Free Powa Service for Deceased Beings
● Powa is a Buddhist Tantric practice to help the consciousness
of deceased beings to gain rebirth in the Pureland
of Amitabha Buddha. Since 1987, Dr. Yutang Lin has
performed over 4800 times the Powa ritual as a free
service to the public. Dr. Lin has been doing this once every other day up to end of 2010, and
currently he is performing this service twice every week. If you would like
him to perform this service for some deceased beings,
please send in their names through the following email
address:
or
powa@originalpurity.org
● Lineage blessings through Dr. Lin will go out to all Powa or prayer requests as soon as they are sent. Dr. Lin will read them but will not reply to them so as to reduce the workload of his Dharma services.
● Articles related to Powa Service:
Powa for People of Other Religions
Requesting Powa
for Ancestors
On Abortion
Being an Obstacle to Rebirth in Pureland
Mrs.
Sydney Limtiaco's Experience with Dr. Lin's Powa
Service
Follow-up from Powa Service
Miscarriages also Need Powa
A Dharma friend wrote me to ask for Powa service for her fetuses lost in miscarriages while she was young. She wrote, even though she is a Buddhist and believes in the need to accumulate merits for deceased beings so as to help them gain rebirth in Pureland; however, she never considered miscarriages as her own fault, and hence she never thought of accumulating merits for those deceased fetuses. Recently, she met someone who can notice supernatural phenomena, and what was said about her situations was in line with facts, and hence she realized the need to do this request for Powa.
Fetuses died in miscarriages have no intention to cause problems for their parents. However, they do need others to accumulate merits on their behalves so as to attain transcendence from Samsara, and yet they cannot arbitrarily seek help from anyone. They can only seek help from beings who are karmically related to them. Hence, they cause many hindrances in attempts to gain attention from their parents who are karmically well-connected to them. When the parents need to seek help from many sources, they will eventually find out the root of the problems, and then they will accumulate merits for the fetuses.
May this explanation help people who went through miscarriages to find the right solution sooner, and hence gain peace of mind and body sooner!
Powa Service: http://www.originalpurity.org/powa_e.html
July 24, 2018
El Cerrito, California
Powa for People of Other Religions
On Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 12:55 PM, Yutang Lin wrote:
A Buddhist raised the question, whether we need to add people who had faith in other religions onto the Powa service list, and my reply is as follows:
The help from Powa is a lift to more purity in the spiritual realm, so it actually has no bearings on worldly distinction of this or that religion.
Furthermore, such help cannot be forced onto someone, so if a deceased being does not want it, it will not affect the being. Hence, no need to worry about forcing it against someone's religious preferences.
In addition, beings' comprehension will change and become more comprehensive after they left the physical sphere; therefore, it is quite possible that after death they would welcome the help from Powa even though in life they did not. So I recommend that all deceased beings be entered onto the list.
This email will be posted as one among the Collection of Inquiries for
Teachings, and also listed on the Powa request page.。
May all beings attain Enlightenment soon!
Yutang
On Abortion Being an Obstacle to Rebirth in Pureland
Written in Chinese by Yutang Lin
Translated by Stanley Lam
Over the past nine years, I have been
performing Powa for deceased beings as a voluntary service.
So far I have already done it over a thousand times.
Currently I am performing Powa every other day because
the Wind energy of this practice is too powerful for
the body to withstand daily practice. Whenever there
is any deceased beings, people can just send
in the names and I will include them in the prayers.
After many years' experience, based on inspirations from performing Powa for deceased women, I have a clear understanding that, in order for a woman to be reborn in Pureland, it is necessary to include all her aborted children in the Powa. Otherwise, such Karma is heavy enough to become an obstacle to getting a rebirth in Pureland. There is a recent inspirational experience: A lady asked me to perform Powa for her deceased mother. After the Powa, her dream indicated that she had also received some benefits, but there is residual bad Karma yet to be cleansed. Upon further enquiry, I was told that she had had abortion before, and only she and her husband knew about it. Since she had not requested Powa for the aborted child, there was some residual bad Karma left. I therefore included the aborted child in the next Powa.
May this short article remind all Buddhists of this matter. For any case of abortion, or suggestion of abortion, or rejoicing on others' abortion, or thoughts of abortion, or even abortion in dreams, it is advisable to pray for the deceased and to practice confession oneself. May all karmic hindrance relating to this activity be completely purified by Buddha's compassionate blessing, and all can achieve a higher level of rebirth in Amitabha's Pureland.
