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Chapter 21 - The Awakening Of The Soul
There is really a "soul" inside every body. Unfortunately, for many people this soul is dead, inactive, and does not seem to serve any function. However, if one is able to awaken this soul, one will be truly alive both in body and in spirit. In the world today, those people whose souls are "alive" still comprise in the minority. Among these individuals are those who, in the Western world, are known as "mediums," and, in Taiwan, as "chi tungs." These are people who allow ghosts and spirits to attach to their bodies. Many people seek out mediums and chi tungs for psychic consultations or divinations. From the phenomenon of the existence of mediums and chi tongs, we can understand that they function merely as relay stations providing a means of communication between men and the world of spirits. Some of these mediums and chi tongs do not necessarily know how to channel and control their own psychic energies. They merely lend their bodies to be used by the spirits. Mediums and spirits are able to transmit and receive each other's messages because their souls vibrate at similar frequencies. This is the first level of application for an "alive" soul. Often people regard mediums as masqueraders who are merely putting on an act. This does occur. When the takeover by a spirit is strong, the medium can enter into a deep trance and not even be aware of what he himself has said. If the takeover is light and the medium knows of it and is of a character to satisfy his or her own egotistic desires, he or she might bluff and swindle people out of their money or take sexual advantage of them. Such occurrences are the main reason behind people's distrust of mediums. Since my first spiritual encounter and the beginning of my spiritual studies, I have travelled extensively and have noticed that eight out of ten mediums are swindlers. By misusing the talent they are born with, they not only defraud people but also bang shame to the world of spirits. Such unethical mediums make people suspicious of those with "awakened souls" who really want to help others. I know quite a few mediums in Taiwan, but most of them have turned to their wicked side using their talent as a money-making tool. Apart from mediums, only a very few people can truly cultivate and channel their own souls. The "cultivating of the soul" refers to the process of spiritual practice that returns one to one's Original Nature, the True Self. The ultimate goal of spiritual practice is to shed the external shell and have the awakened soul ascend directly to the realm of purity and stillness where there is no birth and no death. A spiritual cultivator works to reawaken a soul that is vivacious and pure. When one gains access to one's own soul, one does not need to rely on any other medium. One can communicate directly with other spirits. This kind of magical power can be called 'psychic power." The "live soul" inside one's own body is able to communicate directly with other "live souls." This is far superior to relying on mediums who may be manipulated by external spirits. The state in which one is in conscious control of one's own soul is filled with freedom and happiness. With spiritual cultivation, one can advance to a level at which one can manoeuver "psychic energy" to one's eyes, thus directly perceiving the world of spirits. This is known as the faculty of divine sight, which differs from the kind of sight which some people are born with that enables them to see spirits in the nether world. (In the latter case, their eyes sparkle at night, like those of a canine.) At the advanced level, one can channel energy to the ears and attain the faculty of divine hearing. Divine hearing enables one to directly hear conversations in the invisible worlds. At the beginning of this book, I mentioned a blue-robed lady from Hualian. She is a spiritual cultivator at the Tz'u Hui Tang's local chapter at Shih Pi, and she has already attained the faculty of divine hearing. She can talk directly with ghosts and spirits. Among my acquaintances, with the exceptions of my teacher Taoist Master Ch'ing Chen and the blue-robed lady, I have not met anyone else who has the faculty of divine hearing. Perhaps there are others, but I am not aware of them. If one can manoeuver the soul outside one's body, one can perceive other people's thoughts (the divine faculty of reading others' minds), and explore the past and future (the divine faculty of knowing karmic causes and consequences). One's soul can travel freely anywhere (the faculty of divine travel). One can also attain the divine state of Non Outflow (a state of No Birth and No Death). These six kinds of transcendental powers can all be attained through spiritual cultivation of the soul. When one attains these six transcendental powers, one becomes a Buddha who has realized the highest Enlightenment, or in Taoist terminology, a Ta Lo Chin Hsien (Great Immortal). How does one transform from an ordinary person with a dormant soul to someone with an "awakened soul"? The key to activating the soul lies in gaining access to the juncture that separates the conscious mind from the psyche. This is an extremely important task. There are many benefits in opening up the psyche. I have helped several hundreds, to as many as a thousand people to activate their psychic power, and this I shall illustrate with a true incident here.
