Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death

Through my spiritual eye, the sight of life, death, and reincarnation displays a multitude of dimensions. Not only is it multi-dimensional, but it also shows multiple lives.

The term `wheel of reincarnation` is a most appropriate description, as it works like a wheel spinning ceaselessly. Yet most people are unaware that it is more than just one wheel, for what I have seen is a clockwork of infinite layers of wheels rotating indefinitely.

The wheel of reincarnation stems from primal ignorance - it neither has a definite beginning nor an absolute ending. Within this wheel are emergence and disappearance, and only Buddhism offers the key to liberation from Samsara, helping one reach the definite Nature of True Emptiness, or the supreme realm of Nirvana. This is the bodhi path that supersedes reincarnation.

I have seen the physical self, the existence of the Atman (Divine Self) as mentioned in Hinduism, which is known as Ruh in Islam, Soul in Christianity, and bardo in Tantric Buddhism.

I honestly say to you that the functions of the body and mind are constantly interacting as a combined matrix of transformation, continuously reacting in a string of unending karmic causalities that create moment to moment patterns. To me, reincarnation does not necessarily occur at the time of death, for such an event may have already happened while one is alive.

I know of a wealthy celebrity who holds a high social status. He moves in high places in the world of politics and finance. Yet, in my spiritual eye, I can already see that his spirit has entered into a new life, though he is still very much alive. Like a spirit being born into a new body, he has already reincarnated as a python. In other words, once he dies, his spirit and physical material will be combined to form a matrix, which is the python. His death will be an entrance into a new life. But wait! Can you believe it? This celebrity is not even dead, and yet, I can tell that his next cycle of reincarnation has already begun.

As I look at sentient beings through my spiritual eye, I have seen:

* a lady who was possessed by a rat`s spirit
* another lady who was possessed by an American Indian fox spirit
* a man who was possessed by a bear`s spirit
* many children who were possessed by the spirits of monkeys, and they were diagnosed by doctors as having Bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness (children suffering from hyperactivity disorder)


Many cultivators are possessed by maras. This is because if a cultivator does not properly practice the right Dharma, and then goes astray and enters into the dark evil path (becoming more egotistical as one cultivates, presumptuous, having deluded thoughts, craving close inter-personal connections for personal gain, fame and fortune), it is easy for the maras to possess him

I have seen a girl who just turned six and she would loudly bang her head against the bed every night. The doctors couldn`t help her, neither could a senior monk nor a medium. Even the use of talismans were useless. This was because in a previous life, the girl had killed someone on a bed, and this bad karma resulted in the victim`s bardo spirit wanting revenge. In this lifetime, the girl must repay this karma by the very pain caused by hitting her head against the bed. This type of phenomenon is known as spirit possession.

I looked at a large hospital through my spiritual eye and observed patients going through throat operations, kidney removals, heart transplants, liver surgeries, skull operations, dissection of intestine and liver, amputations... it is like the punishments in Hell.

I have observed many politicians with my spiritual eye, and those powerful figures who hold great power over the lives of many. Their faces revealed the visage of the Asura King, as they enjoy fighting for power and killing others, resulting in lingering wars that never seem to end. These politicians have long incarnated as Asuras.

The six realms of reincarnation, whether visible or invisible to our eyes, have long left their imprints on our faces, differing only by how heavy the karma is. The six realms of reincarnation (the deva realm, human realm, asura realm, animal realm, hungry ghost realm and hell realm) are formed from the karmic patterns of past, present and future lives. Through my spiritual eye, those spirits who died of suicide are pitiful. Even if they reincarnate as human, they would emerge as deaf, dumb, handicapped, and/or born with strange illnesses.

I once observed a woman who was past her middle age. She had taken refuge with Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen Lu, and had not done any harmful acts in many of her past lives. In her present life, she continues to recite the Buddha`s name and mantra diligently, and cultivates the True Buddha Tantric Dharma. She is presently leading her neighbors, her former classmates, her relatives and friends to take refuge in the Buddha. She has not adopted the monastic life, but serves her Guru as a lay Buddhist to deliver sentient beings. She is very strict with her discipline, keeping the five precepts: refrain from killing, stealing, lust, untruthful speech and intoxicants. She is especially strict when it comes to speech: she refrains from idle chatter, lying, slander and abusive speech. She speaks little, and avoids making nonsensical conversation.

She blames no one for anything and makes no complaints about anything. She is filled with compassion and willingly serves sentient beings by offering them comfort and joy. She feels that sentient beings are suffering too much, and she is willing to help remove their pain. She holds the thought of being compassionate to all beings. When this compassion arises in a person, twelve kinds of invisible benefits will be bestowed on the individual: constantly being blessed, enjoying peaceful sleep, being guarded by the gods, being well respected, unharmed by poison, avoids entering dangerous areas, avoids drowning, avoids being burned by fire, receiving all benefits, becoming famous even if one does not crave it, being able to ascend to the Brahma realm, and be reborn in Sukhavati.

She has also attained non-leakage, not in physical terms, but in terms of being free from afflictions. These afflictions are none other than greed, anger and ignorance, which leaks through the six organs at all times. She has freed herself from greed, from anger, and from ignorance. She is a true practitioner.

When I observed this female disciple with my spiritual eye, I noticed that the area between her eyebrows radiated the light of the white curl, which is one of the thirty two major marks of a Buddha. I was astonished. I verified that she had attained the Vitaraga Bhumi (Stage of freedom from desire) as listed in the Ten Stages of the Three Vehicles of the Hearer, Solitary Realizer and Bodhisattva. She is approaching the fruition of Bodhisattvahood.

Once, while dwelling in the state of Samadhi, she saw me along with over a hundred Bodhisattvas, manifested in the majestic celestial form of the bliss body. The sight was simply magnificent, simply remarkable and extremely touching.

Let me say this. This disciple will certainly be reborn in the Buddha`s Pure Land.

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