The "Big Mama" from California is rather famous. Many True Buddha School students know her.

She once bragged, "As soon as you get off the plane at a California airport, ask people who the 'Big Mama' is! Everyone knows who I am."

Actually, the "Big Mama" took refuge in the Triple Jewels and became my student long ago.

At the time, I, Sheng-yen Lu, was offering divination guidance at Jin-wu Mansion in Taichung, Taiwan. The "Big Mama" was living in St. Louis, United States. Whenever she had a problem, she would come to Taiwan and asked for my guidance.

Looking back, "Big Mama" and I have known each other for thirty-some years.

"Big Mama" commented that I could be considered young and handsome back then. Now, I have really become old.

*　*　*

While I lived in retreat for six years, the "Big Mama" was still very loud. Maybe her loud voice and her old habit of frankly speaking her mind offended someone with high-level [spiritual] skills:

She began to suffer from insomnia.

She couldn't sleep and lost her appetite.

She just didn't feel right.

She sought treatment from the best physicians trained in western medical science and doctors trained in eastern traditional medicine. Yet, her conditions remained unimproved.

She genuinely endured this "affliction" for several years.

She suffered significant weight loss and was no longer the "Big Mama". She became a skinny-boned, tiny mama.

Like a mute who has swallowed a bitter pill, she was unable to articulate the bitterness of her suffering.

(to be continued)

(本文譯自真佛報第652期頭版真佛論劍「加州大嬸婆」)