Spiritual Safety Guide
This is the complete knowledge of spiritual practice protection that Ah Yuan has summarized from nine years of experience,
covering safety guidelines for meditation, chanting, use of ritual implements, spiritual tools, and other aspects.
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Why is Protection Necessary?
Understanding the importance of protection is the foundation of all spiritual practice.
Reflection Example: What is Unprotected Meditation Like?
Imagine if you were meditating in a completely unfamiliar place—for example, next to a grave:
You don't know what is in this place, nor what you might encounter.
Would you feel uneasy? Would you want some protection?
This example is not to say that meditating is the same as meditating at a grave, but to encourage you to reflect:
When you enter a meditative state, your consciousness becomes more open.
Do you know what environment you are entering? Do you have any protection?
If you would be vigilant in unfamiliar environments in reality, shouldn't you be even more so in the spiritual world?
Opening the Skylight: Why Does Spiritual Practice Attract External Spirits?
When you begin any form of spiritual practice (meditation, chanting, using spiritual tools, etc.), it's like “opening a window”:
Without Protection
- • Any spirit body can enter
- • Unable to distinguish between good and evil
- • Easily influenced by external spirits
- • Karmic blessings will be consumed
With Protection
- • Access control and filtering
- • Protected by the true Dharma
- • Safe practice
- • Stable progress
Core Principle: All Spiritual Practices Require Protection
Regardless of the form of spiritual practice, protection is required if it involves the following:
Meditation
Chanting Mantras/Sutras
Using Spiritual Tools
Including but not limited to: Tarot cards, pendulums, crystal balls, Ouija boards, any spiritual tool claiming to be self-taught, any method involving “receiving messages.”
Protective Equipment and Environment
How to establish a safe practice environment and obtain appropriate protection
Three protection options provided by Ah Yuan:
1. Master's Apprenticeship Protection
Protected by the power of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha (done once a year)
2. Sacred Object Pairing Protection
Buddha amulets/sacred objects are all of the true Dharma, blessed by deities, not possessed by spirits (this does not include karma from actively trying to channel)
3. Ah Yuan's Permanent Protection Service
Permanent protection can be provided (this does not include karma from actively trying to channel)
Important Reminder:
“When you are engaged in spiritual practice, if you don't have enough protection, you are actually very susceptible to the influence of spirits around others or external spirits attracted to you.”
Before starting any spiritual practice (meditation, chanting, using spiritual tools, etc.), you need to prepare according to the following procedure:
Correct Procedure Before Practice
1. Confirm Protection
Sufficient protection
2. Choose Environment
Suitable location
3. Adjust State
Body and mind are ready
4. Pray for Protection
Pray to the deities
5. Begin Practice
Meditation/Chanting
Suitable Environment
- • Quiet, clean space
- • A place with a Buddha or deity statue is better
- • Moderate lighting, good ventilation
Unsuitable Environment
- • Dark, damp, cluttered space
- • Places with negative energy
- • Public places (without protection) '''
Preparations Before Spiritual Practice
- • Ensure Adequate Protection: Wear protective holy items, talismans, or items related to deities you worship
- • Good Physical and Mental State: Not hungry, not full, not angry, not sick
- • Pray for Divine Protection: Pray for protection from your faith (Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Deities, etc.)
- • Calm State of Mind: Without a mind of seeking
Why is this process important?
Protection, environment, and one's own state are complementary. Even if the environment is good, but you have no protection or an improper mindset (seeking, trying to prove yourself), you will still attract external spirits. Conversely, even if you have a very upright mindset, but practice in an unsuitable environment or without protection, you are also susceptible to interference.All three are indispensable.
Meditation Safety Precautions
These are important reminders summarized by Ah Yuan from nine years of experience, please be sure to read them carefully
The following are the meditation taboos cited by Ah Yuan from the Buddhist Disciples Library, with personal annotations added.Original source: Buddhist Disciples Library
One、Cannot suppress distracting thoughts
During meditation, you should not suppress distracting thoughts, but transform them. Even if you are given images, you look at them, and your mind is not affected at all. (Beginners are not recommended to watch images to challenge their concentration in the early stage of meditation, as they will drift away)
Two、Cannot seek supernatural powers
Meditation is not for seeking supernatural powers, but for improving spiritual enlightenment, allowing your mind to slow down to understand and digest.
