Text from the True Buddha Sutra:

The White Padmakumara, silently calling forth his spiritual power, transformed the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds into an extraordinarily splendid place filled with golden light. All the flower-buds simultaneously burst into fragrant blossoms. Jade grasses sent forth a wonderful scent. White cranes, peacocks, parrots, saris, kalavinkas, and jivajiras all took on a golden hue, and sang graceful, heavenly songs in harmony.

The White Padmakumara silently called forth his spiritual power. This is a wonderful usage of the word "silently" because spiritual power is, after all, invisible and inherently present in all of nature's transformations. Clouds in the sky transform into water through their spiritual power. Through its spiritual power, water transforms into ice. Ice transforms through its spiritual power into water. The spiritual power of water again causes itself to transform into vapor. All these various transformations are manifestations of the spiritual powers of nature.

A person who possesses spiritual power may cause changes in the material world. He can cause clouds to turn into rain, rain into ice, and ice into vapor. All these transformations are just natural manifestations and "a silent calling forth of the spiritual power."

In reality, many housewives are already "silently calling forth their spiritual powers" when they prepare meals in their homes. First one goes to the supermarket to buy a fish, the kind that is quite cheap, with a nauseating fishy smell. Then one comes home and starts marinating the fish in soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and green onion. The fish is then fried in fragrant oil. In an instant a foul-smelling fish is "silently transformed through spiritual power" into an "aromatic fish." After such aromatic food is consumed by each of us, it again undergoes "silent transformation," turning back into something that is as foul as it was before.

Vegetable growers use fertilizers. Some use organic and others use chemical fertilizers. But even the chemical fertilizers use ingredients such as nitrogen urea and amino acids, which are manufactured or derived from organic sources. The Universe is a miraculous recycler. When the filthiest and most foul smelling substances are fed to plants, fish, fowl, or mammals, they become nourishment for growth and expansion. The filthiest materials give rise to the most fragrant things, which in turn produce the most foul smelling substances. The foul are fed into the aromatic and the aromatic are fed again into the foul. They mutually nourish each other. If one sees this relationship, one will understand that the underlying principle of the Universe is an ongoing cycle of transformation, a "silent manifestation of spiritual power" through the phenomenal world.

Everyone has the potential to cultivate to the state where one is attuned with Nature. In this achieved condition, one may "silently call forth spiritual power" to act in accordance with or even bring forth transformations in Nature. Such powers are spiritual powers.

We know that X-rays can penetrate the human body to provide a picture of the bones and organs inside. When one's eyes develop an X-ray like ability, one obtains the faculty of divine sight. A person with divine sight can aim his or her eyes at a space satellite and watch the live-action Olympic gymnastic competitions. Images transmitted from the Olympic venues to the satellite will be deflected to one's eyes, and a person with divine sight can watch gymnastic events thousands of miles away.

If we want to talk to a friend in Taiwan, Singapore, or India, we just pick up the telephone and dial the number. If one develops divine hearing, the ears become like a line that extends all the way to the mouth of the friend. One may hear a friend's conversation without picking up the telephone. The development of such abilities is not impossible and is entirely dependent on the "silently calling forth" of mysterious and wonderful faculties. How is "silently calling forth" accomplished? It is achieved by completely quieting down until the deepest level of consciousness is reached. The moment the self reaches the most quiescent and fundamental level of consciousness, it is transmuted into Emptiness. At that moment, one is in a state of attunement with all powers, and the greatest spiritual or miraculous power occurs.

In the future you can learn to create this miracle. For example, say there is a flower bud in front of you and, by silently calling forth your mysterious and wonderful power, you command the bud to bloom. If you can do this, you can transform the world into an extraordinarily beautiful and splendid place. A person with great transcendental powers can even cause changes in the weather. It is autumn as I speak, and the weather is turning colder and most flowers are withering. A person with spiritual power can change fall into spring. It is fall or winter on Earth when the light and heat of the sun have to travel a greater distance to reach the Earth. By "silently calling forth the spiritual power," and slightly altering the angle between the sun and the Earth, one can transform fall or winter into spring or summer, making it so warm that one starts to perspire. In reality, even a slight shift of the Earth's position in relationship to the sun will result in a complete alteration of the climate on Earth.

