Ven. Master Hsuan Hua's Advice on Curing Illnesses

My Comment:

In relation to my blog on Dr Wu Lien Teh, here is the spiritual principle behind what I wrote about Dr Wu's great deeds in China's epidemic. It is an important advice to all Buddhists. So, all doctors, nurses, and people who are helping sentient beings (including disaster volunteers and caregivers), you need to accumulate huge merits and virtue (or at least ensure your store of merits is not depleted), otherwise be prepared to sacrifice. You must be strong in your determination to help people and not to back down in the face of any personal tragedy. I say this also in view of the recent death of a doctor's son as reported in The Star recently. And also a daughter of a doctor I know also died recently. From this teaching by Ven. Master, it also seems that there were rich Malaysians offended by his comments. Shame. Shame. This Master was too straight forward. Nowadays many Chinese monks and Tibetan Lamas treat rich Malaysians better, am I right? They almost always get the easiest access to these monks and Rinpoches. Ordinary folks like me have to queue and book appointments. It is not easy to be called to have private audience with them. Rich people are mostly treated differently. This didnot happen with Master Hsuan Hua. Rich or poor, everyone is equally treated.   

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All of you Bodhisattvas who have returned on the force of your past vows, you are now doctors and nurses, and have come back on your vows. Since this is the case, then do not forget those past vows to save people, and relieve their suffering.

Illnesses come about from several causes. Some people killed too much in the past, and so in this life they are much afflicted by illness. Some people in the past stole too many things, and so in this life have to suffer many unhappy illnesses that cause them great losses. Some people engaged in sex too much in the past, and in this life experience a weak body that is never healthy. Their essence and energy are not full. They experience many diseases of "emptiness," deficiencies. Some lied too much in their past and in this life are stupid, lacking wisdom. Where do these illnesses come from? They are all resulting from greed, hatred, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt. These are the cause of all illnesses. There are also illnesses caused by cause and effect. Illnesses can also result from deviant spirits, monsters, and goblins. Ordinary doctors have no way to cure these illnesses. The patient seems not to be sick, but in fact he is not healthy. It is a case of possession by an imp-demon. These goblins and monsters cause the person's spirits to be disturbed.

Medicines cure illness. Buddhism has a mantra, The Mantra of Great Compassion. If you can recite it until it is effective, magical for you, then it can cure all 84,000 kinds of illnesses, but you must concentrate as you recite , and gather in body and mind. Only then can you get a response. At this point, I will tell you doctors and nurses quite frankly, that I am also a doctor. I am also a nurse. The doctor that I am requires that I use no medicines. I use the Da Bei Jou instead. When I was very young, eighteen or nineteen, I used the Da Bei Jou to cure people. At that time, most of the illnesses I encountered came about because the person owed a karmic debt. The patient had a karmic obstacle that came looking for repayment. Most people referred to these situations as "possessions" of deviant illnesses. The first time I tried to cure an illness, it was a case of a woman who drank lye-water. Do you know what that is? It is the liquid that people use to make bean curd. When you add a bit to soy-bean milk, it curdles into bean-curd, and you can make bean-cake from it. If people drink this lye liquid straight, however, they can die from the poisonous effects. A little bit in bean-cake is not toxic. I remember a place in Manchuria called Eastern Well. There was a headman in the village called Li Sheng-syi. His wife had a fight with him and in a rage committed suicide. She drank a whole bowl full of lye water. Her mouth spit out white foam. Her eyes had rolled back and she was speechless. Her son heard that I was nearby and came looking for me.

In those days, in the coldest part of Manchuria, no matter whether it was winter or summer, I always wore three layers of cotton clothing, and no shoes, socks, or hat. I was young then. The boy came, hoping I would save his mother. At that time I didn't answer him or look at him. He knelt for twenty minutes, kneeling there. He looked very sincere. Usually after a person has swallowed lye for twenty minutes, it is fatal, too late to save them. But I agreed to go with him to his house, where I recited the Da Bei Jou for about five minutes. Suddenly this person in a coma spit up all the lye that she had drunk. She vomited it all up and she was cured. This is a true story of the Da Bei Jou's efficacy in curing illness. Lots of people in Eastern Well, after this incident, began to recite the Great Compassion Mantra.

One time there was a contagious epidemic there. A family of nine people, within three days, sent out eleven corpses to be buried. How is this possible? Two relatives came to visit, and died together with the family. In this little village, many people died of this contagious epidemic. I recited the Da Bei Jou on the outskirts of the village, and the epidemic passed on, it was quelled. The Da Bei Jou can cure all illnesses. This is my personal experience. There were many demons, goblins, and banshees who came to get even with me. They had sent illnesses to people whom I cured. If you save a person, you anger the ghost that is afflicting the victim. If you cure someone, there is still the matter of the unpaid debt, and the ghost is angry. As a result I made angry the li mei and wang lyang ghosts of the mountains, and the water-goblins and spirits of the oceans. I met all of the many imps and spooks of every description. Although the sick people all recovered, the spirits that possessed them wanted revenge. They wanted to kill me. When I stayed at Eastern Well, they sent a flood to try to drown me. The water-goblins tried to drown me there, and the flood they sent washed away over eight-hundred houses. Over thirty people were drowned. The waters rose and receded in only four hours. Even those people who tried to escape by standing on their beds were drowned all the same. It was a flash-flood that came and left quickly. Another time near Tyanjin, the same bunch of water-goblins tried to capsize a ship I was travelling on. It didn't overturn because Gwan Yin Bodhisattva came to my rescue, and I didn't have to disappear into the ocean. For this reason, after I reached Hong Kong, I decided not to play around any longer with other people's affairs.

I also met many unusual illnesses, and incurable maladies that I was able to cure. Unfortunately, if you take care of people's illnesses, their ghosts get upset and come looking for you. Doctors and nurses dispense medicines to cure illnesses. Sickness can be cured by using the five elements to mutually destroy or produce each other. For example, heart disease, liver troubles, the five organs, can be dealt with by taking the right medicine. This method of dispensing medicines is based on the five elements' cycles of production and destruction. If you can produce the right cycle, the person recovers.If you destroy the elements, the illness will not get better.

There are subtle and wonderful principles behind this work. To cure illness, a person must be replete in his personal merit and virtue. No matter whether you are a doctor or a nurse, your virtue must be intact. Why did I say that doctors and nurses are walking the Bodhisattva Path? Because as you cure people and save their lives, you relieve their suffering; this is part of the Path of Bodhisattvas.

