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CASE STUDY
Spirit Wants to Get Married
I pay my highest respect to you, Luang Phaw.
I have been a student of the Dream in Dream Kindergarten School from the time when we had to come to the classroom until we had distance learning via the DMC Channel. The case study is my favorite program. I have watched the case studies of many others, until I now want to hear my own case study. Would you please help dream in dream about my family?
When my father was young, he had a lump on his feet until the wound spread causing the tendon to harden. He had to tiptoe causing his right leg to be disabled. He was a tailor and the middle man who brought agricultural goods to sell in town. My mother was in the government service as a teacher. My mother did not love my father, but she married him in accordance with their parents’ decision. However, they had 8 children; I am the fifth. My father was an open-minded, generous person with his employees. He loved gambling and taking risks. He had built himself up as a rich man in the village. Later, there was a lawsuit against him. Our financial condition worsened since then, until finally, my mother had to resign from her teaching position to use the money from the resignation to help in the lawsuit. In the end, my father won the case with no remaining money.
I was born while there was a lawsuit against him, so he wanted his children to become lawyers. He was not disappointed. I was accepted into the Law School at Thammasat University. I joined the Maun Chon Party’s political activities at the university. They taught me that, “In society, the poor is taken advantage of by the rich and the middle class. Religion is a foolish belief. The Law of Kamma was created by the higher class to fool the poor.” I believed in these thoughts and rejected religious beliefs. After graduating in 1986, I worked at a bank. During that time, my mother passed away. She fell suddenly ill; it did not seem serious, but the doctor said she was seriously ill and needed hospitalization. She passed away that night at the age of 62. The doctor informed us that she died of leukemia. Two years before my mother died, my father also had an illness. He had brain surgery to examine cancer in the brain tissue. This caused him to be paralyzed for 3 years and then he passed away. I had to carry the family’s entire burden, since I was the only one with a higher education and a good enough career to support the family. I was really stressed and anxious, and could not find solutions to all the problems. You must have endurance until tomorrow. Later, a good friend (kalyanamitta) invited me to the Dhammakaya Temple to make merit. I came to the temple just to be polite to that person. In the afternoon, Luang Phaw Dhattajeevo gave a Dhamma sermon. Luang Phaw said, “Some parents have to go to hell because they had to kill animals in order to make food to feed their children.” These words really affected me. It reminded me of the days when my mother had killed small animals to make food for us. So, I thought, if there is hell, who can help my mother up from there? I was eager to learn more about Dhamma. So I bought all of Luang Phaw’s “Good Question, Good Answer” books to study, and listened to the cassette tapes of the “38 Steps towards Enlightened Living” 4-5 times. Since then, I have left behind all my Wrong Views. I began coming to the Dhammakaya Temple regularly and have quit drinking and smoking.
In 1994, there was a special Dhammadayada Ordination Program to celebrate Luang Phaw Dhammajayo’s 50th birthday. I ordained to dedicate the merit to Luang Phaw. I temporary left work to ordain. At the end of the ordination period, I wanted to stay on longer, so I resigned working as an assistant manager at the bank. Venerable, I had to disrobe after only 10 months, because before my ordination, I had cosigned a loan for my friend. He fled, so I was sued and had to disrobe to clear the debt. I returned to work at a funding company where I met my wife. We were laid off 1 year after that due to the IMF economic crisis. One day, while were unemployed, we went to the IT Center in Pratunam. My wife noticed a small dried-out ink pad. She thought they could be recycled for resell and asked if I would join her in this business venture. Our business gradually grew until we were able to establish a company in 1999. In 2002, we were able to make our first 1 million baht donation as a sub-chairman for Khun Yay’s Kathina Ceremony, for the construction of Luang Pu’s Memorial Hall. We made resolutions for a bigger and better office and for our business to expand. Miraculously, one month after that, a person called us to sell a building which had 4 units with 5 stories in each unit. They let us name the price. We bought all 4 sections at 1 million baht per unit. This was really a surprise to everyone, because the market price of the building in that area was at lease 2 million baht per unit. After we had opened the new office, I became the sub-chairman of the Kathina Robe Ceremony every year since then. We make merit with all our might and at full capacity and are still doing so today.