Three、Cannot have doubts
Having sex or engaging in sexual misconduct within four hours before meditation can easily damage the kidneys; the same applies to having sex with a partner within four hours after meditation.
Four、Cannot be before or after meals
Do not meditate when you are hungry or thirsty before a meal, otherwise it is not good for your heart; you should not meditate immediately after a full meal, as this is not good for your stomach. You can meditate one hour after a meal.
Five、Cannot have worries
Do not meditate when you are unhappy, uncomfortable, or have worries in your mind, because this will suppress the liver qi and cause illness. Especially when you are angry, lose your temper, have emotional setbacks, or experience major emotional fluctuations such as heartbreak, do not meditate, because in this situation it is easy to have mental problems and become addicted.
Six、Cannot be sick
Generally, when you have minor illnesses such as headaches, dizziness, or colds, you can still continue to meditate; but if you have a major illness in your internal organs, you cannot meditate.
Seven、Cannot persist and endure
When you first start to meditate, your legs and waist will hurt after sitting for a while. In this case, your mind will not be quiet if you insist on meditating. When your legs hurt, stretch them out and shake them.
Eight、Cannot have an unclean body (for women)
When a woman is menstruating, her body is unclean. Although she can meditate, she cannot do a full lotus position, as it can easily cause the risk of uterine bleeding.
Nine、Cannot have three non-stillnesses
Sit still, speak still, and think still. The hand mudra cannot be released within one hour, speaking is prohibited, and the mind should not be scattered and run outwards.
Ten、Cannot meditate excessively
From the initial stage to the third year, the meditation time should not be excessive.
Ah Yuan's Core Teaching:
Meditation is actually just introspection, feeling your own body, relaxing your own body, and then using your body to feel nature.
Meditation is only for introspection to improve one's own mindset, and these requirements are for physical health, not unreasonable without explanation.
Meditation involving supernatural powers is all transformed by demons.
Warning Against Misconceptions:
- ❌ Meditation is for seeing images
- ❌ You must see a ball of light during meditation
- ❌ Opening supernatural powers in meditation allows you to see things regardless of others' wishes
- ❌ If you can't see it, you think there's something wrong with the other person
For the sake of images, for the sake of a ball of light, what are you sure you're connecting to? The unknown world is a sweet poison, don't get addicted.
Precautions for Chanting Sutras and Mantras
Sutras and mantras are tools, not panaceas. The main thing is the mindset; the motivation is more important than anything else.
The Truth Revealed by Ah Yuan:
I've always had people tell me in inspections that 'chanting sutras and mantras' is a panacea, believing that chanting can avoid all spiritual disturbances, and even replace actual spiritual cultivation.
Sutras and mantras are tools, not panaceas. Ignoring the root problem will only deepen the predicament.
I still thought I was going to practice, so I chanted more diligently, and got even more stuck.
Four Wrong Mindsets:
- 1. People with low energy
When you have negativity in your heart and forget to cultivate your mind, you attract external spirits to amplify their influence on you. Your ego gets bigger and bigger. Can your motivation for chanting be right? You will only 'feel good about yourself'
- 2. People with merits and blessings
But in their hearts, they wish to chant sutras to save all sentient beings instead of leaving it to heaven's arrangement
- 3. Chanting as making a wish
If your mind and attitude are not upright, the first to respond will be spirits with a frequency similar to yours
- 4. Treating chanting as an ability
Selectively ignoring the importance of mindset, thinking that chanting more is useful, but not knowing that the most important thing in chanting is an 'upright mindset'
Ah Yuan's Core Viewpoint:
The main thing is the mindset; the motivation is more important than anything else.
Don't have a holy mind, don't feel that you are strong, and always maintain a learning attitude, so that you will not fall into the demonic path and make yourself think that you are always right.
As long as you only want to improve yourself, you will not label yourself, you will not hope to become someone, to deliberately pursue how many people to help, everything is done according to your own ability.