Although it is a good thing to do, it hinges on a person's virtue. What is the Virtue of the Physician? "I regard others' sickness as my own sickness. I must exhaust my skill and strength to make that person well." When I was a student I read a lot of medical texts. They were titles from Chinese Medical Lore, such as, The Nature of Medicines Verses; Ba Shr Yi Nan Bing; (Jing): The Pulse Secrets; Sz Bai Rwei Tan Tou Ge; Yi Sheng Jin Jyan: San Han Lun Shang, San Han Lun Jung; San Han Lun Sya; Fu Ren Ke; Syau Ren Ke; I studied them all. But you know that after I finished my period of study, if I had become a doctor, I could have been a very successful healer. Why didn't I do it? Because I didn't have the gall, I lacked sufficient courage. I was afraid that I might cure someone to death. If I could cure ninety-nine out of a hundred people who came to see me, and there was one-half a person I couldn't cure, then I would feel that I had wasted this person's life. So I didn't dare go be a doctor. Moreover, I didn't want to make money. Although in this life I can't say I hated money, all the same I didn't want it either. At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, when we had the grand opening, and over two thousand people came, I said to everyone there, "All rich people, please pay attention! As a left-home person I have had a big fault my entire life. The people I look down on the most are rich people. They are wealth-guarding slaves, people who love money more than life itself. They go into the grave holding grudges and ledgers; they would rather die than let go of their bank-accounts. I look down on these slaves to their wealth."

After I gave this speech, over fifty people who had come from Malaysia wanted to liquidate me, and said, "We have all come to protect you, and now you turn around and scold us, saying we are wealth slaves. How can this be?" They wanted to get even, and do me in. In their delegation there was a left-home person named the Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda. They consulted this advisor and asked him if they could struggle with me and throw me over. Ven. Dhammananda comes from Sri Lanka, and is a Theravada monk.

He blew up and said, "You people have been studying Buddhism for decades, some of you are eighty and seventy years old. Your hair is already white and you still don't understand the Buddha-dharma! I have sat next to Dharma Master Hsuan Hua, and the words he says, every word and every phrase, reflect the Proper Dharma. If you go overthrow him, I will never have anything to do with you again. You go your way, and I'll go mine. I won't be your advisor any longer." This speech subdued them, and I wasn't forced to go through the inquisition. That was the end of CTTB's relationship withrich people. As a result, rich people never came to CTTB. The left-home people all said I was too clumsy. "Saying that cuts off your access to money!" So the CTTB is still as poor as ever, even to this day. We eat left-over, salvaged rice and vegetables. Time now for questions. Don't ask me questions that are too intelligent, because I am a stupid person, and I can't handle the tough questions. Stupid questions I can deal with, after a fashion.

Q: Lots of people are habituated to eating meat. How can you change them?
A: "There are two people inside the word for meat. The one inside is stuck to the one outside. Living beings in turn eating the flesh of other living beings: Isn't this just a form of cannibalism?"

Q: Can we give euthanasia to "vegetable people?" ("Joyful peace mercy death.")
A: I am not a vegetable person, so I won't answer this question. But if I put a person to sleep, I offend heaven and earth's preference for life. If you don't kill him, and he has no chance to live happily? I can't answer your question.

Q: How do I open the five eyes and the six powers?
A: What in the world for? Why would you want to do that?

Q: To walk the Bodhisattva Path.
A: Why do you want to do that? If you know what you are walking it for, then you know how to get the eyes and powers. Look at a baby. He knows how to drink milk very naturally. If you can cut off desire and put down all worldly dharmas, and can be adorned with the myriad virtues, then you can get them. If you only know to seek shortcuts, forget it. It's not possible for you.

Q: How can you cultivate the world-transcending path at home?A: Layman Pang off the T'ang Dynasty succeeded in cultivation while at home. Don't forever be asking "How? How? How?" Use your time well. Don't ask about the five eyes and six powers. This is like climbing a tree to look for fish. You won't find any fish there.

Q: How can you make all living beings seek the Tao?
A: If you yourself cultivate the Way and seek Buddhahood, just this is "all living beings seeking the Tao."

Q: What is the ultimate Dharma?
A: Sweep out all dharmas and leave all traces behind.

Q: How can I leave home?
A: Think it over carefully. Leaving home is not done on the spur of the moment, or briefly.

Q: I brought a glass of water. Can you bless it so I can use it to cure sick people?

A: Bless it yourself. This is much better than relying on external conditions. Don't rely on me, don't rely on yourself. Recite the Da Bei Jou sincerely, and use your own will-power. You will naturally get a response.

Q: I have a patient who seems to get better, and then gets worse. What is going on?

A: This is difficult. If a demon of illness comes and goes, it can be a pig ghost or a horse ghost, who comes and says, "You ate too much off my flesh and now it's time to pay it back." Cancer comes from having done too much killing. If you are afraid of getting sick, then eat less meat. If you don't fear sickness, eat all the meat you want.

Q: Does the Off to Rebirth Mantra really work? Do you have to be enlightened?
A: It doesn't take eight hours, eight hours is not apart from one single thought. If you have gung fu, then with the first recitation, a person can be crossed over. Without gung fu, you can recite until your throat breaks and it won't be effective.

Q: How about holding the precepts?
A: Taking them is one thing, holding them is another. If you truly understand, then do no evil and do all good deeds. Get rid of desire. If you can end desire and have no lust, then just that is it. If you can't cut off sexual desire, then whatever good you do is still considered demonic karma.

Q: If I recite the Buddha's name will it solve all my problems?
A: We don't recite the Buddha's name to solve problems. It's to be reborn in Amitabha's Land of Utmost Happiness. Reciting sutras builds your wisdom. If you have enough wisdom, then all problems are solved at the first touch of the blade.

Q: What does it mean to not seek?
A: Try your best. Don't take what you don't deserve.

Q: How do I get rid of greed, hatred, and stupidity?
A: Kill them.

Source: http://www.gbm-online.com/online/dharma/cheng.html

P/S: I have taken down a blog post on Mark Zuckerberg as I do not wish this blog to be seen as influencing anyone to purchase its stocks/shares.

