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New Revelations from the Buddha King
- Book 120: New Revelations from the Buddha King
- Chapter 08:
The Evil Forces in the Spiritual Realm
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated by Janny Chow
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Wars in the Spiritual Realm
Shakyamuni Buddha has said that, in the spiritual dimension, there also exists the waging of wars. There are, for example, the wars between Indra (the Lord of Trayastrimsas Heaven) and the king of the asuras, and wars between the garudas and the dragons, etc..
When I first criticized Venerable Master Hsing Yun in my writings, I never expected that the `yaksas,` `mountain spirits,` and `mountain goblins` also would learn of it. Riding on whirlwinds, they came to square accounts with me. `How dare the little Living Buddha Lian-sheng criticize our honorable Mountain-deva Ven. Hsing Yun?`
When they came,
Billowing dark clouds were swept up by the stench of their wrath,
Raging black vapors shut out all traces of sunlight,
Trees in mountain ridges were completely uprooted,
While trunks and branches of wild plums became entirely flattened;
Swirling yellow sands so disabled one`s vision,
And strange rocks so strewn over paths that one could hardly walk;
In the flat lands darkness rolled in,
While all around the mountains birds and beasts howled.
I could feel the protectors of Mountain-deva Hsing Yun drawing near. After all, Hsing Yun would not have been able to build up such a big enterprise if he had no protectors.
At that moment, I sat quietly. I wanted to see how this flesh of mine, which had attained the `immortal embryo,` would handle itself under such a circumstance.
To my surprise, as soon as my body was approached by the demons, my crown aperture opened on its own, and brilliant rays of light and auspicious energy rushed out forming a myriad-layered canopy around me. Amid the colorful mist and rosy clouds that enveloped me, the Five Buddhas and Four Bodhisattvas of the Garbhadhatu Mandala appeared.
By the side of the Five Buddhas and Four Bodhisattvas were the four wrathful deities, three thousand `gatis,` twelve constellation guardian spirits, and eighteen monastery guardian spirits. As soon as the yaksas, mountain spirits and goblins saw this manifestation, they all dropped their weapons and took to their heels. That was their only attempt, as they have never dared to make another call.
I have learned that the higher the spiritual realm one ascends to, the greater is the obstruction from the negative forces. There is a Chinese saying, `When truth grows one foot high, evil grows ten feet.` The Taoist symbol of Tai-chi has illustrated this truth well: next to the half white is the half black, and the good and evil forces always accompany each other. The evil forces in the spiritual realm are indeed quite a terror as demonstrated in this poem:
People of high morals face great challenges from the evil forces;
The innate quiescence of Zen gives birth to demons;
An honest and noble man keeps to the middle path,
As any slight deviation veers one away from the ultimate truth;
In the silent state desires and attachments arise,
Before Emptiness is realized, anxiety and neurosis still exist;
An evil mind revelling in achievements is a fool in paradise;
One ultimately has to turn to the Right Dharma for Enlightenment.
Battles indeed occur frequently in the spiritual realm between the forces pulling one up and the forces pushing one down. It is harder to ascend than to descend. The pulling weight and speed of the fall can be very terrifying.
I have seen -
Personal Deities fighting each other,
Protectors tearing at and killing each other,
Animal spirits biting and swallowing each other.
In this world, while demons and goblins exist in great numbers, there are even greater numbers of spirits among the ranks of wolves, reptiles, tigers, and leopards.
Outwardly, a scene may appear to be basking in auspiciousness and tranquility, while its more subtle level may unexpectedly turn out to be one of foulness and ferocity. I once visited a splendid temple built with great architectural details and beautiful and elegant ornamentation. The fragrance of incense permeated the halls while the discussion of sutras went on. It was a temple that housed a great number of resident monks.
I walked directly into the temple and saw the `tathagata` sitting right there in the middle of the great auditorium. When I saw it, I remained standing and refused to pay homage.
The `tathagata` on the lotus throne called out to me, `Sheng-yen Lu, upon seeing the Buddha, why don`t you prostrate?`
I shouted loudly, `Your group of demons are indeed audacious. How can you use the name of Buddha to swindle offerings from the people? You are defiling the sacredness of this place! Stay where you are!`
Great brilliant rays of light emitted from my fingers as I formed the Vajra Mudra. Sitting there on lotus thrones, pretending to be Shakyamuni Buddha and the eighteen arhats, were a demon-king and his followers. How could ordinary monks with only physical vision detect it? In that visit, I chased away the demon-king and the little demons and performed a new purification and consecration ritual to return it to a sacred space.
