1.How does the Little House help spirits ascend to a higher spiritual realm?
The Little House is an important Buddhist method that the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva bestows upon us in this Age of Dharma Decline. All four sutras and mantras contained in a Little House are from Buddhist scriptures and can be found in the Buddhist Recitation Collection compiled by Zhao Puchu, the former President of the Chinese Buddhist Association. This unique combination of the four Buddhist scriptures, namely, the Great Compassion Mantra, the Heart Sutra, the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra and the Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan, has the miraculous effect of helping spirits ascend to a higher spiritual realm, and it has proven effective every time it is used.
Over the years, through the Three Golden Buddhist Practices of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door (performing recitation, making vows and performing life liberation) coupled with the persistence in Little House recitation, there have been numerous cases of miraculous full recovery from critical and incurable illnesses and mental disorders.
Just like medication, each Buddhist scripture functions differently, but they all exist for the same reason – to help people become spiritually awakened. However, different combinations produce different results. These four Buddhist scriptures contained in a Little House turn out to be a very powerful combination.
Little Houses are a bestowal from Guan Yin Bodhisattva to the human realm in this Age of Dharma Decline, allowing lay practitioners like us to help the deceased to ascend to a higher spiritual realm, resolve personal issues, eliminate karmic obstacles and elevate spiritual states without having to spend a single cent.For this reason, this unique combination of four Buddhist scriptures is not to be altered at will.
2.Since the Little House is so valuable, will my recitation attract foreign spirits to demand it?
Karmic creditors come for a reason, be it related to karmic affinity or karmic debt. Just like the human world, there are laws and rules in the spirit world. It is also true in the underworld where the laws are strict. As such, it is only right and proper to pay for what is due. Karmic creditors cannot demand scriptures from anyone they please.
Bodhisattva has bestowed upon us such a great method for practice that we can use Little Houses to repay our karmic debts, eliminating calamities and changing our destiny. If you do not repay your karmic debts by reciting Little Houses, the repayment will still need to be made through other means when the time of retribution comes, e.g.suffering from illnesses, experiencing misfortune or being involved in traffic accidents, etc.
3.What is the relation between the Little House and daily recitation?
Daily recitation is similar to your daily expenditures, while the Little House is like your loan repayments. Daily recitations cannot be counted towards a Little House. The prayers and the number of recitations that you perform for everyday use should be separate from those for Little Houses. Do not mix them up. The daily recitation forms the foundation for Little House recitation. Performing a portion of your daily recitation prior to recitation of the Little House can result in better effects.
4.Can I pray for myself when reciting Little Houses?
The Little House is a means of offering the Buddhist scriptures to karmic creditors or the deceased. It is used to repay karmic debts, so you should not pray for yourself when reciting a Little House. If you have a strong intention to pray for yourself while reciting Little Houses, and if you fail to fill in the red dots in the circles on the Little Houses immediately after finishing your recitation, then your recitations of the Little Houses are very likely to become part of your daily recitation instead. In other words, when you fill in the circles at a later stage, the power from the recitation would already have been used, rendering the Little Houses ineffective. This is one of the reasons many Buddhist practitioners still fail to experience significant effects after they have offered a large number of Little Houses.
You should therefore refrain from filling in Little Houses with the recitations that you perform for everyday use or including prayers for yourself when you are reciting Little Houses.
5.Which name should I use on the Little House?
• You should use your official full name/full true name; not your nickname, pen name, etc.Buddhist monks or nuns can use their religious names
• If you use both English and Chinese names on a regular basis or you have lodged the Application for Change of Name form with both names, then you can write them both on the Little House (refer to Figure 30).
• If you have changed your name before, you should utilise the name which is used most frequently (the name which is active spiritually).To be on the safe side, it is best that you lodge an Application for Change of Name.
(For further information about lodging the Application for Change of Name, please refer to Buddhism: Your Questions Answered and Introduction to the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door).
6.How to deal with interruptions during recitation?
If you are interrupted in the midst of reciting a scripture, chant the following mantra once to pause your recitation – “Ong Lai Mu Suo He”. You can resume recitation by reciting the same mantra again and continuing where you left off.
However, it would be advisable to start the recitation over in the case of a short scripture or if the interruption is longer than two hours.
7.Is there an order to observe in reciting the Little House?
• The four scriptures in the Little House can be recited in any order.
