Three Days After His Passing, My Father Appeared in Golden Light
True Account
Three Days After His Passing, My Father Appeared in Golden Light
Namo Amitabha Buddha. I am Guo Lixin, from Harbin, China. Here I set down, just as it happened, the story of my father's rebirth in the Pure Land.
After I took up Buddhism in 1998, I began introducing the Dharma to my father and encouraging him to recite the Buddha's name. He agreed from the very start. I asked him, "Have you made the vow to be reborn in the Land of Bliss?" He said, "I have." Sometimes I would ask, "Have you been reciting?" and he would say, "I have." Perhaps because he was still in good health then, his wish for rebirth did not seem very pressing, and he was not keen to talk about reciting. But I thought: as long as he recites, that is enough.
When my father was seventy-nine, he had a stroke and lost consciousness. He was taken to hospital at four in the afternoon and went straight into the ICU; he was unconscious, and the monitor showed no heartbeat. It was extremely dangerous.
I recited the Buddha's name without stopping, entrusting my father to Amitabha Buddha, and prayed: if his life had reached its end, may Amitabha Buddha receive him into the Land of Bliss; if his time had not yet come, may Amitabha Buddha bless him with a swift recovery, so that from then on he would truly believe in the Dharma. I set a recitation player by his ear, and stayed at his side reciting for him.
At two in the morning, the doctor came and said, "Your father has woken up. He has recovered very well—no after-effects, his mind is clear, and he can move his arms and legs." My father himself said, "There's nothing wrong with me. I want to go home." At eight that morning, the doctor arranged for him to be moved to an ordinary ward. For the seven days he was there, I recited the Buddha's name to him by day and kept the recitation player on at night. After seven days, he was discharged.
I said to my father, "It was Amitabha Buddha who saved you. You must recite his name well from now on." My father said, "Thank you, Amitabha Buddha!" And from then on, he recited the Buddha's name more earnestly than ever.
My father had long had high blood pressure, but he did not keep up with his medication. When he was eighty-three, this led to a brain haemorrhage, and he lost consciousness. After surgery, he was left paralysed on one side and could no longer speak. During that time, I recited the Buddha's name to him every day, and I would also talk to him, urging him to believe in the Buddha, to recite, and to keep the Buddha in his heart. And, to my surprise, my father would nod.
When my father was eighty-six, he entered the final stage of his life. I showed him the image of the Buddha and read him the end-of-life Dharma teaching. On 12 February 2020, without any pain, he peacefully stopped breathing. I then recited the Buddha's name for him through a full day and night. When the recitation was over, his whole body was soft, his face serene and smiling—he looked even better than he had in life. After the cremation, colourful, flower-shaped śarīra (relics) appeared.
At that time my understanding of the Dharma was still shallow, and afterwards I could not help wondering: my father could not speak, could not recite the Buddha's name—it was only I who kept reciting in front of him. Was that enough? So I asked Master Jingben. The Master said, "As long as he has recited the Buddha's name, or has heard it, Amitabha Buddha will receive him." Hearing this, I was filled with joy, and my faith grew stronger.
On the third day after my father's passing, I was sitting on my bed, and in the mere blink of an eye I saw him: his whole body radiating golden light, the entire room filled with golden light; his form tall and majestic, seated upright on a lotus flower, his countenance solemn and dignified. I at once prostrated myself, and a deep joy welled up in my heart; I was overwhelmed. For the forty-nine days that followed, I recited the Buddha's name for him every day, and at night I kept the recitation player on.
My father and I each did something for the other: by reciting the Buddha's name, I entrusted him to Amitabha Buddha; and by his rebirth, he gave me a faith beyond all doubt—the vow of Amitabha Buddha is real and true. This has inspired me all the more to recite well, and never to doubt again. When my own life comes to its end, I too will "emigrate" to the Western Land of Bliss, to be reunited with Amitabha Buddha, and with my father, for ever.
I am grateful to Amitabha Buddha! Grateful to the Master for his teaching! Grateful to the lotus friends for their assisted recitation! May all of us believe in the Buddha, recite the Buddha's name, and become Buddhas!
Namo Amitabha Buddha
With palms joined, Guo Lixin
A Note from Master Jingben
Many people have had this worry: a loved one is too ill to recite the Buddha's name any more, and it is only I who am reciting at the bedside—does it do any good?
It certainly does—the Buddha says in the Contemplation Sutra: "Having heard this, the person is freed from the sins of eight billion kalpas of birth and death. The fierce fires of hell turn into a cool breeze, blowing down heavenly flowers. On each of the flowers are transformation Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, come to welcome this person. In the space of a single thought, he is born in the Pure Land." This person, with the fires of hell before him at the moment of death, could not recite the Buddha's name himself; he only heard of the Name—and was born in the Pure Land. The sutra could not be clearer: not one of the recitations we offer at a loved one's side is ever wasted. Each recitation is a recitation of the Name; each one dissolves sin; each one carries the welcome of Amitabha, our compassionate father. The daughter in this account, reciting for her father who lay speechless in his bed, is exactly such a case.
So when we recite the Buddha's name for a loved one, what we are really doing is entrusting them to Amitabha Buddha. There is no need to worry whether it is too late, or whether we are reciting well enough—so long as there is recitation, Amitabha Buddha is watching over them, and will surely come to receive them.
When a loved one enters the suffering of life's final stage, what we can do for them grows less with each passing day: the medicines can no longer be taken, the words can no longer be spoken, and food and drink dwindle day by day. At this point, only one thing remains that we can still do for them—recite this Name, "Namo Amitabha Buddha." When every worldly means has been exhausted, recitation can still go on; and this one thing, reciting the Buddha's name, is precisely the most important thing, and the best. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
This article was finalized in September 2026.
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