Han Kun, a sixteen year old boy, was visiting Taiwan's Cheng Ching Hu [a lake in Kaohsiung] with some friends. The day was blustery, with strong winds and high waves. Not knowing how dangerous it could be, Han Kun climbed up a railing of a stone bridge and sat precariously on one of the scuplted balusters overlooking the water. Later, in one careless moment while playing teasingly with his friends, he lost balance and fell into the water.

When Han Kun fell into the lake, his friends were too frightened to jump into the water after him. Fortunately, several soldiers were at the lakeside at that time and rushed in to help. By the time Han Kun was brought out of the water, he was already unconscious. After being taken to a hospital, he remained comatose.

Han Kun's next door neighbor was a student of mine, so Han Kun's father made a special visit to me.

I asked him, "What is the doctor's diagnosis?"

"The brain was deprived of oxygen and he is now brain dead!"

"How many days has it been?"

"He has been comatose for three days now," Han Kun's father said, "Master, can you help him?"

I replied, "For now, I can't think of anything. But I will try my best."

"What do you mean?"

"I will do meditation for him."

"Meditation?" Han Kun's father asked anxiously. "My son is in a coma in the hospital, and you are going to sit here and meditate. Can you save him this way?"

"Do you believe that meditation can help people?"

"No, I don't," Han Kun's father said impatiently.

I said, "Although you don't believe meditation can save people, meditation is what I use to help others. Since you have come today to ask me to help your child, saving him thus takes precedence over the issue of your belief. I will still try my best." Then I added with curt finality, "I will ensure that you come back to thank me."

Not caring one way or the other, Han Kun's father left.

Actually this was a matter I did take to my heart, because Han Kun's father was basically a non-religious person. He had come only on account of my student's suggestions. It was a frantic last-minute effort for him to lit an incense and embrace the Buddha's feet.

First I invoked the City God to watch and guard Han Kun's physical body, then I entered into a very deep meditation:

Two black-clad men appeared and acted as my guides and, inside the water, a different world revealed itself to me. Chanting the "Water Evasion Mantra," I saw water swirling around me, yet like erect water walls, they could not get close to me.

Soon I saw, in the midst of the lake, a small temple which gradually grew larger until it turned into a huge palace. It was a Dragon Palace.

I went inside to meet with the master of the palace.

The two black-clad men made the introduction, "This is the Lake Dragon." And they prostrated to the Lake Dragon.

The Dragon King greeted me with a kind and pleasant countenance, "I have heard of Your Holiness's name for a long time! When I found out that you wanted to come here, I immediatey dispatched my two subjects to guide you here."

"You flattered me," I said while cupping one hand curteously in the other in front of my chest.

The Lake Dragon said, "I already know why you are here. Since you are a rare visitor from far away to our temple in the lake, let me serve you."

Without any more words, the Lake Dragon immediately set up a banquet. There were numerous dishes of dainties of every kind. While we were dining, a group of beautiful girls came out to dance. As the string musical instruments started playing, the dancers began to move and gyrate delicately. Their movements were like the gentle rocking of waves and circling of water that brightly lit up an entire crystal world. All of the charming dancers had silky long hair and while they were making the gestures of scattering flowers, they tilted their long hair to one side and raised and waved their long sleeves. Out of their sleeves, five-colored flowers flew out and, carried by the wind, glided all around inside the palace.

The Lake Dragon turned to me, "Your Holiness can have all these sixteen beautiful dancers."

I was shocked by his offer.

The Lake Dragon then continued, "I will also present to Your Holiness the umbrella-shaped precious stones, luminous pearls and goblets amid other rare treasures."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked in surprise.

Adopting a stern countenance, the Lake Dragon explained, "I am really fond of this child Han Kun who had come to the lake several days ago. He is so lovely and intelligent, I have never seen any child so quick and clever in my life. Since I don't have any children, on the second day he was here, I have adopted him as my god-son. I really had no idea that Your Holiness would come. Of course I know why you are here. But, we have only just fashioned a father and son bond, and he is so well-behaved and clever, a rare find in the world. Now that I have him, I really cannot let him go."

The Lake Dragon continued, "Han Kun's fate had it that he would die in water. His human lifespan was predestined to end in drowning. As I know, it would be impossible to revive him. That was why I felt at ease in adopting him. If any other man or god had come to ask for him, I would have fought to keep him here. I had not expected that Your Holiness would come to ask for him. Only Your Holiness could put me in such a difficult position."

"You know of my identity?"

"The City God has informed me."

"What do you think then?"

With great effort the Lake Dragon said grudgingly, "I will trade sixteen dancers and a chest of rare treasures for Han Kun."

"Well...."

