Question asked by Josh
Hello Pastor, when Buddha gave me a gift of able to see spirits, communicate with spirits and able to sense death onto someone, what is the purpose of this gift? How to use it? I believe I had this when I was around 12 years old. 70% of my dreams are mostly took me to hell for a walk, I even talk to Yama, Yama allow me to peek on the Book of the living and the dead.. I had only dream once of Buddha and the Titan God once, but everything in Sanskrit. I understand them only in dreams, and when communicating with spirits. So what is the purpose of this gift? How to use them to help?
Dear Josh,
Thank you for your question. Supernatural abilities such as those you have mentioned definitely do exist. They can come about from a couple of reasons: as gifted by a supernatural being, god, etc, or even simply because we have the karma to have such abilities that have manifested in this life. The other way they can come about is through our own transformation of the mind, where they occur naturally as side effects. In all of these cases, they are known as ‘common attainments’. The reason why they are known as common attainments, because they can be attained by anyone.
Buddhism however, stresses the importance of the ‘supreme attainment’, which is achieving the enlightened mind. Hence, in the Buddhist scriptures it is said that the supreme attainment is what we should strive for.
Now, we cannot advise you in which ways to use the abilities you have mentioned to help beings, because we are not attained enough to guide you in such a manner. You would need the guidance of a highly attained master to be able to guide you in a safe manner.
However, from what you have written, you can use your experiences to further your own spiritual transformation first. H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has advised on many occasions that we should not focus too much on abilities we develop, but concentrate on real transformation first. When you have reached a higher state of consciousness, then you will be able to use such abilities properly. The way to achieve this is to follow the path of the Lamrim or the Graduated Stages on the Path to Enlightenment. The text we use in Kechara is known as Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. You can get a copy of it here: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/lamrim-liberation-in-the-palm-of-your-hand
There are sections of the Lamrim that deal with the suffering of those in the hell realms, the god realms and all other realms. There are also sections that deal with karma. You can use your experience to help you develop insight into these sections and propel you further along the path of transformation. So, instead of trying to use your abilities now, use the experiences that you have already had to the greatest potential. I hope this helps. Thank you.