• You may observe the following order if you prefer: start and end the recitation of the Little House with the Great Compassion Mantra; recite the Great Compassion Mantra before commencing the recitation of each of the other three scriptures.
• For example, start with reciting the Great Compassion Mantra 9 times;
o Follow this with the Great Compassion Mantra 3 times and the Heart Sutra 49 times;
o This should then be followed by the Great Compassion Mantra 3 times and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra 84 times;
o Continue to the Great Compassion Mantra 3 times and the Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan 87 times;
o Complete your recitation with the Great Compassion Mantra 9 times.
o Using this approach will make the Little House very powerful. As the Great Compassion Mantra envelops the other scriptures, it not only enhances their power but also safeguards them.
o This is just one possible method, not the only method. Some Buddhist practitioners recite several Little Houses concurrently, while others only manage to complete one Little House in several sittings. A practitioner should thus make their own adjustments to the recitation order according to their situation.
o If you are not able to recite as stated in the example above due to time, environmental or other constraints, you do not need to stick with the above approach. What matters most is your sincerity and diligence in your recitation.
8.What is the time frame for completing one Little House?
A Little House does not need to be completed within a day. However, it is advisable not to prolong its completion.
9.Can two people recite a Little House together?
Two people may complete one Little House by jointly reciting either the same or different scriptures. Each reciter must personally write their name on the Little House. The names can be written side by side or on top of each other (refer to Figure 31).However, joint recitation is not recommended, unless under special circumstances. It is best to recite separately.
10.Is there an order to observe in dotting a Little House?
• Each time you finish reciting a sutra or mantra, use a red marker to fill the corresponding circle. Alternatively, you can add the dots after reciting a series or an entire section of sutras and mantras.
• When adding the red dots, it is best to start from the bottom, moving towards the top of the Little House. You can add dots for each individual section of sutras and mantras, or you can add dots across all four sutras and mantras from the bottom to the top.
11.Is there anything we should take note of when dotting a Little House?
Do not tick, cross, dot outside the edge of the circle or fill the circle right to its rim. The red dots cannot be too small—They should take up at least 50% – 80% of the space within each circle.
12.Is there a relation between a number that appears in a dream and the number of Little Houses required?
• If in your dreams there are scenes about karmic creditors with accompanying numbers, then the numbers usually have an association with the number of Little Houses you should recite. For example, if someone you do not know says that you owe him $30, it usually means that you need to recite 30 Little Houses for your karmic creditors. For relatively large numbers such as 18,000, if there are no other determining factors or distinctive scenes in the dream, then you can ignore the zeros at the end and interpret it as 18 Little Houses. If it is a very large number, such as 3,600,000, you can divide it by 30,000, which gives you 120 Little Houses, but it could also mean 36 or 360 Little Houses.
In some exceptional circumstances, very large numbers may be the actual representation of the required number of Little Houses. For example, $30,000 may very well mean 30,000 Little Houses (The above examples are only an indication as the actual numbers vary according to the details of the dream).
• There are no hard and fast rules. The specific circumstances shown in the dream as well as one’s actual circumstances need to be considered together. If someone suffering from a severe illness dreams about $500, this probably means 500 Little Houses are required; if a healthy person were to dream about $500, it might only mean 50 Little Houses.
• If you frequently find it difficult to determine the number of Little Houses required, just persist with reciting Little Houses for your karmic creditors. Even if you cannot tell how many Little Houses are required, you will eventually be able to help them ascend to a higher spiritual realm if you continue reciting.
13.Can I recite the Little House while doing household chores?
When it comes to reciting Little Houses, the quality of your recitation is the most important. If you can stay focused and ensure accuracy, even if you are performing household chores, you will gain merits and virtues and the Little Houses will be effective.
If you are preoccupied with other activities, and your thoughts are scattered, the quality of your recitation will be poor. It is best to find a relatively quiet place to perform recitations so that you can concentrate. You should not perform recitations in places such as washrooms or other impure places. In addition, do not perform recitations while cooking non-vegetarian food.
14.Can I recite the Little House as soon as I start my daily recitation?
Yes, you can. You may recite Little Houses as soon as you start performing daily recitation.
15.How should I recite a Little House for the karmic creditors in a rented property?
The Little House should be addressed to the “Karmic Creditor of the house of “full name of occupant””.
16.Can I dot Little Houses in a hospital?
