Vow and Practice Creates Better Future and Reincarnation
You have chanted a lot these days. You might feel a bit tired of it, but has anyone felt increasingly happy? (Yes!) While concentrating on chanting, you feel a sensation of flowing. It feels comfortable, but not thrilling, like a sudden release of pressure from your heart. This feeling of release is liberation or awakening. Anyone here had that feeling? (Yes!) Good, some of you have awakened. Please leave your autograph with me, since you are awakened at rocket speed, and it will be hard to catch up to ask you for your autograph.
Enlightenment comes between two thoughts. It starts with a thought, a decision or a vow, and there’s a process for a wish to turn into reality. In self- cultivation terminology, this process is called “bringing the formless to form.” For example, Obama may have thought of becoming a leader when he was a young boy. He started with an idea. When he grew older, he broadened his view of the world and had a deeper understanding of his potential. He absorbed knowledge and accumulated great energy. He was then elected president.
In today’s society, if he hadn’t thought of becoming president early in life, it’s unlikely he would have achieved his goal. If he’s over 50 years old now, then I guess he set a goal of becoming president when he was in his thirties . If he had been older, there wouldn’t have been enough time to realize his goal. He worked hard to fulfill his objective. In the end, he made his wish come true. It takes time to turn a wish into reality. Preparations must be made before the final result shows. Goal plus action leads to success.
Our parents’ destinies influence ours. But we cultivate in the present, in this moment, before it moves on. Time ticks forward forever. If we want to be happy and healthy in the present, we’d better aim for the future because the future becomes the present. Do you understand what I mean? Yes, we target the future. The time for the future is the present. If you look at your watch, you will see that it’s ticking, and it never stops. Now is not stoppable. We practice and accumulate good karma, so that we will enjoy a better tomorrow, next year, and countless next years.
Here is another point of view: Buddhism believes in reincarnation. What we do now affects our life situations in the future. One day your human body will die. As to when your body dies, you don’t know. Regardless of whether you are young or old now, you don’t know when you will die and leave this human world. After exiting this world, there are three options waiting for you.
The worst option is Hell, where beings with a lot of bad karma go; the second option is to be judged by a God, then reincarnate quickly and become a human, animal, or other life form on Earth. The third option doesn’t involve reincarnating quickly. When a person destined for this option dies, as I saw in a film, a man in the film was very kind, and he did many good deeds. When he was dying, a white light was cast over him, and his soul rose to Heaven. If a dying person sees such light, beautiful and propitious light, it normally means that this person’s soul goes up.
What does Heaven Look Like?
Is Heaven divided into many countries? We need to investigate. Buddhism believes in Paradise, and western religions believe in Heaven. Maybe they’re the same place, after all, just bearing different names. Life there is free of worry, and goes on forever. Universally speaking, Buddhism says that the highest level of enlightenment for human beings is to leave the Six Cyclic Realms. What are the Six Cyclic Realms? The Milky Way galaxy. So, souls with good karma are to leave the binding forces of the Milky Way. Souls with bad karma live within the Six Cyclic Realms, in the Milky Way galaxy; if your karma is cleared, or you have very light bad karma, your consciousness will flow out of the Six Cyclic Realms. This is what Six Cyclic Realms means in the context of galaxies and the universe. The context is human, planet Earth, and the Milky Way. If we don’t live in the solar system, our lives will be forever. I will explain this in detail when we have more time.
It is true and simple to understand. There are 24 hours a day here. Assume the Earth is 100 km away from the sun. Now, if I move the Earth to a spot that’s 10,000 km away from the sun, when the Earth rotates once and receives the sun’s rays for a day, a human lifespan would be several million years long. It would be a totally different scale of time and space. Life on Earth would be extremely long. Astronauts have taken the seeds of different plants, such as onion, eggplant, wheat, rice, etc. up into space, and the seeds flew around up there for a while. After being returned to Earth, they were planted. What happened then? The yield was larger than usual. Those regular seeds yielded enormous crops after being taken into space. This was a simple experiment. The seeds were taken into space, flew in the spaceship for two days, and then grew into unusually large plants.
