Teachings on Questions from Practitioner Wei Ting

The Infinite Nature of Space

My child, I ask if you can accept the concept that space is infinite? If you are willing to open your heart to this understanding, the questions you have raised regarding communication with the spirit realm can be resolved.

The six realms of existence and the four holy realms all reside within different dimensions of space. Beings in higher dimensions can perceive those in lower dimensions, but those in lower dimensions cannot perceive the higher ones. In the Buddha’s teachings, all beings are equal and possess the potential for Buddhahood, for this is the nature of our original self. However, because of our varying degrees of defilement and the different actions we have performed, we find ourselves residing in different spaces. This is true for both the living and the deceased.

In the True Teachings, as one’s level of purification increases, the functions of the Six Roots naturally manifest. Before one reaches Awakening, the Six Roots—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—exhibit different capabilities based on one's karmic conditions. This is not a matter of relying on external spirits or mediums to possess the body. Rather, it is the manifestation of one's own innate abilities after purification. Within this process, different capacities naturally emerge.

At the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, those who have opened their space are able to communicate with others. This is not achieved through the possession of a spirit. Instead, messages are transmitted by the spirits themselves, or by Namo Amituofo, the mountains and rivers, the flora and fauna, the sages of the Western Pure Land, the ancestral masters, celestial beings, and the inhabitants of the six realms and four holy realms. The one whose space is open records these messages, which then become the interviews you read. Since space is infinite, the subjects available for such communication are naturally not limited to the deceased.

The Reality of Communication with the Departed

You asked if the deceased can appear in the dreams of their family members to convey messages, such as telling them that Practitioner Su has helped them reach a beautiful place and urging them to perform good deeds. Regarding this, please understand the following:

• The deceased and their living relatives reside in different spaces, making it difficult to resonate or communicate.
• Often, the space between them is obstructed by heavy worldly defilements.
• The presence of many attached spirits around the living can interfere with the sending and receiving of signals.
• Even when communication occurs, it is common for the living to forget the experience upon waking, leaving no clear memory of the dream or the scene witnessed.

The Karmic Roots of Illness

Regarding the development of medicine, vaccines, and the control of infectious diseases, these are all part of the human realm. They are deeply intertwined with the subtle relationships of time, the laws of karma and cause and effect, the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and the cycle of rebirth. These are all links in the chain of human existence. The Buddha’s teachings do not deny or reject these worldly developments; the current state of the human realm is simply the result of the karma created by all living beings.

The law of cause and effect across the three lifetimes is a Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. It was true in the past, it is true now, and it will be true in the future. The difficulty today is that people ignore these laws, do not believe in them, and fail to understand that their karmic creditors and the accumulation of karma are intimately linked to their own experiences of sickness and death.

Healing Through Resolution

At the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, we practise in a quiet, dedicated manner. Through the eyes of Practitioner Su, we can see these karmic creditors and communicate with them. By resolving the conflicts between the person and their karmic creditors, we invite the creditors to leave the body of the host. This allows the host’s condition to improve, alleviate, or even heal.

This process requires both the host and the karmic creditors to listen to the sutras and hear the Dharma. When the creditors understand the principle of cause and effect and realise that mutual retribution only leads to further suffering, they become willing to accept resolution. Because Practitioner Su has opened the space between this world and the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, the creditors can witness the Buddha-light and the beauty of the Western Pure Land, or the suffering of the hells. This calms their hearts, allowing them to leave the body and release the host from their illness.

However, if the host’s mind becomes restless again, if their personal ego and selfishness resurface, or if anger and dissatisfaction arise, they may attract the same type of karmic creditors once more. In such cases, we must invite them out again. Therefore, all dharmas are mind-only. External conditions and Dharma-affinities are merely supportive; they are a way to treat the symptoms. The true cure must come from the host putting in the work within their own heart, practising, subduing wandering thoughts, purifying the mind, and then regulating the body. This is the only way to treat the root cause.

