In the township of Ch'ing Shui Chen in Taiwan, there lives the Hsu family. Mr. and Mrs. Hsu have five sons. Mrs. Hsu, whose maiden name is Chou, firmly believes in the existence of spirits, gods, and Buddhas.

However, Mr. Hsu, the chief executive officer of a public firm, has a masters degree and studied science in his earlier years; he views his wife's beliefs with contempt. In fact, the issue of her beliefs has become so contentious that the two are constantly arguing.

There is a temple in the town devoted to the worshipping of Wang T'ien Chun and many other deities. Apart from the enshrining of the many statues of the deities, the temple also provides services of spiritual consultation through a psychic medium [ch'i-tung].

The ch'i-tung at the temple is a middle-aged man who, though a psychic medium, has taken refuge in a monk and also practices vegetarianism and the chanting of Buddha's epithet. Rather than the martial-art type of ch'i-tung who howls and shouts tumultuously, this ch'i-tung is quite literary and, when channelling, would transmit messages freely with great charm and ease. His answers to questions posed to him are often sprinkled with clairvoyant insights and a taste of Zen and, since they have proven to be efficacious, many visitors come to seek out his service.

Mrs. Hsu started taking a fancy to the temple of Wang T'ien Chun. At the beginning, she went there just to ask questions; later she became more involved, and she began assisting with the recording of answers transmitted by the deities and spirits.

One day, Mrs. Hsu asked Wang T'ien Chun about her family's luck. "There is a great imminent disaster."

Mrs. Hsu became frightened and asked, "Why?"

"Your husband is the cause."

"My husband does not believe in gods or Buddhas; he only believes in himself. Please forgive him.

"There is the torture of swords and knives coming."

"What does this mean?"

There was no answer from Wang T'ien Chun.

The color drained from Mrs. Hsu's face and, greatly frightened, she begged Wang T'ien Chun to elaborate.

"In an obscure way, this is predestined. Go and look up the person with the tiger head."

When Mrs. Hsu went home, she told her husband of the incident. Mr. Hsu flew into a rage. This was no ordinary rage; he was quite beside himself with anger. Basically, Mr. Hsu did not believe in any spiritualism and, to prove his point, he paid a visit to the Buddhist store in town. After looking all over inside the store, he was able to find a Wang T'ien Chun statue. After paying someone to consecrate the statue for him, he made the purchase and took it home with him.

When Mrs. Hsu saw the statue, she was extremely puzzled. She could not fathom why her husband would bring home a statue of Wang T'ien Chun. It never occurred to her that Mr. Hsu had not brought the statue home for enshrining, but to give vent to his wrath.

While she was still wondering, Mr. Hsu grabbed a sharp knife and summoned the whole family to him. He announced, "This wooden head says our family is facing an imminent disaster. I am going to make him take a dose of his own medicine first."

Mr. Hsu first gouges out both of Wang T'ien Chun's eyes with the sharp knife, then laughingly he sneers at the stupidity of people at large. "Look, this god cannot even help himself, he can't even see anything himself."

By the time his wife realized what he was doing, it was already too late for her to save the figure, and she could not help but weep with grief. Mr. Hsu next ordered his five sons to chop off Wang T'ien Chun's head, hands, feet, waist, and finally the ears and nose. "This is deliriously wonderful!" shouted Mr. Hsu, "This is definitely the happiest moment I have had this entire year."

While the five sons unrestrainedly engage in the mutilation of the statue of Wang T'ien Chun, the eldest one says, "I am going to cut off his peepee." The whole family starts laughing, with the exception of Mrs. Hsu, who has fainted on the floor.

In general, Buddhism and Taoism both teach about the existence of karma, and the behavior of Mr. Hsu is definitely a very serious transgression, vilifying the sacred. Such behavior will provoke the wrath of the gods and bring condemnation and retribution.

But, three years passed peacefully for the Hsu family. There was not even a minor incident or unpleasant happening.

After experiencing that horrific event, Mrs. Hsu did not dare to go to the temples or shrines in town anymore. She became wiser and stayed at home, so as to not provoke her husband into creating further karmic transgressions. "Karma and retribution?" Mr. Hsu taunted Mrs. Hsu, "Not even a shred of evidence that they exist!"

Mrs. Hsu made no reply.

