My very dear Jill,
I hope you are better now. In your letter you asked a few questions. According to my divination, the mudras may have been taught by Kuan Yin. But you must always be aware that all the buddhas have one mind, or you can say the same mind. For example, from the ocean come rivers, streams, and rain. They look different, but in the end, they are all one. So, there are all these various ways. The waters look different, but they are all one.

What Kuan Yin does to you is, in reality, the action of all the buddhas. This is also the root of the path to enlightenment, which is guru devotion. This meditation is similar to the way to have realizations of guru devotion, from our side.

However many gurus one has, whatever different actions they perform, however different they appear, one should realize that they all come from the same source, like in the example of water. All the gurus, from our side, are embodiments of our root guru, or the one for whom we have the highest devotion. From our side, we should realize they are all the Buddha’s holy mind, Dharmakaya, which has no beginning and no end, which pervades all existence and manifests and takes form the second our karma ripens.

Some of these points you may not understand at the moment. But if you keep this in mind, you will understand later. This is a very important meditation, causes all the realizations in the path to enlightenment, and liberates all sentient beings from suffering and its causes and brings them to enlightenment.

You mentioned that the faces of the buddhas Amitabha and Medicine Buddha are the same. The way to differentiate, generally, is not by the face, but by their mudras. The second thing is color, and sometimes the position of the legs. As far as faces, there are many wrathful faces, so by the face alone it is difficult to tell which deity it is. For example, Guru Shakyamuni is golden in color with his legs crossed, and the palm of the right hand on his knee, which signifies the mudra of having control, and the left hand is holding a begging bowl in the mudra of concentration, having destroyed the delusions.

Amitabha is red in color and his two hands are in the mudra of concentration. There can also be a bowl filled with nectar. Medicine Buddha is blue in color, holding a medicinal plant called arura in his right hand, and a begging bowl in his left hand.

I will be doing retreat for ten days, then go on a tour to Mexico, Colombia, Florida, and Boston, then maybe to your house for breakfast or, if not, then for a cup of Chinese tea and cookie, or a mandarin or durian.

We requested teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and His Holiness has accepted to teach for eight days in Bodhgaya. Are you able to come? That would be the most precious thing in your life, as His Holiness is the actual Kuan Yin.

With much love and prayers...