Narrated By Fellow Initiate Hu
Nantou, Formosa
Recorded By Resident Disciples, Hsihu Center, Formosa
After the initiation, the Taoist returned to the mountain and practiced diligently following the method given by Master. Once, while he was meditating, the manifestation form of Master came and told him: The husband of the fellow sister who lived in his village who just died would be brought to the Western Paradise. The Taoist asked, "Will Master personally visit her home?" Master waved Her hand. The Taoist asked further, "Then, how is he to be delivered?" Master said, "You just go and tell her my words."
The Taoist did relate Master's words to the fellow sister. He intentionally went back again on the way home and instructed the daughter and son-in-law of the fellow sister, "You ought to be on the lookout tonight. See if there is any bright light or gold light shining. My Master said that She is going to bring your father to the Western Paradise."
The result was totally unexpected. The one who saw Master was the four-year old granddaughter of the fellow sister. Observing the child waving her hands at the sky, the family asked her, "What are you doing?" "I am bidding farewell to grandpa!" "Grandpa is in his coffin. How can you bid farewell to him there?" Pointing innocently at a photograph of Master, the girl said, "She took grandpa's hand and flew in to the sky."
The next day, the fellow sister fetched the Taoist and in detail told him about the incredible happening of what her granddaughter had seen - Master bringing Her husband up to heaven. The Taoist opened the coffin and was shocked by what he saw. He remembered when he came to help at the time her husband just died and the corpse looked dark and ugly. Now it was entirely different. He was wearing a smile on his face, and looked healthy and pink, very serene, as if he were a living person who was only sleeping. That was really incredible! This fully affirmed Master's words: For initiated disciples, at least five generations of their family will be elevated.
Normally, he could always help people who came to him with strange problems or illnesses. Now that his wife was in trouble, he could do nothing about it. He was really frustrated. His relatives, even his doctor advised him to treat her as though she were dead, and bury her. However the Taoist was a loving husband, and could not forsake his beloved wife who had accompanied him all his life. Besides, he was a tough man who would not be defeated and who did not believe in destiny. He would not give up, and kept on meditating and praying constantly for Master's help.
Suddenly one day, his wife regained consciousness. He was very delighted and asked her, "Where have you been all these days? Why could I not find you anywhere?" She answered, "I went to a exciting and happy place. Having so much fun there, I didn't wish to come back. However, the manifestation form of "Your" Master eventually appeared and told me to come back. She also said, "You are not supposed to be here. You should go up there." I was reluctant at heart, but before I could say anything, She grabbed my arm and took me back. The Master may be small physically, but She is mighty! I struggled in vain, and then found myself awake here." The Taoist was very glad that Master had finally brought back his wife. (His wife was initiated later than him.)
Several months later, his wife started mumbling to him some strange instructions. For example, she would say, "Should I pass away, do not bury me. Cremate my dead body." Hearing her strange words, the Taoist realized that something was going to happen. However, he was mischievous. Pretending to be serious, he said to his wife, "I would definitely bury you if you were dead." She was so mad that she would not talk to him. After some time, she told him again, "You must put my cremated ashes in the cinerary pagoda nearby. The number is XX." During those days, because of these unusual statements, the Taoist continued to watch his wife carefully.
One morning, his wife was standing in the doorway as usual. Observing nothing abnormal, he went inside to get something. When he came out a few minutes later, his wife had disappeared. Feeling that something was wrong, he searched the neighborhood but could not find her. He immediately summoned help from his son, daughter and neighbors. However, his wife seemed to have evaporated. Using his magical power, he even asked for the help of the mountain gods and local deities, but there was no news.
After a few days, he reported the disappearance of his wife to the local police station. Usually, when mountain climbers got lost, the police would approach him to locate the missing individuals and he would always help. Therefore, the police officer in charge was very surprised and asked him, "You always help with others' problems, why can't you find your own wife?" The Taoist was equally baffled, and spent his days in sorrow and agitation.
He thought that perhaps his wife was not taken away by Master, so he went to the nether world to investigate. The gatekeeper there told him that his wife was not there. However, the Taoist was determined to search the nether world. On his second visit, the Earth Store Bodhisattva appeared to him and said, "Your wife has been initiated by an enlightened Master. How could she be here?" The Taoist would not listen, because he was longing to find his beloved wife. However, his search was to no avail. When he came to the nether world for the third time, the Earth Store Bodhisattva showed him a long face. Nevertheless, he didn't argue with the Taoist, observing that he was just about crazy in wanting to find his wife. He was allowed to enter and search again, but still there was no result. It happened that his wife had told her neighbor before her own death, "If I disappear one day, tell the Taoist that he does not need to look for me. He will never find me!" At the time of her disappearance, another woman passed by the Taoist temple and saw a gigantic lotus soaring up. She was thinking she had bad eyesight.
There was no trace of the Taoist's wife even after he searched for several months. Then one day when he was meditating, the manifestation form of Master told him, "Your wife is now in the Heavenly Lake Palace." The astral body of the Taoist went there immediately, and found his wife sitting crossed-leged in the palace. She just smiled and said nothing when she saw him. The Taoist was both delighted and angry. Delighted, because he finally found his wife. Angry, because she did not tell him that she had come here, making him search fruitlessly for several months. His first words were, "You came here without telling me, and made me search for you everywhere. I even went to hell many times. Why did you do this to me?" "I never knew you would be so stupid to search for me in hell. You knew very well that I wouldn't be there."
The Taoist asked, "It's strange! How did you hide yourself so that I could not find you?" His wife replied teasingly, "Are you not rich in magical powers, and very expert? Why couldn't you find me? Actually at home, I secretly learned a lot from your book 'Jimen Dunjia' (Taoist Magical Powers). I was using the 'invisible technique'. If it hadn't been for Master's help, you would never have found me." He then realized what had happened, and asked further about the whereabouts of her dead body. She said, "I am afraid that you will bury it, so I won't tell you now. When the flesh has completely rotted, you will find it naturally."
Sure enough, many months after his wife's disappearance, a police officer rushed to inform him one day, that a student who had been mountain climbing had found a corpse near the Taoist's house. The Taoist was asked to identify the body. Upon reaching the location, he saw a corpse sitting with crossed legs. All the flesh was rotten, except, there was one strange phenomenon: The flesh on her wrist was still perfectly intact. When she was alive, she had tied on her wrist a short string of chanting beads that had been given to her by Master, (Master gave her the beads before her initiation), together with a necklace bearing Master's portrait. Everyone who saw this remarked that it was a miracle.
A while later, a staff member from the cinerary pagoda came to have a look. He said that for decades, he had seen countless dead bodies in his profession, but that this was the first time he had seen such a strange thing. He persuaded the Taoist not to cremate the body, but instead to plate it with gold for people to worship. The Taoist answered that his wife especially instructed to have her body cremated and he would respect her decision. When he put the ashes into the pagoda after the cremation, the number was exactly the same as that mentioned by his wife.
As to the place the corpse was discovered, the Taoist and his son had searched there before and had even rested under a nearby tree. It was impossible for them to have missed the body. Even if they had been very careless, the smell of the putrefied body would have been hard to ignore. Incredible things do happen under the sun!