25-7-2011 Traveling Through The Great Void

The Flying Carpet of the East 

By Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu
Translated by Shan Tung Hsu P.hD., Bekka, Karin Greenway

This was translated from Grandmaster Lu's 31st book, 東方的飛氈.

CHAPTER 3 - Traveling Through The Great Void
After I visited the temple with my mother, I returned to my apartment.
So much had happened that day that I went to bed to think about it.
I couldn't fall asleep. Suddenly, I smelled incense. I closed my eyes.
In a misty haze I saw a circle of light surrounded by a shimmering golden aura.
I felt my body float up into the air and fly through the circle of light.
I heard the wind blow.
It felt as if I flew a very long distance, and then discovered myself in an entirely different world.
Somehow it was clear to me that this was the world of the great void.
I was guided there by some kind of force.
I met many Bodhisattvas whom I couldn't recognize.
They bowed in salutation.
I saw lotus flowers as large as car wheels, in many colors, and on every lotus flower stood a boy.
Each boy held in his hand a different color lotus.
Ladders, surrounded by gold-armored gods, came down from the sky.
A beautiful mist floated up from the ground.

I saw an elaborately carved palace with golden light reflected from its windows.
The palace had two pillars that stretched up to the clouds.

I heard a voice tell me that one pillar represented Kun-Lun Mountain and the other represented Sumeru Mountain.
I walked to a huge temple on one of the mountains.
There stood a man and I heard a voice that told me to check the truth of this by reading on a specific page in the sutras. I was told never to reveal my origin to anyone.

I traveled on to many other places. I saw and heard things I had never seen or heard before.

When I awoke it was seven o'clock in the morning.
I rushed over to the Tai-Chung Jui-Ch'eng Bookstore which specializes in Buddhist books.
I found the sutra and page that I was directed to look up.

Astonishingly enough, there was written the name of the person I was told about!
I was stunned, filled with both joy and sorrow.
Now I understood the reality of reincarnation.
I wondered how I could deny the experiences I'd had last night and the days prior.
They were so unusual, yet so real.

I thought, "If I don't cultivate myself in this lifetime then when will I?"

Before leaving the bookstore I bought many Taoist and Buddhist Sutras.
At that time I didn't know the difference between the two.

After the experience of traveling through the great void, I hoped to experience it again, even if only for ten minutes.

Amituofo

Lotuschef

Pure Karma

True Buddha School