It is best not to recite or dot the Little House in places where the energy field is unfavourable. However, if you have no choice but perform recitations outside the home, then you should still dot the Little House at home. Under unavoidable circumstances such as an extended stay in the hospital, you must fill in the recipient and the reciter fields before starting recitation. You should recite only during the day and ensure that you dot the Little House as soon as possible.
17.How should I write the date on a Little House?
The date field is on the left-hand side of the Little House. You can fill in either the date of completion or the date of burning. It should follow the Gregorian calendar instead of the lunar calendar.
18.What are some phenomena that could arise from burning a Little House?
Phenomena such as the colour of ashes, magnitude of the flame, etc.vary depending on factors like the colour of the paper, wind direction, etc. You should not dwell on these observations.
19.Does it work if I recite Little Houses for a non-believer?
Yes, it does, but it may not be as effective. It is best to persist in recitation for the non-believer by reciting the Heart Sutra 7 times or more per day. At the same time, pray for the blessing of Guan Yin Bodhisattva to grant them wisdom, so that they will soon have faith in Buddhism and start performing recitations.
20.What should I take note of when reciting Little Houses for others?
• Help yourself in order to help others. When you recite Little Houses for others, you will have to shoulder some responsibilities. As such, if you do not have sufficient spiritual power, their karmic creditor(s) may come to you instead.
• Generally, a person is considered to have sufficient spiritual power to help others recite Little Houses when they meet the following criteria:
o rarely have nightmares;
o do not feel fatigued or low in energy;
o have a relatively smooth-sailing life;
o have good health and a positive mental outlook.
Conversely, if you are prone to:
o illnesses, nightmares and misfortune;
o having excessive Yin energy;
o always feeling cold, etc.,
then it would be best for you to recite Little Houses for yourself first before helping others.
If you are obliged to recite for others, then you must perform more recitations of the Great Compassion Mantra for yourself.
When reciting Little Houses for this purpose, you can fill in the reciter field on the Little House, and leave the recipient field blank. The Little Houses can be accumulated and then given to those in need (This is the recommended method. Note that you do not need to specify whom these Little Houses are addressed to before reciting).
Alternatively, you can also say the following prayer before reciting Little Houses, “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, I will recite “number of” Little Houses for “full name of your relative or friend”. May “Full name of your relative or friend”’s karmic creditor please ask “full name of your relative or friend” for the remaining Little Houses.”
This will help to reduce the chances of the other person’s karmic creditors coming to you. While reciting Little Houses for others, always ensure that you are reciting for your own karmic creditors as well.
21.Can I ask others to recite Little Houses for me?
• One should sincerely and diligently recite Little Houses for their own karmic creditors to repay karmic debts. This is because money cannot buy merits and virtues.
• Should there be a problem with the quality of a Little House, it is considered to be an act of deceiving heaven, the underworld and spirits. As such, you would have to undergo severe punishment. We have received feedback where health conditions worsened as a result of offering Little Houses of poor quality recited by others.
• Under special circumstances where requesting others’ help in reciting is unavoidable, you should only ask for help from people you know and trust.
22.My mother has poor vision. May I dot and offer a Little House that she recited on her behalf?
The reciter must write his/her name personally on the Little House, otherwise it will be deemed invalid. However, you may hold and guide your mother’s hand in writing her name accordingly. This is to ensure that her energy field extends onto the Little House. After this, you may dot and burn the Little House on your mother’s behalf.
23.My daughter is schizophrenic. How should I recite and offer Little Houses?
• Schizophrenia is a major karmic obstacle, and it is related to a major spirit that is occupying that person. These spirits have been authorised by the underworld to bring about karmic retribution to the patient. Under such circumstances, one should recite not only the Little House, but also the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance to repent sincerely.
• In some cases, if the patient experiences temporary episodes of illness when they start reciting and burning Little Houses, it may have two possible causes: Either the Little House is of poor quality or there is insufficient quantity of Little Houses. The former makes the spirit unhappy, whereas the latter makes the spirit agitated.
Therefore, it is advisable for the patient to vow a specific number of Little Houses that they will offer, such as 800, and the time frame by which the Little Houses will be completed. Meanwhile, they should waste no time reciting and burning Little Houses, while ensuring the quality is not compromised. Furthermore, they should also make vows and perform life liberations.
After persisting with these practices for a while, things will surely get better.
There have been cases where patients have recovered from long-term mental illnesses by reciting Little Houses.
