The Blessing of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

There are many such cases. When a person's conditions for learning Buddhism have ripened, before they even begin to study Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, or other great bodhisattvas, or a Buddha may bless them through dreams in order to prompt them to take faith in and study Buddhism as soon as possible. After they have started learning Buddhism, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas will also bless them in dreams. Some people are gravely ill and lying in the hospital, and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva will pour sweet dew upon the crowns of their heads; the next day their illness is cured. Such things are not strange, and they also involve matters of karmic affinity.

Being able to invite the Buddhas and bodhisattvas to manifest and bestow their blessing comes from the wholesome roots, merit, and karmic affinity for learning Buddhism cultivated in past lives. Such a person has not necessarily cultivated very well; they may be a beginner who has merely taken faith in Buddhism. Bodhisattvas seek to deliver sentient beings and will use all kinds of forms and methods; they do not necessarily deliver only those with deep wholesome roots and abundant merit—beginners are delivered too, so that they may develop faith in the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.