Good Karma Music Stories

My Wife left our house for a Doctor’s appointment. I didn’t wake her up in time to get there without rushing. While she was on her way, I called the doctor’s office telling them that she might be late. When she arrived, the receptionist told her that her Husband informed them that she would be there.Everything turned out okay. My Wife thanked me. Small act of Kindness

My friends husband had a stroke earlier this year. I took her some vegetables from the garden. I don’t have much money, or much time with life being so demanding, but just taking a few moments to give something I had plenty of, was enough thoughtfulness to let her know I care.

My family donates some money to buddhist temples for making and maintaining temple.And I always try to help people who are in need of help like beggars on the street or poor people.

Thank you for this opportunity to reflect on giving and kindness. For a few minutes, I had the awful feeling come over me that my self-image (of a selfless boddhisattva, of course) is completely wrong, and that maybe I’ve been fooling myself completely– no acts of kindness came to mind at all. There’s certainly a lot of truth to that, but after more introspection, I can remember that, yes, OK, there were one or two “grand” selfless things I’ve done…But perhaps my more effective actions have been very small, tiny ones that I like to repeat as often as possible: thanking other people for THEIR acts of kindness and generosity, via hand-written notes, sent by pony express.I’ve found that people come alive when they receive this kind of old-school message. It only requires a few minutes of time in my day, yet often recipients of my simple notes are amazed that someone actually “took the time” to simply let them know that something they did was valued and appreciated. People feel validated, lifted, touched, awakened, and sometimes much more. Someone noticed them.In closing, let me also thank you for all your generosity. It’s working, and it’s deeply appreciated.-Alan

I am looking for something, anything, to help my cousin’s husband, who is suffering from brain cancer at a young age of 40. He is now blind and partially paralysed on his right side of face and left side of body. He has trouble speaking and chewing and getting around. My cousin is strong, working and caring for their 2-year old daughter. My heart ache and my eyes tear when I see her and think about them. I hope this music can ease their pain if I can just get it to them (as my insignificant act of kindness)…amitaba

I am a member of the Pure Karma Society in Gold Mountain Monastery, San Francisco. I went to two end-of-life caring cases – chant Amitabha Buddha’s name, Heart Sutra, etc. in a funeral and in a cremation ceremony in the past.On July 10, 2009, it was my first time to go to a hospital to help someone who was dying at the moment.The patient was a Buddhist and he wished to have someone/a group who can recite Buddhism Sutra and Buddha’s name around him when he was dying.However, none of his relatives is Buddhist so his family had no resource at all.Here the story begins:His request came from an email sent by his friend’s mother (who lives in New York City and also does the end of life caring with the Buddha Light Buddhist Association).The email got passed to the director of the Chinese American Coalition for Compassionate Care (she lives in Sacramento) and she passed the email to Tzu Chi and Dharma Drum Mountain chapters in San Francisco Bay areas.I also help out in the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association San Francisco Chapter so I got this forwarded email (NYC-Sacramento-San Francisco).After I read the email (3:30pm), I called the director of the Pure Karma Society in Gold Mountain Monastery and she started to call out some volunteers in Gold Mountain Monastery.We (7 volunteers) arrived in the hospital at 7:30 PM. The families already unplugged the oxygen machine (4:00pm) and they were told by the doctor that the patient could die any time within 8 hours.When we arrived, the patient was breathing heavily in coma. The director stood very close to the patient and explained that we were from GGM and came to recite Buddha’s name for him. We started to chant Na Mo Amitofo for about one hour in a very peaceful ton of voice. Then, the director explained the importance of taking refuges with triple jewels to the patient. We chanted the Amitabha Sutra for another hour. Suddenly, the patient body started shivering for a few seconds and I clearly heard the last breath (sigh) of the patient. Honestly, at that moment, I completed lost my word because I knew that the patient just died in front of us. Every volunteer continuously chanted Buddha’s name around him peacefully and harmonically. After the patient passed away, we continued to recite the Heart Sutra until 11:00pm.The whole experience was just unbelievable. We clearly saw the complexion of the patient became brighter and nicer after he died. Two of the volunteers even smelled fragrant around the room when the patient passed away. We truly hope that the patient has been to the Pure Land.

A few days ago, I was at the airport to go to San Francisco from Seattle. There was a man in front of me who looked really agitated and angry. When I saw him, my mind said oh no he doesn’t look nice he looks angry. Then my body softened and I remembered that when I feel angry or agitated its usually that my mind is telling me something mean or aggressive and it really hurts because I can’t relax. So I turned to him and said boy these lines are a pain and smiled. He immediately smiled too and his shoulders relaxed.I thought oh that’s just what I need when I feel that way and that was so simple. Thanks for doing this!Caroline