Written in Chinese on April 1, 1997
El Cerrito, California
Translated on January 4, 2001
Hong Kong
Mrs. Sydney Limtiaco's Experience with Dr. Lin's Powa Service
Written by Dr. Juan Bulnes
My friend Sydney Limtiaco lost her 30-year
old daughter Rieann about 6 years ago. Sydney was at
first told that Rieann had been murdered by her boyfriend
and that he fled the island of Guam. Sydney flew to Guam
for the funeral, but she was denied access to the police
report and autopsy results. She was not allowed to see
the mortal remains of her daughter. At this time she
was told by the police that her daughter had committed
suicide, yet the Police Chief asked Sydney and her son
not to believe rumors and that something was "fishy" about
the situation. She was also told that her daughter had
a new ID. These tragic events and the lack of closure
had a devastating effect on Sydney. Every year when holidays
approached, and especially when Rieann's birthday approached,
Sydney suffered severe depressions and anger. When Rieann's
most recent birthday was approaching, Sydney called me
from Taos, NM where she now lives and told me she was
feeling a lot of anger, so I asked Dr. Lin how she could
be helped to overcome these feelings. Dr. Lin simply
said, "I will do Powa for the daughter tomorrow
and the mother's anger will go away." I communicated
this immediately to my friend without any comments, although
I knew that she would be skeptical and so was I, because
I knew how deep her pain ran. A few days later, Sydney
called and told me, "I did not believe it would
help, so I was very surprised that my anger went away
as Dr. Lin said." She reported that it happened
all of a sudden...the anger dissipated like a flash while
she was driving her car.
January 20, 2003
Mountain View, California
Dr. Lin's Comment:
When deceased relatives or friends are not in peace the living will often suffer symptoms that have no worldly explanation or solution. When I was told of Sydney's problem, I knew from experiences that the root of the problem was that Rieann had not been relieved from suffering yet. So I included Rieann in my Powa service. As soon as the daughter got helped, the mother felt the relief instantaneously. There are other similar cases, and most of the time the blessing was felt as an instantaneous experience instead of a gradual recovery. This is because the relief was achieved through Buddha's powerful blessing that removed the hindrances all at once.
Juan told me that this event impressed him very much because he heard me foretelling that Powa service would help the deceased's mother, and then it came true. So I urged him to write this report to share with others so that more people would know how to get help. My Powa service is voluntary and free of any charges. People just need to give me the name of a deceased being, or a description in case the name is not known or not given.
January 20, 2003
El Cerrito, California
Requesting Powa for Ancestors
Yutang Lin
The list of ancestors'
names offered for Powa service;
Soon tranquility prevailed in communion with beings.
Deceased beings are urgently expecting rescuing help;
Relatives and enemies saved for all to share liberation.
Comment:
Dr. Juan Bulnes, a devoted Buddhist for decades, had never thought about requesting Powa service for ancestors that were long gone, although he did do so for his parents when they departed. Recently he came across some website devoted to his family name, and gathered therefrom a list of some of his ancestors' names from many generations back. So he emailed the list to me for Powa service, just as an addition to his daily practice of so doing for many deceased beings that came to his attention. As soon as that email was sent, he felt a sense of tranquility and gratitude as if he were in communion with all lives in the universe, and the feeling lasted for about ten minutes. In my reply to him I told him: When some ancestors are still in need of rescuing help, then it is often the case that the descendants would continuously encounter many kinds of obstacles. This is because the deceased would like very much to receive help and they could only try in such manners to communicate to the descendants. Therefore, requesting Powa service for ancestors could pacify the lives of the descendants; it could also help the descendants eventually to become free from transmigration. Similarly, requesting Powa service for all one's karmic relatives, creditors and enemies that are deceased is also very beneficial to all involved.
Written in Chinese and translated on
December 24, 2002
El Cerrito, California
Praying for Others
Yutang Lin
Praying for others relies
on Buddha's Wisdom, Compassion and Power.
Respectfully I reported the names and the situation of
their predicament.
Urgent calamity obtained instant relief even though thousand
miles away.
Disastrous suffering that lasted for years melted away
like ice under sun.
Comment:
As to the sufferings and hardships of sentient beings, we do not have the wisdom to see clearly their causal evolutions and ways of salvation, nor do we have sufficient compassion to attend to each and every one of them so as to take good care of them, not to mention our lack of ability to help relieve their predicaments. We could only rely on Buddhas' Wisdom, Compassion and Power by praying to them on sentient beings' behalves and pleading to Buddhas for the best possible help within the sphere of possible solutions. Hence, when I prayed on behalf of others, I reported only the names and their predicaments. As to how the salvation and outcome ought to be, it is completely up to Buddhas' arbitration.
