The Trapped Soul of Telok Blangah

1. The Shin Min paper on 8.3.2007 reported a strange & interesting tale of a Malay guy named Riandy being haunted by the ghost of a long dead Chinese lady for the past 7 yrs. He & his family had lived in Telok Blangah since 1975, & only shifted away in 1999. Directly opposite their old flat in Telok Blangah is a stretch of forest & among the trees lies the sunken tomb of that Chinese lady, almost completely devoured by the surrounding undergrowth. Of course, the main character in this real life story had no idea of its existence until recently, when it was discovered by the SPI (Singapore Paranormal Investigators), people whom he seeked help from.

Apparently, the haunting started long before Riandy shifted away from Telok Blangah. Even at his old flat he had experienced loads of paranormal activity, like seeing a blurry figure appearing in the house, hearing somebody quarrelling but not being able to see anyone, smelling a foul stench, & even rubbing shoulders with the ghostly figure at times. Despite all these stuff happening, Riandy did nothing about it. The creepy thing was that the paranormal activity continued after he moved to Choa Chu Kang. For the past 7 yrs, on the 13th of every month, around 2-3am in the morning, he would dream of the long haired Chinese lady in white pleading for help in his old house. And everytime he would wake up in cold sweat. So after being haunted for such a long time, he could take it no more & finally summoned enough courage to seek help, which came in the form of the SPI.

After SPI listened to Riandy's story, a team of them followed him back to his old house at Telok Blangah to investigate. To their suprise, they discovered an abandoned Chinese tomb in the forest opposite his old house, being located under a big tree. Apparently the tree had grown right out of the tomb, crushing whoever lies beneath under its roots. The whole tomb had sunken into the earth, & only half of the tombstone could be seen. The inscription on the stone reads: "Madam Xue of the Yang family's tomb 杨门薛氏之墓", but her maiden name was nowhere to be seen. On the right side of the stone they could also see "Daughter - (Yang) Yueniang 月娘" & "Granddaughters - Qingniang 清娘 & Xiniang 溪娘". The 2 granddaughters would not be surnamed Yang if Madam Xue had no son. On the left side of the tomb is a date saying "Auspicious Plum month of the Xin Chou Year 次辛丑梅月吉". This means the 4th lunar month (May to June) of 1961, or maybe even 1901! The date may be the time this lady died, or the time she was born, but the former was more likely. Considering that the ghost appeared to Riandy on the 13th of the month, it might also indicate that was the day she passed away. The poor condition of the tomb also indicates that all her descendants have either died or were no longer in Singapore, leaving the tomb totally uncared for through the decades. That was why the tomb had sunken and a tree was able to grow out of it; this would make Shin Min's search for her descendants all the more difficult. Madam Xue's ghost, being trapped in that place, was not able to move on and be reborn. She probably could not give up her clinging to her previous human life & her bodily remains. Bur oddly, she seemed to have some affinity with this Malay guy Riandy, which explained why she went to him for help when she had nobody else to turn to. But alas, he too knew not how to help her.

After Riandy found the tomb, his monthly dreams of Madam Xue became much clearer than before. Whereas in the past he only saw the side of her face, now she could clearly see her face, her features, her long hair & even the white cheongsam top that she wore! But this only made it so much more disturbing for Riandy.

I don't know how SPI plans to help Riandy, but the wise thing to do now would be to find an auspicious time to exhume whatever remains in the tomb, ask some respected monks to conduct a Buddhist deliverance (超度 chaodu) ceremony for Madam Xue (since she is Chinese) & have the remains cremated. The ashes could then be placed in a temple & a tablet set up in her honour. Having listened to the Dharma & finally having a proper place for her remains, only then would Madam Xue's ghost be able to move on to a better existence. That would also mean the end of Riandy's paramormal woes. Good luck guys!2. The follow up report in Shin Min today (16.3.2007) reveals to us more clues on Madam Xue's mystery. Thanks to Taoism researcher Mr Wu Anquan, who explored around the Telok Blangah forest after reading last week's report, the other half of Madam Xue's tombstone had been recovered. According to the inscriptions on this piece of tombstone, the maiden name of Madam Xue is 音娘 Yinniang (full name - 薛音娘 Xue Yinniang). She died in the 27th year of Emperor Guangxu's reign 光绪二十七年, which is 1901, corresponding to the previous deduction. That is almost 106 yrs ago! Apparently, Madam Xue had 2 sons, (Yang) 福烈 Fulie and 福增 Fuzeng, besides daughter Yueniang. She also had 4 other grandsons, 丞仁 Chengren, 丞德 Chengde, 丞杰 Chengjie & 丞英 Chengying, in addition to the 2 granddaughters mentioned above. Now, the paper made a wrong assumption that because Madam Xue was a grandmother, she must have died quite old. They are thinking in the modern context, forgetting the fact that during the Qing dynasty, most women married quite young and it was highly possible to be a grandmother before 40. Since we don't know how she died yet, we cannot conclude that the person whom used to lie in that tomb died an old lady. Is the female ghost that haunted Riandy the same person as this long dead lady? That is something that still awaits verification!

