Chapter 16 - Initiation of An Eminent Monk

My student, Lian-kao, was a professor at the National Cheng Chi (Political) University in Taipei. His home was in Kaohsiung and, therefore, during the holidays, he always traveled back and forth between these two cities.

One day, just before his bus pulled away, a monk came on board and happened to sit beside Lian-kao. The monk was of medium build and about sixty years old. His round face displayed an achievement of merits. His eyes were full of spirit. Lian-kao guessed that he was not just an ordinary monk.

Lian-kao folded his palms and paid respect to the monk.

The monk said, "Mmm, good."

Sitting very peacefully, the monk would sometimes rest with his eyes closed, and sometimes he would count the mala and recite the name of Buddha.

Watching the monk, Lian-kao took out a book, A Detailed Exposition of Mahamudra, from his briefcase. He started reading it.

"Oh, you read Sheng-yen Lu's books?" the monk noticed and asked.

"Yes, do you know him?"

"No, but most monks or practitioners know about him and we have even discussed him in our meetings."

"Is there something wrong with Master Sheng-yen Lu?"

"Well ... it's difficult to explain. Anyway, his books are very controversial and somewhat mysterious and, being a lay Buddhist, he accepts monks as his students! The number of people who slander him is great. It is very hard to distinguish whether he is good or evil. According to hearsay, he changed the name of his sect. He lived in Taiwan before and is now in the United States. He talked about supernatural powers and Buddha Dharma. Sometimes he talked about Taoism, sometimes Buddhism. He said he has already attained the Tao. Therefore, many of my Buddhist fellows consider him a devil cloaked in Zen."

"What is a devil cloaked in Zen?"

"According to my Buddhist fellows, Sheng-yen Lu is a very diligent practitioner in Zen meditation. Most probably he was possessed by devils and therefore has evil powers. All his progress and writings are the effects of devils. They think he doesn't understand and that he assumes he has actually achieved realization. Some Buddhist masters denounce him directly, some just feel pity for him."

"Then, why have so many monks and nuns gone to take refuge in him?"

"Well, ... they are also not perfect ones! You read his books, do you know him?"

"Yes, I do. I got acquainted with him when he was giving a speech in the legislative hall. During that time, Master Lu was quite tearful, giving off a sense of child-like innocence. Later, he cured my brother-in-law's mental illness. I studied his books and felt they were not evil or unorthodox, so I took refuge in him too. My refuge name is Lian-kao."

"Oh!"

"Master Sheng-yen Lu's writings are true and geniunely from the heart. He has studied a lot and fully understands and comprehends Taoism, Sutrayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. There is no doubt about that. He is like a talented man of literature, who can write novels, prose and poems, and is good in all of them. What is wrong with that? Besides, if he is the devil, how can he dissect and analyze the states of Buddha and Mara so thoroughly in his books? How can he specialize in treating patients who are possessed? Many practitioners have said he was the devil, yet they only slandered and criticized him; no one was compassionate enough to "save" him. They just tell others to be compassionate. What is the matter with these people? Today, seventy-thousand¹ students have already taken refuge in him. Are these people all blind, recognizing a devil as their teacher?"

"Well....I have only heard about him from others. I have never read his books. Well, when I have a chance, I will read some of them. How many books has he already published?"

"Fifty-seven books²."

"That many! I assume you have already been initiated. What did he teach you?"

"I learned the Pure Land, which is reciting the name of Buddha. When the mind and the Buddha become one, one will be reborn in the Western Paradise and become a Buddha."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with it! There's nothing wrong with it!" The monk kept praising.

During the trip, Lian-kao and the monk happily discussed Buddhist doctrines. When the monk realized Lian-kao was a professor at the National Cheng Chi University, he had even more respect for him. Lian-kao explained to him very clearly the doctrine of the three secrets. The monk reasoned that the doctrine was correct and it was the right Dharma to purify the body, speech and mind.

Lian-kao gave him three books: The Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahamudra, A Detailed Exposition of Mahamudra, and The Teaching of Dzogchen.

After the monk returned to his temple, he read all three books. His heart was deeply moved by the books and he felt a kind of ease and comfort in him that he had never felt before. He wondered how could the Master be a devil cloaked in Zen when his books were so well written, clear and easy to understand? The writings indicated a tranquility achieved when one entered into Samadhi. This monk, who was a Dharma master, wanted to learn "The Teaching of Dzogchen," so he wrote to me describing how he had come to know about me. I told him to visit me at the Redmond temple the next time he came to the States to spread the Dharma. I would wait for him. Then I would empower him and transmit the teaching to him. (This eminent monk had preached in America before.) I promised to transmit the teaching of Dzogchen to him.

The eminent monk was the chief abbot of three temples. One of his students had a tumor. The monk wanted me to heal him, so I used my remote psychic healing method The tumor of the monk's student turned soft, shrunk in size and began disappearing. This amazed everyone in the temple, but the monk did not reveal that it was Master Sheng-yen Lu who healed the student's tumor.

At the time of this writing, the eminent monk has already taken refuge and received remote empowerment.

He holds a notable position in the Buddhist community, and it would be inappropriate for me to disclose his name. In any case, the True Buddha School has gained one more person of great intuition. The Master has come and taken this incarnation because the time is ripe.

The slander which the Master has to endure is taller than a mountain. A student, Lian-mu, who is a nun, cried as she learned of the slanders suffered by the Master. She had a statue of the Fold-Hand Kuan-yin Bodhisattva sculptured and secretly had it sent to the Master, hoping it would alleviate the Master's sufferings. In fact, I have no desire for fame. I have reached, through cultivation, a realm where slanders do not bother me. In the Treatise of the Greater Prajnaparamita Sutra, it says,

"The compassion of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is indeed great. Compassion is the root of Buddha Dharma. When the Bodhisattvas see sentient beings suffering from the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death, the pain of the body, affliction of the mind, the hardship of this life, and of future life, they will save them with great compassion from these sufferings. The Bodhisattvas should have long gone into nirvana, but have refused to do so. Because of this, compassion is the greatest in Buddhism."

The Master knows only compassion. He does not have such feeling as likes or dislikes, love or hatred.

So all the slanders, abuses, and insults make no difference to me. To someone who has already achieved the state of Emptiness, there is no attachment to fame.

Therefore, Master is one who has "no desire for fame," only compassion.

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