I have 2 children. In 1999, my daughter, our first child, was born at the same time as when we first established our company. When my wife was pregnant, she listened to the chanting of “Phra Maha Sirirajathad” everyday. She offered alms to monks every morning. During the time that the Dhammakaya Temple was attacked by the public and the media, my wife was 7 months pregnant. She joined a retreat at the temple to show the public the faith she had in Buddhism. Five days before she delivered my daughter, my friend offered a stationary business to us for free. Today, I still wonder what the reason was behind that gift. When my daughter was 3 years old, she gained the merit as a greeting volunteer on Sundays and the extra merit of spreading Dhamma teachings on the DMC Channel on features like, “The Pali Language is Easy,” “The 5 Precepts,” “Today is a Buddhist holy day” and sang Dhamma songs such as, “Have you installed the DMC satellite dish yet?” She is now 7 years old and is in the 2nd grade. When the teacher asked her to speak in front of the class about what she wanted to be in the future, she said, “I want to be an Upasika.” The teacher asked her, “What is an Upasika’s duty?” She said, “Helping at the temple and inviting others to make merit.”
My son is now 4 years old. He likes traditional art and Thai history. For example, he likes to watch Thai classical masked plays. He can watch them for 2-3 hours at a time and not get bored. He can remember the names and characters of each monkey and giant in the Ramayana Story. He is interested in the biography of the King Naresuan and Phra Chao Taaksin. His favorite feature is the Jataka Stories, especially the, “Mahosod Pandita.” No matter how late the program is, he will wait to see it. Sometimes he just falls asleep in front of the television.
My grandfather had ordained when he was old. When his leg became paralyzed, he had to disrobe and later died. My grandmother had 5 children with my grandfather, but they all died before she did. She lived until she was 96 years old and had a healthy body, was able to hear well, and had a good state of mind. She understood everything that went on. People in the neighborhood believed that a spirit possessed her. This type of spirit is called a “Prakum Skin” Spirit. The story of the spirit was that her ancestor was an elephant catcher and needed to use a rope made of buffalo skin, called “Prakum” to catch elephants because it was sticky and strong. And before they went elephant catching, they need to pray to the spirit. People believed that the spirit possesses its descendants. People who were protected by the spirit had to dance in the festival every year. And before she died, she acted like she was dancing similar to the dance for the “Prakum Skin” Spirit. The death of my grandmother was linked to my sister. Around the time my grandmother died, which was around 3 AM, my sister was in a state of being half awake. She saw a large dark shadow fall on top of her. She rushed to grab the Luang Pu “Protection from Evil” amulet and hung it around the neck of the shadow and the shadow disappeared. After that, she began having stomach aches that would not go away. The doctor has not been able to find the cause for 3 years. This year, the condition has repeated itself more often and is stronger. She still feels the large shadow around her frequently.
There is another strange event that occurred. Behind my house in Chaiyaphum province, there is a mango park and a pond. In the past, on every Buddhist holy day, people would usually see a crystal ball floating around that area. My aunt’s daughter, who is usually polite but talkative, suddenly changed. After dusk, she would leave to sit by herself by the pond everyday. After 3-4 months, she was so skinny that her bones showed through. My father asked the spirit medium, and he told my father that the guardian spirit that lived there wanted her as his wife. He then said that we should build a spirit house and a Buddha statue over there and pray as an exchange for her life. My father did what he was told, but she did not change and eventually died when she was only 23 years old.
Questions
When my father was young, he had a lump on his feet until the wound spread causing the tendon to harden. He had to tiptoe causing his right leg to be disabled. He was a tailor and the middle man who brought agricultural goods to sell in town. My mother was in the government service as a teacher. My mother did not love my father, but she married him in accordance with their parents’ decision. However, they had 8 children; I am the fifth. My father was an open-minded, generous person with his employees. He loved gambling and taking risks. He had built himself up as a rich man in the village. Later, there was a lawsuit against him. Our financial condition worsened since then, until finally, my mother had to resign from her teaching position to use the money from the resignation to help in the lawsuit. In the end, my father won the case with no remaining money.