Personally I did not find the Lake Dragon's words to be totally nonsensible. After all, Han Kun had exhausted his lifespan in the human world, so it was not improper for the Lake Dragon to keep him there. It was not a violation of karmic laws for the Lake Dragon to retain Han Kun in the lake.

After adopting Han Kun, the Lake Dragon has been taking good care of him. Here in this land of spacious and well-designed halls and pagodas, a delightful serenity of seclusion pervaded. Besides, the limpid light here had a water-like quality to it, anybody who got here and liked it would stay. Albeit an enclave in the water world, it is simple, honest, and not any worse than the human world.

So, if I had let Han Kun stay, it was absolutely not because I had let myself be persuaded by the offer of sixteen beautiful dancers and rare treasures.

Yet, on the other hand, I have been entrusted by Han Kun's father, and I am someone who stresses good faith and has always kept my word. Even if others do not necessarily trust me, I myself regard what is said cannot be unsaid, especially after I have uttered these words, "I will ensure that you come back to thank me."

I could not just leave without making any intervention and let Han Kun die. His father would ridicule me behind my back for falsely claiming that meditation could help. My promise to him that he would come back to thank me would also turn out to be just empty words. I would not be the only one feeling bad, my student would also feel bad about it. I found myself caught in a difficult dilemma.

I asked the Lake Dragon to bring out Han Kun.

Basically Han Kun told me that he did not feel anything disastrous had happened to him. He had no idea if he was dead or alive, as his memory of things in the human world was vague and dream-like. He seemed to have been disconnected from his affairs in the human world, so he did not feel sorry or sad about them.

When Han Kun first came to the palace, he saw a man wearing a crown sitting high up. Upon being told that he was the adopted son, Han Kun knew exactly what to say and how to behave, as he was a clever and quick child to begin with. When the Lake Dragon assigned him to take up a study course, Han Kun demonstrated a quick power of learning and comprehension. Greatly pleased, the Lake Dragon had granted Han Kun many treasure objects.

I asked Han Kun, "Do you want to go back to the human world?"

"I only have a faint memory of the human world."

"Do you miss your parents?"

"I can still recall them, but it is as if they are in a separate world."

"How about your friends and classmates in the human world?"

"They feel unreal and dreamlike to me."

"How do you find this place that you are in now?"

"The human world is too primitive in comparison to this. As there is no worries here, this land is not that far away from the World of Ultimate Bliss!"

After listening to Han Kun, I was greatly surprised. People in the world would have never imagined these words. Humans think that to live is good and to die is bad, and living is happiness and dying is suffering. When a person is born into the world, his or her family will cheer and celebrate with parties and banquets, not knowing that living sins are hard to escape from.

Furthermore, humans think that when a person dies and sheds the outer shell, everything is over. Lying there motionless and icy cold, unable to speak or communicate, the dead seems to have lost all sensations and feelings and is all alone, while his living loved ones weep and wail. Then the dead is buried or cremated while sad prayers are spoken for him. People in the world fear "death" and that on the day they die, they would lose everything.

Yet, Han Kun's words are worthy of our reconsiderations. Han Kun has been drowned, and yet he did not encounter any adverse experiences after his death! So, those people who die a natural death really should not have any fear at all.

In our conversations, Han Kun expressed that he liked where he was and did not want to return to the human world. Such a turn of events had put me in an even more difficult bind. I have thoughtn at first that Han Kun would definitely want to return to the human world. How could he not miss his parents, family, friends, classmates, and relatives?

But I have learned subsequently that Han Kun has a different concept. To him, The human world is a dream, While the after world is real.

After emerging from meditation, I did not disclose what I had learned to other people for a while. I thought to myself, "My superb skill has made me bold and too confident in my speech and thus resulted in making the promise indiscriminately. Although I have the ability to bring him back, I still have to follow the laws governing the various worlds and dimensions. I only had myself to blame for uttering so categorically a statement, "I will ensure that you come back to thank me."

Now, I have started all the trouble.

After seeing Han Kun remaining in coma for more than ten days and that he was not getting any signs from me, Han Kun's father spoke to my student, "It now appears that your master's miraculous powers are a sham, and meditation cannot help people either. Can your master be a swindler who scams after money?"

"My master is a genuine master," my student rebuffed.

"If he is real, show me the proof."

"Proof?"

"Yes, just show it to me."

After a pause, my student could only say, "My master has shown many miracles and solved many problems, only this time it is ...."

Han Kun's father interrupted, "If he has true power, why doesn't he save my son?"

When my student transmitted this message to me, I sighed:

What a fool Lian-sheng is, hoping to use miracles as a tool, to aid in the dissemination of the Sacred Teaching. Now this uncommon case of karma is causing my effort to be wasted. Misjudging the nature of a problem traps oneself in dilemma and failure.
What is the good of having extensive knowledge and scheming? Now it has brought shame and futility. I can only sigh and have myself to blame!

