Talk about magical powers again
Question: I read “Modern Karma Record”. In addition to understanding the principle of karma, I am particularly interested in the magical powers of the old monk Miaofa. Are supernatural powers acquired through practicing martial arts, or are they acquired through cultivation? If it is said that it is acquired through practice, then many people will not have supernatural powers after practicing all their lives. If it is said that it is acquired through cultivation, many practitioners will not have wisdom either. But there are indeed people with supernatural powers. I always feel that it is a mystery. Can you tell us a little bit about this knowledge?
Answer: In the first book “Record of Modern Cause and Effect”, I talked about how supernatural powers can only be obtained through cultivation, but cannot be obtained through asking for them. So why do many people fail to cultivate after a lifetime of cultivation? “If you want to know the cause of the past life, the recipient of this life is; if you want to know the result of the future life, the author of this life is.” In other words, the appearance of supernatural powers in some people today is the result of previous lives or previous lives. What you have gained through practice in several lifetimes is already present in your own nature. Once the opportunity is ripe in this life, it will naturally appear. It may appear while meditating and practicing qigong, or it may appear while sitting quietly, or it may appear under the influence or inspiration of some external force, it doesn’t matter. Of course, there is also wisdom gained in this life. That is to say, in the previous life, one did not have the ability of the five eyes and six senses. The reason why one can achieve “sudden enlightenment” and enlightenment in this life is because of the “gradual cultivation” in the previous life. Modern people call him developing human body potential, which should be said to be correct.
The Buddha said in the “Surangama Sutra” Four Pure and Bright Instructions: “When you practice Samadhi (note: the meaning of right concentration), you are born out of worldly labor. If your lustful mind is not eliminated, the worldly world cannot come out. No matter how wise you are, if your meditation appears, it will never stop. Sexual immorality will lead you to the evil path… Even if you have great wisdom and your meditation concentration is present, if you keep killing, you will fall into the divine way… Even if you have much wisdom and your meditation concentration is present, if you keep stealing, you will fall into the evil path… Even if you do not kill, steal or commit adultery in your body or mind, The three elements have been perfected, and if you speak big lies, you will not be able to purify your samadhi, you will become obsessed with seeing demons, and you will lose the seed of the Tathagata.” These practitioners who have already developed “much wisdom” and “the appearance of meditation” due to practicing samadhi, will eventually be unable to do so. If you strictly abide by the precepts but fail to achieve positive results, you will fall into the evil, divine or evil ways. After this life, they will reincarnate into the human world, change their appearance and continue practicing. Once they encounter the above-mentioned opportunities, the wisdom gained in the previous life will appear again.
If you can control yourself in this life, practice according to the Dharma, and put an end to sexual intercourse, killing, and stealing, then you will achieve the path and fruition in this life. If you become greedy for money, sex, fame, and profit, or even frighten and deceive others, then your meditation skills will be gone. Because if you are on the right path (walking on the right path), you will get a lot of help, but if you are not on the right path, there will be little help. Heaven, earth, ghosts and gods will not help you. Just like the TV sets in the past, if the channel is wrong, or there is a problem with the antenna or fine-tuning, you will not be able to receive the TV station information and images. You won’t be able to “connect with the gods (television station)”. If you no longer have magical powers because you have tasted the sweetness, and still pretend to have magical powers to defraud people of money, you will be brought to justice by the government sooner or later. This has long been proven by the fate of many liar “masters” in society.
Therefore, observing the precepts and cultivating virtue are the foundation for practitioners. With some meditation skills, you may not be able to preach the sutras and sermons. It depends on whether you have the ability to preach the sutras and whether you have this mission. Like the old monk Miaofa, even wise men with more profound wisdom hide in busy cities and deep mountains and forests. They are no different from ordinary people. They will not reveal themselves until they come out of the mountains. When the time comes, he comes out to teach sentient beings. After completing his mission, he leaves or disappears again.
If the disciple sent by the devil has some magical powers, he will start to harm all living beings. You must know that the disciples of the devil have very strong magic power with the help of the devil king. The devil has a fighting spirit, the Buddha has a compassionate heart, and the devil and the Buddha only have a clear connection. They are very capable of deceiving all sentient beings. When they are born into the human world, they often show the blessings of “big earlobes” and “white skin and healthy bodies” because they also cultivated fields of blessings in their previous lives, but they fell into this state because of their unquenched desires. Demonic way. Master Xuanhua said: “When wisdom comes, there is great hypocrisy.” The simple criterion for identifying whether such a person with supernatural powers is a disciple of Buddha or a person sent by the devil is to see whether he is greedy for money. Those who are greedy for money are fake. Disciples of the devil, because their past lives were not perfect in practice, their teachings on Buddhism will not be perfect and flawless. They are often full of loopholes, inconsistencies, and unable to justify themselves. And he loves “Lao Wang sells melons” and claims to be the supreme Taoist. If he is a monk, you can also see whether he abides by the precepts, whether he walks, stands, sits and lies down, and whether he has the four great dignity. If you are a layman who talks about food, drink, vanity, smokes, drinks, and meat, and is greedy for money, sex, fame, food, and sleep, you are not a true Buddhist unless you point it out to him and he can change it immediately after hearing it.
