When Spring Comes to a Swimming Pool(二)
■Book 148 - The Power of Mantra
■Written by master Sheng-yen Lu
As cultivators, we develop bodhicitta or compassion and this can be expressed through our homage to the Three Jewels and our deliverance of the four lower forms of birth. So back home at my shrine, I set up another smaller shrine. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is being erected within the little shrine. Incense, flower, light, tea and fruits are arranged according to needs and offered wholeheartedly.
In front of the statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, I set up a tablet for Xiao Cui.
I entered into the shrine and sat in meditation.
'Om Ram Svaha.'
'Om.'
I recited,
May this fragrant flower-cloud,
Fully pervade the realms of Ten Directions.
May this offering be made to all the Buddhas
As well as deities, Dharma, and all sages
Through boundless Pure Lands.
May you receive this offering and perform thy Buddha's deeds,
Permeating fragrance to bless all sentient beings,
Attaining the Perfect Enlightenment together.
Countless offerings appeared automatically in the sky. I recited the Ksitigarbha Sutra for three days. When I performed this rite, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva would descend onto the mandala without fail. He would hold his pilgrim staff and arrive on lotus flowers beneath his feet. Xiao Cui's Soul would be led to the shrine to receive the light emitted from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and then being delivered.
Much to my surprise, despite performing the procedure properly and carefully without missing any step, Xiao Cui's Soul did not arrive. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva himself did not turn up. I did not offend Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, so it was hard to imagine that he would not show up at all.
They had no reason to be absent. My shrine may be small and my offerings humbling, but the Dharma power is nonetheless at full force and its invoking power could reach Dharma Realms of Ten Directions. My Dharma Ceremony has always been effective. Failures are rare.
Unable to invoke the presence of Xiao Cui's Soul and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, could it be that my Dharma power and mantra chanting have lost their effectiveness? The fact remains that my Dharma power still works its magic. I must get to the bottom of this blunder.
I looked up my sworn brother, Cheng Huang Bodhisattva(also known as Patron God of the City). His sole responsibility is managing lost Souls and wondering spirits.
I wanted to know why the Dharma Ceremony did not work?
Cheng-huang Bodhisattva told me, 'Don't stick your nose in Xiao Cui's affair!'
'What? Don't meddle?'
'Yap! Just mind your own business.'
'I simply love to mind any unfair business under the sun!'
Cheng-huang Bodhisattva chuckled and said, 'You're doing this because she's a beauty right?'
'Nonsense! I am not horny!' I disputed.
'If you encounter a filthy homeless ghost, would you still perform a Bardo Deliverance?'
I was dumbfounded. Remaining persistent, I said, 'The Soul of a pretty lady and that of a filthy wondering spirit is of equal standing and appears no difference within Bodhicitta.'
Cheng-huang Bodhisattva told me, 'Don't be fooled by outer appearance!'
Cheng-huang Bodhisattva then revealed, 'The usual kind of Dharma Ceremony would not be able to invoke the wondering Soul of Xiao Cui. What appears to be the case of a beautiful girl swimming and later drowned from a cramp in the water is in fact a fatal hit by the Five Thunders. These Five Thunders are not confined to just lightning and thunder. Being buried in a slide, being drowned, being burnt, meeting a car accident and being struck by the elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth constitute the Five Thunders.'
'Why was she struck by the Five Thunders?'
'Xiao Cui has her karma. She had committed killing in her past life!'
'We can certainly deliver the person being killed!'
'Not just one!'
'How many?'
'Above a hundred people!'
'What! That many!' I was stunned.
Cheng-huang Bodhisattva said, 'In one banquet, she poisoned the soup out of rage from a trivial matter. More than a hundred Souls died instantly from the poisoning! Because of this karma, she must suffer drowning in water for a hundred times. Besides, she must go through the agony of drowning on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month as it shall be reenacted.'
'Her heart is as venomous as the snake and scorpion. As a consequence, she must be prepared to taste her own medicine, and suffer.' I could not help but sigh over Xiao Cui.
