Since ancient times, people who believed in Gods and Buddhas have sought to go to heaven.
For some Buddhist monks, the soul ascended to Heaven during meditation. Such was Xu Yun, the famous teacher of the Ch'an Buddhist school, who witnessed the fall of the Qing dynasty, the overthrow of the ROC and the rise of the Chinese Communist Party.
When the CCP seized power in 1949, monk Xu Yun, who was already 110 years old, lived in the Yunmen Temple of Guangdong Province. In 1951, the communist regime launched a campaign to "suppress the counter-revolutionaries."
Monk Xu Yun.
Communist Party supporters broke into the Yunmen Temple under the pretext of capturing spies, destroyed the main hall and the golden Buddha statue, and took Xu Yun's books.
He and 26 followers of the teachings were taken into custody. The monks were beaten and tortured, one was killed.
After three months of torture at Yunmen Temple, Xu Yun was released through the efforts of local and overseas Ch'an followers.
After that, the monk told about the incident to his disciples, who recorded everything in detail and secretly sent it to Hong Kong. Soon, the outside world learned of the "Yunmen Temple incident." The record is still kept in Taiwan.
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According to the records, Xu Yun was very weak after being tortured, but he sat in meditation for nine days until the early morning of March 11th. On that day, the monk fell and stopped breathing. There was no pulse, but the complexion did not change, and the body remained warm.
Xu Yun lay without breathing all day. But the next morning, the disciples heard his faint moan. The monk opened his eyes.
Then he told the students to write down what they experienced while they were unconscious.
"The Majestic Picture of the Sukhawati World" by Ding Guangpen, Qing Dynasty.
Before finishing his sermon, Maitreya pointed at me and said:
The monk had to return to the human world from the kingdom of the Buddha. It was only because Xu Yun performed the miracle of resurrection that his pursuers were afraid and no longer dared to abuse him.
After the persecution of monks in the Yunmen Temple, initiated by the Chinese Communist Party, became known to the world, the repression against Xu Yun and religion temporarily stopped.
In 1952, the CCP established the "China Buddhist Association." Xu Yun became one of the founders of the association, and the following year was appointed its honorary chairman. But he soon realized that the regime was using him so that believers, following Xu Yun's example, would accept the party leadership.
In order to prevent the destruction of religion, in a letter to the Central Committee of the party, Xu Yun asked to establish freedom of religion for the people, suggested not to destroy temples and statues, not to burn scriptures, and not to force monks and nuns to return to the world.
Xu Yun resigned his position as honorary chairman and took his disciples to cultivate at the Zhenzhu Temple in Jiangxi Province.
In October 1959, Xu Yun passed away at the Zhenzhu Temple.
Can the soul leave the body and return? Judging by these stories, yes!
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* Tushita is the residence of Buddha Maitreya.
** Maitreya is the Buddha of the future who will appear at the end of the kalpa from the heavens of Tushita.
*** Ananda is one of the main disciples of Buddha Shakyamuni.
