Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death

While living in a secluded retreat at Leaf Lake, I once said, `The Buddhas, bodhisattvas and I are one happy family.`

I often say to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, `Let`s have a meal! I`m going out to buy some fruits! I am going to sleep! Today is really hot! I am wearing a T-shirt and my Bermuda pants! O Buddha! I am awake!`

By no means am I being vain. This is how I spend my time in my secluded retreat. When I fell ill, I even told the buddhas and bodhisattvas, `I don`t want to live too long. The illness is too painful and terrible. Can you prevent me from getting sick? Please deliver and receive me for rebirth to the Pure Land!`

I laugh when I think about my present life. I cannot put the blame on anyone else. I have come to this world freely, and I will leave this world freely. I have nothing, absolutely nothing to worry about. I am essentially a member of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, as we are always together.

Do you know what Yoga is all about? Yoga is response, which means union. I am someone who is connected with the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Thus, I am a great benevolent friend. In reality, if any defiled spirit begins cultivation with the discipline of his mind, untainted by the afflictions of emotion and consciousness, and keeps his mind free from hindrances, then it would be certain that the True Mind, True Reality, True Buddha, the inherent Tathagata Store Nature, the Omniscience Wisdom, the Light of the Dharmakaya, will reveal Itself.

By cultivating Yoga, I become a family member of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. By cultivating Yoga, you will also join the family of buddhas and bodhisattvas. We are one big family!

The bardo spirit leaves the bonds of the physical body, and exists in a state prior to reincarnation or rebirth. This state is a pure, opportune moment where the Light of True Reality reveals itself, and thus creates an opportunity for the deceased to recognize its Original Self.

My view is this: upon the removal of illness, pain, the physical body, and defilements, the bardo spirit gains response and union with the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Doesn`t it make the bardo spirit part of the family?

The bardo spirit can be succored and delivered. It is no less different from the deliverance in the physical world. There is deliverance available in the netherworld too! It is similar to my expounding of the Dharma at the Great Yin Mountain, where I could deliver the sentient beings residing there. However, one must have the right wisdom to help the bardo spirits receive the actual benefits.

I once witnessed the spirit of a lotus practitioner who feels extremely comfortable when he sees the sight of man and woman in sexual union, which fills his body with a tinkling sensation. He was on the verge of entering the womb door.

I appeared to stop him, yet he cried, `Master, don`t block my way!` He ran to the east, I stood in his way. He ran to the west, and I stopped him there. He ran to the north, and I blocked his way in the north. He ran to the south, and I blocked his path there.

This lotus practitioner was fond of watching pornographic movies, and after he died, his habitual patterns remained, and thus when he saw the image of sexual union between a couple, his spirit was elated, and he felt euphoric. Even if his master were to appear to save him, he was dashing about to evade him, trying his best to enter the womb door regardless. The entrance into the womb door is tempting, as it can produce a euphoria that resembles the friction of sexual intercourse, lasting a few seconds or minutes. Thereafter, it is entry into the womb, and the spirit is reincarnated into the six realms of Samsara.

I shouted, `Don`t enter the womb door!`

He yelled, `I want to die in comfort. It is better to die a death under the rose [a metaphor for woman] so that it`ll turn me into a lustful ghost!`

`The rose has thorns!`

`I could not care less!`

I asked him, `what is the purpose of cultivation?` He was dumbfounded.

I said again, `The True Buddha Tantric Dharma is yoga, and yoga itself is wonderful in its ways which are best suited for the control of the mind. He who can control his mind is a holy sage, and he who fails to do so is a mundane mortal. You had spent a considerable amount of effort in your practice of Yoga Tantra, and there is only one reason for the practices of taking refuge, cultivation, and yoga, which is to sever the ties that bind you to Samsara. Don`t you want to be liberated?`

This lotus practitioner had taken refuge and cultivated in his lifetime, but he had not gained yogic response in any way. Thus, despite my effort to explain to him, he still shook his head in refusal.

I asked, `What is right wisdom?`

`Don`t know.`

`What is the Fourfold Refuge Mantra?`

`Couldn`t recall.`

`What is the Guru Heart Mantra?`

`It`s forgotten.`

`What is the mantra of your principal deity?`

He seemed like he had become drunk after drinking alcohol, and asked me in return, `What is a principal deity?`

Needless to say, it is a rare thing to find an individual who is completely free from afflictions, as the mental condition of most bardo spirits are weighed down by their habitual patterns of their past and present lives. Even though my disciple had taken refuge and made some effort in cultivation, he had not gathered the power of yoga through attaining yogic response. Thus, the Clear Light of the guru, principal deity and dharma protector did not appear, and instead, he instinctively wanted to dive into the womb when its door appeared.

Naturally, a person has to cultivate the True Buddha Tantric Dharma for a long period of time before he gains accomplishment. Some would take as many as several lifetimes of observing right wisdom and right action before his actions are completely pure. However, this is exactly what is being carried out in the deliverance of the bardo spirit, which is to awaken his awareness to right wisdom, the Triple Jewels, and the Three Roots of guru, principal deity and dharma protector. There is hope for salvation if you are awakened. Right wisdom is needed in your lifetime, and just as essential upon your death. Only then can you become a family member of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

This lotus practitioner had drifted into illusion, and could no longer be awakened. I could not help but sigh!

His life essence is linked to the joy of entering the womb, but he was unaware that the womb he was entering was the mouth of a serpent, and once he entered into the womb door, his fate was sealed.

I succeeded in awakening his consciousness (right wisdom). However, I could not awaken his Tathagata Storehouse Consciousness, also known as the eighth consciousness, the Alaya Consciousness, the True Buddha, which rises beyond the defiled awareness of the thought consciousness.

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