Issue 288

Food and drink spirits. They govern people’s daily allowance of food and drink, be it just one mouthful of water, one piece of fruit or one kind of food. If you believe it, they do exist; if you do not believe it, they still exist but you just don’t know about it. It is a stupid idea to say that it does not exist because you don’t believe it. Whether or not you believe there is such a spirit, it exists.

There was a person named Duan Zheng Yuan in Beijing. People called him Master Duan. He met such a person – one who governed the daily food and drink allowance of people, e.g. the amount of food, water, alcohol, sugar for consumption. But, how did he govern it? He slept every day. His father was a commander or some sort of officer of that rank, with 400 or 500 people under him. This son of his, around 20-30 years old, did no work but slept all day. The father was furious, thinking, “I am already 50-60 years old and I have to work to provide for you. You’re in your twenties-thirties but you do not bother to do any work for sustenance. What use are you to the world?” He could not help but scold his son.

His son said, “You are an officer in the human realm; I am an officer in the underworld.” “What kind of an officer are you in the underworld?” “I allot the amount food and drinks each person takes every day.”

His father said, “What nonsense are you saying? People’s food intake has to be allotted? That does not make sense! Tell me what I am going to eat tomorrow. Let’s see what you’ll allot to me.”

“Please wait a bit. I will tell you after my sleep. Right now, I do not know yet.” His father was so angry, “Ridiculous! You allot my food?!” When his son woke up, his son told him, “Tomorrow, you will not have any rice to eat.” The father howled with laughter, “A high-ranking officer like me has no rice to eat?! Tell me what will I be eating?” His son said, “Tomorrow, you will only have one rotten egg and half a bowl of spoiled congee. That is your food for tomorrow.” “As rich and powerful as I am, how can I possibly end up eating only rotten and spoiled food?”

Early the next morning, he hurriedly butchered chickens and ducks, prepared fish and meat, making a lot of delicious food. When he was about to eat, he received an order from his superior, commanding him to immediately go suppress some bandits somewhere. There’s not a second to spare. Leaving all the cooked food untouched, he rushed off to beat the bandits. It was an intense combat. Both sides fought fiercely. After half a day of battle, the bandits were beaten and chased away.

They did not have food to eat. Finally, they found a family to ask for food. It happened to be the poorest family who had nothing to eat. After searching for a long while, they found neither rice, noodles nor vegetables. They only found one rotten egg and half a bowl of spoiled congee, which were intended for the mother who had just delivered her baby. Nonetheless, the family was willing to give up the food for the commander.

The commander was so hungry and immediately ate what he got. Since his subordinates were not waiting for sumptuous dishes to eat that morning, they had eaten their fill before the battle. The commander was the only one who had not eaten anything. After eating the rotten egg and half a bowl of congee, he remembered what his son told him the day before. What he ate today was exactly what his son said. From then on, he knew that his son was indeed an officer in the underworld, so he let his son be. This is about a food and drink spirit.

Grass and wood spirits. Grass has grass spirits. Woods has wood spirits. Trees have tree spirits. Trees stand erect. In Southern Jambudvipa, there is a king of trees. It is the most gigantic tree. When trees are big, they become villages for ghosts and spirits; they become the dwelling places of ghosts and spirits. Ghosts and spirits rely on these trees as their abode. Without these trees, they will suffer. They enjoy themselves living in these trees. Hence, big trees are called villages for ghosts and spirits.

During the period of the Three Kingdoms, there was a big tree that people called the mystical tree. However, Cao Cao did not believe in tree spirits. He went to the extent of having the tree chopped down. Thereafter he experienced constant headaches. Later on, he requested the renowned physician, Huatuo, to cure him. The reason for his malady was that he had offended the tree spirit. It is stated in the Four Divisions Vinaya that bhikshus are prohibited from chopping down any large tree because there are ghosts and spirits dwelling there. For instance, in Nan Hua Monastery, there was a camphor tree that requested to receive the precepts from Elder Master Hsu Yun. A gingko tree likewise requested precepts from Elder Jin Shan of Nan Yu. There have been many occurrences in which tree spirits requested to receive the precepts. It is an inconceivable phenomenon.

Earlier, I told you that spirits exist whether or not you believe. Common people say that if you believe in their existence, then they exist; otherwise, they don’t. However, here is the case in which they exist whether or not you believe. To illustrate, let’s take gold mines. Regardless of whether you know it or not, believe it or not, gold mines exist underneath the ground. When you believe that there are spirits, you know they exist. When you do not believe that there are spirits, it means you do not know of their existence; it does not mean that they do not exist. It means that you basically do not have the knowledge and wisdom of knowing their existence. Hence, we should not simply follow people’s mistaken perception.

And other such spirits. There are many spirits in addition to the aforementioned ones. From the Saha and other worlds came and gathered together at the Trayastrimsha Heaven to listen to the Buddha speak the Dharma.

There have been many natural and manmade disasters occurring in San Francisco now. Most recently, a typhoon killed more than 90 people in the disaster area. This kind of disaster occurs because living beings’ evil karma ripened. Someone said that in May of last year, seismologists predicted earthquakes. Thence, I issued a guarantee that as long as I am in San Francisco, there will be no earthquakes. But if I am elsewhere outside of San Francisco, I will not bother. I do not want to fall into the ocean because of earthquakes; nor do I want people around me to fall over into the ocean. Why? I do not want to see the dragon king. I do not want to be friends with the sea spirit with eight heads, eight legs and 18 tails. Out of the eight heads, four are of male features and four are of female features. One body with eight heads of four couples is very strange. It does things strangely too; it is very special. I do not want to deal with it. I do not want to let people who stay with me see it. I am not being selfish, but nothing good will result from seeing it.

This year, someone told me that there will be earthquakes in March or April. With this prediction, will I be issuing another guarantee for this year? Well, what I said stays the same. Do not forget what I said last year – any day that I am in San Francisco, I guarantee there will be no major earthquakes, though minor problems are not included in the guarantee. During this Age when Dharma is on the decline, there are many natural and manmade disasters. I hope everyone will recite more the holy names of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva and Earth Treasury King Bodhisattva. This way, San Francisco will be firmly secured as Mt. Tai and will not have major problems.

In addition, all the great ghost kings from the Saha and other worlds came and gathered together. They were the Ghost King Evil Eyes, the Ghost King Blood Drinker, the Ghost King Essence and Energy Eater, the Ghost King Fetus and Egg Eater, the Ghost King Spreader of Sickness, the Ghost King Collector of Poisons, the Ghost King Kindhearted, the Ghost King Blessings and Benefits, the Ghost King Great Regard and Respect, and others.

In addition. Why “in addition”? It is because not only have so many Bodhisattvas, dragons and spirits of the eightfold division come to the Trayastrimsha Heaven, but there are also those from other lands. All the great ghost kings from the Saha and other worlds came and gathered together. Saha is Sanskrit for enduring with patience, meaning that living beings are able to bear such suffering. That is why it is called the Saha World. Other worlds refer to the lands of other Buddhas. We are not limiting ourselves to the Saha World.

All the great ghost kings. Most people associate all as many. I am different. How? I refer all not as “many” but as “few”, in fact, one. Some say I am wrong because all means many, not few, nor one. Yet, I like to regard it as one. Why? It is because I am really ignorant. I cannot remember when there are too many numbers. One is easy to remember, but two requires some thinking.