Chapter 3: The Words of the Fire Deity

One year, there was a fire in Ta-hu, Taiwan.

At that time, I happened to be in the area giving a Feng-Shui (geomancy) consultation for a family. Having heard of the fire, I went out of curiousity with the crowds to see the fire. It was not that I wanted to take joy in seeing a disastrous fire, rather it was because I could see the thick smoke that was only two streets away.

Another reason was that I am psychic, and I know the six realms. These "six realms" concern earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. These realms consist of all Dharma realms, and I can roam freely in the Dharma realms. Perhaps by going there, I could help extinguish that big fire.

To state it clearly: I can obtain rain, for I know a mantra, in Esoteric Buddhism, of obtaining rain. I can destroy fire, for I know a mantra, in Esoteric Buddhism, of destroying fire.

I am always attended by a dragon deity, whose name is 'Dragon King Matso,' and who can create clouds and bestow rain, and is of great assistance in a disastrous fire or drought.

The Sanskrit name of the Dragon King is 'Naga.' The Buddha declared that the Dragon King is one of the inconceivable phenomena, and has great supernatural power.

There are two mantras of the Dragon King that I recite:

"Om Naga Naga Mi."
"Namo Sam-man-do Moo-toh-nam Wa-zi-la Mi."

This disastrous fire was indeed vast. It rapidly burned through homes. Most houses in this residential area were low and built against the provisions of the building code. Because of the narrow lanes, flames spread everywhere.

I saw and heard screaming fire engines. All the residents were very nervous and frightened. Gas exploded with a deafening sound.

With my clairvoyance I observed a fire crow, a fire envoy, and a fire deity. The fire deity sat on a divine sedan chair and wore a fiery red dress, and remained in the midst of clouds in the sky. I said to myself that it was over. Whenever a fire deity appears, that place will be completely burned down. Nothing will be left but a field of ashes. Only if the fire deity receives a divine decree will he appear, which means that it is an order of Heaven.

Since it is a divine decree ordered from Heaven, it is useless for me to recite the mantra of obtaining rain or of destroying fire. If I use my power spontaneously, then I would be violating divine law. I myself would meet with misfortune by violating the divine law!

I did not dare to recite the mantra of destroying fire:

The true sage of fire, and the true sage of fire.
The spirit of fire and the spirit of fire.

One syllable of the true word
secretly transforms circumstances
Gone with the wind,
the fire retreats and ceases.
Such is the lawful order.

If I were to recite the mantra, usually it can cause a marvelous change and transformation, and its power is so vast that heaven and earth may tremble. This would cause the fire crow to fly away, the fire envoy to lose hold of his flag, and the fire deity to be shaken from the safety of his divine sedan chair.

Yet I dared not to make any action, except to quietly witness the fire burning down many houses before my eyes.

At that moment, I heard the fire envoy whisper: "This house is enveloped by an auspicious light.This house should not be burned.The flames should skip over this house."

Subsequently, when the flames approached that house, the intensity and magnitude of the fire were reduced and its sparks went beyond the house and continued to burn other houses.

"Why is that house protected by an auspicious light?"

"Because of rejecting debauchery!"

"Who is the owner of that house?"

"His name is Hsu Ch'ang."

I secretly wrote down that name, Hsu Ch'ang.

The magnitude of the fire was tremendous. Surrounding stores and shops were completely burned. Yet, everyone was quite surprised to notice that there was one house that survived in the midst of all this devastation. It was very strange that all the neighboring houses around Hsu Ch'ang's house were all destroyed except for his!

Someone asked me, "How could it be that all the houses were destroyed except for that one house left safe and sound?"

I answered: "I know why."

"Please tell us!"

"The fire skipped over!", I replied.

The person made a suspicious glance at me, and left in irritation.

I laughed. Actually, I really did know what had happened, and to be honest about knowing and not knowing is true knowing.

Although I knew that Chu Jung, the fire deity, had descended to burn that area in Tu-hu, and that there was only one house left safe, I wasn't really anxious to find out about Hsu Chang's rejection of debauchery. I did not intentionally try to seek him out. Unexpectedly, Hsu Ch'ang took an initiative to come and see me. One morning there was a knock on my door.

The visitor had a square facial feature, was in his middle age, and exerted a noble spirit. As soon as I had opened the door, he immediately told me his name, Hsu Ch'ang.