Some people with supernatural powers are possessed by the fifty kinds of demons mentioned in the Shurangama Sutra. The biggest characteristic of such people is that they do not follow the precepts and cheat others out of money by telling them something right. This is It’s not called supernatural power, it’s ghost power, possession by ghosts and gods. He often said that he had seen a certain Buddha and Bodhisattva, and what he said to him, and so on. These Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were all manifestations of the devil, and they were self-made holy interpretations. Soon the possessing ghosts and spirits got tired of it and left him, leaving him nowhere to be seen. As for those evil people like witches and gods, who pretend to be gods and ghosts, are greedy for money and sex, and have evil spirits, it is easier to identify them.
In 1993, I met a factory director named Sun who suddenly developed supernatural powers after talking to the old monk Miaofa for more than an hour. There was also a person present who was not acquainted with Director Sun, and he also came to ask the old monk for advice. Maybe the old monk wanted to educate two people at the same time. He smiled and asked Director Sun: “Do you know how many rooms he lives in?” Sun replied: “I don’t know him, Master.” The old monk said: “You think about it. Just think about it.” Sun replied: “How could that happen? I don’t have magical powers… Eh!…” Director Sun asked the man in surprise: “Your house has six tile-roofed houses including the gate tower. Really?” The man said with slight surprise: “Yes, you guessed it right.” Hearing this, Director Sun seemed a little excited and confused.
The old monk said to the man: “I want you to understand a truth: if you don’t want others to know, you have to do nothing yourself. It seems that you don’t believe it. This factory director doesn’t know you but can tell anything about you. You Tell yourself something or a place that only you know, and see if he can get it right.” The man smiled and said, “This is a bit too mysterious, then take a look at my desk drawer, what’s inside Only I know.” Director Sun seemed to be looking at the space in front of him and asked: “There is a locked drawer in the middle of the desk, the four drawers on the left are not locked, the upper right drawer is unlocked, and the bottom is a cabinet door. It’s locked. The desk is made of wood. Which drawer do you want me to see?” The man looked a little surprised and said, “Look at the middle drawer.” Sun immediately said, “Open the drawer and there are several notebooks. Take notes. There are some accounts, and there is a calculator made in Japan on the notebook. There are some letter pads inside, and next to the letter pads are four bank books. Write your name on three passbooks, and write your son’s name on one.” When he said this , the man’s face turned red, his eyes became round, and he said loudly: “This is so amazing. Are you gods?”
The old monk smiled: “No one is a god, we are all mortals. But there are also many people among mortals who have a certain degree of wisdom. People should not do unintentional things. If they do, someone will know about it. This is why people who do evil will sooner or later The reason why there are evil retributions is because the actions and thoughts of each of us will be known by capable people, not to mention the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, ghosts and gods? If you are interested, I will ask him to say more to deepen your impression.” “What else do you know? Just tell me, I saw a god today!” the man said excitedly but doubtfully.
The old monk said to Director Sun: “Since he asked you to tell him, tell him the total amount of money in the passbook and how the money came from.” At this time, Director Sun became more confident: “The total of the 4 passbooks is It was more than 17,000 yuan. Last year, your village’s dividend was distributed in a large and shabby conference room. It was a man in his forties with a high nose and a big face who handed you more than 9,000 yuan. This year, it was a little man with a crew cut. I sent you 6,000 yuan home. It was taken out of a black artificial leather bag. The zipper of the bag was broken. He tied it with a thin hemp rope. There is also a little money from the previous passbook. Right?”
The man kept saying: “It’s amazing! It’s amazing! It’s unbelievable. The first person you mentioned is our village secretary, and the one who sent money this year is our captain. How did you know?” Director Sun also said Interested, he asked again: “Have you ever driven a Huanghe brand truck before?” “Yes, what’s the matter?” Sun said: “You once delivered goods to Guangzhou, and when you returned, someone asked you to pick up a truck in Hengyang. The goods arrived in Shijiazhuang, and I gave you 1,300 yuan for shipping after unloading the truck. You returned home that afternoon, had dinner, and then went to someone else’s house to play cards. In the end, you lost more than 500 yuan. Is this happening?” At this time, I saw that man. His mouth was open, speechless.
The old monk smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid. No one is going to dig through the bottom of your box. There is nothing new in this. When you go back, you must give up eating meat, observe the five precepts, practice the ten good deeds, and sit cross-legged for an hour or so before going to bed at night, meditating silently.” ‘Namo Amitabha’, don’t let your thoughts run away, pull them back when they run away, recite the Buddha’s name silently anytime and anywhere during the day, keep at it, one day you will understand. Remember my words, it’s time for you to go home .” “Yes! Master, I’ll leave right away.” The old monk glanced at him: “I want you to go back to your original home.”
