This Thích Nhật Từ, so-called monk, is not a monk. He’s a fake monk. Real monks don’t speak against the Buddha. Because he, in this single denial of the Western Paradise of the Amitābha Buddha, he denied also all other Paradises from all other Buddhas. Because we have many Buddhas and each one of Them created Their own Paradise for Their believers. So, by saying there’s no Amitābha Buddha’s Land, he denied all the other Buddhas’ Paradises. And he denied Shakyamuni Buddha’s existence as well. So he’s really against Buddhism in one word.
“Excerpt from ‘Is hell real or not? – Thích Nhật Từ’: Based on that Theravada Buddhism, it is clear that the image of hell is just a means of moral education, because if everyone would be reborn immediately, then there would be no hell.”
“Excerpt from ‘Thích Nhật Từ: The Western Pure Land Realm does not exist.’: Can reciting the Buddha's Name lead to rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss? The answer, according to history and based on the 18th sutra in the Dīgha Nikāya, is no. Because the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is not real.”
And by saying there’s no hell, he encouraged people not to fear karma, not to fear their retribution. And they can do anything bad or wicked deeds to other people or against the government law, because they don’t care. So you see, this is totally unacceptable. You think about that yourself. And if people who normally recite the Amitābha Buddha’s Name, and visualize the Buddha’s Land their whole lifetime, suddenly now follow this monk who says that there’s no Amitābha Buddha’s Land, no Western Paradise Land, then they will lose everything. They will lose all the energy, the faith that they built up all their life. And where will they go? Suddenly they fall into nothingness. And they will be lost; either reborn again in this world or go to hell even, because they don’t believe in the Buddha anymore.
If you don’t believe in the Buddhas, whom else should you believe? Whom else should you rely on to save your life, to take you out of this quagmire of existence and to save you from hell? So I would invite all other monks and nuns never to say such things like, “no hell, no Amitābha Buddha’s Land,” or any other Buddha’s Land, because you yourself will go to the deepest possible hell. I promise you I tell you the truth. God is my Witness, Buddhas are my Witnesses. You have to encourage people to recite the Amitābha Buddha’s Name, because the Buddha said that personally, taught that personally, and described all the beauty of that Land for you so that if you imagine it, you will go there.
You recite the Names and you might even see Amitābha Buddha in this lifetime, and you could even go to the Western Paradise in this lifetime. I mean, not every day of course, but now and then you will have a glimpse of it, or you will be invited to be there for some minutes, some hours.
There was a monk. He’s the abbot of a temple. I read it somewhere… I forgot the name now, but you will see it. I will ask them to include that monk’s name, the temple and his story for you. He, alive, went to Amitābha Buddha’s Land with the help of Quan Yin Bodhisattva. The whole story, he recorded; he has written it down for his people. And many monks and followers of Buddhism who know him and know that temple, know this story.
He went away for only one day while he was in samadhi. And he was walking with the Quan Yin Bodhisattva, Who appeared as a monk, elder monk, so he didn’t know that until later on. He went to visit places in the Western Paradise Land of the Amitābha Buddha. And he came back alive, and all the people were surprised to see him because the time of his disappearance was six years and five months. But for him, it was just one day. So, people even declared that he is dead, because at that time there was also no religious freedom.
And some government agents or police already came before that to his temple and threatened him, scolded him and slandered him in many ways, and threatened that they will come back for him. So when this holy monk disappeared, everybody was looking for him in 100 caves and all 10 directions and couldn’t find him. So later on, long afterward, they had to declare him dead. And they also thought maybe the government took him away already. And checking everywhere, they couldn’t find him with the government, so they declared him dead. So, imagine when he came back to life in front of the temple, how it was a great surprise for them. He was a live person, and he was a respected monk and abbot of a very famous temple. So he would not dare to lie, anything like this, and what for? So he came back and described in detail his journey.
