Comment:
This morning right before I woke up, at around 7:20 a.m., I saw in a dream that I was standing on one side of a wide street in Taipei. Since there were passersby, I practiced Powa silently by calling "Hi, Pei" inaudibly. Suddenly, high up in the sky, there appeared the three Holinesses of the Western Pureland, Amitabha Buddha accompanied on either side by Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and Bodhisattva Mahasthanaprapta. They were of equal height, standing close to one another in a row, but on individual lotus seats. They wore only monk's robes without additional ornaments. Their bodies as well as the lotus seats were all of deep golden color. Amitabha Buddha standing at the center had a slightly chubby face and built. The two accompanying Bodhisattvas appeared as handsome men of solid built. I immediately knelt down, with folded palms I looked up to them in admiration, and repeated audibly "Namo Amitabha Buddha" in Chinese. The set of the Three Holinesses on their seats moved slowly and smoothly forward in a straight line, crossing the high sky from one end to the other end, and then disappeared.
Years ago when I visited Melaka, Malaysia, at the conclusion of a Dharma talk I performed Powa service for deceased friends and relatives of the audience. After the Powa service a Upasaka came up to tell me that he had just witnessed the arrival of the Three Holinesses of the Western Pureland during my performance of Powa, and that his deceased father, together with many other deceased beings, had come to receive the blessings.
It seems to me that this morning's arrival of the Three Holinesses signifies their blessing and teaching that, whenever I am performing the Powa service, they would arrive to help lead deceased beings to the Western Pureland. I performed Powa to help deceased beings every two or three days. Up to now I have accumulated 2,174 Powa services. Now that this special and superior honor and blessing has been bestowed on me, I would be more diligent to sustain the efforts without fail so as to express my deeply felt gratitude.
Written in Chinese and translated on October 10, 2003
El Cerrito, California