Occasionally I take walks to Lake Sammamish.

There, at the edge of the water, I often see water ducks and blooming lotuses. I love walking along the floating pier. I can look to the bottom of the lake and view all those fishes swimming right above the fine sands.

When True Buddha School students come to pay homage at the Rey Tseng Temple (the Ling Shen Ching Tze), many of them also make time to visit Lake Sammamish.

One time, while looking at the fine sands at the bottom of the lake and at the carefree fishes swimming there, I started counting: one, two.... With tails swishing, the fishes were nibbling on the water grasses, causing them to undulate from side to side.

Suddenly, a moving shadow under the water caught my eye. At first, there was just the appearance of hair and beard; then, after a short while, a face with eyes, ears, nose, and mouth emerged. The person's eyes looked deadly shut. The sight startled me greatly.

It was not a floating corpse. Except for the visible facial features, the face was actually transparent, and I could still see two or three fishes swimming underneath it. Submerged under water, this transparent face was leisurely gliding along.

At the same time as the face appeared, I also heard the sound of jazz music playing and smelled the fragrance of orchids.

I noted it mentally although I could not understand it. If someone else had seen such a face in the water, he would have undoubtedly started screaming or yelling. But I did not, I was used to such things. I stood up. I was sure it was not my reflection in the water, as I did not have any hair or beard.

Quietly I started walking back towards the direction of the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple. It was at that moment when I became aware of something moving next to me, right at the level of my cheek. I could hear the stepping sounds on grass and sand.

He spoke to me, "You are a god, and I am also a god."

"I am not a god," I replied.

"But you have the signs of a god."

Without answering him, I asked him instead, "Why did you show your face in the water?"

"Because I felt that you are Master Lu from the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple."

"What do you want from me?"

"I just want to ask you for a glass of wine."

I responded with a nod.

If someone happened to be in the vicinity while I was conversing with "the man in the lake," they would only have witnessed me talking and nodding to myself and nothing else.

"Are you a lake ghost?" I asked him.

"Master Lu of the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, you indeed live up to your reputation. You saw right away that I am a ghost and not a lake god."

I laughed and said, "Among the divine lights of the devas in this world, those of the water devas are the most beautiful and colorful. Water devas also have their own attendants, and when they do appear, people who are able to, see rainbow colors on the lake. They do not wear beards like the one you have. Besides, I have met the lake god of Sammamish, and his name is Shariff. Who are you and what is your name?"

"My name is David. I got drunk, fell into the lake and drowned."

"Ha! So you are a drunken ghost?"

"Do not laugh at me, Master Lu."

With a stern countenance, I asked him, "What is it like for you in the lake?"

He replied, "This world is just too unfair! I heard that Shariff had also fallen into the lake after getting drunk. But, after meeting the Dragon King who greatly admired his talents, Shariff became the lake god. I also got drunk and drowned, but no one has paid any attention to me, and now I am a lake ghost. What a big difference there is between his and my luck!"

"The circumstances are different," I explained, "Shariff gave up drinking and started cultivation, but you have not!"

"You can't blame me, Master Lu. As soon as I start drinking, I feel like I am in heaven."

Well, I had no reply to that.

After this encounter, I often took with me a small bottle of wine on my walks to the lake. At the edge of the lake, I would sprinkle the wine onto the sandy beach.

"Have some wine, David," I would call out.

The drunken ghost would then appear.

The lakeside wine sprinkling occurred every few days. They were solitary trips, marked by the greeting, "David, here I am. Have some wine."

These frequent short trips to the lake became a cause of concern for some people. They found it weird that I was often nowhere to be found in the temple compound.

Speculations abound. "The Grand Master often disappears for no reason at all." "Grand Master Lu is hiding some secret." "But the Grand Master is an adept in Tantric cultivation ..." "Does Grand Master Lu have a secret date?"

To my students, I only smiled and said, "I just love to see the lake!"

Once I described the lake: the lake, so beautiful, shimmering with a turquoise glow; the lake, so beautiful, like an honorable sage; the lake, so beautiful and innocent and mysterious, like a child.

Once I wrote a poem in praise of Lake Sammamish:

Here I join my palms,
Drift no more, dear spirit;
All is forgotten,
Including all Sorrows;
Evening at Lake Sammamish,
Showered with Holy Light, like Buddha;
A hymn naturally sacred and pure,
That can be seen without eyes.

