Question:

Devotees of other religious faith came to pray for me during my illness. That was before I took refuge in the triple gem. I wonder if this would bring about any sort of adverse implication, Venerable?

Answer:

Certainly not. When I visited the Senior Citizen Home run by the Roman Catholic Sisters, the old folks greeted me with: May God Bless You! It is true that the heavenly Being they pray to does have his efficacy to a certain extend. And he is able to protect us, too. In accordance to Buddhist Cosmology, the highest-ranking deva or heavenly Being may be able to share his merits with you, but he cannot assist in your ultimate liberation.

Do be clear on this; the heavenly Beings themselves are still within the samsaric cycle. They are not liberated as yet. We take refuge in the triple gem, as they are truly our refuge.

The Sister-in-charge of the Home told me that she would pray and seek her God’s help whenever she encounters any major difficulties. And her Lord has been efficacious in answering her. The heavenly Beings do have their means. Seeking help from the heavenly Beings is no doubt much better than turning to the ghostly beings. Those beings in the ghost realm have accumulated less merits than us, it would be like begging from the beggars. How would they be able to answer to our needs? No doubt the heavenly beings are more advanced in merits than we are, but we do not encourage seeking assistance from them either.

The heavenly beings are still wallowing in the samsaric cycle as we do. They are not away from greed, anger and ignorance as yet. Take for instance the Old Testament’s description of God, who is rather ill –tempered. It is best not to offend him. He is not free from greed, anger and ignorance. Say if one were to break a promise after help is granted, he might be offended. It is safer to look onto the Bodhisattvas for help. So, how do we go about this then?

In god, there is only a pre–requisite of say 100% faith and trust. Seeking help from the Bodhisattva on the other hand would need more than this.

Let’s assume that you are financially unsound and look upon the Bodhisattva for help. And true enough; a group of social workers came to your aid to tie you over. You would no doubt be overjoyed with his efficacy. Most people would pay a visit to temples attempting to repay this gratitude; some call this thanksgiving. The Bodhisattva does not need our thanks. It does not matter if you wish to do so. Let’ s revise the situation a little. Say if the Bodhisattva appeared not to have answered your prayers. What would you have done?

Some will switch their attention to other religions. This may result in some complications. The gods are not without greed, anger and delusion. Had one’s request gone awry, adverse consequences may arise. The Bodhisattvas are beyond greed, anger and ignorance. Hence we say that it is better to place one’s hope in a Bodhisattva.

Say if your first request has not been granted, you need not seek anymore. The Bodhisattva is not deaf. Neither does he need to willfully test you for a lack of faith, unless it benefits us for doing so. The Bodhisattva is ever compassionate, and he is as efficacious, too.

The Bodhisattvas’ answer to your prayers is of beneficial to you. He would not grant you your wish if otherwise. We are ignorant, and therefore are not able to distinguish it clearly. So, if we truly have steadfast and more than 100% faith in the Bodhisattva, we should know that there is no need to plead further if our wish(es) are not granted!

Just as a mother would treat her child, the mother would not mind the difficulties involved so long as the wish of her child is of benefit to him/her. On the contrary, no matter how much a child may plead with her, if the wish is harmful to her child, the mother will not give in. Obviously those who lack wisdom may do otherwise. Generally, most mothers would not do so. Hence, if a mother does not give in to her child’s request, can we say that she lacks compassion? Of course not, she is just the reverse. She knows that her child’s request does more harm than good to him/her.

Likewise, when we plead for any non–beneficial requests, the Bodhisattvas’ answer to our prayers would be negative in order to safeguard us. So, do bear in mind, there is no need to plead any further when no reply is forth coming.