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Chapter 7 - My First Spiritual Healing
On the ninth day of the first lunar month in the fifty ninth year of the Republic of China (1970), the Jade Emperor Temple in Taichung celebrated the birthday of the Jade Emperor. Besides staging two plays, the abbot of the Temple, Rev. Shih Hui Ling, also initiated a religious procession in which statues of the Jade Emperor, as well as statues from all temples in the city, were carried in a parade. It was a spectacular event. Throughout the procession, loud and exciting firecrackers were ignited to welcome the gods who sat majestically in shoulder carts that were carried by devotees. People stood in front of their homes holding incense to greet the arrival of the gods, while many devotees also joined in and followed the procession. When the parade was finished, the statue of the Jade Emperor was returned to its position on the central altar of the temple. Enshrined on the left side of the temple was the figure of Lao Tzu, and on the right side was the Primordial Golden Mother of the Jade Pond. Inside the temple, throngs of worshippers lighted incense to be offered to the gods, and the entire temple was heavy with smoke. Suddenly, a woman who was sloppily dressed and who had white spit foaming at her mouth dashed out from the crowd, knelt down in front of the Jade Emperor, and started crying. With both of her outstretched arms scratching on the ground, she begged the Jade Emperor for justice and to have her life returned to her. Her behavior was that of an insane person. The sudden appearance of this crazy woman caused a commotion in the temple, and people started to gather around to look at her. The woman yelled out fiercely, "Give me back my life! Please help me, Jade Emperor, give me back my life! Ha ha! You have murdered me, and I must take revenge. Gods, please deliver me! Give me back my life-otherwise, my rancor won't go away! Ha ha! How painful! I won't forgive you, I won't let you go so easily!" The crazy woman cried for a moment, then laughed for a moment. Alternately she clapped her hands and kowtowed in a frenzy to the statues of the gods. With her unkempt hair loose and flying, she shrieked and wailed. Standing beside the woman, the abbot Rev. Shih Hui Ling was at a loss. He had already prayed to the Jade Emperor for help, but the demented woman was still sitting on the ground, acting wildly, with no sign of recovery. In fact, she was getting worse. She swiped at the offering table, sending all the candles, incense, and fruit crashing to the floor. Someone from the crowd tried unsuccessfully to restrain her and got scratched for his trouble. Everybody was at a loss. The temple became even more crowded as people from the outside tried to squeeze inside to look at the spectacle. Yet no one knew what to do. At this time, a big, tall man emerged from the crowd. Someone recognized him and cried, "Everything should be fine now, the Dharma master from the Nine Heavens Temple is here." It turned out that this man was called Ch'ien, and he was the trance medium for the deity Prince General at the Nine Heavens Temple. He walked briskly up to the woman holding bowl of water in his right hand while forming a sword mudra (a magical hand gesture) with his left. After taking a mouthful of water from the bowl, he spewed it out and intoned, "Bright and luminous, the sun rises from the east. This true samadhi water will wipe out all evils." The crazy woman quieted down for a brief moment, then glowered at Master Ch'ien and yelled, "How dare you interfere with my business!" She reached out to grasp at him. Master Ch'ien went on to spit out several more mouthfuls of water but all to no avail. Instead the woman was so strong that her deep clawing at Master Ch'ien had produced several gashes, and he was bleeding. The master continued to gesticulate with the sword mudra, chanting at the same time, "The Prince General commands you to obey, the Prince General commands you to obey." The crazy woman just became more frantic and started brandishing with both her arms. The crowd rapidly stepped back. Master Ch'ien's efforts were becoming futile, and he was panting from exhaustion. Turning to the abbot he shook his head, "This woman is possessed by a demon who is too strong for me. I can't handle it." It happened that my mother and I were at the temple at this time and I turned to my mother, "Let me handle it. This can be taken care of easily." I was twenty-six years old then. When Mother heard me, she turned pale with fear and tried to stop me, "You mustn't go. Don't do anything." Yet I was confident that I could handle it. After taking off my suit jacket, I stepped over to the crazed woman. I joined my palms in front of her and silently recited the Vajra Indestructible Protection Mantra. "Who are you? How dare you mess with my business?" the crazy woman dropped her arms and asked calmly. "My name is Lian-shen, and I am a disciple of Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States. I have come especially to ask you to stop this revenge. One should dissolve one's enmity instead of perpetuating it. Otherwise, this vicious cycle will never end. You can ask the Jade Emperor for justice, but how can you cause such a disruption here at the temple?" "In my previous life, I was murdered by this woman. I have taken possession of her body now and am asking the Jade Emperor to avenge me. It is a rare occasion that the Jade Emperor goes on procession, and I must seize this chance to get even. You better not meddle in my affairs. I do respect you as a Taoist cultivator and will not fight with you." "My friend, think of it this way. If I can deliver your soul, then will you be willing to bring this wild and interminable duel to an end?" "Can you?" The crazy woman burst out laughing boisterously. Everybody in the crowd was breathless with anxiety. Thus, I invoked the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to be my witness, and I proceeded to chant silently the Primordial Ultimate Prajna Deliverance Mantra. I first walked clockwise thirty-three times around the crazy woman, then thirty-three times counter-clockwise. I formed the different deliverance Mudras with my hands as I was encircling her. This was the first trial of the method Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States had taught me, and I was not sure if it would be efficacious. Of course, I was nervous. My palms were perspiring, and my heart was beating fast. A remarkable thing happened, the crazy woman slowly closed her glaring eyes, stopped brandishing her arms, and became completely silent. When I finished the mantra, she woke up to her own self, for the entity attached to her body had gone away completely. When she regained her own consciousness, she cried, "Why am I here?" All around people applauded thunderously. At the same time many people surrounded me and asked me how I was able to perform such a feat. According to one neighbor of this woman, who lived in the vicinity of the Town God's Temple, she had been crazy for the past nine years, and no doctor could cure her. That day was the first time she had become lucid in all those years. She was finally cured! At that time my heart was filled with gratitude for Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States. If there had been no spiritual master to teach me, I would not have been able to learn the Primordial Ultimate Prajna Deliverance Method. It was my first trial, and it had worked! I was elated with joy, and my mother was very happy for me. There was, however, one regrettable note to this affair. Master Ch'ien felt that he had somewhat lost face, so he turned to the abbot and said, "This battle was actually won by the transcendental power of the Prince General. That man just came at the end and took advantage of it! How could a few casual hand gestures drive the attached spirit away? Hum! It was actually the sacred power of my Samadhi Water that did it." Of course, I did not enter into meaningless disputes over merits with him. However, this generated inside my soul a deep abhorrence for the kind of undeserved reputation that can bring men to contemptible actions. A disciple of Master Ch'ien even approached to challenge me, "What do you know, boy? What else can You do? Let's have a fight." How sad it was that the hearts of men could be this foul! My disappointment with mankind grew. I thought of my master, Taoist Master Ch'ing Chen, and understood why he had chosen to live a cloistered life up in the mountains, why he preferred to enjoy his solitary Enlightenment and not use his great knowledge to help save the world.
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