Ah-gui gave birth twice in a year.
Life was very hard.
The family's finances depended heavily on Ah-gui's support.
The children's school fees had to be paid twice a year.
Fortunately with Ah-gui's help, the children could attend school.
That is why we had to attend to her whims and fancies.
When Ah-gui is happy, we are happy too!

Whenever Ah-gui's name is mentioned, Grandma Cai Lin Yue-zhu gently calls out, "Ah-gui!" Ah-gui was actually a pig raised by Grandma Yue-zhu a long time ago.

In those days, Grandma Yue-zhu's family was very poor. Although her husband was a poorly paid teacher in the village of Taoyuan, she had eight children to raise and their school fees to pay, so she started to raise pigs to supplement the family income. Ah-gui was a sow which would always give birth to two litters a year. Just before the school term began, Ah-gui would give birth to seventeen or eighteen piglets. The piglets were sold and the money was used to pay for the children's school fees. So Grandma was very grateful for Ah-gui's help.

Like a Relative

Since the family income depended heavily on Ah-gui, Grandma Yue-zhu tried to make life as comfortable as possible for her. She treated her like a relative and constantly thought of ways to make things easier for her. When Ah-gui was about to deliver her piglets, Grandma would spend the whole night with her in the pigsty. She would talk to her: "Oink-oink". She cleared a path so that Ah-gui could go out to ease herself without dirtying the sty. Ah-gui liked cleanliness. In order to make things easier for her after piglets were born, Grandma would prepare bottles of milk to feed the piglets. She looked after them like her own babies. The piglets became quite accustomed to the milk bottles. Whenever they saw Grandma with the bottles, they would crawl towards her calling "Oink-oink", knowing that it was time for their feed.

The piglets had to be sold in the market to pay for the children's school fees. When the children took the piglets to the market, Grandma would begin to fret. She was afraid the piglets would be hungry, and she would frequently remind the children, "Never mind if the piglets cannot be sold. Just bring them home early so that they can be fed."

On one occasion when Grandma was visiting a relative, the children ran to her for help, shouting, "Ah-gui refuses to eat!" In those days, when pigs would not eat, it was a serious problem! Grandma quickly rushed home. She noticed that the food in the pigsty was very cold, and she quickly warmed it up. Within a short time, Ah-gui had gobbled up all the food. The children asked, "Mum, what did you put in the food?" "I didn't put anything at all," she replied. "I simply warmed it up. Ah-gui likes her food served warm." If anyone said that pigs were the dirtiest and the most stupid creatures one earth, Grandma would correct him : "Pigs are actually quite clean and clever!"

Grandma would not rely on Ah-gui as the sole source of income, and she often tried other ways to supplement their income, such as knitting cardigans. Besides raising pigs, she also raised some chickens in the backyard. An eagle once caught a little chick from the backyard, but it was immediately pursued by the children. Terrified, the eagle released her grip on the chick. The chick was saved, but its stomach had been punctured by the sharp claws of the eagle. Grandma's heart ached upon seeing the chick. She quickly took out her needle and thread, sewed up the hole in the bird's stomach and applied some antiseptic cream on the wound. The little chick recovered a couple of days later. When she grew up to become a mother hen, she would instinctively and quickly spread her wings to protect the little chickens whevever she saw an eagle. "Animals are quite clever," stressed the old lady.

Plenty of Room

Grandma Yue-zhu was even more kind to people than she was to animals. Her children said, "Mum brought us up the same way she bred the piglets: full of love, not only for her own children, but for other people's children as well." Grandma's house was like a public canteen where other children would drop by to have their meals. Amongst them were children from wealthy homes, who would often have plenty of meat and fish on their own tables. Yet, they still liked to go to Grandma's house to have plain rice with soy sauce. They ate heartily and often spent the night at Grandma's house.

The fact was that they liked to stay by Grandma's side to feel her warmth and loving care. In her eyes, there were no bad children and all children were good. If you should say a certain child was bad, Grandma would stick up for him. Even if a child was very naughty, he would never dare to misbehave in front of Grandma Yue-zhu. Over time, the child would naturally become good.

