Chapter 37 - Straddling Ten Karma Realms

"The so-called True Man realizes that everything is illusory and nonexistent."

This is a famous quotation from the classic, Record of the Heart Lamp, which also contains the following elaboration of the term.

"The True Man moves through the ten directions and travels to all Dharma realms. When he hides, he becomes formless. When he reveals himself, his transformations are myriad and unpredictable. He is the Tathagata of the Ten Directions, the Twenty Primordial Beings, all the great Bodhisattvas, pretykabuddhas, and sound hearers. He is also the six lineage holders in the land of the East and the various Zen masters who came afterwards. He is the marks, heretics, and asuras. He is the gods in all the heavens. He transforms to become all beasts and creatures. When he indulges, he becomes the hungry ghosts and hell beings. There is no plane in the ten Dharma realms that is not a creation of this True Man."

"This True Man is infinitely and inconceivably resourceful. He creates evil, hungry ghosts, hells, and animals. He creates goodness and the thirty-three realms of heavens. He creates the mixing of good and evil among the human worlds, where abundance, suffering, and happiness intermingle. He creates the asuras who cultivate goodness but are still attached to wrath. He can create heretical methods of cultivations, beyond the direct pointing of the mind. He can become quiet and reclusive and create Hinayana. He can help himself and other beings and create the Mahayana Bodhisattva Way. He can return to his original face and become a Buddha with eighty kinds of goodness and thirty-two characteristic marks of Buddhahood. He can sit the whole day and expound on the Dharma while no Dharma is taught. He can help sentient beings all day while no sentient being is helped. He is marked with the eighty forms of goodness and the thirty-two characteristic signs of the Buddha. A being of such magical power and wisdom should not be slighted. In these Ten Dharma Realms, a wise person would choose and follow him."

Someone told me about a small temple, located at a certain mountain, that had a particularly strong presence of spiritual energy. When one goes there to pray, the prayer will always be answered. Out of curiosity, I went there to take a look. Behind the small temple was a cemetery and on the temple door were the engraved words "Yu Ying Kung (One Who Answers)." The temple was small and shabby, but there were apparently many worshipers, as evidenced by the great numbers of lit incense sticks and candles. When I saw the words Yu Ying Kung, I realized that this was, after all, only a temple dedicated to the wandering and homeless ghosts. Disappointed at this finding, I turned around and was about to leave when a voice unexpectedly came from inside the temple.

"Lian-sheng, where are you going?"

"Who is there? How do you know my name?"

"I am the master of this Yu Ying Kung Temple, Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States. Lian Shen, don't you recognize me?"

When I heard the name Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States, I almost jumped. Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States was my spiritual teacher, a high being of the Formless Realm. How could he be the master of this Yu Ying Kung Temple? I found it incredulous and decided to step into the shabby temple. Inside it was narrow and small and hazy with incense smoke. On the altar was a statue wearing a red robe with an official hat. Two strings of paper spirit money that were used as offerings to souls in the nether world hung around the neck of the statue, indicating that this was a god of the nether world. I joined my palms and asked, "Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States is a high being and the great lord of the Formless Realm. How can he be a god in the nether world?"

"Lian-sheng, haven't you heard that I can move in and out of the ten Dharma realms, hide inside a grain of sand or dust, manifest in myriad kinds of forms, create heavens and hells, and transform into billions of Buddhas in all times? Ordinary humans do not know me, monks shame and insult me, while devas, in the heavens and earths, and ghosts run away from me. But you, do you really not recognize me? I am Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States! Lian Shen, tune into your psychic vision and take a look."

When I focused on my psychic vision, what I saw took my breath away. The vision in front of me was astonishing. The temple was becoming bigger and wider. Soon its tallest part reached up to the clouds, and its lowest part sank into the nether worlds while its width covered four or five mountain ranges. In front of my eyes weird looking ghosts appeared, some with tusks and green faces, some with horns on their heads, some with long tails, some with three heads and four arms, and some with ferocious features. These ghosts had formed into two rows and on top of them sat a monster I had never seen before. This monster had a Buddha-like head with compassionate features. On top of the head were another nine heads, each as majestic as a Bodhisattva's. Below the neck was the glittering body of a gigantic green python. This python had razor sharp claws, and its coiled body sat on top of a golden stool.

"My spiritual teacher is a high being of the Formless Realm. Being formless, how can he be this hideous looking?"

"Lian Shen, take another look," the monster with the Buddha head and python body spoke.

Strangely, at this moment, the temple became infinitely huge. In the sky seventy-two devas and thirty-six Buddhas appeared, each of them bringing fragrant flowers to offer to Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States. In a flash, the golden chair transformed into a golden lotus seat upon which a magnificent Buddha with the thirty-two characteristic marks of Buddhahood majestically sat. The two rows of ghosts had turned into Bodhisattvas and Arhats. All around there were beautiful sparkling palaces built of gold, silver, and crystal. The sound of the expounding of Dharma, and a beautiful fragrance suffused the air. A feeling of infinite reverence arose in my heart. This was in stark contrast to the bewildering and evil scene earlier. Seeing such a vision, I knelt involuntarily. The Buddha spoke,

"The so-called True Man knows that everything is illusory and has no separate existence. Lian Shen, you have to understand the meaning of this statement. I am Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States. No man can fathom the power that enables me to straddle the ten Dharma realms. I can create and do anything without any obstacles. Everything changes according to my mind, and every move and transformation follow my intent."

"Spirit Master, what is the goal of spiritual cultivation?"

"To return to one's Original Nature." He continued,

"Lian-sheng, inside this Yu Ying Kung Temple and under the altar is a divine wooden seal wrapped in a rag. This is no ordinary seal. You can take this magic seal home with you, and it will serve as a protection for your Tz'u Hui Lei Tsang Temple. This is actually the true reason behind your visit today. This seal is the Liuchia Divine Seal produced by thunderbolts. Now that it is yours, you have to cherish it, and it will bring you great benefits."

"Spirit Master, what are the powers of this magic seal?" "This Liuchia Divine Seal is the same seal that was passed down by the Great Tung Hua Emperor [one of the Five Elders in Taoism who embodies the wood element]. It enables a person of high faculties to ascend and ride the clouds, a person of mediocre faculties to generate fear in degas and ghosts, a person of inferior faculties to rule a country with stability. This seal can command the spirits of Liu Chia and Liu Ting, the twelve T'ien Yu goddesses, the five Na Yen goddesses, the Fire General, the Ocean General, and the Wind General. Liansheng, when you are in possession of this seal, be sure that you use it with caution. After you leave, do not come back here any more. This small temple is just a temporary rest for me in order to pass the magic seal to you. Because of the presence of this magic seal at this temple, many devas have come to guard it and thus greatly magnified the spiritual energy here. Your coming into possession of this seal is also due to fate. From now on, this small temple will lose its spiritual power, and after I leave, it will revert to the world of ghosts and spirits. You must understand that this is a design of the Divine Plan."

As soon as Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States finished speaking, the infinitely great temple disappeared, and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas disappeared. What remained was again a shabby temple.

I lowered my head and reached my hand under the altar.

It was very dark in there, and after groping for a while, I found a wooden seal wrapped in a torn piece of cloth. The seal was very old and appeared to have been left under the altar for a long period of time. After I made a bow to Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States, I left the temple to go down the mountain.

When I reached home, I washed away the greenish stains on the seal with water, and I placed it at the altar in front of the Golden Mother. This is the origin of the Liuchia Divine Seal enshrined at my house.

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