I was born while there was a lawsuit against him, so he wanted his children to become lawyers. He was not disappointed. I was accepted into the Law School at Thammasat University. I joined the Maun Chon Party’s political activities at the university. They taught me that, “In society, the poor is taken advantage of by the rich and the middle class. Religion is a foolish belief. The Law of Kamma was created by the higher class to fool the poor.” I believed in these thoughts and rejected religious beliefs. After graduating in 1986, I worked at a bank. During that time, my mother passed away. She fell suddenly ill; it did not seem serious, but the doctor said she was seriously ill and needed hospitalization. She passed away that night at the age of 62. The doctor informed us that she died of leukemia. Two years before my mother died, my father also had an illness. He had brain surgery to examine cancer in the brain tissue. This caused him to be paralyzed for 3 years and then he passed away. I had to carry the family’s entire burden, since I was the only one with a higher education and a good enough career to support the family. I was really stressed and anxious, and could not find solutions to all the problems. You must have endurance until tomorrow. Later, a good friend (kalyanamitta) invited me to the Dhammakaya Temple to make merit. I came to the temple just to be polite to that person. In the afternoon, Luang Phaw Dhattajeevo gave a Dhamma sermon. Luang Phaw said, “Some parents have to go to hell because they had to kill animals in order to make food to feed their children.” These words really affected me. It reminded me of the days when my mother had killed small animals to make food for us. So, I thought, if there is hell, who can help my mother up from there? I was eager to learn more about Dhamma. So I bought all of Luang Phaw’s “Good Question, Good Answer” books to study, and listened to the cassette tapes of the “38 Steps towards Enlightened Living” 4-5 times. Since then, I have left behind all my Wrong Views. I began coming to the Dhammakaya Temple regularly and have quit drinking and smoking.
In 1994, there was a special Dhammadayada Ordination Program to celebrate Luang Phaw Dhammajayo’s 50th birthday. I ordained to dedicate the merit to Luang Phaw. I temporary left work to ordain. At the end of the ordination period, I wanted to stay on longer, so I resigned working as an assistant manager at the bank. Venerable, I had to disrobe after only 10 months, because before my ordination, I had cosigned a loan for my friend. He fled, so I was sued and had to disrobe to clear the debt. I returned to work at a funding company where I met my wife. We were laid off 1 year after that due to the IMF economic crisis. One day, while were unemployed, we went to the IT Center in Pratunam. My wife noticed a small dried-out ink pad. She thought they could be recycled for resell and asked if I would join her in this business venture. Our business gradually grew until we were able to establish a company in 1999. In 2002, we were able to make our first 1 million baht donation as a sub-chairman for Khun Yay’s Kathina Ceremony, for the construction of Luang Pu’s Memorial Hall. We made resolutions for a bigger and better office and for our business to expand. Miraculously, one month after that, a person called us to sell a building which had 4 units with 5 stories in each unit. They let us name the price. We bought all 4 sections at 1 million baht per unit. This was really a surprise to everyone, because the market price of the building in that area was at lease 2 million baht per unit. After we had opened the new office, I became the sub-chairman of the Kathina Robe Ceremony every year since then. We make merit with all our might and at full capacity and are still doing so today.
I have 2 children. In 1999, my daughter, our first child, was born at the same time as when we first established our company. When my wife was pregnant, she listened to the chanting of “Phra Maha Sirirajathad” everyday. She offered alms to monks every morning. During the time that the Dhammakaya Temple was attacked by the public and the media, my wife was 7 months pregnant. She joined a retreat at the temple to show the public the faith she had in Buddhism. Five days before she delivered my daughter, my friend offered a stationary business to us for free. Today, I still wonder what the reason was behind that gift. When my daughter was 3 years old, she gained the merit as a greeting volunteer on Sundays and the extra merit of spreading Dhamma teachings on the DMC Channel on features like, “The Pali Language is Easy,” “The 5 Precepts,” “Today is a Buddhist holy day” and sang Dhamma songs such as, “Have you installed the DMC satellite dish yet?” She is now 7 years old and is in the 2nd grade. When the teacher asked her to speak in front of the class about what she wanted to be in the future, she said, “I want to be an Upasika.” The teacher asked her, “What is an Upasika’s duty?” She said, “Helping at the temple and inviting others to make merit.”
