1. The importance of setting up a Buddhist altar

 

 

“Questions and Answers on Metaphysics” Part 5 “Questions on the Arrangement of the Buddhist Altar”

 

 

If you have the conditions, you must set up a Buddhist altar at home.

Wenda20130614 11:09 

Audience: Some people who practice the Guan Yin Method will dream about Guan Yin Bodhisattva and Master, but I have been practicing for eight or nine months and have not had any dreams. Does this mean that I am not practicing well or that I don’t have enough affinity?

 

 

Master: Not necessarily. If you don’t dream of Guanyin Bodhisattva, then there is a small problem. It means that you are not diligent enough in your practice and are often confused. So Master often says that learning Buddhism and cultivating your mind is like boiling water. You can’t stop for a day. If you stop for one day, your water will immediately cool down. So you should recite the sutra every day. You can’t stop in the middle. No matter how busy you are, you should recite it several times to maintain continuity. It doesn’t matter if you don’t dream of Master. Didn’t you call me? Wouldn’t it be different if you called Master? (I don’t have a Buddhist altar at home) This has an impact. Why don’t you set up a Buddhist altar? (Because I haven’t got the new house yet, I’m renting it outside, so I don’t have a Buddhist altar) You have to set it up, no matter how small it is! (I’m renting a house now) It’s the same! Without a Buddhist altar, the effect will not work! Even if the Buddhist altar is simple, you can only visualize when the Bodhisattva is there. Can you visualize when the Bodhisattva is not there? Your mind is full of distracting thoughts! Your mind is full of greed, anger, and ignorance in the human world! Can you put the Bodhisattva into your heart? If you have a Buddhist altar and look at the Bodhisattva, you will feel calmer (OK, can you put the photo of Guanyin Hall there?) Absolutely! Just put the photo, a glass of water, an incense burner, and some fruit if possible. If not, don’t even put any fruit. It’s better than not having a Buddhist altar now. You must burn incense.

 

 

Setting up a Buddhist altar and chanting sutras will have a better effect

Wenda20120323 32:00 

Audience: I think my son’s soul is a little bit incomplete, and we don’t have a Buddhist altar at home, so…

 

 

Master: Why don’t you set it up? (Because the conditions are not suitable) What do you mean by conditions? Is it because your husband objects, or is it because of your house? (No, I haven’t found a better place yet) By the time you find a good place, you’re already in trouble! Your house is so big, but you can’t even find a small place like the Bodhisattva’s altar! Does this mean that you are cultivating your mind well? Of course, your chanting is not effective! Don’t you know that your child is sick? If you have a Buddhist altar at home, Bodhisattvas will say “Ten thousand lights” and come to your house, but you can’t make room for them. Bodhisattvas come to bless you! Is your house an apartment or a house? (House) Look, houses are so big, and people who live in apartments are offering Bodhisattvas! You shouldn’t do that! Bodhisattvas have helped us so much! Offering Bodhisattvas is for your own good! Your own children have so many illnesses, and the effect of chanting is not as good as having a Buddhist altar at home! (Good!)

 

 

Setting up a Buddhist altar is very important, and solving problems requires the power of will.

Wenda20131101 05:20

Audience: I would like to ask how effective my chanting is. My son has autism, and I cannot set up a Buddhist altar yet. This is very troublesome. I have burned more than 1,500 Little Houses.

 

 

