Over the past year, my husband faced immense difficulty at work. For nearly twelve months, he was under constant stress and emotional strain. His contributions were overlooked, and the weight of feeling undervalued continued to build. By April of this year, things took a turn for the worse—he was placed on a so-called PIP (Performance Improvement Plan), which was essentially a veiled attempt to let him go. Hit from both sides, he was barely hanging on and began considering resigning in May.
I felt heartbroken seeing him suffer, and at the same time, deeply anxious about our family’s future. Our child is still very young, and our household expenses are significant. If he were to quit without another job lined up, our lives would become very unstable. But watching him sink deeper into frustration and hopelessness every day, I felt powerless.
It was during this excruciating time that I came across the San Francisco Bodhi Meditation Center’s campaign to reconstruct their Buddhist temple. One specific project—the “Temple-Wide Lighting Offering Project“—deeply moved me. I thought to myself: If Buddha’s light could shine on him, perhaps he would find clarity, emerge from this fog, and rediscover his direction in life. So, I made a heartfelt offering, as if lighting a lamp for his path. I prayed that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas would bless him, guide him forward, and turn crisis into peace.
What happened next was truly amazing. I made the offering on Sunday, and just three days later, on Wednesday, something incredible happened — my husband was originally scheduled to meet with HR that Wednesday afternoon to be laid off. But that very morning, the company suddenly announced a large-scale layoff, and he was included in it. Under normal circumstances, being laid off would be terrible news. But in this case, it was the complete opposite. Because it was part of a large-scale layoff, he received a very generous severance package—far beyond what we had expected. The compensation not only relieved our financial anxiety for the rest of the year, but also gave him the breathing room to look for a new and better job.
Had he resigned just days earlier—or been terminated individually—he would not have received anything. Looking back, it felt like everything had been arranged with perfect timing, down to the second. It was as if the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas had quietly been guiding us all along, helping us navigate the edge of a cliff without falling.
I’m deeply grateful for their compassionate protection, and I’m also thankful to the meditation center for giving me a way to transform my intention into meaningful action. This experience of divine response has become an eternal light in my spiritual journey—one that will never fade.