Treasure Boat Dharma1
By Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu
Translated2 by Tannie Liu
(Editorial remark: At 8.00 p.m. on June 13, 1992, Living Buddha Lian-shen
came to the San Francisco Bay Area, and performed the Consecration Ceremony
for the Purple Lotus Society Headquarters. The Ceremony was short and solemnly
performed. After the Ceremony, Master Samantha took the lead in recounting
the karma that led to Living Buddha Lian shen’s current visit to spread the
Dharma in the San Francisco Bay Area. She then invited the Holy One for a
Dharma Talk. This article is a transcription of the Talk that evening. After
the Dharma Talk, the Holy One gave the Bodhisattva3 Vow Ordination to about
fifty disciples. He also performed the Treasure Boat Dharma Empowerment to
approximately four hundred people.)
Master Samantha’s Opening Remarks
Good evening Grand Master, Master Lian-hsiang, fellow masters, and all the
Dharma friends. [applause]
Once again, the Purple Lotus Society is very honored to have invited Living
Buddha Lian-shen to San Francisco to perform a very special Ceremony for
decreasing disasters, obtaining good fortune, curing diseases and delivering
the departed for the people in San Francisco Bay Area. The theme of the Ceremony
is empowering this area in order to relieve disasters and cure sicknesses.
Through the use of the huge, highly developed psychic power of Grand Master,
it will also help to relieve and decrease such natural disasters as have
plagued California in recent years. On August 7th, 1988, the Purple Lotus
Society organized the first Dharma Ceremony of Living Buddha Lian-shen. The
year following the Ceremony San Francisco suffered the second most severe
earthquake in its history for the last eighty years (October 17, 1989). Everyone
who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area must still remember the incident.
The great earthquake happened at 5.00 p.m.. Ordinarily this is rush hour
time, when traffic is very heavy with people commuting from work and class.
When the news emerged about the earthquake and the severe damage to the highway
system, everyone assumed the major disaster would have a high mortality rate.
Miraculously, the date and time of this earthquake coincided with baseball’s
World Series. The two teams competing were San Francisco and Oakland, both
from the Bay Area. Therefore, many thousands of people had gone home early
to watch the World Series on television and many thousands more were actually
in Candlestick Park, the sports arena in San Francisco where the World Series
was being played. This amazing “coincidence” saved innumerable lives that
day, as highway traffic was remarkably light.
Although I was in Taiwan at that time, I deeply understood that it was the
San Francisco Dharma Ceremony of Grand Master in 1988 that brought this relief
from major disaster. Therefore, the negative group karmic retribution to
the people in this area had been reduced to a minimum.
So this time, the Dharma brothers and sisters of the Purple Lotus Society
sincerely invited our Grand Master to come again to San Francisco to once
more relieve disasters and obtain good fortune for the people in this area.
Let us extend our highest respect and gratitude to the Grand Master. [applause]
We now invite Grand Master for a Dharma Talk. Thank you. [applause]
Grand Master Lu’s Dharma Talk.
Good evening masters and fellow cultivators.
I have been in San Francisco for two days now. I feel very happy seeing all
the students who have come from different parts of the world. A great many
have come from far away countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Singapore,
and Taiwan. Seeing them, I think: How come we are all meeting at this place?
[audience laughter]
This is Coincidence
Just now Master Samantha has given a talk. I feel very uneasy. [laughter]
I feel I have suddenly become magnificent. Actually, the true responsibility
of learning the Dharma is to liberate sentient beings. We cannot say how
many sentient beings we are going to liberate or whether we can stop earthquakes
or typhoons. Recently, I returned to Taiwan for a thirty day visit. When
I arrived there, the Democratic Progressive Party had been holding a vigil
near the railway station. But they dispersed two days after I arrived. [laughterand applause]
This is coincidence! [laughter]
I, of course, had done some visualization. Why? It is because, if they had
maintained the vigil, it was going to affect our Dharma Ceremony. [laughter]
In Taipei, there are a lot of students and they have to take a lot of tourist
buses in order to come to the Dharma Ceremony at the Rey Tseng Temple at
Tsaotun. Therefore, if the Democratic Progressive Party vigil was still being
held in front of the railway station, blocking the traffic, it would affect
the number of attendants. I hoped they could have a peaceful settlement and
would disperse before the Dharma Ceremony. I had done such a visualization.
But then their dispersion might not have been caused by my power; they might
have originally planned to disperse. [laughter]
On the other hand, I can hardly guarantee that, wherever I go for a Dharma
Ceremony, there will follow a decrease in disasters. Like last time, not
long after I had finished my Dharma Ceremony in Los Angeles4,
there was a riot there. [audience laughter] I was in Taiwan at the time of
the riot. When I saw the news on television, I exclaimed, “O My Luck! What
happened! Even if you had to have a riot, couldn’t you have waited a little
longer? Right? [audience laughter] I just left! Isn’t this causing me to
lose face [credibility]?” Then I started to think. When I was in Los Angeles
I had not performed any major Dharma Ceremony. The three local True Buddha
chapters there had not joined efforts to organize a major Dharma Ceremony.
I only went to the Rey Tseng Buddhist Association to perform a small fire
ceremony. The fire pot was very small and the aim of the ceremony was only
for the protection of the Rey Tseng Buddhist Association. [audience laughter]
Moreover, the performance of the Dragon King Treasure Vase Dharma at
Mui Yin Tong was also not under my guidance. It was Master Lian Jen who performed
it, right? I was only having a nap at the back! [laughter] A little nap and
the seventh Dragon King Dharma practice was over! This was also for the protection
of Mui Yin Tong. My going to the Ming Chi Tang was to perform the Great Mandala
Offering and the Incense Praise. That is not a Dharma Ceremony! It was, at
best, a group cultivation. Doing the Mandala Offering is to protect the Ming
Chi Tang. When I arrived at Ming Chi Tang, all the flowers were blooming;
when I left, they all perished. [great audience laughter] I cannot guarantee
that every flower blooms. When I arrived in Los Angeles, most of the flowers
were not blooming, except at the Ming Chi Tang, so the riot in Los Angeles
had nothing to do with me! [great laughter]
[One student from Los Angeles replied, “None of the Chinese in Los Angeles
got hurt.” audience applause] No! It is because of your influential power
only, not mine! [great audience laughter and applause]
The Goal of Learning the Dharma
When we are performing a Dharma Ceremony at a certain place, we always
do our best to benefit the area. Every Tantric practitioner does that. The
merit does not go to us, but to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Of course,
it is due to our regular practice that we can invoke the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
to descend and shine on us. If Buddhas and Bodhisattvas bless us with their
light, then we generally become more peaceful. Major events will start to
reduce to smaller matters and small matters will reduce to nothingness. However,
this is really not the goal in learning the Dharma. A true Buddha practitioner
should have a correct understanding of life and death and liberate himself
from it. After one has done this, one then must transmit the truth to other
people so that they, too, can be liberated.
As in performing psychic healing for others, the purpose is to release others
from their worries. It is a skill-in-means. It is not the major focus of
learning the Dharma. There are always sicknesses, worries and other suffering
for sentient beings. The saints suffer too. Like Jesus Christ, He suffered
a great deal and even died on a cross. Buddha Shakyamuni died of food poisoning.
Why food poisoning? How can vegetables be poisonous? It is because He accepted
an offering from an iron-smith. There were no freezers or cold storage in
India then, and the food had already gone bad. It was offered to the Buddha.
The Buddha was unable even to reach home and passed into Nirvana under a
sal tree. The Buddha suffered too!
Buddha Shakyamuni also suffered from migraine headache and pain in His backbone.
Sometimes this was so painful He could hardly sleep at night. Some people
would think that, since He had already achieved Enlightenment, He must be
different from others. Actually, this is wrong. As far as I know, He suffered
a great deal from sicknesses too. Therefore, there are always sicknesses
and suffering. The most important thing is to realize the truth. When the
truth is realized, we understand that sicknesses and worries are empty in
nature. This, then, is the true Tao.