Have you ever noticed growing taller after air travel? No? Have you forgotten? Have you noticed your feet are larger after air travel? Yes? True? Especially women, after flying, their feet are often swollen. As for me, my tongue gets bigger.
By the time I get to Customs, my big tongue doesn’t help me to talk at all. The effect of flight on me is obvious. In the universe, position in space is important. Now you understand why there’s a belief about gaining eternal life in Heaven. It’s true.
How can We Escape the Six Cyclic Realms? Chanting
How can we fly out of the Milky Way then? Buddhism says that a person without any karma can do it. We want a better future in which we will live a better life. As long as we live, we want to be healthy, happy, and wealthy. Poverty doesn’t bring health and happiness. Do you know of anyone who is healthy but has no money? Is there anyone like this? You could try an experiment for a month. If you usually spend $1000 a month, try to spend only $100. See how you feel afterward. You probably won’t be as healthy as before. Poverty brings lots of problems.
Some people are blind to this and comment thoughtlessly. Like in a film I watched, which depicted the Tibetan people as very poor, yet happy every day. I don’t think that’s true. The film only showed scenes of singing, in which the people seemed to be happy, but how about after singing? Food shouldn’t be obtained through robbery. And if the whole area is poor, there isn’t any food to steal. Nobody has any food. I don’t believe anyone would want to sing often when hungry. I’m talking about the reality. Hope you will face the reality. Vanity is of no use. Don’t say hypocritical things such as: We are poor, but our spirits aren’t poor. No use. When your belly is empty, even if you say you’re not hungry, you feel hunger. Reality can’t be fooled.
Become a better person, make a better future and another purpose for our offspring. Your child is a life born of a couple’s love. This life is an extension of your life. This child born through you and your love is an extension of your life. Remember, your child is your future. Therefore, to better ourselves, to better our future, which includes our children, let’s learn the secret method that I have to offer.
During my intensive years of dharma-practicing, when I received an inspiration, I felt that I’d discovered a secret treasure, and I shouldn’t tell anyone. Therefore, when my pals or older meditators asked me how I mastered a method, and why they couldn’t get over certain difficulties, I knew the answers but didn’t want to tell them. The reason was that it was too difficult for me to master the method. It was like I had a golden key, and only I knew how to use it. Whenever I needed money, I could use that key to unlock a brick of gold. So, I thought that I shouldn’t tell others about the key or gold because I had paid a huge price to master the method. Today, you only need to attend a class and learn from me, and you learn a method that can change your fate. A secret. Isn’t it easy for you to obtain such a treasure?
Today, I’m going to be the fool and teach you this secret method. It is not because I’m compassionate, but because I have slipped my tongue. I feel we are connected, and when I look at you, I feel I owe you money. Yes, I owe you. So, now I use this secret method to repay my debt. All my creditors should stop chasing after me. This method is so powerful that it will change us completely. If not for this method, given the social environment I was born into and the IQ I was born with, I wouldn’t have the achievements I have today. At best, I would have taken over my father’s job, laying bricks at construction sites. This would have been the best job I could get. Yes, this was my original fate. If I have helped others to become healthier and happier, and if I have made my life stronger and greater, it is the result of my study and practice of this method. To make your future more wonderful, to help your offspring enjoy life, utilize this direct way: Chant for them.
Chant for Your Children
Some people would agree that it is a good idea to chant for our children. They have already done many things for their children. For instance, they have saved a lot of money for them or have certain investments such as properties. Some parents try to earn more money to ensure their children have a good study environment, or they support them in finding a better workplace. They help them all the way along their life’s path. They do what they do out of love for their children. All parents love their children. It is great that these parents care deeply about their kids. They act from the parental point of view. However, sometimes children don’t perceive things the same way.
As I have observed, some parents are not well-off, but having a child makes them feel pressure and responsibility, so they work harder to earn money in order to provide the best for their child, including the best schools and learning resources, so that when their children become adults, they will not be left behind in society. However, how do the children feel? How do they see their world? A lot of children, from birth onward, have been provided with the best things. They think money is plentiful, and they actually feel pressured to spend all of it. They pass their days figuring out how to spend it. If buying stuff is not enough, perhaps they will gamble. Have you ever thought of this?