My student asked me, "How come you couldn't help him this time?"

I replied, "There is no problem, don't worry. I understand your concern. Let me try to find another solution."

"Another solution? It has to be quick. Han Kun's father is blaming it on me too."

I said, "Allright, allright."

Actually it was not allright at all. I did not have any other solution.

One night, my spirit flew spontaneously to the Immortal World of Jade Pond located at the invisible pinnacle of Mount Kun-lun. This superb realm is situated above the primordial winds and cannot be visited by ordinary mortals. I arrived at the Garden of Liang Feng where a nine-tiered jade abode stood. The jade abode, each of its nine tiers being luminous, was encircled by a jade pool to its left and an emerald pool to its right. Five celestial maidens, Hua-lin, Mei-lan, Ching-e, Yao-chi, and Yu-pa, were awaiting to receive and bring me inside the Garden of Liang Feng.

This place is so beautiful that no descriptive words will ever do it justice. Basking in auspicious lights and suffusing with fragrances, the celestial maidens here all wear white feathery garments and have clouds lightly supporting their feet. When the phoenix-like Blue Bird, Lesser Bird, and Jade Bird fly and dance in the air, they cause the whole land to be pervaded by fragrant winds. Looking out from the jade abode, all immortals inhabiting the Land of Ten Islets and Three Islands are within one's view, bringing to one's mind the following verses:

High above the lofty mountains a different world exists, At the stately grand mansion immortals meet; Lights from the Purple Platform illuminate the Three Realms of Heavens, revealing flowers, shrubberies, incenses amid five-colored smokes.

In this enchanted land of wonderful sceneries where some are showered by myriad beams of rainbow mists, some have trees of sparkling pearls lighting up the air in purplish hues, others have thousand year old phoenixes feeding on vermillion air, the Cycles of Time do not rule here and the sights and sounds of spring last billions of years.

Since this was not an official meeting, the Golden Mother of Jade Pond did not wear the phoenix hairdress on her head, neither was she emanating myriad beams of rainbow lights from under her feet nor was she manifesting the celestial garment made out of thousand layers of subtle auspicious chi. Still, she was very majestic and dignified. Her hair was fashioned in a high pile knot, and she was wearing a green velvety floral armored dress. Her oval and powdered face was regular and upright.

The Golden Mother of Jade Pond invited me to sit down. then she asked her attendance to bring out a huge platter of fresh fruits and nuts. I took a look and recognized that there were tangerines, oranges, peaches, almonds, dates, chestnuts, persimmons, pear-leaved crabapples, olives, grapes, lychees, water caltrops, dragon-eyes, lotus seeds, plums, muskmelons, star fruits etc.. Some of the fruits I had never even seen before.

I laughed and said, "What is this all about? Are you opening a fresh fruit shop?"

The attendant answered, "The Golden Mother has instructed us that she wanted Your Holiness to have a good time in enjoying these fruits."

"Am I not having a good time?" I asked rhetorically.

"Lian-sheng, do not blame yourself for failing that task. After all, in worldly phenomena, how can there be perfect solutions all the time? You cannot please every party. How can you worry so much?" said the Golden Mother.

After hearing those words, a grief welled up in my heart, "I have made a promise I cannot keep, and there is nothing I can do!"

"You are not the only one who can't do anything about it, the devas can't help it either. Even Shakyamuni Buddha can't help it. If it rains, people hurrying on the streets will complain, and if it does not rain, the umbrella vendors will complain. That is the way it is, so just let things take their natural courses."

"There is too much hardship in this life of mine."

"What hardship, the real hardship hasn't even arrived yet!"

"All right, all right, I guess this is going to suffocate me and I will never stand up again."

"That won't be the case either, I have a solution," consoled the Golden Mother.

My eyes opened wide, "Please teach me, Golden Mother."

The Golden Mother of Jade Pond was all smiles and said, "When you go back, just say that Han Kun will definitely wake up in thirteen days."

"But, what is going to happen to the Lake Dragon's Han Kun?" This was my immediate response.

"He will still be there."

When I heard this, I was both happily surprised and greatly puzzled: that would mean two Han Kuns, but how could that be possible? Can an ordinary mortal exist in division bodies?

The Golden Mother of Jade Pond said, "Lian-sheng, your mind is always thinking and caring for the sentient beings, so do I. You have hardship, but you don't know that my hardship is even greater. When the farmer toils in the field under the high noon, droplets of his sweats fall on the soil beneath the crops. Do people enjoying their food know that great labor have gone into producing them?"