Therefore, when we are learning the Dharma, we cannot say, “O! As long
as I am sitting here, there will be no earthquakes in San Francisco.” This
is impossible. I cannot guarantee that no disasters will be happening while
I am sitting here. We can only pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to shine
on us, to relieve sentient beings of their sufferings and disasters. Of course
we pray that disasters will be minimized to nothingness!
I am very happy today, because you are all very supportive. I am going to
talk leisurely [laughter], so you can listen in leisure. I guess you want
me to talk about the Treasure Boat Dharma and to give the Treasure Boat empowerment
afterwards, right? In Taiwan, there is a student who wished sincerely that
I teach the Treasure Boat Dharma, but he did not make Treasure Boats for
a living. [laughter] Incidentally, there is a student who is making Treasure
Boats for a living. It is his predestination to be prosperous. It is a coincidence.
The Main Points in the Treasure Boat Dharma
[Master Samantha said, “We would like Grand Master to teach us how to quickly
get in the Dharma Boat.”]
This is too big a topic. [laughter]
In Taiwan I talked about the Treasure Boat Dharma. Of course it looks as
if we are after wealth. Just now, Master Samantha spoke of a Dharma boat.
How to get in the Dharma boat, and how to [let sentient beings] enjoy prosperity
are two Dharmas. Both are equally important to us.
When I was teaching this method in Taiwan I mentioned a specific time to
install the boat. A Man (full, wholesome) day must be chosen (according to
the Chinese Almanac). Man means full. If your boat is empty, it cannot carry
much wealth. It must be full because we all like to return with a full load.
Correct? We all go to work in the morning and come back at night; therefore
the boat can only return with a full load at night. So we have to choose
a time in the evening and the time is eight o’clock. It has a time constraint.
Why is it we always try to have the number eight (pronounced as Fa in Cantonese)
on our license plates? It is because the Cantonese used to say Fa Fa Fa (meaning
prosperity, prosperity, prosperity). So eight o’clock symbolizes prosperity
and, together with Man day, means the Treasure Boat will come in full of
wealth.
The boat must face inward and not outward. Facing outward means an empty
boat; facing inward signifies a boat returning with a full load. We also
must choose the wealth spot in which to install the boat because the wealth
spot symbolizes wealth. As the boat is returning with a full load, it must
be placed there.
How does one choose a wealth spot? For example, when the chi (energy) flows
through the door and enters a living room, the first spot [usually a corner]
that stops the chi is called the noxious spot. Here the chi is too vibrant
and has bad influence, so the wealth spot cannot be placed here. The next
stop for the chi, the medium spot, is the place where the chi flows at a
slower pace. The third spot is where the chi moves very slowly. Similar to
water current, the first flow is very quick then (after hitting a corner)
it goes more slowly and, finally, (after hitting a second corner) the flow
becomes very slow, like an old man walking slowly out the door. The wealth
spot must be in the medium spot. Because the chi moves fast (at the first
corner), medium (at the second corner) and slowly (at the third corner) and
then leaves the room, the wealth spot is, therefore, at the second (diagonal)
corner from the door. The front of the Treasure Boat always faces inward,
turning its back against the door, symbolizing a return trip and not sailing
out the front door.
If one has the right date, place and time and can harmonize them symbolically,
then one can change one’s fate. Thus, one’s own effort, plus the coordination
of space and time, can change one’s fate. These are the main points for the
Treasure Boat Dharma.
Predestined Fate
Whenever people come to ask questions (mostly concerning psychic healing
or fortune telling), I study each person. I do this because it tells me how
much a person can earn, whether someone will be prosperous, or whether one
is with strong or weak chi. One’s Fate is predestined. Some people strive
for prosperity but to no avail. Some people seem to succeed because of their
own diligent efforts, like a kite helped by the wind they soar higher and
higher. Others go up and down, up and down, and fall.
My studying them is to observe their chi. I conclude in a glance whether
they have power or strong energy, how much they can gain, and whether they
have more opportunities. Someone came to Seattle and asked, “How much will
I be able to make?” I inquired, “How much will you be satisfied with?” “About
three million,” he replied. I have to check one’s satisfactory point because
everyone is different.
Everyone has his/her own view regarding money. One man felt very upset when
he came to Seattle and told me that his friend had run away with his twenty
thousand U.S. dollar loan. Others can lose five million U.S. dollars and
remain unaffected, because “a piece from a chopped eel is still bigger than
an earthworm.” [Taiwanese colloquialism]. In the minds of ordinary people,
losing ten or twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money. In the minds of
the super rich, five million can be insignificant, right? The super rich,
even at their poorest, still spend much more than ordinary people.
According to my understanding, how much wealth we can have in a lifetime
is predestined. No matter how hard we try to change this, it is fruitless.
Some would say: What if I try very hard? [audience laughter] Wealth does
not always come in accordance with one’s efforts. If your boss does not like
you and will not increase your salary, there is nothing you can do. [audiencelaughter]
Some do not need much effort and they only have to please their
boss, right? [audience laughter] Some can be promoted with much prosperity
by just pleasing their boss.
In ancient times, girls were said to have the fate of a vegetable seed. That
is, the seeds would only prosper if they were planted in fertile soil. Some
girls marry rich men and become rich ladies living in comfort. Other pretty
girls, who do not have very good karma5, have rocky marriages
and many tragedies happen to them. There is an old saying: A man’s worst
fear is to have the wrong career and a woman’s worst fear is to marry the
wrong husband.
Those who possess intuitive insight can perceive the workings of fate. I
can tell from your countenance: what will happen to you in this lifetime,
how much money you can make, what is in your future, how high you can go,
and what your prime and lowest years are for acquiring wealth. I can do a
yearly calculation for you and map out your entire life. According to this
theory, everything is predestined. Actually our whole life is predestined
when we are born.
Like my drinking this tea tonight — oh! this is not tea! After observing
it, I realize this is not tea, but bird’s nest soup. [audience laughter andapplause]
It is predestined that I have to take this soup tonight. [audiencelaughter]
Let me tell everybody a secret, I dislike bird’s nest soup. [audiencelaughter]
Recently I only like ice milk and water, but it is predestined
that I have to drink bird’s nest soup tonight. [audience laughter] I cannot
escape it!
In the Dharma it says: everything one eats and drinks is predestined. You
will certainly say: How can it be predestined when I earn it diligently?
No doubt you have put forth an effort, but it was predestined that during
this period you were going to strive very hard. [laughter] Predestination
provides you with the intention to strive during a certain period of time.
What if the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cause you to be lazy during this time
or you have some sickness or a slow growing disease, rendering you only half
alive. How could you strive then?
Life’s Magnetic Field
When you are striving, it is because your magnetism is attracted by that
of the moon. Therefore you strive! You understand? When you are born, the
cosmic energy that you have brought from the sun and moon, and the energy
that you have absorbed from the earth, creates your magnetism. If the position
of the moon harmonizes with that of your magnetic field and attracts your
magnetism, it will increase your blood pressure. Then you strive. [audiencelaughter] It’s the way it is!
The cosmic flux of the moon also affects your emotions, especially during
the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month. It affects your brain waves
and causes you to feel high or low, in turn affecting your life. Whenever
the sun, moon and earth move, your Fate is affected. This is the logic behind
predestination.
In geomancy6, there are two orientations within the luopan7
which harmonize with your magnetic field. If you constantly follow these
orientations you will move faster. If you orient towards a direction that
produces sha or bad influence, you will not prosper. It is very simple. It
is feng shui.