One time, David and I were enjoying the cool under a pine tree. David asked me, "Have you become naturalized yet?"

"Yes, I am an American citizen now. How about you?"

"Ha ha! I am a citizen of the drowned," answered David.

"What is that?"

"Master Lu, you are a living Buddha and know the Buddhist view of the six realms of transmigration, but I suppose you do not know of the citizens of the drowned! All those who die of drowning belong to the domain of the citizens of the drowned. As far as I know, those who perished in fires are called citizens of the incinerated."

"Oh, I see." I was taken aback and asked again, "How many citizens of the drowned are there in Lake Sammamish?"

"One hundred twenty-five."

"Who is in charge of them?"

"The lake god."

"How can you get out of this domain?"

"To get out, I have to wait for my chance. It is the same as that of a company that needs fifty employees to do the work, and only allows one to leave if another worker is found. If no one comes in, no one leaves."

"Finding a replacement."

"That's right, finding a replacement."

I thought of the ancient Chinese legend of drowned ghosts looking for replacements. In a story I heard when I was small, a man was fetching water from a river and suddenly a hand rose out of the water, grabbed him and tried to drag him into the river. Fortunately, an old woman was walking by. When she saw what was happening, she started screaming, "Water ghost, water ghost!" It scared the water ghost away. That particular river was said to be frequently haunted by water ghosts, and many people had died in it. I loved swimming when I was a child, but fear had kept me from swimming there. Indeed, one drowning accident involved a group of children swimming there. They all became citizens of the drowned.

So, it is not just Chinese water ghosts that look for replacements; Western water ghosts do too.

"Are you going to make me your replacement?" I spoke half in jest.

"Ha ha! How can that be possible! You are a living Buddha. Your whole body is immersed in light and you have troops of Dharma Protectors around you. Without your permission, I would not have been able to come near you."

"How about that first time when you showed yourself?"

"I was in the water, my natural domain. It was your eyes that barged into my world."

Suddenly David stood up. "Master Lu, I should go now. My fellow citizens of the drowned are looking for me!"

In that instant, I saw a troop of men in plumage, riding horses, as they surfaced to stand on the river. David walked towards the surface of the water and disappeared.

One day, David said to me, "Master Lu, I am leaving Lake Sammamish. I am finally going to be released from the citizens of the drowned."

"This is good, a very good news."

Yet, after second thought, I asked him, "Have you found a replacement?"

"Yes, a junior high school student by the name of Reno is coming to play in the water. It will be tomorrow afternoon, and he will have the urge to go swimming. The spot that he will choose has an abundant grove of water grass which will entwine around his feet."

"Where will you be at that time?"

"I will be right by his side. My hands will be there amid the tangled water weeds, holding tightly onto his feet."

I became nervous, "What is going to happen to him?"

David broke into laughter, "Need you ask? His mouth will be open and he will try to break loose. His two eyes will look like those of a dead fish, while his whole body will convulse uncontrollably. Then everything will quiet down. He will be in a swooning state of consciousness and, when he comes back into awareness, he will find himself no longer in the human world, that everything has changed for him."

"What about his parents?"

"They will feel great grief. His school will hold a memorial service for him and many of his classmates will be crying. They will talk about his life..."

I became silent.

"Master Lu, what is the matter with you?"

I replied, "As Buddhists, there are things we do and do not do. One, we refrain from activities that benefit only ourselves and not others. Two, we engage in deeds that benefit both ourselves and other people. Three, we refrain from activities that benefit neither ourselves nor others. Four, we engage in deeds that benefit others, though not ourselves."

"What does all this mean?"

"Shakyamuni Buddha taught us that we should act as sunlight to thaw and liberate beings who are trapped by ice and snow. This is teaching us to give up our lives to help others. There are stories of the Buddha giving up his body to feed the tigers and slicing his flesh to feed the eagles. Buddhism teaches one to develop a compassion that is as vast as the sky, like wonderful clouds, roaring thunder, and quenching rains. Buddhism teaches one to engage in works of liberation."

David turned to me, "My holding onto his feet so he would not be able to breathe, is that an evil deed? Is it an evil thought?"

"How can pulling someone's feet and preventing that person from breathing be a good deed or a good thought?"

