Chapter 20 - Night Walks By The Lake

When night lowers its curtains, the mountains and the lake water turn black. It is like the color seen by sinking to the deepest bottom of the lake.

I am at the lakeside by the woods, yet it seems as if I am in the middle of deep water.

"Night as cool as water" best describes Lake Sammamish. During summer, every hot day turns into night that is as cool as water or, perhaps, as cold as ice. At night, the lakeside is very quiet and inactive, just like it is in the deep water.

Sometimes, at the lakeside at night, nothing enters my heart: no distraction, no think-ing, no goal. It is like someone who falls into the water and, without moving his arms, without any hard struggles, just lets himself sink ... sink ... sink ...

Sometimes, at the lakeside at night, there is a kind of consciousness attached to the water, like ripples enlarging, circle by circle, and surging, wave after wave, in front of me.

Compassionate thoughts flow from my heart. At the lakeside at night, this conscious-ness is like "water spirits," souls in the water. I noticed them during my first night walks. Ever since then, I have decided to help these water spirits. I decided to achieve this goal and they, on their first sight of me, also knew that I could help them.

Souls in the water! They have endured many happenings of the world.

Some have committed suicide in the lake.

Some have drowned by accident.

This lake is connected to the ocean. Out in the ocean, more stories are circulating. The ocean is even more mysterious, a mystery of the mysteries.

The water spirits know this ordinary looking Oriental has a wonderful power. It is not sorcery, nor is it magic. But this power has, indeed, caused many of their companions to receive a wonderful light, a wonderful experience, a wonderful calmness, and has, further-more, led them to a territory of brightness and tranquility. What kind of knowledge is this? They could not understand.

Many, many water spirits look forward to my "night walks by the lake". They speak to me, "Master who is so kind to us, just as you have predicted, the Mudra you form, the Mantra you recite, the delicious food you transform, have indeed given us the most help. We, the water spirits of Lake Sammamish, are the luckiest water spirits in the world. Master's thoughts are, indeed, enchanting."

Actually, the Mudra I form is the Great Ocean Secret Mudra, the fingers of both hands crossing each other horizontally while only the tips of the thumbs are touching. It is similar to the Meditation Mudra, except with only the four fingers of each hand crossing.

The mantra I recite is very simple:

"Om, son loo son loo, bo la son loo, bo la son loo, soo loo soo loo ye, so ha."

This is the Sweet Dew Mantra, which can relieve the suffering of hungry ghosts and those sentient beings who are thirsty and starving.

In my mind, wave after wave of water spirits surge before me. The sound of my mantra is the purest Dharma food sprinkling from space. With both my hands I transform many, many endless riddles that are delicious and full of Dharma taste. One is transformed into many to satisfy tens, hundreds, or even thousands of water spirits. Not one water spirit is missed and not one needs to beg in silence.

These water spirits, mistaken and feared by the worldly people to be demons, are not demons but a kind of consciousness who have lost their physical bodies. They attach themselves to the water, and do not have freedom. They need a goal to follow. They hope to be guided by my Light.

The water spirits understand very well, as do I, that these mantras are manifested from the Consciousness of the Cosmos, and are delicious offerings of the highest kind. The sounds spoken by me are another form of the Cosmic Consciousness. The water spirits also know very well that the mudra which I perform is a secret of the water realm of the whole universe. Their master's mudra is the Great Ocean, not just Lake Sammamish, and it is the great salvation, the secret great salvation in the water realm.

Am I dumb?

Am I a fool?

Why does this master from the Orient not pursue fame and profit, real estate and wealth? Why must he take night walks at the lakeside? Why does he not acquire beautiful clothes and roll in wealth, being idolized? Why must he meditate?

I do not know anything except the need to have a mind of compassion. I do not lack anything. I only know how to stand and breathe deeply. Because of this, though I am not asking for anything, though I am not asking for any nice, material things, they-spirits in the water-will spontaneously bring forth endless treasures.

In my mind, I offer them the priceless, delicious Dharma food. The thing that I am proudest of is my compassion; it is my one, unique treasure.

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