When feng shui causes you to strive with greater intent, your success is
greater. So the placement of the Grand Master’s desk at the True Buddha School
Tantric Headquarters was not without effort. [audience laughter and applause]
To be able to write one hundred books, there must be a cause! When one places
one’s desk in accordance with the two orientations that harmonize with one’s
magnetic field, one receives great inspiration. One continues in this direction
and keeps on writing diligently, and a hundred books are accomplished! There
is a cause behind being good at writing and striving so hard that one’s nose
is almost bleeding. There is a reason one is able to work so steadfastly
with such great success. Those who have intuitive insight will know that
one should move in the direction of auspicious orientation and away from
bad influence.
Stay with Sentient Beings and Liberate Them According to Individual
Karma
People inquire, “Grand Master no longer has disasters then?” No, it is not
like that; I have a lot of disasters. People say, “If it is good fortune,
it is not bad fortune; if it is bad fortune, one can hardly avoid it.” As
I do face reading, if there is a bad person, why don’t I know? I do know.
One can hardly avoid bad fortune. I had said that I would not let go of any
sentient being. Of course I know when a bad person approaches me. I know
what will happen to them in the future. Knowing all this I can devise a way
of trying to avoid them. What happens if I cannot avoid them? I get stuck.
[laughter] Actually, I am trying to avoid them, but they are hanging on to
me! I move much slower than they and get knocked down by them. I do try very
hard to avoid them!
Not letting go of any sentient being governs a lot of things that we do.
Grand Master had said: I won’t turn anyone away. If you come we will accept
you; if you go, we will not stop you. If you want to get married, then we
will let you. Everything is Karma. We go through life with no attachments.
Life is like that! If you want to come, we cannot ask you to leave but, if
you want to go, we cannot ask you to stay. Whatever you want to do, you are
free to do. Eventually I will not attach to anything. [applause] There are
always disasters happening to me and to the True Buddha School. Like the
Grand Master (me) is a very clever person [laughter] — one should not say
it this way! [audience laughter] When I do unconventional deeds — how come
I admit to doing unconventional deeds? [audience laughter] — I intentionally
only do half of them. I won’t commit a complete improper action — I leave
it half way, giving people something about which to think. And I will not
do anything that is against the law. I am walking a dangerous line, with
one foot in quicksand and the other on solid ground. There is much enjoyment
in living this way. [audience laughter]
One must suffer to be a saint. The most important things are to acquire wisdom,
transcend life and death, and to liberate sentient beings by working with
them. Working with them does not mean complying with everything they do,
such as jumping over a cliff with them. It is to comply with those who have
the karma to understand their Master, so that one can preach the truth and
enlighten them. For those who can understand, they can follow me; for those
who cannot, there is nothing I can do. It is all karma!
I seem to have changed the topic from the Treasure Boat Dharma! [laughter]
The key to that practice is to harmonize time and space. If you can subtly
harmonize time and space and act in accordance to geomantic principle, you
will prosper. When you install the boat, the magnetic field of the boat will
harmonize with that of the house and interact with your own Fate. The Fate
of the inhabitants will gradually change to prosperity. This is the Treasure
Boat Dharma.
Tonight we are having the Bodhisattva vow ordination and the Treasure Boat
empowerment. Do you have any questions?
Q. What is a Man day?
A. Man day is recorded in the Tong Shu (Chinese Almanac). In the Tong Shu
it has various dates under such names as Man (full), Chen (succeed), Ting
(steady) and Chian (construction), etc. These days recur in twelve day cycles.
The Cantonese are very clever, they do not call it Tong Shu, which sounds
like losing everything (in Cantonese dialect). They call it Tong Shing, which
sounds like winning everything. [laughter]
Q. Is there a special procedure in practicing the Treasure Boat Dharma?
A. The key to this practice is time, orientation and place. If you do not
know these you have no way to install the boat. There is nothing you can
do. The procedure for the practice is to place the boat before the Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas. Then you do the Great Prostration, the Great Mandala offering
and the Fourfold Refuge. These are the Four Preliminary Practices. In these
practices you can visualize the boat growing bigger and bigger; then the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will come and shine on it. Or visualize Yellow Jambhala
shining on the boat and visualize the mongoose He is holding emitting all
kinds of treasure onto it. Then recite the Jambhala heart mantra. First is
the visualization, next the recitation of the mantra and, finally, the entering
into Samadhi (deep meditation). After completing a Seven Day practice, you
place the boat on the required place on a Man Day. The cultivation is the
same, so there should not be any problem.
Q. How do I determine the auspicious orientations according to my birth
sign?
A. If I tell you this, you will have no need for a geomantic consultant.
[audience laughter] One must memorize this first: Shen-Zi-Chen, Si-You-Chou,
Hai-Mao-Wei, Yin-Wu-Shu.8 Based on one’s birth sign, there are
two orientations that harmonize with one’s magnetic field and two that oppose
it. One must choose those that harmonize and place everything accordingly.
One must occupy one’s position, not sit facing it. For example if you are
a rat [Zi], according to this rule you have to sit at either the Shen or
Chen, and not facing it. Do you understand?
[Audience replies, “No.”]
I will teach you if you will pay a tuition fee. [laughter]
Actually feng shui is a very deep subject. If one does not have the basic
foundations, there is no way one can understand it.
Q. If one’s birth sign is the dog, what would be one’s harmonized orientations?
A. One must sit at the south and face north, or sit at the northeast and
face southwest.
Q. Is it right to place the front of the Treasure Boat towards the wealth
spot?
A. The front of the boat should be away from the door so that the boat is
sailing inward, not outward. The main points are that: the ship must be placed
at the wealth spot; the front of the ship must face away from the door; and
the installation must take place on a Man day. This has nothing to do with
one’s own magnetic field. Several other things are associated with one’s
magnetic field. An instance is one’s study desk, because one sits there so
much of the time. The orientation of one’s desk should harmonize with one’s
magnetic field. If it does not harmonize with the magnetic field, then the
more one sits there, the lazier one becomes. One wants to do many things,
but there is not enough energy. The moment one sits one starts to feel very
sleepy. This is due to a conflict of the magnetic fields.
Actually, people are like this too. One person is obviously very good and
learned, but somehow you dislike him at a glance. [great audience laughter]
This is because of a difference in magnetic fields between the two of you.
Why is this so? In divination we call it a conflict of birth signs. Actually,
it is a conflict in vibrations. What if the two attract each other? Once
you meet, you are drawn to each other. However, those who are in conflict
will consistently stand against each other. This has nothing to do with the
individual persons.
Some people naturally cause others to dislike them. This is because their
vibrations do not harmonize with those of others. Some people seem to have
no magnetism at all; therefore everyone dislikes them. Everyone has his/her
own vibration. If one has a good vibration, then one will attract crowds.
If one does not, one cannot get along with others. Much of this has to do
with vibrations. It is a very profound knowledge.
Q. If the staircase directly faces the front door, where should we place
the wealth spot?
A. I would have to see the place. As I have said many times before: once
we open the door, the chi will flow in. It will also flow up the stairs into
the first door (or opening). There are terminologies for the first, second
and third openings and for longer and shorter spaces. Chi will normally flow
to places where there is a longer space, so the wealth spot should be on
the side that has the longer space.
If you walk up the stairs to the living room, the top of the stairs become
the first door, the living room is counted as the second. So you have to
rely on your own analysis of how chi flows in, remembering the second opening
is the wealth spot.
Q. Can we install the boat after only one cultivation of the Treasure
Boat visualization?
A. Yes, you can do that. [audience laughter]
Q. The choice of a Man day is for the cultivation of the Treasure Boat
visualization or for the installation of the boat?
A. Installation of the boat. You can choose any day for cultivation. The
most important points are time and space. Space is in the wealth spot. Time
is eight o’clock in the evening. In this way you can change your Fate.
