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Master Hua
This a.m. Heng Sure started bowing alone. I meditated and had some writing to finish. When I caught up he was bowing on a traffic island below a sign "Welcome to Beverly Hills." I couldn’t find a parking space so I circled and came back. I noticed a woman on her knees next to and in front of him. "That’s neat," I thought, "she’s being moved to bow along." A closer look, however, exposed that dream. The woman was hassling and mocking Heng Sure, blocking his way and screeching. I was going to put on my robe but my alarm bells were ringing so I just grabbed my sash and ran (quick walk) over. As I approached, I "saw" and felt a lot more. It was heavy. About 50 years old, the woman was singing opera and pulling up her skirt while kneeling in front of Heng Sure, trying to break his recitation and concentration. He advanced, she made way and came again. As he was prostrated, she turned, pulled her dress above her waist (getting more and more agitated) doing obscene gestures over his head, trying to move him. She danced around, dressing and undressing, mocking, defiling, getting louder and more outrageous. A couple nearby watched in disbelief.
Intuitively what I felt and saw was: the woman was crazy i.e. not to be moved by reason or feeling--unpredictable and possessed, out of control. She wasn’t what she seemed and wasn’t alone. I could feel the bad vibes and sickness she emanated. Her colors were black, grey, off-blue. Her face was grotesque, contorted, asymmetrical, splotchy make-up and rouge. Her hair matted, wig-like. Her eyes were gone--no contact, glazed. I’ve seen these faces, felt these vibes many times working in mental hospitals. But this was different even than that. It’s hard to explain; it was really demonic. On the other hand, she was just a confused lady doing her thing. Still I felt more to it than that.
I had been reciting the Great Compassion Mantra since getting out of the van. Walking between her and Heng Sure, I threw my sash over my shoulders and took my regular position right behind him. She walked away, crossed the street and was gone. The Great Compassion Mantra, I’m sure, subdued her.
The other day when Heng Sure was bowing in front of the Cadillac dealership his awesome demeanor and sincerity struck me and also the salesmen inside. Together and upright, he looked like a perfectly aligned stack of coins. Today he still looked pretty good considering, but I saw a few coins out of place!
Two or three months ago Heng Sure had a vision of a demon woman lying down in front of him on the road. He moved left, she moved left; he moved right, she moved right-block and mocking. Today this vision came to him on the traffic island. "My only regrets are that I wasn’t totally clear; I moved a little. I didn’t have compassion. That would have been the way to deal with it. Instead I thought, "this is one I have to wait out--inconvenient."
"Welcome to Beverly Hills," just like the sign said.
An old lady with sparkling eyes came up wondering what we were doing. I explained briefly. She was impressed, "Golly you sure do have a big work. Good luck you, now."
Later she returned and I gave her a release. "Are there thousands of you?" she asked.
"No," I said, "Just two here, but many more at the monasteries." I could have said, "yes, thousands, tens of thousands in fact," but as usual I missed.
Then she asked, "Do you not get married."
"No," I said. "We don’t marry but we have a huge family—countless relatives, parents, brothers and sisters. And Buddhists don’t stop working until the whole family is happy and togther again." Too late, Heng Ch’au! Only seconds instead of minutes though--getting closer to being "right on time."
As she started to leave she began to say, "But you are so young not to marry…" instead she saw how happy we were and concluded, "Well, you are so happy, lots of luck to you."
I was waiting for the delivery man with bottled water to ask, "What are you doing?"
"Trying to put you out of a job."
"Huh?"
"Not really, but kind of. The reason you’re delivering bottled water is because of pollution. And water pollution begins with mind pollution. Clean up the mind, clean the water. Simple."
A upasaka stopped by to have us sign a form so we could use his Bank Americard. We politely refused saying that would be too easy. "To endure suffering is to end suffering. To enjoy blessings is to end blessings." Besides if we ran into trouble and had the card there would be no chance for other people to meet the Dharma and plant in the field of blessings. The card like the car insulates us from people. The car is unfortunately necessary. The card isn’t.
Winds are winds (ie. A problem) only if there are cracks for them to blow through. Seal the cracks, the winds blow but can’t move you, you move the winds.