Mr Wu's research into the history of Telok Blangah hill also tells us that it used to be known as Xieyuan hill 协源山, which had been used as a burial ground for the Yang family from Fujian province since 1882. All those dead people buried there belonged to the Hokkien Yeo clan. It was only until the 1970s that the government decided to take back the land, exhuming all the graves there & have them relocated to Choa Chu Kang cemetary. Could Madam Xue be forgotten at the time? Since then, a forest has grown over the land and some parts of it developed into Telok Blangah park, as we know today.

Considering that Madam Xue died 106 yrs ago, there is little doubt that all 9 children & grandchildren inscribed on the tombstone would also be dead. If there were any great grandchildren alive in Singapore today, they too would be quite old already. The only way to shed some light on who Madam Xue really was or whether her remains were moved to Choa Chu Kang at all, is to look for those great or great great grandchildren of hers. But even then, would these descendents of the Yeo clan which lived in Telok Blangah a century ago know anything about their great or great great grandmother? The oddest thing is that, what does a young Malay guy named Riandy got to do with the great great grandmother of the Yeo clan? His family only shifted to Telok Blangah around the time the government exhumed all the graves.. they should have nothing to do with this big Chinese family, right? Stay tuned, I believe this mystery would somehow be unravelled in time to come.

Visit to Wat Pah Ban Tad

The Dhammapada says:

"The mindful ones exert themselves,
They are not attached to any home;
Like swans that abandon the lake,
They leave home after home behind."

During my trip to Udon Thani & Nongkhai in January this year, I've travelled to many of the Forest Monasteries in the region. These monasteries are all started by Dhutanga Bhikkus belonging to Ajarn Mun's (above) lineage, places which tourists normally do not visit. On the last day of my trip I decided to follow a Singaporean friend (whom I met in Udon) to Luangta Mahabua's monastery, Wat Pah Ban Tad. This friend of mine stays there for 2 - 3 mths at a time for his meditation retreats. As those of you familiar with Ajarn Mun's forest tradition will know, LT Mahabua is one of his most famous disciples, widely believed to be an Arahant himself. He is also responsible for the various enlightening Forest Dhamma books on Ajarn Mun's life & teachings, as well as the Dhutanga practices. Having read those books, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of this living Buddhist Saint; but my friend told me it was not so easy as not everyone who came to visit can see him. Some people came many times, yet still did not manage to see LT Mahabua. So I did not make any special wish to do so, choosing rather to just let things take its natural course.

The monastery is half an hour's journey from Udon Thani city. The first thing that greets you at when you arrive there is this huge picture of Ajarn Mun standing in front of the main Sala, gazing at you. Although Ajarn Mun had entered Parinibbana for many years, his presence can still be felt wherever there is a group of noble individuals gathering to practice the Forest Dhamma that he taught.

Climbing up to the spacious hall, you get the feeling of deep serenity that seems to blend in with the surrounding forest. My friend told me that many invisible Devadas visit this hall, due to what lies inside the shrine room. What is so special about the shrine room?

Walking deeper inside, one comes face to face with the 3 golden Buddha statues of the shrine, representing the Triple Gems. All around the altar are the pictures of the various patriarchs of the Forest Tradition, including Ajarn Mun, Ajarn Sao & many of their distinguished disciples. In paying homage to these Masters, one recognises the true merit of the Dhutanga practices in purifying the mind, as taught by the Buddha.

The next thing that caught my eye was a glass cabinet on the left of the altar. On closer examination I realized that those small crystal stupas inside the cabinet contain the precious relics of the Buddha on the top tier, Ajarn Mun's relics on the middle tier & the relics of the other Masters from his lineage on the lower tier. So this is the main attraction for the Devadas who come to visit this Sala! No wonder the whole Sala radiates a aura of bliss. Filled with awe & joy I prostrated myself before the cabinet to show my veneration for these relics like all the men & gods before me.

At the side of the shrine room is another glass cabinet containing the relics of Ajarn Panna (above), LT Mahabua's most senior Caucasian disciple who passed away recently. Special mention must be given to him because it is only through his superb translation of the Forest Dhamma books from Thai into English that they managed to reach such a wide audience around the whole world. Without these translated books I wouldn't even have heard about Ajarn Mun & his Forest Tradition in Thailand. All I would have known are those famous temples with many worshippers & tourists. Ajarn Panna's profound knowledge & devotion to this path is without a doubt a shining lamp for all Westerners as well as all beings. As such he also deserves our deepest respect.
Inside the shrine room are also displayed other gifts of recognition to LT Mahabua from the country's highest institutions & the royal family. But of course, these are of little use to a forest monk.With that I finished my tour of the Sala. Just as I came down the stairs, a van drove in and stopped some distance ahead of me. I did not know who was inside, but seeing that 2 Thai aunties near me were kneeling down in its direction, I immediately realized who it was. I quickly kneel down as well. True enough, it was LT Mahabua (above) who came down from the van! He turned and smiled in the direction of the 2 aunties & me before walking into the forest path that leads to his kuti. I bowed towards this living Arahant. To me, managing to see him is like striking the lottery.. which seemed to link up with many of the coincidences that I encountered during this whole trip. Is this called 缘份 or affinity?I then followed my friend to his kuti, where another Singaporean guy also resided in. The living conditions are pretty tough, but they seemed content with it. I supposed these conditions are conducive to restraining the senses & would therefore help in their meditation. After chatting with them for a while, I bade my friend farewell & wished him good luck. With a satisfied heart I made my way back to Udon Thani city. The next morning I embarked on the return flight to Singapore. On the plane I thought to myself that although my tour to Udon Thani had ended, I know in my heart that my affinity with the Forest Tradition would go on long after the trip was over. Until the next time we meet, may they be well & happy.