Correct Preparations Before Chanting:
- 1Have enough protection: Make sure you have enough protection (holy items, talismans, items related to deities you worship, etc.)
- 2Pray before chanting: Pray to the deities for blessings before chanting, don't just start chanting directly
- 3Have an upright mindset: Not for seeking something, but for cultivating the mind
Important Reminder:
Chanting sutras not only requires an 'upright mindset', but also 'sufficient protection + praying to deities for blessings before chanting'. Chanting sutras without protection, even with the most upright mindset, can easily lead to interference from external spirits.
Correctly Understand the Role of Sutras and Mantras:
- • Sutras and mantras are auxiliary tools, not panaceas
- • Chanting needs to be accompanied by the correct mindset and motivation
- • It cannot replace actual spiritual cultivation and facing one's lessons
Precautions for Using Dharma Instruments
Dharma instruments are sacred tools that need to be understood and used correctly
Three Major Problems with the Wooden Fish
Ah Yuan's Reminder:
1. Usage Problem
The wooden fish is a Dharma instrument for monastics. Lay disciples need to be especially careful when using it.
2. Mindset Problem
The striking is for emptiness, but many people strike it to ask for something, thinking that striking the wooden fish and chanting sutras in front of the Buddha will bring them rewards.
3. Consequence Problem
The more you ask, the emptier you become. When you chant sutras for what you seek, you become even emptier.
Ah Yuan's Reminder:
Praying to gods and buddhas with a sincere heart is very good, but it is not sincere to use them casually. It is sincere to first understand a certain foundation and principle.
Supplement from a Senior Brother:
Not all Dharma instruments for monastics are suitable for lay disciples. You must pay attention. Because I have seen too many cases with problems, I try to share them with everyone to understand.
The Essential Problem of Using Spiritual Tools
Whether it's Tarot cards, pendulums, crystal balls, or any spiritual tool, the essential problem is the same
The Danger of Being 'Self-Taught'
Many people claim to have learned spiritual tools like Tarot cards and pendulums by being 'self-taught', thinking that they suddenly have 'intuition' and their interpretations are 'very accurate'.
Ah Yuan's Warning:
You are now using Tarot cards as a medium to become your receiver.
If you don't have enough protection, you will actually be easily influenced by the spirits around the other person / influenced by the external spirits you attract.
Real Case Analysis (Anonymized)
Case Background:
A person who runs a Tarot card business claimed to have “intuitive” abilities, but later found that they “no longer knew if they were really using Tarot cards to read Tarot cards, or using Tarot cards to channel things they were hearing”.
The Problem:
- • Did not genuinely learn the meaning of Tarot cards
- • Thought they had intuition, but were actually controlled by external spirits
- • Lack of protection led to the depletion of karmic blessings
- • Excessive intervention in others' issues
Ah Yuan's Analysis:
- • “The first thing to be depleted is your karmic blessings”
- • “I didn't give the person a chance to solve their own problems at all; instead of helping, it was more like I was harming them”
- • “They = those are external spirits wanting you to borrow their power for your own cultivation”
The Fundamental Problem of All Spiritual Tools
No matter what spiritual tool you use, the fundamental problem is the same:
1. Do you know what you are doing?
If you don't know whether you are “using a tool” or “receiving messages,” you may have already become a “receiver.”
2. Do you have enough protection?
Without the protection of a karmic connection to Buddha or the righteous Dharma, you are easily influenced by external spirits, and you may be completely unaware of it.
3. Is your “accuracy” real?
Being “very accurate” on the outside may just be because the other person agrees with the interpretation, not because you truly have the ability. The interpretation may not be your own at all, but the result of being manipulated by external spirits.
4. Are you excessively intervening in others' issues?
“I didn't give the person a chance to solve their own problems at all; instead of helping, it was more like I was harming them.”
These fundamental problems apply to all spiritual tools
Tarot cards
pendulums
crystal balls
Ouija boards
divination tools
energy healing
Reiki
any method of 'receiving messages'
Ah Yuan's advice: “As a human, it might be better to set questions that are only within the scope of human affairs. If you need to involve spirituality, you actually need to have the relevant knowledge and sufficient protection.”
