《Guru’s Talks》
Book 129 Entering the Most Hidden Yin-Yang Realm: Accounts of Spiritual Response from Padmakumara
( 《走入最隱祕的陰陽界》＜蓮花童子──靈驗篇＞)
by H.H.Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu
(continued from issue #1508)
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Both Liang Yan and his wife had been practicing True Buddha Tantra for a long time. Due to their old age, they focused only on the Padmakumara Personal Deity Yoga practice.
The couple had only been to Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple in Redmond once and, during that visit, I personally gave them the empowerment for the Padmakumara Personal Deity Yoga practice.
I told them, “You can come often to Seattle!”
They replied, “We are unable to.”
“Why not?”
“We are getting on in years and also cannot afford it. Focusing and penetrating deeply into one Dharma practice will do.”
I saw that the couple were extraordinarily devoted and reverent, so I gave them additional advice and oral instructions regarding the sadhana. I gave them an empowerment for purification, revealed the secret keys to accomplishment, and specially blessed and transmitted teachings to them.
I was acting in accordance with Article Fifty-four of the Vajra Coiffure Tantra:
“Just as lion milk should not be poured into a ceramic vessel, a great yoga practice should not be transmitted to an unqualified practitioner. Such a transmission can cause harm and instantly destroy the student. By transmitting teachings to an inappropriate vessel, the teacher can ruin [the student’s] accomplishment.”
The “Padmakumara Personal Deity Yoga” is a great yoga practice.
Here I would like to state that both Liang Yan and his wife were, in Tantric terms, “appropriate vessels.” Students who are “appropriate vessels” have the following characteristics:
1. They have pure faith (total reliance).
2. They respect teachers and elders.
3. They frequently practice kind deeds.
4. They are neither obsequious, nor engage in deceptions and lies.
5. They frequently listen to holy teachings.
6. They engender hearts of bodhicitta, find joy in helping to deliver others, and have virtuous physical signs.
Knowing that Liang Yan and his wife were appropriate vessels, I told them the “three kinds of guidance.”
The first kind is “guidance through secret keys.”
The second kind is “guidance through personal, direct experiences.”
The third kind is “guidance through personal perceptions, insights or realizations.”
These belong to the true transmission of spiritual cultivation methods.
After Liang Yan and his wife returned home, they started minimizing their social activities and, apart from doing necessary daily chores, they devoted themselves every day to practice in seclusion.
Their children visited them and asked, “Why not take time to travel?”
They would reply, “There is not much time left!”
“Why are you giving away so much?”
“Life and its provisions have come from heaven, so how can men claim exclusive rights to their possessions? For people who understand this, what benefit is there from accumulating and hoarding wealth? It is better to practice charity and give things away.”
“Why do you practice with such zeal?”
“Life and death are two sides of the same coin. Being alive is not necessarily a happy thing, and being dead is not necessarily a sad thing. We are intent on transcending this world, hence we practice spiritual cultivation with zeal.”
The elderly couple explained to their children the remarkable wonders of spiritual cultivation, but their young sons and daughter could not comprehend it.
The couple continued to practice with even more zeal.
About five years later, Liang Yan said to his wife, “Most people leave their funeral matters to their children. Why don’t we go and pick our cemetery plots first, then pick our coffins, and get everything else ready?”
His wife replied, “That’s great!”
When their children saw this they were shocked.
They asked, “Why are there two coffins in the house?”
The couple replied, “You will not understand.”
The coffins notwithstanding, there was nothing strange about their behavior, and they talked and laughed as they normally did.
Suddenly one day, Liang Yan and his wife each took a bath and after cleansing and donning their Dharma robes, they gathered their children and announced to them, “We are going to die now!” They added, “Please notify Grand Master in Seattle that the two of us will make a move first, and we will see him at the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds.”
The two then stepped inside their coffins, laid down and said, “Padmakumara is here to guide us away.”
Their children called after them.
There was no longer any response. Both had shut their eyes, and the couple had departed together.
When I heard the news of Liang Yan and his wife departing together, I thought the couple sounded quite “innocent and romantic.” They were like adept monks, two pure-hearted spiritual partners! Indeed splendid role models for our student.
Their story is truly inspirational.
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There were several young people who liked to play “diexian,” which is known in the West as the Ouija board game.
They frequently gathered together to invoke gods, spirits, ancestors, and even Jesus…
Both “diexian” and the Ouija board are tools used for spirit channeling and allow one to communicate with the world of spirits. But these devices can be dangerous if one is not careful; people playing with them should be very cautious.
Among the spirits invoked, there was one called the “Han Creek Goddess” who was quite a gifted poet and would provide her answers in the form of verses.
For example, one of the young men had a crush on a young lady in his class, and asked if there was any chance of them getting married in the future.
The “Han Creek Goddess” answered:
Immeasurable lovesickness is suffering,
Harboring feelings while gazing into a window too small;
Unfortunately each gallops towards separate prospects.
Where will this couple be?
It was obvious from the poem that it would be a doomed love. Later, things indeed turned out that way.
In another case, one of the young men asked what he should select as an academic major in the future. The “Han Creek Goddess” answered:
Among numerous mediocre doctors,
A bright star will be born.
A compassionate heart has merit-virtue,
Bringing infinite help to the world.
The poem clearly indicated that medicine would be the choice. Later on, the young man indeed went on to study medicine.
Among the young people in the group was one named Xu Chengying, who was attracted to Buddhism and had read many of my books. He eventually took refuge in me, started to practice the True Buddha Tantric Dharma, and also enshrined a statue of Padmakumara at home.
On one occasion, the group gathered at Lianhua Chengying’s house to play “diexian.” Normally, the “Han Creek Goddess” descended fairly quickly to the board, but on this occasion, no matter how they invoked her, she did not respond.
They exhausted all means but failed to establish contact.
Left without other options, the group decided to move somewhere else.
When they resumed the game at a different location, the “Han Creek Goddess” descended.
They anxiously asked, “Why didn’t you descend when we tried to invoke you earlier?”
She replied, “There was the presence of a buddha in that place, and I could not enter!”
“Buddhas are compassionate beings who can be approached by anyone. How is it that you were unable to enter?”
She answered, “Buddhas have Dharma protectors fiercely guarding the door. Their fearsome appearance strikes terror into the hearts of beholders, thus I could not enter.”
“Which buddha was it?”
“Just ask Chengying.”
Everyone turned to look at Xu Chengying, astounded. Lianhua Chengying said with some embarrassment, “Recently I have been reading books written by Living Buddha Liang-sheng Sheng-Yen Lu. His books made perfect sense, hence I decided to take refuge and I have been learning to practice the True Buddha Tantric Dharma. I have also enshrined a statue of Padmakumara at home. That’s all.”
The group asked the “Han Creek Goddess” another question, “Which buddha is Padmakumara?”
The “Han Creek Goddess” replied with the following poem:
He is the Secret Master,
A buddha king with his identity concealed;
Playing in the game of the human realm,
While focused on the task of disseminating Dharma,
And the deliverance of being.
“If he is a buddha king, why don’t you take refuge in him? And seek to rise to a higher plane?”
The goddess replied, “Let me be honest with you. I am not a goddess; my secular name is Xiang Hong [Fragrant Red]. I had a hard life and, after being repeatedly abandoned by my lovers, I killed myself by jumping into the Han River. I am merely a spirit full of bitterness and grievances, an unclean spirit. How can I face the buddha king?”
(to be continued)