A free lance photographer appeared to take pictures. "I’ll probably never see anything like this again in my life." If you’ve seen it once, you’ll see it again…
Q: "Are you American or Chinese?"
A: "Yes."
Q: "I mean I’ve seen some Chinese that tall (he indicates Heng Sure.)" A: "We’re Chinese, American, Swiss, Chicano, Martian, you." Q: "It must be rough--you guys have trouble finding motels at night?" A: "I forget; it really doesn’t matter. It’s all on the inside--the journey." Q: "Well, I’d like to give you some money to help." A: "It will be put to good use." He shakes hands and leaves.
There are some police, another photographer and businessmen talking and watching in a nearby doorway.
"Are you praying?"
"You’re kidding. All the way to Santa Monica on their knees like that?" And then some…
We took an hour off to do the ceremony for Shakyamuni Buddha’s Birthday in the Park.
Some lay disciples contacted the Beverly Hills police letting know of the trip and our route. They were really receptive. "Just call in for Lt. Zenter at night and let him know where you are parked--no problem." A number of officers were stopping and reading our release. Later that night as we were trying to find a phone to call in our location, we ran right into a squad car. It was one of the officers who had read the release. "We’ve been looking for you," he said. Turned out to be really friendly and it was an interesting exchange. He and the police woman with him were really interested in monastic life, training, the principle and especially how they apply to social problems, etc. "Are you related to the Krishnas?"
Us: "No."
Police: "What’s the difference?’
Us: "Day and night. But simply, we don’t hit people for money in airports."
Police: "Right! How do you get by?"
Us: "We don’t need much and if people offer money or things we accept, we don’t beg or ask. We don’t try to convert. Basically Buddhists believe that all the ills and problems, everything, starts with individuals--with the mind. If you want to really end suffering, crimes, and problems you have to clean up the source. It’s like in families. Kids learn from the parents and these kids pass it on to their children, etc. Now if the parents get their act together then there’s a lot of good folks. If they don’t you’ve got 25 or 30 people causing problems and suffering. Basically you clean up your own act first, not other’s first."
Police: "For sure." (nodding in agreement) "What did you do before?"
Us: "Slept; we were dreaming. Unlike a lot of other groups, Buddhists at Gold Mountain work hard. You don’t bounce in off drugs or whatever without having to clean up your act. You have to climb and use effort and actually be able to do the work of a nun or monk."
Police: "What do you do when you’re done?"
Us: "How many lifetimes will it take to be done!"
Radio: "Armed robbery at a gas station." They brace and stiffen. What a hard job! Constantly on the edge. Dealing with effects, never the source. Frustrating and dangerous. For those few minutes we all understood and respected each other and without saying it we sensed it. Real warm and genuine. All of us went away feeling refreshed.
Police: "We’ll give your location to the next shift."
Us: "Thanks. Hope you have a quiet night."
Man in Laundromat could have been me. Same build, coloring, life-style (once). When? When I was married and running fast and heavy the movie called "I’ll find Nirvana with Love." It was the thought (false) that ultimate truth and fulfillment was to be found in a one-to-one relationship, romantic love forever--trying to hang on and maintain the high of "new love." What always happened was--birth, dwelling, decay, and emptiness. Birth was new love. Dwelling was the living together. Decay, the realization that the ultimate wasn’t to be found here. Emptiness, the disappointment and void of separating.
Everything returns to the one--even the two (couple). And the one? Buddhas only show the way; you must talk it yourself.
The man in the Laundromat and his wife were in state three (decay). Both of them were looking out, hardly talking or glancing at each other. Looking depressed and waiting for the show to end. They kept stealing glances at us like maybe we had something to say that would break their spell, crack the bad dream. Lots of people here are looking, wondering if maybe someday this will all seem like a bad dream "when their ship comes in." They don’t know, don’t remember, that they are on their ship. Like the man frantically looking for his head because he could see everyone else’s but not his own.
As they languidly put their laundry in their Mercedes, they both kept looking at us, not disapproving, just expectantly; in no hurry to go back home.