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Chapter 12 - The Hong-An Temple
My good friend Mr. Hu lived in Tsou Twin near Tai-Chung. Once while visiting him, I passed by the Hong-An Temple and peeked inside. Three statues stood on the altar, one with a red face, one a blue face, and the third a black face. A banner read, "Lords of the Three Halls." I asked Mr. Hu, "Who are the three gods in the Hong-An Temple?" "I was told they are Lord Tsang, Lord Lee and Lord Moh," he said. "I've heard that their presence can be felt strongly." "I've become more and more interested in visiting temples and worshipping the gods," I said. "Even when I'm just walking by, somehow I feel as if I've missed something if I don't go in." "Sheng-Yen, I've heard people talk about you. Everyone said you are psychic. Do gods really exist? Does every temple have a god or Buddha present there?" "Not necessarily. I visited one temple in the vicinity of Tai-Chung where they worshipped Sakyamuni Buddha, Manjusri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra, the guardian Veda, and the temple guardian. I saw the statues of the Bodhisattvas. They seemed very dignified and I felt joy in my heart. I immediately knelt; then, unexpectedly, a land god with a long white beard came out from beneath the altar and said, 'Don't kneel and bow. Stop! Stop! Don't don't!' I was surprised!" "What happened next?" "The land god sighed and said, 'I am the land god in charge of this territory and this temple was taken over by "such-n-such" master 40 years ago. This priest is very wicked and all his disciples live in a less than honorable fashion. The temple precepts have been disobeyed and the vows of the monastic life are not upheld. The energy of Buddha has not been present in this temple for 40 years. The guardians of this temple were going to punish the priest and his disciples, but the priest still has merit left from previous good karma. The retribution will come 50 years from now. The temple's spirit guardians have left. The staues are empty. Only lower entities exist here. The monks and nuns still carry on the daily rituals everyday. They don't know that for the last 40 years the Buddha has not been present here.' The land god shook his head and disappeared." "You saw and heard all this?" my friend asked. "Absolutely! I walked around that temple. It was well built, yet I couldn't pick up any energy. I felt sorry for the monks and nuns who lived there!" "That really happened? That's amazing! Some time we'll go back to the temple and you can check to see if any gods exist there." My friend and I visited the temple a few days later. The man in charge was a good friend of his. My friend told him about me and he smiled in disbelief and said, "Oh, is that so?" I used a divine reading method to converse with deities there. Next I turned to the man in charge and said, "Sir, there are six mediums who live here. However, the mediums quarrel with people over money, and one of them doesn't follow the temple regulations." The man in charge was shocked. At the time there were three mediums in the temple. When they heard what I said they were very concerned. One of them said, "What you just said is absolutely true. Do the gods have any instruction for us? What can we do to make this temple prosperous? " "The gods would like harmony in this temple. If there is harmony, the temple will become prosperous. Do not worship the gods only because you know they exist. It is a great blessing to have a human body. It is important for us to realize this and cultivate ourselves spiritually. This life is meant for more than eating, sleeping, and satisfying our external desires. Worship the gods and cultivate in order to see your original face!" I taught the mediums a method of sending away unwanted spirits and they were grateful. When I took the bus back to Tai-Chung I felt an entity follow me. When I got on the bus he got on. When I got off he got off. He followed me to my apartment and came in. I lit incense, put it in the incense holder and then there appeared a red faced god. He was one of the three Gods from the temple. He acknowledged me with hand gestures, smiled and said, "I am from the Hall of Tsang. I am aware that you communicate with the spiritual world, so I followed you to ask from whom you studied." "Honourable deity, you don't know?" I asked. "No." "That's just what I expected. You are a disciple of a great master. Lian Shen, would you stay in my temple?" "Forgive me, but I already have a shrine in my home. I enjoy worshipping privately. I don't want to become a medium. That is a worthy practice, but I want to cultivate myself in order to reach the highest realization. Then I can be of help in the teachings of Buddha. To realize one's own nature is to exist forever." The entity considered what I said, then replied: "What you say is true. Mediums, although able to help ordinary people, are sometimes confused themselves. If in the future you need help from me, just hold an incense stick in the direction of my temple and say the temple's name. I will surely come to help you." "Thank you, honorable deity." The god slowly disappeared.
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