最靠近我們的神靈The Deity Nearest to Us

很多很多人非常不恭敬地神（土地之簡稱），甚至是自稱學佛的人，也有很多很多不恭敬,亦不「認可」地神的存在，以及有必要召請祂、供養祂。倘若妳你是一般的人，没人教妳你，那是無可厚非的。對於那些有信仰，也已修行的人，還有這樣的態度，那就是一種無知，再加可憐。

佛的智慧無分別心

佛教的教義，是最圓融無礙的。什麼叫最圓融無礙呢？是一切均包含。既是如此，佛教徒應不可，亦不會不認可、不恭敬、不供養祂們。再說，佛陀所證得的智慧，是平等性智，眾生皆有佛性。應無分別心才是，這樣也才是真正契合如來之聖教。

最靠近我們的護法

佛經裡皆可看到「安土地真言」，而我們在開始誦唸佛經前，也應唸「清淨咒」，然後就唸「安土地真言」。為何要唸這真言呢？因為地神顧名思義，就是最靠近我們的神靈。最靠近妳你不請，難道妳你要請幾個「星球」以外的「高靈」嗎？遠水如何能救得了近火？

玳瑚師父告訴妳你，地神是真的很接近人類的，過去吾常幫客人做「謝土」儀式，就有一些客人不相信，或不大相信有地神這回事，地神知曉她他們的「疑慮」，馬上就顯化一點「風吹草動」，向她他「打招呼」，實在是「靈」驗。

地神每戶家宅皆有，無論妳你是什麼族群，祂就在妳你家，相等於家庭成員，一切瑣事祂都能幫妳你，請別忽略祂。

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Many people show great disrespect towards the Earth Deity, even self-proclaimed Buddhists disrespect and do not acknowledge the presence of the Earth Deity and the need to make offerings to Him. If you are like the common folks who are ignorant about this fact with no one to teach you, you might be excused. However if you have a religious belief and are already cultivating spiritually, yet hold this false tenet about the Earth Deity, you are indeed ignorant and pitiful.

The non-discriminatory wisdom of Buddha

The teachings of Buddhism are perfect and free of all obscurations. What does that mean? That the Buddhadharma is all-encompassing and includes all. Since that is the case, a Buddhist cannot and must not reject, show disrespect and refuse to make offerings to the Earth Deity. Moreover, the Wisdom of Equality that the Buddha has attained states that all sentient beings are equal and posses the Buddha-nature. Therefore we should not be discriminatory. In this way, we will be truly aligned with the essence of Buddha’s sacred teachings.

The Dharma protector nearest to us

You can find the mantra of Earth Deity in many Buddhist scriptures. Furthermore, before we start a mantra or sutra recital session, we should chant the purification mantra, followed by the mantra of the Earth Deity. Why is that so? The reason is because the Earth Deity is the nearest of all Deities to us. You cannot be ignoring the one nearest to you and go searching for a higher-level deity a few planets away! As the saying goes “Water from afar is unable to douse the fire near at hand.”

Let Master Dai Hu tell you this: the Earth Deity is really the nearest deity to us humans. In the past when I performed the Earth God Thanking rituals for my clients, some of them did not fully believe in the existence of Earth Deity. The Earth Deity at their house knew of their suspicion and would immediately manifest some external phenomenon to say “hello”. How uncanny!

There is an Earth Deity in every household, regardless of race. He lives in your home, just like a family member. He has the ability to help you in all matters, big or small. Please do not ignore him.