My children attended schools in Toronto, and liked living in Canada. In 1996, our whole family moved to Toronto. As a new immigrant, it was hard for me to get a job. Remembering the teachings of my mentor, who often told me to put cultivation first before making money, I finally gave up looking for a job, turned my energy and time to continue my volunteer work by joining the Prayer/Chanting Service of Cham Shan Temple.

In all the years of my volunteer work, I came across many different cases. Some parted in peace, but some parted in sadness and remorse. Here I would like to share two stories with you as they were particularly memorable.

The first case happened in my earlier years of service. A 38-year-old liver cancer patient at a hospital requested a prayer service. When I arrived at the hospital with a fellow volunteer, a very sad and pitiful scene greeted us, as the patient's wife was only 40 years old with 3 young children. The doctor estimated the patient had only 3 months to live. We prayed with him, expounded the Buddhadharma to him, pointing out that life was impermanent. We also respectfully requested Ven. Tai Sau (體修法師) to visit him. Two or three weeks later, it was near the end for him, and arrangements were made for him to return home for palliative care. On the night of his death, we organized a prayer service group to pray at his house for over 9 hours. Unfortunately, in his death he still could not let go of his family and his attachments to this world. He passed away with so many attachments that affected his deliverance to the Pure Land. This illustrated how one's thoughts at the moment of death could affect one's rebirth. Later on an Elder Dharma Master told the widow that her husband must have been a meritorious person to have so many people praying for him at his deathbed for so long. He should have been able to reach the Pure Land, but pitifully he could not because he could not let go of his ties to his family. This was one case that we all felt sad and sorry for the family.

The second case involved Ms. Zheng, a fellow Buddhist at Cham Shan Temple. She was a very nice and humble Buddhist, well respected, and gained great merits through good cultivation throughout her life. When we heard that she had pancreas cancer, Mrs. Yip and I informed Ven. Shing Cheung and Ven. Sing Hung. They were very compassionate and visited her at her house. There they explained to her the dharma of impermanence. She had been a good mother and all her children had grown up. Now that she was sick and incurable, it was time to let go of all earthly ties. She should just focus on chanting the Buddha's name wholeheartedly, aspiring to reach the Pure Land. After half an hour, both Dharma Masters asked if she understood, and she responded by nodding. Her son respectfully repeated the preaching of the Dharma Masters to her, and she was very happy in accepting the preaching. A week later we were informed of her pending death. I rushed over to her house, but I arrived 20 minutes after she passed away. I then notified everyone to attend a service led by Dharma Master Dao Hong (道弘法師) at Cham Shan Temple, and requested their assistance in the prayer service. Dharma Master Dao Hong requested a 24-hour prayer service for Ms. Zheng, and a great transfer of merits to her at the end. My job was to organize more people to come and pray in this service. Normally rigor mortis would set in after 24 hours of death, yet when the funeral home staff came to collect Ms. Zheng's body after 24 hours, they could not do so easily, because her body was still very soft, unlike that of a deceased person. The staff required additional assistance to support her at her waist before she could be lifted. We all gave her praise because she must have cultivated well and gained great merits in her lifetime to have this auspicious sign in her death.

（Recorded by WM Chong

Translated by the Editing Committee）