The Personal Deities of Chi Tungs
Chi tungs are channelling mediums and they are found in all cultures. In the western countries, they are known as psychics or mediums; in southeast Asia, they are called `t`iao shen` or `t`iao tungs` [jumping gods or jumping children]; in Taiwan, they are known as the `chi tungs` or `tung chi;` in Tibet they are referred to as `oracles.` In brief, a chi tung`s body is borrowed by spirits for communication and a chi tung may be regarded as a spokesperson for the spirits.
Why is the word `tung` (which means child) used? In the past, chi tungs were male or female children, because children signify purity and they also tend to be more truthful in their words.
The phenomenon of chi tungs may be divided into the categories of `wen chi` or `wu chi.` Wen chi is more literarily oriented while wu chi is more martially oriented. When consulting with the spirits, the chi tungs go into a trembling condition while the sound and tone of their voices undergo changes. Some speak in a conversational style, some speak in poetry or verse, while others may communicate by singing.
There are of course true and fake chi tungs, as in this world `truth` is always accompanied by `falsehood.` Since trembling and changes in speech sound and tone are skills that can be learned or imitated remarkably well, fake chi tungs and fake psychic mediums also abound.
Based on my knowledge, if one is acting as a true chi tung, one`s body temperature will drop and the body will become cooler. Measuring the body temperature with a thermometer is one way of distinguishing if someone is a true or false chi tung.
I have found that a career chi tung also has his or her own regular Personal Deity; that is, often the same deity will descend. Therefore, during the festival days at the temple, people would point and say, `This is the chi tung for the General Prince, that is the chi tung for the Lord of Chi Fu, and that is the female dancing chi tung for Kuan Yin.` Some chi tungs in Ma-tzu temples even channel different Ma-tzu`s: Ma-tzu One, Ma-tzu Two, Ma-tzu Three, etc... Nowadays, there are also chi tungs channelling for Shakyamuni Buddha, the Ancient Buddha Lamp-Lighting, and the Living Buddha Chi Kung.
Most of the works performed by chi tungs or psychic mediums in temples are concerned with eradicating calamities, healing, and supplicating for blessings. There are of course chi tungs who teach people to do spiritual cultivation and practice good deeds, but they are in the minority as most chi tungs involve themselves only with conventional business.
In general, the Buddhist community regards the channelling of spirits through chi tungs as a psychic phenomenon and stays respectfully at a distance from it. An exception is found in Tibet during the process of searching for reincarnated tulkus, or during times when instructions from the higher realms are requested. (This is referred to as `consulting with the oracles` as recorded in The Great Exposition of the Graduated Stages of the Tantric Path.) The oracles are either elderly persons of reputable status or young children through whom words of revelations from the spiritual realm are communicated.
After observing a great number of chi tungs, I have formed the following opinions:
1) Authentic chi tungs do indeed act as media for the channelling of spirits.
2) Among chi tungs, there is also the phenomenon of the channelling of a Personal Deity.
3) The accuracy of information provided by a chi tung depends on the ability of the spirit channelled.
4) Generally, entities channelled through mediums are not from very high spiritual ranks, as some are only animal spirits, hell beings, and ghosts. It is an exception rather than the rule that the entity would turn out to be a high spirit such as a god, immortal, sage, or bodhisattva who would come down once in a long while.
5) In order to gain respect from people, the spirit being channelled generally disguises itself as a high being and proclaims itself to be a certain bodhisattva or buddha, while in reality it is just a common ghost.
6) Every chi tung has his or her own group of followers or believers because the information channelled will, to a certain extent, inevitably be accurate or relevant.
7) There is a relationship between the phenomena of chi tung and `self suggestion` and `hypnosis.`
8) The relationship and personalities between the chi tung and the spirit should be compatible so `attachment` to each other, or interfacing, may occur.
9) People who enter into trance easily, or who are highly sensitive and generally nervous, are more prone to become chi tungs.
10) The time and date of one`s birth has a role in determining one`s potential in becoming a chi tung.
