A Voice from Beyond by the Deceased Abbot

**Summary:** A poor abbess struggles to prepare offerings for a monastic ceremony. Her late predecessor appears in a dream, pleading for help, and miraculously guides a patron to the temple.

Late at night, pale moonlight seeped through the window of the temple’s reception room in the outskirts of Dong Nai. Wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden planks, creating a steady creaking sound. The abbess, having just returned to assume leadership of this abandoned temple, still felt cold sweat on the bridge of her nose after a long session of chanting sutras to ward off spirits. On the Buddha altar, a candle flickered weakly, casting her long shadow upon the aged wall.

This temple was overrun by spirits. Her initial efforts to chant classical Chinese sutras had proven ineffective. It was only when she switched to chanting the Vietnamese-language sutras from Phat Quang Temple that the disturbances finally ceased. But a greater worry soon loomed: she had vowed to hold a ceremony for the deceased former abbot, as he had appeared in her dream, confessing he had fallen into a lower realm and begging her to invite monks for a meal offering ceremony to save him.

Dozens of monks had confirmed their attendance, and the food was prepared. Yet she was utterly penniless, with not a single bill to place in the envelopes for the monks' travel expenses. The night before the ceremony, she lay restless, unable to sleep. Her hands clutched the hem of her robe, her heart pounding in her chest.

*“What can I do? When the monks arrive without those envelopes, how can I face them?”*

She sighed and turned to the companion nun lying beside her: “Our temple is too poor. We are making offerings to the monastic community, yet we have no money for their travel envelopes. I am so worried, I cannot sleep.”

Her companion patted her shoulder: “If conditions are right, a patron will come. You must not overstrain yourself.”

Suddenly, in the silence of midnight, she heard the late abbot’s voice clearly in her mind: “Do not worry. Tomorrow, I will bring a patron to you.”

She jolted awake, her body trembling. She stammered to her friend, “Just now, I heard the abbot say he would bring a patron. It is unimaginable!”

The next morning, she sat waiting at the temple gate, her eyes fixed on the empty dirt road. The monks had arrived and were preparing for the ceremony, but there was no sign of any patron. She paced anxiously, her fingers constantly fidgeting with her robe.

*“The monks are here, but where is the patron? He said he would bring one.”*

At that precise moment, a couple was walking past. The wife clutched her chest, her face contorted with a heart pain. Seeing the temple, she asked her husband to stop so she could go in and pay respects to the Buddha. After bowing, she saw the many monks and asked the abbess, “What ceremony is being held here with so many monks?”

The abbess sighed, “Today, we are making offerings to the monastic community for a memorial service for the former abbot. But I have no money for the monks’ travel envelopes.”

The wife immediately told her husband, “Go home, get all the money, and give it to the nun. Whatever she needs, just tell her.”

The abbess choked up, “I only need the money for the envelopes. This is such a blessing.”

This patron was not a temple-goer, but her heart pain miraculously eased after bowing to the Buddha. After making the offering, her illness vanished without needing a doctor. It seemed like a twist of fate, but it was truly the result of the late abbot’s remaining merit, which influenced the woman to stop at the temple.

After the ceremony, the abbess understood: even those who have not yet transcended can still influence the living if they possess blessings from merit. She was no longer afraid of poverty, knowing that favorable conditions could come from the unseen realm. In future difficulties, she would simply chant the Vietnamese sutras and maintain her faith.

The temple in Dong Nai gradually found peace, with no more ghostly disturbances. The abbess grew older with each passing day, but whenever she recounted the story of the late abbot’s manifestation, her eyes would still light up. The lesson was deeply absorbed: the unseen realm is not without reality; a sincere heart and the conditions of merit can transform even the most seemingly hopeless situations.

**The Meaning of the Story**

Most Venerable Thich Chan Quang wishes to teach: even after death, if beings possess some merit, they can still influence the minds of the living to help them. By having deep faith in the karmic law and the conditions of merit, and by maintaining a reverent heart, even in poverty, one can receive blessings. Furthermore, chanting sutras in a language one clearly understands helps invisible beings follow the teachings more easily.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Most Venerable Thich Chan Quang