The talented Householder Lai was the artistic director of a certain television station. He mentioned that he had transmitted energy through qigong (breathing exercises) to several well-known performers. His efforts produced evident effects. Curious, I asked Householder Lai to do the same for me.

The two of us faced each other in sitting meditation. I closed my eyes and recited the name of Amitabha Buddha. To see how he would transmit energy, however, I opened my eyes occasionally and closed them again in recitation. I repeated this many times within several minutes. As I felt nothing, I opened my eyes; he had stopped his efforts to transmit energy and just sat still. I told him, “I felt nothing at all.” He was also puzzled and said, “Yes, that’s because the energy was circulating back and forth between my palms and your person. It could not enter your body.”

After a while, we both wanted to try again. This time I no longer opened my eyes to peer at him out of curiosity, but focused exclusively on my recitation. After an unknown period of time, I felt nothing, like the previous occasion. So I opened my eyes and saw him still sitting there, looking at me. I said, “Still no feeling.” He replied, “It was very strange this time. The energy flowed through my palms, my wrists, my arms and then into my body.”

So with distracted Amitabha-recitation, the energy stayed somewhere between the two of us. But with concentrated recitation, it entered the body of the other person.

This suggests that a magnetic field is generated during Amitabha-recitation. If our mind is focused during recitation, the field is stronger, capable of pushing the energy sent out by the other person back into his own body.

As the Contemplation Sutra says, “The light [of Amitabha] permeates all worlds, always embracing those who recite his name.”

Remarks:

The body is the guest, the mind the host;
The body may die but the mind lives on.
As death approaches, we follow our thoughts;
They determine the circumstances of our rebirth.
If they dwell in Amitabha-remembrance and Amitabha-recitation,
They at once attract the Buddha’s light, like a magnet.
As our thoughts merge with Amitabha’s light, it embraces us. 
In a single moment we are reborn in the Pure Land.

(Recorded and written by Huijing)

– English translation by Householder Guoshu,
Edited by Householder Jingtu