11) One`s ancestors have a role in one`s becoming a chi tung.
12) There is a relationship between feng shui and chi tung.
13) Chi tung is related to shamanism. Certain witchcraft practices, such as `ghost-keeping` or `ghost-serving` are related to the phenomenon of chi tung.
14) There is also a relationship between chi tungs and shamanism found among Africans, American Indians, Malaysians, and the mountain natives in Taiwan.
15) There is a connection between the phenomena of chi tungs and animism.
I feel that becoming `hysterically` entangled with a spirit from a low spectrum of consciousness is not the way to go for a chi tung. If a chi tung wants to develop self-power and to have as a guide a high spiritual being who will descend to give instructions and empowerment, one has to take refuge in the True Buddha School.
First one receives initiation and empowerment from the Root Guru.
Then, by engaging in the Great Homage and Fourfold Refuge Practices or Vajrasattva Practice, a chi tung can purify obscuration in the body, speech, and mind (which is also the removal of karmic hindrances associated with chi, channels, and light drops) to develop a positive energy.
The Four Preliminary Practices are the foundation practices of Tantrayana. It is extremely worthwhile to put in great effort in doing the Four Preliminary Practices because they are equivalent to the soil preparations a farmer makes before planting in his field:
Removing rocks
Removing weeds
Tilling the soil
Fertilizing
When the heart of a chi tung is purified, it will automatically draw a Personal Deity from the high spiritual ranks to descend. In addition, the power of the chi tung will gradually increase, making him or her more effective in handling trifling matters of the world.
If a chi tung can furthermore generate a desire of renunciation, he or she will be able to stay away from attachments and grasping and will be able to move from the `generation stage` into the `completion stage.` With defilements from karmic hindrances diminishing, one will be able to effectively engage in the practice of `chi` to open up all the channels and meridians, thus allowing the emitting of light from the light drops and finally achieving union with the Personal Deity. A chi tung also may attain Buddhahood in the present life.
Characteristics of Evil Spirits
Spirits from the `realm of hells` have been subjected to either long duration of burning in fierce fires or entrapment in places without suns or moons. They are tortured by extreme heat or cold. A cultivator entwined by a `hell being` will undergo great torments and sufferings.
Spirits from the `realm of ghosts` harbor greed, jealousy, evil, twisted views, deception, and lies. A person entwined by spirits from the `ghost realm` will come down with `ghost-illnesses,` turn to the evil paths, and also fall prey to feelings of lust, jealousy, deception, and lies.
Spirits from the `realm of animals` are characterized by lasciviousness, shown by a propensity to copulate without regard to time, place, or propriety. They are also prone to raging wrath, such as the kind found in vicious animals, such as serpents, wolves, tigers, and leopards. In general, the animal spirits are characterized by either `lasciviousness` or `raging anger.` A cultivator entwined by an animal spirit will find his or her lust and anger easily provoked.
This is my brief analysis of the main traits of the three realms of spirits:
Hell beings - all kinds of torments and sufferings
Ghost beings - greed and wickedness
Animal spirits - lasciviousness and anger
Evil spirits exist not just in these three realms, but also in the realm of asuras. The spirits in the realm of asuras are conceited and arrogant. Because of the high degree of self-importance they harbor, they also engage in the most horrifying kinds of warfare.
Therefore, the traits of the evil spirits in the realm of asuras are:
Asura spirits - arrogance and haughtiness
I have paid close attention to the various heavens within the Three Realms (of Desire, Form, and Formlessness) and realize that, although the spirits there are much purer, they are not completely free from attachments. The spirits in the various deva realms are, of course, quite powerful, yet they still have graspings. It is these attachments that give rise to the existence of the various heavens.
Spirits in the Realm of Desire - attachments to food, sex, and sleep
Spirits in the Realm of Form - attachments to the joy of meditative absorption
Spirits in the Realm of Formlessness - attachments to emptiness
Although the spirits in the various deva-realms cannot be regarded as evil spirits, some of them have such intense graspings that they may create hindrances for the cultivators. These deva-spirits are classified as `maras` due to their graspings. Maras have great powers, and it is characteristic of them to harass `people on the holy paths.`
Today, a cultivator who wants to enter into the Four Holy Realms [of Arhats, Solitary-buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas] has to purify himself or herself of all these emotional afflictions and attachments!
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