Demonic Trials and Pseudo-Channeling
How to distinguish between genuine channeling and pseudo-channeling manipulated by external spirits
What is a Demonic Trial?
A “Demonic Trial” refers to the process in spiritual practice where external spirits will test and confuse you in various ways, making you think you have “opened up,” “connected,” or “gained abilities.”
They make you “see cleanliness and feel safe” in a temple while “constantly receiving their validation and even praise.” Some pseudo-channelers will see “tons of external spirits” in a temple and “can pick up negative energy just by walking around.” Therefore, once you start channeling, you will be tested at all times.
Genuine Channeler vs. Pseudo-Channeler
How a Genuine Channeler Feels in a Temple
- • Feels calm and stable
- • Is not “flattered”
- • Clearly knows their boundaries
- • Has the protection of the righteous Dharma
- • Does not excessively intervene in others' issues
How a Pseudo-Channeler Feels in a Temple
- • Sees “tons of external spirits”
- • “Can pick up negative energy just by walking around”
- • Is constantly “validated and praised”
- • Feels they are “very powerful”
- • Is “receiving messages” at all times
External Spirits Impersonating Deities
External spirits often impersonate deities to confuse you, making you think it is “that deity,” “a high spirit,” or “an angel” teaching you.
Common Warning Signs:
“That deity/angel/high spirit told me to xxx”
Self-Desire is a Form of Demonic Trial:
When you have inner desires like “I want to have abilities,” “I want to be recognized,” or “I want to prove myself,” this intention itself will attract external spirits to “satisfy” you.
Ah Yuan's Warning:
“They = those are external spirits wanting you to borrow their power for your own cultivation.”
Prerequisite for Divine Intervention:
You must consciously stop all these dangerous behaviors and be determined to get rid of this problem. Only then can deities and Buddhas truly intervene to help. But they will not communicate with you constantly; they will only communicate selectively based on your situation, or even not communicate at all and guide you to someone who can help. But the prerequisite is that you must be genuinely willing to break free.
How to tell if you are undergoing a Demonic Trial?
1. Do you feel that you are “very powerful”?
If you feel you are more powerful than others or have special abilities, it may be external spirits flattering you.
2. Are you “self-taught”?
If you suddenly “know how” without formal learning, it may be external spirits manipulating you.
3. Do you often “receive messages”?
If you are receiving messages at all times, you may have become a “receiver.”
4. Has your life gotten worse?
If your karmic blessings are being depleted, your life is getting worse, and your relationships are deteriorating, it may be external spirits influencing you.
Evil Spirit Invasion and Spiritual Deviation
Understanding the causes, signs, and solutions for evil spirit invasion
Evil spirit invasion usually has the following causes:
- •Active Connection: Using spiritual tools, channeling, summoning spirits, etc.
- •Lack of Protection: Engaging in spiritual practices without protection
- •Negative Energy: Being in a state of negative emotions or environment for a long time
- •Depletion of Karmic Blessings: Excessively intervening in others' issues and depleting your own karmic blessings
If you or someone around you experiences the following, please pay special attention:
Mild Influence
- • Sudden strong interest in spiritual matters
- • Starting to believe you have “special abilities”
- • Decreased sleep quality, frequent strange dreams
- • Increased emotional fluctuations
Moderate Influence
- • Starting to “hear” or “see” things
- • Feeling guided by a “spirit body”
- • Becoming estranged from friends and family
- • Developing a strong aversion to certain people or things
Severe Impact (Requires Immediate Attention)
- • Complete inability to control one’s own actions or thoughts
- • Starting to harm oneself or others
- • Completely detached from reality
- • Noticeable changes in personality
- • Unexplained physical symptoms
- • Suicidal or homicidal thoughts
Arrogant Type (The most difficult type to self-realize)
This type of person often feels that they are not the problem, but others are. They may be deeply entangled without realizing it, because the “confidence” given by the evil spirit makes them feel that they are more correct and superior than everyone else. Some even exaggerate to the point of saying they are not like humans, constantly talking about the universe, aliens, higher-dimensional beings, and other “grand worldviews,” shaping themselves into beings that transcend humanity. Some even pretend to be completely detached from their emotions, defining all people, events, and things as “NPCs” and “scripts,” intending to use this narrative to explain everything, but in reality, they are escaping from reality.
