There was a stranger named Song Yuan who came to tell me about a peculiar event.

He followed a friend to attend a “True Buddha Repentance” Dharma ceremony at a Leizang Temple. Song Yuan himself never had any religious beliefs. He happened to visit his friend, who was about to go out. He asked his friend where he was going, and the friend replied that he was attending a Dharma ceremony. Song Yuan, indifferent either way, followed his friend to the assembly.

There were quite a few people attending the assembly, and each person received a copy of the “True Buddha Sutra.” He flipped through it and read a bit, seeing a mantra: “Om Guru Lian-sheng Siddhi Hum.” Song Yuan curiously recited it a few times, then yawned. 

Song Yuan found a corner against the wall to sit down, boredly watching a large crowd chanting, kneeling, and bowing.

Song Yuan fell asleep.

In his sleep, he surprisingly heard someone speaking clearly into his ear:

“This True Buddha Sutra is excellent!”

“The True Buddha Sutra is a precious scripture with great spiritual efficacy.”

“Carrying the True Buddha Sutra with you can protect you!”

Song Yuan woke up, looked left and right, but no one was talking to him. Everyone else was doing prostrations, and no one was paying attention to him.

Song Yuan found it baffling, scratched his head, and didn’t think much of it!

The “True Buddha Repentance” Dharma assembly finally ended.

As he was leaving, Song Yuan asked the temple’s Dharma master:

“This True Buddha Sutra?”

The Dharma master answered:

“You can take it as a gift!”

His friend teased him as they were leaving:

“You can take more free scriptures. What are you going to do with the True Buddha Sutra? Are you going to read it when you go back?”

Song Yuan blushed: “Reading it can’t hurt, right?”

****

After Song Yuan got the True Buddha Sutra, he casually placed it on his bedside table. One day, he saw his bedside table emitting light and witnessed this strange glow several times.

He searched the bedside table.

There were no items emitting light.

Only the True Buddha Sutra was there.

That year, during a company group trip, they rented a large tour bus. As Song Yuan was about to leave, he saw the True Buddha Sutra emitting light once again.

He casually grabbed the True Buddha Sutra and put it in his travel bag, carrying it on his back.

It was a three-day and two-night trip, and on the second day, the bus reached a mountainous area where it started to rain heavily.

The mountain road was winding, curving back and forth.

The driver did not slow down.

A few female colleagues with weaker constitutions were already carsick, and one even vomited. Song Yuan was fine and quickly offered “Wan Jin You” (a traditional Chinese herbal oil) to the unwell female colleague, carrying his travel bag in his hand.

Then, in an instant

The large tour bus seemed to lose control.

It flew off the road.

Falling into a deep valley.

Due to the vast drop in the deep valley, no one on the bus survived. Only Song Yuan, whose travel bag seemed to be pulled by a great force, was thrown out of the bus window along with the bag, as if both he and the bag were thrown out together.

Song Yuan was thrown out before the entire bus fell into the valley, landing on the grass beside the road with only a slight abrasion on his arm.

When Song Yuan regained consciousness,

The tour bus had already rolled over multiple times and lay motionless in the deep valley.

Everyone in the bus was motionless, and their belongings were scattered everywhere.

It was a major accident.

Although Song Yuan was terrified, he was the only survivor. Afterward, he recalled that it must have been the True Buddha Sutra that saved him. He remembered when he attended the “True Buddha Repentance,” someone had whispered in his ear, “The True Buddha Sutra can protect you when carried with you!” He also recalled seeing the True Buddha Sutra emitting light several times.

Song Yuan began to recite the True Buddha Sutra.

He took refuge in Living Buddha Lian Sheng. Regardless of external criticism towards Living Buddha Lian Sheng, his faith remained unwavering, and he believed that the True Buddha Sutra had indeed saved his life.

Song Yuan’s story caught my attention. I certainly believe that the True Buddha Sutra saved Song Yuan’s life, but I had another thought: Why couldn’t the True Buddha Sutra save the lives of everyone in the bus?

