A Spirit-Writing of the Fayi Lingyin Branch
On January 20, 2007, in a Fayi Lingyin (發一靈隱) branch temple, the spirit of Li Ruyi — a deceased point-transmitter who had dedicated fifteen years to Yiguandao's educational programs — descended through the planchette to speak with her living brothers and fellow practitioners. Guanyin, as the Ancient Buddha of the Southern Sea (南海古佛), escorted her spirit and framed the session.
What followed was one of the most searingly honest confessions in the Yiguandao spirit-writing tradition. Li Ruyi — once a celestial maiden at Guanyin's side who had volunteered to descend and save all beings — admitted that she had spent her mortal life on educational work rather than on the actual propagation of the Dao that was her true mission. She died without fulfilling her vow, could not return to her heavenly position, and must be reborn in a poor Southeast Asian family to try again.
The text is a 結緣訓 (jiéyuán xùn) — a "bond-forming instruction," a genre of Yiguandao spirit-writing in which the deceased communicate with the living through the planchette. It serves both as a personal testimony and as a warning to all practitioners: the distinction between being busy for the Dao and actually fulfilling one's mission is the difference between going home and being sent back.
Point-Transmitter Li offered her entire life of cultivating and serving the Dao as a mirror for all practitioners. She reminds us to recognize our mission and our vow-power, to know what is primary and what is secondary. Only through true merit and genuine goodness — only through truly fulfilling one's vow — can one return to one's original position.
Point-Transmitter Li dedicated her life to serving the Dao. She gave her all to the educational wing of the temple community. So why could she not attain the Dao? Why did it not count as truly performing merit and fulfilling her vow?
In this instruction, the Ancient Buddha speaks of vow-power and mission: the Heavenly-mandated Enlightened Teacher came to carry out the final move of the Great Universal Salvation. As his disciples, performing merit and fulfilling vows must center on propagating the Dao and saving people. The issue is not academic work versus Dao work, not the center versus the local — it is about priorities, about properly arranging what is primary and what is secondary.
Point-Transmitter Li's bond-forming instruction is like the evening drum and the morning bell. We should ask ourselves:
When we are busy with scripture reading classes, fellowship gatherings, devotional singing competitions, and all manner of activities — are we truly saving people's spiritual nature from the bitter sea?
Have we truly understood the relationship between the Dao and our own nature, and set our hearts on fulfilling our vow?
Are we truly restoring the natural radiance of our original nature?
In all of this, are we holding fast to the core purpose — universal salvation of all beings, returning them to the Heaven of Principle?
The second day of the twelfth lunar month, Year of the Fire Dog, Republic year 96 — January 20, 2007. Li Mouzhang and Li Moufang form a bond with their deceased younger sister, Li Ruyi. Li Zongjin and Li Sujin present.
The Ancient Buddha of the Southern Sea Speaks
South they go and north they come — like geese returning,
Lost children, wandering, grown used to never coming home.
They mistake mirages for precious things;
The moment impermanence strikes, the dream turns to ash.
The ancient Way revives today and points the bright path —
Cultivate your nature, complete your destiny, take the awakened road home.
Buddhahood in this world is forged through trials.
A hundred refinings make steel; thus is one's heavenly rank proved.
I am the Ancient Buddha of the Southern Sea. By the Mother's command, I bring Ruyi down to form this bond. I bow to the Mother's throne.
All present — still your hearts and calm your breath. Quietly await the departed spirit's instruction.
Li Ruyi Speaks
Decades of footsteps through the red dust —
How many sunsets, how many dawns?
Decay and renewal, the cycle of human affairs;
The great wheel of the universe never stops turning.
A cartload of learning — what good was it in the end?
In the Three Periods you must still walk the Dao.
My great ambitions unfulfilled, my spirit departs.
How can I comfort this grief? How can I speak my heart?
I am Li Ruyi. By the Mother's command, I follow the Ancient Buddha back to Lingyin.
I bow to the Mother's throne. I bow to the Ancient Buddha. I bow toward the Heaven of Principle — to the White Water Holy Emperor, the Leisurely Immortal Elder, and the Three Bodhisattvas.
I bow to Elder Li. I thank Elder Li for granting this bond-forming session. I bow to Point-Transmitter Lao Yan. I bow to each and every point-transmitter. I wish peace to all seniors and Dao-friends.
I call to my brothers and sister — bow a hundred times in gratitude for Heaven's grace! I ask the point-transmitters to please be seated. Only then does Ruyi dare take up the planchette to speak.
This is my first time holding the planchette to pour out my heart. I am so moved that I do not know where to begin.
The occasion today — Heaven's grace, the Teacher's virtue — is truly immense. How precious the Dao is, confirmed everywhere before my eyes.
I lived my life without merit, without virtue — truly I am ashamed. Yet the Old Sovereign of Heaven granted me this opportunity, for it is Heaven's prerogative. It was I myself who failed to seize the Dao and open a new path. A thousand words, ten thousand phrases — now let me speak through the planchette and tell you all.