The Renunciation of Chen Xiaoxu

The Dhammapada says:

"If by forsaking a limited happiness,
He would realize an abundance of happiness;
The wise man should forsake the limited
for the sake of the abundant."

It is all over the news - Chen Xiaoxu, once famous for playing the female lead Lin Daiyu in the adapted Chinese Classic "Dream of the Red Chamber" on TV in the 1980s, has renounced the world & ordained as a Bhikkuni in the Buddhist Order. From virginal beauty to famous actress to successful business women and finally to Buddhist Nun - the life of this 40 yr old Chinese beauty is nothing less than legendary.

Even at that time, most people thought that Chen awas perfect for the role of Lin Daiyu. As those of you familiar with the Chinese Classics would know, Daiyu is a frail beauty who is deeply sentimental & melancholic in character. Chen's ethereal features & real life character was no different from the role she portrayed in the "Dream of the Red Chamber". It was a role that shot her to instant stardom, but also one that ended her acting career. The portrayal of Lin Daiyu was so deeply ingrained in the hearts & minds of the people that nobody could really accept her as anything else. In fact, Chen herself was so deeply influenced by the character that it became her alter-ego. She only managed to act in another adapted classic before resigning from the acting scene altogether. With the end of her acting career also spelt the end of her first marriage.

Chen subsequently married her current husband, Hao Dan. Together, they ventured into the advertising business, & in a few years grew to become a successful multi-million Yuan company. With the fame & success brought material well-being for her whole family, but in her heart she continued to feel unfufilled in terms of true happiness.

One day in 1999, Chen happened to hear a recording of Ven Chin Kung preaching the Sutra of Amitayus in her friend's car. Ven Chin Kung is a modern day Patriarch of the Pure Land school and his teachings struck a chord in Chen's heart. She was so deeply moved by the Venerable's words that she wanted to meet him immediately. Learning that he had been preaching in Singapore for some time, Chen flew from Beijing to Singapore to look for Ven Chin Kung. She found him at the Amitabha Buddhist Society in Geylang and asked to be given the 3 refuges. Ven Chin Kung was happy to see her newfound faith, & promptly gave her the refuges and the 5 percepts. Chen was also bestowed the Dharma name of Miao Zhen.

From then on she dutifully practiced the Pure Land teachings everyday, reciting the Sutra of Amitayus in the morning & Ksitigarbha Sutra in the evening. After Chen returned to China, she became vegetarian & even set up an altar in her office for her chanting. Her gentle devotion to the Dharma also moved her husband, such that he too became a Buddhist.

But it was not until last year that Chen decided to take a step further. She contracted breast cancer & by the time it was discovered, it was already at an advanced stage. Struck by a life-threatening disease in her middle-age, she finally gained a powerful realization of impermanance; though she had a happy married life and great wealth, yet all the money in the world could not save her from the Lord of Death. So Chen decided to not to fight her cancer but rather put all her energies to purifying her own mind through intensive Amitabha recitation. She made a vow that if she could somehow survive, she would renounce the worldly life and devote herself to propagating the Dharma.

True enough, Chen managed to pull through without any chemo-therapy. She did have treatment by Chinese medicine, but the cancer still gave her a lot of pain. Despite the pain she had gathered enough mental strength to fufill her vow, which was to become a Buddhist Nun. And so on the 6th day of the Chinese New Year, with the support of her husband and her family, she went through with the ordination ceremony at the Xinlong Monastery in Changchun, China. Now she is known as Ven Bhikkuni Miao Zhen. Her faithful husband will also follow in her footsteps and become a monk in Shenzhen after settling all their assets.

The fact that Chen developed a heart of faith immediately after listening to the Dharma for the first time in 1999 shows that she had cultivated good roots for many lifetimes. Like a fertile seed within her mind, it came to fruitition upon meeting the right conditions in this life. Most of the ordinary people will just hear and forget if they were in her situation, like pouring water into a leaking urn. But not Chen, as her karma is already ripe for receiving the Dharma.

Whenever old age or illnesses befall us, foolish people will think how tragic it is to lose their strength, & wallow in self-pity. Only the wise see that these signs of decay are really Devaduta - divine messengers proclaiming the truth of Anicca (Impermanance), Anatta (Not-self) & Dukkha (Suffering) to us. They remind us not to waste time indulging in sensual pleasures anymore; prompt us to seek the Dharma & to reach the doors of the deathless. Will you take heed? Or will you rather be heedless and suffer in the future? That is the challenge they present to us everyday. Just like when Prince Siddharta witnessed the 4 sights, they inspired him to give up his family & kingdom to seek the Truth. In the case of Chen, her cancer was not bad karma as most people might be conditioned to think; it was in fact the catalyst that awakened her true potential. Without it she might not have gained the determination to let go of all her fame, wealth & love; which although provides us with temporary happiness, they are also the things that bind us to the wheel of samsara life after life. As sure as the Sun will rise in the East, Chen will be able to gain liberation in her remaining life & be reborn in Amitabha's Pure Land. Let us rejoice for her.

