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The Aura of Wisdom
- Book 154: The Aura of Wisdom
- Chapter 78:
The Art of Knowing the Future
- 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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Someone asked me, `Can you read the future?`
I replied, `Sure.`
`If you know a disaster awaits you, can you avoid it?`
I replied, `You can do your best to avoid it, but the chance of success is up to destiny.`
`Is there a way to know the future in the teachings of Tantrayana?`
I replied, `In many of them!`
I shall share one practice with you. Take a mirror; purify it over fire before hanging it in the mandala shrine. Then obtain some fragrant flowers and recite the principal deity mantra 108 times to bless and empower the flowers. Then take each flower and recite the deity mantra once and cast the flower towards the mirror. Do this 21 or 49 times. You should sit with a straight posture and look into the mirror. The mirror shall reveal words to let you know what you need to know about your future.
Based on the above principle, you may choose a clean bowl instead of a mirror. Fill the bowl with clean water. First recite the deity mantra 108 times to bless and empower the flowers, then with each additional recitation of mantra, take a flower petal and cast it into the bowl of water. Repeat this 21 or 49 times. Look into the bowl of water and pay attention to the words that appear in it. You will be told what you wish to know about your future.
And again acting on the same principle, you can choose a pure crystal ball and purify it over the fire at the mandala shrine. The practitioner should recite the deity mantra 108 times to bless and empower the flowers. Then, with each additional recitation of the mantra, take a petal and cast it at the crystal ball. Do this 21 times or 49 times. Look into the crystal ball and it shall reveal words or images which will tell you what you wish to know about your future.
However, I do not need to resort to these practices. When I go to bed, I pray to my principal deity and before I sleep I simply shut my eyes and white spots appear, merging into a white inner screen. The future is projected onto this inner screen like a movie for my review.
Today I see no meaning in knowing the future. It is better not to know anything, for any foreknowledge of things also brings early fear.
Do cultivate the Tantric practice truthfully, and rise above all afflictions. Go with the flow and know that self-liberation comes first!
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