Dr Wu Lien Teh - the bodhisattva from Penang

There was a local lecture yesterday about the great son of Penang who helped stamped the Black Death Pneumonic Plague in China in the 1910 to 1930s - Dr Wu Lien-Teh (popularly pronounced in Hokkien dialect as "Woo Lian Tay" but it is actually a transliteration of the mandarin name "Wu Lian-de". But in his schooling days in Penang Free School, he is better known as Ng Lean Tuck (although I personally think that it should be Lean Teik since "de" in mandarin is "teik" in Hokkien). His father's name was said to be "Ng Khee Bok". He was born on March 10, 1879. "Ng" is his family name (Wu) in Hokkien dialect. Otherwise, in cantonese, his name is spelled as "Gnoh Lean Tuck". "Gnoh" is his family name in cantonese. "Wu" is in mandarin. In other people, it is sometimes spelled as "Goh".  He had done great deeds to help sentient beings and I greatly adore his sense of duty and responsibility to help mankind even though there was almost zero % guarantee that he will ever leave the plague region alive. He was invited by China to help. He accepted it. I read that another doctor from the Chinese Imperial Navy declined. He got a Queens scholarship and went to England to study medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The name he used (and inscribed on Penang Free School wall) was "Gnoh Lean Tuck". He had a string of other degrees (some of these are honorary).  But he did many researches and several of them very valuable in epidemic study. One of his treatises was published in a journal to the Leagues of Nations (now known as United Nations) and as a result he was the first person of Chinese descend to be nominated to a Nobel Prize for Medicine. He established many hospitals, labs and associations in China and help founded the Chinese Medical Association. The Qing dynasty people greatly adored him and so did the subsequent governments. He served whatever government was in power and was not the least interested in politics. He also stood up for anti-opium and its ban from trade. Read more about this great man in this link -

http://kohkingkee.blogspot.com/2012/04/dr-wu-lien-teh-name-malaysians-should.html

Even though he may not be an active Buddhist in Buddhist activities, but he truly contributed in a great way to mankind... and I suspect in dealing with the epidemic he might have appeased the animals (rats that were skinned for their mink, and that which caused the disease). I am sure he was reborn in one of the high heavens as a great god. People like him are also likely candidates for a manifestation of a Buddha/Bodhisattva. Even though he may or may not be one, but just by his deed alone, I dare say he was indeed a Bodhisattva! I adore and respect this kind of people more than people who wear Buddhist robes but disgrace the religion by their pretence and mambo-jambo concocted "religious teachings". It was a pity that while he tried his best to help the people in China during the plague, his family in Malaysia, through his first marriage, had to suffer. I heard that his wife, and his children all died one by one. They never lived long. Sometimes helping others is like that. Even though on a scientific level, we say that the diseases are caused by bacteria, but there could possibly be an underlying spiritual cause to it as well. And these spiritual causes are unknown to scientists. Spiritual causes are like karma. When people kill animals, they create bad karma. And there are animal demons/spirits that responded to the human bad karma and this manifested externally as bacteria spreading. Through Dr Wu's endeavour to help people, there might have been evil spirits that hated the way he helped people. While the demons were not able to "get" at him, they took revenge by "getting" his family members. I learned that Master Hsuan Hua had also once cautioned people to be careful in helping others, especially in using mantras to cure diseases. So, even though spiritual magic was possible to be used to help people, one must exercise tremendous care in using it. Use it in a not-so-obvious way. We are not Sathya Sai Baba. Even Sathya Sai Baba himself was not spared. His genuine powers were doubted by many and in his old age, it manifested as a debilitating disease to his body and it took away about 10 years of his life. He was originally predicted to live up to 96. He decisively bear all the brunt for our sake. So, these sort of things do happen to us when we try to help others. But if we do have bodhicitta, it's okay and is part and parcel of the activity of compassion. It happened also to Dr Wu, but he eventually re-married. The surviving descendants are from the subsequent marriage. When he came back to Malaysia, he also opened a clinic in Ipoh and he contributed many books to the Perak Library. He bought a house in Chor Sin Kheng Road, Penang and after one week of moving all his books and property back to Penang in 1960, he collapsed from a stroke and died on January 21, 1960. He lived up to the ripe old age of 80. He did not have to suffer a long and painful death. It might have been painful too but it was swift. Only people of huge karma need not have to suffer a long pre-death illness. He was not very much as well-known in Malaysia as he was in China. He lived a lower profile, and declined to join politics even though he was invited. Because of the low profile, I guess that was why the government of Malaysia never really took notice of him and never awarded him any posthumous national title. I feel that he deserved one. If Malaysia could award a "Tan Sri" title to P. Ramlee (a Malaysian local actor of Malay race, singer and entertainer famous in the 1960s and 1970s), why not to Dr Wu Lien Teh, who contributed to mankind (not just China). It is a mistake to see his contribution as just to China. Even Singaporeans were interested in this guy, especially during SARS disease, so much so that MediaCorp had produced a 3-part documentary on him. So, if Singapore and China could honour Dr Wu, why not Malaysia - the country of his birth? I don't see any excuses. His contribution was to China and not Malaysia? Absurd. Malaysia should be proud to have him invited to China to help in that situation of dire need. Other than a small road, a sport house in Penang Free School, and a residential garden named after him, he was not honoured in any other way befitting such a great man. Thus the Malaysian Federal Government and Penang State Government should both honour him pothumously as he should. It is not just my thinking but many people also think that he deseved so much more. Invite his descendants (especially the daughter - Wu Yu-ling) to receive it on his behalf. Neither him nor his family sought after such glories. He was giving selfless service. He did not obtain huge wealth from his duties in China. He did not crave for it. He died an ordinary citizen in Malaysia, unlike the hero he was while in China. But what a GREAT citizen he was - a bodhisattva citizen!    

When he first investigated the plague, he did some tests and confirmed it was spread through the air. Anotehr doctor from the West did not believe it was possible that the bacteria could spread by air, and thus the Western doctor died. The turning point of the plague came after he stumped upon a pile of dead corpse. It was said that it was the cultural or superstitious belief at that time not to cremate the dead. But because the ground during winter was hard, they could not bury all of the numerous dead bodies. There were many such piles across the regions. These piles were the source of the deadly bacteria and Dr Wu quickly sought the permission of the imperial palace to burn these corpses. After that, the number of victims reported daily slowly decreased and eventually the plague was over. From a spiritual standpoint, the pile of dead bodies are where the unhappy departed ones congregate. Because they were not provided with a proper "sending off", most of them hang around the place in sorrow (caught by group karma). For the first time, cremation was done in China and the deceased all departed from the area. That was the likely spiritual reason behind the decline of the plague.

