(From Book 177: Stories About Seeing Deities and Ghosts)

(Continued from issue 530)

As soon as this thought came into his mind, the disciple found himself at a Lei Zang Si temple. The temple had a dharma protector watching the door. The disciple was stopped there.

The guardian gave him a loud shout: “Who are you? Why are you being so surreptitious?”

The disciple replied, “I am Lotus X X.”

“With whom did you take refuge?”

“Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu.”

The dharma protector let him into the temple. This is why the soul must remember his own dharma name and his refuge master’s name.

The inside of the temple was splendid and exquisite, every statue of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appearing solemn and shimmering. The smoke of incense curled upward in the room. The disciple then felt much more comfortable and at peace.

He saw fellow cultivators gathering together to cultivate. They prayed, inviting Guru Master Living Buddha Lian Sheng; they chanted the heart mantra of Padmakumara. The disciple then saw Padmakumara descend to the shrine, great white light bursting forth, too radiant to even lay eyes upon.

The disciple closed his palms together and chanted:

“Om, Guru Lian Sheng, Siddhi Hum.”

“Om, Guru Lian Sheng, Siddhi Hum.”

“Om, Guru Lian Sheng, Siddhi Hum.”

After the disciple had chanted Padmakumara’s heart mantra only three times, Padmakumara radiated his light three times upon him to receive him. This disciple was reborn in the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds.

I wrote a poem about this:

After death, there still exists a body of soul, to feel sorrow and grief

Whether the living or the dead, for the sorrow, there is nothing good

Even if you amuse yourself by singing or drinking when in your youth

Eventually you will become one member of the many lost tourists in the world

For the weary and annoyed karmic hindrances

Too narrow-minded

They try with all their strength and all their might

Come out and fly around

So many mistakes, so many cases of karmic wrongs I made, appearing now to ruin

Fortunately, I remember Buddha’s name and mantra.

And I return to a Lei Zang Si temple

From there I may then escape my hardship and the dust and the dirt.

(the end)

《本文出自師尊第177冊文集「見神見鬼記」文章「最後的一刻」》