Tonight, I would like to offer you some ideas about what happens after one leaves this world, because when we are living in this world we already know what to do. Most people do not know what happens after we depart from this world. I would like to also make a comparison between enlightenment and the experience of so-called "death". Actually when we die we do not die, we just change physical appearance; or sometimes we just forsake our physical appearance for a short period of time; or maybe even long period of time, maybe many hundreds of years, maybe many days, maybe many thousands of years. Then we may come back again to this world to express our wisdom and experiences through a physical instrument again.

Enlightenment Is Dying Daily

In the Bible, one of the saints stated that he died daily. In other places, it is stated that it's important to learn to die so that you may begin to live. Also in other places, it's stated something like if you forsake your life then you will gain life. So when we read the Bible and come across such sentences, we may become very puzzled. How is it possible that we die in order to live? How is it possible that one can die daily? How is it possible that we must forsake life in order to gain life?

I think many of you would have read a book called "Life After Life," in which an American doctor has collected many stories about people who have died and come back to life; and nearly all of them expressed the same experiences. That is, after they died, or they left this physical body, they felt a great sense of joy and freedom; they were able to fly to some far away country in some kind of vehicle that looked like a tunnel and then were welcomed by some beings who were full of light, love and assistance.

When we experience so-called enlightenment, we have similar experiences to some extent. That's why we heard that "I die daily". The enlightenment means we are connected with the higher frequencies of the higher worlds. Now in this universe, we are not the only beings and also our lives in this world are not the only life that we've ever lived. So if we get the so-called enlightened experience, that means we are at that moment connected with the higher world and sometimes relive our past glorious experiences in the glorious world.

We have not always been human beings. We have sometimes been Buddhas, angels, saints, Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva means saint in Christian terminology -- just a non-translatable term from Sanskrit. Bodhi means enlightened, sattva means being. Now we have lived many lives in different worlds. Sometimes we have lived our lives in a very glorious and intelligent world. But when we came to this world, most of people forgot their past. So when we get enlightenment, then sometimes we will remember these past memories. Then we can trace back to where we belong, where we came from, and we begin to realize how great a being we are.

Just the same with the dying experience of some people. When they go through the so-called dying experience, most people will see a kind of reflection of all their life's experiences, which flashes before their eyes like a movie. But mostly these so-called dead persons can only have the experiences of this life shown to them in the other worlds. But the enlightened person can see many, many lives back, thousands or hundreds of many thousands of years time and not only the experiences in this world or in this life -- many worlds.

So after such a knowledge, the person realizes that he is not an ordinary person, but a Buddha or a Christ consciousness. That is how Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the son of heaven, and the Buddha proclaimed Himself to be the enlightened one, the Buddha. Buddha also means Christ. Christ means the level of God consciousness. So Buddha is a Sanskrit term for Christ. Christ is the Hebrew term for Buddha. If we reach this kind of level of understanding and wisdom, we will also realize that we are Buddhas, we are Christs.

If we do not get the highest enlightenment, then we can only experience some kind of -- like the death experience. We can go to some kind of astral world or little higher world after we leave this world. But if we have the higher level of enlightenment or higher level of attainment through daily meditation and practice, then we can reach higher worlds, which represent the higher wisdom, and the higher glory.

Jesus said, In my Father's house there are many mansions. Yeah, that's what He meant. In the Bible it's also recorded that someone was caught up in the third heaven. In the Bible it didn't say how many heavens, but if there is a third heaven, there must be a second and a fourth.

Similarly, in Buddhism the Buddha has described many different Buddha Lands, and many levels in one Buddha Land. For example, there is a land of Amitabha Buddha. This land has divided itself into nine levels, from the lowest to the highest. Those with meager virtues and practice will stay in the lowest level for many thousand years. He will stay there until finally he gets the greater awakening through daily learning with the higher Buddhas or enlightened beings, then he will also go to the highest level.

I think it is similar to our school, like in high school we have many classes. Now when we have the so-called enlightened experience, it is similar to when we die -- we just leave the physical body temporarily and we come back again, just like those after death experiences in the book of the American doctor.

Prepare For Death

What makes dying so painful and difficult is the inexperience of death. If we have learned how to die every day, then it's very pleasant. Most people when they die, they are so fearful that they may lose this world. Because they do not know that there are better worlds, more beautiful, more pleasant, more happy awaiting them, they cling to these well-known surroundings, also cling to the loved ones. This makes us struggle between the spiritual body and the physical body and that's how it results in pain.