During the talk, there was a gentleman who disputed why the Harbin (of China) people (who built a museum in memory of Dr Wu) described Dr Wu as having a "Doctorate" when actually he was just a "Medical Doctor".  I personally feel that such a dispute arises out of self-interest only. Even though Dr Wu may be a medical doctor but he also had a masters degree. And while I am not sure of the Doctor of Science degree he obtained was a doctorate level or an honorary one, still I feel that he did many researches and he wrote many treatises just like a PhD holder would. And the most important thing was that his peers at that time had a high regard of him and if they did not think he was their equal, their universities would not have awarded to him so many honorary PhDs. So, I feel that he had the necessary skill and knowledge of a PhD holder and that is more important than having the paper itself. Many people have got the PhD paper, but they never did any other treatises or researches after obtaining it. Then what? Do you think these people deserve to keep their "Doctorate" title and Dr Wu did not? Such disputes are absurd. Describing Dr Wu as just a medical doctor would be hugely inaccurate considering the many lab and medical researches that he was involved in, even though he may or may not have a Doctorate paper. Dr Mahathir was not involved in any researches or written medical treatises like Dr Wu. Thus you cannot put Dr Wu in the same level as Dr Mahathir (i.e. a medical doctor). Anyway, it is only academic now. It will not have any impact at all on the great man. If he knew of this sort of dispute over his doctorate title, I am sure he will just laugh it off. That is not the measure of a man. His contribution is. And I am sure he contributed much more than the man who brought or stirred up the dispute.   

Anyway then I read about the more recent plagues and apparently there are still plagues happening in remote places around the world. Just google "black death" or "epidemic plagues" and you will find many cases in wikipedia. One such case happened in 2008 to a US biologist. Read below.  

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-21-plague-grand-canyon_N.htm

In that article, there was this question of what might be the next big epidemic? Well, we have seen one caused by pigs and one caused by birds in recent years. I think that we might have one that is caused by fish or seafood. Pray hard we don't get to see it happen.

By the way, Dr Wu also wrote his own autobiography entitled " Plague Fighter: The Autobiography of a Modern Chinese Physician". It was published by Cambridge. I hope to get this book. He also co-wrote with K. Chimin Wong a compilation called " The History of the Chinese Medicine". Someone during the talk said that it is the only book written in English on the subject, and it still is.  

Picture from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Lien-teh

Do Not Ban Animal Liberation in Taiwan

Referring to this and other similar news ...

http://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-buddhist-animal-rites-killing-millions-163547218.html;_ylt=A2KJNF86CrFPZWsAavHQtDMD

...splashed across the globe and the internet, I have to reiterate what I have written in my previous blog posts before. I feel that such news is happening is due to 2 things:

1. The Buddhists (in this case, especially those in Taiwan) are probably not doing a good job in explaining the significance of animal liberation and its meaning;

2. The media, and especially non-Buddhists, are exploiting the issue for their own benefits. But I suspect that out of these 2 possibilities, it is really our own Buddhist ignorance that contribute to this issue arising. Why do I say so? Well, I have heard of Buddhists supporting the stop of these animal liberation activities. And some of these Buddhists who fail to understand the true significance of animal liberation are Buddhist monks and nuns. What a shame!

The fact that the animals are dying is in fact a sign that the prayers done during animal liberation ceremony is working. This is something non-Buddhists and I believe even Buddhists do not understand. This is because the reason for doing this animal release is not simply to perpetuate its animal life span. On the contrary, the Buddhists intend to help these animals leave or discard their animal lives and get reborn as a human on Earth or angel in heaven, which is better than to remain as an animal. Being animals, they are considered as one of the 3 lower types of rebirth, according to Buddhist teachings. Hence, the intention to help them attain a higher rebirth. And a natural process before they could attain a better rebirth, is to entail them having to die first in their current status as animals.

Unfortunately, our friends in the Animal Welfare or Environmentalist, do not understand this at all. While there are merits for protecting the animals in their present state, what they fail to understand if they ever try to ban animal releases in Taiwan, is that these animals will never be able to get an opportunity to attain a higher rebirth in the next life. They will probably stay as animals for a long, long time. And probably many lifetimes as animals. Those chantings of Sutras and mantras done for animal releases help these animals purify their bad karma and hasten their bondage to the animal kingdom. In this sense, what the Buddhists are doing is indeed a noble act of compassion. And it is far more compassionate than to preserve their habitat and present lives.

But I believe that the Buddhists could do a few things to improve the situation:-

i. Many such animal releases nowadays involve purchasing them outright from wholesalers (e.g. fishmongers, bird sellers). While I do think that it is acceptable even if we have to purchase these animals, a better way would be to liberate them in their natural habitat. It means, we have to go to their habitat to perform these ceremonies, and not bring the animals to us. There was once I even attempted to stop the pig abattoir from working for a day and thus save those pigs meant to be slaughtered by another day. I failed, but my intention of relating to you this story is to tell you that even such attempts is animal liberation. Of course, not to forget cutting down on our meat intake is also animal liberation.

ii. And if it is necessary to bring the animals to us, do make sure you release the animals back to their natural habitat. If possible, release it back to the place where it was originally caught.

iii. If you need to purchase animals for animal liberation, try to purchase them direct from the place where their lives in in danger. In other words, purchase fish from the seafood restaurant, and not the fishmonger. Even though you think the fish from the fishmonger will eventually go to the restaurant, it is different. If you tell the fishmonger you will be buying it from him on such and such a day, he will just catch more fish prior to that. Therefore, it is still better to buy it from the seafood restaurant. But it will mean buying the fish and other sea creatures at dinner meal prices, which will be a lot more expensive. Nevertheless, whether buying it from restaurant or the fishmonger, I still believe the final intention is that an animal liberation done is better than not doing it.

When I first did an animal liberation at an FPMT center, I was told off by one of the center members for catching animals to the ceremony. You see, I told the member that I spend some time to catch some ants at my garden to bring them to the ceremony. I wanted to benefit animals in my natural surrroundings, without having to purchase any of them. Even though I was new to the center then, but I understood the dharma very quickly. The senior member said that the purchase of animal liberation is to release animals and did not understand why I had to catch them. It is a pity that it was him who failed to understand the purpose of animal liberation. After the ceremony, I took the ants back to my garden and released them back to their natural home. That is how animal liberation should be done, and I understood it perfectly well even before I had understood the chapter on animal liberation in The Golden Light Sutra. People should listen to my advice, but since they think they know better, I just kept quiet.

