Dharma Talk on the Ullambana Festival

Today is the Ghost Festival, a holiday for spirits and deities. We burn joss paper for beings in the netherworld, and after they receive it, they use it to spend—buying daily necessities, repaying debts, engaging in reciprocal exchanges, and so on. Do ghosts and humans share the same manifestation of form? When we burn the manifestation of form associated with humans, it ceases to exist here, yet a manifestation of form appears in the netherworld. So, what kind of manifestation of form do these joss papers represent for beings in the netherworld? How does it differ from the manifestation of form perceived by us humans? How is the manifestation of form transformed?

I once burned handwritten copies of the Great Compassion Mantra and Buddhist scriptures for beings in the netherworld. Later, they appeared in my dream, overjoyed, holding the scriptures and studying them, even wearing glasses. I have also visualized for beings in the ghost realm; in dreams, they appeared healthy, joyful in spirit, and with an open, cheerful state of mind.

The power of human thought is inconceivable. A single thought can indeed transform countless phenomena, ultimately capable of changing the entire trichiliocosm. Such a thought requires supreme concentration and wisdom, that is, samadhi. The true fire of samadhi permeates the great chiliocosm, causing it to flourish. The beings of a great chiliocosm share collective karma, and thus the environments they inhabit are largely similar, resulting in roughly consistent manifestations of form. The more collective karma they share, the closer they are in proximity, the more consistent their manifestations of form become. However, individual karma differs, leading to variations in the internal manifestations each being experiences and the resulting sensations and enjoyments.