My son is now 4 years old. He likes traditional art and Thai history. For example, he likes to watch Thai classical masked plays. He can watch them for 2-3 hours at a time and not get bored. He can remember the names and characters of each monkey and giant in the Ramayana Story. He is interested in the biography of the King Naresuan and Phra Chao Taaksin. His favorite feature is the Jataka Stories, especially the, “Mahosod Pandita.” No matter how late the program is, he will wait to see it. Sometimes he just falls asleep in front of the television.
My grandfather had ordained when he was old. When his leg became paralyzed, he had to disrobe and later died. My grandmother had 5 children with my grandfather, but they all died before she did. She lived until she was 96 years old and had a healthy body, was able to hear well, and had a good state of mind. She understood everything that went on. People in the neighborhood believed that a spirit possessed her. This type of spirit is called a “Prakum Skin” Spirit. The story of the spirit was that her ancestor was an elephant catcher and needed to use a rope made of buffalo skin, called “Prakum” to catch elephants because it was sticky and strong. And before they went elephant catching, they need to pray to the spirit. People believed that the spirit possesses its descendants. People who were protected by the spirit had to dance in the festival every year. And before she died, she acted like she was dancing similar to the dance for the “Prakum Skin” Spirit. The death of my grandmother was linked to my sister. Around the time my grandmother died, which was around 3 AM, my sister was in a state of being half awake. She saw a large dark shadow fall on top of her. She rushed to grab the Luang Pu “Protection from Evil” amulet and hung it around the neck of the shadow and the shadow disappeared. After that, she began having stomach aches that would not go away. The doctor has not been able to find the cause for 3 years. This year, the condition has repeated itself more often and is stronger. She still feels the large shadow around her frequently.
There is another strange event that occurred. Behind my house in Chaiyaphum province, there is a mango park and a pond. In the past, on every Buddhist holy day, people would usually see a crystal ball floating around that area. My aunt’s daughter, who is usually polite but talkative, suddenly changed. After dusk, she would leave to sit by herself by the pond everyday. After 3-4 months, she was so skinny that her bones showed through. My father asked the spirit medium, and he told my father that the guardian spirit that lived there wanted her as his wife. He then said that we should build a spirit house and a Buddha statue over there and pray as an exchange for her life. My father did what he was told, but she did not change and eventually died when she was only 23 years old.
Questions
1. What kamma made my father rich in the beginning but then ran out of money because of the lawsuit? What joint kamma did my mother make causing her to resign from her teaching position so that she could use the money to help my father’s lawsuit?
2. What kammic retribution caused my father to walk unevenly, have brain surgery, and become paralyzed? What kamma caused my mother to have leukemia and suddenly die? After they died, where did they go? Did they receive the merit dedicated to them? Do they have any messages for us? How have they pursued perfections with the community?
3. What kammic retribution caused my grandmother to have a long life? Was she a medium for the Nung Pakum Spirit? Towards the end of her life, why wasn’t she able to see? After my grandparents died, where did they go? Did they receive the merit dedicated to them?
4. What was the large dark shadow that my sister dreamt about during the night that my grandmother died? Is it related to stomach ache she had? What is the truth? How can the stomach ache be cured?
5. What was the crystal ball that was floating above the pond behind the house? Is it related to my aunt’s daughter death? The spirit medium said that the guardian spirit wanted her to become his wife. Is that true? What is the truth? After she died, where did she go? Did she receive the merit dedicated to her? Is it true that my house is on the path that spirits take? If it is true, what should I do with the property?