The conclusion of what I have to say is that Buddhists should continue doing the animal liberation chantings but to release it properly back to their original habitat. And not to simply release it anywhere convenient or anywhere they like.  If they are not sure, consult an environmentalists. For the environmentalists, animal lovers and animal protectors, my advice is that they try to understand better what Buddhists are doing in these "animal releases". Do not simply jump to wrong conclusions. And also not to misplace your love for animals and the environment, until these animals have to stay forever as animals. Just imagine yourself trapped in an animal body and unable to free yourself, because no one gets you near a holy object or chant mantras for you. But whatever it is, please do not stop Buddhists from doing the animal releases. It is actually for the good of these animals, even though you see many millions die. For non-Buddhists who do not believe in rebirth and karma, they will say this is rubbish belief. But for Buddhists, it is a blessing to hear the dharma even if it is just for a few seconds. It also does not matter  if we do not understand what we are hearing. Because of the good karma of hearing the dharma, it immediately caused you to be reborn into a better place amongst the humans and angels. So, that's why your animal body has to die. But I caution too that not all animal deaths are due to their good karma. Indeed, it could be releasing the animals into the wrong habitat. That is human carelessness and Buddhists have no excuse whatsoever not to do it right. Hence Buddhists must do it right and everybody gets to benefit from it - i.e. the humans who arranges and performs the chanting get good karma, the environment gets preserved as well as the animals that gets to be reborn into a better place when the time comes. Hence, Buddhists all over the world, and especially those in Taiwan, have a duty to explain to the press media and to their Taiwan Government, the right message about animal liberation ceremonies.   

Ajahn Maha Boowa's Enlightenment

My Comment:

If there is anyone in Theravadian tradition that commands as much of the Thai Buddhists' respect as Ajahn Chah, it is Ajahn Maha Boowa, who is reputed to be an Arahant. I place my highest respect to him. I extracted some paragraph's from a book; title, publisher and copyright as detailed below. You see, even Theravadians have their own enlightened masters. I have no doubt in Ajahn Maha Boowa's accomplishments. He left the worldly life at the long age of 97 years. I have extracted these few paragraphs in the hope that this will inspire faith in people and enable us to exert more effort to achieve the same.

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By the time I reached my 16^th rains retreat, my meditation was progressing to the point where mindfulness and wisdom were circling around all external sensations and all internal thought processes, meticulously investigating everything without any aspect unexplored. At that level of practice, mindfulness and wisdom acted in unison, like a Wheel of Dhamma, revolving in continuous motion within the mind. I began to sense that the attainment of my goal was close at hand. I remembered my earlier vision predicting attainment in that year and accelerated my efforts.

Luangta Maha Boowa

Fortunately, the current of Dhamma that flowed through my meditation had reached an irreversible stage. By May of the next year, my meditation had arrived at a critical phase. When the decisive moment arrived, affairs of time and place ceased to be relevant. All that appeared in the mind was a splendid, natural radiance. I had reached a point where nothing else was left for me to investigate. I had already let go of everything – only that radiance remained. Except for the central point of the mind’s radiance, the whole universe had been conclusively let go.

At that time, I was examining the mind’s central point of focus. All other matters had been examined and discarded; there remained only that one point of “knowingness”. It became obvious that both satisfaction and dissatisfaction issued from that source. Brightness and dullness – those differences arose from the same origin.

Then, in one spontaneous instant, Dhamma answered the question. The Dhamma arose suddenly and unexpectedly, as though it were a voice in the heart: “Whether it is dullness or brightness, satisfaction of dissatisfaction, all such dualities are not-self.” The meaning was clear: Let everything go. All of them are not-self.

Suddenly, the mind became absolutely still. Having concluded unequivocally that everything wihtut exception is not-self, it had no room to maneuver. The mind came to rest – impassive and still. It had no interest in self or not-self, no interest in satisfaction or dissatisfaction, brightness or dullness. The mind resided at the center, neutral and placid. It appeared inattentive; but, in truth, it was fully aware. The mind was simply suspended in a still, quiescent condition.

Then, from that neutral, impassive  state of mind, the nucleus of existence – the core of the knower- suddenly separated and fell away. Having finally been stripped of all self-identity, brightness and dullness and everything else were suddenly torn asunder and destroyed once and for all.

In the moment, when the mind’s fundamental delusion flipped over and fell away, the sky appeared to come crashing down as the entire universe trembled and quaked. When all delusion separated and vanished from the mind, it seemed as if the entire world had fallen away and vanished along with it. Earth, sky – all collapsed in an instant.

On May 15^th of that year, the 9-year prediction from my earlier vision was fully realised. I finally reached the island of safety in the middle of the great wide ocean.          

-      Extracted from “Samana – Luanta Maha Boowa” copyright by Bhikku Dick Silaratano, published by Forest Dhamma Books. 2011.

-       Picture source from : http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=9,9864,0,0,1,0

Happy Wesak 2012

Wesak Day is always the best day of the year for me. For me, this is the Saka Dawa, whereby merits are multiplied by 100 million times. Tibetan Buddhists celebrate Saka Dawa on other days according to their calendar, but I am not Tibetan. So that is quite foreign to me actually, even though I do celebrate these as well. I am more accustomed to celebrating the Buddha’s holy day on Wesak Day, i.e. on the 4^th moon 15^th day of the Chinese calendar.  

I feel that Malaysians as a nation is deteriorating. And I am not referring to the government or politicians. I am referring to everybody generally – almost every sector of the society. I feel that people are becoming greedier, angrier, more emotional, more easily resorting to committing crime, too much politicking, can’t evaluate situations objectively, too impulsive and generally more stupid. This bode badly for the nation.  Even Buddhists with many years of practice and study have narrow-minded thinking and behaving arrogantly.  I don’t mind if people disagree with me, but when people ignore you, it is a terrible feeling. But what can I do? Nothing. I feel deeply anguished especially when I see people’s karma deteriorating badly. What is more saddening is when I see young people no longer having the good karma to be interested in their religion. For them, Wesak Day is only an annual affair, just to worship a statue. They prefer to attend a workshop that teaches you to earn more money on futures, than a dialogue dharma session between a Zen monk and a Tibetan High Lama. Then there was the case of some colleagues who do not wish to donate for a lamp lighting at the 4 Great Buddhist Holy Places and meal offering (Sanghikadana) for monks at the 4 Gelugpa moansteries, but make donations for a fund meant to rebuild a local Tua Pek Kong (a local deity) temple.  I have no qualms about people donating to Tua Pek Kong temple, because I do too at times. However, I am sad when people do not see the vast positive merits created by making lamp and meal offerings at Buddhist Holy Places. It is when I compare these people and myself, then only I realise my good fortune. Tremendously good fortune.

So I hope I will never forget that. And I hope you will not, too. In the meantime I want to share this reminder – one of the last reminders – from Zen Master Seung Sahn. It is a short video I found in youtube. He gave that advice in 2003. He left his body in 2004. For serious practitioners, it is time to get serious with your meditation practice. Ask yourself – is there progress? Reflect on this.

