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Chapter 4 - The Invisible Teacher
It was two days after my visit to the great void. I was asleep when suddenly I heard someone calling my name. From experience I knew that something unusual was about to happen. I sat up in bed and looked around the room, but I couldn't see anyone. Outside the window the moon was so bright I could read my watch by it. It was one a.m. I got out of bed, put a jacket over my shoulders and turned on a light. It blinded me momentarily. I heard a voice say, "Sheng-Yen, stand still, don't move. I've come to teach you. Close your palms now and I will teach you the sequence of the footsteps. Remember the footsteps carefully." Although I saw no one, I wasn't afraid. I closed my eyes and placed the palms of my hands together. An unknown force lifted my foot. Even if I tried putting my foot down I couldn't. Then my feet began walking in a peculiar pattern. If anyone had happened to peek into my window they would have thought I was crazy. An unknown power moved my feet. I practiced the pattern over and over in order to remember it. "What is this movement called and what is it good for?" I asked. "It is the Star Worship Step. It can be used while worshipping your ancestors and while communicating with the gods. It can be combined with mudras and chanting. Don't underestimate the power of this step. This method has not been taught for thousands of years. Do not use it unless necessary." "Then what method should I use in ordinary circumstances?" "Sheng-Yen, all you have to do is say, 'The Disciple of Tao, Lian Shen, who follows the original and ultimate dharma, requests such and such gods to come to me.' That's enough. In the future, at the right time, I will guide you to your teacher who lives in Lien-t'ou Mountain. You have an affinity with him. He knows many sacred methods that you will learn." "It all sounds like a fairy tale, very hard to believe." "For the time being don't concern yourself about it. I came to teach you today and you experience the teaching. This is a fairy tale itself in your world." May I ask you your name?" "I come from nowhere and I go to nowhere. Originally, I had no name. Why don't you just call me your Spirit Master?" I can never see my Spirit Master, but he is always with me and he often wakes me at midnight to teach me. I treat him as my teacher and he treats me as a brother. I can tell him everything that's deep in my heart. I can feel his presence and talk with him. When he teaches me mudras, my hands automatically move into various formations. I have learned the Kuan Yin mudra, the Five Thunder mudra, the Amithaba mudra, the Sword mudra, the Lotus mudra, and many others. He also taught me Buddha's method of making offerings to spirits. Once I asked him, "Master, what is the purpose of life?" "It is very precious to have a physical body. Take this opportunity. Use the body to cultivate the soul." "How should one cultivate? How can one attain Tao?" "There are many paths. The one chosen depends on the person's character, personality and inherent qualities. The methods are designed to meet the individual needs of the practitioner. For example, the methods taught by the Jade Emperor embody the first principle of Tao - the Formless. Since it is without form, without specific structure, it is very difficult for most people to follow. The methods taught by the Upper Pure Ones involve eighteen paths. Each path has seven levels. The methods taught by the Great Pure Ones have twenty paths. Each path has nine levels. Li Liang-feng reached Tao through divination. Yen Chun Ping reached the Fairy Paradise through astrology. Huang Ch'eng Shih reached enlightenment through service. Chang Tao Ling reached enlightenment through delivering souls. Although the methods are different, the Tao is the same. You ultimately realize Tao as long as you walk on the path that is right for you." "Master, what paths have you been through to reach Tao?" "People call me Mr. San-shan-chiu-hou (Three-Peaks-Nine-States). I realized Tao through the study and practice of the dharma, the Upper Path." My Spirit Master teaches me intermittently. I learn a great deal from him. During each visit he teaches me one mudra and one chant. I have changed from a Christian who could recite parts of the Old and New Testament to a Taoist practitioner! "Master," I asked him once, "What do you think of Jesus Christ?" "Jesus Christ is the savior of the world; the same as Buddha. The methods are different; the principle is the same. There are many saviors, not just one. There are many paths." "Then there is no conflict?" I asked. Then Master continued: "In Christianity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three in one. In Taoism, the Upper Pure, Jade Pure and Great Pure are one. In Buddhism the dharma body, the transformation body and the spiritual body are the trinity. The same truth holds for all of the thousands of paths to enlightenment".
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