6. What kammic retribution allowed my daughter to have the opportunity to make merit by spreading dhamma through the DMC channel from the time she was young? Why does my son like military history very much? Was he a soldier in his past life? How have my daughter and son pursued perfections with the community? What were their duties in the Dhamma army? How were their meditation experiences in their past lives?
7. Why was my life difficult in the beginning? Why has my life been related to law and lawsuits from the time I was born, throughout college, work, ordination, and still is today? And why don’t I have an occupation related to law, which is what I studied?
8. What kamma caused me to not be able to ordain for life and have to disrobe to clear debt created by co-signing a loan with a friend?
9. What kammic retribution caused my wife and I to be out of work during the IMF economic crisis? What merit helped us have our own business during the IMF economic crisis until we were able to improve our status?
10. How have my wife and I pursued perfections with the community? How were our meditation experiences? What were our duties in the Dhamma army? Did our entire family return to Tusita heaven?
I pay my highest respect to you, Luang Phaw.
Luang Phaw's Dream
I closed my eyes, dreamed and woke up with these answers.
When you tell anybody the story like a tale, it will make anyone know more about retribution (Law of Kamma)
I closed my eyes, dreamed and woke up with these answers.
When you tell anybody the story like a tale, it will make anyone know more about retribution (Law of Kamma)
1. Your father was wealthy at first but was sued until he nearly had no money left because in his previous lifetimes, he did not make merit on a regular basis and then would stop making merit for long periods of time. This caused him to be wealthy for only one portion of this lifetime. This is combined with a person seeking revenge against him. He and that other person had argued about money in their past lives until they sued each other. When they were reborn in this lifetime and met with each other, the arguments in their previous lifetime caused them to sue each other again in this lifetime.
Your mother had to resign from her position as a teacher in order to use the money to help your father in court because in that previous lifetime, your mother had been your father’s wife. She had encouraged him to sue that person. So, the cycle of retribution continued. This caused her to resign from her teaching position in order to use the money to help your father.
2. Your father walked unevenly, his head was operated on, and then his leg became paralyzed. This is because of the demerit of having chained his slaves in iron fetters as punishment when they did something wrong. This is combined with the demerit of killing animals for food by hitting them on the head, having hired gangsters to punch at his enemy’s head, and tying animals up for the purpose of selling them.
Your mother had leukemia and passed away suddenly because of the demerit of killing animals for food in many lifetimes and the demerit of cheating people out of their money.
Your father died and went to the Purgatory of the 6th Major Hell, because of the demerit of gambling. Currently, the officers of hell are hurling hot metal instruments that your father had previously used in gambling, at him while he is in a pit. He is suffering very much. He has received the merits dedicated to him and this has reduced his punishment. He wishes very much to be released from this suffering. You should make merit and dedicate it to him frequently.
Your mother died and was reborn as a human again. She cannot receive merit at this time. Both your mother and father have pursued perfections somewhat with the community.
3. Your grandmother had a long life because she had frequently made merit by offering medicine to monks, novice monks, and neighbors.
Your grandmother really is a “Nung Pakum” spirit medium. She inherited this ability from her ancestors.
In the last part of her life, your grandmother could not see. This is because of demerits from her past and present lifetime. She had confined animals, such as fish and turtles, in dark places by closing the lid, so that she could make food with them later.
Your grandparents died and became earth sprites (bhumadeva). Your grandfather is an earth sprite with a good status, living in a certain earth sprite village, because of the merit of having ordained and the merit he did according to tradition. Your grandmother died and became an earth sprite in the lineage of sorcerers, because of the merit she did according to tradition.
She lives in a different village from your grandfather. They both have received the merits dedicated to them, improving their condition in every way.
4. The large dark shadow of a body that your sister saw dreamt of, during the night that your grandmother passed away, was one of your ancestors who had worshipped spirits. The ancestor died and became an earth sprite, in the lineage of sorcerers, and was trying to communicate with a blood relative, that is, this sister of yours. But your sister has merit that she had made with the community and does not have any demerit from being a spirit medium in her past lifetimes. This is why the spirit was not able to possess your sister’s body.
