Ever since I was young, my sister always encouraged me to be a vegetarian. She told my  brothers and sisters a story that all animals around us  often are our immediate relatives from past lives, so  we should cherish and be compassionate to all of  them.

Even though I was born in a country at war, and  have seen many army trucks full of coffins, many  neighbors' sons die in combat, and my cousin died in  the battle zone where she had moved to stay close to  her husband who was a soldier, none of the above  incidents struck me as much as the death of my  grandfather. My grandfather was a very severe  person, who was difficult to live with. He wanted all  of his sons and daughters to offer him money, so that  he could save it in the bank. When it came time to  spend money, he was stingy. He even bought a  coffin and a grave site in preparation for his funeral.  When the fall of Vietnam came in 1975, all my  family moved to U.S.A. Soon after, my grandfather  fell and broke his femur bone, and went to the  hospital many times. His health gradually  deteriorated, and he finally died in the hospital. I  really felt sad for him that all the money he had  saved with such effort was useless! He could not take any material  things with him. The  only thing, that would follow him after death were the results of the good  and bad deeds he did. During his funeral, a Dharma  Master was invited to recite the Earth Store Sutra.  In my brief understanding of the story, I sincerely  respected Earth Store Bodhisattva for his filial  compassion for all living beings and drew a picture  of him. This was the beginning of my affinity with  the Buddha. Afterwards, my sister often took me to  a Chinese temple for worship. In 1980, my sister  drove me to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas for  the first time. Then a few years later, she left home  at the City. In 1989, I asked the Ven. Master's  permission to leave home, too. And in 1991, I was  fully ordained.