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Chapter 31 - The World Of A Crystal Ball About three miles to the southeast of Lake Sammamish, there is a medium-sized shopping mall. It is a very neat and tidy mall and in it is a small arts and crafts store. On the bottom shelf of the store's glass showcase, five crystal balls were on display. The crystal balls, huge, round, and sparkling, were cushioned on a tripod stand drawn by three horses. They were exquisite. I asked the pretty salesgirl to bring one out for me to look at. First she took a piece of clean paper, carefully picked up a crystal ball with it, then cautiously handed it to me. This emerald green and transparent crystal ball was extremely clear and sparkling. Inside the crystal, lustrous and clean bubbles of emerald and azure were arising from its depth. This extremely beautiful crystal ball seemed to be pregnant with mysteries. "What is this crystal ball for?" I asked knowingly. The pretty salesgirl, with a unique smile, said, "This crystal ball can tell one's fate." "To know or not to know one's fate, which is better?" Unexpectedly this American young lady seemed to know about contemplation. She hesitated for a while, then smiled and said meaningfully, "To know or not to know, it's the same." Hearing her answer, I felt that she understood fate, just as I have understood it. Many, many people are very curious about their own fate and, when they have time, they find someone to read their fate for them. In our society there are all kinds of popular methods used for prediction, and many people study these various methods to make a living. Knowing one's fate, one still has to walk on the road of fate. Not knowing one's fate, one still has to walk on the road of fate. Knowing or not knowing really makes no difference. That is why people who read others' fate often will not read their own, and why, when they obviously know something, they cannot say it. Take me for example! I know about many, many events: events in the cosmos, events in the spiritual realms, events in the heavens, events under the ground, events in this human world. I have acquired this ability through studying. This power and ability of mine enable me to understand a person's fate when I meet him.
But, can I tell him? He is going to die of an accident. He is going to be bankrupt and will lose everything. He is going to come down with the most serious kind of terminal illness.
Fate. Ha! What can one do even if one knows about it! Can one tell it? Everything in this world is like a flash in the pan. Though I know about everything, it is the same as not knowing anything. Though I possess all the wisdom, I actually do not possess anything. I seem to have become a newborn infant, knowing nothing and owning nothing. I have not lost my ability and power, it is just that I have become silent. To the other person, I just smile, even though I understand everything about him. Whenever I look at an object, I can tell all that is going to happen to it. But, it is just a flash in the pan. A flash in the pan, too many, many flashes in the pan-I know, but I cannot bring myself to say it. Fate, the law of Causes and Effects in the natural world-I know all about it but I will not say anything about it, so what is the difference between knowing and not knowing? Facing the ones that I cannot tell, I will only smile, laugh, or smile with tears. In my eyes fate is like the flowing water and many people-people who know nothing, people who have nothing-are washed away by it. Many people get washed away without understanding anything. I laugh at myself, also at others, and all the more at this world. Will I buy a crystal ball? A crystal ball does have its own mystery; light from the crystal can merge with and enter into one's consciousness. But, after one buys a crystal ball, it is possible that the crystal will become a substitute, and one will become dependent on it and lose one's wisdom and ability to think. Do I need a crystal ball? Of course not. Because Lake Sammamish is actually my crystal ball. I know Lake Sammamish is a crystal ball lake and every consciousness can be reflected by it. All the fates, from a minute single thought to the most significant prediction, are all in Lake Sammamish. I might buy a crystal ball though, because the shining bubbles rising up inside the crystal are so beautiful and the crystal is such a wonderful realm. I will place it on my desk and, when I have time, I will gaze at it as if I were looking at Lake Sammamish. It is a kind of beauty, not reality. To go and look at a crystal ball. Not because one wants to read one's fate in it. There is no need to read one's fate. But, because of its beauty of perfect roundness, one has a deep fondness for it.
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