If we know dying is just a kind of rebirth, then we will not fear. We will look forward to it when the time comes. Now how to prepare for that beautiful day? Many people prepare for birth, for weddings, but do not prepare for death. Actually death is the biggest day. It should be the most important day. In birth we only have our physical bodies, limited freedom and very slow process of growth. But in death, we gain a vaster freedom, a more beautiful and flexible body, a greater wisdom and more beautiful world to live in -- for resting, for learning, for improving, for progressing.

So actually death is a very helpful event to speed up our evolution, to make us ascend quicker to higher wisdom. But in order to gain this status after death, we should also take care that the experiences we summon during this Earthly life are of a more pleasant type, more virtuous, so that when we leave this physical world, we will have no regrets, no guilty feelings and no attachments, so we just ascend very quickly and very happily.

When people leave the physical body, there are some other obstacles adding to their pain -- they are the crying, and grief of the loved ones who are left behind. Most people cry when their loved ones die, and grieve for many months, many years. Well, that for us is also understandable because we've lost a loved one, a good friend, a companion and we do not know where that friend has gone to; if his or her life would be better after this world; if anyone takes care of him. Therefore, we grieve and feel attached to that departed soul. Consequently, this sentiment will also hold up the departed soul and inhibit him in some way; also lessen the intensity of his joy and limit some of his freedom.

So the best way and the correct way is not to grieve when a loved one dies. I know this is difficult, but it's the higher kind of sacrifice and love. We should feel happy that the soul is released from the physical limitation, from this "prison house"; that the soul is freer to fly anywhere, to learn many things, and to do the many things that he loves to do. But because we cannot glimpse into the after world, we can't rejoice at the death of a friend or a relative.
We can learn to glimpse into the after world through a very scientific method. We can learn to know how to die; we can learn to look beyond this life into many other planets, many other dimensions and feel secure and assured of the happiness of the life after this life; and we can see also where our loved ones have gone. Also we can choose our place to go after we leave this physical world. In this way we will never fear death and we will not cry if someone leaves us. Or at least if we cry we don't feel such a burden, a heavy sense of loss and sorrow. We might cry in joy and gratitude.

Our Lives Are More Positive After Enlightenment

When we have such experiences of beyond this world, we call this enlightenment. There are many levels of enlightenment. And at the time of initiation with a competent Master, we will have some part of this enlightenment experience. We can see beyond this world into some glorious worlds and have the experience of leaving the body and coming back again, exactly like when we die. Then we know how pleasant dying can be, we will lose the attachment for this world, and we will lose any kind of heavy sense of sorrow and misery.

Some people say that after they have come back from the other world to this world, they feel that they do not like this world anymore because they have known a better world. But also paradoxically, they love life. It isn't that they become depressed or want to die. It's not so, because they know life is a continuous process, and that they never die. That is what makes people more positive, more encouraged that they try to live a more fulfilling life, a more beneficial life, a more conducive life to society and to themselves.

That's why we read in many scriptures that all the saints always work ceaselessly for humanity's benefit. They dedicate their lives, energy and wisdom to the service of humankind, especially in the spiritual field. Look at the life of Jesus. We do not have to say that He was a very great son of heaven. It's enough to look at His life to know that He was a saint. Now, we know that He walked every day from place to place, enduring much hardship and poverty, in order to preach the Truth, in order to remind people of God. He did not need to do that. You remember He multiplied the bread and fed about five thousand people, and you remember He made water into wine. Such a man would not need to endure poverty. But He chose to do so in order to serve humankind; in order to awaken people to the Truth, the principle of God, to help them come out of misery, of ignorance.

Now, let's come to the life of Buddha. No need to say that Buddha was not a Catholic, was not a Christian. He was as much Christian as Jesus. Jesus was as much Buddhist as Buddha. Now what did the Buddha do? Exactly the same as Jesus. When we read the Buddhist sutras, we know Buddha had limitless power and also in worldly life, He had a very high position. He could have been the king of the nation, but He forsook it all and endured poverty and hardship, traveling from place to place, humbly begging for His food so that He could preach the Truth. He did not need the food even. But He did so as an act of humility, as an act of grace so that those who gave it to Him, may it be so little, would receive some blessings in return; would learn the act of giving and selfless service. The same with Jesus, He didn't need to beg for food or He didn't need anyone to offer to Him. He just did so, so that people gained some blessings and wisdom.

What makes these saints so selfless is that they have gained knowledge into the ever continuing life, that they have gained happiness from enlightenment. They also want to share this joyous experience with others, because they know how miserable it is to be ignorant and that many errors, many mistakes, many crimes come from ignorance. There are no criminals in the world. The greatest criminal is ignorance! If we know the secret of life, if we know how to love life, if we are enlightened, we would not commit any crime. Therefore anyone who makes mistakes, commits any crime at all, they are not to be blamed. Ignorance is to be blamed.

