If you follow me and practice the Quan Yin Method, then with all the honors of Heavens and hells, I can guarantee that you will be liberated in this lifetime. Even if you don’t become a Buddha, you will be liberated, understand? At least, you will be liberated.
(Dear Supreme Master Ching Hai, when I read the Sutra, the Buddha taught “Immediate Enlightenment in One Lifetime.” But another Sutra said that to be a Buddha, one has to practice spiritually life after life and do immeasurable and infinite merits. Please explain this contradiction.) There are two ways. Now, just to reason for fun, how do you know that you haven’t practiced spiritually life after life? So, if I ask back, then you will see the answer. That is number one. It is possible that you have practiced spiritually life after life already, and this is your last life, OK. That’s why you meet the Buddha and practice the method of Immediate Enlightenment in One Lifetime. That is one of the reasons. Just to talk for fun. No need to prove it. That is number one.
And there is a second reason. Because you asked, I reason for fun. Then you can choose either reason. I don’t need to say whether it is right or wrong. According to my understanding, the second reason is this. This is not based on reasoning, but on what I understand. There are two kinds of Buddha, do you know? One is called Pratyeka Buddha, and the other one is called Perfect Buddha.
Pratyeka Buddha is like this: he (or she) practiced spiritually and attained the Tao by himself. Or he met the Buddha or listened to the Buddha, then he practiced by himself and attained the Tao. He wouldn’t be able to save anyone, because he didn’t have any affinity with anyone. But the (Perfect) Buddhas could save a lot of people, because life after life, They were close to people, took care and comforted, served and sacrificed for them, and loved them. So, once the people meet that kind of Perfect Buddha, they love Him, listen to Him, follow Him anywhere He goes, because life after life, He had practiced the Bodhisattva way to help the sentient beings for eternity. So those are two kinds of Buddha.
For example, you become a Buddha, and you can save sentient beings, then you know that life after life, you practiced the Bodhisattva way already. You sacrificed, you helped people a lot, so you sow the affinity with them. We say that the Buddha saved only those who had affinity with Him. OK. And if you practice spiritually and become a Buddha, but you can’t save anyone, no one listens to you, then you know you are a Pratyeka Buddha. You just become a Buddha in this lifetime. You become enlightened in one lifetime and liberated due to the Buddha power. OK? Either way is good.
If you can liberate yourself, then it is good already. If everyone in this world could liberate themselves, I would be very happy, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas would celebrate. No need to save people, just save yourself. OK? You can practice one lifetime and be enlightened immediately, for sure. If you follow me and practice the Quan Yin Method, then with all the honors of Heavens and hells, I can guarantee that you will be liberated in this lifetime. Even if you don’t become a Buddha, you will be liberated, understand? At least, you will be liberated.
(Dear Master, in the Buddhist Sutra, the Buddha said that bowing to the Buddha is a way to create a good affinity with Him and gain merits. But You said that bowing to the Buddha has no merit. So, do You think that is opposite to what the Buddha said?) No, no. When you bow to the Living Buddha, you have merits, but bowing to the wooden Buddha, you have no merits. Normally, when people say bowing to the Buddha, they mean bowing to the wooden, or bronze statues of the Buddha in the temple, then there is no merit. But when they said bowing to the Buddha, you would gain merits, that was when the Buddha was still alive. Bowing to the Living Buddha, we gain merits, but small merit.
When you bow to the Buddha, you have to have faith in your heart. Your action, thought, speech all have to bow, and you have to pray to that Living Buddha to bless you, for you to be liberated, then you have great merit. But if you bow only because you want to have good business, be prosperous, then that is called small merit. But when you bow to the Living Buddha, what you wish for will come true. But if you want mediocre things like having enough food, or to be rich, etc., those things often will bind you more. So don’t bow to the Buddha with such concepts and bind yourself.
Now, let me tell you this story. You know why I don’t accept monetary offerings from the non-initiates? Because I don’t want them to have such small merits. Normally, the non-initiated outside people, do not understand my teachings. They only heard that bowing to the Buddha, offering to the Buddha, and they will have money, fame and gain, and benefits from Heaven and Earth. That’s all. [They want things from] the Heavens and the human worlds, but they don’t desire liberation. So, I don’t let them indulge in this concept. So, I don’t accept their donations.
Why do you think that I don’t have compassion? No, no, not true. I have more compassion, because I want them to have the concept of liberation. Although they suffer a little, later they will wake up and go look for a Master to learn, so that they can be liberated forever. But if I accept some money, later they will be richer, or in the next life they will become officials and be killed. They are killed by people, they are tempted by money and material things and are pulled into doing sinful things. That is not true helping, not true compassion.
There is a story about Empress Wu Zetian, do you know her? Empress Wu Zetian in one of her past lives, offered a handful of sand to the Living Buddha! She heard that He was the Buddha, but she had nothing, so she offered Him a handful of sand. She was a child, and she offered a handful of sand to the Buddha, and in her later life, she was the Empress of all the people of China. But what did she gain? All her life, she was tormented emotionally, politically, and then died tragically in the cold and empty palace. So, what did she gain? So, I don’t let anyone offer me anything. I don’t want to give you that kind of small merit from Heaven and Earth. But I let you suffer, to understand, to have a taste, then you wake up and practice spiritually to be happy life after life.
