INTRODUCTION – A SOUL’S JOURNEY HOME
Some journeys are not measured in miles, but by the transformation of a lifetime. From a fervent Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution who once destroyed temples with blind faith in the Party’s ideals, to a solitary wandering monk who spent thirty long years traveling across Asia in search of the True Dharma—the path to genuine salvation. The story of Mr. Ma Changsheng is an epic of searching, repentance, and the extraordinary power of faith.
What could compel a young man, raised in an atheistic ideology, to renounce everything and embark on a path of spiritual cultivation filled with hardship? A near-death accident and a strange dream in which a high-level monk appeared to show him the way became the fateful turning point, urging him to find answers to life’s great questions and atone for the mistakes of his past.
A LIFE OF WANDERING, A MYRIAD OF TRIBULATIONS
Mr. Ma’s thirty-year journey was a series of encounters with the harshest of trials. From the snow-capped peaks of the Tibetan plateau to the tropical forests of the south, he endured hunger, cold, illness, the scorn of others, and even life-threatening dangers. He met true cultivators hidden deep in the mountains, witnessed extraordinary scenes of enlightened beings passing on, but also faced many cryptic rejections, being told that his “predestined relationship is not in this place”.
Though he visited countless temples and monasteries and met many spiritual practitioners, the True Dharma he longed for still seemed distant. His journey was not just an external search, but also a process of tempering his mind, polishing away his attachments, and strengthening an ironclad belief that the path he was on was the right one.
FINDING THE LIGHT AND FACING THE GREAT STORM
After three decades of wandering, as he was entering his later years, destiny finally smiled upon him. In Beijing, one early morning, he chanced upon a group of people practicing a peaceful, solemn spiritual discipline to gentle, compassionate music. The very first time he sat to meditate with them, his third eye suddenly opened, allowing him to see his own dramatic past lives and the magnificent scenes of heavenly worlds. He knew at once that this was the genuine Great Way he had sought for thirty long years.
The years spent immersed in the light of the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance were the most peaceful and joyful of his life. But that was the calm before the great storm. The brutal persecution launched by the Chinese Communist Party in 1999 turned peaceful cultivators into enemies of the state. Once again, Mr. Ma had to face a new tribulation—not hunger and cold in the deep forests, but arrest, torture, and the cruelty of an inhuman machine of suppression.
CONCLUSION – A TESTAMENT TO AN UNYIELDING FAITH
“ENTERING THE WORLD” is not just a memoir about one man’s turbulent life. Through the simple, sincere account of Mr. Ma Changsheng, carefully recorded by the writer Avery Lin, the book is a vivid testament to the power of faith against tyranny. It shows that no matter how arduous the path, no matter how great the tribulations, as long as one holds a genuine heart to seek the Way, the light will eventually appear. This is an inspiring story, an epic of the courage of a man who dedicated his life to returning to the True Dharma, and a profound message about the choice each soul must make in this special era.
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