Q. Does chi look like water or light?
A. Here we go again! [audience laughter] Why don’t you ask me to show chi
to you? Isn’t it easier? [audience laughter] What does chi look like? Try
breathing it out and showing it to us. [audience laughter] Right? You cannot
compare chi with anything. Try asking a doctor what oxygen looks like! I
cannot describe chi in terms of anything such as light, water or fire. In
the Five Elements, chi is chi, chi is wind, and wind is chi. [audience laughter]
Amitabha!
Q. How can we observe chi within the Five Elements of metal, wood, water,
fire and earth?
A. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth and space. [laughter. Student: doesn’tthat make it the Six Elements?]
No, the Five Elements interchange and create
form; space is formless. In Tantric Buddhism, we talk about earth, water,
fire, wind and space as the basic elements. Earth, water, fire and wind interchange
and create form. Space is formless. Thus, in the concept of the Five Elements,
wind is formless and belongs to emptiness.
Q. Some people place a screen or a mirror in front of their houses. Which
of these two is more desirable?
A. The placement of mirrors or screens both have their geomantic uses. The
mirror is used to reflect and to deepen objects in front of it. First, the
mirror makes all the people who enter the house feel welcome. It is deepening.
Second, it reflects undesirable objects back on themselves. The screen is
used as a strengthener and to change geomantic evaluation. Sometimes when
chi is coming from a certain direction and a barrier is needed in order to
retain the chi and redirect the wealth spot, an artificial screen is used.
For example, if the wealth spot is immediately in front of a floor length
window, if there is no barrier at all, the chi will flow out from the window
and there is actually no wealth spot at all. If we place a screen in front
of the window we can block the chi and create an artificial wealth spot.
Also, if the house is too spacious, newborn babies can develop mental deficiencies.
How can this problem be solved? A screen can act as an artificial wall to
divide a space in two so that the chi will not flow so vibrantly. The screen
will obstruct the chi and redirect it as required. Therefore, the screen
can be used to obstruct the flow of chi, create a wealth spot or help change
the chi in a different direction.
Q. If there is a wall and a corridor at the entrance and at the end of
the corridor is the kitchen, does chi always flow towards the kitchen?
A. If, at the entrance, there is a divided pathway, sometimes the flow of
chi is divided in two. We have to use analysis to see how long chi stays
in any one spot. Is it going to move into another opening? We take the larger
flow of chi as our main focus and the lesser flow as complimentary. We have
to analyze, room by room, the location of the wealth spot in each and every
one. Therefore geomancy need analysis; it is not simple and straight forward.
Q. We always capture Light in pictures. Why can’t we see this Light with
our eyes?
A. I can feel if there is Light. Right now, if you take pictures, there will
not be any Light because I do not feel anything. When there is Light descending,
there is a difference in my mental and physical perceptions. I will say:
0h! there is Light, you can take pictures now. What can I compare this to?
If there is a power descending upon my head, it is like the halo around a
saint. Then I will say: if you take pictures now, there will be Light. If
there is no such power, I will say there is no Light.
With some practice human eyes can also perceive Light. There is a certain
type of camera that captures Light. There is an aura of Light around everyone
of us. This camera is much more sensitive than the human eye, so it can capture
the aura of Light.
Human eyes cannot perceive Light which is in the fourth dimension. If, however,
one does the third (divine) eye cultivation, one can see the Light.
Q. If the 8:00 p.m. on the Man day that I choose happens to be a Sha hour,
is it going to affect the practice?
A. You are detail oriented! [audience laughter] Basically, it is not good
to use the Sha hour because, in doing so, you come into conflict with the
Guardian God of the Year. There are also Guardian Gods of the Night, Day
and Hour. If the Guardian God of the Hour appears we, as Tantric practitioners,
have to purify the place with holy water sanctified by the Great Compassion
Dharani. If one does this, no matter how destructive the influence of the
hour could be, it will not have any effect on the defined sacred place.
Q. If life is predestined, can we change it through cultivation?
A. Of course! That is why I teach Tantra. As in the preceding example, if
one knows how to define the sacred place, one can eliminate the bad influence.
In such a manner does cultivation change the fate of a person. The Tantric
practice of the True Buddha School is to change one’s fate; otherwise, all
is karma. [audience applause]
Q. Do we have to visualize using the Great Compassion Dharani Holy Water?
In America many families use the garage door as their entrance. In geomancy
do we use the garage or the living room entrance?
A. I have talked before about the use of the Great Compassion Dharani holy
water. When purifying a place, you need only sprinkle some once. If you want
to be more careful, you can visualize whole light pouring out from it or
yourself becoming Bodhisattva Kwan Yin. There are many methods, including
the Vajra Water Method and the Flick Method. You can choose any one of them.
About this problem in geomancy, I have thought about it before. Generally
in Taiwan we use the main door as the point of entry. If, however, we are
using the garage door, the geomancy is going to change once we get to the
living room. I have not been able to solve this yet! [laughter]
We can put it this way, the main door is still the main entrance. As in an
apartment, the main door is still the main opening for the chi to come in.
The second opening from which the chi to flow is through the garage door.
In my opinion the main door is still the main point of entry because it is
where we receive the visitors. The wealth spot is generally in the living
room because the living room is the heart of a house. The wealth spot cannot
be at the laundry area! A lot of garages are connected with the laundry area;
if the wealth spot happens to be in the laundry, then everything is finished
! [laughter] It is best to be in the living room.
Q. Tong Shu goes according to the Chinese time. If we are in America,
do we have to change it to American time?
A. There are a lot of inquiries concerning this. My feeling is, no matter
where you are, if you are Chinese use China as a place of origin and use
Chinese time. Place is very important. The combination of “Point, Line, Plane,
and Space” is very important. Place goes according to a person’s place of
origin. It is a major project to convert lunar calendar into a Western calendar.
It is better to stick to Tong Shu. Since we are Chinese, we have to focus
on the person we are rather than our current location.
If you focus on your location, you have to take into consideration, summer
and winter time. You also have to convert it into Taiwanese and Chinese times.
It is impossible to do so.
Q. If one is of mixed blood, what time should one use?
A. Here you go again! [roaring laughter from audience] The mixed do not know
geomancy! [audience laughter] One can do it this way, observe one’s mixture.
Are one’s eyes blue? Is one’s nose tall? [audience laughter] One has to calculate
what one leans toward. [audience laughter]
Q. Grand Master once commented that currently the chi is moving from south
to north. In ancient Chinese records, Master Shui Hong Chit is reported to
have said that when the chi moves from south to north, there will be major
chaos on earth. I do not know whether your comment has any relation to that
ancient observation.
A. There is an old saying: Interchange of Fate. This is a fact. Master Shui
is the author of Master Shui’s Mystical Calculation. He was very familiar
with the mystical methods used in books like Huang Tsi Tien Shu and his own
Mystical Calculation. However, it is not for us to worry about such ancient
or modern observations because, when chi moves, it does so due to collective
group karma. Of course Master Shui was very worried!
Actually chaos on earth is predestined and will be due to collective karma.
We need not worry about it. For a cultivator, no matter what happens, there
is no need to worry. I do understand and know about all this. Even strong
countries cannot stay strong all the time; even Russia disperses. This is
a testimony to the Interchange of Fate.
Footnotes:
1 Dharma: teachings of the Buddha; it also means the Law, Truth, Principle
and Method.
2 Translated from an oral teaching by Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu at the Purple
Lotus Society on June 13th, 1992.
3 Bodhisattva: generally means savior, or one who seeks enlightenment in
order to enlighten others.
4 This is in reference to the three small-scale ceremonies in Los Angeles,
April 10-12, 1992.
5 Karma: actions or deeds which affect our present and future lifetimes.
6 Geomancy: generally refers to Feng Shui (literally “wind and water”) in
Chinese. Basically it means the art of adapting the residences of the living
and the departed so as to harmonize with the cosmic chi.
7 Luopan: compass used by a geomancer to identify the orientation of building
and burial sites.
8 These terms refer to the twelve orientations inside the luopan and how
they relate to each individual birth symbol.
By Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu
Translated2 by Tannie Liu
(Editorial remark: At 8.00 p.m. on June 13, 1992, Living Buddha Lian-shen
came to the San Francisco Bay Area, and performed the Consecration Ceremony
for the Purple Lotus Society Headquarters. The Ceremony was short and solemnly
performed. After the Ceremony, Master Samantha took the lead in recounting
the karma that led to Living Buddha Lian shen’s current visit to spread the
Dharma in the San Francisco Bay Area. She then invited the Holy One for a
Dharma Talk. This article is a transcription of the Talk that evening. After
the Dharma Talk, the Holy One gave the Bodhisattva3 Vow Ordination to about
fifty disciples. He also performed the Treasure Boat Dharma Empowerment to
approximately four hundred people.)
Master Samantha’s Opening Remarks
Good evening Grand Master, Master Lian-hsiang, fellow masters, and all the
Dharma friends. [applause]
Once again, the Purple Lotus Society is very honored to have invited Living
Buddha Lian-shen to San Francisco to perform a very special Ceremony for
decreasing disasters, obtaining good fortune, curing diseases and delivering
the departed for the people in San Francisco Bay Area. The theme of the Ceremony
is empowering this area in order to relieve disasters and cure sicknesses.
Through the use of the huge, highly developed psychic power of Grand Master,
it will also help to relieve and decrease such natural disasters as have
plagued California in recent years. On August 7th, 1988, the Purple Lotus
Society organized the first Dharma Ceremony of Living Buddha Lian-shen. The
year following the Ceremony San Francisco suffered the second most severe
earthquake in its history for the last eighty years (October 17, 1989). Everyone
who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area must still remember the incident.
The great earthquake happened at 5.00 p.m.. Ordinarily this is rush hour
time, when traffic is very heavy with people commuting from work and class.
When the news emerged about the earthquake and the severe damage to the highway
system, everyone assumed the major disaster would have a high mortality rate.
Miraculously, the date and time of this earthquake coincided with baseball’s
World Series. The two teams competing were San Francisco and Oakland, both
from the Bay Area. Therefore, many thousands of people had gone home early
to watch the World Series on television and many thousands more were actually
in Candlestick Park, the sports arena in San Francisco where the World Series
was being played. This amazing “coincidence” saved innumerable lives that
day, as highway traffic was remarkably light.
Although I was in Taiwan at that time, I deeply understood that it was the
San Francisco Dharma Ceremony of Grand Master in 1988 that brought this relief
from major disaster. Therefore, the negative group karmic retribution to
the people in this area had been reduced to a minimum.
So this time, the Dharma brothers and sisters of the Purple Lotus Society
sincerely invited our Grand Master to come again to San Francisco to once
more relieve disasters and obtain good fortune for the people in this area.
Let us extend our highest respect and gratitude to the Grand Master. [applause]
We now invite Grand Master for a Dharma Talk. Thank you. [applause]
Grand Master Lu’s Dharma Talk.
Good evening masters and fellow cultivators.
I have been in San Francisco for two days now. I feel very happy seeing all
the students who have come from different parts of the world. A great many
have come from far away countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Singapore,
and Taiwan. Seeing them, I think: How come we are all meeting at this place?
[audience laughter]
This is Coincidence
Just now Master Samantha has given a talk. I feel very uneasy. [laughter]
I feel I have suddenly become magnificent. Actually, the true responsibility
of learning the Dharma is to liberate sentient beings. We cannot say how
many sentient beings we are going to liberate or whether we can stop earthquakes
or typhoons. Recently, I returned to Taiwan for a thirty day visit. When
I arrived there, the Democratic Progressive Party had been holding a vigil
near the railway station. But they dispersed two days after I arrived. [laughterand applause]
This is coincidence! [laughter]
I, of course, had done some visualization. Why? It is because, if they had
maintained the vigil, it was going to affect our Dharma Ceremony. [laughter]
In Taipei, there are a lot of students and they have to take a lot of tourist
buses in order to come to the Dharma Ceremony at the Rey Tseng Temple at
Tsaotun. Therefore, if the Democratic Progressive Party vigil was still being
held in front of the railway station, blocking the traffic, it would affect
the number of attendants. I hoped they could have a peaceful settlement and
would disperse before the Dharma Ceremony. I had done such a visualization.
But then their dispersion might not have been caused by my power; they might
have originally planned to disperse. [laughter]
On the other hand, I can hardly guarantee that, wherever I go for a Dharma
Ceremony, there will follow a decrease in disasters. Like last time, not
long after I had finished my Dharma Ceremony in Los Angeles4,
there was a riot there. [audience laughter] I was in Taiwan at the time of
the riot. When I saw the news on television, I exclaimed, “O My Luck! What
happened! Even if you had to have a riot, couldn’t you have waited a little
longer? Right? [audience laughter] I just left! Isn’t this causing me to
lose face [credibility]?” Then I started to think. When I was in Los Angeles
I had not performed any major Dharma Ceremony. The three local True Buddha
chapters there had not joined efforts to organize a major Dharma Ceremony.
I only went to the Rey Tseng Buddhist Association to perform a small fire
ceremony. The fire pot was very small and the aim of the ceremony was only
for the protection of the Rey Tseng Buddhist Association. [audience laughter]
Moreover, the performance of the Dragon King Treasure Vase Dharma at
Mui Yin Tong was also not under my guidance. It was Master Lian Jen who performed
it, right? I was only having a nap at the back! [laughter] A little nap and
the seventh Dragon King Dharma practice was over! This was also for the protection
of Mui Yin Tong. My going to the Ming Chi Tang was to perform the Great Mandala
Offering and the Incense Praise. That is not a Dharma Ceremony! It was, at
best, a group cultivation. Doing the Mandala Offering is to protect the Ming
Chi Tang. When I arrived at Ming Chi Tang, all the flowers were blooming;
when I left, they all perished. [great audience laughter] I cannot guarantee
that every flower blooms. When I arrived in Los Angeles, most of the flowers
were not blooming, except at the Ming Chi Tang, so the riot in Los Angeles
had nothing to do with me! [great laughter]
[One student from Los Angeles replied, “None of the Chinese in Los Angeles
got hurt.” audience applause] No! It is because of your influential power
only, not mine! [great audience laughter and applause]
The Goal of Learning the Dharma
When we are performing a Dharma Ceremony at a certain place, we always
do our best to benefit the area. Every Tantric practitioner does that. The
merit does not go to us, but to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Of course,
it is due to our regular practice that we can invoke the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
to descend and shine on us. If Buddhas and Bodhisattvas bless us with their
light, then we generally become more peaceful. Major events will start to
reduce to smaller matters and small matters will reduce to nothingness. However,
this is really not the goal in learning the Dharma. A true Buddha practitioner
should have a correct understanding of life and death and liberate himself
from it. After one has done this, one then must transmit the truth to other
people so that they, too, can be liberated.
As in performing psychic healing for others, the purpose is to release others
from their worries. It is a skill-in-means. It is not the major focus of
learning the Dharma. There are always sicknesses, worries and other suffering
for sentient beings. The saints suffer too. Like Jesus Christ, He suffered
a great deal and even died on a cross. Buddha Shakyamuni died of food poisoning.
Why food poisoning? How can vegetables be poisonous? It is because He accepted
an offering from an iron-smith. There were no freezers or cold storage in
India then, and the food had already gone bad. It was offered to the Buddha.
The Buddha was unable even to reach home and passed into Nirvana under a
sal tree. The Buddha suffered too!
Buddha Shakyamuni also suffered from migraine headache and pain in His backbone.
Sometimes this was so painful He could hardly sleep at night. Some people
would think that, since He had already achieved Enlightenment, He must be
different from others. Actually, this is wrong. As far as I know, He suffered
a great deal from sicknesses too. Therefore, there are always sicknesses
and suffering. The most important thing is to realize the truth. When the
truth is realized, we understand that sicknesses and worries are empty in
nature. This, then, is the true Tao.
