Q: Dear Master Lu, I have started practising Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door and since then I have experienced positive changes in many aspects of my life. Recently I barely escaped a serious accident. I know it was Guan Yin Bodhisattva who protected and blessed me! But I do not know how to express my gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Which sutras and mantras should I recite?
A:
For people who have just started performing recitations and cultivating their mind, as long as they are sincere, and constantly doing good deeds and accumulating merits and virtues, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will protect and bless them. By performing recitations, we can repay our karmic debts and eliminate karmic obstacles. We can reduce major issues to minor ones and minor ones to nothing.
If you wish to express your gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva for protecting and blessing you, you can make vows in front of the statues or images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on the altar. For example, you can vow to be a vegetarian, or to introduce Buddhism to a certain number of people, helping them become spiritually awakened. You can also vow to spread the Dharma, or emulate the compassion of the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva, helping people who have affinity with the Buddha to reach their spiritual awakening.
In fact, Guan Yin Bodhisattva does not need anything in return from us, but only hope that we can sincerely cultivate our minds and help other people become spiritually awakened. Therefore, to express our gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva, we should learn from Guan Yin Bodhisattva and Master Lu to help people become spiritually awakened. In our daily lives, we should continuously promote Buddhism and help people become spiritually awakened, share our experiences with others to demonstrate the benefits of learning Buddhism whenever possible, and help more people to break through delusions and attain enlightenment. We should also practise the “giving of Dharma” whenever possible by teaching or sharing the Buddhist teachings and knowledge with others.
In addition, you can do more recitations of the Heart Sutra. When you recite the Heart Sutra, you can connect yourself with the energy of Guan Yin Bodhisattva. This way, Guan Yin Bodhisattva will be able to sense your gratitude.
You can also respond to the call of many followers of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door to recite the Great Compassion Mantra, or perform life liberations for Master Lu. You can pray to Guan Yin Bodhisattva to protect and bless Master Lu, so that he can dwell in this world for a long time to spread Buddhist teachings, helping more people who have affinity with the Buddha to be free from suffering and attain happiness through the practice of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door.