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Chapter 10 - The Unforgettable Smile of Ma Tsu At Liuchia
As a surveyor, I had to do a lot of traveling. Out of all the places I visited, the most unforgettable was Liuchia, where I saw the smile of the goddess Ma tsu. Liuchia is located in Tainan County (in southern Taiwan) in the vicinity of the famous Coral Lake Dam. The two co-workers assigned to go with me to Liuchia were Chang Ying Ao and Huang Ta Fu. My spiritual master also went to Liuchia with me. I remember it was a very cold winter, and every night my spiritual master would awaken me to go out to the local cemetery to receive teachings from him. The site of the teachings did not bother me as I had always been quite courageous. The stars of the winter nights were extremely bright, shining over the rows of white tombstones in the cemetery. Surrounded by a light veil of mist and the twittering sounds of the night insects, my spiritual master taught me a method to call upon and command the spirits using the power of mantras and Mudras. According to my spiritual master, this kind of magical art was not usually studied by practitioners of the Correct Dharma; however, a knowledge of them was necessary. In order for me to propagate the Correct Dharma in the future, I needed to have a complete understanding of all kinds of magical practices. My spiritual master explained to me, "Lian-shen, the Heart of Great Wisdom encompasses all doctrines in the Universe and its inconceivable Light outshines everything. If one has the Heart of Great Wisdom, no evil magic can take advantage of one, and in the future, one will learn the Buddhadharma. Lian-shen, with what you are taught, together with the knowledge and experiences you have in Christianity and Taoism, you will have a complete education and not lose sight of anything." One evening, Huang Ta Fu, who was from Chang Hua County, and I wandered around on the streets of Liuchia. After visiting a barber shop, we came upon a medium-sized temple in front of the Liuchia market place. A sign which read, "Chanting Club of Liuchia Buddhist Group" hung at the entrance. We walked inside and heard sounds of sutra chanting coming from the building's left wing. I joined my palms and bowed to the enshrined Bodhisattvas. As I raised my head, I saw up in the mid air clouds of colorful lights from which a goddess emerged with a beautiful smile. Wearing a colorful robe and a crown embroidered with nine dragons, she stood on two seven-colored lotuses as she descended to face me. The goddess greeted me, "Welcome to Liuchia, Lian-shen. How have you been?" "Bodhisattva, do you know me?" "I once travelled to the middle part of Taiwan and visited the Jade Emperor Temple there. I have also visited your shrine at home, don't you remember?" As a matter of fact, I did not remember. In this Universe there are so many deities. Each of these deities has his or her own responsibilities, and they also interact with each other. I was acquainted with many deities and had even become good friends with some of them. However, I really could not remember if the goddess Ma tsu of Liuchia had been to my home, which already had a small shrine with several Bodhisattva statues. "I hope the Bodhisattva will forgive me, I really can't recall." "That is all right, Lian-shen. There is something I would like to ask of you." "Please instruct me, Bodhisattva." "The abbot of this temple has been very sick and is bedridden. I would like to ask you to write a Golden Pill Fu to cure him. Can you help him?" "As this is an instruction from the Bodhisattva, I do not dare disobey, but I am afraid that they won't believe me." "Don't worry, they will believe you. The devotees here are very pure and kind in heart. Their abbot has been ill for almost two months, and his last day of illness is supposed to be today. Quickly draw up the Fu and give it to the students chanting in the left wing. When you come back here tomor row, there will be a miracle." As soon as the Bodhisattva finished speaking, she disappeared. So, without further hesitation, I drew up a Fu and energized it right there on the altar. Afterwards, Huang Ta Fu and I walked over to the left wing. Inside, an old man and several women were chanting. I explained to the old man what had happened, but he did not say anything. The women looked up curiously, and one of them spoke to me, "Are you a trance medium? Where are you from?" "I came from Taichung, and I am not a trance medium. I shall come back tomorrow, that was what the Bodhisattva instructed." "Just leave the Fu here and come back tomorrow then!" . The old man waved us away. As we were walking out, Huang Ta Fu turned to me, "They don't seem to believe you. You shouldn't have bothered." "I really can't blame them for not believing. If the blue robed woman had not initiated me to