Year of the Pig 2007

The Classic of History say:

"When Heaven creates calamity,
There is still hope to be forgiven;
But if you yourself create calamity,
There is no hope of escape."

The Year of the Pig has arrived once again. This year belong to the heavenly stem & earthly branch of Ding Hai. Contrary to popular belief, this year is not the Golden Pig, but belongs to the Fire Pig, because the heavenly stem of Ding in under the element of Fire. According to the Tongsheng (Traditional Chinese Almanac) forecast, this year will be one of abundance in crop harvest. The Earth Mother Scripture says:

"Sowing in Summer one encounters thirst in Autumn,
The harvest in Autumn comes to 80 percent;
Plagues will be rampant among the people,
And the livestock will face great difficulty;
The joy of the silk women would be in vain,
For although the silkworms are many,
Yet they do not form cocoons."

So although agricultural nations can expect a good harvest, they will encounter drought in autumn. And for silk farmers, they will not be able to get much silk this year since the silkworms will be many yet unproductive.

One important thing to note is the mention of plagues among men & animals. Coincidentally, the annual Flying Stars movement chart also foretell of such problems. This year the 2 Black Star have taken central placing, whereas the 5 Yellow Star have shifted to the Northeast. These are the unlucky stars that bring trouble for Man. 2 Black is the Star of Pestilence & 5 Yellow is the Star of Plague or Calamity. Thus we might expect a virus outbreak in the central & northeast regions of the world. The "world" can mean China, Asia, or perhaps even the globe. Bird Flu is a likely candidate since it continues to plague many regions in Asia, but new viruses mutations are also possible. We should also not forget the year 2003, where the 5 Yellow Star was in the Southeast, corresponding to the SARS outbreak in Southeast China (Guangdong province) & Southeast Asia (Singapore). Will history repeat itself this year? The wise knows that precautions need to be taken no matter how things turn out.

Whenever plagues bring calamity to Man, the root cause can always be traced back to his negative karma of killing. In the case of SARS, it was the indiscriminate killing of civet cats & other wild animals in Guangdong that led to the birth of that terrible virus. In the case of Bird Flu, it was the inhumane killing of fowl that caused it to spread to human beings. Once every few years, the collective karma of all these killing will reach a boiling point, erupting into a new virus outbreak against Man. In reality the stars do not give us disaster, but we give ourselves disaster. The unlucky stars are merely a reflection of the bad karma we create by not observing the 5 percepts of refraining from killing, theft, sexual misconduct, false speech & intoxicants. But history reveals that often it is the sin of killing that bears negative fruits in the swiftest time.

Therefore if we really want to avoid suffering, we must stop taking lives & cultivate compassion towards all sentient beings. Although vegetarianism is optional in Buddhism, even though we need not give up eating meat in our Dhamma practice, we must always observe the 4 rules of pure consumption, namely:

1. Not to eat if one sees the animal being killed.

2. Not to eat if one hears the animal being killed.

3. Not to eat if the animal is killed specially for you.

4. Not to eat if the animal is reared by yourself.

If we can observe these 4 rules, then we would not create negative karma in our daily dietary needs. If we can be vegetarian, that is even better; but depending on physical conditions, not everyone can adjust to a completely vegetarian diet. That is why the Buddha recommended flexiblity on this point. The most important teaching to remember is to have compassion for animals in the same way as humans. Do not do unto them what we would not do unto ourselves. To refrain from killing as well as to observe the rest of the 5 percepts is the true path to happiness. If we observe the percepts as though our lives depended on them, then no plagues or calamities can ever befall us, sadhu.

The Original Face

What is the Original Face? It is the face all of us have before our parents gave birth to us. Before we even have the 6 sense organs of eyes, ears, nose, tounge, body & brain to perceive the 6 sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, feeling & thought. Before we even know good & evil, happiness & suffering, samsara & nirvana. Simply the pure awareness untainted by all 6 senses - that is the real YOU. That is also me, that is also all sentient beings & all Buddhas. This is the Dharma that the 6th Patriarch revealed to his pursuer Hui Ming on Da Yu mountain. By temporarily shutting down your 6 sense organs and blocking out the 6 sense objects, by abandoning duality, what is left at that instant is your true nature. Like the still lake without a single ripple, or like the clear blue sky without a single cloud; the original face is vast, limitless, formless & completely free. It is not dull nothingness like an unconscious person, but a living, unmoving awareness that pervades all things, yet remaining unaffected by all things. Besides this, there is no other esoteric teachings that the Buddha & the Patriarches can impart to us.
But alas, for all of us, after we have picked up a physical body in our mother's womb, we have totally forgotten our original face. We started to grasp on to our sense organs, believing that to be our Self, our Ego. This is where the ignorance without a beginning - Avijja takes over. When our sense organs contact the sense objects, we instinctively allow the objects to enslave the organs, such that craving & aversion developes without an end, engulfing the entire universe. From Avijja arises craving & aversion, & from craving & aversion arises endless suffering.
Thus realizing this, the Zen practitioner should, in a single thought understand his or her own mistake, & immediately detach oneself from one's senses & its objects from within. Throwing away all concepts, directly penetrate the veil of Avijja & recover your original face. This is the common hope of all Buddhas & Patriarches for all sentient beings. Let none of us dissappoint them, sadhu.

