Ji Gong, the Living Buddha and Gracious Teacher
A spirit-writing teaching by Ji Gong (濟公活佛), received at Hede Buddha Hall (合德佛堂) on September 13, 2009. Transcribed by Crystal.
Ji Gong — the Living Buddha, the Crazy Monk, the Gracious Teacher — is Yiguandao's most beloved celestial patron. In life he was the Song dynasty Chan Buddhist monk Dàojì (道濟, 1130–1209), known for his drunken wandering, his ragged robes, and his miracles performed for the poor. In Yiguandao theology he is one of the three great bodhisattvas of the White Sun period, descending regularly through spirit-writing to teach, scold, and comfort his disciples.
This teaching was delivered at a local temple in 2009. Ji Gong speaks to his students as a father speaks to children he loves and fears for — blunt, practical, tender, apocalyptic. He tells them he has been physically fighting their karmic creditors. He teaches them what to do when someone dies. He warns them about bacteria and disasters. He tells them to eat vegetarian. And he tells them: if your hand itches, go save someone.
Translated from Classical Chinese by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Gospel register — plain, direct, warm. The Living Buddha's voice at its most intimate.
Let me tell you something. Your teacher is a practical man. For three years I held your karmic creditors at bay — three years I stood between them and you. But if you will not practice, I will let go. I will release them, and they will come to collect what you owe. Your fate is in your own hands. You understand?
I am truly worried about you. There are so many disasters now, and you are not cultivating well. It hurts my heart to watch. I am afraid — afraid my students will be caught in the calamities.
Today your karmic creditors seized me. They tore my clothes. And still I kept saying to them: "My students will come. My students will go and fulfill their vows. Please — give them a chance."
I need you to act. In these final days, you must fulfill your own vows and pay off your own debts. You must return to the Eternal Mother in the Court of Principle clean and clear — no debts, no weight, a body light as air. Only then will your teacher's heart be at ease.
And I need you to be safe. When you go out, watch where you are going. When you drive, when you walk — even when you go upstairs, look where you step. Whether you are climbing a staircase or crossing a road, look. Do not rush. Do you hear me? Rushing invites disaster. Your safety is my safety. When you are not at peace, your teacher's heart is not at peace either. Do you understand?
Look at people in this world. The moment something itches, they scratch. And it is not just once — a moment later it itches again and they scratch again. Do you know what happens now when you scratch? You put on some medicine carelessly, and what does it become? Necrotizing fasciitis. That is right — because the human heart has grown corrupt, and evil energy rises to the heavens, and the bacteria in the air, in your hands, in your food — one scratch and it could kill you. One scratch and you lose the whole hand. It is not like the old days, when you could rub on some herbal paste and be done with it. Now you rub on herbal paste and the next thing you know, you are in the hospital.
So your teacher tells you this: if your hand itches, go save someone instead.
Someone asked: a fellow practitioner who had received the Dao passed away, but they forgot the Three Treasures.
Have you burned a great bundle of incense at the temple for them? You had not — because you did not find out until the next day. The next day is fine! Listen to me: when a senior practitioner returns to the Origin, you burn incense for them. And you think an ordinary person — someone with no merit, no virtue — does not need this too? Look how you all let this slip.
When someone close to you — a fellow practitioner, a relative — returns to the Origin, you rush to the viewing. But you do not first come to the temple to pray to the Eternal Mother, to bow to the Mother, to ask the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to receive them and guide them home. You are just putting on an appearance for others. That will not do. Do you understand?
Follow the proper steps. Every one of you must learn this. If you do not know how, ask your Initiating Master — the Initiating Master represents your teacher.
Now — a person who received the Dao but forgot the Three Treasures: as long as they did not betray the Dao or destroy its virtue, and as long as they have descendants, their body will be soft as cotton after death. But they will not necessarily return to enjoy their spiritual rank. Do you understand? You still have to practice. If you do not, you will stand — just stand there — for one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years. From the very beginning of creation until the next cycle, when human beings are born again. And even then you may not come back as a human. You might come back as an animal. Do you understand? One hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years of standing!
I want those of you who have not yet become vegetarian to learn. Gradually. But let me tell you: in this year, bacteria will be everywhere. If you do not have real resistance, you will die in this catastrophe. And this catastrophe is not over — it has barely begun to stir. So take care of yourselves!
And quickly — when you find someone willing, bring them to receive the Dao. But explain it clearly: they must eat vegetarian. They must pay their own merit fees. And they must come with a sincere heart. Do you hear me?
The road ahead is hard. Full of bumps and pitfalls. And there are no mountains left to flee to — your teacher has said this many times, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have said it too. When the great disasters come, no one will collect the bodies. They will not even find the bodies. You have seen it yourselves — the bodies cannot be found. You do not need to bury them. The catastrophe buries them for you. It is terrifying. Truly terrifying.
So those of you who cultivate the Dao and spread the Dao — keep going. Do you hear me? Your devotion must not retreat. Do not let one word from someone make you start and stop, start and stop. That will not do.
I want you to take these words and spread them. Remind everyone. Do you understand?
