One morning in fall 2006, as I was walking into my office, a middle-aged lady came to see me. She was a family member of a patient from Indonesia. Two days ago I was asked to go to the ward to examine that patient who was in a very critical condition. As I was guessing the purpose of her coming, the lady grasped my hand and said, “Thank you to all of you. My husband passed away last night and he is with the Lord now! Let him rest in peace.” I knew that she must be very sorrowful because that day she told us how wonderful and loving her husband was; he loved his family and his wife very much. Unlike many other patients who would cry loudly when their loved ones passed away, she was calm with tears welling in her eyes.
That is how powerful religions are. I recall that one day late July 2005 in the afternoon. I had just returned from a visit aboard. A middle-aged woman came into my office. She bowed to me three times and said, “I’m a Buddhist from Singapore. Please save the life of my master, Master Zhen Ci.” She told me that Master Zhen Ci was 71 years old and was the vice president of Jiangsu Buddhists’ Association and the head of Ling Gu Temple. He suffered from multiple myeloma eight years ago and had unresectable esophageal cancer two years ago. At present he was hospitalized in the department of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Gu Lo Hospital; he could not eat and vomited frequently.
Nanjing Gu Lo Hospital is among the best in the country especially its Gastroenterology Department. I immediately called Professor Xu (same surname as mine), the director of the Department of Gastroenterology. Professor Xu told me that she had just done an endoscopy on Master Ci and found that the tumor was 18cm in max-diameter and reached up to the hypopharynx. 80% of the lumen was blocked by the tumor with bloody exudation. There was no other special treatment they could think of. I believed that I was no better than the specialists in Nanjing Gu Lo Hospital. I really wanted to decline the request by that Buddhist lady.
However, the Buddhist lady had purchased air tickets for us to go to Nanjing. We rushed to the Baiyun Airport and by 9 p.m. we reached Nanjing and headed for Gu Lo Hospital immediately. The next day afternoon, Master Zhen Ci and an officer from Nanjing Bureau of Religious Affairs came along with me to Guangzhou and Master Zhen Ci was admitted into our hospital. A few days later, we treated Master Zhen Ci’s esophageal cancer with photodynamic therapy. The next day Master Zhen Ci ate some porridge. He also vomited out some necrosis. His vomiting gradually decreased and a week later, his vomiting stopped. We placed metal stents in his esophagus. Master Zhen Ci who had not been eating food for a few months could now eat mashed rice, noodles and bread.
Master Zhen Ci was very happy. After a few days, one of his followers told me that no matter how seriously sick he was, Master Zhen Ci would still be persistent in chanting prayers but for the last few months, Master Zhen Ci did not in a temple. His follower told me, “Master Zhen Ci has a request. He would like you to accompany him to a temple in Guangzhou.”
The next day, I accompanied Master Zhen Ci to Guang Xiao Temple at Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. As we were worshipping the Buddha, Master Zhen Ci’s face began to glow. In life, each person has karma, life of self-consciousness, a life of self-deliverance, and an altruistic life. At that moment I truly understood money and social status were incomparable with a life of emotional purification. A week later, our hospital held an alms giving assembly. Many doctors and nurses donated money to Master Zhen Ci who also talked on “Buddhism and Medicines”. He donated the entire donation he had received to patients in our hospital who were most in need of money.
A month later, Master Zhen Ci returned to Ling Gu Temple. I visited him at Nanjing half a year later. He was busy preparing for the opening ceremony of a new temple. He gave me a woodcraft that looked like a book. On it was, in his handwriting, the finely written Great Lotus prayer. I treasure it very much and exhibit it in our living room.