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Roving Over The World
- Book 111: Roving Over The World
- Chapter 03:
Dao He the God
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated by Janny Chow
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I saw the biggest image of Dao He God in my life at the Yashimaji of Matsuyama in Shikoku Japan.
Frankly speaking, although I know of all the gods and their relations mentioned in the Buddhist Sutra, I have never heard of the term -Dao He God.
I can understand there are many great gods related to natural phenomena such as the gods of water, fire, earth, sun and moon.....
I am also familiar with such gods residing in the earth as the gods of river, land, mountain, cereal, tree and flower.
In the beginning, as the words imply, I thought Dao He (Paddy, Lotus) must be a god in charge of paddy and Lotus. But I was wrong, Dao He is a fox, which is also known as the great deity - similar to that of Hu Xian (vixen) commonly known in Northern China.
A beautiful folklore goes like this:
'When Hong Fa the eminent monk was looking for a place to set up cultivation centre, he was lost in a fog. Unable to find the way out, he felt cold and hungry. A fox came to his rescue by radiating light to lead him to safety. Grateful for the fox`s kindness, Hong Fa the eminent monk erected a memorial temple for his savior.'
Started from my visit to Yashimaji, I have noticed that many Japanese temples indeed enshrined Dao He god.
I never looked down upon them as foxes whenever I saw them . Instead I started to chant Mantra, and transferred the merit to them. I wish all of them achieve the spiritual food and be enlightened in due course.
Later I heard some comments on the Dao He god by the Japanese.
'They are very effective!'
'You will be rich, if you pray to them correctly.'
''Many Japanese do believe in Dao He god; in fact there are many religious organizations set up to make special prayers to the Dao He God.'
To my surprise, like China, foxes are highly respected in Japan. They are extolled to the level of God and deity.
As you know, I am an accomplished medium who can communicate with the other world. I am going to tell you what happened:
After my prayer ,we went down to have our meal at a nearby restaurant at the foot of the mountain. Before eating, I relaxed my breathing and sat upright. My hands formed a specific mudra, I chanted the mantra for offering and soul deliverance while my mind concentrated wholeheartedly. At this moment, all the Dao He Gods came to visit us. Respectfully, I bowed and welcomed all of them.
I told my disciples to remain silent to show our respect to our guests!
When in Japan, I had spiritual responses with Hong Fa the eminent monk and Achala. These spiritual responses are beyond imagination. I had reached a stage of oblivion, that I was able to let go of all attachment, and had a unification of nature, Buddha and self.
Its a beautiful experience seeing the Dao He gods. As I had no intention, they came naturally. The sight of them was very vivid, as I had never seen so many foxes in my whole life.
They were like goddesses, radiating harmonious lights in the air. They danced in front of me. From their clear and deep eyes, I knew they were the Dao He gods.
They looked elegant.
They smiled like Japanese girls.
They were very courteous.
As they wore gorgeous Kimono, I was dazzled and had to close my eyes quite often ,
This spiritual response was puzzling and full of fun. I liked the Dao He gods. I would not run away, as I knew they came with good intention. When I wrote this article on the Dao He God, I want to highlight the fact that all sentient beings have Buddha nature, even the souls of animal are no-exception. I treasured the good time I had with them.
Apart from Dao He Gods, Japanese also pray to Shui Zi Ling - the souls of human foetus.
The image of the Shui Zi Ling can be seen everywhere. Sometimes small houses are built to enshrine the pictures of all the babies.
Shui Zi Ling is the soul of foetus, or the spirit of unborn baby. After abortion, many mothers felt guilty and uneasy, so they make offerings to Shui Zi Ling.
Its said that Shakyamuni Buddha gave a discourse on 'Shui Zi Ling - the souls of foetus'.
while it is difficult to vouch whether the Sutra is genuine or not, it would be inconceivable that abortion was carried out as early as Shakyamuni`s time.
It is amusing to see how Japanese make offering to Shui Zi Ling.
The image of a baby in sitting position made of cement covered with a piece of red napkin is placed under a tree, beside a road or anywhere near the graveyard. It smacked of an air of mystery.
Sometimes a small house is built (like the shrine for local god in Taiwan), and the image of Shui Zi Ling is enshrined. Apart from sweets , candy, dolls and toys for children are offered there.
Offering to the souls of foetus is a reflection of social and spiritual problems. Unless and until all these problems can be solved, the ritual of making offering to Shui Zi Ling will continue.
Its said that after abortion, the mothers will certainly had spiritual hindrances. As the souls of the babies were unable to go for transmigration smoothly, they had hatred towards their mothers, and this made their mothers sick and caused all kinds of problems in their daily lives.
These women yearned for guidance , as a result they made offering to the souls of foetuses.
A woman who went for an abortion will not know how to tackle her spiritual hindrance. She will seek help from others god and Buddha included so as to allay her fear and even find solace in the spiritual world.
A Japanese dharma master explained: ' People try to find out the cause of thing they cannot solve, even if the suggested solution is useless, cannot really settle the problem, they will still try it anyhow!'
From these words, we can see:
The lonely heart, the physical pain, the hindrance of human beings and their hopes.
He continued : 'It is not important whether making offering to Shui Zi Ling is a wasteful act. People will use all kinds of methods to get rid of the puzzle in their mind. Unless this is done, we can`t stop people from making offering to the souls of foetuses.'
Making offering to souls of foetuses has caused a furore in the religious fraternity in Taiwan. There were a lot of arguments and all kinds of views.
Most righteous Buddhists believe that it is a waste of money to make offering to the spirits of foetus.
As most people do not really understand the inner meanings of Buddhism, they differ greatly on the value of making offering to Buddha and spirits of foetuses. Some of them support while others reject. And they ask me about the spirits of foetuses:
'Are there spirits of foetuses?'
'All bending bamboo leaves have shadows.'
'Is there any benefit to make offering?'
'Life is an illusion, so is offering. It is always a dream.'
'Living Buddha Lian Shen, do you agree to make offering to them or not ?'
'If it does not cost much to feel safe for our mind and body, we need not escape from it.'
'Then Living Buddha Lian Shen , you believe that it is OK to make offering to them?'
'This is the best solution for both parties. The pitiful soul of the baby will have a place to settle, and the mother will find solace in it. This is the truth.'
'Living Buddha Lian Shen, are you not afraid of being attacked for what you have just said ?'
'It is no use attacking me , the effect is so remote, as there is no other way out.'
Perhaps, You have to seek enlightenment from Dao He God and the spirits of foetuses!
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