Master: If you don’t have a Buddha altar at home, Bodhisattvas won’t come (then what should I do?) You can’t do things in the human world by yourself, so what do you say? You can even say “I can’t recite the sutras” now, and overcome all difficulties to win. You don’t even have the power to set up a Buddha altar at home, so how can your child get better (I have set it up before, but the situation was very bad after setting it up, and later I had no choice but to take it down) This is because the affinity is not enough, there is nothing you can do. In this case, there are demonic obstacles in your family, and these are all your bad karma. You should recite the Heart Sutra for him continuously until he believes (I have been reciting) For autism, reciting so many Little Houses will not have half the effect (Is it like this?) You don’t have a Buddha altar, it’s different. Is it the same to kowtow if you have Buddha in your heart or not? Of course, if you have Buddha in your heart, you can kowtow. Of course, it’s different to kowtow if you have a Buddha altar at home or not, and you don’t even know where to kowtow (Yes. I burn incense every day) This is all due to the grievances in your family (I can’t set it up). The solution is something people seek out themselves. In this case, if you have strong willpower, you can still set it up. If you don’t have this kind of willpower, how can your child get better? (My son won’t let me set it) Your son won’t let you set it because of the spirit in him (Yes. He was very abnormal and powerful in those few days. We all felt very scared when we saw it) That is because he was angry and refused to leave. Would you rather let him feel pain during the operation, or let him feel pain forever? How can you learn Buddhism if you have no wisdom? When a child has a high fever, he is in constant pain and feels uncomfortable all over. At that time, the doctor gave him an injection, and the child would definitely say “I don’t want it, I don’t want it”. Do you want to give him the injection? How can the disease be cured without the injection? You can’t defeat the spirit. Now you have the ability to pray to the Bodhisattva, and you can still defeat him with your strong vows! How many people are not like this? The child also beat his mother, who is also a mental patient. She chanted sutras, and in the end the demon was chanted away by her, and the child was cured forever. You are suffering all the time now just to avoid offending him for a while? It is better to suffer a short pain than a long pain. Your son’s nerves have been flaring for a few days, so let him recover. He has been flaring for several years. If you want to cure him now, how can he not recover? (He had a lot of madness in those few days, and we were scared to death) So now he is still mentally ill. How could he not have madness if he wanted to be cured? His vows were not strong enough, and the Bodhisattvas did not come, so he would have madness. If there were really Bodhisattvas, would he have madness? If you really had some power, he would not be able to madness. Do you have power? I was half-believing and half-doubting at the beginning. You recited so many Little Houses just for one purpose, right? What kind of vows do you have? Are you willing to go out and save people? This person’s child is mentally ill at home, but he is also saving people outside. When he finally came home, his son was very good to his mother and even said to her, “Mom, what a great deed! Mom, what a great deed!” He kept saying this. Can you do it? The spirit can feel her merits. Didn’t she leave her child at home and go out to save people? What is this? Saving others is saving yourself! People like you have been selfish all your life, and you deserve it. People who are too selfish cannot save themselves. People who cannot save others or are unwilling to save others will never save themselves! You have been too selfish in your life, really (Yes, I will change) This is retribution, you must change, you must be determined to change (Yes, I will change) What is so great about this world, it is just worrying about gains and losses, worrying about good things, worrying about losses, not willing to suffer losses here and there, you will suffer a big loss in the end. Fortunately, you learn Buddhism, if you don’t learn Buddhism, you will be worse. Don’t have doubts, you must persist (I believe) and make great vows. If the vows are strong, the demons will go away; if your vows are not strong, the demons will still be with you. Only when you recite the sutras for your son and the spirits interfere with him less, or stop interfering with him, you can start to set up a Buddhist altar. The more you set up a Buddhist altar, the better he will be. This is a virtuous cycle, otherwise it is a vicious cycle (he is much better now). Set up a Buddhist altar only when he is much better (but…) Don’t tell me “but”, you are a person without confidence, a person who is afraid of things, a person who does not believe in others, and a person without vows can’t accomplish anything! It has improved a lot, and I asked you to set up a Buddhist altar, but you just won’t. What can you tell me? What can I say? You just want to rely on others all day long, rely on Master to use my power to bless you, and you can eat until you become fat? (I’m sorry) You are so selfish! You don’t even want to set up a Buddhist altar for Bodhisattvas, do you have the power of vows? It’s like a doctor performing surgery on a person. If it doesn’t work the first time, why would he do it again? It’s all about doing it until it’s successful. What are you afraid of? What is there to be afraid of? You don’t believe in Bodhisattvas (I believe, I believe).

 

 

The effect of making a wish with heart incense is not as good as that of making a wish with true incense

Wenda20130705 16:51 

Audience: When I burn incense, I make a wish and say, “Recite 108 Little Houses for my father.” Is this OK? Or do I have to burn incense and make a wish in front of the Buddha altar?

 

 

Master: Of course it is better to make a wish in front of the Bodhisattva. Since you don’t burn incense, the effect of burning incense in your heart is certainly not as good as burning incense in front of the Buddha altar and making a wish to the Bodhisattva.

 

 

If there is no altar at home, you cannot casually receive qi.

Shuohua20121214 22:47 

Audience: Can we receive energy when we burn incense?

 

 

Master: Don’t accept it. Don’t accept it. It’s too dangerous! When you accept qi, you must have a Buddhist altar. If you don’t have a Buddhist altar, then as soon as you accept qi, passing gods and officials from the underworld may come. The Buddhist altar at home is different because there is a Bodhisattva. Burning incense can only make you worship Buddha in your heart, but you cannot communicate with the Bodhisattva (I understand. There is also Guanyin Bodhisattva in the temples outside. Should we not accept qi from them?) Don’t you know if the Bodhisattva in the temple will come? What if there are other spirits? You can’t accept this kind of qi (Yes, yes, yes).

 

 

Without a Buddhist altar, I cannot burn the first incense and chant sutras all night long.

Wenda20130111 25:28 

Audience: A fellow practitioner asked, on the night before the first day of the Lunar New Year the first incense is burned. If they do not have a Buddhist altar at home, can they burn the first incense with their hearts and recite sutras all night?

 

 

Master: No. It is best for him to go to a fellow practitioner’s home and kowtow, and then go back home to recite the sutra. Think about it, what does New Year’s Eve mean? Eve means the past. On New Year’s Eve, many bad things will come, and you have to get rid of them, just like getting rid of the bad things in your body (I understand, thank you Master).

 

 

Setting up a Buddhist altar at home or helping others to set up a Buddhist altar has great merits.

Wenda20130901B 02:25 

Audience: A fellow practitioner helped a fellow practitioner who had lung cancer to set up a Buddhist altar and prepare for offerings the next day. The fellow practitioner with cancer dreamed of a man in white or blue clothes who said to him, “You should pray more. If you feel uncomfortable, do it.” The fellow practitioner woke up in the middle of the night and went to pray to Guanyin Bodhisattva. After praying, he did not cough all night and slept peacefully.

 

 

Master: This is the importance of setting up a Buddhist altar in your home. Setting up a Buddhist altar is like inviting Bodhisattvas to your home. This is a great merit, so helping others set up a Buddhist altar is even more meritorious. In fact, I can tell you that many people will do it again after you talk about it today. This is a great merit. If someone doesn’t have a Buddhist altar at home, you can help them set it up, and you can buy them a water cup or something. This is a great merit. There is a sound in heaven. That is to say, the sound in heaven is very loud. When setting up a Buddhist altar, put a water cup, and the sound of your words on it will be so loud that it will shake heaven.