What I want to tell fellow practitioners is that under the blessing of the old monk Miaofa, Director Sun, who suddenly showed supernatural powers, did not listen to the old monk’s instructions and could not let go of food and wine. It was just a flash in the pan. Later he approached me again, but between wine and meat and magical powers, he finally chose the former. The old monk said that he had been a Taoist monk in his previous lives and had meditative skills, but he could not give up his desires. If he did not practice in this life, he would go to the animal realm to pay off his debts in the next life. It would be a pity. I still say the same thing: Do you want to obtain superhuman supernatural powers and wisdom? Then you must first let go of mortal desires. If you can let go of the wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep that mortals like, and be able to persevere, be willing to give up, let go of it—let go of desires and gain wisdom, only then can you become a saint.
Master Xuanhua said:
Cultivating the Tao means “turning it upside down”. What does that mean? That is, “Give good things to others and do bad things to yourself.” Give up the small self and complete the big self.
Master Xuanhua also taught:
The main purpose of cultivating the Tao is to escape from life and death, not to seek inspiration.
Practice in a down-to-earth manner, and don’t worry about supernatural powers or not. What you deserve will come to you one day without asking for it. If you don’t have this mission, you won’t get anything you ask for. Miraculous powers cannot help you escape from the three realms, nor can they help you become a Buddha. Arhats and Bodhisattvas who have achieved enlightenment will naturally have supernatural powers at their ease. Since the Buddha said that after his Nirvana, he ordered all Bodhisattvas and Arhats to be born in the final Dharma, then as long as a practitioner with great supernatural powers gives up sexual intercourse, killing, stealing, and is not greedy for money, he may be a Bodhisattva and Arhat again, but it is just to our naked eyes. It’s just that you don’t recognize the other person in your mortal body.
Some monks who have some supernatural powers think that they have extraordinary origins, develop a self-conceited attitude, intoxicate in applause and admiration, and then get carried away and regard themselves as superior to others. It should be noted that “unjust people have few helpers”. Such people can only be “a flash in the pan” and their end will be very pitiful. This has many lessons learned in history. I advise such people to rein in their horses. Only when they are “unable to be blown by the eight winds” can they “sit upright on the purple lotus”. Losing magical powers is a trivial matter, but falling into hell in the future will not be fun.
The old monk Miaofa once said that if you have supernatural powers, you can save all sentient beings immediately, but if you don’t have supernatural powers and you have wisdom, you can save all sentient beings just the same.
Observing the precepts, reciting the Buddha’s name and reciting sutras, taking the mind as precepts, and “thinking without evil” is concentration. Persistence will lead to natural wisdom. Not only will your eloquence be unimpeded, but every word you say will be able to resonate with the listener – speak to his heart, and he will benefit from listening respectfully. This is because you have the right knowledge and right views and are blessed by the power of the Buddha. If you have true cultivating Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they will surely bless you and make everything you say perfect and do as you wish on any occasion.
How to cultivate wisdom? The Buddha taught in the “Buddha’s Legacy Sutra”: “You monks (note: including all true practitioners), if you have wisdom, you will have no greed. Always examine yourselves and do not make mistakes. In this way, in my Dharma, you can Be liberated. If you don’t do it, you are neither a Taoist nor a white robe, and you have no name. Those who are truly wise are like a strong ship in the sea of death, old age, illness, and death. They are also the great bright lamps in the darkness of ignorance. The best for all those who are sick. It is also a good medicine. It is also a sharp ax to cut down the tree of troubles. Therefore, you should cultivate your wisdom through listening, thinking, and improving yourself. If a person has the illumination of wisdom, even if he does not have celestial eyes, he can see people clearly. This is called wisdom.”
“Always examine yourself and avoid making mistakes.” This is the source of wisdom. Zengzi in ancient China said: “I examine myself three times every day. Have I been unfaithful in my conduct for others? Have I not trusted my friends in my dealings? Have I not learned to pass them on to others?”
The current explanation is: I reflect and observe myself three times a day to see if I am loyal to my duties and do my best when doing things for the country and the company, or if I am evading taxes when doing business and harming the interests of the country and the company. When interacting with friends or doing business, there is no need to break one’s trust or harm the other party’s interests. “Preaching or not practicing”, for Buddhist disciples, it should be whether they have studied and practiced the Buddha’s teachings and precepts. Always examine yourself to see if you have made any mistakes or are not in compliance with the law. If you can do this at all times, it is true wisdom. The wisdom mentioned here is better than the eye of heaven, because demons and ghosts do not have this kind of wisdom. As for the Heavenly Eye, there are also ghosts and demons.
The so-called “seeing people clearly” means having a correct view. A wise person can see people and things clearly and without hindrance, and can understand the cause and effect and the method of liberation. Therefore, the Buddha compared this kind of practitioner to a “strong ship”, a “big bright lamp”, “a good medicine for all diseases” and a “sharp ax for cutting down the tree of troubles”. Therefore, it is the duty of Buddhist disciples not to be greedy for supernatural powers and to cultivate wisdom.
Xuanhua Master’s verse
All things are born due to the Tao, and those who gain it can communicate with themselves
Enlightenment of the true nature, one access, all access
