need offer incense. Therefore, she asked
mother to bring an incensory for her to lit incense, wishing the
Buddha could come to welcome father and his enemies and debtees
into pure land. After making the incense offering, they continued
reciting the Buddha's name. At that time, my younger sister heard
other voices around them, a lot of melodic voices resound in the
air, reciting the Buddha's name.
My younger sister said
that upon hearing these wonderful sounds, she felt very pure and
clear in heart. One week later, my father passed away, his mind was
quite clear when he was dying, but he already put down everything,
his wife, children, and houses, his only wish was to follow the
Buddha and he was ready. He passed away very
peacefully. His face looked ruddy and pleasant, and even had a
smile on it. His body was also very soft. Some people who came to
assist reciting the Buddha's name even smelt fragrant
incense.
Forty-nine days after
my father's rebirth, one day when my son Mingguang was in sleep, he
felt someone nudging his elbows in his dream, when he opened eyes,
he saw his grandfather. Mingguang said that his grandfather did not
look like before, since his grandfather had the appearance of a
Bhikus, with hair already being shaved, a very fresh and smooth
face without any wrinkle, wearing a bright orange sash, smiling
happily. Mingguang asked him, "Grandpa, how come you are here? His
grandpa answered, smiling, "I came to tell you, I have already
followed with Amitabha and been reborn in the Pure Land.
Mingguang, you should vigorously recite Buddha's name, and follow
with Amitabha Buddha."
