Q: Master Lu, what should we say before we recite Little Houses? How do we pray to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for their blessings and protection?
A:
Before reciting Little Houses, you can say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva help me, <your full name>, to give these Little Houses to <name of the recipient> (The recipient can be your karmic creditor, a deceased relative or friend, an aborted or miscarried child, or a karmic creditor of your house). Keep your prayer short and simple; it is fine even if you do not say anything at all. Because as soon as our thoughts arise, they are precisely recorded in the spirit world.
At first, you may write down the prayer, and read it each time before you recite Little Houses. Eventually you will be able to memorise it.
Some foreign spirits, usually in the Underworld or in the Asura realm, tend to transform the sutras and mantras they received into money or energy and spend it all, rather than going to a higher spiritual realm. If you have recited a large number of Little Houses but the spirits have not ascended to a higher spiritual realm, it is best to pray to Guan Yin Bodhisattva so that the spirits can transform the sutras and mantras into energy and ascend to a higher spiritual realm.