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TEACHINGS | EASTERN HORIZON 41

Fo Guang Shan Temple, Toronto, Canada Fo Guang Shan Temple, London, UK

Fo Guang Shan His Lai Temple, Los Angeles, USA Fo Guang Shan Nan Hua Temple, Pretoria, South Africa

entered with faith.” The Flower Adornment Sūtra says, bowl. After many years of chanting in this way, she did
“Faith is the origin of the Way and the mother of all not need to pick up the beans anymore. Whenever she
virtue. It nourishes the roots of goodness.” chanted “Om maṇi padme ūṃ” in her mind, the beans
would jump into the bowl on their own.
There is a story in Buddhism that illustrates how faith
gives us strength. In the countryside, there was a little Several years later, a monastic was wandering through
old lady who wished to learn the Dharma. Unfortunately, the village and heard the old lady chanting “Om maṇi
there was no one around to teach her. One day, a layman padme ūṃ.” The monastic informed her that she had
who did not have a good grasp of Buddhism came to been chanting incorrectly, and that the correct mantra
this village. When he saw how much the little old lady was “Om maṇi padme hūṃ.”
wanted to learn the Dharma, he said, “I know a Buddhist
mantra I can teach to you: ‘Om maṇi padme ūṃ.’” The The old lady thought, “Oh dear! I have been chanting
layman had made a mistake, and mispronounced the wrong all these years!” Afterwards, she chanted the
last syllable as “um,” rather than “hum.” mantra correctly, with “hūm,” but the beans no longer
jumped into the bowl by themselves.
The old lady did not know any better, so every day, she
chanted “Om mani padme um.” Each time she chanted Whether we chant “hūm” or “ūm” is unimportant. As
the mantra, she would pick up a bean and place it in a long as we have faith, our faith will give us strength.