Is Pure Land more practical than Zen?

There are some Pure Land teachers who claim that in this Dharma Ending Age, you can only hope to acheive result through Amitabha recitation. They believe that seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is the only reliable way of transcending Samsara. All the other Mahayana schools, especially Zen, only works for the ancients, who have greater aptitude & determination than any modern person. They say there are almost no enlightened Zen masters left in the world today, whereas there are still thousands of Pure Land practitioners who have achieved rebirth there. So this is a proven method with live examples that we should all follow. What are we to make of this kind of rhetoric?
Chan Master Ven Xuyun had this to say:

"For those who have attained enlightenment, all Dharmas are universally penetrating. Zen contemplation is the Way, Buddha recitation is the Way, even mundane chores like digging the soil is the Way. In my whole life I have never discouraged anybody from recitation, but I'm not happy with those people who discourage others from contemplation."

There are 84,000 methods that lead to enlightenment; no one path is superior to another. Zen is Zen & Pure Land is Pure Land, what good does it do to put down one in order to elevate the other? Saying that the ancients are superior to modern men is self-defeating talk. Although people of the present have much more distractions then those of the past, but in terms of intelligence, didn't modern men built airplanes, bullet trains, satellites, super computers, sky-scrapers & spaceships that could land on the moon? If we talk about the kleshas, the mental defilements that affect sentient beings are the same for all men, no matter whether they lived in the past, present or future. Just go through the Sutta Pitaka & you will realize that some of the Buddha's followers have even worse obstacles than we do, but that did not stop them from eventually reaching enlightenment in one lifetime. So why should we look down on ourselves & give up before we have even made a good effort?

As for saying that there are no more enlightened Zen masters left in the world; who then is Ven Xuyun? Who is Ven Yuexi? Are they Pacceka (Solitary) Buddhas who attain enlightenment on their own? Surely not. They too learned from other enlightened masters in their younger days. The fact is that the Chan lineage in China was never broken. The heart transmission of Zen carries on, generation after generation from the 6th Patriarch up to this day. The same could be said for the Zen lineages in Korea, Japan & elsewhere. Those who say that there are no more people who achieved result from Zen contemplation are surely misguided or misinformed.

Regarding the claim that many practitioners who practiced Amitabha recitation achieved rebirth in the Pure Land, with auspicious signs to prove, I believe that there is nothing wrong with that. These serve as inspirations for those inclined to practice the Pure Land teachings. However, at no point should anybody make use of these stories to put down other schools & propogate Pure Land as the only method that works! The scriptures say:

"Virtuous One, concepts of superiority & inferiority exist in your own mind. They are not in accordance with the Buddha's wisdom."

A truly wise teacher will not only encourage people to practice the method of his own school, but at the same time he should also praise the merits of the other schools without any discrimination. Only in this way the teacher can be in accordance with the Buddha's wisdom & ensure the long-term harmony of His Sasana, sadhu. Happy Chinese New Year 2007 to all!

Huang Bo's instruction to the dying man

Ven Huangbo Xiyun (776 - 856 CE), a native of Fuzhou in Fujian province, is one of the great Chan masters of the Tang Dynasty. He is also the teacher of Ven Linji Yixuan, founder of the Linji (Rinzai) school of Chan Buddhism. His teachings, recorded in 2 books, "The Dharma Essence of Chan Master Huangbo's Heart Tranmission" & "Wanling Records of Chan Master Huangbo", have a far-reaching influence on Chan or Zen practitioners up to this day.

Huangbo had this to say for instructions to a dying person:

"If an ordinary man, when he is about to die, could only see that -
The 5 aggregates & the 4 elements as void and not Self;
The True Mind as formless and neither coming nor going;
His nature as something neither beginning at his birth nor ceasing at his death, but as perfect and unmoving in its very core;
His mind and its projections as One --
If he could thus enter straight into sudden enlightenment, he would no longer be entangled by the 3 Realms and become a World Transcender.
One should not even have the faintest tendency towards rebirth.
If you should behold the glorious vision of all the Buddhas coming to receive you, surrounded by every kind of auspicious manifestations, you should feel no desire to follow them.
If you should behold all sorts of horrific forms surrounding you, you should also experience no fear. Simply forget your own mind and become one with the Dharmakaya, gaining absolute freedom.
This is the essential principle."

How should we understand this? It means that a person, whether living or dying, must come to the realization that our entire physical & mental world is totally illusionary. The true mind is like a movie screen. The elements, aggregates, sense organs, its objects, & our consciousness; all these are movie images projected onto the screen. These moving images tells all sorts of stories, some happy, others sad, some long, some short, but all coming to an end at some point of time. But the screen? It simply remains as a screen no matter how many movies have been projected onto it. Since time immemorial, this screen has always remained the same for all Buddhas & sentient beings alike. However, due to the obstruction of Avijja, sentient beings never see the screen itself, only the movies on the screen. They believe these ever-moving series of images to be their self, their life, their only reality. Death is like the short intermission between one movie & the next. At this point where all images dissolve temporarily, it is the easiest to see the movie screen, provided one possesses the Right View.