Colophon
Ji Gong (濟公活佛, the Living Buddha) is a central figure in Yiguandao spirit-writing, descending to altars across East and Southeast Asia to teach, correct, and comfort his disciples. This teaching, received at Hede Buddha Hall on September 13, 2009, captures the Living Buddha at his most intimate — not the cosmic figure of the scriptures but the father scolding his children about road safety, about scratching an itch, about what to do when someone dies. The itch-to-fasciitis metaphor is vintage Ji Gong: earthy, specific, medically concrete, and then suddenly theological. "If your hand itches, go save someone instead" may be the shortest summary of the bodhisattva path in the Yiguandao corpus.
Source text from the Good Works Library (善書圖書館), taolibrary.com. Translated from Chinese into English by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Gospel register — the Living Buddha's own voice, plain and direct. Twenty-seventh Yiguandao text in the Good Works Library. Eleventh seed from Bo's pipeline.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: 合德佛堂 活佛恩師慈悲
Chinese source text from the Good Works Library (善書圖書館), taolibrary.com. Spirit-writing received at Hede Buddha Hall (合德佛堂), September 13, 2009. Transcribed by Crystal. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
合德佛堂 活佛恩師慈悲2009.9.13
◎為師也跟你說，為師是很現實的，為師把你們的冤親債主擔了三年，你不做，為師就放，放給你的冤親債主去討你們，命運在你的手中，見仁見智，懂不懂？
◎為師真的很擔心你們，現在災劫又那麼多，你們又不好好修，為師看了很心疼，為師很怕，很怕徒兒遭劫數，為師今天被你們的冤親債主，抓了衣服都破了，為師也一直說：我的徒兒會來，我的徒兒會去行功了願，希望冤親債主給他機會。為師希望徒兒們一定要去做，在這末後的時刻，你一定要了自己的願，消自己的債，一定要清清白白，然後無債一身輕地回到無極理天見老母，為師才會安心。為師希望未來你們都沒有事，你們出門在外，一定要注意自己的安危，開車、走路，不管你在家裡，你往上走也要看一下，不管是爬樓梯，還是怎麼樣，還是走馬路，你一定要看一下，不要匆匆忙忙，知道嗎？才不會惹來災禍，你們的平安就是為師的平安，你的不安，為師也心不安，懂嗎？
◎你看你們人世間的人，一癢就開始抓對不對？而且不是抓一次喔！等一下心裡感覺又癢了又抓，你看現在你一抓，它會變成什麼你知道嗎？隨便擦藥，它會變成什麼炎？（蜂窩性組織炎），對！因為人心不古，惡氣沖天，所以空氣當中、包括你手中的細菌、包括你的飲食當中，它就會讓你這麼一抓，你就致命，因為你這麼一抓，這一隻手就沒了，所以跟以往不一樣，不是說我草藥拿來塗一塗，好了，沒有喔！現在草藥一塗，等一下你就送醫院了，知道嗎？為師跟你說，你手若在癢，你就去救眾生！
◎【有求道的道親過世，但是忘記三寶。】你們有沒有在佛堂磕頭燒大把香？（沒有）還沒有（因為隔天才知道）隔天也可以啊！為師跟你們說，你們前人歸空一樣燒大把香咧！你說一個普通的無功、無德的人，你不用燒大把香嗎？你看你們都疏忽掉了，你們有道親、親人歸空，你們就急著去看，都沒有第一先來求老母、拜老母，求諸佛菩薩去接引，你只是做一個外表給人家看，不行！懂不懂？要照步驟，你們這一點每一個人都要做、要學，你不知道的，你也要告訴你們點傳師，請教你們點傳師，點傳師就是代表為師。一個求道的人忘記三寶，只要他沒有毀道敗德，只要有子嗣，他一定身軟如綿，可是他不一定回去享受果位，知道嗎？所以真的要做，如果你不做，你只有站著的份，站多少年？十二萬九千六百年，從開天闢地以來，再生為人的時候你才下來耶！那時候你不一定做人喔！當畜牲，知道嗎？要站著十二萬九千六百年耶！
◎為師要你們沒有吃素的人要學吃素，而且慢慢的，為師跟你們說：在這一年度，細菌會很多，如果你沒有真正好的抵抗力的話，你會死在這一場的浩劫當中，這個劫數還沒有完，它才剛剛的起伏而已，所以你們要好好保重啊！趕緊有人你們就請他來求道，可是你要跟他講得很清楚，一定要叫他吃素，功德費要自己付，然後要有一顆虔誠的心，知道嗎？
◎未來路很難走，坎坎坷坷，再來現在已經沒有山路了，所以為師常常說，諸佛菩薩也常常說，以後災劫來，沒有人會收屍體，他也找不到屍體，你們也看到了，找不到的，不要你們人去埋，劫數就已經幫他埋好了，可怕喔！很可怕！所以有修道有辦道的人，一定要好好做，知道嗎？不能道念退，因為一句話就在那邊走走停停，不行喔！
◎為師希望你們，把這些話傳出去，把所有的人提醒一下，懂嗎？
Source Colophon
Chinese source text from the Good Works Library (善書圖書館) at taolibrary.com (category9/c915.htm). Spirit-writing received at Hede Buddha Hall (合德佛堂), September 13, 2009. Transcribed by Crystal. The text is in vernacular Mandarin Chinese with Taiwanese dialect elements (台語), reflecting the spoken register of a temple teaching session. Approximately 1,154 Chinese characters. Presented here under the Good Works Library's commitment to preserving and transmitting sacred texts for study and reference.
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