Mostly, if you attain a higher level of consciousness, then many of the generations of your clan, your family, will be also free, will not go to hell. But maybe a couple of them or several of them did not follow Buddhism or did not follow Christ or other Masters, doing bad things, and then they have to be punished in hell. And then from the Buddha’s Land, you can see through Heavens and Earth and hell, and you see maybe one of your relatives or family members, or even maybe your father, mother are suffering in hell. Then you can come down and sacrifice to help them.
Like Maudgalyāyana, He’s one of the ten foremost disciples of Buddha, but His mother was bad. She made dog-people meat to feed the monks and told them that’s vegan food, cheated the monks to eat it. Of course, the monks didn’t intentionally eat it, so their karma was not too bad, and they meditate all day anyway, and they don’t do anything bad, so they can clean themselves quickly. But she had to go to the relentless hell. They call it Avīci hell. That means once you’re in there, you’re punished forever, every second of your existence there. You could never have a rest. In some hells, you can take a rest, can have a pause time, rest time, but in relentless hell, you don’t. That’s why they call it “relentless hell.” And if you don’t have anyone to help you, you stay there forever. And even the monk, one of the foremost disciples of Buddha, could not help His mother.
So Buddha told Him He has to make an offering to all the monks in the assembly with five kinds of fruit and many other kinds of food and all kinds of things, and use and rely on all of the monks’ collective power, merit, to help His mother. That’s the only way. The Buddha even could not do it Himself. Or maybe the Buddha could, but He didn’t want to make it that easy. And He wants also the mother to come back and respect the normal monks, not just respect the Buddha because He’s a Buddha, He’s a Master, no. So, the mother was saved.
So every year, we have this festival to go to the temple and pray for our mother and father, and make offerings to the monks and nuns and to the temple, to repair the temple or bring food and all that. And transfer whatever merit you made that day to your parents. In case they are in a lower level or in hell, they may benefit – less suffering. That’s in the Buddhist tradition. I guess in other traditions, they also have a day like that for parents. In China, they have this day called “Cleaning the Tombs Festival.” A certain day in March, in the springtime, all the children go and clean the tombs, the graves of their family members or their parents, bring food there, bring flowers, and pray for them. It’s just symbolic.
The souls are free. The souls do not always stay in the graves. But some souls cannot be free to go to Heaven, or cannot become even animal-people, or cannot return to human life because their merit is not enough for that. So they also stay in their grave. And that is like their house. That’s why last time I told you do not go into the cemetery, especially at night, because at night they would go back there to rest. If they run around all day for some reason – just like we run around all day, then at night we come home – so at night, if they are not liberated or free somewhere, then they go to their graves, the tomb there, with other ghosts, and they talk of course and all that. So, if you come and sit or sleep on their grave, it’s like you invade their house. When we go into somebody’s house, we should ask permission first. And some people would let us in for some good reason or not, but some people don’t – don’t want you to even come through their house.
Even the police, if they want to come to somebody’s house to check on somebody, if they don’t have the warrant, they can’t go in. And the owner has the right to refuse the police to come in. Things like that. So similarly, in the cemetery, some of the graves belong to the souls. They stay there. They have nowhere else to go. So if you go there at night, and stay on their graves or sleep on top of their graves… because some graves they make like a small house, like a small shed and you could even sleep in there. Some rich people make it elaborately like a big house or even like a temple on top of the graves. So if you go to the grave and sleep there or sit there or do anything, even in the daytime, you will make the ghost’s soul feel disturbed and they might make trouble for you, but you won’t know it.
Or if you are not strong enough, if your heart is not pure enough, they might even possess you. So one day you are very good, you talk nicely, and another day you talk very bad and slander people, even slander good practitioners like me. It happened already, I know. It’s a true story, I know that. But I don’t want to say who is who anymore. The soul doesn’t possess you all day or night, perhaps, but they do sometimes and weaken your spiritual stamina and lessen your merit, and you become more and more low. And then you might become like them. You might join them after you die or even before you die. Some ghosts and demons can even suck out your life force and make you sick, and then you will die. And you become them, because at that time you’re too weak already. You are not near Saints or Buddhas or Heavens or God anymore. You are nearer to them, so they will drag you in. Or maybe you just become very much like them in the way you think and the way you do. So you just join them also automatically.
So don’t go into the cemetery. No matter how many other people you see do it, don’t copy, because you don’t know how much power you have, how much merit you have, how much spiritual stamina you have in order to withstand the force of a collective group of demons or ghosts who frequent the cemetery. Because in a much-crowded human city, it’s more difficult for them to stay long. They might be there, but it’s more difficult for them. Because the humans’ energies are stronger, a live human’s energy is stronger, because they have God inside, they have Buddha inside, even if they don’t know it. But their energy is different, especially humans on this planet. They’re a special race of people, special race of beings. They’re very precious. So, many ghosts and demons want to possess them, to enslave their souls. That is the problem.
So do not give them the opportunity by going to and sitting in their “house,” their grave, to give them an excuse to make trouble for you. They’ll possess you if they can, because you go to their house and you’re not aware of it. So they’ll possess you, they’ll go with you, with your body. A body can house several souls. And the ghost doesn’t have to always stay in your body. They stay next to your body and go with you to your home. And they come into your body to enjoy when you eat, especially if you eat animal-people meat and all that, or drink wine, they enjoy all that. Just like they have the body, because they possess your body. So they love that, and so they continue to possess you. That is the thing.
So take good care of yourselves, because you are the Buddha, the future Buddha. If you’re not yet a Buddha, you’re a future Buddha. And once you become a Buddha, you will be so, so meritorious, so grand, so awesome, so incredible, that you could help so many souls who might have fallen into hell without your presence, without your merit, without your help. So you are precious. Take care of your body because you are the temple of God, and God dwells within you. Buddha Nature, you have It inside you. So you are a Buddha, in dormant nature, in dormant status. You have God inside, forgotten. One day you will remember.
The Quan Yin Method is the best, the quickest way to awaken your Buddha Nature, to recognize God right away. God is Light, and God manifests also in the (inner Heavenly) Sound Currents, like music, but not to hear with the ears. So anybody who sits next to you, they can’t hear what you hear inside. That’s the soul’s work, the soul’s hearing it. So the person next to you – even your husband, your father, mother, your son – hears nothing. Only you can hear it after you are initiated into the Quan Yin Method. And, you go on the bus, you can hear It. You go in a taxi, you can hear It. You walk on the street, you can hear It, but nobody else can.
So that’s why I told you not to tell your inner experiences. Not a lot. Now and then, OK, maybe once in a while. But not every day go out and tell everybody what you see inside, what’s your vision, and what you hear; what God told you or what Buddha tells you. No. Nobody believes you. They might look at you like you’re crazy. Many people, because of that, the family rejects them or puts them in a mental asylum because of not believing. So keep your experience to yourself. When you say your experience… One moment, please. When you tell your experience, I have to set up a net to protect you. Otherwise, you might have more trouble. Anyway, if you say it and when I hear it, then you are more protected. If you say it to anybody outside and without me hearing it to protect you, then you might be in trouble. So just be careful.
Photo Caption: Spring Is Good, Not Just for the Eyes
