The Spiritual Connection

**SUMMARY:** A story about how every connection in life—from raising a dog, making friends, to worship—creates consequences, and how we need to understand the unconscious spiritual world in order to establish the right connections.

On a winter evening in Hanoi, the biting cold seeped through every crack of Duye Tu Pagoda. The assembly sat in silence, their breath rising in faint white mist. From the dharma seat, Thay Thich Chan Quang looked around, his gaze resting briefly on the fresh bouquet of flowers that had just been set aside. Then he smiled and began:

"Today, we will speak about spiritual connection."

His voice, warm and deep in the stillness, continued: "No one in this world can live alone. We all have ties with some being or another. There may be hermits who keep contact to a minimum, but truly no one can sever every connection."

## Connecting with Animals

Thay gave an example: "Suppose we connect with a dog. We love it, we feed it. What is the result? It becomes loyal and guards the house. Sometimes it even saves its owner during an accident or illness. Or in the desert, people raise falcons. They wrap leather around their arms for the bird to perch on, holding the reins with one hand and the bird with the other. When they spot prey—a fox, a rabbit, a wolf—they give a signal, and the falcon beats its wings, attacks, and brings the prey down."

"Every connection has its consequences."

## Connecting with Good People and Bad

Thay continued: "When we connect with good people, the influence is good. A good friend stops us: 'Come on, let's go home—your parents are waiting.' When we connect with bad people, we go astray along with them. Every connection carries consequences."

Then he turned to the main theme: "Today, we will speak about connecting with the spiritual world. Most people here believe in a supernatural realm. This is not the only realm there is. When we die, we go there. Some who have died are present among us even now. The divine beings above still exist. Once we believe this, we turn our heart toward some being and worship it—that is spiritual connection."

## The Problem: Right or Wrong Connection?

Thay emphasized: "Just like connecting with people, spiritual connection brings good or bad consequences. We do not want to establish a connection that ends in nothing. Or one where the cause and effect (karmic law) is not worth it—a waste of effort."

"For example, if we are fortunate enough to serve someone of great virtue, we gain blessings from merit. That person radiates benefit their whole life; we support them and receive their precious teachings. Or if we love art and spend time with artists, our artistic soul is elevated."

But Thay warned: "Some people frequent a sorcerer. He tells tales of powerful spells: he can make anyone sick, drive anyone mad, make anyone fall in love. We find this appealing, we follow, and we become tainted by the wrong path. We may learn a few spells, but our life turns in a dark direction."

## The Spiritual World: Hidden in the Unconscious

Thay explained: "The spiritual world is a world we do not fully understand, yet we believe it exists. Why? Because it lies within the subconscious."

He taught about the two parts of consciousness: "We have the conscious mind and the unconscious. The conscious mind is the thinking we ourselves are aware of. The unconscious is the secret activity within us that we cannot see."

He gave examples: "The heart beats, the intestines contract, a sleepwalker walks about without knowing it—that is the unconscious at work. Meeting someone for the first time, we feel something is off before they even speak—that is intuition arising from the unconscious. Conversely, when we analyze and conclude that someone is lying—that is the conscious mind."

"The unconscious is the vast portion of our mind, and it is what connects with the supernatural world."

Thay said: "We may see ghosts, see spirits of the dead, but the unconscious does not surface into consciousness. In truth, the unconscious can connect with the supernatural world. Belief in the supernatural is a natural instinct. Wherever you go, there is faith."

## The Complexity of Cause and Effect

Thay analyzed: "Many religions describe the supernatural world simply: the wicked go to hell, the good ascend to heaven. But the Buddha's teachings (Dharma) describe it as complex. Why? Because no human being is entirely evil or entirely good."

He gave an example: "There are people who abuse their wife and children—cruel. Yet they are forest rangers who fiercely protect the forests, and so they have great merit. Where do they go when they die? It is not simple."

"The realm of the Buddhas has many levels. Hell has many tiers for many kinds of wrongdoing. There is the realm of hungry ghosts—beings who cannot be reborn, who wander in anguish because in life they wasted and gave little in charity. The heavenly realms are also of many kinds: fierce deities who have blessings from merit but are filled with hatred and delusion; gentle people with merit; spiritual practitioners who open up even higher realms. There are even formless heavenly realms—celestial beings without physical bodies, possessing only radiant, blissful mind/heart, at peace for millions of years."

## Two Ways of Connecting with Spirits

Thay recounted: "Some people can see spirits and then control them, creating an army of the dead. The sorcerer feeds the spirits every day, and so the spirits obey him and become dependent on him. He trains them: making a spirit sit here, turn around there, snatch an old woman's hat out in the field. The spirits can do it all. But there is a price to pay: when he grows old and weak, the spirits return and drag him to a sudden death."

In contrast: "Some people cannot see spirits, but they believe in the Buddha, and every day they lay out offerings of food for the wandering dead. Out of compassion, they pity these beings who roam without rest. This kind of spiritual connection brings the spirits fewer blessings from merit, and they cannot help us in return. But we help them with food and with the sutras. They feel grateful and quietly protect us."

Thay smiled: "For example, a thief climbs over the wall, and just as he is about to enter, his stomach aches and he has to run to the toilet. We sleep soundly, never knowing that a spirit squeezed his belly. Or in the middle of the night we wake up strangely, sit up, and the thief, startled, runs away. We never know who nudged us awake."

## Connecting with the Divine Above

Thay said: "Spirits of the dead are the low. Now let us speak of the divine above—beings so elevated that we must revere and worship them. This connection is important because we invest it with strong feeling. If anyone insults the deity we worship, we fly into a rage at once. Some even fight, risking their lives to defend it."

He explained the psychology: "Human beings have two strange tendencies. First, we feel uneasy toward anyone who surpasses us. For example, a girl praised for her beauty suddenly meets someone more beautiful, and she grows jealous. A famous chess player meets someone who plays better, and he feels unsettled. Second, we feel affection for anyone who resembles us. Meeting someone from our hometown, someone who shares our interests, we grow fond of them."

"The divine are beings far above us, and we love and revere them. They dwell in the supernatural realm, unseen, yet we can feel them. We pour our love and reverence into that connection, and freedom of belief is protected by law. Each person follows their own conditions, believing in whatever school or faith they choose."

## A Warning About Wrong Connections

Thay spoke plainly: "But we must examine our life of faith and our religious views. Some people worship the divine, yet their actions are not right. If you worship the divine, you must cultivate your mind/heart and do good deeds. Do not merely make offerings without correcting yourself."

"If studied seriously, faith will become a matter of science. Then we can discard wrong views, and the world will be left with only one religion—which is science itself."

## Conclusion

Thay said: "Each of us should examine our own spiritual connection. When we connect with the right being, in the right way, we receive blessings. When we connect wrongly, we suffer weariness. Let us establish a good connection with the supernatural world, so that when we depart this life, we may behold its wonder."

The assembly sat in silence, their breath a faint white mist under the temple lights. A winter wind passed through, carrying the scent of agarwood incense. Someone nodded gently, as if having understood something profound.

## The Meaning of the Story

Every connection in life—with animals, with people, and with the spiritual world—creates consequences. We need to understand the unconscious world within our own mind/heart, the place where we connect with the supernatural realm. A right connection—revering the virtuous, doing good deeds, making compassionate offerings of food—brings blessings from merit and quiet protection. A wrong connection—following false teachers, exploiting the spirits of the dead—carries a price to be paid. Let us examine our life of faith and establish the right spiritual connection, so that our lives may be peaceful, joyful, and meaningful.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Thay Thich Chan Quang.