The Flying Carpet of the East By Living Buddha Sheng-yen
Lu This was translated from Grandmaster Lu's 31st book, 東方的飛氈. CHAPTER 29 - Medicine From Grandmother When I was young, due to malnutrition, I was rather skinny. I always got sick. My mother told me that grandmother really loved me, and to help maintain the proper shape of my head when I was a tiny baby, grandmother always turned me this way and that way as I slept. A war was going on then and we were moving a lot. Food was scarce; I was lucky to grow up healthy. I was born in Chia-yi County. Later, my father was transferred to P'ing-tung by the electric power company, and the family moved there. By then, my grandfather and grandmother had died. After we moved to P'ing-tung, I was still chronically ill. Mother feared I was dying, and had consulted many doctors. Some said I had pneumonia; others said inflammed intestines, and still others that it was a heavy cold. My mother was at wit's end. Late one night my father and I were both asleep while my mother lay half asleep with worry. Suddenly a wind blew into the house, and my grandparents appeared in front of my bed. The two souls looked around and my grandmother said, "Look how these people sleep!" My mother, half awake, told them about my disease. Grandmother bent down to examine me, then reached into her pocket in search of something. She took out a bag of medicine and put something into my mouth, then she and grandfather silently disappeared. My mother told me she saw this very clearly. She wanted to get up but could not move. Amazingly, my health returned and I recovered completely. After I grew up, I went with my mother to look for grandmother's tomb. We finally found it on a mountain slope. The tombstone was tilted forward. We decided to dig up the bones and lay them to rest in a pagoda. After that, my uncle's wife bore two sons, then many daughters. I suppose this is the influence of the Feng-shui, that when one's ancestor is buried in a propitious spot, the family will prosper. After my psychic opening we held a ritual ceremony for the souls of all our ancestors, chanting and making offerings. Both my sets of grandparents appeared, and many other relatives too. We talked with them a long time. They stayed with us for several days before they vanished again. |
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