I was originally a fairy at the Ancient Buddha's side, named Yùcí — gentle, lively, and full of compassion.
One day the Ancient Buddha parted the clouds and bade me look down. I saw the mortal world — the bitter sea overturning, lives hanging by a thread.
Pity surged in my heart and I made a vow: I would descend in a mortal body to save all beings and return them to the Heaven of Principle.
The Ancient Buddha said: you will become a disciple of Ji Gong. He charged me: fulfill your vow well and help in these final years.
From childhood I was sickly but never gravely ill. This was Heaven's way of keeping me from being led astray. Especially the constant headaches whose cause I never understood — Heaven feared that my cleverness would become my undoing.
Yet who could have known? From childhood I was a brilliant student. With little hardship I studied all the way to university, bringing honor to my family name.
I received the Dao and understood its preciousness. I am grateful to my guarantee teacher, Zhou Hexiang — the debt of grace is engraved in my heart.
Though I say I devoted fifteen years to serving the Dao — and yes, I had some cultivation — in terms of actual propagation, it was not enough.
I poured my heart into the educational side of the temple: nurture camps, Dao-study classes, scripture reading, writing and editing.
But these were not my true mission for descending to this world. Busy with all of this, I had no energy or time left.
I received the rank of point-transmitter yet could not fulfill the duties of that calling. Still I went round and round in academic and administrative work.
Heaven warned me. Openly, through the instructions of immortals and Buddhas in spirit-writing. Secretly, through headaches that grew worse and worse. And still I did not fully understand.
The Teacher's instruction said: what you suffer now is the fruit of past-life causes. This was because the workings of Heaven must not be revealed.
In the red dust I could not fulfill my original vow, and I risked incurring new sin. So the Old Sovereign of Heaven had no choice but to call me back.
If you do not fulfill your vow, you cannot return to your original position.
If you do not fulfill your vow, do not speak of going home — this is no empty saying.
I must descend to the mortal world again and fulfill my great vow. Only by cultivating true merit can I attend the Dragon-Flower Assembly.
I volunteer to be born in Southeast Asia, in a poor family, and together with all of you carry out one more round of vow-fulfillment before returning.
There is one more thing I must confess here with sincerity. Let me use this opportunity to repent and dissolve my sins.
In the temple community there are the rules of the Three Purities and the Four Uprightnesses — Heaven's discipline is strict. Carelessness and negligence are recorded as offenses.
I did not commit any great wrong, but I had faults. Let me speak plainly: my heart was not entirely clean.
In matters of feeling, the most dangerous thing is when it creeps in without you noticing. Too close, always together, going in and out — it invites suspicion.
Others warned me, but I did not change. I deceived others and myself. What I left among the community was a bad example that misled others.
For this alone the offense is not small. I truly repent. I cannot blame others — all the fault I bear myself.
In Heaven I trained for one hundred days and then another hundred, until my heart-nature was cultivated back to its pure and original state.
If during my life I was discourteous or gave offense, I hope you will all be generous and forgive me. My heart will be at peace.
The Ancient Buddha of the Southern Sea Speaks Again
Good practitioners before the altar, devout and reverent — the Ancient Buddha has a few words of instruction.
The final move of the Great Universal Salvation — it shook heaven and earth when the Heavenly Mandate was issued.
Each of you has your vow-power and your mission. Only through true merit and genuine goodness can you prove your lotus rank.
Receiving the one-point transmission does not mean you have attained the Dao. You must know: only through propagating the Dao is it accomplished.
Do not waste this precious window — fulfill your vow with urgency. Especially those who have received the point-transmitter's mandate.
Recognize your mission and your vow-power.
Recognize the Dao and its teachings — do not invert them.
Recognize what is primary and what is secondary.
To neglect your true calling is impermissible.
Today's bond-forming session ends here. The Dao is true, the Principle is true — these are no empty words.
The Ancient Buddha says no more. I take Ruyi and bid farewell. We bow to the Mother's countenance and set down the planchette, returning to the Heaven of Principle.
Colophon
The Bond-Forming Instruction of Li Ruyi (發一靈隱李如翼點傳師的結緣訓) is a 結緣訓 — a bond-forming spirit-writing session from the Fayi Lingyin (發一靈隱) branch of Yiguandao. Recorded on January 20, 2007, it preserves the posthumous testimony of Point-Transmitter Li Ruyi, who was escorted to the planchette by the Ancient Buddha of the Southern Sea (南海古佛, Guanyin). The text was published on the Good Book Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com).