Some children reject the economy car bought by their parents, saying that such a car will prevent them from finding a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Then the parents buy a more expensive car. After a couple of years, the child complains about its old style, although it was expensive. Then the parents ask, “What kind of car do you want?” The child says that convertible coupes are in style, so they buy a red one. Soon after, the child complains, “The popular color next year will be yellow!” He doesn’t want to re-paint his car, so his parents buy another new car. Behind the demands of the child is pressure to spend money. He wonders why there is still so much money left, even when he spends a lot. That sense of pressure motivates him to spend more. Therefore, it happens often that the first generation accumulates wealth, and the second generation squanders it. This seems to be a typical tendency.
How do we prevent the next generation from becoming decadent? I have an idea. Since you have done everything you can think of to help your children, do one more thing, that is, invite a deity to help. Invite the well-known Guanyin Bodhisattva, as well as the Medicine Buddha, to help you guide your children. Chant the names of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, chant seriously and sincerely, and leave your children to them.
The Medicine Buddha said that he would help all humans who have gone astray return to the right path. He said this clearly in his vows. Your children may have gone to the wrong path, and if you don’t intervene, they may continue to do so. Do not think that when they grow up, they will naturally know better. There is no guarantee of that. I suggest you chant and pray that the Buddha and bodhisattvas will guide your children. I hope you will chant sincerely for your future, for your life’s extension – your children. Better to give them blessings than money. If they are blessed, all their needs will be taken care of. If your children are immature, and you give them everything, they will take it for granted and squander everything. This kind of story is very common.
There are numerous such stories on the Internet. I read one story recently: A businessman in Taiwan had earned a lot of money, but in the ten years after his death, his son spent all of it. In only ten years, all the wealth was gone. Not only was the money gone, he was also put in prison because of his involvement in criminal activities. In prison, though he had no money, the gang still tried to kill him. Through great suffering, he finally came to realize that he had let his father down. So much wealth was squandered. In the end, he had no shelter and feared for his safety. He was bullied and beaten by other inmates.
After seven or eight years, he awoke. He came to realize that he wanted to be a human in the real sense. No interest in being rich again. He got rid of the old bad habits – life in prison helped with that. He got out and worked hard. He went into business and was good at it. Due to his motivation, he became a famous businessman in Taiwan. He went through everything to come to a realization. But many people don’t have the chance to awaken. They run on the wrong track. Without awakening, they sink to the bottom and never rise again. This businessman woke up. It is fortunate. Thus, let’s wish our children well.
Some of you want to be enlightened like the Buddha. I would like to ask those who want to pursue practice until enlightenment, please raise your hands. Very nice, good luck to you, may you reach your goal. Some students practice not for their children or any specific purpose. They just hope that dharma’s light shines on them, that their hearts resonate with Buddha’s, and that whenever they think of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, their images appear immediately in their mind. There is a state of mind where the Buddha appears whether one consciously thinks of him or not. This state is called “union with the Buddha.” It is a state of extreme compassion and wisdom, which is close to total enlightenment. As long as you work hard, you will get there.
Let’s start chanting. But don’t cry or shout, just chant with a relaxed, sincere heart, with all the cells in your body. How many cells are there in our bodies? Two? No, we have two eyes. There are countless cells. Billions of cells build our bodies. I always visualize all my cells chanting with me. I invented this chanting method. I visualize that every cell is a little me. This concept is found in the study of genetics. It is possible to clone a creature using cells. When we understand this, we know each cell is actually a little “I.” Do you get it? Now billions of cells of mine will chant with me, and chant sincerely.
In this way, one line of chanting becomes billions of lines. Accordingly, the effect is multiplied billions of times. If you find it difficult to think of each cell as a little you because there are too many, you may visualize that the whole Universe is full of you. Each little dot in the Universe is an “I,” and they all chant together with you. Imagine how huge the effect is. Let’s start chanting. This is a shortcut to enlightenment. You are so lucky to have met me. Let’s start. No need to kneel; you want to be relaxed as you chant and visualize. The way we chant this time is different from how we chant for parents. This time we sit comfortably and keep our bodies relaxed. For further comfort, you may sit on an extra cushion. Keep your bottom higher than your crossed legs, so you won’t feel tired easily. Put something else underneath if you cannot find another cushion.
