Chapter 16: County Mayor I Chi'en

There was a person named I Ch'ien, who in fact campaigned for the position of County Mayor.

I Ch'ien came to ask me: " Will I win the election?"

A deity gave me a poem, and it said:

While whole-heartedly running for County Mayor, with crowds coming in swarms,
Many of the highly esteemed defend the campaign stage.
Flags are set up layers by layers, so many that they are like the sea.
With ambition, they proclaim  ' Win election!  Win election!'

I Ch'ien saw the poem, and smiled with relief: "Good poem.  It signifies that I might be elected."

I Ch'ien had wanted to run for County Mayor for a long time, and when he saw the poem, he thought that if he just proceeded, the electorate would come in swarms.  Many famous and prestigious persons would really help him out to win the campaign, and flags would be waving everywhere, as many as the mountains and the seas.  If he wanted to be elected as a county magistrate, his dream would really come true.

Contented, I Chien left with the poem.

In the poem, there were the two phrases: "Win election!  Win election!"

The opponent, Lu Chin, knew of this incident, and he unexpectedly came to pay me a visit one night.  Lu Chin said: "Could you please ask the deity to also give me a poem?"

Thus, the deity also gave him a poem, saying:  

Illusory flowers in the mundane world do not need to be planted.  
As the sun rises in the horizon, it is about to arrive.
Going straight forward without any retreat and fright,
In the deity's eyes, you have a hundred percent chance.

Lu Chin saw the poem, and he did not understand it quite well.  What did it mean by illusory flower?  What did it mean by sunrises?  If one runs for election, one of course should not retreat and be frightened.  What did it mean by one hundred percent?  It seemed like this phrase, one hundred percent, was most meaningful.

Lu Chin asked me what the meaning of this poem was.

I answered: "You have good luck, and you will get what you want without seeking it.  Doesn't this phrase sound one hundred percent good?"

Lu Chin said: "I Ch'ien got two: 'Win election!  Win election!' How come I didn't have such a phrase."

I whispered to him: "He has two, and you have one hundred."

Lu Chin was pleased and left.

In the past, whenever there was an election, there have been many who wanted to run for the election.  They came to me for consultion to inquire if they could be elected and to inquire if they had such a destiny.  If they have such luck, then they will run for the election: if they don't have such luck, then they will not run for the election.  Or they would consult me regarding when would be a good time to run for the election.  

I Ch'ien and Lu Chin were opponents.

I Ch'ien had prepared for his electoral candidacy for a long time.

Lu Chin won the election at the last minute.

I observed these two people.

I saw I Ch'ien sitting on the precious seat of the county mayor.  I saw local deities and divine prefectures sending him flags and plaques with drums and horns.

I had predicted that I Ch'ien would be elected, and my prediction shouldn't have been a mistake.

I observed Lu Chin, and I discovered that Lu Chin also sat on the precious seat of the county mayor.  I saw that the divine official of decoration in red clothes also sent decorated flags to Lu Chin, and on the flag, it had the words County Mayor Lu.

Well, this was interesting.  Two people were elected as the county mayor.  How was it possible that one county can have two mayors?  What was wrong with this picture?

In fact, those two poems that were given by the deity were quite ambiguous. These two poems had also given the local gentlemen a big headache, and had caused a big dispute.

On my side, because of my fame around the world concerning divination at that time, various people from around the world came rushing in to visit me upon hearing the news, and they actually squeezed my front gate until it broke.  I had to trouble one of my disciples, who was in the furniture profession, to replace it with a new gate.

In addition, whenever it was an election, including up to a presidential campaign, or for county mayor, for city mayor, for congressman, and down to village elections, towns, and communities, all of the candidates came to consult me about their opportunities.

I am a practitioner, and there were too many mundane affairs that were not good for me.  Thus, the Golden Mother told me: "Go ahead, and immigrate to America!"    

This was the reason why I hastily brought Vajra Master Lien Hsiang, and my children Fo-ch'in, and Fo-ch'i to take an airplane to Seattle, the United States, to settle down.

The county mayor was elected.  The result was beyond everyone's expectations: the one who should have been elected lost, and the one who was supposed to lose was elected.

The prediction of who will win or lose an election cannot, of course, be predicted by ordinary people.  But according to the opinion poll, there was little difference between these two candidates.

I myself was puzzled.  How come the one who was high in the poll had lost, and the one who was low in the poll had won?

In my meditation, I went to heaven to see the divine prefect.

I asked: "Why is there this result?"

The divine prefect replied: "It is due to the reduction of prosperity."

"What is the main reason?"

"The offence of debauchery."

"Is it that the one who should have been elected, because of his committing the offence of adultery, had his prosperity reduced by the deity in heaven?"

"Correct."

I thought to myself: ' It is still this one word, "sex" that corrupts.'

The divine deity handed me a text in verse, concerning restraining from sex.  He hopes that when people read this text, they will be wary in mind.