"How can I help you?" I asked politely.

"In my dream one night, the Earth Deity told me that I should write something about my rejection of debauchery, and give it to Sheng-yen Lu."

"What should I do with your story?"

"The Earth Deity said that you can include my story in your book, in order to give advice to people. This is a virtuous deed."

At that moment, I realized how unbelievably accurate are the eyes of spirits and deities.

I praised Hsu Ch'ang: "Although a woman approached you, you rejected indulging in debauchery with her. You are a true sage!"

Hsu Ch'ang said: "I was very luck. So lucky! You will understand everything after you read my story!"

Hsu Ch'ang handed me his story, and left hurriedly. I read his story and I was stunned. I've rewritten it as follows:

Hsu Ch'ang had a friend whose surname is Chao. Chao was married to a prostitute. She was quite beautiful, but she acted frivolously, and she did not avoid suspicion when speaking low and vulgar words to Hsu Chang. Chao himself did not mind her behavior.

One day, Chao's wife was home alone, and Hsu Ch'ang happened to come visit Chao. Chao's wife said, "He's on a business trip for a whole month. You know when I see other couples together, my face and my heart become hot."

Having heard this, Hsu Ch'ang sensed that something wrong was about to happen. He turned around, wanting to leave.

Chao's wife said, "My face is really hot. Can you please feel my face." Chao's wife, with her delicate and charming face, approached Hsu Ch'ang.

Her almond-shaped eyes, her spring mountain-shaped eyebrows, her silent affection, her little cherry-shaped mouth, and her fragrant tongue: all of these were irresistible.

Her hot body was like a snake, sticking onto Hsu Ch'ang's body.

She said: "Life is hopeless. Don't you think we should do something?"

"Do something?"

"Yes. Something between you and me." Her breath was fragrant.

Hsu Ch'ang finally understood.

"Life is so hopeless that we should take any opportunity to enjoy ourselves. You are my only real soul-mate."

Hsu Ch'ang was not unmoved. His heart thumped very quickly, and his heart and face also became hot. He was physically excited, and his body temperature rose.

Hsu Ch'ang knew that Chao's wife had been a prostitute, and she always spoke in a low and vulgar language. This time, unexpectedly, she was attempting to have sex with him. This indicates that one cannot really prevent from encountering negative karma when one is destined to.

When she was attempting to seduce Hsu Ch'ang, he wouldn't have been able to reject her if he were not suddenly reminded of a virtuous book he had been reading that morning. The words from that book now leaped before him:

' If one's heart leaps upon seeing a beautiful woman, one will be physically attacked and ruined, by which one will attract disasters. If one cherishes the Three Treasures of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, then one will cultivate practices and plant virtues, from which blessings will incur.'

The title of that book is Beauty's harm destroys the heart. A passage reads:

' Sexual lust is the primary evil. A sage should be very careful about it, and not do anything against principle, even for one moment. He should resist and prevent sexual passion from arising as if protecting himself from the harm of a tiger. Thus, his virtue can become firm in purpose, through which he can protect himself. One should be wary of the arising of disgrace and scandal that would cause the loss of both fortune and honor. Upon seeing a beautiful woman, one's thought arises even though one may not commit any actions. Nevertheless, since one's thought has already arisen, one's spirit will also move. As one's spirit moves, one's heart will be disturbed. Caution! Caution!

' As for the form of beauty, everyone loves it. It is like a beautiful object that everyone envies. Therefore, sexual passion is difficult to cut off. Along with an arising thought, one's heart moves. When one's heart is out of control, one can barely protect oneself. Even if the timing is not right to physically indulge, one's heart has already become disturbed. If the opportunity ripens, one loses virtue, and the body is in danger.

' To prevent the harm of sexual passion, one should first restrict one's heart, not allowing it to go lax. One should take caution to prevent one's thought from arising. One should realize that when one's eyes act like a thief, and one's ears act like a robber, one's thought arises. When the thief and robber invade the internal arena, one's body and heart will lose control. Thus internally, one should guard one's heart; externally, one should take extra caution to guard one's ears and eyes. When one's ears and eyes no longer function to steal external objects, one's will and heart will become determined. If one's mind is virtuous, then devious thoughts will no longer arise.'