Therefore, the saints instead of condemning people, they teach people how to get out of ignorance, how to know themselves, how to put their great wisdom to use. I mean how to make use of their wisdom, because everyone has wisdom hidden within ourselves. That's what we call the Kingdom of God, glory, knowing or love. When we find this Kingdom of God, whether by our own effort or by learning from someone who knows, we begin to feel a sense of fulfillment! We begin to feel the love and positive attitude towards life. That's why all the saints in the past worked very hard to enlighten people; even though by doing so, they had to endure many kinds of criticism, misunderstandings and hardships, sometimes even risking their lives.

In the case of Jesus and Socrates, also Buddha, many people wanted to kill them, blacken their names. But despite all of the difficulties, the saints always endure for the sake of people. The saints are the greatest peace-makers, the greatest politicians, who always bring peace to the world -- the kings without any thrones because they don't need anything in this world.
Jesus said that His Kingdom was in heaven. Buddha forsook the Earthly kingdom. They have a greater Kingdom within, we call the Kingdom of God. Seek you first the Kingdom of God and all other things shall be added onto you, it is truly so.
After we have gained the Kingdom of God, we have no desire for the kingdom of this world. Remember when Jesus was in the desert meditating, and the King of Maya came -- Devil, Satan came to Him and said: If you bow to me, I will give you the kingdom of the three worlds.

Jesus said: Go behind me.

Means go away. He did not need this, not even the kingdom of the Three Worlds, not one world. The kingdom of the Three Worlds, included the third heaven, but Jesus did not need this. When Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree for forty-nine days, the so-called negative force tried to seduce Him in many ways, offered Him many things; but He did not want. So for those enlightened souls, even though people praised them as kings, it's not in the sense of the worldly kings. But worldly people cannot understand this due to their ignorance and jealousy, which is common within the human brain, within the human behavior.

When Jesus was alive, many politicians at that time were jealous of Him; and because of that, they killed Him. It was because they misunderstood Him. If they knew, truly He didn't care about anything in this world, they wouldn't fear His influence.

Establish A Heavenly "Telephone" Connection

Enlightenment is always necessary, even if we want to be in this world, even if we do not want heaven. In China we say, "First be enlightened." Means cultivate yourself, then we can take care of the household; then further, we can take care of the nation; and further, we can bring peace into the world. So if we practice self-cultivation, we contribute to peace in the world without having to say anything, without having to be in any peace conference. Peace will rain upon the world automatically, naturally.

How to practice self-cultivation in everyday life? It's very simple. We should remember the commandments, try our best to keep them. If we fail, we try again. Yes, always turn to God, to the Buddhas for help and guidance. A Buddha means an enlightened Master of the past, present and future. If we truly ask them for help, they will give us help.

Many people go to the church, go to the temple to pray. But sometimes it is difficult to get in touch with these Buddhas or the God-power. Therefore we feel that our prayers are not fulfilled, because our connection is severed. Just like our telephone is disconnected; so if we talk on the telephone, it is a useless attempt. We can only make noise and the neighbor would hear us, but not our needed person in the distance. Even though our friends are a very long distance away, through the connection of the telephone wires, we can talk to them like I am talking to you now.

Similarly, even though God is supposed to be very far away in heaven, or the enlightened Masters are supposed to be in the Buddha Land somewhere very high, very far away, through a connection, although invisible to the eyes, we can contact them and get help from them. That contact is offered through the so-called initiation or what we call true baptism, like John the Baptist did, like Jesus did. That is why the necessity for a physical Master. Otherwise, Jesus didn't need to come here, Buddha didn't need to come here, many other saints didn't need to come here. They know our calls, but we cannot receive their answers. So they have to come here and make the direct link between heaven and Earth. Then, we are no longer separated from the universe.

Of course, whenever the saints come to this world, not many people will come to them, not all of the world anyhow, but some will come. Just like we have some public telephones, better than none at all. So, through these public telephones we can make contact with other people, even though we don't have a private phone ourselves. Similarly, those who follow the saints, the higher disciples will act as a public link between heaven and Earth. Maybe not too many, but it's still useful. Of course the more the better.

Similarly, if we ourselves have a telephone, then, we can directly and every time connect with heaven. Masters, like Jesus and Buddha, offer this kind of service -- to establish the heavenly "telephone". Then every time we pray, our prayers will be answered. We will know it intuitively or very clearly, visibly; it depends on our level of practice and understanding. Some people are higher in consciousness, some people are lower. It depends on their background and their strength of practice in this life.