- • Overly arrogant, feeling more “enlightened” than others
- • Unable to accept any questioning or different opinions
- • All problems are someone else’s fault, never reflecting on oneself
- • When pointed out with unrealistic logic, they explain it away with other reasons or evade it directly
- • Believing they are the “chosen one” or a “special being”
- • Developing strong hostility towards those who point out their problems
- • Using “frequency mismatch” to explain all interpersonal conflicts
- • Refusing to acknowledge or changing the subject on matters beyond their worldview
Why is this type the most dangerous? Because they have absolutely no awareness that “they might be the problem.” Evil spirits love this kind of person because they can easily manipulate them to influence more people, while they still think they are “helping” others.
Evil spirits do not attack randomly; they have clear behavior patterns and purposes:
1. Invasion
Directly invading a person’s body or energy field, causing physical and mental abnormalities
2. Contamination
Contaminating a person’s thoughts and judgment, making you unable to distinguish right from wrong clearly
3. Seizure
Seizing resources, spiritual path positions, and spirit bodies, making you bear the negative consequences
4. Inducement
Inducing destructive relationships, causing you to become estranged from friends and family, leaving you isolated and helpless
5. Marking
Marking people through a “master” to establish control. This is why some people experience misfortune after “leaving their master.”
Important Reminder: Evil spirits will first appear as “high spirits, elves, good people, or not-so-bad demons,” constantly probing to find and satisfy your inner desires. When your karmic blessings are depleted, and they truly begin to profit from you, only then will you know the price.
The most common pitfall for many spiritual workers is the “trap of being needed”:
Responding to Everything
Constantly sending out friend requests to any roadside/celestial/terrestrial/everything, as long as it is a spirit body
Getting Carried Away
Feeling that they are “becoming capable” or “able to channel,” indulging in the feeling of being needed
Swallowed by Darkness
Completely controlled, yet still believing they are “helping” others, when in fact they are spreading contamination
Warning: This process can last for years without the person being aware of it. Because the “sense of being needed” given by the evil spirit is so strong, it makes it impossible for people to give it up.
If you are to engage in spiritual work, it’s like a job interview:
✅ High-Wisdom Spirituality (like government recruitment)
- • They will assess your attributes/situation before deciding whether to respond, assist, refer, or guide
- • They won’t act like a savior and give you whatever you ask for
- • They use real-life experiences and trials to let you discover your own wisdom
- • Only when you can use your abilities effectively, become self-sufficient, and possess enough wisdom can you talk about helping others
- • It’s like a benefactor guiding you to start a company; this is a virtuous cycle
❌ Anti-Social Spirituality (like a bad boss/MLM)
- • Very good at making grand promises
- • Makes you feel like you are already running your own company and making quick money
- • Lots of certificates, very formal plans, doing many good deeds
- • But the essence is “greed” and “hypocrisy”
Conclusion: All of this is merely a test you have to face in an extreme way because you have never confronted your inner demons and real-life issues, yet you keep praying to deities for unearned rewards, and it has accumulated to this point.
Three common sources:
Constantly Sending Out Friend Requests
You are constantly sending out friend requests to any roadside/celestial/terrestrial/everything, as long as it is a spirit body
Overly Idealistic, Not Grounded
You yourself are not on a human frequency, find it difficult to be grounded, and lack the wisdom to analyze, relying solely on “ideals,” which leads to related scams
Ignoring Logical Wisdom in Spiritual Channels
You ignore whether the chosen spiritual channel is logical and wise. This is part of blind obedience/overconfidence/pursuit of ideals
The Misappropriated Concept of “Equality”
Some people are just holding a cup, wanting to know if they should draw lots for a reminder, with no intention of channeling at all, yet are constantly forced to receive messages, forced to experience that misappropriated concept of “equality of all beings”—— communicating with you intimately like family, friends, or peers, making you “see cleanliness and feel safe” in the temple while “constantly receiving their value recognition, even praise.”
