..續本文上一頁 west, and I suggest you read it if you have time.

　　I also came across a case during the 1930s in Shanghai. There was a Frenchman who was also able to summon souls from the hell realms, and without needing to enter into the body of a medium, the soul could speak directly in the room. The souls” voices were completely identical to those of the dead people”s.

　　Including within Tibet, there are countless soul summoners. Sometimes they depart from their body for a week and look as if they have died, but actually they have gone to the bardo realm to bring back some messages from the dead souls to their relatives who are still alive. No doubt we can find some fake cases, some people may not really have this ability, and pretend to receive messages from the dead souls for their own benefit. However, there are also many real cases. We can find countless examples from ancient to modern times.

　　University Students Should Be Equipped with Correct Faith

　　As a university student, many of you probably have full confidence in your future. You think that after your graduation you will immediately work toward your aspirations and gain many accomplishments within society. However, in reality, society is not as beautiful as you might think it is. When you truly experience the complexity of the relationships between various people, from high to low, only then will you understand that the relaxation, freedom, and simplicity of student life is so precious. Therefore, you should be mentally well prepared in advance. Otherwise, when small adversities occur after you enter the world of society and work, you might be at a loss, as if the heavens are falling and the earth is breaking, and everything is in darkness, just like the scenes in the movie 2012.

　　What mindset should you have to be prepared

　　 At least, you must have correct faith—something upon which you can rely. Without this, even if you are very successful in society, in your old age you may feel very lonely and miserable. We therefore should not be shortsighted and only care about our present. Instead, we should stand on a higher vantage point so we can see further. We should use the wisdom of the Buddhadharma to observe our life, the material world, and ethical and moral principles. If you can do this, you will discover that setting off all other fields of knowledge against Buddha”s wisdom makes those other fields seem so insignificant.

　　At present, there are many famous bestselling books. Whenever I hear about them, I am always interested to read about them. However, after I read about them, to be honest, I am quite disappointed, because the concepts or contents presented have already been articulated in Buddhist scriptures; nothing is new for me. Regarding this point, I am not fooling myself, boasting, or denying the truth. As a Buddhist, whether principles are derived from Buddhism, from other religions, or non-religions, as long as nobody can overturn them, we will recognize and accept them. However, after comparing various types of knowledge, my conviction in Buddha is even stronger than before. All of you, regardless of whether you believe or don”t believe, should still use wisdom to analyze.

　　This is basically what I wanted to share with everyone today. I hope that through this you understand the most important concept in our life—the existence of past and future lives. For the sake of your happiness in many future lives, accumulate merits and eventually enter the gate of liberation or enlightenment.

　　As we are all aware, recently there have been serious natural and manmade disasters in Japan, such as a ninth grade earthquake, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, nuclear leaks, and so on. After watching these scenes on TV, I felt so sad about it. For historical reasons, the people of Nanjing hated the Japanese. However, as most of us are Mahayana practitioners, if we exchange our self with others, imagine if we had been swept away by waves and terrified by earthquakes. How unbearable it would be. Furthermore, some people may have created heavy negative karma during their past life and are now in the bardo state and don”t have a chance to purify their negativity through confession. Owing to this, they will fall into an abyss of suffering in their next life. If we reflect on this, we will realize that they are so miserable.

　　For this reason, I hope that we can recite together one hundred times the mantra of Avalokiteshvara and dedicate it to the victims in Japan, wish the dead can have a fortunate rebirth, and that those still alive are able to dispel their sufferings. OM MANI PADME HUM, OM MANI PADME HUM.… Thank you.

《Buddhist View of the Science of Life》全文閱讀結束。