Alone and Helpless Abroad, One Recitation—and the Pain Was Gone
True Account
Alone and Helpless Abroad, One Recitation—and the Pain Was Gone
Namo Amitabha Buddha. Dear Masters and fellow lotus friends, greetings to all. I am from Singapore. My journey towards Buddhism began around April or May of 2021, when I came across Buddhist videos on Facebook. From then on, I went on to watch all kinds of Dharma talks online.
But looking back at those days, I must admit that I was learning without an aim—picking up a little here and a little there. Over time, I tried to learn and memorize more than ten different sutras and mantras, and I performed various rituals as well. Reciting all of them and going through the rituals every day was really tiring and time-consuming, and I never knew whether I was even doing them right. It felt like I was cherry-picking the Dharma here and there. Gradually, I began to understand in my heart that merely going through rituals would not bring true liberation.
It was around then that I came across the Dharma talks of Master Jingben. The Master taught well and warmly, candidly like a friend talking to a friend, and I felt a deep connection with his teachings. What touched me most was this teaching of his: whoever recites "Namo Amitabha Buddha" will definitely be reborn in Amitabha's Pure Land. My years of wandering came to an end. I set aside the many sutras, mantras and rituals, and turned to reciting "Namo Amitabha Buddha" alone. From that day on, as far as I can remember, I have been reciting the Buddha's name every day without fail.
Not long after I turned to reciting the Buddha's name, something happened that I will never forget. From 17 September to 1 October 2022, I was posted to Istanbul, Turkey, for work. The weather was cold, my blanket was thin, and the bed was uncomfortable—I was having a hard time there. One night in my sleep, I stretched out my legs, and suddenly one of them went into a cramp. The pain was excruciating. I rubbed and massaged it, but to no avail. Alone in a foreign land and utterly helpless, I began to recite the Buddha's name, and almost in tears I said to him: "I need your help. My leg hurts so much, and there is no one here to help me. Please, please help me." The moment I finished speaking, the pain in my leg began to fade—within about three seconds, it was completely gone. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanked Amitabha Buddha again and again. I also shared this with my wife, but she had not yet come to believe in the Buddha, and did not think much of it.
Strangely and wonderfully, not long after, the same thing happened to my wife. She too woke up in the middle of the night with a leg cramp, crying out in excruciating pain. Her cries woke me, and I rubbed and massaged her leg, but it was no use—she was still crying out from the pain. So I turned to reciting "Namo Amitabha Buddha" and sought the Buddha's help: "My wife is in great pain. May I ask you to please help her?" Almost at once, just as in Istanbul, the pain quickly subsided, and she fell back to sleep.
The next day, I asked my wife, "Do you know what happened last night?" She said, "Leg cramp loh. You helped me one mah" (in our everyday casual speech, meaning it was just a cramp, and that I was the one who had helped her). I told her, "It wasn't me. I rubbed and massaged your leg, and it didn't work. I recited the Buddha's name and asked Amitabha Buddha for help—it was the Buddha who helped you, not me." I pointed out to her how alike our two experiences were—the pain gone within seconds—and urged her to be grateful to Amitabha Buddha. Though half in doubt, my wife still gave her thanks to Amitabha Buddha. I believe that Amitabha Buddha has planted a seed of faith in her heart.
Life in this world is full of weariness. The longer I recite the Buddha's name, the more I long for our true home, the Pure Land, and at times I even hope that Amitabha, our compassionate father, will come sooner to welcome me Home. But I know this is something to be entrusted to the workings of conditions—so I recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha" with a heart at ease, and simply do my part in daily life.
Today, I recite the Buddha's name every day, and I also try to guide the people around me to recite it. May they all come to accept this name, "Namo Amitabha Buddha," and may we all be embraced by Amitabha and be reborn together in the Pure Land.
That is all I wish to share. I hope these experiences can be of help to those who read them. Namo Amitabha Buddha
Note: After coming into contact with the Dharma, I also succeeded in giving up a long-standing bad habit. Not long after, I found a new job with better pay, my energy and focus improved noticeably, and my complexion became much better than before.
With palms joined, Mr Loo
A Note from Master Jingben
This lotus friend's experience speaks of a path that many Buddhists have walked: from the difficult to the easy, from the many back to the one—turning to the exclusive recitation of Amitabha's name. This name is the easy path that Amitabha Buddha selected in his Fundamental Vow, a path that guarantees deliverance. After this lotus friend took up the recitation of the Buddha's name, his years of wandering came to an end and his heart found peace—a perfect illustration of what it means to "take refuge in Amitabha."
As for the cramp that vanished in an instant upon reciting the name—it may seem a small matter, yet it carries deep meaning. The Contemplation Sutra says: "The light shines everywhere upon the worlds of the ten directions, embracing and never forsaking the beings who recite the Buddha's name." Amitabha's deliverance does not wait until the end of life to show itself: whoever recites his name in this life is embraced in this life. A cramp is a small suffering; birth-and-death is the great suffering. If the Buddha responds at once even to a small suffering, how much more will he respond to beings who recite his name seeking liberation from birth-and-death? And note this especially: his wife had not yet come to believe, yet when the name was recited, she too was saved—Amitabha's compassion makes no distinction between those who believe and those who do not yet believe. Where the Buddha's light shines, it sees only the recitation of his name.
May all lotus friends who read this sharing recite the Buddha's name with a heart at ease, fulfilling their duties as conditions allow—protected by the Buddha in this life, and assured of rebirth in the Pure Land at its end. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
This article was finalized in July 2026.
微信分享
扫描二维码，或复制链接分享