Throughout decades of devoted services in the Dharma I often received feedbacks, telling me that certain hardship thousand miles away had obtained relief soon after my prayer, or that some predicament that had troubled people for years had suddenly dissipated. Even though all these good results were completely due to Buddhas' Grace, I take comfort in helping their realization through my life-long devotion.
Written in Chinese on December 3, 2004
Translated on December 8, 2004
El Cerrito, California
Powa over Internet
Yutang Lin
Lacked proper tools to
request blessings for the dead;
Digital imaging help spread compassionate salvation.
Passing a cemetery, all aspects are captured in photos;
Then displayed on a webpage to gain benefit of Powa.
Comment:
In the past while Dr. Juan Bulnes was travelling he often thought of sending photos of cemeteries he encountered to me for Powa service. However, often it was not very easy to carry such things out. Now with the availability of digital cameras and Internet services it has become rather easy to do this wherever he goes. He would bring a digital camera along, take photos of all major aspects of a cemetery that he runs into, post them at a website that provides photo services, and then send me an invitation to visit and view those photos. While I watched slide show of such photos I would chant the Mani mantra or the mantra of Green Tara for the deceased in the cemetery. Then I would write down the name of the cemetery and the city and state of its location, and include those deceased in the next Powa service. It has been one month since we started this practice, and I have already done such "Virtual Cemetery Visits" for 57 times. This includes photos of cemeteries that are posted at some websites that Juan discovered.
If other Buddhists would like to follow Juan's approach to build bridges for Powa services over Internet, please post the photos at some website and then send me an invitation for me to do my virtual visit. In this way we can save me the download time that I cannot afford with my low-speed connection.
Written in Chinese and translated on
August 27, 2003
El Cerrito, California
Praying for All Involved
Yutang Lin
Karmic entanglements
are unfathomable;
Prayers could easily fall for self-interests.
Guiding toward awakening has to be fair;
All sides are equally prayed for openness.
Comment:
Worldly affairs are winding and knotted; human realm has much suffering. Those who came for help through prayer often leaned on self-interests. Giving guidance on the path of awakening, all are viewed equally as in oneness. Without consideration of relationship or sides, provide compassionate help in empathy. Only wish that matters will end up satisfactorily to all sides, and all involved will learn to live with an open mind.
Written in Chinese and translated on
August 18, 2003
El Cerrito, California
Supplicating
Yutang Lin
Under pitiful circumstances,
with narrow views,
Unable to clarify and resolve the net of clutches.
Our supplication relies on Buddha's compassion;
How could any prayer be phrased like directives?
Comment:
Occasionally prayers submitted by Buddhists for me to pray to Buddha on their behalf contained criticism or judgment on others, or fanciful expectations. The wordings resembled rather like directives but not supplication. For us to receive Buddha's blessing we need to recognize in advance the following: what we know are very limited, what we are capable of is minute, the circumstances are very difficult to resolve, the merits we have accumulated are meager, the only thing that we are relying on while making our pleading is the great compassion of Buddha that is universally fair to all. Therefore, it is only proper to state our predicaments with the hope that Buddha would bless us with relief such that dangers would be averted and serious consequences would be lightened. As to criticism out of personal views and prejudices and judgements made based on limited knowledge and views, they should not be included in one's prayer lest the mistake of disrespect would be incurred. Whenever such prayers came into my attention I would beg Buddha's forgiveness for their ignorance.
Written in Chinese on March 9, 2002
Translated on March 16, 2002
El Cerrito, California
Not Working
Yutang Lin
Only sincere and solid
practices could inspire favors;
How could inspirations be prompted casually at will?
Treating Buddha, as it were, a coin-operated manikin,
Unreflective of one's folly still blames "not
working."
Comment:
Some people, after reading about inspirational events, would like to obtain such help for their own personal gains. When their wishes were not fulfilled they judged right away that Buddha or prayers were not working. They failed to understand that Buddha grants inspirational helps in order to teach and guide sentient beings toward the quest for ultimate liberation. Therefore, only matters that would eventually lead toward such long-term goals could readily gain such inspirational favors. Ordinary people mistook Buddha as a kind of coin-operated manikin; they thought that small tokens of faith and offering would readily prompt wish-fulfilling good fortunes. Buddha is full of great wisdom and deep compassion; how could he misled people into such delusion by granting favors readily? Precisely because Buddha is so omniscient that he does not respond to requests except those out of pure sincerity.
