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Chapter 7 - A Temple Affair
On January 9th, 1970, it was the Jade Emperor god's birthday. Two plays were being staged in front of the Yu-huang Temple. The priest in charge also arranged a parade in which the Jade Emperor's statue and other Dieties' statues were honoured. It was a big event for the temple. Devotees stood in front of their homes holding incense to show their love for the gods as the parade passed. Throngs followed the procession as statues carried on shoulder carts moved slowly through the streets. When the parade was finished, the statues were returned to the temple and placed on the altar with the Jade Emperor god in the center. On his left was the figure of Lao Tzu, and on his right the god of infinity and the Golden Mother. The temple was crowded with pilgrims and hazy with incense smoke. While everyone was involved in burning incense and worshiping, a woman dressed in rags suddenly appeared, her mouth foaming with saliva. She knelt, scratching the ground with outstretched arms and crying out to the Jade Emperor god, "Justice! Justice! Give me back my life!". She seemed to be insane. The crowd stirred and people gathered around her as she yelled and pleaded for help. "Give me back my life! You murdered me! I want my life back from you. Oh, Jade Emperor, deliver me or return my life to me. How painful!. . .Ha! Ha! I will not let you go so easily!" She was laughing and crying in despair and confusion, alternating between screaming, laughing, clapping her hands, and bowing her head over and over again. Her tangled hair flew loosely around her head, heightening the appearance of one demented. The priest in charge, Shih Hui-ling, stood behind her. He prayed to the Jade Emperor, but the crazy woman continued with no indication of recovering. In fact, she became worse. She smashed a candle and a fruit offering, sweeping it onto the floor with her arm. Some people tried to restrain her, but she scratched and bit at them. No one knew what to do. The temple was very crowded and became more so as people clustered in to watch, yet no one could do anything to ease the situation. Finally, a tall man walked toward her. Some people recognized him and said that everything would be taken care of now because Master Ch'ien of the Nine Heaven Temple had arrived.
He stepped forward, holding a bowl of water in his right hand, while his left hand formed the sword mudra. He filled his mouth with water and sprayed it into the air. "Bright and luminous, the sun rises from the east. This sacred water will wipe out all evils," he intoned. The woman was dazed. She glared at Master Ch'ien and yelled, "This is none of your business!" She reached out to grab him. Master Ch'ien continued to spit mouthsful of water. The woman clawed at him until he was bleeding, but he continued to make the sword mudra, calling out, "Take the command of the Prince General." The woman became frantic and began swinging her arms. People stepped back. Master Ch'ien at last was exhausted and turned to the priest. "I can't handle her. The entity is too powerful." Mother and I had watched it all. I turned to her and said, "I think I can handle it." I had confidence. I took off my coat and stepped over to the woman. I closed my palms together and chanted silently the Diamond Protection chant. The crazy woman dropped her hands. "Who are you?" she growled. "Don't mess around with me." "My name is Lian Shen. I'm a disciple of Master San-shan-chiu-hou. I have come to ask you to stop this revenge. One should dissolve feelings of revenge instead of letting them accumulate. Otherwise, the cycle will continue without end. It's alright for you to ask the Jade Emperor for justice, but you shouldn't interfere with the temple fair." "In my previous life I was murdered by this woman. Now I possess her body and I am asking the Jade Emperor for justice. This is a rare opportunity because the Jade Emperor is here today. I have to get even. You shouldn't meddle. I respect you as a Taoist practitioner so I am not going to fight with you." "Good friend, if I can deliver you, would you then stop this nonsense?" "Can You?" The woman burst out laughing. A buzz of worried chatter surrounded us. I asked Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to be the witness. Silently, I chanted the deliverance chant and circled the crazy woman 33 times to the left, then 33 times to the right. I continually changed my hand Mudras as I circled. It was a method taught to me by Master San-shan-chiu-hou, and it was the first time I had tried using it. I didn't know whether it would work! I was nervous. Remarkably, the crazy woman slowly closed her angry eyes, stopped swinging her arms, and sat quietly. By the time I had finished the chant, the entity had vanished and the woman had regained her normal state of consciousness. "How come I'm here?" she cried. The crowd applauded. People surrounded me. One of the woman's neighbours said, "She has been crazy for nine years! No doctor was able to cure her. This is the first time she has recovered. Thank God! Finally she's cured!" I was grateful to Master San-shan-chiu-hou. His method worked the first time I tried it! I was elated, and so was my mother. However, Master Chien was embarrassed, "Actually this healing was done by the power of the Prince General God," he said. "That guy Lian Shen merely took advantage of the situation. How could just a few mudras expel the entity? It was really the power of my sacred water." I didn't say anything. I was disappointed in human nature. I thought about Master Ch'ing-chen. He was truly an advanced master, yet he chose to live alone. Had he chosen seclusion because he had became so disappointed in human nature?
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