These
pages describe only a few of the ways people have found their lives,
their minds, and their hearts affected by their encounters with the
Sanghata. To share your own experiences, or
read about
others' encounters with
the text, visit the discussion forum in our Community Center
by clicking
here
In the Words of the Sanghata:
The Blessed One spoke [in verse]:
Due to ignorance, childish beings wander
where there is no liberation.
Not knowing the meaning of liberation,
confused, they commit wicked acts.
Due to delusions, childish beings wander,
their minds continually disturbed.
In the body that has various types of bonds,
fire blazes and burns it up.
In places where there is no happiness,
confused, the body utterly wanders.
It does not know that happiness
from which utter happiness arises.
The field of the Buddha that gives happiness,
the wheel of the Dharma that is the supreme medicine,
ethical conduct that is true ethics:
These are the pure voice of the Tathágata.
- Arya Sanghata Sutra
Website of the Arya Sanghata
Sutra
Stories and Experiences
Leukemia Cured after Reciting the Arya
Sanghata Sutra
The following letter was written by a Malaysian journalist to the
director of the Amitabha
Buddhist Centre in Singapore, Tan Hup Cheng, and reprinted
here with their kind permission.
Dear Hup Cheng
My name is Audrey and I am a good friend of your cousin Brenda (not
real name). Her inspiring story on how she recovered from leukemia
after reciting the Sanghata
Sūtra Dharma-paryāya and the Vajra Claw mantra was
featured in your last newsletter. [Note: see above article on leukemia.]
Although I am a very private person and felt that my sickness should be
kept confidential, I’ve decided to share my story with you
after
much persuasion from Brenda. It’s my way of thanking her for
all
the support and counseling she gave me, and also to give hope to others
out there suffering like me, or maybe even in a worse
situation.
This is how it all began. I grew up as an only child to a businessman
and a housewife in Malaysia. Life was good; things couldn’t
have
been better. I became a journalist with a Chinese newspaper and was
earning a good income. In 1997, I was sent to the scene of a car
accident to cover the story. A trailer had tried to overtake a car on
the highway but due to his misjudgment was unable to do so. Instead it
hit the oncoming car on the opposite side. The driver was
pinned
under the trailer due to the impact of the head-on collision. That
driver was my father. He died that day. The cruel circumstances of how
my father died left my mother and me thoroughly lost and shaken.
Picking up the pieces of our lives was painful especially for my mother
who is by nature a very quiet and lonely person. She just could not
cope. The following year, she committed suicide by consuming a large
amount of pesticide.
At 35 years of age, my world just crumbled. I often wondered why I was
being punished in this way. Fending for myself, life became so
meaningless. Fortunately, I could seek solace in the explanations about
karma, the law of cause and effect.
In 2001, I began to feel unwell quite frequently. One day, I noticed a
lump in my right breast as I was bathing. Worried, I sought a
doctor’s opinion. Eventually, tests were ordered,
and the
doctor informed me that I had not one but two lumps, one in each
breast. I was to return two days later for the results. Two days went
by slowly. At the doctor’s office, I underwent a scan. I
could
tell from his facial expression that what I had was serious.
“Is
it breast cancer?” I asked him. He nodded to confirm my
suspicions. What happened next was a blur to me. I only remember
falling off my chair and waking up at my auntie’s house. I
was
not ready to be comforted by her; instead I turned to face the wall and
wept. Instinctively, I reached for my mobile to call Brenda. I needed
her for comfort.
When Brenda understood my situation, she explained to me that cancer is
the result of our negative karma ripening, but that no one was
punishing me. I confided that I was not prepared to undergo
chemotherapy. Brenda shared with me how reciting the Sanghata Sutra and
the Vajra claw mantra had helped her to overcome her leukemia. She
photocopied a set for me and taught me how to recite it properly. I was
reluctant initially because the text was in English and I had problems
with the language. But Brenda explained that the Buddha is
compassionate, and does not discriminate. Encouraged by her success, I
too decided to try it out. (Although, I must confess that I also sought
help from other means like visiting Christian churches, Sikh temples
and even a ‘bomoh’ all without any success.)
The next nine and a half months, Brenda kept on urging me to recite.
Slowly, I could feel the difference and my faith grew stronger. My
doctor tells me now that my cancer is almost 100% healed. He is
thrilled for me and he can’t believe my miraculous recovery
since
I was already in the last stages of cancer. He hugged me so tightly and
said that he will recommend to his other patients, who have faith or
are willing to try, to recite the Sanghata Sutra and the Vajra claw
mantra.
Brenda and I are two living testimonies of how powerful it is to have
faith in these powerful and holy texts. We would very much like to
thank you, Hup Cheng, and your precious gurus for introducing to us the
wonders of this sutra and mantra. Without it, we could not have been
saved from the verge of death. I would like to plead with all Buddhists
to treat this sutra with great respect and have great faith in it. It
can help you in your daily lives.
My father left me with a comfortable nest egg. Money is not important
to me anymore; health is. I now help out at a temple while learning
more about Buddhism.
Once again, thanks a million to your gurus, yourself and Brenda. It
would be nice if I could meet you some day to personally thank you.
