Child owes Triple Jewel

​Question:

Na mo Emituofo!

Ven. Master:

I am a Pure Land Buddhist practitioner. Yesterday, I met with another Buddhist who practices Secret School who gave me a pendant that has a silver globe with a long string with some kind of mantra, telling me that my young child (who is 2.5 years old) owes the Triple Jewel from past lives.

​As a result, he will not be able to study well in school, will have a hard time making a living, will not be able to keep money and will waste all of his parents’ assets. This new Buddhist acquaintance advised me to go to the temple to find ways to pay down my child’s debt to the Triple Jewel; it seems that this individual wants no money from me and seems to only want to help me out.

Is it possible to repay debts to the Triple Jewel? From what I know, a debt to the Triple Jewel is a very heavy burden. My family often makes offerings to liberate lives, print sutras, make images and statues and donates regularly to the sangha. Is there anything specific that I can do to help my child? We wish to cultivate to obtain liberation. If we are in serious debt then how can we possibly obtain liberation and end suffering?

Please kindly instruct us on what to do.

Thank you so much for your guidance.
​
DA 

Answer:

Please do not be anxious about these dire predictions about your child.

In general, I tend to not take advice such as this seriously because it lacks specificity. For example, if that individual really knows your child’s situation then you should have been informed how much your child owes the Triple Jewel and how the debt occurred. Furthermore, if your child really owes the Triple Jewel then how can any mantra you recite and any pendant you receive be effective in reducing this damning karmic debt?

Please do not accept freebies from strangers and do not use that mantra. Mantras should only be transmitted by a bona fide teacher, preferably from a reputable left home person especially because you are a Buddhist.

However, you are right in wanting to take precautionary measures to help your child. Parents should consider helping their children by generating blessings on their behalf. This is preferable to giving money. In your case, in order to help provide more blessings and avert disasters, you could employ the Medicine Master Buddha Dharma. You could get more information about this Chinese approach that Vietnamese Buddhism does not have by reading up on the Medicine Master Sutra on our web site where we have a general explanation. This is not the typical “Cầu An (praying for welfare)” Dharma that the Vietnamese temples have. Rather, the Medicine Master Buddha plaque that the more competent Chinese temples have at their disposal, can help your child’s welfare, repay his past debts [be it to the Triple Jewel or to others], provide for life’s necessities, avert disasters, lengthen life, etc…

I wholeheartedly agree with you that we should all strive to cultivate to obtain liberation. The smart Buddhist prefers to get out of the Reincarnation Wheel as soon as possible. One such expedient is to obtain rebirth to the Pure Lands as advocated by the various Pure Land practices.
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Please refer to our explanation of the Amitabha Sutra that is available in Vietnamese on our web site. The English version should be available shortly. It will give you more insight on how to maximize your chances to obtain rebirth to the Western Bliss Pure Land as soon as possible.