was no fear or hatred in my heart, they dispersed and vanished on their own.
There was something different on the seventh day: a rare fragrance filled the air--a fragrance that was not of this world. After the tumultous first seven days, everything settled down. While I was sitting by the grave, no one had brought me any food and I resigned myself to starving. But after the seventh day, my father came bringing me food. He was in his seventies, and he urged me to go home, crying as he talked. Although I wasn't really hungry after seven days of not eating, I forced myself to eat. Then I asked my father not to bring me any more food. I said I wouldn't accept food or other things from my own family. All these things happened to me as I sat beside the grave, but I never encountered any ghosts. Sometimes I ate grass roots and leaves when I felt hungry. Once I found a mushroom and ate it, and for the whole day I wanted to laugh; thus I knew there was a laughter-inducing chemical in the mushroom. That period of living by the grave was one of great hardships.

I built an A-shaped hut out of some branches tied in bundles. When it snowed outside, the inside of the hut would also turn white; when it rained, it was also wet inside. The hut didn't keep out the wind, snow, or rain. Spending my days reciting Sutras, reciting the Buddha's name, and sitting in meditation, I developed a great sense of mental peace.
When I read The Romance of the Three Kingdoms in my youth, I cried for three days when I reached the part about Lord Guan being killed. I was sorely grieved that such a loyal and righteous man had to be so brutally murdered. Yet when my own mother died, I didn't shed tears. I think I probably was too sad to even cry.

While living beside my mother's grave, I continued to bow. During that time I also left the home-life. My goal in leaving home was to end birth and death, to cut off the endless rounds of birth and death. I had nicknamed myself "Mendicant" as a young child, and now I really was one who lived on alms--a monk. My father did not know of my wish to leave home until I was living beside the grave. My father was an alcoholic who spent all his money on liquor. He would walk nearly two miles to and from town to buy eight ounces of liquor, and he would drink four ounces at a time. After drinking his fill, he would sleep. After I left Manchuria, my father was sick for three days, stopped eating, and then sat up and entered the stillness. I have invited my third eldest brother to America and I'm supporting him now, because I want to repay him for supporting my father. Everything I do is motivated by the wish to be filial. Some people speak about practicing filial piety for a certain number of years, but my filial obligations have no time limit.

In remembrance of my father and mother, I dare not commit any mistakes. If I were to do something wrong, I would be an unfilial son. If you ask me how many years I practiced filial piety, I would answer that I'm still practicing now--I don't know how many years it has been, but my filial piety has no limit. I wish to be kind to all elderly people. I want to support everyone's parents, in order to repay everyone's kindness. People have praised me for my filiality to my parents, but I feel my practice is very imperfect. Therefore, I wish to treat all old folks as my own parents. I contemplate all men as my fathers and all women as my mothers. I truly see all people as my parents in past lives and as future Buddhas. I remember how filial and loyal Yue Wumu (General Yue Fei) was. Before every meal, he would remember the two Song dynasty emperors, and then he would take his meal while shedding tears of gratitude. I especially admire heroes like him; they are the most excellent people in the world. As for me, I am not worthy to be people's teacher.

When I was practicing filial piety beside my mother's grave, several times the villagers thought my hut had caught on fire, but when they came, there was no fire. There was also an earthquake one night. I was sitting in dhyana, and everything was empty--there was no self and no others--when suddenly I felt a movement, an agitation. I thought to myself, "Ah, what is this demon that can shake my body this way? Its strength is certainly formidable." I didn't realize it was an earthquake. The next day someone came to tell me there had been an earthquake--a very strange earthquake. During it, the well where I sat had spouted fire. This was a water-well, not a volcano, and yet fire had come forth from it. There are many strange things in the world.