"Well ..." David could not say anything. Then he continued, "In this world, people are only concerned about their own rights and own preservation. Men, even countries, harbor animosities and intolerance for each other and enact all kinds of wickedness upon each other. There are rampages of violence in societies and everyone does whatever he or she likes, as if possessed. I don't have that much wisdom power in me. I am just acting in accordance with what fate has dealt my way. How can this be a wicked thought?"

I explained, "I feel that Buddhism is full of auspiciousness and wonders. Your encountering me indicates an affinity between us. But now, you are falling again into the valley of negative karmas. Gaining such a rebirth can be very dangerous as your action will bring you karmic retribution."

"Do you wish me to stay forever among the citizens of the drowned?"

"No."

"But then, how am I going to get out of here?"

"Well, ... I will try to think of something."

David walked pensively towards the lake and gradually disappeared from sight.

For several days, I did not visit Lake Sammamish.

About three months later, I went back to the lakeside. The surface of the lake had not changed. Its large stretch of mist-covered water quietly hugged the mountains, as if rinsing away the dust that had become stuck to the body and mind. Several ducks were still quacking away merrily, forever free from honor and shame of emotional afflictions.

A small dingy on the lake further magnified the largeness of the lake. To lie on the dingy bobbing up and down would be like experiencing the deva realm up in the clouds. A few anglers were still around, sitting and waiting quietly and patiently for a hoped for fish.

In the lake, luxuriant red and white lotuses were blooming, and reeds were swaying to the rhythm of winds. The blue sky above was expansive and clear, yet the tiniest ring of ripplet in this water could set the whole sky into motion.

Occasionally, wild geese were flying above and, once in a while, some would descend upon the lakeside. I was not just enjoying the sight of the fast moving clouds; the elegant forms of wild geese gliding down also delighted me. I was not just casually looking at everything. With the mind entering into stillness, one found all waves quiet; with the body in peace, one could hardly feel any breeze.

Here is a verse:

Anchoring the boat in emerald water
That is shrouded in mist
And filled with countless strategic thoughts,
I have a special love for
The white lotuses at the lake's edge;
They bloom and die
Unconventionally.

While I was looking, the sky started to drizzle. Then there was a slight burst of wind, and the lake became even hazier. Suddenly, colorful bright lights appeared in the mist above the lake, revealing four lovely female attendants whose beauty was ethereal and beyond this world.

In the center of this colorful brilliance, the lake god appeared. He had a handsome and distinguished-looking face. His hair and beard were short and stylish, and he wore elegant attire, with long sleeves that fluttered in the wind.

As he came close to me, his eyes looked familiar.

"David?" I asked in surprise.

"It is me, Master Lu."

"What has happened? You are still here?"

"Yes."

"And who are you now?"

"I am the lake god now. I am a god just as you are."

David, the lake god, said to me, "That day, Reno did come to the lake to swim, and I was right there waiting for him. When his feet got entangled by the water grass, I reached out my hands."

"Oh, you grabbed his feet," I found my voice raising.

"No, I untied the water grass that was wrapped around his feet."

I gasped.

David the lake god continued, "Letting my replacement go also meant that I did not get to be reborn. All the water ghosts of the citizens of the drowned had known of my impending rebirth and, when I missed the chance, they all felt sorry for me. I didn't feel bad myself, I was actually happy for doing something right. Master Lu, you are right, one should not do anything that benefits oneself but hurts others."

"And ever since then, a light has appeared inside my heart," said David the lake god.

"A light?"

"A light of virtues. After that incident, I went on to save three more people's lives. Their car plunged into the lake, and I opened the car door for them."

"Oh!" A boundless praise and admiration welled up in me.

After the original lake god moved up to a higher position, his post fell naturally onto my shoulders. I am now the chief administrator of this lake, and I have the power to call upon rains and ride upon winds and to render help to other beings."

"Wow, you are indeed a god now!"

"Master Lu, I am indebted to you for your teaching," David was very happy.

"Do you still drink?"

"Not any more," David said, "I am now the lake god, a good god. I take pride in being brave, upright, and moral. I want to take refuge in you and practice the Buddhadharma."

After taking refuge in the Guru and the Triple Gems and a commitment to uphold the five precepts, David the lake god formally started his practice of the True Buddha Tantric Dharma.

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