The one thing I dislike most about my experiences with spiritual consultation is that, upon meeting with someone, sometimes I suddenly am seized by a feeling of sadness. That is a prompt to me that great disaster and suffering will be happening very soon to that person. Furthermore, it will be the kind of karmic disaster that will be hard to resist. Even when I attempt to stop it, unmitigated regrets still happen because the person involved will often underestimate my warning or become indifferent to my advice.

There was a dharma sister, Ms. Hu, who had emigrated with her husband from Taiwan to the United States. After working very hard for more than ten years, they were able to open two restaurants successively in the San Francisco Bay Area. Business in the restaurants was pretty good, and, after purchasing a house and cars and paying off all debts, they still had some savings left in the bank. Ms. Hu came only occasionally for group cultivations, and usually it was because there was something about which she needed to consult with me. Otherwise, she was busy with the restaurant business and her shopping sprees. One day, she came to see me. "Master, I wouldn't come to the temple if I hadn't something to ask of you."

No sooner had I mentally noted to myself that she had been correct in saying that, she continued, "Can you help me by asking the Bodhisattva whether I should open a third restaurant? When should I open it and which location will be better?"

Just as I was about to tease her that her brain was filled with nothing but money, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the kind of feeling that I disliked most."What is the matter?" I asked the Bodhisattva.

"Her karmic enemy of three lifetimes is coming to collect the debt!" The Bodhisattva informed.

After hearing that, I felt very worried for her and hurriedly told her, "The Bodhisattva said that you have a karmic enemy of three lifetimes coming soon to collect the debt from you. You have to be careful and don't just think about making money. Once the disaster manifests, you will lose what you have and prosperity will turn to decline."

"Master, what is going to happen to me? Am I going to die? Or will I have bankruptcy? What should I do?" She was very anxious. "I am not quite sure what will happen to you. But the fact that the Bodhisattva was willing to alert you means that there is still hope. As long as you are sincere, your mind is proper, and you are going to follow the guidance and homework given by the Bodhisattva, I believe the disaster can be averted and ill luck can be turned into good. Let's first see what the Bodhisattva will say."

The result of the spiritual consultation was that she had to do a lot of homework which included chanting specific numbers of Great Compassion Dharani, High King Sutra, Padmakumara Heart Mantra, Rebirth Mantra, etc.... When she looked at the amount of homework she had to do, she began to complain that it would be too much of a hardship for her. "The restaurants are so busy, how can I have time to do these things?"

"Would you rather have peace or disaster?" I asked her. In order to reinforce her confidence, I added, "There is really not that much homework here, as long as you are able to finish them within the designated time, there will definitely be a mitigation of the magnitude of the disaster. Since the Bodhisattva has initiated on her own to help you, she guarantees that there will be relief if you are willing to do the homework. You must listen to the guidance from the Bodhisattva and don't take this lightly."

Before her departure, I again exhorted her to take the matter seriously. I was afraid that she would not take the warning to heart and, when the disaster did happen, it would be too late when she came to see me again. Although affairs of human life are impermanent, unpredictable, and always surpass our imagination, it is sometimes hard to convince people of this fact. Even when something inconceivable is happening in front of one's eyes, those who refuse to believe will still disbelieve.

A month later, Ms. Hu came back to see me. There was an unhealthy looking patina on her face. "I don't know why, but I have been feeling very bad. I want to ask your advice." She proceeded to tell me the following. Soon after the last consultation, her daughter residing in Hawaii called to tell her that she had just given birth to a baby boy, and she asked her to fly to Hawaii to help out for a month. Ms. Hu immediately and happily flew out to Hawaii. However, just two days after her arrival, she got into an argument with her daughter over the feeding of the baby.

"How did that happen?" I asked.

"My daughter thought that I was uneducated and didn't know how to take hygienic care of the baby. I was treating the baby the same way I had brought her up. Wasn't she a healthy baby herself? I don't see what was wrong with the way I fed the baby. She said it was unclean! It was just too upsetting!" Feeling resentful and somewhat helpless, she said, "Ever since she married an American, my daughter has been changing her standards to those of the Americans. When she was living at home before, we were so close that, for twenty-some years, we never argued even once. It would never have occurred to me that we would be constantly arguing over the baby for the entire month I was there. It got so bad that I had to hide from her when I fed the baby, just like a thief trying to hide from a policeman. My daughter and I were so intimate before that there was nothing we could not discuss with each other, but now it has turned to this. She was even yelling and howling at me. I am so sad."

I tried to console and comfort her. Then suddenly I remembered the warning about the karmic enemy of three lifetimes.

