Long ago, in a remote region of China, there lived a solitary old woman. Having endured a lifetime of hardship, she only wished to live a peaceful and stable life.
One day, a kind-hearted stranger taught her a mantra, telling her that if she recited it diligently every day, she could purify her past karmic transgressions. From then on, the old woman recited the mantra with sincere devotion every day. Being illiterate, she inadvertently mispronounced one of the words.
Whether she was doing household chores, tending to her crops, or preparing for bed, she recited the mantra with joyful enthusiasm. To encourage herself to remain diligent in her practice, she placed two large bowls on her table — one empty, and the other filled with beans. Each time she completed a full recitation, she would pick up a single bean and transfer it into the other bowl. She continued reciting the mantra for a full 30 years.
Although she mispronounced a word, her profound sincerity moved both heaven and earth. It even touched the beans in her bowls, which remained remarkably plump and lustrous. As her spiritual cultivation deepened, a miraculous phenomenon occurred: whenever she finished reciting the mantra, a bean would spontaneously leap from one bowl into the other.
One day, a wandering monk was passing through the area and inadvertently saw the old woman’s small hut radiating light. He was astonished to see such brilliant radiance. He had traveled to many places, yet never had he witnessed such pure light. He thought that a truly enlightened master must surely reside within that hut.
The monk approached the cottage to pay his respects, only to discover that the occupant was merely an ordinary old woman. He asked: “How long have you lived here?” The old woman replied: “Over thirty years. Fortunately, I learned a mantra that I recite daily, so I have never felt lonely or despondent.”
The monk then asked her which mantra she recited, and she enthusiastically recounted it in great detail. The monk immediately noticed her error and gently corrected her pronunciation.
Upon hearing this, the old woman was filled with deep remorse, lamenting that she had wasted 30 years of effort in vain. She immediately corrected her pronunciation, ensuring this time that she did not mispronounce a single word.
Although her lips continued to recite the mantra, her mind was now in turmoil, churning like a stormy sea, and she could no longer find inner peace. At that moment, the beans in the bowl ceased moving. They no longer spontaneously hopped to the next bowl as they had before.
After walking a short distance, the monk turned back to look at the old woman’s hut, and to his astonishment, the dazzling radiance he had witnessed earlier had vanished, leaving the surroundings shrouded in darkness.
Filled with a mixture of surprise and guilt, he hurriedly ran back to the old woman and explained that he had merely been testing the sincerity of her faith. In truth, her method of recitation was entirely correct, and she should simply continue reciting it exactly as she had.
Upon hearing this, the old woman exclaimed with delight: “Is that truly so? How wonderful! I had feared that the efforts of these past thirty years had all been in vain.”
She resumed reciting the mantra in her usual manner, yet this time with greater joy in her heart. With every complete recitation, the beans once again spontaneously hopped into the adjacent bowl, just as they always had.
When the monk had walked away and looked back once more, the humble hut had regained its former radiance. He felt a deep sense of gratification and, at the same time, grasped a profound truth: Although the old woman was not a formal practitioner, her heart was pure and devout. Even though she recited the mantra incorrectly, the purity of her heart was sufficient to move Heaven and earth.
This shows that a pure heart is a hundred times more precious than any superficial right or wrong. Only by purifying one’s heart, being free from desires and wants, and diligently practicing can a practitioner achieve perfection.
Translated by Patty Zhang
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