“Excerpts from ‘MOST REALISTIC VIRTUAL REALITY: A “6 Years and 5 Months” Journey in the Western Pure Land’: Our story begins in the mid-20th century, when there was a monk named Shi Kuan Jing who was the abbot of the Mai Xie Yan Temple. On October 25, 1967, a monk hurriedly walked out of Master Kuan Jing’s meditation room, announcing to the monks of the temple the shocking news that the Master had disappeared! At that time, it was the second year of the Cultural Revolution, so a monk immediately thought, ‘Oh, a few days ago a group of fierce Red Guards stormed into the temple, could it be related to this?’ Although the Red Guards did not destroy the temple, they rushed straight to Master Kuan Jing and scolded him, saying extremely harsh words, and also said, ‘You wait there, don’t go anywhere, we’ll be back in a few days.’ And then the group of Red Guards arrogantly left.
The search team carefully searched more than 100 caves in Yunju Mountain but still could not find any trace of the Master. People even mobilized a salvage team to search in the reservoirs and ponds there, searching everywhere, but could not find any trace of him. In the end, the temple could only announce reluctantly to the outside world that Master Kuan Jing had passed away.
Time went by. One day in 1973, just like every other day, the monks of Mai Xie Yan Temple started their busy work at 4 am. When the monks swept the yard and opened the gate, everyone was stunned Master Kuan Jing, who had been missing for over 6 years, was standing right in front of the gate and smiling. The high-ranking monk opened the gate and was stunned for a long time before he could utter, ‘Master Abbot has returned!’ This time, the whole temple seemed to explode, everyone gathered around, asking endlessly; everyone wanted to know, why had he been missing for so many years, and where did he go?
The Master said that six years ago, while he was sitting in his meditation room, he suddenly heard someone calling his name. The Master himself did not know what was happening, nor did he ask why, but vaguely followed the sound out of the temple. Although his mind was a bit hazy, the Master knew clearly in his heart that he would travel to Dehua County. Dehua County, Fujian, is more than 100 kilometers from Mai Xie Yan Temple. In that county, there is the Jiuxian Mountain, on which there is a small Maitreya Cave inside which is enshrined a Maitreya Buddha statue from the Tang Dynasty. Master Kuan Jing walked tirelessly. Just as he was about to reach Dehua district, he met an old monk who called Himself ‘Master Yuan Guan.’ Master Yuan Guan invited him to go up to Jiuxian Mountain together. What surprised Master Kuan Jing was that this High Venerable Yuan Guan seemed to know everything, including where Master Kuan Jing had reincarnated in his previous lives and what his name was in his previous life. He could tell them clearly.
While talking, the two of them arrived in front of Maitreya Cave, and Kuan Jing saw a scene that surprised him even more. A majestic temple appeared before his eyes, with two stupas on either side of the temple’s gate. After Kuan Jing and everyone else entered the mountain gate, Grand Master Yuan Guan told him that the first destination of this trip was Tuṣita Heaven, to visit his Master Zen Master Xu Yun. Tuṣita Heaven is the Fourth Heaven in the Six Heavens of the Desire Realm mentioned in Buddhism. According to the Buddhist scriptures, Tuṣita Heaven is also divided into the Inner Court and the Outer Court. The Inner Court is the Pure Land of Maitreya Bodhisattva, where Maitreya Bodhisattva often resides and teaches the Dharma. Only sentient beings with an affinity with Maitreya Bodhisattva can be reincarnated into the Inner Court of the Tuṣita Heaven. Hearing this news, Grand Master Kuan Jing was truly overjoyed.
Grand Master Yuan Guan laughed and said: ‘Actually, it’s not that the prayer doesn’t exist, but your nature is covered with countless karmic obstacles, so you can’t see. When you sincerely recite the mantra, the karmic obstacles will dissipate and you will be able to see.’ After saying that, Grand Master Yuan Guan told Kuan Jing to continue reciting the mantra. suddenly, two lotus flowers appeared under their feet. The two of them were like riding the clouds and the wind, quickly moving forward. The magnificent scenery around them gradually receded, until they arrived in front of a majestic palace. At the gate, there were more than 20 monks wearing red silk robes welcoming the two of them.
