《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
I have a student by the name of Lianhua Le An whose Dharma name denotes peace and happiness. He was, in fact, not at all happy or at peace. Ever since childhood, he had been afflicted with epilepsy, and his seizures occurred frequently and at regular intervals.
In search of treatment for his illness, his mother brought him to numerous western doctors as well as traditional Chinese doctors. When medical treatments failed to cure him, his mother turned to religion for help. Anytime she heard of a place where the enshrined deities were efficacious, she would go and pray for help. However, time after time, she endured disappointment.
Finally, his mother took refuge in Buddhism. For the sake of Lianhua Le An, she became a vegetarian and devoted herself to the continuous chanting of sutras and paying homage to buddhas for his healing.
Lianhua Le An’s condition did not get any better, and frequent convulsive episodes at school were setting him back in his studies. He often sobbed in anguish before the enshrined buddha statues at home, and mother and son frequently shed tears of despair.
One night, in a dream, Lianhua Le An felt someone gently stroking his head. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw before him an unfamiliar but magnificent looking divine being or buddha whose head was radiating light. Lianhua Le An asked in astonishment,
“Who are you?”
“Padmakumara.”
“Where are you from?”
“The Maha Twin Lotus Ponds.”
“Why are you here?”
“To heal your illness.”
Lianhua Le An asked, “Many different doctors have tried and failed to cure me. Which buddha or deity are you that you dare to claim such a thing?”
Padmakumara answered, “If affinity exists, healing can occur.”
Padmakumara again stroked Linahua Le An’s head gently and repeatedly. He soon fell into a deep sleep, and his four limbs became cool. When he awoke and opened his eyes, he saw that there was no one else in his room and knew that he had awoken from a dream.
He told his mother about the dream. His mother was elated at first, but later said, “Do not get your hopes too high, or else it may only bring you greater disappointment. It was after all just a dream, and dreams are not real.”
A week went by, and he had no seizures. This was unusual because he usually had one or more episodes a week. A month went by in which he remained symptom free, and he began to feel hopeful. With the passing of another month during which everything was normal, even his mother began to feel happy. After another three months had passed, and incredibly he continued to do well, it could be said that he was fully cured.
Lianhua Le An and his mother were overjoyed and wished to pay homage to Padmakumara.
His mother went to a Buddhist temple to inquire about Padmkumara.
The staff at the temple told her, “We know nothing of him!”
She then went to a second Buddhist temple and was met with the response, “He is a demon, get away from him quickly!”
After begging for more information, she was finally told, “Padmakumara and the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds are stories fabricated by a person calling himself Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-Yen Lu. Such claims are not to be believed. You will be taken in if you believe his stories. There are too many swindlers and bluffers around.”
Hearing this, Lianhua Le An and his mother kept silent! But they thought to themselves, for several decades, we have been praying to buddhas and bodhisattvas and chanting sutras and the names of buddhas, and his epilepsy did not improve. But after a single dream in which Padmakumara appeared, his affliction was gone. Could Padmakumara be a demon? We had never even prayed to him before!
Padmakumara had come on his own. If Padmakumara were indeed a demon, then he must be a demon who helps people. A demon who helps people – isn’t this a buddha?
Eventually they found me, took refuge, and started practicing True Buddha Tantric Dharma. Lianhua Le An’s seizures have never recurred. He is now fully and completely cured.
One day, Lianhua Le An said to me, “Grand Master, I have come to realize that you are not a swindler.”
I laughed and asked, “What happened?”
“Well you have never asked for anyone’s money.”
Ha ha! I laughed heartily.
“Exactly, exactly! This is precisely why some Buddhist temples reprimand me. We are not rich, but we are very happy and have an easy conscience!”
Lianhua Le An and his mother both concurred, “We have faith in true buddhas, practice True Buddha Tantric Dharma, and we do not feel in the slightest that we are being cheated. On the contrary, other places of worship have been very aggressive in their requests for money.”
●
A True Buddha School student named Lianhua Zhongyao joined a pilgrimage organized by a Buddhist group to visit Putuoshan [a sacred site of Guanyin], at Nanhai in Zhejiang Province, China.
Lianhua Zhongyao dared not disclose that he was a student of Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-Yen Lu, and he did not dare mention that he practiced the True Buddha Tantric Dharma.
Zhongyao carried a picture of Grand Master in his wallet. Every time he did his practice and chanted mantra, it was always when no one else was around. Or else, he would focus on the practice of “visualization,” “mantra-chanting,” and “entering into Samadhi.”
During his trip, he heard numerous criticisms voiced against his Grand Master.
Someone said to Lianhua Zhongyao, “Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-Yen Lu is a self-proclaimed living Buddha, but he doesn’t have any lineage empowerment at all!”
Another said, “Sheng-Yen Lu is not a proper Buddhist. He even pays homage to the Golden Mother of the Jade Pond!”
Another person said, “His writings are just packs of lies.”
“His school is a devious cult!”
“He is a demon!”
“He is an asura!”
Lianhua Zhongyao heard all these criticisms, but he never raised any objections, and also did not dare to refute these statements. He only nodded his head.
Someone asked him, “Zhongyao, why don’t you take refuge in our master?”
“I already have a master.”
“Who is your master?”
“My master cannot be named,” Zhongyao replied.
“How can there be a Buddhist master in this world whom one can take refuge in but who cannot be named?”
Zhongyao’s face flushed, but he was afraid to argue.
The entire Buddhist group burst into roars of laughter!
Upon arrival at Nanhai, each Buddhist started chanting reverently, “Namo the Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva.” Lianhua Zhongyao also followed in chanting the name of Guanyin. In addition, he chanted the six-syllable heart mantra of Guanyin as well as the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra.
At Putuoshan, the pilgrims stopped at monasteries and temples both big and small to pay homage and make prostrations. Finally, they arrived at Chaoyindong [the Tidal Sound Grotto], the site where Guanyin has made frequent appearances to her devotees.
The group started making prostrations.
Regrettably, no one saw a vision of Guanyin.
Finally, Lianhua Zhongyao had the last turn to pay homage, and everyone looked at him. As soon as he knelt down, he saw the entire water’s surface covered with lotuses, and upon the lotuses sat hundreds and thousands of Nanhai bodhisattvas. The bodhisattvas were adorned with cascading necklaces of jade, pearls and precious gems on their chest, and were stunningly magnificent and regal. As soon as Zhongyao saw this, he immediately cried out loudly the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva, and tears gushed down his cheeks.
When Zhongyao took another look, each Guanyin Bodhisattvas’s face transformed individually into Padmakumara’s face.
He cried aloud again.
“Grand Master Padmakumara.”
An instant passed. Everything disappeared.
Lianhua Zhongyao knelt to do the Great Homage, and when others helped him to his feet, his entire face was covered with tear streaks.
“I saw them, I really saw them. Both Guanyin Bodhisattva and Padmakumara have indeed shown themselves to me.” He murmured to himself.
In the Buddhist group was a master who had silently been observing Lianhua Zhongyao, and knew he had truly seen a vision.
The master asked to have a talk with Lianhua Zhongyao.
The master asked. “Who exactly is your master?”
“It cannot be revealed.”
“Just reveal it! I won’t reprimand you!”
“It is Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-Yen Lu!”
“Oh!” This Buddhist master was lost in thought for a long while, and then said, “There is a need to re-evaluate this Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-Yen Lu.”
This Buddhist master told his own students, “From now on, do not rashly criticize Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-Yen Lu without first finding out the facts!”
(to be continued)