Written in Chinese on August 2, 2001
Translated on August 10, 2001
El Cerrito, California
Wishing
Yutang Lin
To be prosperous, wealthy
and fortunate in love,
All sorts of wishes are entertained by worldlings.
Have they ever deliberated possible subsequence?
What guarantee is there that luck would not turn?
Mindful of ups and downs there is lack of peace.
Impermanence is inevitable yet in mind avoided.
Not being prepared for senility, illness and death,
Just eagerly wishing to bite the bait at this instant.
Comment:
Now and then some people would ask me to pray for them. In accordance with Buddha's teaching on compassion I usually obliged to such requests. However, due to the transient nature of all things, even if their wishes were fulfilled for a while, how could there be any guarantee that later things wonω change for the worse? I could only hope that those who got Buddha's blessing to have their wishes fulfilled would reflect on Buddha's great compassion, and therefore turn toward Buddhist practices so that they would attain some degree of awakening about fundamental problems of life and death, and delusion and awakening. Eventually, I hope they would then be able to live a peaceful and meaningful live.
Written in Chinese on July 24, 2001
Translated on August 5, 2001
El Cerrito, California
Effectiveness
Yutang Lin
In deep trouble eager
to get assurance of effectiveness;
How to compare various practices for intended results?
Could inspirational blessing arrive as soon as required?
One should realize that causal law could not be tricked.
Constantly sustaining vows and activities of Bodhicitta,
Without fallen into selfishness one is well looked after.
Temporary enthusiasm amounts to skillful exploitation;
Even people could hardly be fooled, not to say Buddha.
Comment:
When people encounter desperate situations they often seek effective and speedy measures of relief. Buddhist practices aim at long-term ultimate liberation from transmigration and are not instruments for temporary conveniences. If it were held to be the case that Dharma practices could be compared in effectiveness or that inspirational blessing could be speeded up as required, then that would surely be shallow and ignorant views. In fact, causal connections could not be tricked or by-passed. Inspirational blessing achieved through practices depends solely on long-term and constant adherence to Bodhi intentions and activities. Only when one has not fallen into selfishness could constant blessing from Buddha be expected. Temporary enthusiasm as propelled by exploitative intentions could at most fool people for a while; how could that inspire the favor of Buddhist holy beings!
Written in Chinese on May 29, 2001
Translated on May 31, 2001
El Cerrito, California
Profound Grace
Yutang Lin
Profound Grace of Buddhas
indeed hard to fathom;
Years of practices and inspirations gradually reveal.
Shallow faith but eager desire for just worldly gains.
Confining attention to trivia one forgets the ultimate.
Comment:
Buddhist teachings encompass views and practices that are beyond the ordinary worldly ways; therefore, not many people could have thorough faith and adherence to the Buddhist way. Due to maturity of causes and conditions some would sustain a level of faith in Buddhism. However, many such believers are simply eager to obtain help in worldly matters, hoping to gain Buddhas' grace in reducing karmic hindrances and increasing personal well-being. They seem to forget or ignore the pure goal of eventually attaining enlightenment for all sentient beings. Based on my experiences of years of devoted practice and service in the Dharma, when compared with the inspirational blessings received from Buddhas and protectors worldly gains are indeed trivial. A wise Buddhist would not loose sight of the superior liberation that could be achieved through Buddhas' blessings to concentrate on the immediate worldly favors.
Written in Chinese and translated on
May 22, 2001
El Cerrito, California
Measuring Buddha
Yutang Lin
Wishful prayers not answered
become reasons for disbelief.
How could operations of the limitless oneness be measured?
Guessing and gauging by personal standards are too far-off.
Difficult to see that past deeds could not yield desired
fruits.
Comment:
Some prayed to Buddha for realization of personal wishes. When such prayers are not answered, they would claim that Buddha's blessings are not effective. The Dharmadhatu is infinitely complex; therefore, the causal connections are very difficult to understand. Personal wishful requests are often not in accordance with causal conditions. How could the order of the whole universe be bent to suit a person's preferences? Some people that failed to recognize the limitation of their own karmic deeds and fruits would readily blame Buddha for being ineffectual. To measure oceans by liters already amounts to an impossible job, not to mention measuring boundless Buddha by finite views and concepts.
Written in Chinese on April 17, 2001
Translated on April 18, 2001
El Cerrito, California
To Receive the Blessing
Yutang Lin
When words about the
miraculous blessing spread,
All rushed to download the image for speedy gain.