"In this world, there is no such thing as ghosts and spirits. If there were, why didn't they show their face to me, just to enrich my experience?" Mr. Hsu continued, "Take a look around yourself, so many good and honest people have died off, while so many wicked and evil people are enjoying long lifespans. Karma and retribution are just ideas to try to make you feel better." Finally Mr. Hsu said, "Religions are people's opium. Once you start consuming it, you are addicted and cannot kick it."

Mr. Hsu elaborated further with another example: "Tibet is a place where Tantric Buddhism has flourished. In Tantric Buddhism, there are many Dharma Protectors, and the Dalai Lama himself is the manifestation of the Four-armed Avalokitesvara. The Tibetan people are Buddhists from childhood, and they are so devout that they would prostrate in pilgrimage all the way to the Portala Palace in Lhasa.

"Yet, the Dalai Lama had to flee to India, which is tantamount to having the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva fleeing to India. Aren't bodhisattvas supposed to have miraculous powers? This is merely rubbish!

"There used to be six thousand Lama monasteries in Tibet, now only one thousand of them remain. What happened to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Vajras, and Dharma Protectors in those five thousand monasteries? If the dharma protectors cannot even protect themselves, how can they protect you?

"Now the Tibetan district is under the rule of Communist China, so who is the winner? Has the Buddha won or has man won? Who has been the overlord there for the last fifty years? Religion is just some kind of plaything that man indulges in, can't you see that?" Mr. Hsu spoke with boldness and assurance.

Mrs. Hsu could only acquiesce to her husband obsequiously.

There is another story that Mr. Hsu often brought up: "When Dr. Sun Yat-sun, the father of the modern republic of China, was a child, he saw how the poor villagers in his hometown would skimp in their food and clothing just so they could go and attend festivals in temples. The foolish villagers would then pray for protection and bow devoutly to the clay figure of the god Hsuan T'ien Shang Ti.

"Dr. Sun Yat-sun finally decided to do something, and he brought a sword with him to the temple and chopped off the arm of Hsuan T'ien Shang Ti. Our national father is a destroyer of superstitions."

Mr. Hsu then compared himself to Dr. Sun Yat-sun, since he was also someone who believed in the shattering of superstitions. Mrs. Hsu was not knowledgeable enough to debate with her husband. But she also found it strange and could not help wondering sometimes if karma and retribution do exist.

Mrs. Hsu was caught in a dilemma. On one hand, she wished for karma and retribution, so that her husband would change his viewpoint and also start to believe in and practice Buddhism. On the other hand, she did not wish for karma and retribution because she could not accept her husband and children having to receive misfortune as a result of retributions. She daily chanted the "Article of Universal Gateway" from the Lotus Sutra to dedicate the merits to her husband and children. Mr. Hsu received a promotion and was transferred to a higher position in the Tai-chung district. Every one of her sons was healthy and good-looking and excelled in school. There was happiness and harmony in the family.

Mrs. Hsu had read many of my books. She had come across my books by accident in a bookstore and she read them secretly, on the side. She still remembered the words from the channelling session, "Go and look up the person with the tiger head." [The Chinese character for "Lu" shares the same beginning strokes with the character for "tiger."]

At that time I was living in Tai-chung. Mrs. Hsu came to see me, and, as soon as we met, she wrote down on the questionnaire, "Family luck?" Without answering her question, I just told her that standing behind her was a statue of Wang T'ien Chun.

She was greatly shocked. "Wang T'ien Chun? What is he saying?"

"He is wondering when will the entanglement of feelings of gratitude and resentment ever get sorted out."

"Yes, yes, that is so true," Mrs. Hsu muttered to herself.

I continued, "The body of this Wang T'ian Chun has been torn to pieces, with broken head, arms, and legs."

"Oh!" Her face turned ashen. At this point, Mrs. Hsu decided to tell me the story of Wang T'ien Chun and her family, from beginning to end without skipping any details. "Why wasn't there any imminent disaster happening to my family? Why wasn't there any karmic retribution? Not even a sign of it. Instead, my family has prospered: we bought a new house, my husband has had a smooth career and been promoted, my five sons are doing well in school, and they are good looking boys with upright, moral characters, and we seldom get sick." Mrs. Hsu was puzzled.