Grandma's second daughter recalled that their house was always full of people. There were aborigines who had come to the city to study. Grandma would invite them for a meal and to stay at her house. There were also villagers looking for jobs in the city, and friends and relatives who faced financial difficulties, all of whom Grandma would also welcome despite the fact that she already had eight children cramped into the house. In her heart, there was always room for those in need.

Grandma often said that in this world, there were only good people and no bad ones. When she was head of a neighborhood cooperative fund, someone absconded with some money. Yet with much understanding and sympathy, she explained that the person ran away only because she was broke. Kind-hearted Grandma even paid off the culprit's monthly subscription for her. The other people who were involved in the fund were so touched by her kindness that they did not pursue the matter further.

Dharma Master Cheng Yen has said, "Look upon others with the heart of a buddha, and they will be buddhas. Look upon others as demons, then they will be demons." Grandma Yue-zhu only encounters buddhas.

Church in the Morning and
Service in the Afternoon

When all her children grew up, Grandma followed them and emigrated to America. There she came into contact with the Tzu Chi organization. Although her whole family were Catholics, she embraced all religions so long as they helped the world and saved people. When by chance she heard Master Cheng Yen's tapes, she felt that the Master's philosophy was similar to her own. This led her into the world of Tzu Chi. In the mornings she went to Mass in the Catholic church, and in the afternoons she volunteered at the Tzu Chi branch office, helping to fold publicity flyers. Grandma did not feel there was any conflict of interest, because she allowed the love practiced in both the buddhist and Catholic religions to merge into one.

"The Dharma Master is very wise," Grandma often told her children. "She has guided many people who had good intentions or who wished to do good deeds onto the proper paths. She gave them opportunities to participate and to learn how to give their best."

Gradually, her children came to know more about the Master and Tzu Chi. Especially after they had read Still Thoughts, they realised that their mother and the Master shared the same concepts. They found the principles, the phrases and the moral lessons in the book very familiar. They had heard those same words since they were young, particularly Grandma's constant reminder to them to "try to understand others, and do not harbour ill feelings towards other people." Her children could not help but feel that perhaps Grandma had met Master Cheng Yen in her previous life, and that this explained why their thoughts and words were in harmony.

In 1994, Grandma's husband passed away. As her children were then living in various parts of the world, she felt lonely in America. In 1995, she returned to Taiwan to live with her daughters and grandchildren and to spend the autumn of her life. Unexpectedly, she fell ill in 1996 and was admitted to the hospital for surgery. She was diagnosed with colon cancer, which had already spread to her stomach.

Happy in the Heart Lotus Ward

After she returned to Taiwan, Grandma Yue-zhu often went to Hualien to get into closer touch with Master Cheng Yen. She wanted to spend her final days in the Heart Lotus Ward, the palliative care ward, at Tzu Chi Hospital. Although it is quite a distance from her daughter's home in Taoyuan to the hospital in Hualien, her relatives are happy with the arrangement so long as it pleases Grandma.

Wu Fong-chien, a social worker in the Heart Lotus Ward, says that although Grandma is a terminally ill patient, her condition is stable. This is because she never worries over her own condition, nor does she ever complain of pain. She takes better care of other people around her than she does of herself. Whenever someone asks Grandma whether she is unwell, she replies, "No, not really!"

Once an old lady in the bed opposite Grandma's groaned in pain throughout the night. The next morning, the old lady's son went to apologise to Grandma. He was surprised at her reply: "Goodness! This is a hospital ward. Of course patients groan in pain. Don't worry, I slept very well last night. The noise didn't bother me at all. Since your mum is not well, you must take good care of her." The old lady's son was very touched by her words. He had sent his mother in and out of hospital many times, and had never met anyone like Grandma, who could be so understanding and sympathetic towards his mother. As a result, he decided to adopt Grandma's attitude himself. Whenever he sees that other patients are in need of assistance, he instantly goes over to help them or alerts the hospital staff. All the hospital staff and volunteers feel that the change in the man was brought about by his encounter with Grandma's kindness.

An Unending Story