I believe someone is thinking, "I'm sure that beneath the well there was a vein of sulphur which fed a volcano, and that is why the well spouted fire." Maybe that's the way it was.
One day at dusk, the Sixth Patriarch came. I saw a monk wearing a gray robe, in his fifties or sixties. He explained some principles to me, telling me how to cultivate, and said that in the future I might come to America. He also told me what kind of people I would meet. After saying that, he disappeared. I wasn't asleep when I saw him, and I found it very strange.
When Japan invaded Manchuria, I was mourning beside my mother's grave. Meanwhile, somebody told me that the Japanese had seized a lot of Chinese people and put them into labor camps. They didn't have enough food to eat or clothes to wear and so a lot of people starved to death and froze to death. It was extremely bitter. I pondered this situation and the severity of their plight, and then I made a vow to eat one meal a day. I wished to save my breakfast and dinner for those who didn't have food to eat. Somebody might say this kind of attitude is very stupid. Well, you can say it's very stupid because those hungry people might not directly receive the food which I saved. But all of you should know it's the law of the conservation of matter. The food I didn't eat will remain in the world. Since it remains in the world, somebody will get to eat it. So I made this vow to eat one meal a day. The Sutra in Forty-two Sections says, "Bhikshus take only one meal a day at noon, pass the night beneath trees, and are careful not to acquire worldly things." That's why I vowed to take one meal a day.

I also vowed not to wear padded cotton clothing. During the winters in Manchuria, the temperature often dropped to 33 or 34 degrees below zero. When the temperature dropped to 38 degrees below zero, people would freeze to death. But even in such cold weather, I wore only three layers of clothing. Whether in winter or summer it was always the same, I did not even put on an extra sweater. By my vow I saved the cotton for those who didn't have clothes to wear. I transferred it to them. Did they obtain benefit from it? This again is a case of the law of conservation of matter. Somebody would use it for sure. From the time I made that vow not to wear padded clothes, I didn't feel cold even in very chilly weather. Later on, I even went without socks and shoes, and I could walk with bare feet on icy ground at any time. My feet didn't get frozen.

That reminds me of a funny thing that happened. I had an eighteen-year old fellow student who was a very energetic young man. He saw me walking on the icy ground without wearing socks and shoes, and he wanted to try it out. But he hadn't taken more than 100 steps when his feet completely froze and then swelled up. He couldn't endure it any more and hurriedly ran into the temple. It took six months before he was able to walk again. At that time, I was twenty years old, and I could bear the cold, but even though he was younger, he couldn't. How could I bear it? It had to do with my vow not to wear padded clothes. Since I didn't wear padded clothes, I didn't feel cold at all. Since I didn't eat so much food, I didn't feel hungry.

Before when I wasn't eating one meal a day, I had to eat five small bowls of food at each meal, which means a total of fifteen bowls a day. But after I vowed to eat one meal a day, I could manage with three bowls of rice at most. If the bow was a big one, I ate two bowlfuls. If the bowl was a small one, I ate three bowlfuls.
It is not that I put myself on a diet. Actually I feel uncomfortable when I eat too much. And so even though I was eating less, I didn't feel hungry at all. From this, people should recognize the power of vows. If you make vows, you will be able to fulfill them. This is the story behind why I eat one meal a day.

Most of my disciples also eat one meal a day. Not only do the left-home people eat one meal a day, but a lot of the laypeople also eat one meal a day. They like to learn my stupid method. In this scientific age, they want to use this stupid method to cultivate. You can say that they don't know how to calculate. But from another viewpoint, they can be said to be calculating very clearly. They give away the food which they don't eat and save it for other people. This is creating food-affinities with other people. So, I believe they will never starve to death to the ends of time. It is because we're afraid that we'll starve that we save some food for future use. The ancients had a saying,

If one decreases the clothes one wears,
One's blessings will grow.
If one decreases the food one eats,
One's lifespan will increase.

Because I think that my lifespan will probably not be too long, I want to decrease my intake of food in order to increase my lifespan. Actually this is not true. I'm just joking with you!
We have to follow the Buddha's instructions to cultivate. The Buddha said, "Bhikshus should eat one meal a day, and sleep each night under a different tree." They should not dwell for more than three days in the same place, because if they do, people may come to make offerings. But shouldn't they receive any offerings? They are allowed to accept offerings, but they should not accept the offerings out of greed. Once you live in a place for a long period, Dharma conditions will arise. It is said,

Sitting for a long time, one attains samadhi.
Dwelling for a long time, one develops affinities.