Therefore, when we are learning the Dharma, we cannot say, “O! As long
as I am sitting here, there will be no earthquakes in San Francisco.” This
is impossible. I cannot guarantee that no disasters will be happening while
I am sitting here. We can only pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to shine
on us, to relieve sentient beings of their sufferings and disasters. Of course
we pray that disasters will be minimized to nothingness!
I am very happy today, because you are all very supportive. I am going to
talk leisurely [laughter], so you can listen in leisure. I guess you want
me to talk about the Treasure Boat Dharma and to give the Treasure Boat empowerment
afterwards, right? In Taiwan, there is a student who wished sincerely that
I teach the Treasure Boat Dharma, but he did not make Treasure Boats for
a living. [laughter] Incidentally, there is a student who is making Treasure
Boats for a living. It is his predestination to be prosperous. It is a coincidence.
The Main Points in the Treasure Boat Dharma
[Master Samantha said, “We would like Grand Master to teach us how to quickly
get in the Dharma Boat.”]
This is too big a topic. [laughter]
In Taiwan I talked about the Treasure Boat Dharma. Of course it looks as
if we are after wealth. Just now, Master Samantha spoke of a Dharma boat.
How to get in the Dharma boat, and how to [let sentient beings] enjoy prosperity
are two Dharmas. Both are equally important to us.
When I was teaching this method in Taiwan I mentioned a specific time to
install the boat. A Man (full, wholesome) day must be chosen (according to
the Chinese Almanac). Man means full. If your boat is empty, it cannot carry
much wealth. It must be full because we all like to return with a full load.
Correct? We all go to work in the morning and come back at night; therefore
the boat can only return with a full load at night. So we have to choose
a time in the evening and the time is eight o’clock. It has a time constraint.
Why is it we always try to have the number eight (pronounced as Fa in Cantonese)
on our license plates? It is because the Cantonese used to say Fa Fa Fa (meaning
prosperity, prosperity, prosperity). So eight o’clock symbolizes prosperity
and, together with Man day, means the Treasure Boat will come in full of
wealth.
The boat must face inward and not outward. Facing outward means an empty
boat; facing inward signifies a boat returning with a full load. We also
must choose the wealth spot in which to install the boat because the wealth
spot symbolizes wealth. As the boat is returning with a full load, it must
be placed there.
How does one choose a wealth spot? For example, when the chi (energy) flows
through the door and enters a living room, the first spot [usually a corner]
that stops the chi is called the noxious spot. Here the chi is too vibrant
and has bad influence, so the wealth spot cannot be placed here. The next
stop for the chi, the medium spot, is the place where the chi flows at a
slower pace. The third spot is where the chi moves very slowly. Similar to
water current, the first flow is very quick then (after hitting a corner)
it goes more slowly and, finally, (after hitting a second corner) the flow
becomes very slow, like an old man walking slowly out the door. The wealth
spot must be in the medium spot. Because the chi moves fast (at the first
corner), medium (at the second corner) and slowly (at the third corner) and
then leaves the room, the wealth spot is, therefore, at the second (diagonal)
corner from the door. The front of the Treasure Boat always faces inward,
turning its back against the door, symbolizing a return trip and not sailing
out the front door.
If one has the right date, place and time and can harmonize them symbolically,
then one can change one’s fate. Thus, one’s own effort, plus the coordination
of space and time, can change one’s fate. These are the main points for the
Treasure Boat Dharma.
Predestined Fate
Whenever people come to ask questions (mostly concerning psychic healing
or fortune telling), I study each person. I do this because it tells me how
much a person can earn, whether someone will be prosperous, or whether one
is with strong or weak chi. One’s Fate is predestined. Some people strive
for prosperity but to no avail. Some people seem to succeed because of their
own diligent efforts, like a kite helped by the wind they soar higher and
higher. Others go up and down, up and down, and fall.
My studying them is to observe their chi. I conclude in a glance whether
they have power or strong energy, how much they can gain, and whether they
have more opportunities. Someone came to Seattle and asked, “How much will
I be able to make?” I inquired, “How much will you be satisfied with?” “About
three million,” he replied. I have to check one’s satisfactory point because
everyone is different.
Everyone has his/her own view regarding money. One man felt very upset when
he came to Seattle and told me that his friend had run away with his twenty
thousand U.S. dollar loan. Others can lose five million U.S. dollars and
remain unaffected, because “a piece from a chopped eel is still bigger than
an earthworm.” [Taiwanese colloquialism]. In the minds of ordinary people,
losing ten or twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money. In the minds of
the super rich, five million can be insignificant, right? The super rich,
even at their poorest, still spend much more than ordinary people.
According to my understanding, how much wealth we can have in a lifetime
is predestined. No matter how hard we try to change this, it is fruitless.
Some would say: What if I try very hard? [audience laughter] Wealth does
not always come in accordance with one’s efforts. If your boss does not like
you and will not increase your salary, there is nothing you can do. [audiencelaughter]
Some do not need much effort and they only have to please their
boss, right? [audience laughter] Some can be promoted with much prosperity
by just pleasing their boss.
In ancient times, girls were said to have the fate of a vegetable seed. That
is, the seeds would only prosper if they were planted in fertile soil. Some
girls marry rich men and become rich ladies living in comfort. Other pretty
girls, who do not have very good karma5, have rocky marriages
and many tragedies happen to them. There is an old saying: A man’s worst
fear is to have the wrong career and a woman’s worst fear is to marry the
wrong husband.
Those who possess intuitive insight can perceive the workings of fate. I
can tell from your countenance: what will happen to you in this lifetime,
how much money you can make, what is in your future, how high you can go,
and what your prime and lowest years are for acquiring wealth. I can do a
yearly calculation for you and map out your entire life. According to this
theory, everything is predestined. Actually our whole life is predestined
when we are born.
Like my drinking this tea tonight — oh! this is not tea! After observing
it, I realize this is not tea, but bird’s nest soup. [audience laughter andapplause]
It is predestined that I have to take this soup tonight. [audiencelaughter]
Let me tell everybody a secret, I dislike bird’s nest soup. [audiencelaughter]
Recently I only like ice milk and water, but it is predestined
that I have to drink bird’s nest soup tonight. [audience laughter] I cannot
escape it!
In the Dharma it says: everything one eats and drinks is predestined. You
will certainly say: How can it be predestined when I earn it diligently?
No doubt you have put forth an effort, but it was predestined that during
this period you were going to strive very hard. [laughter] Predestination
provides you with the intention to strive during a certain period of time.
What if the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cause you to be lazy during this time
or you have some sickness or a slow growing disease, rendering you only half
alive. How could you strive then?
Life’s Magnetic Field
When you are striving, it is because your magnetism is attracted by that
of the moon. Therefore you strive! You understand? When you are born, the
cosmic energy that you have brought from the sun and moon, and the energy
that you have absorbed from the earth, creates your magnetism. If the position
of the moon harmonizes with that of your magnetic field and attracts your
magnetism, it will increase your blood pressure. Then you strive. [audiencelaughter] It’s the way it is!
The cosmic flux of the moon also affects your emotions, especially during
the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month. It affects your brain waves
and causes you to feel high or low, in turn affecting your life. Whenever
the sun, moon and earth move, your Fate is affected. This is the logic behind
predestination.
In geomancy6, there are two orientations within the luopan7
which harmonize with your magnetic field. If you constantly follow these
orientations you will move faster. If you orient towards a direction that
produces sha or bad influence, you will not prosper. It is very simple. It
is feng shui.
