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Chapter 18 - Treasure Under The Banyan Tree
Near Kao-hsiung City is a village called the Big Tree. An old man named Chuang lived on a nearby rocky mountain. He came to see me carrying very heavy luggage. His eyes indicated to me that he had Yin-Yang-vision - he could see both our world and the realm of spirits. He came to tell me a story: "No matter how hard I try, people just don't believe in the world of the shadows. They don't know that great numbers of entities are a part of reality. So many shadow-entities swarm around us it seems as if we are in a crowded market. One day before my neighbour died, I actually saw his shadow wandering around outside! I knew that he wouldn't live much longer . . . I came here to show you something. Look at this!" He opened his luggage. I was stunned! His case was filled with silver and gold nuggets! "What are these? Nuggets?" I asked. 'Yes! Nuggets of the Ch'ing Dynasty." "Where did you get them?" "I'll tell you a story about these." He said that on the mountain where he lived were a great many entities. It was so noisy with them that often he couldn't sleep. Yet, Chuang was a gentle person and the entities happily befriended him. Sometimes after they'd been particularly noisy, the ghosts would send a delegation to apologize. One evening Chuang woke up at midnight and saw an entity dressed in the official costume of the Ching Dynasty standing beside his bed. Chuang was startled, but the ghost bowed to him. "Are you a man or a ghost, an entity or a soul?" Chuang asked. "I was the district governor of the Ch'ing Dynasty." "Why do you come to me?" "Everyone in our realm knows that you have Yin-Yang eyes. You are kind and helpful. I need some help from you now. I have no desire to stay in the realm I am in. There is much suffering there, just as there is on earth." "How can I help?" "Please follow me." The entity led Chuang fast and effortlessly, flowing as in a dream. They crossed mountain after mountain, river after river. Finally, they arrived at a mountain where a huge banyan tree was growing. The entity pointed to the thick entangled roots and said, "Beneath the ninth air root from the right you will find a vase full of treasure. " He turned and pointed to the lights of a distant city. "That is Shih-lin." "Yes. Remember the direction of Shih-lin near Taipei and remember to count nine roots from the right," said the entity. Chuang then followed the ghost home to the Big Tree. The entity had been a county governor in the Ching Dynasty. He had buried his treasure under the banyan tree to save it for old age and for his children. However, he'd had a heart attack and died, having told no one about the banyan tree. Even in death he was not peaceful because of that unfinished business. He became earthbound, unable to continue in his cycle towards reincarnation. Since Chuang was such an honest and trustworthy man, the entity asked him to divide the treasure into three parts; one part to be donated anonymously to charity, a second part used to print the sutras, and the third part which Chuang could keep as thanks. The entity said, "The heart is the center of the human being. The more empathy in the heart, the more clear it is. As the heart becomes more clear, spirituality grows. One turns to virtue. Therefore, to change society nothing more is needed than the sutras. Though people these days don't think there are gods and spirits it is important for them to realize that indeed the heart is god. The heart is spirit." "With one thought heaven or hell exists." "The treasure buried under the banyan tree became the stumbling block of my transcendence. Now I have let go of this burden and I am free." When Chuang awoke he sat thinking. "Impossible!" he said to himself. "We couldn't have travelled several hundred miles in such a short time! " He told his children of his experience and everyone thought it was ridiculous. The next evening the entity appeared again at the foot of his bed and did so for several nights. Chuang knew he had to respond. He took his grandson and a shovel and a bag and headed to Taipei. At the train station in Taipei people eyed the shovel and the bag with suspicion. It took Chuang three days to find the banyan tree. He counted the air roots and at the ninth he scraped at the soil. Almost immediately he felt a ceramic Jar. As promised, he found silver and gold nuggets, and many coins.
"I'm going to have a sore back carrying this home," the old man said. "Let's keep it! No one will know!" urged his grandson. "Do you want to become a hungry ghost? If you are greedy you will surely suffer for it."
Chuang closed his luggage case and looked into my face. "The world is like a dream, isn't it? We are like players in a theater. But there are other theaters, other realms. When you write your books you can tell this story that I've shared with you. I'm leaving now. Don't reveal my identity when you write." Once someone asked me if any entities had contacted me about searching for treasure. Yes, they have.
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