On February 29th, 1986, a Vietnamese couple from California paid a visit to the True Buddha Tantric Quarter in Washington state. They were accompanying their friend who was an overseas Chinese. The couple's last name was Trinh. Upon arrival at the quarter, they started paying homage to the Buddhas enshrined at the altar. When Mr. Trinh saw the porcelain statue of Padmakumara, he was completely flabbergasted.

"What is the name of this bodhisattva?" Mr. Trinh pointed at Padmakumara.

"It is the Lotus Bodhisattva."

"Oh!" Mr Trinh was greatly elated. "So it was the Lotus Bodhisattva who had saved our whole family's lives."

Mr. and Mrs. Trinh knelt down in front of the Padmakumara porcelain statue and, with palms joined, started bowing repetitively to the statue. Mr. Trinh said, "The Lotus Bodhisattva has saved our whole family. It was entirely due to the blessing and protection of the Lotus Bodhisattva that we were able to flee from Vietnam. While we were at the most desperate moment, the Lotus Bodhisattva had given us guidance."

Mr. and Mrs. Trinh wept and bowed unrestrainedly.

Their friend and I were all baffled. I thought to myself, "Could there be some kind of mistake?"

Their story turned out to be as follows:

More than ten years ago, Mr. Trinh Toan Chan was a businessman in Vietnam. Before Vietnam fell into the hands of the communists, their family was comparatively well-off. When the communists moved towards the south, Mr. Trinh and his family were panic-stricken and frightened out of their wits. They were Buddhists, so their whole family started praying to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for help.

That same night, Mr. Trinh had a dream. In his dream, a bodhisattva had appeared in the middle of the sky. Sitting upon a lotus, this bodhisattva wore a Five-Buddhas crown and a black and brown dharma robe. Appearing amid myriad brilliant lights which were emanating from his body, this bodhisattva was full of compassion and invincible might.

"Please travel first to the east, then turn to the north. At the river port, there will be someone coming to your aid. Go and live in a new country! I, the Lotus Bodhisattva, have an affinity with you. We will meet again."

"You are the Lotus Bodhisattva?"

"Yes."

"Where will we meet again?"

"The United States."

"How can I identify and recognize you?"

The bodhisattva extended his hands, and his right hand was holding a vajra while his left hand was holding a bell. The bell and the vajra were clasped in an unusual way each being held between the index and small fingers on the outside and the middle and ring fingers on the inside. Although Mr. Trinh was dreaming, he noticed and remembered all the details, especially the hand gestures of the bodhisattva. It was such a vivid dream that he did not doubt any of it, and he even made a drawing of the bodhisattva's hand gestures.

Therefore, Trinh Toan Chan took his whole family with him and embarked on their escape. They would first travel east which would lead them into the mountains, then they would turn north. To the north was a small river port which had fallen into disuse. Surprisingly, along this escape route, they did not see any Vietcong or any trace of other people fleeing. After crossing the mountainous wilderness, they turned towards the small river port. When they entered the little village there, a boatman unexpectedly came up to accost them.

"Are you looking for a boat?" asked the boatman.

"That's right." Trinh Toan Chan was surprised.

"What happened was that we had made plans to leave this morning with our own family. But last night, a Lotus Bodhisattva appeared in my dream and instructed me that a Buddhist family would come here to join us. The bodhisattva told us to wait till 11 a.m. before starting the boat. Since you are here, we can start the engine now."

Thus, the boatman and Trinh Toan Chan fled from Vietnam and, after passing through many places, they made it to the United States.

After settling in California, Trinh Toan Chan opened a shop and restarted his business. There are many small temples in California, and he would go and visit them whenever he came upon them. But, for more than a decade, after asking countless people and paying homage to numerous temples, he still was unable to locate the Lotus Bodhisattva with the special hand gestures. He has also asked many monks and nobody knew about such a bodhisattva. Although he gradually became disinclined to go on searching, he still remember the instruction from the bodhisattva that they would meet again in the United States.

Today, Trinh Toan Chan and his wife have arrived at the True Buddha Tantric Quarter, and when they saw the porecelain statue of Padmakumara, they were simply happily astonished. Grateful tears were gushing out uncontrollably, and they kept on saying, "Thank you for rescuing us. If not for your rescue, we wouldn't have be enable to make the escape."

Trinh Toan Chan and his wife inquired about the origin of Lotus Bodhisattva. When I told them the facts, they both immediately asked to take refuge in me.

I spoke to them, "This is an extremely inspirational story. The Lotus Bodhisattva blesses and helps beings of affinity to get out of difficult and dire situations. It also shows the omnipresence of the Padmakumara. With the bodhisattva manifesting his mighty power to help beings all over the world, the time is now ripe for the great dissemination of the True Buddha Tantric Dharma to the world."

I also commented, "The Padmakumaras in heavens and the Padmakumarasin Sukhavati have been coming down in succession to help beings in the world. Now we know the bodhisattva has also manifested in Vietnam. The power of the Buddhas is just too inconcievable! Especially since this was actually a manifestation happening more than ten years ago!"

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