I wish everyone a HAPPY WESAK 2012!

Karma Can be Changed... but not immediately!

TRY MIND

Dharma talk by Zen Master Dae Bong

Some years ago in Korea, there lived a very devout Buddhist family. In his home, the father had a small room set up for meditation. He also had two teenage daughters. The older one was very responsible and always did the right thing. However, the younger one was quite wild. Perhaps today that would not seem so odd, but back then it was unheard of. She’d sneak out at night, go dancing, drinking, sleeping around, the whole nine yards. The older sister was always on her case about it, but the father was very kind to the younger daughter. Finally the older daughter went to the father and complained, She’s no good, she does all these bad things. Why are you so nice to her? Why don’t you correct her?

No, no, no, you don’t understand, said the father. I used to check her room and see that she was gone and then stay up and yell at her when she got home. But one day when I was waiting for her to come back, I fell asleep. When I awoke she had already come back and she was in our dharma room bowing and later sitting. So afterwards I asked her, What were you doing? And she said, I know I have this bad karma, I just can’t control it. But I try to bow to Buddha every day 108 times and sit and hope that I can change this karma. So then I said, Oh, very good. You just continue that way.

Still the older daughter was angry, That doesn’t matter! She still does all these bad things!

But the father remained very kind towards the younger daughter. Over time, the girl’s desire started to calm down. Before she would run out every chance she got, then only a couple times a week and then only once a week. Finally, going out wasn’t that interesting to her any more. She even enjoyed bowing, sitting, and doing things to help others.

At the same time, the older daughter started to think, Our father’s always nice to my sister even though she’s so bad… I’m going to do that, too. So she started to go out at night and dance, drink, and sleep with guys. Then the father started to talk to her. But she would always say, No! I’ll do what I want! I like it! The sister, too, couldn’t get anywhere with her. Finally, the sister had to go with some relatives, grab her, tie her up, and bring her home.

That’s a funny story about karma. Everybody has karma. Some of it we consider good, and some bad. But if we have a practicing mind, then we can change our karma. But if we have an "I like it!" mind and don’t develop a practicing mind, then we will really have a problem. Zen Master Seung Sahn has always been a good teacher because he understands that people have karma. If you want to, you can change even the strongest karma. However, you can’t always do that immediately. But if you keep trying, if you keep developing a practicing mind, then finally you can become stronger than your karma. Then your karma will follow your direction, rather than you following your karma.

Zen Master Seung Sahn said that our karma is like a dog. If you take a dog for a walk, sometimes you walk straight, but the dog runs all over the place. He smells something, then runs over there; he pees and looks for food round and round. But if you are the master and you keep going straight, eventually the dog will end up at the same place you do. The dogs not going to run off completely; it will always come back to where you are. So our practicing mind is like that. If we make our practicing mind strong, then our karma will run this way and that way, but eventually it will come back to where we are; it will follow us. Then we can use our karma to help other people.

Note: It means no matter what is our situation, we should try to bring it into our spiritual practice in order to achieve our spiritual goal. At the least, do not make whatever "situation" or "condition" we have into a hindrance or an excuse not to practice.

source: http://www.kwanumzen.org/2004/try-mind/

Sai Baba's advice: Study the Mind

On the occasion of the 1^st anniversary of Sathya Sai Baba’s Mahaparinirvana, referred to as Maha Samadhi in the Sai organizations, during the puja session, these are the essence of the teachings by Sai Baba given through a video message. The video was of him giving a talk to a group of students during Shivarathri festival in 2009. Firstly he stressed the teachings on impermanence of the body, giving referring to the physical bodies of avatars from Rama’s time until now, they are all impermanent. Their bodies were only an illusion. In actual fact, he stressed that the true form of avatars are formless. Similarly our bodies are also impermanent but our mind is that of Atma - formless. But the formlessness manifest as forms throughout the ages. He is trying to tell his students that similarly his own body is also impermanent and not to be too attached to it.  He also talked a bit on concentration, contemplation and meditation, distinguishing distinctly these 3 terms. He said when we focus on the god form, it is an example of concentration. And when the form moves about, or when there is movement, it becomes contemplation. What he is saying, I think, is that when there is thinking or analysis involved, then it becomes contemplation. It is something like the Buddhist Vipassana meditation. Also, during tantric visualizations, when you visualize the light shining, or visualizing making mandala offerings, then it involves some movements. It becomes “contemplation” according to Bhagavan Baba. When we are developed in these 2 aspects, then only it becomes “meditation”. He said true meditation is when we could see the god-form whether we close or open our eyes. His words reminded me that this is exactly what is stated by the Vajrayana Masters on meditation of yidam. Otherwise it is not “meditation”. Most often, Baba said, people are only engaging in either concentration or contemplation. The sequence of concentration, contemplation and meditation reminded me of the Buddhist way fo samtha, vipassana and then a union of samatha and vipassana. He also added that we should not just meditate, but meditate with love. After that he talked a little on the composition of what constitutes “us”. He said a person is made of body, mind, the intellect and inner senses. I am not sure if the translation is accurate but these are the terms used in the English translation in the video. He said the body is gone when the other components leave it. Lastly, he stressed the need for students to study their textbooks. Note that he was speaking to school-going students. But, he also made a point, and this was the “bomb”. I did not expect it coming. He said they should also study the mind. He paused to let the audience absorb that, and added that, to get their priorities right, if they are in a class, they should only study the textbooks. Although he ventured on to urge the students (mostly Hindus) to study the Upanishads, I was thinking that as Buddhists, he was spot-on to urge his devotees to study the mind. As I understand it, in Hinduism, not many people really study the mind. Therefore Baba advocated them to study it first. Then only they can purify the mind and understand the nature of the mind.  In Buddhism, there are many texts and scriptures devoted to studying the mind, its workings and compositions. Hence Baba’s advice to study the mind is very much in line with the Buddha’s teachings. In my mind, I was thinking, “Yes, Baba… I will continue to study the mind.” With Baba’s explanation of the 3 meditation terms, I feel I am clearer now in terms of the meditation I am doing. At least, now I can understand his simple explanation of these 3 terms. So, that teaching and bhajan session, ended with a queue to make offerings of flowers to Baba. On the way out after offering flowers, each person is to take a pinch of the vibuthi (holy ashes) and a small teaspoon of water to drink and sprinkle on the head. I thought that is very similar to the Tibetan Buddhist practice during empowerments, except that in Buddhism we don’t use vibuthi. We use biscuits or candies instead. Then we all adjourned to take the prasadam (food/meal after the puja, just like Tibetan tshok). In short, I am glad I went. Oh- and I have to add that they did not announce that each person must contribute a certain sum of money for the event. They are silent on that and let individuals donate as they wish. Or, we could purchase the items on sale at the souvenir/gift corner.  One more thing, in the video clip, there were scenes of the funeral and one scene clearly showed several Arabs (in their traditional headgear and long white dress) paying their last respects to Sathya Sai Baba. Looks like there are Arabs who do believe in him. Hmmm...this was quite a discovery. Om Sai Ram.   

Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Advice to Us

The following is picked up from Kyabje Rinpoche's advice as published in the FPMT  2011 Annual Report and also in FPMT's website. Before Rinpoche gave this advice, I have already committed to reducing my meat intake several years ago. I only hope people who profess to be diehard Rinpoche students will learn to take heed of this advice. One of the things they should do is to do away with any meat whatsoever from ever being eaten in FPMT centres. The other thing I want to say is that there are "people from that banished group" (banned by HH the Dalai Lama) had been saying that Rinpoche got a stroke due to his broken samaya with that .... (unmentionable)... This is totally rubbish and nonsense. They create all sorts of contradictory talks even with other respectable Lamas. They want to create doubts in our minds. They should stop all the lies. In honour of Rinpoche and the coming Wesak celebration, I will try to be meatless for the entire day from the 15th of the 3rd Lunar month to Wesak Day (which is on 5 May, 2012). Anyway, here's Rinpoche's sweet advice. 

My very dear most precious, wish-fulfilling, dearest benefactors, students, staff of the FPMT organization, friends and everybody.

Because I had a stroke you can’t imagine all the pujas that have been done in Tibet, India and all over the world, it is most unbelievable the amount of pujas that have been done, such as so many hundreds and thousands and millions of Padmasambhava mantras and Om Mani Padme Hum in Tibet and so on, in many different places by individuals, groups and centers, projects and services. Then especially the liberation of animals, so many in Tibet and other places, of course that is a very good thing as it helps the animals to not suffer and not be killed.

When I was in hospital I saw a program about animals that were sold to be killed in Indonesia and other countries (live export), I don’t know how long this has been going one, must be already for a long time.

On the TV I saw the goats waiting in line, between wood fences, it didn’t show how they were killed, but it showed one cow that was on the platform, with the head tied, being pulled down to be killed. The cow didn’t want to go and the man was pulling it. I thought I don’t have power to stop all this killing, but what I can do is to try to inspire people to become vegetarian and since then whatever teaching I am giving, even if it is tantra, I am trying to talk to people about becoming vegetarian, to avoid eating meat or to eat less meat so that there are less animals getting killed. I am trying like that.

Then just to mention that one person in Vietnam became vegetarian because he heard I was sick and one student from Amitabha Buddhist Center in Singapore took lifetime Mahayana precepts after she heard I was sick and one prisoner in USA also stopped eating meat. So they are really really amazing!

I am very, very sorry, even the abbots of the large monasteries and high officials in the Tibetan Government, when they get sick or die don’t have so many pujas done, but I who is nothing, has no education, from this life and neither from past lives, just an old cow that couldn’t even chew the grass well, difficult to benefit others, so all over the world individuals and also centers did so many pujas and each monks at Nalanda Monastery recited 1000 x the long Namgyalma mantra, so that is really amazing, this helps them so much, it is most unbelievable, most unbelievably powerful, after that they will have so much power to help others, it is such a rare thing to have done.

Really there are no words left to thank everyone, even to those who just did some prayers, with a positive heart, so with my palms together at the heart, really thank you. So now I will try to benefit, with two or three words of Dharma that I know, just like imitating, like a tape recorder, I will try like that as much as possible to help others.

For me this experience has been like learning the lam-rim, which is the heart of the Dharma, the heart of the Kangyur and Tengyur. To really understand that karma is definite - once virtue has been created and dedicated to enlightenment and sealed with emptiness and not destroyed by heresy or anger and once non-virtue has been created and if it has not been purified then it is definite that one will have to experience the result.

Then karma is expandable - even if what is created is very small, the result is expandable. For example according to King Ashoka's life story, when he was child playing in the sand he offered a handful of sand to the Buddha, but he visualized that it was gold and he actually received the merit of having actually offered gold in Buddha’s beggar bowl. In his next life he was born as a Dharma King, he was very wealthy and was able to build ten million stupas in one day. So that is amazing, amazing, amazing, unbelievable merits he was able to collect. So this is the same in regards to negative karma.

This means it is very important to abandon even small negative karma as much as possible and to practice even small good karma as much as possible. To really put effort in this way.

Then if the cause has been created then one will experience the result of that karma, the result will never get lost, no matter how many billions of years ago it was created, one will still have to experience the result. For example we can see this in our lives, maybe somebody is so beautiful, so healthy, then suddenly their whole body totally changes, becomes so sick. They might wonder what happened, that they didn’t do anything bad in this life so why now do they have to experience this pain. So this is the result of negative karma created either in this life or billions and billions of eons ago. One should not relate everything to just this life, that is silly. We must have created so much karma from beginningless rebirth, that we have not yet finished experiencing the results.

Then karma that is created never gets lost – no matter how small the karma is, the result never gets lost. This has been really a serious teaching for me.

Please everybody, dear ones, wish-fulfilling dears, most precious friends, please rejoice in the unbelievable, unbelievable merit that has been created, please rejoice in all the pujas that have been done by every single individual, or in groups, and also please rejoice for all those who have dedicated their lives to FPMT, all the directors and staff who have sacrificed their lives for many years, completely sacrificed their most precious time, as well as those who have done practices, even simple good prayers, for the organization, everyone has taken on so many hardships, this is real bodhisattva actions and real guru yoga practice, by doing the work or practice, thinking of the Guru, so in this way fulfilling His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s advice, fulfilling the wishes of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, by pleasing them by benefitting sentient beings, with the teachings of Buddha, by studying and also by practicing.

On behalf of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe, every single sentient being and minute me - thank you from my heart, with my palms together (even the right hand which has stroke and doesn’t stay up so well) but still putting them both together, with all my ten fingers, thank you, thank you all every day, every hour, every minute and every second, thank you very much.

Please enjoy with bodhicitta, enjoy the happiness of Dharma with bodhicitta.

