Guru's Talk

(From Book 155: The Brilliance of Moonlight)

I remember long ago, in one of my deep meditations, I found myself in a dimly lit realm.

Suddenly, I realized the extraordinary calmness of my surroundings. No doubt this calmness was cooling and refreshing to my soul, but also had an indescribable loneliness and sadness. This feeling expanded and enveloped the whole surrounding. While walking to and fro, I noticed that I was in a thick forest with trees and shrubbery everywhere. The big forest was dense with tall trees and I just could not get through it.

In between the tree leaves, the moonlight penetrated through. I saw the brilliance of the moon, the branches swaying, and the round moon illuminated every corner of the land. In the forest, the world became silver in color. The earth under the moonlight displayed the shadows of the trees and myself.

I tried to go through the forest, hoping to find a village or a town with people living in it, as it was too deserted. Not a soul was to be seen, nor my relatives, my children, or my disciples. Now who would listen to my Dharma teachings? To whom could I pass my well acquired wisdom of the inner realization and transmit my immaculate and pure Dharma Milk?

I found that my only companion was the moon. Under the brilliance of moonlight, I felt lonely. I just kept walking and trying hard to maintain the pace. Most of the trees were very old. Tree trunks were lying on the forest floor and parts of the tree branches were bare on the ground. Vines twined around the tree trunks. Some bark and inner bark layers were already rotten. It seemed that when I entered this forest, I would become like the old trees and would not be able to grow again. I was frightened to learn that. Was I dead? I pondered the subject of life, death, and transmigration. If these were the phenomena of death that would extend forever then it would be a matter of great fear!

Finally, from afar I saw faint light coming from a very little house. It was strange to find a little house in a forest with no sign of human habitation. Why was there a little house in a shrubbery full of entangled brambles?

I knocked on the door. Nobody answered.

The door was ajar; I walked in without making a noise.

The facilities inside the house were simple and very crude. On a small writing desk, there were some scattered papers and pencils. I was thinking that the owner of the house must have done a lot of writing. I opened the door of the bedroom and was greatly surprised.

A man was on the bed, in deep meditation.

The man opened his eyes, looked at me and said, "You have come!"

I asked, "Who are you?"

The man replied, "I am Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu."

My heart was pounding.

No, it couldn't be! I was the Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-yen Lu-how in the world had someone else proclaimed to be Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu? This was rather strange. How could there be two Living Buddha Lian-Sheng's, two Sheng-Yen Lu's?

I could not believe all this so I began to look closely at the person in front of me. He was not tall, a bit chubby, with features similar to mine, balding as well, and wearing a red lama robe.

I asked in a very impolite manner, "Hey! Who the hell are you? I am the real Sheng-Yen Lu!"

The man smiled and replied, "I am your future!"

"Future?" I was transfixed.

"Yes. The Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu will come to this thick forest, stay in this little house, and will spend his future life in the brilliance of moonlight.

"This..."

"This is the destiny of Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu."

"But this is unbearable loneliness," I said.

The man said, "Under the brilliance of moonlight, every moment, every movement, day and night, there will only be one lonely shadow. You will devote your pristine and pure life to the pursuit and attainment of liberation. Keep your due diligence and endeavor."

The man waved at me, and in spite of myself, I felt myself flying up and merging with the man's body. Two had become one.

Translated by Lorraine Choon

Edited by May Kwan & TBN

Proofread by Mimosa

Courtesy of Padmakumara Translation Team

Website: www.padmakumara.org

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