The Compassionate Sacrifice of Practitioner Su

The leg injury of Practitioner Su was not caused by his own karma or his own karmic creditors. Rather, it is the result of his willingness to take on the suffering of beings who refused to be resolved during the process of spiritual deliverance over the past thirty years. This is what we call taking on the suffering of beings. It is a path that is truly difficult to walk, yet Practitioner Su moves forward without fear of pain. Even when his leg is in such agony that he can barely walk, he continues to lead the Thrice Yearning Ceremony without interruption, visualising the deliverance of beings to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Those who can perform such deeds are certainly not acting with the heart of an ordinary person. If one has not reached Awakening, if one is not a practitioner of great compassion, or if one is not a Buddha or Bodhisattva who has returned to this world, it would be impossible to endure such hardship. Those who have witnessed this are filled with gratitude. It is because of this that 1,162 Venerable Ones from the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss descended to enter the body of Practitioner Su to heal his leg. This is beyond imagination, yet it is the truth. The stories of our interviews with these Venerable Ones are each profound and authentic; you may read them to understand more.

Because Practitioner Su’s injury has accumulated over twenty or thirty years, the physical body has its limits. The muscles, ligaments, tendons, and cells have suffered severe damage. Although the beings are invited out, it takes time for the physical body to gradually recover. Furthermore, the number of beings is immeasurable; they cannot all be invited out in a single day. That Practitioner Su can walk today, through his sheer determination and endurance, is a great blessing for all beings. As long as Practitioner Su remains in this world, countless beings will be delivered by his Dharma Body and find relief from their suffering.

The ability to bring rain to Goombungee, Toowoomba, Brisbane, and other areas—benefiting both the living and the deceased—is one such example. This is the power and capability of Practitioner Su, and it is only achieved through the great utility of the Holy Name Namo Amituofo and his ability to send beings to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Otherwise, how could the collective karma of a drought be turned so easily? It is only through this that the suffering of the people can be relieved.

The Universal Path of Goodness

The meeting point where all religions converge is the single word: Goodness. Compassion is the supreme medicine for resolving karmic conflicts and disasters. There is an old Chinese saying: Good deeds bring good rewards, and evil deeds bring evil retributions. However, many people become fearful after they begin to study the Dharma. They worry that by helping others, they will have to shoulder the other person's karma. They fear that the spirits attached to others will transfer onto them. If this is the case, who would dare to help anyone? Who would dare to study the Dharma? If ordinary people are also afraid to help others, what will become of our society?

March 22, 2021

The Compassionate Vows of Namo Amituofo

Words of Namo Amituofo: The Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is a paradise constructed by Namo Amituofo over five kalpas, specifically because He witnessed the suffering of all beings. This event, the profound aspiration of Namo Amituofo, and the fulfillment of His Forty-eight Great Vows are clearly recorded in the Infinite Life Sutra (The Buddha Speaks the Mahayana, Infinite Life, Adornment, Purity, Impartiality, and Enlightenment Sutra).

The Boundless Nature of the Universe

Regarding the various conclusions or perspectives that individuals propose based on their own practice, Causal Conditions, or the people, events, and objects they encounter, these are simply manifestations of their own karmic conditions. My child, you should be able to accept that the universe is vast and the heart is boundless. There are still far too many things that lie beyond the reach of research or the scientific field—things that cannot be studied, deduced, or understood through conventional means.

In particular, the world of spirits is not something that people can perceive, touch, or know through their Six Roots. However, through the purification of one's practice, one can indeed perceive, touch, and know these realms, eventually reaching the state of an awakened being who is omniscient and omnipotent. To be omniscient is to be a Buddha!

The Inconceivable Work of a True Practitioner

A Buddha is also someone who attained Buddhahood through practice within the human world. Therefore, if one can encounter a true practitioner in the human world, one will witness many inconceivable events. Because their compassion is like that of a Buddha—selfless and embodying no-self—they desire only for all beings to leave suffering behind and find happiness, and to be liberated from all forms of suffering.

Thus, they willingly take on the suffering of others. Even though they know that by helping others, they are shouldering their karma and that the spirits attached to others may transfer onto them, they still choose to act. This is why they perform tasks such as calling for rain to relieve the suffering of beings; they accomplish what is difficult to do, even when it seems impossible.

This is the work that Practitioner Su performs at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Center. It is rare to encounter, difficult to believe, and hard to hear. Now that you, my child, have had the fortune to encounter and hear of this, I hope you can believe it. I also hope that what has been said above can resolve your doubts. Namo Amituofo. I hope you will chant His name!

This message was recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Venerable HaiZe.