Children’s Enduring Link to the Divine, Part 2 of 2

Today, we will share a true story of reincarnation involving Tường Lam (vegetarian) from Binh Duong Province, Âu Lạc (Vietnam). Tường Lam was born in 2018 into a humble working-class family. According to her mother, she has only accepted vegetarian food since birth and cannot eat meat. Despite eating only plain rice and bananas, Tường Lam remains healthy, full of energy, and always wears a bright, angelic smile. Her vegetarian diet doesn’t seem to be just a lifestyle choice, it feels like a natural awakening from deep within her soul. Remarkably, at just five years old, and without ever being taught, Tường Lam could recite long Buddhist scriptures fluently in both Aulacese (Vietnamese) and Sanskrit. With her pure, childlike voice, she chanted each verse with such clarity and grace that listeners could not help but be amazed.

Not only could Tường Lam recite Buddhist sutras fluently, but she also deeply moved her family when, according to her mother, she offered heartfelt advice to help her ailing grandmother – encouraging her to seek spiritual healing and release from karmic burdens caused by past actions of killing. “Just over a month ago, my mother fell seriously ill. The doctor said her lungs had turned black and that she might only have a week left to live. I was devastated when I heard this. But then Lam said: ‘No, Grandma can still be saved, because…’ (There are spirits waiting for Grandma, right in front of the bridge.) They’re standing in line. Lam said they were lining up from the bridge all the way to the house, waiting to collect a karmic debt from Grandma for what she has done to them. (They’re karmic creditors. A long time ago, Grandma killed some crabs to make crab noodle soup. They held deep resentment and couldn’t let it go. I asked the spirits to forgive Grandma, and they said: ‘We’ll only forgive her if you offer 1,000 kilograms of rice.’) So, about a month ago, Lam and I donated 1,000 kilos of rice as an offering for Grandma’s healing. Now the doctor says my mother is recovering. The blackness in her lungs is gone and her lungs look normal again.”

In an interview conducted in December 2023, Tường Lam revealed memories of her previous life and openly described the Western Pure Land – a peaceful realm where her soul once resided. “I am a Buddha named Ngư Lam. My current name is Nguyễn Tường Lam, but in the future, after I become a Buddha, my name will be Ngư Lam. In the future, I will become a Buddha. The Western Pure Land is very beautiful. Right now, my lotus flower is blooming very beautifully.”

With profound spiritual insights seemingly carried over from a past life, Tường Lam often encourages others to adopt vegetarianism to avoid creating karma from taking life, promoting a compassionate and pure way of living. “Eating vegetarian is the best! When you eat vegetarian, you avoid bad things and attract good things. When we eat meat, it holds resentment against us. That meat will come back to demand the meat of our own. We end up becoming like animals ourselves! They don’t go to a good place – they go to hell, because that’s where beings who kill end up. Those animals suffer terribly when they are slaughtered. If we eat them, we will surely go to hell too.”