Therefore the Chan practitioner must cultivate Right View & let it be permanantly carved into one's mind. Even if you do not reach enlightenment in this life, it will surely guide you to enlightenment when you recall it at the moment of death.

The Legend of Phra Sai & Ong Tue

I just returned from a trip to Udon Thani around a week ago. While I was there I went to the various famous & not so famous temples in Udon, as well as Nong Khai. In Nong Khai there are 2 important temples, Wat Pho Chai & Wat Si Chompu Ong Tue. They house the 2 principal Buddha images of the province, LP Phra Sai (灵感佛) & LP Phra Chao Ong Tue respectively.
Wat Pho Chai is located just outside the Nong Khai town. The gold image of LP Phra Sai is in the posture of subduing Mara. The lap width is 28 inches while the height is 41 inches. This sacred Buddha image has been enshrined since the establishment of the province. The history of this image relates to many parts of Thai history but it is unclear when it was cast or who cast it. Prince Damrong Rachanuphap speculated on its origin in a book called "Histories of Important Buddha Statues", which was published and distributed in a royal kathina ceremony in the year 1925. Prince Damrong thought that LP Phra Sai was cast in the Lan Chang Kingdom in Laos. According to legend, 3 princesses were the people who caused the images to be casted. Another legend gives us more details. It goes like this:
King Chaiyachetthathirat's had 3 daughters named Serm, Suk, and Sai. They had the unanimous wish of casting their own personal Buddha images. They then asked their father for support, thus leading to the king's command to cost three Buddha images having different sizes according to their ages, the oldest having the largest image. They were named accordingly, Phra Serm for the oldest and largest, Phra Suk for the middle sister and second largest size, and Phra Sai for the youngest and smallest image. They were to be cast in an alloy of gold & bronze, a virtually impervious metal and a difficult one to mix. It required very high temperature to get the metal smelted enough to pour and although the Monks and Novices worked full time at the bellows for seven days and nights they still couldn't raise enough heat. On the eighth day the Monks were exhausted at noon when a white robed figure appeared and offered to take over the work. The Monks and Novices thankfully retired to take a break and eat. More white robed figures appeared to assist the first and when the Monks and Novices returned from their meal break and rest, prepared to take up the task of smelting again, the white robed figures were nowhere to be seen. They had disappeared as mysteriously as they had arrived - the metal was melted and ready to pour into the moulds!
The 3 Buddha images were in Vientiane until 1778, when the man who was to become King Rama I of Thailand went to Laos. He removed the images to Vientiane en route to Thailand taking the son of the Laos King with him as a future son-in-law (hostage) for safety and returned to Bangkok. The son-in-law, Chao Anu Wong, survived Rama I, Rama II and in the reign of King Rama III the King of Laos died. King Rama III then sent Chao Anu Wong back to Laos to take over the throne but the Laos people and his relatives persuaded him to declare independence for Laos. Subsequently King Rama III sent an army, led by his Commander in Chief to wage war against the rebellious Laos. He won and Chao Anu Wong was killed. The 3 Buddha images were then taken by raft on the Mekong river to Thailand.
The Phra Sai Katha is shown above. It goes:
Namo Tassa (3x)
Arahang Buddho Bodhijayo Seyyakuno
Bodhisatto Mahalabho Piyang Mak Mak
Bhavantuno Hotu Sappatha.

During the journey a storm capsized one of the rafts but the Buddha images were retrieved, until a second storm hit them and the image of Phra Suk sank through the bottom of the raft to the Mekong riverbed at Wern Pra Sook, Nong Kong Village. There it lies to this day, off the shore of Phon Phisai District in Nong Khai. The two remaining Buddha images were taken one to Wat Ho Klong and the other to Wat Po Chai until King Rama V ordered them brought to Bangkok. They were to be taken by buffalo cart but Phra Sai refused to leave and no matter what they tried. The buffalo cart could not sustain the weight and continuously broke down. So Phra Sai remained at Wat Po Chai while the remaining one, Phra Serm, was transported to Bangkok where it now resides at Wat Pa Tum Wanaram at Siam Square, behind the World Trade Centre. On every full moon day of the 7th lunar month the people of Nong Khai celebrate Pho Soi by having "Bun Bong Fai", the rocket flying ceremony at Wat Po Chai in honour of LP Phra Sai.

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Wat Si Chompu Ong Tue is in Tambon Nam Mong, Amphue Tha Bo, 43km from Nong Khai town. LP Phra Chao Ong Tue is the largest Buddha image in the province. It was also believed to be casted by Lan Chang artisans using an alloy of gold, bronze & silver. This image is in the posture of subduing Mara, having a lap width of 3.3m, & a height of 4m. The word "Tue" is an ancient measuring unit of Isan, equivalent to 1 ton.
LP Ong Tue is considered very sacred just like Phra Sai. There are no reliable records as to when it was cast, though it is believed to have been casted in 1562. King Chaiyachettha, the ruler of Vientiane (who was a son of Phraya Sinsuwan, born in Muang Wiang Khuk), commanded the casting for his wife, Queen Si Chompu (a villager of Ban Nam Mong or Muang Chompu).
The casting process was not successful until Indra, king of the gods & 108 Devadas came to help. The total time spent for the casting was 7 yrs and 7 months, at the expense of 400,000 baht. There is an annual paying homage festival to LP Ong Tue on the full moon day of the 4th lunar month every year.

