First, let’s recite the passage from the sutra:
Just now Master Lianshi said that Grandmaster had issued a guarantee cheque, there is a guarantee that it will not bounce.
On hearing this my heart was filled with fear, at the moment I have two hundred thousand disciples [Editor’s note: at the last recount in 2013 there were over five million].
If I am to guarantee 200,000 people, there is no way I can handle that, there is simply no capacity for it. In the end, even if I were to be “cut into pieces,” it still would not be enough to cover it!
[Editor’s note: Living Buddha Lian Sheng vowed is to save sentient beings even if his body is smashed to pieces, hence this joking reference to it]
However after reading this scripture passage I am no longer afraid, because this guarantee cheque is endorsed by Shakyamuni Buddha. It is my cheque, that is correct, but Shakyamuni Buddha is the one endorsing it. If you need to return it, don’t come looking for me, go look for Shakyamuni Buddha.
Can you all tell what this scripture passage is about?
Who does “I” refer to in “because I see this benefit”?
It refers to Shakyamuni Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha saw such great benefit, so he quickly spoke these great words:
Just from this sentence, we can see that the one endorsing this is Shakyamuni Buddha.
It is Shakyamuni Buddha who tells us: “Every person should make the vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.”
In the future, if you need to find someone, just look for Shakyamuni Buddha.
But if you find him, that means you have already attained rebirth. If you can’t find him, it is your bad luck. If you all come looking for me, I will say go look for him. It’s because Shakyamuni Buddha himself saw and truly knew, that is why he dared to say such things, and Grandmaster also dares to say so.
Indeed, when the power of a person’s thought for something becomes concentrated, a kind of whole body power arises. Everyone’s mind, when concentrated, will also have a kind of power arising.
Our practice and rituals today are entirely about seeking spiritual union.
Here I ask everyone to make a vow, the heart has a wish, concentrate your longing thoughts on that wish, then recite the Buddha’s name, visualize, this way a magnetic force will be produced. He will draw you in and you will be reborn in the Pure Land.
Om Mani Padme Hum