Lama Zopa

Source: http://www.fpmt.org/images/stories/teachers/zopa/advice/2011%20AR%20letter.pdf

Journey to the West - Part 3

Refer to this link for the making of the “Journey to the West” and theme song, they really put so much effort within those 8 months of fliming. They filmed at so many locations and often have to carry tonnes of equipment along the uncharted paths, and putting up with the weather conditions. Even though the special effect is nothing like the ones you see in Hollywood movies, you have to understand they made this drama series with the budget and equipment/know-how that they have.    

 http://www.firstpost.com/topic/place/dao-journey-to-the-west-2012-extended-th-video-fR14ezMFC0U-85922-1.html .  

There was an episode whereby a certain King of a small kingdom had been pushed into a well by a demon in disguised. The demon-in-disguise had earlier gained the trust of the king ever since he ended a drought and became appointed as the king’s advisor. While sleeping at a Buddhist temple, the Tripitaka Monk had a dream in which the dead king, who had died 3 years ago, sought the help of the Monk to vanquish the said demon. After pushing the king into the well, he turned into the image of the king and told his subjects that the king’s advisor had fallen into the well. Monkey was instrumental in helping reveal to his subjects that the so-called king was actually a demon in disguised. And the Monkey had sought the help from Medicine God (Tai Shang Lau Jun, mainly in Taoism) to revive the actual king and was given a magical pill. The actual king was successfully revived and the demon was vanguised. However, there was a twist at the end of the story. It was revealed that the demon was actually the lion that Bodhisattva Manjusri rides on. He had to manifest on earth as a demon on instructions from the Buddha to cross over the king who had earlier imprisoned the manifestation of Manjusri. Apparently Bodhisattva Manjusri had gone to test and teach the king to be more sincere when doing good deeds. The king was said to be only concerned about his own pride when doing good deeds and not so concerned whether the deeds actually benefited the people or not. Anyway, the lion had gone to help release his master and through consultations with the Buddha had decided to manifest as a demon to turnover the king. Even though the king was pushed into the well, and while being “dead”, he was actually being taught by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The Buddha wanted to enable him to stay in the Buddha’s Pure Land but apparently his merits were not enough yet. Thus he had to return to earth as a human again. The Buddha did not tell Tai Shang Lau Jun but through causes and condition, somehow I think he knew and the pill was given to Monkey. Therefore, we cannot really judge a person by his or her outer appearance. Sometimes outside a being may be a demon, but in actual fact it can be a bodhisattva. Conversely, a person can look very saintly externally, but may have bad intentions in his/her heart.         

There are also episodes whereby a cow (belonging to one dewa) and a fish (belonging to Kuan Yin Bodhisattva) whereby they evolved into heavenly spirits (a type of asuras) after hearing the dharma. I think these stories support the animal liberation concept that Buddhists are doing, particularly the Tibetan Buddhists who chant mantras for the animals to hear before releasing them. Depending on the karma of the animals, they could be reborn into a higher realm, for example, as a human being. But whether they become a good or bad human, depends on their own selves. It is not guaranteed they will be beings of good character in their next life. It is said that bad habits die hard. There was a reason in the first place why they became animals. So, if they even have a little bit of good karma, perhaps they will encounter with someone good who will enable them to change their old ways, so that they don’t get reborn as animals again after only one life of escaping it.

They also came upon a town that had been without water for 3 years.  There was not a single drop of rain and the rivers and wells had also dried up. This episode is important because it shows the existence of God (i.e. the Christian kind) within the context of Buddhism and Taoist beliefs and how the entire town had to suffer because the actions of the king. The king had angrily scolded his wife for offering food to God and the other heavenly gods.  He said that it would be better to eat them themselves rather than offer the food to Heaven. He also said he would rather offer the food to the dogs rather than to the Gods. This kind of attitude was wrong and the Jade Emperor (as lord God of the 3 samsaric worlds) punished the town to be without water. It was not until Monkey intervened and requested the other Gods to persuade the Jade Emperor to stop the punishment. Upon suggestion by one of the God, Monkey told the King and his people that they need to change their wrong attitude and start to have faith ion religious practices. They especially need to believe the existence of Heaven and Hell. They also must respect the Gods and the Buddhas. Once the attitude changed, the Gods were pleased and Jade Emperor commanded the dragons to shower rain in that town immediately. So, from here we can learn that any governments or country that does not respect God or believe in Heavens and Hells, will surely suffer. Due to sometimes the head of the government, the whole country has to suffer. So, choose your governments properly!

The other point in another story is that the Heart Sutra can be used to cut across all confusions and defeat the demons. Once the internal mind is peaceful and clear, the external environment will also be crystal clear. I have also used the Heart Sutra to heal before. Do not under-estimate the power of the Heart Sutra mantra, i.e. Tayatha Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha. 

When the Monk came to Anathapindika’s temple, he knew that was the place the Buddha did many of his preachings. According to the story of Anathapindika, the whole temple and compound was made of gold. That was the condition with the owner of the land with Anathapindika before he could sell it to Anathapindika. And Anathapindika did just that. He covered every inch of the garden with a few inches of gold. The owner had to fulfil his part and the ladn now belongs to Anathapindika who offered it to the Buddha. But when the Monk arrived there, there was only rubble and ruins of the once majestic temple, said to be made of gold. He stepped into the throne hall where the Buddha once was sitting and preaching.  In the movie, he was shown as touching the floor with his hand, and the whole floor and temple ruins magically restored itself and transformed into gold. Even the Buddha was seen sitting on his golden throne together with all his fourfold assembly of Sangha. I think the Buddha reminded him something. After he got the message, the place transformed back into the ruin that it was. All the gold had disappeared. This episode was interesting in that it reminded me of a popular believe among Buddhists, particularly Mahayanists, that the Buddha is still preaching here in all of his places. This is stated in the Lotus Sutra. The only thing was that we are unable to see him or hear his teachings. Only if our heart and mind is pure, could we see and hear the Buddha. Reminded me of the short glimpse I had of the Buddha and his assembly preaching the Sutra. That was truly a wonderful sight I won’t forget!  

Healing with Maha Mayuri & Heart Sutra

I would like to share one story with you. Real story. A family member was sick. She was coughing non-stop and unable to get rid of the phelgm despite taking western and eastern medicine. She was coughing badly, at night it gets worse and everybody unable to sleep well because of the coughing. So I decided to use the Maha Mayuri feather I have to help her. I recited the Heart Sutra and added several other verses of my own together with the Mahamayuri mantra and use the feather to touch her throat region. And guess what? She (and everybody else) slept well for the rest of the night. Even though she did not recover immediately after that, she got better and better after that and eventually recovered fully. I really think it was due to the blessings of the Heart Sutra and Mahamayuri.