This has nothing to do with your sister’s stomach ache. The stomach ache arose as a result of your sister’s current stress in regards to work, money, and people. She should accumulate every merit by being generous (dana), observing precepts (sila), and meditating (bhavana) as much as possible. She should train her mind to be still so that she can attain her Buddha within, and the stomach ache will go away on its own.
5. The crystal sphere that was floating above the pond behind your house was an astral body that resides in that area. It was, in particular, a tree sprite (rukgadeva) in the lineage of musicians. It is normal for them to move at different days and times or in accordance with their duties. The tree sprite did not intend for anyone to see it. But a person can see it when the mind is fine enough and when they have a belief in spirits residing in trees or wood, resulting in having a sixth sense in being able to see this when the moment is right. But this has nothing to do with your aunt’s daughter who died.
When the spirit medium said that a guardian spirit in that area wished for her to become his wife, it was not true.
6. Your daughter made merit by spreading Dhamma via the DMC channel from the time she was a little girl. This is because in her past life, she had been a noblewoman. She had pursued perfections with the community and resolved to pursue perfections in her next lifetime from a young age. She resolved to be a part of the spread of Dhamma and to have good parents.
Your son enjoys stories about military history because in the last Buddhist era, he had been a soldier of the king who ordained. This character followed him to this lifetime.
Later, he ordained, following the king. Once he ordained, he helped spread the Buddhist teachings for the rest of his life. His meditation experience was that of attaining the Dhammakaya within, able to return to the special merit zone of Tusita heaven. He came down to pursue perfections twice in the last Buddhist era.
- In the last Buddhist era, your daughter was a supporter of the community. Her meditation experience was that of attaining a bright crystal sphere, able to return to the special merit zone of Tusita heaven. She came down to pursue perfections twice in the last Buddhist era.
7. You experienced difficulties in the early part of your life and had to get involved in various lawsuits from the time you were born, when you were in school, when you were working, while you were ordained, and are still involved today. This is because in your past life, before you met with the community, you believed that success could arise only with your own effort. This caused you to be careless in the way you led your life. This caused the demerit of being stingy to have a chance to send its effects first, resulting in the difficulties that you experienced in the early part of your life. Also, when you met with the community and made merits, you tended to not make complete resolutions.
In your past life, you had been a councilor who was a judge in lawsuits. Later, you became bored with it and resolved to not reside over lawsuits in your future lifetime. You were afraid that the kammic retribution would follow you. But you still had some leftover kamma from having resided over cases. So, the leftover plan followed you causing you to be in the cycle of law since birth. You did not have an occupation that has to do with the law because of the resolution you made in the past lifetime combined with the boredom you have with it in the present lifetime.
8. You did not ordain for the whole of your life and had disrobed to pay off your debt that was collateral for your friend. This is because you have a previous plan for only a short period of ordination. You also have kammic retribution in regards to lawsuits, as previously mentioned.
9. Both you and your wife were without a job during the IMF economic crisis because of demerits from your past life. Both you and your wife had been husband and wife before you met with the community. You both believed that success in life can be achieved only through one’s efforts. This made you careless, so you both did not make merit.
Later, you built up your own business until your status improved. This is because in that previous lifetime, after you met with the community in that lifetime, you dedicated yourself to accumulating merits. That merit and the merit you made in this current lifetime sent its effects.
10. You and your wife pursued perfections with the community in the last Buddhist era. You were a councilor to the king who ordained and your wife was your wife in that lifetime as well. You were both supporters of the community.
Your meditation experience was that of attaining a crystal sphere able to return to Tusita Heaven. You came down to pursue perfections twice in the last Buddhist era. As for your wife, her meditation experience was that of attaining the clear Dhamma sphere, able to return to Tusita heaven. She came down to pursue perfections twice in the last Buddhist era.
Having met with the community in this lifetime, you should strongly intend to pursue perfections with all your might in every merit and resolve to follow the community to the special merit zone of Tusita heaven, in the Bodhisatta area. Do not allow yourself to stray from the community.
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