
- By Grandmaster Sheng Yen Lu
- Translation: Yuan Zheng Tang Translation
Committee
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Chapter 10 - Killing And Committing Arson
Time: 2 p.m.
Date: December 19, 1992
Place: Singapore IMM building
Crowds: Around 20,000 attending the Tantric ritual organised by
Yuan Xue Chapter, and assisted by Yuan Zhen and Yuan Xi chapters.
A huge picture of Padmakumara served as the backdrop. While the
ritual was in progress....
A suspicious looking man slipped into the backstage when no one
was watching him. Taking out a few pieces of papers, he dipped them
into petrol. He tried to start a fire with the lighter, by burning
the picture of Padmakumara. I was sitting in front of the picture.
Although the papers dipped with petrol were ablaze, nothing happened.
To prevent this sort of sabotage from happening, more than 50 policemen
and plain-clothed security personnel were posted outside the building
long before the commencement of the ritual. Moreover more than 50
of our own security personnel were also deployed inside the building.
An additional 20 people were patrolling the ritual site. That is
why when the fire flashed, it was immediately spotted by the patrol
team.
The culprit, on seeing three of the guards rushing to him, shouted:
"We are the righteous Buddhism!". Then he sped away, merging
with the crowd and disappeared immediately. At first the patrol
leader wanted to make an announcement on the fire, then he decided
otherwise since the fire was already put out by his team. Stepping
up the patrol inside the building, he awaited the end of the ritual.
As the ritual was carried out smoothly, I heard the incidence and
footsteps, even the spraying sound of extinguisher. The whole commotion
was over in a short while.
If the fire really broke out and we announced the bad news, the
death toll would be very high, as the whole building was full of
people, even the corridors and car parks were fully occupied. The
lifts and exists of IMM building would not be adequate in this instance.
Imagine 20,000 people all rushing out at once, stepping on one another.
I am sure a lot of people will be hurt. (In Hong Kong the mishaps
at Lan Kwai Fong, 22 people died and many more injured because of
the rushing crowds.)
The incidence can be considered an attempted murder and attempted
arson.
What is the motive of doing this?
They consider themselves the righteous, and we are the opposite.
Like a typhoon passing through the world, True Buddha School affects
those who claimed to be the righteous schools of Buddhism quite
a lot.
They tore our publicity posters.
They blackened out the time and venue of our notices of rituals
to be held.
They cut the banners put up by us.
They placed negative news and advertisement in the newspapers.
They even distributed booklets attacking me personally.
And the latest is attempted murder and arson. I wondered those
who claimed to be from the righteous school of Buddhism could tell
me of all the karma created, which is the most serious offence?
I can't think of one that is even more critical than killing and
committing arson.
Sometimes I joked about being evil. Tell me my wickedness and the
vices of True Buddha Tantra.
Facing an avalanche of slanders and charged with instantaneous
explosive, I encountered a great set-back, but I still persisted
in propagating the True Buddha Tantra. I have done nothing wrong.
To think it objectively, those who claimed to be from the righteous
schools of Buddhism can be very cruel, sometimes really heartless.
But we still welcome them with a smile.
Most people have the misconception that the religious world must
be very peaceful, they are very wrong about this. Wars had been
waged, blood shed and arms used. The True Buddha School as founded
by Master Lu Sheng Yen does not seek to destroy other schools, nor
other religions. We believe in harmony and perfection and never
to use force.
It is a pity that the so called righteous schools of Buddhism had
to resort to using violence to deal with our school.
What shall we do now?
I , Lu Sheng Yen still insist that:
We must condone them.
We must be patient with them.
We must be accommodating.
We must move them with our attainments in cultivation.
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