Self-interest hinders the communion into oneness;
Pure faith and practice would in time yield results.
Comment:
Mrs. Nel Noordzij of France was blessed by the holy image of the Healing Buddha to be suddenly rid of the severe pain in her arm that was continuously there after an operation. For details please read her letter, "Inspirational Experience with the Healing Buddha Image." When her friends learned about such a miraculous event, they all rushed to download this image from Yogi Chen's Homepage, and prayed for their particular wishes. Nothing came out of such endeavors.
Indeed the holy image contains power of blessing. However, such blessing cannot be invoked by selfish aims. Mrs. Nel Noordzij was in severe pain at that time and the pain made her unable to think of anything. Consequently she was in a state closer to original purity, and hence Buddha's blessing can readily work on her to remove the pain that is a manifestation of karmic hindrance. Ordinary people, without proper training, could hardly attain and sustain a state of no thoughts. Therefore, they should first practice making offerings and prostration to the image, and engage in chanting practices in order to develop pure faith and mind free from conceptualization. Only then could they sense the blessings from Buddha and be benefited.
Written in Chinese on March 16, 2001
Translated on March 17, 2001
El Cerrito, California
Unlike Human Affairs
Yutang Lin
Praying for people in
all situations for the better with just their names,
Protectors help in ways beyond our knowledge and make
no mistakes.
Emails, faxes and letters came carrying pleadings for
urgent prayers;
Even before the messages were read already came results
of inspiration.
Comment:
Through the grace of Yogi Chen's lineage blessings usually I pray for people with mention only of their names. In cases when the name is not known, just a brief description would do. Some doubted that confusions might occur due to different people using the same names. In fact, mistakes would not happen because the holy beings that are granting the blessings would know all the details, unlike us humans who are limited in knowledge. When I went on a Dharma tour the requests for prayers that came to my residence through emails, faxes or letters were sometimes answered by inspirational results even before I read them. This is because the holy protectors would volunteer to take care of them. All these unimaginable functions constitute the main force that spreads the Dharma activities to more and more prosperity.
Written in Chinese on September 9, 2000
Translated on September 10, 2000
El Cerrito, California
Praying Rightly
Yutang Lin
Desiring could not help
but suffer from gains and losses.
Cultivate diligently despite hardship to expect harvest.
Praying for and dedicating merits to all beings equally,
Harmony permeates and tranquility profound prevails.
Comment:
I often pray for others as requested. Some asked, "How should one pray?"
In the Dharmadhatu the law of causes and consequences prevails. In order to harvest melons, one should first cultivate melon plants. If one desires end of suffering and enjoyment of happiness, one should first reflect on what meritorious deeds one has accomplished that would entitle oneself to such good fortune. If, despite reason and the law of causes and consequences, one blindly beseeches help out of self-centered considerations and greed, then how could such prayers inspire favorable responses from Buddhas who teach selflessness?
Therefore, right before praying one should first develop Bodhicitta, i.e., to maintain the pure intention of wishing all sentient beings to ultimately leave suffering and attain full enlightenment. Then, one should engage in charitable activities or perform some Dharma practices in order to cultivate merits. Then, one dedicates the merits to all sentient being, wishing all of them soon to escape from suffering and attain ultimate enlightenment. Finally, one prays equally for all the matters that come to mind or have been noticed, wishing that all such matters be resolved fairly and harmoniously, and that through such experiences everyone involved would grow toward enlightenment.
Thus one would be spared from falling into the trap of self-centered entanglements and greedy begging. Instead, one would become open-minded through such prayers. Consequently, such selfless prayers for the benefit of all beings would eventually inspire blessings from Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and holy protectors to yield inspirational events that would help oneself and others in miraculous ways.
Written in Chinese on August 30, 2000
Translated on August 31, 2000
El Cerrito, California
Repaying through Chanting "Amitabha"
Yutang Lin
Praying and performing
Powa only as voluntary services,
Moved some to ask about how to repay such kindness.
Buddha bestows blessings to cultivate and liberate all
beings;
Constantly chant the holy name to appreciate grace boundless.
Comment:
Praying and performing Powa to help people has been my voluntary service for years. Some beneficiaries would ask me, "How to repay your kindness?" As a matter of fact, the blessings all come from Buddha. Therefore, my reply is always the same, "Chant 'Amitabha' more often." In this way one could appreciate more the boundless grace of Buddha through each repetition of the holy name; furthermore, one would thereby gradually emerge from suffering and thus fulfill the compassionate wish of Buddha.
