The Dancers Trapped in the Seaweed

This is a record of an interview with Venerable Yongning, a monastic residing at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, who reflects upon the profound spiritual deliverance performed by Practitioner Su. This account details the liberation of spirits trapped within the ocean depths, recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on April 19, 2023.

Venerable Yongning speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Every day, the Dharma Body deliverance performed by Practitioner Su is truly magnificent. Immeasurable and boundless sentient beings are liberated from various dimensions, quickly receiving the salvation of Practitioner Su.

The Vast Reach of Deliverance

In our daily deliverance sessions, we invariably save beings from the land, the sea, and the sky. Throughout the vast earth, the deep oceans, and the boundless heavens, there exist immeasurable and boundless spirits. Every time I share these experiences, my heart is filled with immense emotion. These beings have suffered for such a long time. It is only now, with Practitioner Su present in this world, that they have finally been granted the chance to be saved and liberated. Because of this, they cherish this opportunity deeply and actively strive to grasp the chance for liberation.

During today's Dharma Body deliverance, when Practitioner Su’s Dharma Body arrived in the depths of the ocean, bathed in Buddha-light, many spirits residing within the seaweed emerged to seek Spiritual Deliverance. These spirits had been trapped within the seaweed for an incredibly long time—some for centuries, others for millennia. They had remained in that seaweed space, never having had the opportunity to escape.

Hidden Wonders of the Deep

Not all seaweed is green. These particular plants possess a myriad of different colours, many of which humans have never seen before. Because they grow in remote areas of the ocean floor rarely visited by mankind, they remain undiscovered, and many of them are breathtakingly beautiful.

When Practitioner Su performed the deliverance and the Buddha-light shone down, many spirits within the seaweed flew out. Once they emerged, it became clear that many of them were dressed in exquisite, beautiful garments. It turned out that they were all beautiful dancers. In a flash, the scenes of their past lives flickered before us: we saw them dancing, their bodies moving with grace. The way they moved and the fluidity of their gestures were exactly like the swaying of the seaweed. After these dancers passed away, they entered the seaweed space, where they continued to dance, trapped without any opportunity to leave.

A Memory of the Imperial Court

I interviewed one of the dancers, who appeared to be more lucid than the others. I asked her, 'Are you aware that you entered a seaweed space?' She replied, 'It feels very strange. Sometimes I seem to know, and other times I do not. I feel as though I am in the seaweed space, but then I am suddenly back on stage dancing. It feels as if two different times and spaces exist simultaneously, but I am not entirely clear about it.' I asked, 'Do you know that you have been saved now?' She answered, 'I do. When Practitioner Su’s Dharma Body performed the deliverance and the Buddha-light shone upon us, many of us woke up from that space. Some were more awake than others, perhaps because they had spent less time trapped in the seaweed. Others were not as clear-headed, but when the Buddha-light shone down, their spirits all knew to quickly follow along and chant Namo Amituofo, which gave them the chance to be saved by Practitioner Su.'

I then asked her, 'If you look back now, why do you think you entered the seaweed space?' She replied, 'Looking back, it seems we were undergoing karmic retribution within that space. Although the dances we performed brought entertainment and laughter to others, we deliberately flaunted our figures and used the beautiful curves of our bodies to attract attention, especially from men, who loved to watch us dance. I was a dancer who performed before the Emperor. He particularly loved watching me because I understood his tastes; I knew exactly what kind of dances he liked to see and what costumes he preferred. You see, I eventually became one of the Emperor’s women, which caused a great deal of turmoil in the inner palace. Before I died, my consciousness was entirely consumed by the space of dancing. Even after I stopped breathing, I was still dancing. Now I see it clearly: my spirit entered the seaweed, and the swaying of the seaweed was just like my dancing. I kept dancing and dancing, never knowing to seek liberation. It is only now, as the Buddha-light has saved me, that I have the chance to leave that seaweed space.'

The Necessity of Pure Practice

As I looked at the spirits emerging from the seaweed space, I saw that besides the many dancers, there were countless other spirits as well. They had all entered the seaweed space after death and were only now being saved by the Dharma Body of Practitioner Su.

There are all kinds of spirits in these spaces. No one knows what kind of space they will fall into after death. Only by purely chanting Namo Amituofo and remaining untainted by even a speck of dust from this world can one truly help oneself gain the opportunity for liberation.

Namo Amituofo.

Yongning'