Papa, I saw white shadows

On Dec 10 evening, I receive an SMS from Jack who is now a temple member.(Earlier accounts of Jack's encounter) He told me that her 6 years old daughter have been telling him that for the past few days she dreamt of ghost in her dreams. And also dreamt a white ghost sleeping next to her.

And according to him, the daughter cried while relaying her experience. He asked me to 'investigate' for him whether there is any truth in her story. Because Jack and his wife are now chanting certain Buddhas mantra in their daily practice. So for him, he cannot feel any spirit in his surrounding which is why he is suspicious of his daughter's story. Nevertheless, during this period, his daughter would 'stick' to them like glue whenever they are in the house. And she would feel miserable if left alone, when she is out of the house, she was instantly more cheerful.

I went into meditative stabilization the next morning and indeed saw what his daughter have seen or what she have dream. When I am conscious, I double check with my Metal Shell oracle and my Deities also confirmed my findings. Initially, I was thinking of maybe just remotely handling the 'case' for Jack and that would not require any ingestion of talisman. However, when I double confirm with my Deities, they instintively let me know that I cannot be done remotely.

Photos from newhumanist.org.uk

I immediately drawn up 3 Liu Ren Talisman 六壬除邪符 for clearing evil and bad qi. Jack came by and took it back for his daughter to be burn and drink consecutively for 3 days. 

After 3 days, I receive a call from my wife whom have met up with Jack's wife. My wife told me that Jack's daughter is still crying. I was very puzzled, because after ingesting 3 talisman - everything should have cleared. Then I've told Jack to bring her daughter to our temple on Thursday evening on the same week. However by afternoon, Jack's wife message me again saying that her daughter is quite back to her old self.

Just to make sure, I asked them to bring the daughter to the temple as arranged. When I saw the little girl in temple, first quick glance, I saw a very light green patch of qi on her forehead. This is one of the tell tale signs that she have had a brush with spirits. It is not very evident, meaning it is just and encounter and nothing very serious.

I have specifically drawn up another talisman for her to ingest in the temple, and make sure she drank the whole of the small cup. What majority of the peoples' perception when comes to drinking burn talisman in water is that, they have idea that a little sip would be enough. In actual fact, one should drink the whole cup including all the residue. When I give specific talisman for ingestion to my disciples, they would need to drink 'everything'. That is to guarantee the passing of the Taoist Fa into the body.

After ingesting the talisman, I've also use a paper cutout as representation of the girl. Then using Tao Fa, to transfer all the bad qi onto the paper representation.

Paper cutout as a body double

Then I inscribe certain specific mantra on her forehead and put a deities seal on it. All of this of course cannot be seen with the naked eye. 

I have followed up with Jack and his wife after few days, and according to them their daughter is back to her old self and willing to sleep in her own room.

How was the little girl expose to spirit? Well it happens that the parent had to go for relatives wedding that was held out of Penang. And after the wedding, they did not stay for the night but did a late night trip back to their home. She must have been exposed during the trip. Children are more susceptible is because their Yang Qi is not at their peak yet.

Can cultivate both Taoism and Buddhism together?

When friends and relatives visit my home, the are often puzzled by 2 dominant altars that are located in my altar area. Primarily I have Taoist altar of 六壬 Liu Ren 風火院 Feng Huo Yuan and 伏英館 Fu Ying Guan. My Buddhist altar has many Tibetan Buddhist Statues.

Some who are outspoken will sometimes ask "How come you have 2 altars, will you get confuse?" Often, I just replied smilingly "Don't worry, the one who is praying is not confuse" and did not explain further or inform them how two can come together.

Well now, I am going to write a bit more on how these 2 can combine together. My initial lineage transmission is from Taoist Feng Huo Yuan. Then I have got interested into Buddhism and took refuge under Gelugpa lineage in Tibetan Buddhism from Tibetan Gurus. I have also took refuge with Gurus who have Nyingma and also Sakya lineage transmission.

Why didn't you give up on Taoism since you have already took refuge in Tibetan Buddhism? One of the most important teachings in Tibetan Buddhism is Guru Devotion. My first Guru are all the Deities in Taoism, without them I would not have discovered and took serious upon Buddhism. It is through their guidance, that I took refuge in Triple Jewels.

Deities in Taoism practice are actually all my Dharma protectors, if you look from a Buddhist perspective. Dharma protectors help cultivators overcome obstacles in life so that they can practice better without mundane disturbance of daily life. And I have a lot of Dharma protectors that have 'spiritual response' towards me. Spiritual response is a term used in Tibetan Buddhism for a person who have succeed in their practice with either Vajras, Boddhisattvas or Buddhas (elaboration of spiritual response need a whole new article to get into detail).

Therefore in our Taoist Temple 金洞山 Kam Dong San, everytime when we do distribute wealth enhancing talismans (招財符） or benefactors talisman（貴人符）. I have always followed by giving and explaining about merits, karma and the need to do some form of donations after they have obtain a spiritual response through the talisman.

Primary role of Deities in Taoism is to create more merits in their own cultivation. When we setup a temple for all the deities, public and members that have obstacles in life can and would come to ask for assistance from the Deities. If it is matter of righteousness or against evil, the Deities would act swiftly in solving those problems. 

When it pertains to wealth matters, and asking for more wealth then Deities would evaluate on what is are the merits of the person and their karmic 'accounts'. When wealth is granted in Taoism, it is through converting of ones merit. Therefore, when we obtain more wealth through spiritual means, 99% of the time it is for you to gather even more merits with those wealth. Therefore it is crucial to maintain the momentum in an upward spiral, instead of spending all your merits from previous life. Money is also a form of energy, it cannot be created or destroyed - but it can be transform from one form to the other.

Hence, Taoist Deities allowed a person to request for help in life's daily problems. When we obtained the help, then we have to do more meritorious activity with our expanded financial capabilities. That is being congruent in our request and also our cultivation as a Taoist.

As a Buddhist, I have to do my daily practice that was passed down to me by my Gurus. Keeping strong Guru Devotion and Boddhisattva Vows. Help other sentient beings whenever possible, with 道法 Tao Fa, I can help more people and also brings them to a path of cultivation.

So back to the question, can I cultivate both Taoism and Buddhism together? Of course, if you can keep your vow, devotion, practice and promise. Otherwise you are threading into deep water....