Tsai Wen Ming is a Taipei engineer with a bachelor degree. We attended the same college, and he is two years my junior. He has no religious belief and is totally disinterested in any spiritual studies. He has good health and a kind and honest heart. While in college, he heard some of the many rumors regarding my psychic abilities. He felt that the stories were just rumors and carried no credibility. At the same time he formed the opinion that I must be a weird, neurotic person. After his graduation, he, by chance, turned up working at the same institution as I. One evening, Tsai Wen Ming came up to me, "Well, Lao Mu, you don't seem to be a secretive person at all!" "Secretive? Why should I be secretive? I am just an ordinary person and lead an ordinary life like everyone else. Should I behave differently from others?" I smiled. "I have heard from others that you can do psychic divination and predict the future, that you know many secrets in heaven and on earth, and that you can talk with gods! But, I don't believe in any of those things. After all, Confucius himself didn't talk at all about extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings. I absolutely would not believe such things unless I could experience them myself. To believe, it would have to be something that I could see while I was awake and completely conscious." "Do you want to experience it then?" I asked him. "Yes, I do." "The only way to do this is to awaken your own soul and open up your psychic energy. Only when you communicate to the world of spirits with your own awakened soul will a sympathetic chord be struck. It is a fruitless approach to try to encounter the world of spirits by using only those means available through the flesh. I have often teased scientific researchers (whose souls are still dormant) while they try, with only physical tools, to explore the realm of the spirits. Is that possible ? To explore and investigate the realm of spirits, one of the most important requisites is to be in possession of an awakened soul." "Can anyone do it?" asked Tsai Wen Ming. "Yes," I answered affirmatively. I took Tsai Wen Ming into my study and drew a paper charm. The message on the charm was, "Om, by decree of the Jade Emperor, gods from the four directions shall help the soul to be activated, as in accordance with the rules of the Most Pure Correct Dharma." After the charm was burned and ingested by Tsai Wen Ming, I formed the Five Thunders Mudra and brought it down five times in a chopping gesture on his crown. Sitting on the chair with his feet touching the floor, he had his eyes tightly closed and his lips pursed. I taught him to join his palms and silently chant the name of "Jade Pond Golden Mother," who was my principal deity. The chanting of the Golden Mother's name has the same benefit as Pure Land Buddhism's chanting of Amitabha's epithet - it brings the mind into focus. Earlier Tsai Wen Ming had taken a vegetarian meal and a bath. Now his mind turned to the hope that his soul would become "alive." The ingested charm started to take effect as the gods of the four directions arrived promptly after receiving the message. Gently they nudged his soul. After about twenty minutes, Tsai's hands began to lift up as if a kind of great force was raising them to a position above his head. At this moment he cried out loudly, "Lao Lu, Lao Lu, I can't pull my hands back!" Asking him to remain relaxed, I went behind him and exerted my thought power on his soul. When I called out in my mind for him to separate his hands, his hands separated. When I silently commanded him to make a circle with his left hand, he followed. When my mind told him to clap three times, he clapped three times. I then asked him to rejoin his palms, and he did. At this time Tsai called out again, "Lao Lu, Lao Lu, a protector deity has appeared in front of my eyes. Lao Lu, I can't open my eyes." "Can you try to open your eyes?" "No, I can't." "All right, just bow five times to the protector deity, and you can open your eyes." After carrying this out as instructed, his eyes were able to open again. When Tsai got up from the chair, I explained to him what had happened. He was gabbergusted. He had not moved his hands intentionally at all, but they had moved as if a force had impelled them on their own. He had wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids had refused to listen to him. While he was in this trance-like condition, he saw the protector deity clearly and consciously. This was neither a dream nor a hallucination. Ever since, the soul inside Tsai Wen Ming's physical body has remained awakened. However, Tsai did not pursue any spiritual cultivation, and thus the awakening did not bring him any great benefits. He is at the level that, whenever he steps into a house, he can feel the Yin energy of any disembodied spirits and thus can tell whether or not it would be a safe house in which to live.
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