The True Intention of Deities
Since you are blind to your own shortcomings in reality, it’s better to first amplify your “shortcomings” and let you have a “spiritual dialogue” with yourself. Because your self-perception is limited, you think spirituality is different from reality. This leads to two outcomes:
Outcome One: If you can’t face it, you will continue to communicate, and eventually break down
Outcome Two: If you truly face it, you will understand, stop the loss, and start to face life bravely
“You will eventually find that you can’t even communicate well with people, let alone spirits?”
Why can evil spirits invade you? Because of “like attracts like”:
The Frequency of Ghosts
Ghosts are just people without physical bodies. Their frequency is similar to ours, just without a body.
The Frequency of Evil Spirits
The frequency of evil spirits is “negative.” They look for people who match their frequency—that is, people who are chronically in negative emotions and thoughts.
Ah Yuan’s Personal Experience
Ah Yuan was once invaded by an evil spirit. At that time, I didn’t want to accept my spiritual work and just wanted to be an ordinary person, abandoning all spirituality.
Unexpectedly, this was the opportunity the evil spirits were waiting for. They took advantage of the void, took away all my merits, and only allowed me to channel the yin—this was their way of “helping” me be an ordinary person. My antenna that was always connected to the above (deities) was completely pulled down by them.
This experience made me deeply realize that spiritual work is not something you can do just because you want to, or safely quit just because you don’t. The importance of protection, and the correct attitude towards one’s own gifts, were all learned from this experience.
If you suspect you are under the influence of an evil spirit, it is recommended to:
- 1Immediately stop all spiritual practices and the use of spiritual tools
- 2Seek professional help: Find an experienced spiritual worker to help with an examination
- 3Establish Protection: Obtain righteous Dharma protection (Buddha amulets, sacred objects, etc.)
- 4Focus on Mind Cultivation: Return to daily life and focus on improving your own mentality
Visit a Major Temple to Find Righteous Deities
If you truly want to seek help, you can go to a major temple to find righteous deities. Here are four questions you can ask the divine beings:
- 1. Am I affected by evil spirits?
- 2. What should I do about it?
- 3. Are there any recommended spiritual workers?
- 4. What do I need to do to protect myself?
A highly sensitive constitution is neutral, neither good nor bad:
Why is High Sensitivity a Neutral Constitution?
Why is a highly sensitive constitution neutral?
Risks of a Highly Sensitive Constitution
Risks of a Highly Sensitive Constitution
Two different paths of evil spirit invasion:
The four-step process of a failed Demonic Trial:
Five common blind spots in the New Age spiritual circle:
1.
2. Insufficient Protection
3. Understanding and Permission
4. Problematic Intentions
5. Self-Inflicted Consequences
Comparison of two different channeling paths:
✅
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
❌
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
Key Difference: The correct path is “cultivate the mind first, then channel,” the deviation path is “channel first, ignore cultivation.”
Disclaimer: The channeling techniques mentioned in this article are professional operations by individuals with special constitutions. Do not imitate. Published with the consent of the parties involved.
The brother's message for help:
Message from the older brother seeking help:
“My younger brother has been on psychiatric medication for four years with little effect...”
“He stays up all night with his eyes open, drawing symbols in the air...”
“He suddenly kneels and kowtows...”
Ah Yuan's examination results:
Key Observations:
- •Unintentional talisman drawing strengthens the contamination
- •Kneeling and kowtowing strengthens belief in evil spirits
- •Baring teeth and growling is a sign of loss of self-control
What this case tells us:
- • This case tells us:
- •
- • When psychiatric medication is ineffective long-term, it may involve spiritual issues.
1.1K
“If you lack ability, take out a loan for classes”
“You lack ability, so you should take out a loan for my class.” and then induce you to take out a loan for the class. An average class costs $18,000, and some people have even taken out over $2 million in loans.
Scammers are always good at talking and packaging. But if you have a heart that doesn't covet and only needs, the righteous deities will quickly help you see through the deception.
PUA
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