These words are quite a stunning blow that can arouse a person from stupidity! It is also like a flash of thunder and lightning. Hsu Ch'ang was alert to the fact that sexual passion is a disaster and not a blessing: it is suffering and not pleasure.

If he had proceeded to have sex with her, there would have been little advantage. Sex between two people can only satisfy one moment of desire: it is only a momentary pleasure. It is deceptive to believe that this kind of momentary pleasure and desire is harmless, as one would continue to indulge in it again and again without end.

Furthermore, if the two of them had engaged in sex, they would've had to keep it very secret. The consequence of their affair would cause much harm, possibly destroying the two families. Finally, one becomes even worse than a beast, for knowing and then abandoning morality is against the natural principle.

If his friend Chao knew of their affair, Hsu Ch'ang couldn't predict what would happen. If their affair became known by society, people would ridicule him. How could he keep face and live between heaven and earth!

Hsu Ch'ang thought about this and instantly stopped the situation from proceeding further. He was no longer physically excited, and he could not help but laugh.

He said to himself, "Is it worthwhile to risk my entire career and ambition for a momentary satisfaction of desire? I'm an ambitious person, so why should I allow myself to be ruined in the hands of a prostitute? If I went ahead and made love to her, I believe I would regret it forever."

Thus Hsu Ch'ang created an excuse, explaining that he had some other important errand to do. He left Chao's family in a hurry!

Hsu Ch'ang added: "I have never told anyone else of my rejection of debauchery."

I read Hsu Ch'ang's story and knew that, invisibly, ghosts and spirits are always watching us. It is quite true that "one cannot expect to secretly commit negative actions without being watched by divine eyes that are as bright as light."

What I admire about this whole incident is that Hsu Ch'ang's heart had been obviously moved, yet he was able to arouse the mind of wisdom and could distinguish good from harm at that moment. Remarkably, he could immediately stop from committing a serious blunder.

If it was an ordinary man, his sexual desire would be aroused, he wouldn't think of later having or not having a regret, and he would believe that he was lucky enough to engage in an affair. Overwhelmed by one moment of weakness for sexual pleasure, he would not even think of what would happen in the future. It wouldn't matter for him whether it was right or wrong, and he would just proceed ahead and satisfy his desire first. The flame of sexual lust can dissolve one's will, and an ordinary person can hardly control himself in such a situation.

According to my knowledge, the human body is not made of gold, silver, copper, and iron: it is made of energy, blood, essence, and bone. Even between couples, one needs to restrain one's sexual desires.

One's energy and blood run through six blood vessels. It takes one entire day to circulate though one vessel, and six days in total to circulate through all six vessels.

The six blood vessels are named: T'ai-yang, Yang-ming, Shao-yin, T'ai-yin, Shao-yin, and Chueh-yin.

The completion of a circulation through all six blood vessels is called one complete cycle of circulation of energy and blood.

When one craves sex, one's heart leaps and one's body sweats. The body temperature rises and one loses mental control. As a result, the joints open, the nerves and vessels become depleted, and one's essence flows out.

When one blood vessel is depleted, it requires seven days for it to recover. This is termed, "seven days of recovery", meaning that one has to rest for seven days. If a couple's sex life is excessive and the frequency of their sexual intercourse is less than seven days, then they lose their essence and blood too often, and eventually are unable to recover their depletion of blood vessels and energy.

Therefore, the sages of long ago set up a regulation of restraining from having excessive sex in order to remain healthy:

• When twenty years old, one's standard sex life should not exceed once every seven days.
• When thirty years old, one's standard sex life should not exceed once every fourteen days.
• When forty years old, one's standard sex life should not exceed once every twenty-eight days.
• When fifty years old, one's standard sex life should not exceed once every forty-five days.
• When sixty years old, one's blood vessels can no longer be recovered.

If ordinary couples do not restrain their sex life, believing that it's harmless to engage in excessive sex as they are still young, then day-by-day they will suffer the loss of strength and resource. Six blood vessels become depleted, energy and blood dissolve, essence withers, and many illnesses are generated. One would have an early death!

One should be vigilant! The person who knows how to restrain one's sex life can prevent from becoming ill, and can obtain longevity. The person who does not know how to restrain sexual desire will have many illnesses and a shorter lifespan.

The person who indulges in debauchery is one who is willing to degenerate to the realm of animals. What a pity!

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