The Buddha's saving powers

The Day our Lord Buddha descended from Tushita Heaven is coming soon. It’s one of the most special Buddhist days every year. It’s the day I reaffirm my faith and gratitude in the triple gem and rejoice in the deeds of the Buddha and all his emanations in the past, present and future times. I have many, many, many reasons to thank the Buddha for. There are several occasions when I know my life had been saved by the Buddha, and many other occasions when I may not necessarily know it is due to the Buddha’s blessing, but nonetheless it is still due to the Buddha’s blessing.


One such occasion that I know is due to the Buddha is when I was walking back from tuition many years ago. As a school boy, at that time my body size was really shorter and smaller. As I nearly reach my house, I suddenly realized there was this huge black dog (I think it is greyhound or something, with thin waist) trailing me. I did not do anything to him or disturbed him, just walking slowly. When it turned fierce suddenly, I walked a bit faster. Suddenly I noticed the dog was also faster coming towards me. My heart was beating very fast, and I walked even faster. I don’t really know what to do... I wanted to walk into somebody’s house but all the gates were not opened. Then I started to almost-like- running-but-not-running because I knew if I ran, it will be worst. However, the dog started chasing after me even though I was not running. It was doing a 100m dash towards me. In my mind, I thought I was finished. I was going to be dog meat. The dog started to jump and leap towards me….In that split second, thank goodness, 2 persons came to my thoughts: first, Sakyamuni Buddha, second, Bhagavan Sai Baba. At that time, I did not have any formal Buddhist monk-teacher yet even though I had started studying Budhist teachings already. I did a quick mental prayer and … I did not know why I did that but I thought I put my palms together and turned towards the dog. I did not know what happened, but the dog immediately did an "emergency brake"... or fell down or something ...and made a quivering sound, very quickly it turned around and ran away even faster.

Phew! That was very close to being dog meat. Can you imagine how scared I was at that time? I think even now if I see a big dog, I will still be as frightened. Upon reaching home, I did many rounds of the mantra “Tayatha Om Muni Muni …”. After that, I never saw the dog again.

So, was it Sakyamuni Buddha who saved me? Or, was it Bhagavan Sai Baba (who was not even physically there)? What made the fierce dog suddenly turn around so quickly and dash off, like a dharma protector had suddenly appeared before it? I guess I will never know but one thing is for sure, is that I have many reasons to thank the Buddha. Sure I do!

This is just one occasion that I want to share with you and hopefully inspire some faith in the power of the Triple Gems. DO NOT DOUBT THE BUDDHA'S WISDOM AND COMPASSION FOR US! I am sure you guys have your stories too. So, I rejoice with you all in the Triple Gem on the ocasion of the Buddha's descend from Tushita Heaven, as well as regret if I have done or said something wrong to anybody.

Buddham Saranam gacchami
Dhammam saranam gacchami
Sangham Saranam gacchami x3