After communicating with Wang T'ien Chun, I related to her the following reply: After Mr. Hsu and his children chopped Wang T'ien Chun into pieces, Wang T'ien Chun, a Dharma Protector of extremely high rank in Taoism, had made a formal trip to the Heavenly Court to obtain a legal edict to put the Hsu family to death. In other words, the Hsu family was predestined to have an imminent catastrophe.

After obtaining the celestial legal edict, Wang T'ien Chun went directly to the Hsu household. When he arrived there, it happened that Mrs. Hsu was in the middle of chanting loudly the "Article of Universal Gateway" from the Lotus Sutra, so Wang T'ien Chun stood outside the door to wait for her to finish. However, when Mrs. Hsu finished chanting, a swirl of auspicious light emerged from inside the house and, like a rainbow, it enveloped the entire house. It was the light of auspiciousness, and no misfortune can strike a house being enveloped by the light of auspiciousness. Wang T'ien Chun waited patiently at the Hsu household for days which stretched into months, yet the auspicious light enveloping the house never receded. Wang T'ien Chun then decided to follow Mr. Hsu, and he discovered that, apart from being a non-believer in gods and Buddhas, Mr. Hsu was a person of upright character. If fact, he was such a stickler to goodness that he would be a role model for Mr. Moral.

Wang T'ien Chun then started following the five children and found that they were all very innocent and did not harbor any wicked thoughts. Next Wang T'ien Chun started following Mrs. Hsu around. Wang T'ien Chun did not believe that Mrs. Hsu would not engage in any wrongful deeds. After all, women have a tendency to gossip and are anxious to get things on the cheap, like stuffing a few more pieces of vegetables into the bag without paying for them.

But, after following the family members around for two whole years, Wang T'ien Chun was not able to find any shortcomings in their conduct. Mrs. Hsu was an extremely devout believer in the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Every day she would light incense, change offerings, and chant the "Article of Universal Gateway." She never missed a day, and Kuan Yin Bodhisattva has often shone light to bless every member in the Hsu family as well as their residence.

Wang T'ien Chun had originally wanted to wipe out the Hsu family but, unexpectedly, he was not able to find any transgressions in their behavior. Instead, his intimidating presence around the family members kept many wicked ghosts at bay. The way it stood, Wang T'ien Chun had actually become a protection deity for the Hsu family!

Eventually Wang T'ien Chun returned the edict to the celestial court and made his report to the Taoist Heavenly Lord. The Heavenly Lord decided to bestow the Hsu family with blessings.

I told Mrs. Hsu, "This is the workings of karma."

Later, Mrs. Hsu asked me the same question Mr. Hsu had posed to her, "As the Tibetans are Buddhists, why did they encounter such disasters?"

This was my reply: What has been happening in Tibet is a result of collective karma. From reading their history and the details of the history of their religion, I have found that they had gone through much turbulence and upheaval. For example, there have been wars between Tibet and China, Mongolia, and England. And the internal struggles between the various tribes inside Tibet itself have never ceased. Different factions within the religious schools of Nyingmapa, Gelugpa, Kagyupa, and Sakyapa and the indigenous Bon religion have jostled against each other. Although the Tibetans believe in Buddhism externally, their internal strife for power and wealth has resulted in the collective karmic retribution.

Furthermore, although the Dalai Lama, from the first to the fourteenth, is a manifestation of the Four-armed Avalokitesvara, human errors have also been created and have resulted in karmic hindrances. For example, the Sixth Dalai Lama renounced his vows and precepts to return to the life of a householder. The Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Dalai Lamas all lived very short lives. It is evident that they had karmic hindrances."

Mrs. Hsu asked, "How about the incident of Dr. Sun Yat-sun chopping off the arm of Hsuen T'ien Shang Ti?"

I replied, "Among the childhood stories of Dr. Sun Yat-sun, there are two that we often read about. One is how Dr. Sun Yat-sun was able to thwart off the pirates by berating them, and the second is how he had chopped off the arm of the god Hsuen T'ien Shang Ti. They are really similar versions of the childhood story of President Washington cutting down the cherry tree. Let us not debate if the cutting off of Hsuen T'ien Shang Ti's arm is historically accurate. Let us suppose it did take place. Dr. Sun Yat-sun had run into great difficulties in organizing the revolution and had a tough life running around without enjoying much peace and happiness. Although he succeeded in overthrowing the Manchurian Government to establish the Republic of China, it was not without hitches and he finally broke down from constant overwork --- are these not evidence of karmic hindrances?"

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