Many people remember Melbourne's compassionate and benevolent senior Dharma practitioner, Zhang Youqiu. Looking back on his life, it seems he focused on just one thing: using the most sincere and unpretentious way an ordinary person could, to ensure that at the end of his life, he could successfully "return home." In his later years, dharma brother Zhang had only two passions: cultivation and doing good deeds. His name was never missing from the donation lists at Yen Ming Temple and the Melbourne Lotus Light Charity Society. He saved his pension bit by bit, and whenever an opportunity arose, he would give generously, never missing a single chance to accumulate merit and virtue through good deeds. Someone once asked him, "Why don't you leave this money for your children and grandchildren?" His face, creased with wrinkles, would break into a smile: "Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes; I have my own destination. This money, you can't bring it when you're born, and you can't take it when you die. It's better, while I can still move, to 'transfer' it ahead of time to the Western Pure Land." With the simplest logic, dharma brother Zhang transformed his worldly pension into provisions of merit and virtue for his rebirth. Outsiders only saw him donating money, but his family knew how diligently he worked towards that "destination." At the age of eighty, despite his frailty, he traveled across the ocean to the United States. It wasn't to visit family or for tourism; it …
Many people remember Melbourne’s compassionate and benevolent senior Dharma practitioner, Zhang Youqiu. Looking back on his life, it seems he focused on just one thing: using the most sincere and unpretentious way an ordinary person could, to ensure that at the end of his life, he could successfully “return home.”
In his later years, dharma brother Zhang had only two passions: cultivation and doing good deeds. His name was never missing from the donation lists at Yen Ming Temple and the Melbourne Lotus Light Charity Society. He saved his pension bit by bit, and whenever an opportunity arose, he would give generously, never missing a single chance to accumulate merit and virtue through good deeds.
Someone once asked him, “Why don’t you leave this money for your children and grandchildren?” His face, creased with wrinkles, would break into a smile: “Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes; I have my own destination. This money, you can’t bring it when you’re born, and you can’t take it when you die. It’s better, while I can still move, to ‘transfer’ it ahead of time to the Western Pure Land.” With the simplest logic, dharma brother Zhang transformed his worldly pension into provisions of merit and virtue for his rebirth.
Outsiders only saw him donating money, but his family knew how diligently he worked towards that “destination.” At the age of eighty, despite his frailty, he traveled across the ocean to the United States. It wasn’t to visit family or for tourism; it was solely to see Grand Master in person, to seek blessings and empowerment, ensuring his smooth rebirth in the Pure Land.
Even in his octogenarian years, dharma brother Zhang cultivated diligently every day—steadfastly practicing the Four Preliminary Practices, the Hundred Syllable Mantra, High King Avalokitesvara Sutra, and Padmakumara Mantra, without ever stopping.
Dharma brother Zhang was just an ordinary elderly man, practicing his faith in his own way: reciting the Buddha’s name once was like planting a lotus seed in the Pure Land; making a donation once was like creating a ripple of purity in the waters of eight virtues.
He spent his later years living the principles of “Belief, Vows, and Practice” through every single sunrise and sunset. His ‘Belief’ was the kind that entrusted his entire being and life to Amitabha Buddha; his ‘Vows’ were the ones counted one by one on his prayer beads.
Thinking back now, dharma brother Zhang had already completed his pilgrimage here on earth. His trembling steps, his prayer beads worn smooth and shiny from handling, the banknotes he handed out one after another—all were the footprints of his journey towards the lotus pedestal.
After dharma brother Zhang passed away, his family received Grand Master’s compassionate instruction: He had successfully attained rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Under the bright moon and clear breeze, reborn through transformation in a lotus. Dharma brother Zhang finally let go of his aged, frail body, no longer needing to rush off to the next cultivation session. Because he had already arrived home.
Grand Master Lu once taught: The two essential conditions for rebirth are, first, to be fully endowed with roots of virtue, and second, to maintain an undisturbed, unified mind. Dharma brother Zhang’s lifelong joy in giving was his deep-rooted virtue; his diligent daily practice was his continuous training in maintaining an undisturbed mind. With a lifetime of practice, he validated Grand Master’s teaching—that to successfully attain rebirth at life’s end, one need only begin with honest, steadfast practice, moment by moment, day by day.
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