Written in Chinese and translated on
August 1, 2000
El Cerrito, California
Karmic Hindrances and Diseases
Yutang Lin
Could an accidental tragedy
or acute illness be rescued in time?
Would the medical diagnosis and treatment be appropriate?
Individual results vary miles apart due to karmic conditions.
Repenting and accumulating merits to purify origin of
hindrances.
Comment:
Whether an acute illness or accidental tragedy could be rescued in time or not, whether the physician's diagnosis and treatment would be appropriate or not, both are dependent on each individual's situation and opportunity. Same disease and identical treatment do not necessarily yield same results; some would be cured while others would not. Thus it is understood that the deciding factor is not within the grasp of worldly approaches. In accordance with Buddhist teachings and based upon experiences gained through years of devoted practices, all kinds of suffering due to illness or hindrances are understood as results of past karmas. In order to become free from such suffering basically one should adopt some repentance practice such as the Thirty-five Buddha Repentance Ritual or chanting mantras like The Six Syllable Mantra of Avalokitesvara, The Hundred Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva, or the Great Compassion Mantra to reduce the karmic debts. In addition, one should also engage in Dharma related activities that would accumulate merits, such as recitation of Sutras, practice of Sadhanas, releasing lives, alms giving, making offerings to the Three Gems, printing Buddhist books for free distribution, etc., to compensate for past blunders. Over the years I have prayed for many people with many inspirational results. Some cases of sickness or other kinds of suffering were reduced in severity or cured through prayers. Some needed additional merits accumulated to overcome. Those cases that I had personally witnessed included mental disorders, haunting by ghosts, or chronic diseases. As to how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas bestowed their blessings I have no idea, and yet merely based on my sincerity and voluntary service in praying for others there have been many cases of effective inspirations. In case of victims haunted by ghosts, they would be treated as mental patients by psychiatrists, and there could be no cure by medicine. Nevertheless, through dedication of Buddhist merits and liberating rituals for the ghosts the victims could return to normal without taking medication. I hope that people would pay attention to cultivating their own intentions, thoughts, speeches and actions in the direction of returning to original purity so that all their karmic hindrances would be eradicated, and consequently they would stay forever free from all kinds of suffering.
Written in Chinese and translated on
April 13, 2000
El Cerrito, California
Follow-up from Powa Service
From: Yutang Lin
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 10:10 AM
To: Dharma Friends
Subject: FW: follow-up from powa service
Stanley,
Tell her that it is good that she conveyed the experience to me and forwarded the thanks from her ancesters to me.
In this way we can share this with all on my list, and even post it among the Powa articles, so more will be benefitted after they learn about this.
May all beings attain Enlightenment soon!
Yutang
From: powa service
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 5:49 AM
To: Yutang Lin
Subject: Fw: follow-up from powa service
From:
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2010 8:27 PM
To: powa service
Subject: follow-up from powa service
Dear Dr Lin,
I apologize for taking much time to write to you since you performed the powa service for my ancestors/grandparents.
I believe it is indeed a powerful blessing ceremony and wish to narrate you my experience. On the eve of the powa service I dreamed of being in a temple offering incense sticks to different protective guardians (buddhist-taoist). I was surrounded by my family, and yet also the place was crowded with many souls coming from many different places of the world. I was brought there by a young tall man, who was leading many "student" souls, in a kind of "school bus".
My parents were also there, as well as my siblings. We were making incense and light offerings to both Earth and Heavenly Guardians/Gods/Deities/Bodhisattvas...I clearly remember a large golden statue in the middle of the temple courtyard which was so big, so bright that I could not see the face even when I tried to look up..
I felt there was a ceremony going on, giving out blessings to the souls departed. I felt blessed to know of this, even in a dream-state. I woke up the next morning, realizing it is the day you are to perform the Powa service for the deceased souls.
It might seem weird, but it has been many days since I dreamed of this and I still clearly see and remember everything...I also felt compelled to write to you about this...
I apologize for taking much time to narrate you this...I thought it must be only my mind making this up, and I was also suddenly hospitalized (I believe some of my bad karma also ripened). Today I woke up and upon chanting the Medicine Buddha mantra and reading your website articles, I decided that I should lose no time and write to you my experience.
I now feel relieved and have no expectations in you believing me or not...
Thank you for all Dr Lin...I feel your prayers have immensely benefited my family ancestors and they wished me to tell you thank you...
Yours peacefully,
Name removed for privacy
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