She Walked to the Buddha and Passed Away: An Account of Our Family Dog's Rebirth in the Pure Land
True Account
She Walked to the Buddha and Passed Away: An Account of Our Family Dog's Rebirth in the Pure Land
Namo Amitabha Buddha. I am Fo Wei, from Ipoh in Malaysia, and I often come to the Pure Land Dharma center in Kuala Lumpur to join the recitation and Dharma sessions. What I would like to share with you this time is the story of how our family dog, Lele, was reborn in the Pure Land.
About eleven years ago, on Chinese New Year's Eve, firecrackers were going off one after another, very loudly. It was just then that a stray dog came running to our door. And so it was that she and I formed an affinity—she became a member of our family, and we named her Lele.
Lele was gentle by nature, and timid too; she was not difficult to care for. But what pained me most was that she suffered from a very severe skin condition. We took her to the vet more times than I can remember and tried many different remedies, yet it never fully cleared up.
Then, at the beginning of 2023, we had the affinity to come into contact with the Pure Land teaching. Under Master Jingben's guidance, we listened to many Dharma talks and teachings, and only then did we understand that Amitabha Buddha's deliverance asks nothing of whom it saves and sets no conditions; we also came to understand how excellent it is to recite the Buddha's name. From the Dharma center we obtained a recitation player and a scroll image of Amitabha Buddha. Every day, twenty-four hours a day, the Buddha's name was played without a break; and every evening we joined the Master's online recitation session, with Lele always beside us, listening along.
To our surprise, after we had been reciting the Buddha's name for some time, the skin condition Lele had suffered from for years gradually cleared up, and she no longer needed any medication at all. This made us believe all the more firmly in how excellent it is to recite the Buddha's name.
In February 2025, we noticed a small growth on Lele's back. It did not itch or hurt her, and the vet said we could simply keep an eye on it for the time being, with no need to rush into treatment. But that small growth grew very quickly, and in a short time it had become a huge tumour. This time the vet told us that surgical removal carried very high risk, and that all that could be done was to manage it conservatively. Since that was so, we decided to entrust her to Amitabha Buddha, the Great Physician King.
On 9 August 2025, Lele's tumour suddenly ruptured and bled a great deal. The vet gave us only some medication, told us to clean the wound every day, and asked us to prepare ourselves, because the ruptured area would open into a wound that grew larger and larger. After we brought her home, we kept her company in reciting the Buddha's name all the more diligently, and we also began playing the Master's end-of-life Dharma teaching for her every day.
To our astonishment, eight days later, Lele's wound had completely healed—even the vet was amazed.
On 26 August 2025, Lele stopped eating. In my heart I had a feeling: the time for her to "go home" was drawing near. Before I left for work, I placed the recitation player beside her, so that the Buddha's name would keep her company. By a little after six in the evening, Lele was very weak. Then, all at once, she managed to get to her feet and, limping step by step, walked to the sacred image of Amitabha Buddha. Facing Amitabha, she slowly lay down. Seeing this, we at once gathered at her side and recited the Buddha's name together. About five minutes later, Lele passed away in peace—without the slightest struggle, without the slightest pain.
Two hours after the assisted recitation, Lele's mouth, which had been open, closed of itself. Seventeen hours later, her body was still soft, and there was not the least unpleasant odour about her.
I have often wondered: with a tumour so large, how could she have felt no pain at all? She took no painkillers, and received no special treatment of any kind. This is a true witness to what is meant by "ill in body, yet without suffering"—Amitabha Buddha's deliverance is real and not in vain.
Looking back over this time—Lele's skin condition healed, the wound healed after the tumour ruptured, and at last she lay facing Amitabha and passed away in peace—I deeply believe this: if we believe in the Buddha and recite his name, single-mindedly and exclusively calling upon Amitabha's Name, then not only we ourselves, but our family members and our pets as well, can all be embraced within the Buddha's light and receive the deliverance of Amitabha Buddha.
Namo Amitabha Buddha
With palms joined, Fo Wei
A Note from Master Jingben
Someone may ask: beings in the animal realm are dull and benighted; they cannot even understand the Dharma. Can they be reborn in the Pure Land?
In the Sutra of Immeasurable Life, Amitabha Buddha vowed: "Those in the three lower realms—the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals—shall all be born in my land, receive my teaching and transformation, and before long attain perfect enlightenment; all shall have bodies the colour of pure gold." Animals are sunk in the three lower realms, with no power of their own to escape; yet at the very moment Amitabha made his vows, he had already gathered them into the heart of his vow. So the question is not whether beings understand, but whether the Buddha's vow embraces them; and since Amitabha has already embraced them, animals too can be reborn in the Pure Land.
Lele's rebirth shows this very thing. Look at what Fo Wei's family did for Lele: it was really very simple. They obtained a recitation player and hung up an image of the Buddha, playing the Buddha's name day and night without a break; and when the end came, they stayed by her side and recited together. There was no other method, and no need for any special practice—and Amitabha Buddha had long been watching over her. This is precisely what makes the Pure Land path so precious: what is done is the most ordinary thing, yet what is gained is the most ultimate benefit.
May those lotus friends who keep cats or dogs at home, or who have an affinity with small animals, also recite the Buddha's name for them. There is no need to wait until they fall ill, nor until the end draws near: in ordinary days, let the Buddha's name be always at their side, and Amitabha Buddha will surely take them in; and when the end does come, accompany them through their last journey with this very Name. You recite once, and they hear once; none of it is ever wasted, and Amitabha Buddha will never forsake them.
If animals who understand nothing of the Dharma are nonetheless received by the Buddha, how much more so are we, who can hear, who can believe, and who can call upon the Buddha's Name? Since the Buddha does not fail us, let us not fail this Name either: recite it single-mindedly and exclusively, and rebirth in the Land of Bliss is assured. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
This article was finalized in September 2026.
微信分享
扫描二维码，或复制链接分享
