|
Dear friends,
Because of the sars we had to cancel the 2003 trip to China. But I went alone with my daughter, Claire. You
can read in her memo about her story, here are mine:
a. Rinpoche got an “American” lawnmower
Someone helped the Rinpoche get an “American” lawnmower. It was the old type as I used at home, but
mine is smaller. I saw four young men taking turns to cut the small sized lawn, and began to wonder why they
all seemed to have to push very hard to get the lawnmower going. So I tried it – my goodness!
“Are you sure this is from America?” I asked the Rinpoche, “I can push mine with
one hand to more lawn easily, but I cannot push top move yours even one step!” He responded,
“I was told it was an American machine!”
b. The X-Ray medical practitioner
A young X-Ray practitioner came from middle China and joined our group. I could tell that this young man was
a very kind man, but his behavior and the way he talked showed that he had some mental problem. He
could not stop talking fast when he started. One day when we were sitting around the Rinpoche in the yard
after dinner, this young man began talking again. I touched his shoulder, and said to him,
“I believe that when you can slow down when talking before you leave here, it will show that you have
achieved much!” Someone told me later that this was the second year this young man came here. The year before, his
condition was much worse than this. At the end of the second week before he left, this young man did change!
He looked much calmer and could talk almost in the normal way.
c. The magical healing mud
It was one day during the first week when we were staying in Rinpoche’s house. In the morning around six
o’clock, the high school teacher, Mr. Zhang knocked on our door, “We’re leaving!” Mr Zhang was calling Claire to get
up as they had planned the day before. But Claire was having a sudden headache and could not go. I had said
that I was not going because it would be too crowded in the van for eight people. Even six people going,
one still would have to stay in the back. The other reason that I didn’t plan to go was because of my age
- to climb a steep, high mountain for four hours might be difficult for me to catch up with this much younger
group. But after Claire said not going, I suddenly jumped out of my bed and asked Claire if she would be
all right if I go. She said she would be fine. So I ran to the car and joined the group – without washing
face and brushing my teeth.
The car was crowded. After two hours on the OK road the road condition became terrible. It was bumping all
the way. One time the car suddenly jumped so high and I heard a loud, “Peng!” – it was the tallest young
man’s head that was hitting on the roof! We found he was fine, and we all laughed. Among us there was a
young monk who became Rinpoche’s disciple when he was a young child. The rest of us were two communist
government local leaders, a high school teacher, Xiao Ding and I. We were going to a well-known spiritual
mountain, Mt. Maya (Mt. Horse Teeth). Mr. Zhang, the high school teacher told us that to visit this
mountain had been his wish for over ten years. He came from the big city, Lanzhou, to the Tiantan Monastery
each summer. He has been Rinpoche’s student for over ten years. Finally there was no more road for the car to go on.
We got out and began the climbing. The two communist members accompanied me and walked behind the younger
group. The most difficult part was to climb the steep area where the mountain sides were covered with small
loose rocks. I became way behind the others. I looked down, it was very deep, far from any safe spot. I
simply could not move forward. I felt once and a small skin on the back of my left hand was open and began
bleeding. It was a small-finger-nail-sized skin that was rubbed open. The blood colored my left cuff. The
young monk who was ahead of the group came down back for me. He told me to hold his hand and simply follow
his steps. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. I was surprised to feel that this tall, thin young man was
so strong! He was barely twenty years old, and he climbed the small, loose rocks up fast as a goat!
Finally we arrived the top of that mountain. The mountains looked quite different from the outside
appearance. They were beautiful! There were two lakes there and streams. The wind was strong. Mr. Ding took
us to a small cave, Cave Jigang Haimu (Heruga’s Wife – a female Buddha). He had been here twice. He told us
that the mud and rocks inside the cave contained rich minerals and had healing function. The cave could only
hold a couple of people and it was wet. I went in kneeld down on my knees, helped Ding pass the mud balls to
people who waited outside. While passing the mud I though about what Ding said, and thought that why not
applying some the red mud onto my hands. They might make my hands skin look younger… So I began to apply
mud to the backs of my hands and also to the injury while climbing the mountain.
In the evening we returned to Rinpoche’s home. The next morning, while washing face, surprisingly I saw
that there was no mark at all on my hand, where I had the small skin injury! It looked as if nothing had
happened to my hand! I ran back to the room and told my daughter what was going on, but she didn’t believe
it. I showed her the bloodstains that were still on my left cuff (until today they were still there as I
didn’t give them special treatment). At the breakfast table I showed my hand to all as
they all had seen my injury the day before. To today, I am still not quite sure why there was even no sign
at all on my hand. I remembered I did wash my face and hands before going to bed. However, as the light was
so weak that I didn’t pay attention to my hand. What happened to my injury? And, I feel physically not
tired at all.
However, there is something that I am sure: after each trip going there I feel the change – not only that
have I learn more, have I felt more cheerful about life, and felt stronger love for my life and the lives
of others.
|