Just as I was thinking this, I noticed a beam of light approaching. Within the light, there was a dense forest. In the forest appeared a deity who told me:

“Lian Sheng, seeing your doubts, I have come to explain.”

“Who are you, deity?”

“I am the local earth god.”

The local earth god told me that he is the guardian of the forest and the local deity of the area where the tour bus accident occurred.

The local earth god said that on the night before the major accident, following his usual routine, he lit a divine lamp and carried it in his hand as he patrolled the entire forest. When he arrived at the rapid stream in the valley, he suddenly saw the Generals Qi Ye and Ba Ye from the City God Temple leading about a hundred ghost soldiers into the valley. Each of them held shackles and other instruments of punishment, as if they were about to catch people.

Upon seeing Qi Ye, Ba Ye, and the ghost soldiers, the local earth god knew that something was about to happen. With a hundred ghost soldiers, the matter must be significant. Qi Ye and Ba Ye also saw The God of Fortune and Virtue.

The local earth god stepped forward and asked, “Generals, what brings you here?”

General Ba Ye replied, “This is none of your business, little earth god. Go back to sleep!”

“This…”

General Ba Ye said, “The underworld laws of the City God Temple are not to be interfered with by land gods.”

The local earth god muttered, “Nevertheless, I am always carefully guarding this forest and valley.”

General Qi Ye listened and found it reasonable. He remained silent and took out the arrest warrant from his clothes.

The local earth god was shocked when he saw it. It turned out to be a major road accident. Fifty people were to be arrested in total, with each name listed on the warrant, including both men and women.

One person was particularly special, listed at the very end of the fifty names. This person’s name was Song Yuan. Why was he special? Because all fifty names were gray, but only his name had a tiny bit of light.

The local earth god asked, “Is there a survivor?”

“That’s correct.”

“Why is Song Yuan alive?”

“This person has a protective scripture”

“What scripture?”

“The True Buddha Sutra.”

The local earth god, with compassion in his heart, asked the same question, “It’s strange, there’s a True Buddha Sutra on the bus. Why can’t it protect the lives of everyone on the bus, but only the life of one person?”

Ba Ye replied, “Song Yuan has read the True Buddha Sutra and recited the Padmakumara Heart Mantra. The others haven’t seen the True Buddha Sutra nor recited the Heart Mantra. The numbers of life and death are predestined. Between heaven and earth, all fortunes and misfortunes, auspicious and inauspicious events have karmic roots. The gods and spirits of heaven and earth are just enforcers. When to arrest is just a matter of time.”

Upon hearing this, the local earth god felt disheartened and returned to the small earth god temple with a heavy heart.

The local earth god said, “Because Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Lu Sheng-Yen thought of this major accident and had the same question, I appeared in person to inform you.”

I put my palms together in gratitude to local earth god.

The local earth god left joyfully.

I sighed! Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life, so it has sent down many scriptures for people to practice. These sutras and mantras are earnest teachings and the heart of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, providing a glimmer of hope.

As long as people grasp this glimmer of hope, they can survive. All one needs to do is to wholeheartedly read sutras and recite mantras, avoid all evil, practice all good, and purify their body, speech, and mind. By putting this into practice, one is on the path to salvation, resolving calamities, and increasing blessings and wisdom.

The “True Buddha Sutra” is a scripture of the True Buddha School and has already saved countless sentient beings. Its merits are vast, boundless, and its extraordinary power is inconceivable!

This sutra, fully named the “Sutra of True Buddha Dharma for Dispelling Calamities and Bestowing Blessings,” is simply called the “True Buddha Sutra.” It is unique and different from other Buddhist sutras. This sutra is the scripture that flowed from the heart of “Living Buddha Lian Sheng,” who personally experienced the Western Paradise’s Maha Twin Lotus Ponds.

Flowing from the heart, one word after another, shining light from the Buddha’s heart, word by word, sentence by sentence, chapter by chapter, it is gathered to form a sutra.

The main point of the sutra is to narrate the divine transformation of the eighteen great Padmakumaras in the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds of the Western Paradise.

