| Malaysia
March 3, 1983
Grand Master Sheng-Yen,
How are you! Please
excuse me for this interruption of your quiet cultivation.
As I am your faithful reader, I hope that Grand Master will
find time for a reply and I would be very grateful.
This is what happened.
One day in November, 1982, I saw five books of yours in the
home of my best friend. Curiosity drove me to the point that
I borrowed these five books from my friend. They are: Between
Spirits and Myself, Self Vindication by Spirits, Super-Senses
of Spirits, Invocation of Spirits, Mysterious Earth Spirits.
When I started reading them, I was immediately fascinated.
I could hardly put them aside. I read each of them twice at
least. The more I read, the better I understood them and the
clearer I got. All the queries buried in my heart all these
years were answered all of a sudden. For the clearance of
these long-time doubts, I want to express my greatest thanks
to Grand Master. But for your great books, I was still uncertain
about things in the Heavenly Realms.
Then, I visited
the bookshop for your books. As the saying goes, " Heaven
doesn't disappoint the earnest person," I found as many
as seven other books of yours. Each is equally significant
and excellent. I love the books so much that I can hardly
be away from them for a moment. This strengthens my determination
to turn my heart to the Buddha. I believe that in the world
today many people are studying your books and they are generating
Bodhi aspirations. This is a great virtue of Grand Master.
You have converted more sentient beings than Shakyamuni Buddha,
for if I read the classic Sutras, I may not become a believer.
When I started reading your books, I became a believer at
once. You are the Shakyamuni Buddha of today.
I sat quietly
as you described. In the first sitting I did not get any response,
however, I got some sensation after five minutes; I felt some
electric current travelling along my hands. At first, the
hands were shaking gently and then they began to dance in
the air, as if they were no longer mine. They danced for about
five minutes. The dance had its own rhythm and elegance, very
much like forming a great mudra of a Buddha. Its delicacy
and subtleness make me wonder of all this could really be
true.
After each session
of quiet sitting, my fatigue would completely disappear. May
I ask why? During one of the sessions, it suddenly occurred
to me to ask who was this spirit that had come to guide me.
Surprisingly enough, (I had written out the names of various
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on a piece paper), with my eyes closed,
when I pointed a finger, it was very precise, without the
slightest deviation from the center. The pointing act was
entirely done by itself. After that I used this method to
ask the Heavenly spirit for certain instructions. If the answer
was "Yes," the hand would have a big movement; if
the answer was "No," the hand would just move slightly.
It turned out that 99 out of a hundred cases were correct.
I am really telling you the truth. The one percent that was
incorrect was due to poor transmission when my mind was not
concentrated enough. May I ask, Grand Master, if this is the
"divine hand?"
One day, because
of my work, I felt a terrible pain in my arm in the middle
of the night and I couldn't fall asleep. I had to get up and
lit up the incense to request the Buddha's help. Soon my hands
started dancing, the left hand beating the painful right arm.
This beating was done by itself (not by my intention), and
it lasted for five minutes. Surprisingly, the right arm no
longer felt any pain, and I fell asleep at once. The next
morning found my arm fully recovered. This is indeed inconceivable.
May I ask, Grand Master, if this is "spiritual healing?"
Ever since I started
reading "spiritual books," I have been worshipping
the Buddha, chanting the Buddha's name, reciting the Diamond
Sutra, The Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra, the Six-syllable mantra
among others. I remember once when I was reciting the Prajnaparamita
Hrdaya Sutra, I felt someone slap me on the head when I was
at the words "Form is void and void is form. Sensation,
reception, volitional activities and consciousness are the
same." This one slap made me understand many things.
The whole world is temporary and illusionary. This truth of
temporariness dawned upon me in a second. My God! It is very
important to inspire practitioners with these four sentences.
This is my personal opinion. I wonder if Grand Master would
agree with me.
I have read "Truth
of the Heavenly Secret," I wonder if it can be explained
by "sensation, perception, volitional activities and
consciousness are the same."
All right, I have
written several pages. In fact, what I want to tell Grand
Master can not fully be expressed in many more pages. Even
if I wrote "Thank you" on all the paper in the world,
I could not express adequately my respect to Grand Master.
I also know that
I don't have much chance to receive a reply from you as you
are very busy flying to Europe today, flying to America tomorrow
and even to Africa (I hear). However, I shall wait and wait,
one year, ten years; I will kneel down in gratitude even if
Grand Master sent me a blank sheet of paper. I have also written
a rhyme for Grand Master. This is an expression of respect.
Please don't throw it away.
The Shakyamuni
for today is he,
Who is converting states in the ten directions.
Guang Hua prostrates three times to him,
Determined to follow his teachings.
Best wishes
Guang Hua |
