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 36 - A Christian's Visit Yen Yun-p'eng, a colleague of my father's, worked for the Taiwan Electric Power Company. Once he and his wife came to visit us and he saw my altar. Mr. Yen himself was never interested in religion. When he graduated from college he went to a foreign country to study. He was an intellectual. His wife, however, was different. She had graduated from a Christian school and was very devoted in her religion. Looking at the altar, Mrs. Yen said, "I don't believe this. I am a Christian." "Have you ever studied Buddhism?" I asked. "If you don't understand it, surely you won't believe it." "I only know that Buddhists worships idols. This is evil. Worshipping idols leads to hell! Worshipping God and the Christ leads to heaven. There is only one God; one Christ." "According to what you say, I will go to hell because I believe in Buddha. Buddha has something to offer," I said. Mrs. Yen was apologetic. "I don't see you as a disciple of the devil, just most other people. There might be something to Buddhism, but I'm not interested in studying it." Mr. Yen smiled and said nothing. He asked me to do a reading for him about his future and his career. I not only told him about his own career, but also about his brothers' careers. His wife was astonished at the accuracy of my reading. "You have a cousin in Tai-nan who is a police officer. Is that right?" I said. "Yes. He used to be strong and healthy and study judo. Now he is weak. We don't know what ailment he has," said Yen. Mrs. Yen smiled slyly. She wondered if I could know which illness her cousin in Tai-nan had. I asked for guidance, then said, "He has tuberculosis." Mr. and Mrs. Yen looked at each other, shocked. They already knew he had tuberculosis. Yen nodded, acknowledging that the T.B. was true. Mrs. Yen couldn't smile any longer. She pointed to one of the statues on my altar. "What Buddha is that?" "It is Medicine Buddha." "What Buddha is that?" she asked, pointing to another. "Amitaba Buddha of Western Paradise." "What Buddha is that?" she continued, pointing to another. "That's Shakyamuni Buddha." She continued asking one by one. Finally Mr. Yen said, "Hey, don't use your finger to point at the Buddhas. It's not polite." Before he had the sentence out, his wife's other hand jerked up to the hand she'd been pointing with. Despite anything she tried, her hands were joined together, palms closed in front of her chest. She bowed from the waist again and again. She couldn't stop. She kept moving faster and faster. "I cannot stop! I cannot stop!" she screamed. Yen was frightened. I stood to one side, using my psychic eye to take a look at what was going on. I saw two deities, one in the air pushing her neck, moving her up and down. Another was moving her hands. I saw another goddess whose eyes projected lights onto Mrs. Yen's eyelids, closing them. Mrs. Yen yelled, "I can't see. I can't open my eyes!" I said, "If you want this to stop just say: 'please forgive disrespect' three times. After you stop, bow five more times." She did it, and the movements stopped. She sighed, "Oh Jesus! It's real!" Since then she never dared to look down on the gods in my house. Although she was Christian she always paid her symbolic respects to the gods by placing her palms together when she was near the altar. |
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