When feng shui causes you to strive with greater intent, your success is
greater. So the placement of the Grand Master’s desk at the True Buddha School
Tantric Headquarters was not without effort. [audience laughter and applause]
To be able to write one hundred books, there must be a cause! When one places
one’s desk in accordance with the two orientations that harmonize with one’s
magnetic field, one receives great inspiration. One continues in this direction
and keeps on writing diligently, and a hundred books are accomplished! There
is a cause behind being good at writing and striving so hard that one’s nose
is almost bleeding. There is a reason one is able to work so steadfastly
with such great success. Those who have intuitive insight will know that
one should move in the direction of auspicious orientation and away from
bad influence.
Stay with Sentient Beings and Liberate Them According to Individual
Karma
People inquire, “Grand Master no longer has disasters then?” No, it is not
like that; I have a lot of disasters. People say, “If it is good fortune,
it is not bad fortune; if it is bad fortune, one can hardly avoid it.” As
I do face reading, if there is a bad person, why don’t I know? I do know.
One can hardly avoid bad fortune. I had said that I would not let go of any
sentient being. Of course I know when a bad person approaches me. I know
what will happen to them in the future. Knowing all this I can devise a way
of trying to avoid them. What happens if I cannot avoid them? I get stuck.
[laughter] Actually, I am trying to avoid them, but they are hanging on to
me! I move much slower than they and get knocked down by them. I do try very
hard to avoid them!
Not letting go of any sentient being governs a lot of things that we do.
Grand Master had said: I won’t turn anyone away. If you come we will accept
you; if you go, we will not stop you. If you want to get married, then we
will let you. Everything is Karma. We go through life with no attachments.
Life is like that! If you want to come, we cannot ask you to leave but, if
you want to go, we cannot ask you to stay. Whatever you want to do, you are
free to do. Eventually I will not attach to anything. [applause] There are
always disasters happening to me and to the True Buddha School. Like the
Grand Master (me) is a very clever person [laughter] — one should not say
it this way! [audience laughter] When I do unconventional deeds — how come
I admit to doing unconventional deeds? [audience laughter] — I intentionally
only do half of them. I won’t commit a complete improper action — I leave
it half way, giving people something about which to think. And I will not
do anything that is against the law. I am walking a dangerous line, with
one foot in quicksand and the other on solid ground. There is much enjoyment
in living this way. [audience laughter]
One must suffer to be a saint. The most important things are to acquire wisdom,
transcend life and death, and to liberate sentient beings by working with
them. Working with them does not mean complying with everything they do,
such as jumping over a cliff with them. It is to comply with those who have
the karma to understand their Master, so that one can preach the truth and
enlighten them. For those who can understand, they can follow me; for those
who cannot, there is nothing I can do. It is all karma!
I seem to have changed the topic from the Treasure Boat Dharma! [laughter]
The key to that practice is to harmonize time and space. If you can subtly
harmonize time and space and act in accordance to geomantic principle, you
will prosper. When you install the boat, the magnetic field of the boat will
harmonize with that of the house and interact with your own Fate. The Fate
of the inhabitants will gradually change to prosperity. This is the Treasure
Boat Dharma.
Tonight we are having the Bodhisattva vow ordination and the Treasure Boat
empowerment. Do you have any questions?
Q. What is a Man day?
A. Man day is recorded in the Tong Shu (Chinese Almanac). In the Tong Shu
it has various dates under such names as Man (full), Chen (succeed), Ting
(steady) and Chian (construction), etc. These days recur in twelve day cycles.
The Cantonese are very clever, they do not call it Tong Shu, which sounds
like losing everything (in Cantonese dialect). They call it Tong Shing, which
sounds like winning everything. [laughter]
Q. Is there a special procedure in practicing the Treasure Boat Dharma?
A. The key to this practice is time, orientation and place. If you do not
know these you have no way to install the boat. There is nothing you can
do. The procedure for the practice is to place the boat before the Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas. Then you do the Great Prostration, the Great Mandala offering
and the Fourfold Refuge. These are the Four Preliminary Practices. In these
practices you can visualize the boat growing bigger and bigger; then the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will come and shine on it. Or visualize Yellow Jambhala
shining on the boat and visualize the mongoose He is holding emitting all
kinds of treasure onto it. Then recite the Jambhala heart mantra. First is
the visualization, next the recitation of the mantra and, finally, the entering
into Samadhi (deep meditation). After completing a Seven Day practice, you
place the boat on the required place on a Man Day. The cultivation is the
same, so there should not be any problem.
Q. How do I determine the auspicious orientations according to my birth
sign?
A. If I tell you this, you will have no need for a geomantic consultant.
[audience laughter] One must memorize this first: Shen-Zi-Chen, Si-You-Chou,
Hai-Mao-Wei, Yin-Wu-Shu.8 Based on one’s birth sign, there are
two orientations that harmonize with one’s magnetic field and two that oppose
it. One must choose those that harmonize and place everything accordingly.
One must occupy one’s position, not sit facing it. For example if you are
a rat [Zi], according to this rule you have to sit at either the Shen or
Chen, and not facing it. Do you understand?
[Audience replies, “No.”]
I will teach you if you will pay a tuition fee. [laughter]
Actually feng shui is a very deep subject. If one does not have the basic
foundations, there is no way one can understand it.
Q. If one’s birth sign is the dog, what would be one’s harmonized orientations?
A. One must sit at the south and face north, or sit at the northeast and
face southwest.
Q. Is it right to place the front of the Treasure Boat towards the wealth
spot?
A. The front of the boat should be away from the door so that the boat is
sailing inward, not outward. The main points are that: the ship must be placed
at the wealth spot; the front of the ship must face away from the door; and
the installation must take place on a Man day. This has nothing to do with
one’s own magnetic field. Several other things are associated with one’s
magnetic field. An instance is one’s study desk, because one sits there so
much of the time. The orientation of one’s desk should harmonize with one’s
magnetic field. If it does not harmonize with the magnetic field, then the
more one sits there, the lazier one becomes. One wants to do many things,
but there is not enough energy. The moment one sits one starts to feel very
sleepy. This is due to a conflict of the magnetic fields.
Actually, people are like this too. One person is obviously very good and
learned, but somehow you dislike him at a glance. [great audience laughter]
This is because of a difference in magnetic fields between the two of you.
Why is this so? In divination we call it a conflict of birth signs. Actually,
it is a conflict in vibrations. What if the two attract each other? Once
you meet, you are drawn to each other. However, those who are in conflict
will consistently stand against each other. This has nothing to do with the
individual persons.
Some people naturally cause others to dislike them. This is because their
vibrations do not harmonize with those of others. Some people seem to have
no magnetism at all; therefore everyone dislikes them. Everyone has his/her
own vibration. If one has a good vibration, then one will attract crowds.
If one does not, one cannot get along with others. Much of this has to do
with vibrations. It is a very profound knowledge.
Q. If the staircase directly faces the front door, where should we place
the wealth spot?
A. I would have to see the place. As I have said many times before: once
we open the door, the chi will flow in. It will also flow up the stairs into
the first door (or opening). There are terminologies for the first, second
and third openings and for longer and shorter spaces. Chi will normally flow
to places where there is a longer space, so the wealth spot should be on
the side that has the longer space.
If you walk up the stairs to the living room, the top of the stairs become
the first door, the living room is counted as the second. So you have to
rely on your own analysis of how chi flows in, remembering the second opening
is the wealth spot.
Q. Can we install the boat after only one cultivation of the Treasure
Boat visualization?
A. Yes, you can do that. [audience laughter]
Q. The choice of a Man day is for the cultivation of the Treasure Boat
visualization or for the installation of the boat?
A. Installation of the boat. You can choose any day for cultivation. The
most important points are time and space. Space is in the wealth spot. Time
is eight o’clock in the evening. In this way you can change your Fate.