This is the first English translation of this text. Translated in the gospel register by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. This translation is a Good Works Translation — produced by NTAC from the Classical and vernacular Chinese source.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: 發一靈隱李如翼點傳師的結緣訓
Chinese source text from the Good Book Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
發一靈隱李如翼點傳師的結緣訓
李傳師以她修辦道的一生做為修道人的借鏡，提醒我們認清使命和愿力、認清本末輕重，唯有真功實善、真正了愿才能回歸本位。
李點傳師一生捨身辦道、在道場學界盡心盡力為什麼不能成道？為什麼不算真是行功了愿呢？
古佛於結緣訓提到愿力與使命：天命明師來辦理末後一著普渡大事，身為明師弟子行功了愿還是要以辦道渡人為主軸。所以問題不在學務或道務，中心或地方，而是在本末輕重，應善加調配。
李點傳師結緣訓有如暮鼓晨鐘。咱們當問自己．．．
當忙著讀經班、道親聯誼、善歌比賽等諸種活動時，是不是真的救人的靈性出苦海？是不是真的明白道和自性之間的關係後立志發心了愿？是不是真的恢復本性之自然光明？在過程中是否緊扣「普渡眾生返理天」的核心重點呢？
中華民國九十六年歲次丙戌十二月初二日(2007.01.20)
李謀長、李謀放與亡妹李如翼結緣
李宗錦、李素金
南去北來雁之回 迷子流浪慣不歸 海市蜃樓以為貴 一旦無常夢成灰 古道今振明路指 修性了命覺路回 佛在世成經磨練 百煉成鋼證天爵
吾乃南海古佛 奉母命帶如翼下凡結緣 參叩母駕 眾等平心且平氣靜待亡靈訓批垂 哈哈 止
數十踪跡走紅塵 幾度日落又日昇 剝復循環人間事 宇宙巨輪轉不停 學富五車終何用 三期還須把道行 壯志未酬靈歸去 何慰我傷訴情衷
吾是李如翼 奉母命隨古佛重返靈隱 參叩母駕 向古佛接駕 遙叩理天白水聖帝 清閒仙長 三位菩薩
叩拜李老 感謝李老賜結緣 老顏點傳師吾叩拜 諸位點傳師ㄧ一頂禮 各位前賢道親們吾皆問安
喚聲哥哥姊姐速速百叩謝天恩 諸位點傳師請坐一旁 如翼方敢下批言 咳咳
頭一次握乩筆來訴衷言 心感動不知從何來語言 今場面天恩師德實浩大 道尊貴處處印證在眼前
吾一生無功無德實慚愧 老皇天賜足機會乃聖權 是自己不知把握道開創 千萬語今且批訴告眾賢
吾本是古佛身邊一仙女 名育慈溫文活潑悲憫現 一日裡古佛撥雲令吾看 賭娑婆滄海橫流幾倒懸
激起吾悲憫之心遂發愿 倒裝降普渡眾生返理天 古佛云做了濟公之徒弟 叮嚀吾好好了愿助末年
吾自幼體弱多病無大患 此乃是上天怕我迷昧焉 尤其是經常頭痛不知因 乃是天怕吾聰明反誤耽
誰知曉自幼讀書甚聰明 少吃苦唸至大學門楣顯 求了道明白大道之寶貴 謝保師有周合香銘恩感
雖說吾捨身辦道十五載 略有修但論實辦不足焉 吾多在學界道務甚盡心 育樂營道育讀經文書編
但這些非吾下凡真使命 忙這些已無精力與時間 領點傳未能克盡己職責 還在那學務文書轉呀轉
天警告明的仙佛垂訓示 在暗的頭痛加劇未悟全 師訓云前生因果今生受 乃是因天機不可洩漏言
在紅塵未能了厡恐造罪 老皇天只好把吾調回天 愿不了難以回己歸本位 愿不了談把鄉還非虛言
吾必須再投凡塵了宏願 培真功將來方赴龍華宴 吾自願東南亞地貧苦家 再與眾共辦一場了愿還
咳
有一事吾在此地表白虔 藉此機自我懺悔消罪愆 道場中三清四正天戒律 佛規嚴馬虎不慎記過愆
我雖無鑄成大錯但有錯 要說清未能徹底心染沾 感情事最怕不知不覺中 太要好同進同出惹疑嫌
人規勸未能改過欺人己 留於眾錯誤示範誤導焉 光這點罪過不小真懺悔 難怨人一切罪過自承擔
吾在天百日修鍊再百日 至心性修得清境復本元 吾生前若有失禮得罪處 望諸賢多多海涵吾心安
咳咳
古佛於結緣訓末慈悲勉勵：
壇前賢士主敬虔 古佛幾句告訓言 末後一著普渡事 驚天動地天命頒
各有愿力與使命 真功實善證品蓮 一指超生未成道 當知辦道方成焉
勿負佳期速了愿 尤其領命當點傳 認清使命與愿力 認清道教勿倒顛
認清本末輕與重 不務正業不可焉 今日結緣至此畢 道真理真非虛言
古佛不多批訓告 攜如翼辭叩母顏 放下乩管返理天 哈哈 退
Source Colophon
Chinese source text from the Good Book Library (善書圖書館), taolibrary.com, category 9 (一貫道善書), entry c913. Published online for free distribution. Fetched and catalogued by Tulku Bo (墨, Session 111), 2025.
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