■Book 103 - The Great Spiritual Response Of Tantrayana
■Written by Master Sheng-yen Lu
■Preface
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Let me disclose a short letter first:
Dear Grandmaster,
Om mani padme hum
My mother’s thumb is not painful now, and it can be bent. I am very grateful to you, Grandmaster. Thank you.
Please accept my humble offering of five pounds.
your disciple Lian Hua Wun Hui
29.10.92
This letter reminds me of another strange story:
One day, a middle age lady came for consultation. She was quite sexy, wearing a long skirt and a green blouse. Using all kinds of Jade and gold, she walked elegantly. She was just gorgeous.
When she spoke, she sounded very attractive.
”Grandmaster can you please ask the rest to get out a while, I don’t want others to know.”
I asked Guru Chang Zhi to go out a while.
The lady pulled up her blouse and showed me her right hand.
Her thumb was stiff and remained upright.
She said,”Its so ugly!”
”What’s happening?” I wondered.
” About a year ago, my thumb suddenly could not be bent, although other fingers are normal. I have consulted many chinese and western doctors but to no avail. The medicine and injections are useless. I heard of your reputation, and I want to consult you.”
I went into meditation and said,” Because of killing”.
”Killing”, the lady in green frowned. She said:”I am from a rich family, and my husband is also very rich. I have never entered the kitchen door. I am too rich to hold a knife, how can I kill?”
I believed in what she said.
The lady in green had a very fair and shining complexion. Her fresh was smooth and white. And her face clean and reddish. Her body fragrance can be detected afar. She kept long hair; She must have been a beautiful girl.
I went into meditation again.
”I am sure because of killing.”
”I don’t believe” the lady in green denied.
”I told her,”The thing you have killed is very hairy, with many hands and legs and it is as big as a bowl.”
Thinking for a while, she suddenly said, ”Got it, about a year ago, I was touring Europe and I stayed at a friend’s big house.
When I was looking around in the garden, I saw a big net with a spider in it. The eyes of the spider were deep green, it was frightening. Very curious, I picked up a stone and threw at the net. It was broken. I threw another, the spider fell down with a sad cry. I shouted and ran away. Accidentally, I stepped on the spider and broke it into many pieces.
I said;” It is that spider.”
”By killing only a spider, and I have to face such nemesis, your monk must not tell lies!”
I answered,”That was no ordinary spider. It was the king of spiders. Its eyes were dark green and it had spirit in it.”
The lady in green then asked:”Now that you know it is the spider that caused the problem, how am I going to solve it?”
I answer,”I will purify you.”
With a vajra bell in my left hand and a vajra in my right hand, I used the vajra to untie the invisible net made by the spider on the thumb of the lady in green. When all the nets were removed, I did a soul deliverance ritual for the spider.
In my meditation, I saw the spider jumping and bouncing slowly out of the ritual shrine. Not long later, it went out of the room through the window.
A few days later, the lady in green came to thank me.
Her thumb was able to move and bend.
I wrote a verse to commemorate this incidence:
The spider on top of a tree,
with out a cause, it was killed,
A thumb that made a strange story,
thereafter it was tied still.
●
I am asked why must I use Vajra during a soul deliverance ritual.
My answer is:
The Vajra has eight uses, soul deliverance is just one of them.
1. To eradicate the unwholesome karma-As its sharp, it can eradicate mara and other hindrance.
2. To invoke——Holding a Vajra is like holding a Vajra god. You can summon all the vajra soldiers.
3. To emit power of water and fire——Visualise red and white lights appeared from the powerful vajra.
4. To raise in the air - The unification of cultivator and Vajra will enable the cultivator to raise at will like a sword deity.
5. To destroy - Vajra represents indestructibility. It is widely known as the true wisdom that breaks open the door of the hell.
6. To cultivate diligently- vajra is the true wisdom. It signifies great effort and diligence.
7. To perform miracles -Vajra is hard and firm, which will lead to tranquillity and mystic powers.
8. To perform soul deliverance ritual-Vajra is able to succour the three lower realms of existence. It symbolises the right dharma which is possessed by the Buddha with a great merit.
I am also asked why must I use Vajra bell during a soul deliverance ritual. My answer is:
The vajra bell symbolises wisdom.
It can awake those in the hell realm and ignorant beings. The bell’s brightness will light up all the dark places and inspire others to cultivate diligently, as a result the dharma can be propagated to the six realms of existence. It will lead all to Buddhahood, to be away from the five greed. All the saints are blissful. Vajra bell is the wisdom of all Buddha bliss.
To tell the truth, the soul deliverance ritual performed on the big spider on behalf of the lady in green is very rare. However the strange story of a thumb that was controlled by the invisible nets was nevertheless true.
