In studying Buddhism we must renew ourselves every day, day after day. We improve from one day to another, enter [the Buddhadharma] more profoundly day after day; otherwise our time will have been spent in vain. All of us know that we should recite the Great Compassion Mantra, and the Shurangama Mantra. The Great Compassion Mantra can cure all sicknesses. "Great compassion, the great mantra connects with heaven and earth." Recite the Great Compassion Mantra, and it is recorded in the heavens and in the hells. The more you recite, the more effective it is. But you must maintain it over the long-term. Do not focus on lotuses today and peonies tomorrow. You must concentrate on one. "Focused, [the practice] is effective; scattered, [the practice] is faulty."

I remember when I was in Northeast China, there was a village called Lyu's Oil Mill. After the Japanese surrendered, there was a plague in the countryside so that more than several dozen people died in a day, more than a hundred people died in ten days. One family of eleven had thirteen deaths in three days. How come there were thirteen deaths in a family of eleven? They had a relative and a friend come and visit one of the family members who was sick. Little could they have imagined that they would die there. This was a serious plague. I brought my four little disciples, who were all eleven or twelve year old boys then, and circled around the village reciting the Great Compassion Mantra 108 times. At that point, the plague disappeared into oblivion. From this I know that the response from reciting the Great Compassion Mantra is inconceivable.

We are now at the Age of Decline of Dharma. What is the Age of Decline of Dharma? This is when the Dharma has reached its end so that no one really believes in the Buddhas. People who claim that they believe in the Buddhas are slandering the Buddhas, Dharma, and Sangha. So they do not really believe in the Buddhas; they believe in demons. Those who believe in demons want to wreck the Buddhadharma. This way, all kinds of strange phenomenon occur, perhaps natural disasters, perhaps manmade disasters, and perhaps epidemics. Natural disasters could be attacks by locusts or droughts; manmade disasters could be airplane crashes, train derailments, or car accidents that seem to happen for no good reason. Earthquakes also seem to be everywhere, frightening people.

But people only seem to be terrified when the disaster arrives, they do not know that they must look for the root of the disaster. Natural disasters actually are not natural; they are manmade. Manmade disasters are consequences of our own doing. Earthquakes also happen because people enjoy warfare, have huge tempers, and have killed numerous people. You want to die? You want to kill? OK, let's have everyone die altogether. This is why there are earthquakes. We never investigate the root of these evil phenomenon. I'll tell you, these natural and manmade disasters, earthquakes and various accidents such as plane crashes, train derailments, sunken ships, and car crashes, etc. are all made from the human mind. People are not the way they used to be in ancient times, so moral virtue has withered and died. This is the reason why there are these weird occurrences.

The scariest thing in our society now is homosexuality. Homosexual behavior defies natural biology, creation by yin and yang, and a country's established order. This kind of behavior leads to the end of that nation and humanity. Homosexuals may be in love, but they cannot procreate. The human population will become extinct if there is no procreation. Growing grains require seeds for the grains; growing melons requires melon seeds; growing beans requires seeds for the beans. People also have their seeds. If people's seeds were to rot, then people will become extinct.

Homosexuality invites punishment onto itself. The sentence is a strange disease. Since yang counteracts yang, yin counteracts yin the way that magnets have a positive and a negative side. Attraction requires one side to be yin and the other to be yang. If both sides were yang or yin, they will not stick together. Deduce from the law of physics and we know that the principles of yin and yang cannot be dismissed.

The Book of Changes says, "one yin and one yang is called the Tao; too much yin and too much yang is a sickness." When yin and yang combine, it is the Tao. When yin and yang do not combine, sickness occurs. This is why homosexual behavior created AIDS. Some say the source of AIDS is Africa. But that is not the origin, the origin lies with homosexual behavior. This sickness is incurable and impossible to treat. Physicians are at a loss.

What kind of sickness is AIDS? It is an incurable epidemic. Some people are now doing research and trying to find a cure for AIDS, but they are doing the impossible and they know it. Not only will they not be able to cure AIDS, but there will be another disease as a result. What is it? It is lung cancer. Once this type of lung cancer starts, it will be even more serious than AIDS. People can catch this disease by shaking hands, by speak a few words with another person. Not only will most people be untreatable, even physicians and nurses will die from this new brand of lung cancer. In the United States and in the last year alone, nearly 20,000 physicians and nurses actually died from this disease. People cannot avoid it, even if they wear facial masks. They can contract the disease just by touching someone's body too. Not just through physical contact, but this contagion will be in the air. This disease will be more severe than atom bombs or hydrogen bombs. This is why this eon is an eon of plague.

With the arrival of the eon of plague, not only do men contract this disease, many women do too. Not only women, even newborns will already have this lung cancer or AIDS. See how scary it is! The total number of people around the world with AIDS or this lung cancer is not small. Some were still in the womb and had this kind of cause built in, catching this kind of germ.

The world's population is nearing its last days, which is when everyone becomes extinct together. By that time, half of the world's population will have this germ. When this sickness spreads, it will be like a massive flood that cannot be stopped. What can people do when they encounter this kind of disease? They must sincerely and earnestly recite the Great Compassion mantra. The Buddha said that the Great Compassion Mantra can cure 84,000 kinds of illnesses in the world. AIDS and lung cancer now are just a part of the 84,000 sicknesses.

This is why we must be most sincere. Be as sincere as possible when you eat, meaning that you do not miss it. Integrate the Great Compassion Mantra into your daily routine so that it becomes a part of your daily life. In that case, you need not worry about AIDS or lung cancer. But you must be sincere and earnest. Half of the world's population will be left, the survivors will be real cultivators, people who recite the Buddha's name, people who recite the sutras, vegetarians and the like.

I am not saying these things to scare you but this is the time that I have to scream and holler. This time and age is not a time of peace; it is extremely dangerous. Your life cannot be guaranteed to last until tonight. Destruction occurs in a matter of a moment in time.