"How are you coming along with the homework given to you last time?" I was thinking to myself that she must have not done her homework.

"Master, I am sorry. The restaurants have been very busy, and I have also been bothered by the relationship with my daughter. I just haven't had time to start doing them yet. I am sorry." My suspicion had turned out to be true. "Master, can you ask the Bodhisattva for me again, how is that thing now? Does that have anything to do with my current bad mood?"

In her behalf, I asked guidance from the Bodhisattva again. The answer I got surprised me. I told her straightforwardly, "The karmic enemy of three lifetimes is your beloved grandson!"

"How can that be!" She could not believe it. She even took out his picture to show me. "Take a look at him. See how cute he is. Look at that smile, so innocent. How can he hurt me? Besides, how can such a tiny baby harm me? Master, you just like to make jokes!"

"This is no joke! Because of karmic reasons, the soul in the body of your grandson has in his hand an edict from the nether world, enabling him to use psychic powers to collect his debts. You must face this problem squarely. The Bodhisattva even says that this debt collecting will cause all of your family members to abandon you!"

After listening to me, she looked at me obsequiously, but declined to comment.

Half a year later, she came to see me again, this time with a frightened look on her face. She proceeded to tell me the series of unfortunate events that had been happening to her over the last several weeks.

Several weeks ago, one morning after getting out of bed, she accidentally bumped her head twice in a row, then she slipped and fell on the floor. It gave her an uneasy feeling and she decided to check the lunar calender to see what kind of day it was. Suddenly, the doorbell started ringing. While still rubbing the hurt from the fall, she walked to open the door. To her surprise, it was her daughter holding her darling grandson outside the door. They had come to pay her an unannounced visit. She immediately took the baby from her daughter and started cradling and kissing him. Her heart was filled with great happiness. Then she went to clean up a bedroom and helped them unpack. She thought to herself, "How wonderful! After all, my daughter still misses me."

Unexpectedly, the next day, they got into an argument over the darling grandson's diaper. One insisted that it should be changed right away, the other said that it could wait. It upset both so much that the daughter wanted to leave with the baby. For some unfathomable reason, Ms. Hu's temper suddenly got fiery and she blurted out to her daughter, "If you walk out of this front door now, you are no longer my daughter, and don't ever come back to see me!" As soon as those words flew out of her mouth, she was taken aback herself. How could she have uttered such words? Even more surprisingly, her daughter was so offended by her words that she left and had refused to talk to her since.

After her daughter had left her, what happened next was even sadder. One evening, not too long afterwards, her husband of more than two decades who had struggled side by side with her in the new country, came to her bedside and asked for a divorce.

"Divorce? What are you talking about?" She was greatly shocked and couldn't believe her ears.

"I have fallen in love with the new girl we have just hired to work in our restaurant," he spoke haltingly.

"Are you crazy? What kind of nonsense is this? She is only in her twenties, the same age as your son!" Ms. Hu interrogated him loudly and thought to herself, "Can he be having an affair?"

Her husband replied, "Ever since she came to work on the first day, I have been drawn involuntarily to her. I can't help it." He waved his hands and said, "I have already signed the divorce papers. They are at Mr. Wang's, our lawyer's, office. You go to see him to sign the papers. I am sorry." Just like that, without any warning, her husband also left her.

What followed next was that, when Ms. Hu's only son found out that his father had left home, instead of consoling his heartbroken mother, he blamed the problem on her. In his opinion, his mother had been too domineering and too strict on her husband over all these years, causing him to become resentful and driving the marriage to this irremediable end. The son blamed his mother completely for bringing the family into its current state. After outbursts of displeasure with her, her bitter son also moved out the house.

Inexplicably, starting from the time her grandson was born, in short period of half a year, all her close family members had deserted her. After telling me these sad events, she asked me weakly, "Is it really true that it was all my fault? Can my grandson really be my karmic enemy of three lifetimes?"

I could not say anything to her, because any words would be too late now. I knew it was hard to escape from karmic accountability, but if she had been willing at first to listen to the guidance from the Bodhisattva and had tried doing the homework given by the Bodhisattva, I believe there would have been a ray of hope. With sincerity and determination, she could have effected a different outcome.

It is sad that the clairvoyant reading of her predicament could not have helped her to escape from the karmic disaster. No matter how accurate the psychic prediction or how great the Bodhisattva's power would be, if the person involved lacks sincerity and desire to put in the work, then once the karmic retribution catches up, I can only be a helpless bystander. I can only pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to shine light on Ms. Hu and bless her. I hope her broken heart will become healed, and all her worries and sadness will be swept away. May her spirit be reawakened so she can soon reclaim peace and happiness.

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