Q. Does chi look like water or light?
A. Here we go again! [audience laughter] Why don’t you ask me to show chi
to you? Isn’t it easier? [audience laughter] What does chi look like? Try
breathing it out and showing it to us. [audience laughter] Right? You cannot
compare chi with anything. Try asking a doctor what oxygen looks like! I
cannot describe chi in terms of anything such as light, water or fire. In
the Five Elements, chi is chi, chi is wind, and wind is chi. [audience laughter]
Amitabha!
Q. How can we observe chi within the Five Elements of metal, wood, water,
fire and earth?
A. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth and space. [laughter. Student: doesn’tthat make it the Six Elements?]
No, the Five Elements interchange and create
form; space is formless. In Tantric Buddhism, we talk about earth, water,
fire, wind and space as the basic elements. Earth, water, fire and wind interchange
and create form. Space is formless. Thus, in the concept of the Five Elements,
wind is formless and belongs to emptiness.
Q. Some people place a screen or a mirror in front of their houses. Which
of these two is more desirable?
A. The placement of mirrors or screens both have their geomantic uses. The
mirror is used to reflect and to deepen objects in front of it. First, the
mirror makes all the people who enter the house feel welcome. It is deepening.
Second, it reflects undesirable objects back on themselves. The screen is
used as a strengthener and to change geomantic evaluation. Sometimes when
chi is coming from a certain direction and a barrier is needed in order to
retain the chi and redirect the wealth spot, an artificial screen is used.
For example, if the wealth spot is immediately in front of a floor length
window, if there is no barrier at all, the chi will flow out from the window
and there is actually no wealth spot at all. If we place a screen in front
of the window we can block the chi and create an artificial wealth spot.
Also, if the house is too spacious, newborn babies can develop mental deficiencies.
How can this problem be solved? A screen can act as an artificial wall to
divide a space in two so that the chi will not flow so vibrantly. The screen
will obstruct the chi and redirect it as required. Therefore, the screen
can be used to obstruct the flow of chi, create a wealth spot or help change
the chi in a different direction.
Q. If there is a wall and a corridor at the entrance and at the end of
the corridor is the kitchen, does chi always flow towards the kitchen?
A. If, at the entrance, there is a divided pathway, sometimes the flow of
chi is divided in two. We have to use analysis to see how long chi stays
in any one spot. Is it going to move into another opening? We take the larger
flow of chi as our main focus and the lesser flow as complimentary. We have
to analyze, room by room, the location of the wealth spot in each and every
one. Therefore geomancy need analysis; it is not simple and straight forward.
Q. We always capture Light in pictures. Why can’t we see this Light with
our eyes?
A. I can feel if there is Light. Right now, if you take pictures, there will
not be any Light because I do not feel anything. When there is Light descending,
there is a difference in my mental and physical perceptions. I will say:
0h! there is Light, you can take pictures now. What can I compare this to?
If there is a power descending upon my head, it is like the halo around a
saint. Then I will say: if you take pictures now, there will be Light. If
there is no such power, I will say there is no Light.
With some practice human eyes can also perceive Light. There is a certain
type of camera that captures Light. There is an aura of Light around everyone
of us. This camera is much more sensitive than the human eye, so it can capture
the aura of Light.
Human eyes cannot perceive Light which is in the fourth dimension. If, however,
one does the third (divine) eye cultivation, one can see the Light.
Q. If the 8:00 p.m. on the Man day that I choose happens to be a Sha hour,
is it going to affect the practice?
A. You are detail oriented! [audience laughter] Basically, it is not good
to use the Sha hour because, in doing so, you come into conflict with the
Guardian God of the Year. There are also Guardian Gods of the Night, Day
and Hour. If the Guardian God of the Hour appears we, as Tantric practitioners,
have to purify the place with holy water sanctified by the Great Compassion
Dharani. If one does this, no matter how destructive the influence of the
hour could be, it will not have any effect on the defined sacred place.
Q. If life is predestined, can we change it through cultivation?
A. Of course! That is why I teach Tantra. As in the preceding example, if
one knows how to define the sacred place, one can eliminate the bad influence.
In such a manner does cultivation change the fate of a person. The Tantric
practice of the True Buddha School is to change one’s fate; otherwise, all
is karma. [audience applause]
Q. Do we have to visualize using the Great Compassion Dharani Holy Water?
In America many families use the garage door as their entrance. In geomancy
do we use the garage or the living room entrance?
A. I have talked before about the use of the Great Compassion Dharani holy
water. When purifying a place, you need only sprinkle some once. If you want
to be more careful, you can visualize whole light pouring out from it or
yourself becoming Bodhisattva Kwan Yin. There are many methods, including
the Vajra Water Method and the Flick Method. You can choose any one of them.
About this problem in geomancy, I have thought about it before. Generally
in Taiwan we use the main door as the point of entry. If, however, we are
using the garage door, the geomancy is going to change once we get to the
living room. I have not been able to solve this yet! [laughter]
We can put it this way, the main door is still the main entrance. As in an
apartment, the main door is still the main opening for the chi to come in.
The second opening from which the chi to flow is through the garage door.
In my opinion the main door is still the main point of entry because it is
where we receive the visitors. The wealth spot is generally in the living
room because the living room is the heart of a house. The wealth spot cannot
be at the laundry area! A lot of garages are connected with the laundry area;
if the wealth spot happens to be in the laundry, then everything is finished
! [laughter] It is best to be in the living room.
Q. Tong Shu goes according to the Chinese time. If we are in America,
do we have to change it to American time?
A. There are a lot of inquiries concerning this. My feeling is, no matter
where you are, if you are Chinese use China as a place of origin and use
Chinese time. Place is very important. The combination of “Point, Line, Plane,
and Space” is very important. Place goes according to a person’s place of
origin. It is a major project to convert lunar calendar into a Western calendar.
It is better to stick to Tong Shu. Since we are Chinese, we have to focus
on the person we are rather than our current location.
If you focus on your location, you have to take into consideration, summer
and winter time. You also have to convert it into Taiwanese and Chinese times.
It is impossible to do so.
Q. If one is of mixed blood, what time should one use?
A. Here you go again! [roaring laughter from audience] The mixed do not know
geomancy! [audience laughter] One can do it this way, observe one’s mixture.
Are one’s eyes blue? Is one’s nose tall? [audience laughter] One has to calculate
what one leans toward. [audience laughter]
Q. Grand Master once commented that currently the chi is moving from south
to north. In ancient Chinese records, Master Shui Hong Chit is reported to
have said that when the chi moves from south to north, there will be major
chaos on earth. I do not know whether your comment has any relation to that
ancient observation.
A. There is an old saying: Interchange of Fate. This is a fact. Master Shui
is the author of Master Shui’s Mystical Calculation. He was very familiar
with the mystical methods used in books like Huang Tsi Tien Shu and his own
Mystical Calculation. However, it is not for us to worry about such ancient
or modern observations because, when chi moves, it does so due to collective
group karma. Of course Master Shui was very worried!
Actually chaos on earth is predestined and will be due to collective karma.
We need not worry about it. For a cultivator, no matter what happens, there
is no need to worry. I do understand and know about all this. Even strong
countries cannot stay strong all the time; even Russia disperses. This is
a testimony to the Interchange of Fate.
Footnotes:
1 Dharma: teachings of the Buddha; it also means the Law, Truth, Principle
and Method.
2 Translated from an oral teaching by Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu at the Purple
Lotus Society on June 13th, 1992.
3 Bodhisattva: generally means savior, or one who seeks enlightenment in
order to enlighten others.
4 This is in reference to the three small-scale ceremonies in Los Angeles,
April 10-12, 1992.
5 Karma: actions or deeds which affect our present and future lifetimes.
6 Geomancy: generally refers to Feng Shui (literally “wind and water”) in
Chinese. Basically it means the art of adapting the residences of the living
and the departed so as to harmonize with the cosmic chi.
7 Luopan: compass used by a geomancer to identify the orientation of building
and burial sites.
8 These terms refer to the twelve orientations inside the luopan and how
they relate to each individual birth symbol.