(Hallo, Supreme Master.) Hallo, uncle! (I have seen an inner visions.) What kind of eye? (Physical eyes.) What about eyes? (I saw an inner visions). Inner visions. Yes, yes. (My ears could hear inner Heavenly Sounds.) Ah, congratulations to you. (But they are not clear.) Yes. (Could Supreme Master please show me how to see and remember clearly my previous life? Thank You!) Why do you want to see your previous lifetime? (When we can see, can remember our previous life, then we can liberate ourselves.) Oh no, that is not true. We see our previous lifetime then we… (…can liberate ourselves.) No. If we can see our previous lifetime, then it means we have the magical power called “the ability to know previous lives.”
“The ability to know previous lives” is one of the six types of magical powers. (Yes.) “The ability to know previous lives” is one of the six magical powers, (Yes.) that means we can see our own past. (Yes.) And when this body dies, then you don’t have the magical power anymore, then you still can’t be liberated. So, the proof is that Maudgalyayana had six magical powers, but Shakyamuni Buddha always warned him not to use those magical powers. (Yes.) Magical powers can be attained but they can’t liberate you. Only when you know your brilliant Buddha Nature which is never obscured, has no past or future, then you can be liberated.
(So, in the Surangama Sutra, it says about “Văn Tu” and “Huân Tu.” “Văn Tu” is listening [contemplating] the teachings in order to practice, and “Huân Tu” is to practice diligently for a long time. So, could Buddha look at me and tell me who I am?) What for to know who you are? (I have to know myself in order to be liberated.) But you have to practice spiritually in order to know yourself. That is better than if I know you. What for? (Yes.) The world has so many millions of people. To know you, just one person, what for? (Please help and tell me who I am.) You are you. (Yes, but have I attained anything? Buddha has opened Your wisdom eye, so You can see it clearly. I thank You and am very respectful, and I don’t mean anything disrespect.) I know that you have respect, but your concept is wrong. (So, what is the right concept?) Because you don’t want to find your insightful wisdom, your great self, but only want to find (Yes.) one aspect of yourself. It is wasteful. (Yes, then please show me.) Just practice the Quan Yin Method, then you will know yourself. I don’t just stand here to show you like that. (Yes, then can Buddha teach me right now the Quan Yin Method, or do You have to show me in private?) I need two, three hours to show you fully. (Yes, thank You, Buddha.) Yes, if you want to. (Yes, may I see You then?) Later. (Yes. Thank You!) Please take him to his seat.
(Dear Master, the people who committed suicide, is there a way to save them? Can his [or her] loved one who practices the Quan Yin Method, save the person who committed suicide?) In that realm that is a bit invisible, there are the dharma protectors, similar to the emergency rescue teams on Earth. They specialize in rescuing the people who committed suicide and died suddenly. They will bring back the broken pieces of spirit (consciousness) and patch it together again. Similar to this Earth, we have the rescue teams to bring back the wounded people whose faces are torn, so that they can patch up their faces again. Our body has many layers. There is one layer which is called the astral body, and sometimes it is also broken.
The dharma guards who are in charge of rescuing the astral body, will bring those who committed suicide back, and patch them up to be whole again. It is their duty. Those who committed suicide will be rescued but need a very, very long time to be normal again. Because when they committed suicide, their spirit sank to a very low and extremely miserable level. That level is too low, its vibration is too low. And now, if we want to raise that vibration up to the level of human vibration, to the normal level, it is rather difficult. So, it takes a very long time.
We have to use a lot of light, a lot of prayers, a lot of love, to put it together, to heal their broken spirit. Then that soul has to be born as human for two, three more lifetimes in order to be as clever as before, or to be a normal person.
But people who commit suicide, often get lost in very dark, painful worlds, tormented by their sinking minds. “Everything comes from the mind,” do you understand? So, “When one is sad, no sight is cheerful.” So, for example, when you are broken-hearted, or failed in business, then even if your house is the same, your wife and children are the same, your friends are also the same, but you don’t have the spirit to enjoy it all. That is your own hell. There are other hells that are deeper than that. It means your spirit is sinking even lower.
People who commit suicide, often get lost in those realms, which are dark, gloomy, and have no hope, no future light, and it is very hard to save them. Many times, they are immersed in those realms for two, three, four lifetimes, for five hundred years, for a thousand years, depending on the extent of their immersion. Then one day, when they’ve suffered enough, they’ve had enough, then they wake up on their own. Or they have someone praying for them, then they can be saved soon.
For example, when you pray, you say “My son died…,” such and such, and ask the Quan Yin initiates to also pray for him. Then the dharma guards will go and find those suicide spirits and bring them to the Intensive Care. So, they will stay in the intensive care for a while. And they will be nurtured by the light until they heal. Then they are allowed to go back as humans again. But if the suicide spirits have no one to pray for them, then they will stay in a low level for a long, long time. Until after a few thousands of years, they become so fed up with it that they suddenly wake up. Because there is no case that lasts forever.