the spirit world, and if my spiritual master and Master Ch'ing Chen had not taught me, I wouldn't have been able to communicate with the spirit world. In the past, if someone had told me these things, I wouldn't have believed either. In fact, I would have found them to be absurd and superstitious. Actually, even religious people find such things hard to believe!" The next evening Huang and I hurriedly returned to the Ma tsu Temple. As soon as we stepped inside, the abbot and several women came up to greet us. The abbot said, "Your Fu was so effective! I have had this severe and lingering illness for almost two months and to be relieved of it was like having a burden suddenly lifted off from me. I was able to get out of bed and become my old self again. I really owe it to the Bodhisattva and to you for helping me. Thank you." The abbot's recovery also lifted a great burden off my chest. After bowing to the Bodhisattva several times, I was about to leave. "Mister Lu," one of the women asked me, "do you think you can write a Fu for my son? He has had a fever for quite some time. When he takes the medicine, his fever goes away but, as soon as he stops the medicine, the fever comes back again. Do you mind writing a Fu for him?" Another woman requested, "I also would like to have a Fu. My mother has been coughing for a long time, and it does not seem like she is getting any better." "Mister Lu, please also give me one!" Seizing this opportunity, Huang Ta Fu started bragging to the women drawing around us how accurate my Spiritual Divination was. The women's eyes widened at his boasting. I went over to the Bodhisattva statue again and knelt down. Ma tsu again smilingly appeared, although her image this time was not as vivid as the first time. Transmitted to my ears was the soft voice of the Bodhisattva, "Lian-shen, now it is time for you to get busy. Do not be afraid, I shall help you." Holding a brush dipped in cinnabar, I chanted mantras as I wrote the magic inscriptions on the papers for each of the women. Remarkably, after the Fu's were taken, mild illnesses went away immediately, and severe illnesses also started to get better. There was even one old woman, who had been bedridden and immobilized for half a year, who suddenly started to get out of bed after ingesting the Fu. On the third evening, when Huang Ta Fu and I went back to the Ma tsu Temple, such a big crowd had gathered inside that the doors almost would not close. A rumor was spreading that a young man of divine power had arrived at the Ma tsu Temple who could write Fu's to cure any illness. The whole town of Liuchia was in an uproar. I used the Spiritual Divination methods to help many people solve their problems, as well as using mantras and Fu's to cure their illnesses. I worked every night until midnight. The abbot offered to call a taxicab to take me back to my lodging, but I declined. When the many people who had come to seek help offered me red envelopes with money inside, I also refused them. I did not want to take any money, nor did I want to accept any offerings. The power had come from the Divine. I was just an instrument in fulfilling the intent of the Divine. This is why I detest charlatans. Evil charlatans demand money in return-the more the better. When one's services to the Divine are motivated by goodness and charity, then one is not superstitious or a swindler. Some people mistake me for a trance medium, but I am not one. A trance medium is someone who has a spirit attached to his or her body and that is not true in my case. "Mister Lu, you are looking down upon me by not accepting my red envelope," one woman reproached me. "I am sorry, but this help you received from me is really my service to the goddess Ma tsu of Liuchia. How can I accept your red envelope while I am of service to her?" It was the first time I encountered this kind of difficult problem. Everybody was offering money to me, but what should I do about it? Out of the goodness of my heart I had wanted to help, because helping gave me the greatest happiness. Yet most people were pragmatic; they felt that a service should be paid with monetary reward. The goddess Ma tsu of Liuchia had two spirit assistants, the Divine Hearing Deva and Divine Eyesight Deva. They have both become close friends of mine. Up through my last day in Liuchia, nearly one hundred people came to see me every day for help. At Lin Feng Ying, where we were going to take a bus to head back north, more than twenty people went to see us off. Yet, what has remained most indelible in my mind was the beautiful smile ofthe goddess Ma tsu of Liuchia. My friends, if you happen to be in Liuchia, you might want to visit the Ma tsu Temple to pay homage to her. Perhaps you, too, will see the smiling goddess sitting there on the altar.
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