My mother recalled seeing my baby brother fading away at the hospital, and no medical intervention was going to save him at that point. In great distraught, she could not bear to see her son fighting for his last breath so she left the room. Outside, she prayed to Mother Guan Yin in desperation, “Guan Yin Liang Liang, please save my son.”
My younger brother was born five years after me. When he was a baby, he frequently came down with sickness. Once, he had diarrhea and my mother took him to the doctor. The young doctor they went to was still a rookie and he misdiagnosed him and prescribed the wrong medication. After taking the medication, my brother was stricken with high fever and was admitted to the hospital. His fever would not subside, he was throwing up and suffered from diarrhea and his condition took a downturn very fast. The next thing we know, the doctor told my mother we were quickly losing my brother. He was barely one year old. My mother recalled seeing my brother fading away and no medical intervention was going to save him at that point. In great distraught, she could not bear to see her son fighting for his last breath so she left the hospital room. Outside, she prayed to Mother Guan Yin in desperation, “Guan Yin Liang Liang, please save my son.” After a few minutes of praying, a family relative who was in the room with my brother came to tell my mother that my brother “Came back to life.” Thanks to Mother Guan Yin’s greatest love and compassion, my mother’s prayer was answered. My little brother had been given a new lease on life.
In the weeks ahead, my mother went to the local Guan Yin temple to offer her prayers and received some talismans from the Temple Abbot. As in the Chinese Buddhist/Taoist tradition, the talisman paper was burned and its ashes fed to my ailing brother as part of the spiritual healing to help him recover. In a few weeks, my brother recovered completely. Soon after, my mother took my brother to the same temple to be baptised as Guan Yin’s adopted son - a buddhist ceremony common among Guan Yin devotees.
Today, my brother has grown up into a fine man who honors Guan Yin every morning with a prayer before leaving the house every day. We are eternally indebted to Guan Yin for her love and compassion in saving my brother’s life.