Among the eighteen great Padmakumaras, the main deity is the Great White Padmakumara, who manifests tremendous power. The entire space is illuminated with golden flames, radiant and transparent. The four holy realms and the heavens of the three realms are filled with colorful, extraordinary light. The earth trembles, and all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and heavenly lords rush to the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. At that time, the Great White Padmakumara emits a profound sound, propagates the Buddha Dharma, heavenly flowers rain down, and all celestial beings rejoice, exclaiming in wonder and developing great faith.

The Great White Padmakumara talks about the “Three Jewels”:

First, “No-thought” as the treasure of the Awakened Buddha:

The meaning of “No-thought” is vast.

All sentient beings should know that the Buddha-nature is inherently present. It is also said that when one realizes one’s true nature, the nature is the mind, the mind is the nature, and the nature is the Buddha.

Furthermore, because one’s own mind is the Buddha, if one seeks outwardly, being busy all day, the Buddha cannot be found.

To see the nature and understand the mind, one should know:

The Tathagata’s form is endless.

The Tathagata’s wisdom is endless.

The endlessness is in one’s own mind. If one’s mind can discern everything and apply wisdom in all actions, there will be no forms or appearances, and wisdom will be endless.

Understand that the physical body, consisting of the four elements, is the source of afflictions, and the physical body is subject to birth and death. Only the Dharma body is permanent and abides nowhere; the Tathagata’s Dharma body remains unchanged.

This is the “No-thought” of the Tathagata, the Great Self-Mastery King. “No-thought” can liberate, “No-thought” is unbound by birth and death, “No-thought” cannot be confined by any afflictions, “No-thought” has endless applications, and “No-thought” is equivalent to “emptiness.”

Therefore:

“Take No-thought as the Buddha Jewel of True Awakening.”

Although “No-thought” is quiescence,

“No-thought” is also the boundless application of vast wisdom.

Second, “A pure body, pure speech, and pure mind are the Dharma Jewel.”

This “purity of body, speech, and mind is the Tathagata’s Three Secrets.” The Tathagata’s secrets are the transformation of the three karmas into the Three Secrets. Ordinary people, being unaware, constantly turn their backs on enlightenment and create the three karmas of body, speech, and mind, thereby causing endless cycles of rebirth in the six realms.

To transform from an ordinary person into a Tathagata, one must awaken and practice the Dharma, enlighten oneself and others, benefit oneself and others, and perfect one’s awareness and practice.

Shakyamuni Buddha said:

• Do not commit any evil deeds.

• Perform all good deeds.

• Purify one’s own mind.

This is the teaching of all Buddhas.

The first two lines are about the “purity of body and speech.”

The last two lines are about the “purity of mind.” “Purity of body, speech, and mind is No-thought.”

Third, “Take a True Buddha guru as the Sangha Jewel.”

The True Buddha guru is a master who practices according to the “True Buddha Tantra.” This is a practitioner who understands the tantra and follows the root master’s tantra lineage to practice, knowing “respecting the master,” “valuing the Dharma,” and “genuine practice,” integrating them all together, using the tantra to transform sentient beings, leading them to cease evil and turn to good, and truly achieving “purity of body, speech, and mind.”

The True Buddha guru, whose commitment to the Dharma remains constant and unchanging, practices in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings, upholds the Three Roots, serves as an exemplary model for other masters, is a bright light in the darkness, a guide for those who are lost, leading sentient beings towards the bright path, and preventing them from going astray.

This is also the “Sangha Jewel.”

The “True Buddha Sutra” contains the heart mantra of the Eighteen Great Padmakumaras: “Om Guru Lian Sheng Siddhi Hum.” It is the great mantra that leads sentient beings directly to the Buddha realm.

When this “True Buddha Sutra” appeared in the world, twelve white rainbows simultaneously appeared in the sky, with five-colored lights penetrating the T’ai Wei stars. The earth shook, a treasure canopy formed in the sky, and the brilliance illuminated the heavens and penetrated the earth. All heavenly beings and gods offered great protection. This sutra benefits both the living and the deceased, and it is the greatest source of merit among all sutras.