Some kinds of diseases are incurable, even though they are very common diseases. I am not talking about new diseases which have no medicine at the moment. It is because these diseases are deeply rooted in the past life, and the doctors and the scientists cannot go beyond the present conditions into the very far past existence in order to find out the root cause. If these people however get enlightenment themselves, they will know how to cure themselves. They cure by their own wisdom, by their understanding of why this has happened. Oh, they can know this intuitively or it can be visibly clear. It depends also on their practice. If we are highly elevated souls, we will see things more clearly and visibly. If we are some kind of so-called beginner then of course, we do not see things very clearly but only intuitively. But even just knowing a little of our real life would help us immensely.

Therefore, the saints always encourage people; emphasize that people should be enlightened, should get in touch with the Kingdom of God, with the God-power. We can do so during this lifetime. We need not wait until we die and go through the painful experience of so-called death. If we wait for the dying process to take over in order to learn, in order to get contact with heaven, then our learning would be very limited, our level of understanding would not be so high. If we learn to die during this life, we have more chance to advance into a higher wisdom. And we can do so just like we learn any kind of hobby, new science or new subject. We learn side by side with other duties. We can keep our normal lives and positions, but we save some time every day to learn this beyond-life science.

To learn this science, we have no need for academic titles, any educational background or any financial status. It is all free of charge, because the wisdom that we gain is from ourselves. Therefore any real Master never charges the student any money, because it's our own treasure that we discover again.

If I tell you that in your house there is a hidden treasure. Well! Do I have any credit for it? I can't claim any credit for it because the treasure is yours. I only know where it is and just tell you.

God's Power Works Through A Living Master

The Kingdom of God is within us. Buddha Nature is within us. The Bible, the scriptures tells us so. And it's truly so: Know you not that you are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells within you. If the Holy Sprit dwells within us, we should find him, and ask him what he is doing there all the time. Why he leaves us in darkness. Why he doesn't hear our calls. Why he doesn't take care of our lives and make them better. He is dying to help us, but we didn't ask or we asked the wrong way.

In the Bible it says: Knock and it shall be opened. Ask and it will be given unto you. But you say you have been asking every day in the church and at home. Why haven't you receive? You forgot what Jesus said: Ask, but in my name. Then God will give to you! Do we have to ask God in His name? And: No one will come to the Father except through me. Does it mean that Jesus is bigger than God? Yes? No. It's only His job. For example if we want to see the president, we can't just drive through and go in. We have to ask his secretary, make an appointment with his deputy or whoever is in charge of the appointments for guests. Is that not so? Doesn't mean the secretary, the deputy or the person in charge is greater than the president. It's just his job.

So now, you also would tell me, "But I ask Jesus every day. We are a Catholic country, Christian country. You don't tell me what to do. You're Buddhist." No, I am not Buddhist I am "Godist". Buddhists, Christians are all "Godists". We just call God different names in different countries. Just like here you call your wife "querida". In America they call her "my wife". In Chinese they call her "tai tai". In Au Lac they call her "vo toi". So many different names for one title.

So why is it if we ask God in the name of Jesus every day in a church and we also don't receive any grace or light? It is because Jesus has left the physical world. His job is done here. So we have to find someone else who is a Comforter, as Jesus has promised to send after He left the world. Those so-called Comforters are those who do the job of Jesus, continue the work that He had not finished, because Jesus said that only as long as He lived in the world, He would be the light of the world. He did not say He would be forever the light of the world; only as long as He lived in this world.

Then He promised to send the Comforters afterwards. Someone who is able to comfort and replace our beloved ones, must be at least similar in capabilities and standard. So He means after He is gone, there will be other light givers coming to this world. Just like before Him, there were other light givers. Therefore someone asked Jesus if He was the reincarnation of such and such great past prophets, He did not object. Understand? It's the same spirit, power that goes into different bodies to serve humankind. Therefore, Jesus said: Not I, but it is the Father that works through me. And St. Paul said: I live, but not I, Christ lives in me. It means the same spirit works through different physical instruments, because all the greatest enlightened saints are one with the Father, one with God or one with the Buddha Nature. Therefore all the enlightened Masters reaching a certain stage are titled Buddha, because they share equally the power they have, the same wisdom, same capabilities.

If any of you would like to have this enlightened experience, I would be happy to serve you; because I continue the tradition from Jesus and Buddha to serve mankind in this way. Just like you serve your country by being a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer, I serve your country, I serve the world, the whole world in my way. We just do different jobs. There is no need to praise me or to be surprised at my job or my statements. I have just studied different subjects and graduated in a different school. So I do a different job than you do. Just a job!