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At both temples I did not hesitate to invite buchas of the 2 Buddha images back to Singapore. I've placed them in my office altar in replacement of the 2 small LP Tuad images, which I brought home.
This is the 3-inch brass bucha of LP Phra Sai. See how refined it is! The casting is beautiful indeed. The image of Phra Sai gives off a strong aura, & is not called 灵感佛 or the "Buddha of Inspiration" for nothing. The Phra Sai katha to be chanted is shown in one of the photos above. And this is the 3-inch Nawa bucha of LP Ong Tue. Somewhat different from the original Ong Tue image, but a good piece of Buddhist art nevertheless. The bronze is also of high quality. So those are the modifications to my office altar after I came back from Udon. Feel free to give me your comments.

Flesh Body Buddha

Recently there was a report of an undecaying body of a monk in Lingquan Monastery, Anyang, Henan province of China. The monk's name is Wu Yunqing and he had passed away in 1998, but his body remains intact 8 yrs later. One of his disciples in Anyang, a certain Su Huaren spreaded the rumour that the Master was 160 yrs old at the time of death. However this has been refuted by the villagers who came from the hometown of Master Wu. They verified that he is around a more believable 102 yrs old.

Master Wu's body has since been put up in a crystal casket for display & veneration. Tickets to the monastery has been raised to 20 RMB, worthy of a tourist attraction. The disciple Su unashamedly used the body as an advertisement for the "Longevity Nei-dan Chi-gong" course that he is conducting for 280 RMB. Regarding the undecaying state of the body, a doctor from the Chinese Medicial College in Henan suspected it was preserved with formalin because the colour of the body is consistent with that kind of "treatment". But he is not able to verify it as the monastery people do not allow anybody to examine the body up close.

I tend to believe that it is not a real undecaying body, for after seeing the undecaying body of LP Tong in Thailand, as well as in other places, I have little doubt that Master Wu's body is a more likely to be a well-preserved mummy. In any case, putting up the body, which is merely a stinking sack of skin for worship as though it is the Buddha is inconsistent with the true teachings. The Buddha is not to be found in a corpse, undecaying or otherwise. He is only to be found in our own mind. The same could be said for holy relics. The relics of the illusionary body are easy to see, like seeing form relfected in a mirror. But the true relics, the relics of the Dharmakaya are hard to see indeed, as hard as trying to catch the moon in a lake. Worthless is the pursuit of outer forms for enlightenment. What more for trying to preserve it with Taoist chi-gong in life, & with formalin in death? Verily, that foolish man Su is a corpse-horder who puts his Master to shame.

My Office Altar

Recently I've decided to set up a simple altar in my office cubicle, so I can venerate the Triple Gems on a daily basis. As it is an air-con room, I don't put any kind of offerings except for a glass of drinking water, which I change every Thursday - the Day of Teachers. Fortunately, none of my colleagues seem to mind the Buddhist art on display. The main images of this altar consist of: 1) A bronze 5-inch bucha of Shakyamuni Buddha seated in the full lotus position and showing the "Vitarka Mudra" (gesture of discussion or transmission) with his right hand. There's a story on how I found this bucha, but I shall talk about it later.
2) A bronze 3-inch bucha of LP Tuad in a seated in a half-lotus position & holding an orb. There's also a King Cobra encircling his seat. Sharp eye readers would know this a the signature LP Tuad image from Wat Pako in Songkhla. I got this bucha on my 2nd trip there last year (2006).

3) 2 small 1.5-inch mini buchas (meant for putting in cars) of LP Tuad flanking the main Buddha image. The one on the left is from Wat Changhai, the place where LP Tuad attained enlightenment, & the one on the right is from Wat Saikow, where Ajarn Nong resided. Both temples are in Pattani.

4) 2 wooden Elephants & 2 jade Pixiu flanking LP Tuad, serving as protectors.

Yup that's basic setup. Feel free to give me your comments.

Regarding the main Buddha bucha, I actually found it months ago lying on the road being sold by an old man in the Sungai Rd flea market. It immediately caught my eye as it was totally different from most of the other poorly made Buddhist images found there. As you can see the casting was detailed, well defined & proportionate - a masterpiece of Buddhist art. I knew in my mind that this was the Chiang Saen - Lanna style of Buddha images to be found in Northern Thailand, but I did not know the name of this image or the temple that it might have come out from. How such a great bucha end up being sold in such a dirty & undignified state was a mystery to me. Without a second thought I decided to "rescue" it from the flea market. I bargained with the old man and took it at a real affordable price.

