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The Aura of Wisdom
- Book 154:The Aura of Wisdom
- Chapter 05: Spiritual Response
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated and edited by True Buddha Foundation
- Translation Team (Cheng Yew Chung, Victor Hazen, Dance Smith)
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It is relatively easy to receive spiritual response through the cultivation of the Tantric teachings. This is a well known fact. It is due largely to the Vajra Master who embodies the Triple Jewels of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. He holds immeasurable merits of all the buddhas, and has the remarkable power of blessings.
An enlightened vajra master may bless a person who keeps a firm and pure faith but has yet to begin any form of practice. This is like a person holding a jug of Dharma milk and pouring it into the empty bowl of the receiver. The person who is blessed at once receives the Dharma milk which fills his or her being, achieving the fulfillment of spiritual response.
In the Tantric teachings, it is common to find a person without prior cultivation and who has barely taken refuge or received empowerment and yet able to gain immediate response.
Should one experience a string of responses and spiritual phenomena, it is important to remain calm, and treat these events as normal occurrences. One`s mind should maintain a sense of balance, best remaining in a state of non-attachment and renunciation. Whether you have spiritual responses or not is perfectly fine, for we should not be too attached to such matters.
When you have responses, you may talk to the Master, or relate them to your fellow initiates. It is best to share your experiences with the Master, and use your responses as a basis of encouragement among initiates. Refrain from telling outsiders. Why? People outside your spiritual circle may not believe in such matters, and you may invite criticism, causing more afflictions instead.
A person with spiritual responses should be cautioned against showing off his or her experiences, which would be a display of vanity. Know that vanity is the seed of the Mara demon, and many have fallen into the path of Mara upon receiving spiritual responses due to this mentality. Hence, the further one cultivates with such a mindset, the further one deviates from the Right View, completely unaware of being trapped in Mara.
If one`s body, speech and mind are pure, it is normal to receive responses.
If one persists in cultivation, it is also normal to receive responses from the respective deities and Dharma protectors.
Do not hold the thought that one has attained the highest spiritual state, superceding the achievements of all Dharma friends, monks, nuns and masters. Once such vanity arises, it is as good as being deluded by Mara.
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