The text in verse, concerning restraining from sex, is as follows:

In the vast sky of sex, the ignorant realm of passion, wisdom is lost and stupidity is hard to destroy.  One should also focus on legitimate relationships between couples, in order to purify the family, and to not contradict the natural principle.  Acting in accordance with the natural principle can prevent one's offspring from becoming corrupt.  How could one who is correct and not be involved in any sexual affairs get into any trouble of climbing over walls to have secret sexual affairs and having to pay off endless debts owed from love affairs? Of the thousands of evils, sex is the primary evil.  Under the watch of divine eyes, one attracts hundreds of misfortunes.  One lives only a short lifespan, but one's prosperity is also reduced.  During one's lifetime, one lives sadly in poverty, and has no heir.  After one's death, one is buried in a grave out in a wild field, and who will come to pay homage?  Everyone memorizes the Doctrine of the Mean (one of the Confucian classics), but nobody remembers that the nine Confucian classics are scriptures that concern staying away from sexual lust.  Everyone has read The Analects of Confucius, which contains the instruction of observing precepts from youth.  This is because during youth, one's disposition is not determined, thus how can one's wisdom and stupidity remain immovable?  For a man, to apply moderate means is to bait women with money; to use force is to impose oneself on weak ones, such as widows and virgins.  For a widow, her chastity is ruined by the force of another man, and her dead husband can only weep secretly.  For a virgin, when she is embraced by her husband, she is scared and doubtful in a new environment.  The man takes advantage of the woman servants, as they can easily surrender to his power. Seeing the family nurse, the man thought that she could be taken advantage of. If the situation is corrupt as such, how can the internal worms be cured?  The beautiful maid has to endure the yelling and screaming of her female master, and yield to the power of her male master.  The temperament of her masters can be compared with mischievous children who enjoy making others miserable, but the ugliness of the male master is even harder to detect.  He is like a skeleton with flesh that just loves having sex with wild prostitutes.  The bodhisattvas, even with their eyebrows lowered, are also upset at the man who pollutes a pure nun.

A Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals stipulates:

"A man has a wife, a woman has a family, and both of them should not violate this legitimate relationship."  

The Book of Rites specifies:

"When internal and external affairs are in disorder, it is like the behavior of an animal, by which one will certainly be punished.  If one speaks honeyed words, and writes lascivious language, confusing other's minds and corrupting others to a devious path, then one is retributed to sink in the sea of suffering. "

The offence could be that one boasts of oneself as a man of letters and a talented person, with charming talk and funny jokes, so that as single women and men you copulate with each other prematurely.  One is engaged in gossiping, and disrupting the harmony of heaven and earth by one word.  By mistakenly writing pornographic books, one suffers in hell for thousands of kalpas.  If one plays a sex role in a pornographic movie, who would not be provoked to think about the sex scene by one's smiles and gestures?  If one draws pornographic pictures, with naked bodies in various postures in a sexual scene, how could one not desire sexual pleasure?  With sensual songs and lustful melodies, one's soul is already floating about, and one's spirit is dissipated.  If one fabricates an immortal remedy of maintaining that the yang essence can be nourished by absorbing the yin essence, this will mislead others to degenerate into the three lower realms.  How could such karmic offence not be considered one hundred times more compounded?  

The doctrine of Cheng contains the instruction, which should already have been heard by all.  Contemplating on the song of Lu, one should be able to purify one's thoughts.  The words in these doctrines are still present, which teach us not to think of sexual lust.  Instead, one should focus on virtuous deeds, and remember that being in no-thought is the way to remain in non-action.  Where there is an object, there is a rule.  When one desires to indulge in sexual lust, and when one's fire of desire is burning, one should immediately turn around from the shore of lust.  If one is able to rectify oneself after one's sexual thought has aroused and after one has made a mistake, then one can still obtain blessings.  If one can start doing good deeds, one can further change one's destiny, from which disaster will be extinguished, unexpectedly.  As a result, the attendants of officials in green clothes will lead one to ascend the official seat, like the gentleman Hong, who became a successful candidate in the provincial examination, when he was already in his old age.  When the Emperor's decree in yellow paper arrives to announce one's success in examination, then one can immediately obtain the post of a high official, like that of the scholar Hsiang.  

If one is always discursive in behavior and does not fulfill one's own promises, then one will quickly suffer retribution.  If one contradicts oneself, one can still repair one's mistake at the last moment, for transgressions will not be imposed on a person who confesses and repents.  With sincere confession and repentance, one has already entered the land of purity and tranquility of one's dreams.  When one acts with restraint according to etiquette, then one accumulates vast and unapparent merits.  By reflecting upon and cultivating oneself, one upholds morality, enjoys one's own wife and children, and arranges the marriage of one's own son or daughter, so that they can have their own destiny.  If one has been fond of the pleasures of the flesh since youth, is indulgent in sexual lust, then one will lose one's head, and one's face will not be recognizable.  If one enjoys lascivious music and sensual poems, then one will suffer the consequence of becoming a ghost with a horrible figure, with tongue hanging out of one's mouth.

One should maintain precepts so firmly that one's vigilant heart is like iron, for one should be fearful of being caught by the net of law.  One should realize that indulging in the pleasures of the flesh is like having a knife suspended over one's head, by which one is already exposed to the chance of being killed.  If one arouses the passion for limited pleasure, one will suffer infinitely.  If one can bear the hardship firmly and persistently, then one is able to accomplish the deity class.  With the caution that libidinous vision, thought, and speech can upset heaven, one should be more vigilant in refusing the seduction of another woman.  With scenes of cool breezes and the bright moon that is so romantic for reciting poems, one should be even more determined not to lose one's mind. Reciting or composing love poems, and enjoying pleasure in one's private life, should also not be excessive.  One should not engage in the gossip over other people's sex life.  Prostitutes are not serious about love, and one should not allow oneself to indulge in sexual lust with prostitutes for more than three years.  The white jade contains no flaw, which is expressed in this verse that is leisurely composed.    

Every word of this text in verse is expressed so well, that the whole issue about sex is completely exposed, in which every phrase is startling.

Upon finishing reading it, one can understand the cause of "the reduction of prosperity, the shortening of lifespan, having no male heir, being without good health, having many illnesses, having one's health robbed, being poor and dying young, dying in an accident, suffering from the misfortune of water, misfortune of fire, and odd disasters"

The event of an election is also observed by deities.  Of the thousands of evils, sexual lust is the primary evil.  Virtuous people and gentlemen should be careful! Be careful!

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