At home I meticluously cleaned the bucha, but found that the cement stuffing under the bucha crumpling in a few places. Unperturbed, I wrapped it up with a cloth bag, and on the very next day carried it to the Burmese Temple at Ah Hood Rd to let a Venerable there to conduct a consecration. Only then did I took it back to my office & place it on my cabinet. Although that settled the bucha, in my mind I was still eager to find out its origins.
It was only until yesterday (7.1.2007) that I realized where it came from. While surfing a tourism website of South Thailand http://thailand.sawadee.com/south_of_thailand/index.html
I saw that it was a replica of the famous "Phra Buddha Taksin Mingmongkon" statue in Wat Kaokong, Narathiwat province! Located 6 km away from town, on the Narathiwat-Rangae Road, this large seated Buddha image is covered with golden mosaic tiles, 24m high and measures some 17m from knee to knee. A magnificent object of veneration indeed!
The temple used to be visited by many tourists, but since the terrorist insurgency began in the South a couple of years ago, it has become quite deserted. However, it is precisely due to the atmosphere of fear pervading the whole region that the significance of this Buddha becomes more striking. With all the bombs exploding here & there, & with so many innocent people getting killed; yet the Buddha continues to sit there calmly, transmitting the Dhamma to all beings who still come to take refuge. Do you see the powerful contrast of imagery there? The fact that I came to obtain a bucha of Phra Buddha Taksin reveals the karmic affinity I have with this Buddha.

Strangely enough, I've also discovered that I'm linked to Amoghasiddhi Buddha of the Vajradhatu Mandala during a recent Kagyud blessing ceremony conducted by the 17th Karmapa. Amoghasiddhi Buddha, green in colour, is also portrayed as seated & showing the Vitarka Mudra, exactly like Phra Buddha Taksin. In the Vajradhatu, he represents the all accomplishing wisdom of the Dharmakaya. How does all these events link up with me?

Although I do not see the complete picture now, but inspired by this affinity, I've vowed to visit Wat Kaokong in Narathiwat once the situation in the region becomes more stablized. As difficult as it is, I do sincerely pray that the terrorists in the South will eventually give up the butcher's knife & make peace with the Thai government. Sadhu.

Naga or Oarfish?

Last Saturday (30.12.2006) Malaysia's Mun Sang Poh paper did a report on a strange Naga like creature caught by fishermen at Pantai Remis on Dec 15th, about 70km from Ipoh. The 2.1m long fish has such a strong resemblance to the mythical creature that the fishermen who hauled it up was reluctant to identify themselves for fear of it bringing bad luck. However they were eventually identified, as shown in the photo below.They had originally intended to send its body to a taxidermist for preservation, but called off the idea under advice from a village medium. Instead they were instructed to return the "Naga" carcass to the sea, which they dutifully complied. Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming said that according to local superstition, the fish was one of the "family members" of a Sea Naga King. "If you kidnap the Sea Naga King's children, you are looking for trouble," he said. The fishermen so deeply believed in this theory that they even turned down a RM50,000 offer to part with the dead creature!
This type of "Naga", which has "dragon whiskers", red dorsal fins and a long, silvery body, is actualy an Oarfish (Regalecus russellii). The rare oarfish is reputed to be the longest of bony fishes in the world. It is not surprising that the fishermen know nothing about it, because oarfish seldom come to the surface of the sea. They only do so when they are sick or dying. Many other legends are woven up surrounding the capture of a Naga-like oarfish. People say that this kind of creature was seen beached before the Tsunami disaster happened 3 yrs ago. Incidentally, this oarfish was also caught before the recent earthquake in Sumatra. So there is definitely some link between seismic movements on the seabed & the sighting of oarfish. Some people also believe that the massive floods in Johor 2 weeks ago was due to the Sea Naga King's anger over the death of one of his children. Using his elemental powers, the Naga King caused a mighty storm in revenge, flooding the entire state of Johor. Could the floods be linked to the oarfish as well? Unlikely, as Johor is too far from Pantai Remis & it would be hard to build any relation between the 2 events.
This story also brings to mind this widely circulated photo in Thailand, supposedly of the "Queen of Nagas seized by American Army at Mekhong River, Laos Military Base on Jun 27 1973". The creature seen in the photo is also an oarfish, but it is much bigger than the one caught in Pantai Remis. This oarfish is 7.8m long! There is also a legend surrounding this picture saying that those soldiers shown in the photo had all died as a result of the bad karma caused by killing a Naga. But the myth has been debunked some time ago. This photo was identified by one of the guys in it - 30 yr old Andy Z. According to Andy this was taken on Sep 19 1996 at the Naval Special Warfare Center, Coronado, California. "We were on our morning physical fitness run," Andy recalls, "when we came across this huge fish lying on the sand." At 23 feet in length and 4 feet in circumference, it was quite a shocking sight for the Navy SEAL cadets. Not suprisingly, the photo has been modified in Thailand to make the oarfish more convincing as a real Naga.

The Buddhist point of view is that it is not possible for ordinary humans to see real Nagas or their children for that matter, for they are a race of serpent-like demi-gods with bodies much more subtle than any human or animal. Given their powers it is impossible for a man to catch them. They can shape-shift at will and often appear in a human form when speaking to the Buddha or his Noble Ones. Thus only those meditators with divine eye can perceive these beings. But if we think of oarfish as their closest looking servants, then we have an idea what their true form resembles. As for the earthquakes and floods in Malaysia and Indonesia, they are not caused by the Nagas or their servants, but by the collective karma of the sentient beings in the respective regions. Know that natural phenomena and the mental state of beings are deeply related. The more impure our minds are, the more disasters we will experience. But if we can return the mind to it original purity, peace & protection will always be by our side.