The Golden Mother continued, "At my place here I have this youngster called Nanhua Tung-tsu who is responsible for ringing the bell and striking the drum. One day, while attending a Dharma lecture, he has dozed off. This is a transgression of slighting and disrespecting the Buddhadharma and will result in one being demoted to samsara. I have been thinking which birthplace would be best for him so that his spiritual roots would not be lost. Now, this is good. I will let him walk into the body of Han Kun, this will allow him to keep his memories of his past lives. Isn't this better than entering into a mother's womb? This way you will also become his teacher and you can bring him back to me."

"This is just wonderful. It is a sensible and reliable solution."

Then Golden Mother of Jade Pond called Nanhua Tung-tsu to come forward. This Nanhua Tung-tsu was an impressively handsome lad of elegant bearing: he had an even and smooth crown, a wide forehead, delicate features of rosy lips and white teeth and two large ear-lobes.

His facial expression gave away his feelings. When he heard that he was to go down to the human world, he knew he had no choice. He was just afraid that he might not be able to make it back up again.

Nanhua Tung-tsu turned to me, "Your Holiness Lian-sheng, you must help me."

"I definitely will," I said, "But it also depends on how well you will withstand temptations in the human world."

As:

How can the world of dust shrouded by thick mist
compare with the pure Immortal homeland?
To return to the Lotus Peak and Luminous Clouds,
one must persevere in spiritual cultivation.

When I woke up, this experience of my spirit travelling to the Liang Feng Garden at the Kun-lun pinnacle was still vividly lucid in my mind. Right away I called Han Kun's father, "In thirteen days, Han Kun will certainly wake up."

"Oh, I see!" Without saying anything more, Han Kun's father hung up the telephone. One could not blame him, as Han Kun had already been unconscious for fifty days. His father had already lost confidence, even the physicians had given up and stopped further treatment. No one else really had any hope that Han Kun, who was like a vegetable now, would ever recover.

Next I informed my student, but this time even my student would not believe me. He said, "Grand Master, we do not dare make any more recommedation. I have had enough of the past several weeks, as their sneering and ridiculing are just hard to take. They accused us of running scams for you and also asked if we got kickbacks for making referrals. It made me so furious."

"In thirteen days, Han Kun will definitely recover."

"Grand Master, please do not make any more jokes. This is someone who has been lying in coma for fifty days, can he just recover like that?"

"It is absolutely true this time."

"Who can guarantee it?"

"The Golden Mother of Jade Pond."

My student was yelling this time, "Golden Mother of Jade Pond? Guarantee from the Immortal? Oh Grand Master, if Golden Mother also lies to you, then we will never have any proof."

Although my student reacted so doubtfully, he nevertheless passed my message to the medical staff of the hospital.

"In thirteen days, there will be a miraculous event, and Han Kun will wake up."

"Who said that?"

"Lu Sheng-yen, and he is a psychic."

"This person is very famous. I have read his books, and I heard that he is a lunatic," said one physician.

Another said, "These swindlers, they are all spreading fallacies to deceive people, they should all be arrested."

"If after thirteen days, Han Kun does not wake up, let's go and report him to the officials."

"Lu Sheng-yen, what kind of crap is this?"

Most of the people who heard it disbelieved it.

On the thirteenth day, Han Kun was still lying there. As usual, the nurse had drawn the curtain around the windows, allowing a dim light to come through. There was an air of gloominess in the room.

My student did not get any sleep at all during the night and, as soon as dawn broke, he ran to the hospital. Staring at Han Kun who appeared to be just the same as he had been, his hope started to deflate.

"The thirteenth day, an unlucky number. It is not working this time, who can I blame?" Just as he was stewing over these thoughts, he suddenly heard a coughing sound. It was definitely the sound of someone coughing, but he himself had not coughed. Han Kun's father had not arrived yet, and the doctors and nurses had not come, because none of them was as crazy as he was.

"Ke, ke," another coughing sound.

He took a look and was greatly startled!

Han Kun had awakened. He had opened his eyes and slightly raised his head, and he could move his limbs. He was no longer in the vegetative state.

My student started shouting and the doctors and nurses were alerted. Han Kun's father and his family all rushed to the hospital.

Han Kun himself and his family had indeed come to my house to thank me.

But my reaction was just very casual, and I did not show any particular jubilance over it.

When I asked to see Han Kun aside, he plopped and knelt down on the floor.

"What are you kneeling down for?"

"Grand Master, I beg you," Han Kun was breathing heavily, "You must bring me back home."

"Get up. Just follow the practice method here and you can go back." I handed him a practice text of the "Mystical Crane Sutra" and gave him an empowerment.

"Should I go home with the Han family?"

"Yes, don't worry. As long as you have a strong will and persevere in the path, you will definitely return to your source and origin."

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