The leader was none other than Kuan Jing’s Master, Zen Master Xu Yun. Kuan Jing was so moved that he almost cried. He walked up and knelt before his Master. Zen Master Xu Yun helped him up and smiled as he asked: ‘Do you know who is Master Yuan Guan is beside you?’ Kuan Jing then asked: ‘Who is He?’ The answer of Zen Master Xu Yun was like a thunderbolt in a clear sky. He said: ‘Actually, He is the incarnation of Quan Yin Bodhisattva.’ At this moment, Master Kuan Jing suddenly became enlightened; all his questions were answered.
Master Yuan Guan said: ‘Do you know where the next stop is? It is the Western Paradise. Don’t delay any longer, if you do, there will be no more time.’ The Western Paradise mentioned in Mahayana Buddhism is a Holy Land where Amitābha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva reside together. In the middle of the beautiful scene was a majestic golden mountain. The two of them walked to the front of the golden mountain and stopped. Grand Master Yuan Guan said: ‘Here we are! Amitābha Buddha is right in front of you, can you see it?’ Master Kuan Jing shook his head in confusion: ‘I don’t see anything.’ Master Yuan Guan smiled and said: ‘You are standing under the toe of Amitābha Buddha.’
Master Yuan Guan immediately urged Master Kuan Jing to quickly kneel down and ask Amitābha Buddha for His blessing. Master Kuan Jing immediately knelt down and prayed sincerely. As he prayed, he felt his body getting taller and taller, until it reached the level of Amitābha Buddha’s navel, and then he saw the real Form. Amitābha Buddha was indeed standing before him. He saw Amitābha Buddha standing on a lotus platform with countless levels. On each level of the lotus petals were beautiful stupas. Looking even further into the distance, Master Kuan Jing saw the entire scene of the Western Paradise. He only saw the beautiful landscapes inside, layer upon layer, majestic and splendid. In Master Kuan Jing’s words later, even if he wanted to describe the entire beautiful landscapes here, he feared that 7 days and 7 nights would not be enough.
At that moment, Grand Master Yuan Guan transformed back into His true form as Quan Yin Bodhisattva. He was about as tall as Amitābha Buddha’s shoulder, His entire body transparent and emitting thousands of rays of Light. Master Kuan Jing suddenly woke up and quickly knelt down to Amitābha Buddha, asking Him to bless him to escape birth and death. Buddha said to Quan Yin Bodhisattva: ‘Please take him on a tour.’ At the Lotus Pond of the highest grade, Master Kuan Jing saw Great Master Yin Guang, one of the great monks of the Republic of China era. After visiting the Lotus Pond, Master Kuan Jing bid farewell to Amitābha Buddha, stepped onto a lotus flower, and flew away from the Pure Land, returning to the Middle Heaven Arhat Hall. A youth brought a bowl of water, and Master Kuan Jing fell asleep after drinking it. When he woke up, all the beautiful scenery had disappeared. The golden palace was still shining and Quan Yin Bodhisattva was still imprinted in Master Kuan Jing’s mind, clearly before his eyes. However, he found himself sitting in the dark Maitreya Cave of Jiuxian Mountain.
Master Kuan Jing waited in the cave for three days before completely losing hope. Then he dejectedly walked down the mountain. Master Kuan Jing despondently walked towards Mai Xie Yan Temple along the way, there were many people coming and going. As he walked, Master Kuan Jing increasingly felt that something was wrong, but he could not say what it was. Suddenly, he saw many strange signs appearing on the road. Master Kuan Jing asked the passersby and was shocked – it turned out that it was already April 8, 1973. In other words, Master Kuan Jing was in the Pure Land for one day, but in the human world, 6 years and 5 months had passed. After hearing the Abbot recount this mysterious experience, the monks of Mai Xie Yan Temple were all very astonished. From then on, they practiced even more diligently.”
It is similar, almost identical with the experience of some of the God-disciples of mine when they went to visit the Western Paradise of Amitābha Buddha.
Photo Caption: Loving, Sorrowful Goodbye!