With silently calling forth the spiritual power, "all the flower- buds simultaneously burst into fragrant blossoms." As mentioned earlier, with a gesture, all flowers opened into full blooms. Next time I will teach you how to perform this miracle. The student who is a florist is happiest about this! With this miracle that I can teach you, your flowers will stay open without withering. But then this may not be such a good idea either, since people, after buying flowers once, won't need to buy any more for the whole year. Then your flowers won't sell either. I think it is better that you do not learn this kind of miracle.

"The White Padmakumara, silently calling forth his spiritual power, transformed the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds into an extraordinarily splendid place filled with golden light. All the flower-buds simultaneously burst into fragrant blossoms. Jade grasses sent forth a wonderful scent." In an instant, all flowers burst into blooms and all grasses released wonderful fragrances.

"White cranes, peacocks, parrots, saris, kalavinkas, and jivajiras all took on a golden hue, and sang graceful, heavenly songs in harmony." Why do these birds take on a golden hue? Because gold signifies the highest value! "Graceful, heavenly songs in harmony" refers to the most peaceful, elegant, and melodious sound.

I have said before that the harmonious and graceful, heavenly music found in the Western Paradise is a very powerful kind of music. Just imagine, in the future many people in this world will be going to the Western Paradise, and not all of them will have their karmic hindrances completely eradicated. These people are able to be reborn in the Western Paradise, but they still have some obscuration in them. Since these people are not completely free of egotistic desires, will they covet or steal the beautiful things they find in the Paradise? Isn't this going to pose a risk to the celestial maidens in the Western Paradise?

Such a worry is unwarranted because of the existence of the harmonious and graceful, heavenly music. "Oh, what exquisite jewels, I must take some with me!" As soon as this thought occurs, the harmonious and graceful, heavenly music will flow into one's inner being, and the desire to steal will vanish. A sacredness will well up inside one's heart, "I am a holy person, how could I take these things?" When one's lusts are raging like fire, this harmonious and graceful, heavenly music will pour down upon one's head like cold water. This most beautiful, pure, and transparent ice cold water will rinse away the filthy thoughts in one's mind. Some individuals who arrive at the Western Paradise may still be emotionally attached to their spouses, children, and money. Although they have been reborn in the Pure Land and cannot go back to the world, they still worry over unresolved business there. In any case, as soon as they hear this harmonious and graceful, heavenly music, all of these troubling thoughts will disappear.

The harmonious and graceful, heavenly music is a very beautiful and wonderful realm of consciousness. Some people have homicidal tendencies within themselves. Sometimes, under stress, they want to kill others. When these people of strong destructive tendencies arrive at the Western Paradise and hear the harmonious and graceful, heavenly music, they will not want to kill. All thoughts of theft, lust, and even murder will be transformed by this music. Therefore, this harmonious and graceful, heavenly music has a most sacred and wonderful cleansing effect.

I have said before, there is sadness in the human world. Why is the Western Paradise called the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss? Because one is always in a blissful state there. As long as one hears the harmonious and graceful, heavenly music which flows through one's heart, all emotional afflictions will vanish and all of the cells in one's body will dance to the music. Once this dancing starts, it cannot be stopped. This is the reason behind "Ultimate Bliss."

Someone asked me, "Grand Master, such a soothing piece of music sounds really nice. But wouldn't one get tired of it if the same piece of music is played over and over again?" Do not worry, there are billions of pieces of harmonious and graceful, heavenly music in the Western Paradise. I assure you that you will never exhaust them all. Your lifespan there will be measureless and the music of "Ultimate Bliss" is endless.

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