Misery Transformed into Joy
(Originally in Aulacese)My beloved Master,
Today let me take the opportunity to write about how sadness was transformed into happiness in my life after my initiation on November 21, 2001.
Before initiation, I was in constant sorrow and depression because I had contracted a disease that had deformed me physically from the age of nineteen. Over the years, I suffered from a sense of inferiority that kept me from wanting to see other people. I confined myself to my room, and was so sad that I sometimes blamed God for being unfair to me. However, when some fellow initiate friends of my parents came to our home for a visit and noticed my condition, they commented that I must be paying off a karmic debt from past lives. So, realizing that I was making up for past misdeeds, my sadness was decreased. But despite my parents’ good advice to get initiated in order to reach liberation, I was afraid of not being able to meditate for the required two-and-a-half hours a day and of being a problem to others.
So days and months drifted by until I finally decided to get initiated and become your full disciple — thus experiencing the happiest day of my life! Since then, I no longer feel inferior, and have come to see life as ephemeral, and birth, decay, sickness and death as simply common worldly illusions. I no longer fear that others will laugh at me, but rather have the courage to face reality and socialize with the fellow initiates who visit our home each weekend.
Since my initiation, I have noticed that my life has changed in other ways as well. I now experience increased self-confidence, and no longer feel fearful of any situation, be it good or bad. I realize that anything that is destined to happen will happen, and feel as though an exceptional power infuses me whenever I think of You. Sometimes, if I start to feel sad or troubled, I pray to You for help, and then everything is miraculously resolved.
Also, since initiation I have lived a very happy life knowing that Your blessings and protection are always with me. Thank You, Master, for everything. Because of You I have a happy life and know spiritual practice. I promise to practice diligently and meditate more to be worthy of being Your disciple.
Very Respectfully Yours,
Tuyet Xuan, Au Lac
A Timely Gift through Master’s Love
