During the Tang Dynasty, a Ch’an master, Venerable Yin Feng, possessed great magical power according to the legends. Once, he came across a fierce battle between two armies. Anxious about the potential lives to be lost, he tried to make peace through patient persuasion.
Nobody listen to his advice.
Finally he threw his staff into the sky, flew up and proceeded to dance with his staff. The battling soldiers looked at him dancing in the air and stopped fighting with each other. An otherwise bloody battle was instantaneously stopped by the Ch’an master’s magic. Even since that event, people called him the Master of the Flying Staff.
The Ch’an master has a very good sense of humor, and was full of Ch’an surprises. One day he was lecturing on the subject of life and death. He asked his disciples, "Have you seen people die during sitting meditation?"
His disciples replied, "Certainly. One Ch’an master passed away during sitting meditation."
The Ch’an master asked, "Then, have you heard of people dying while standing?"
"Yes, we have. The family of Venerable Fu all died while working their farm. Many Pure Land practitioners can also die at will." His disciples replied.
The Ch’an master then asked, "How about seeing anyone dying while standing on his head?"
His disciples were astonished and replied, "That we have never heard of or seen before."
The Ch’an master said, "Fine. In that case, I will show you." He then stood on his head and entered Nirvana. His disciples were shocked and saddened. They hurried to make funeral arrangements and encountered a difficult problem. When they attempted to move the master’s body, they found it immovable like a steel pillar. No matter how much force they used, they could not pry it off the ground. Nobody knew what to do until the arrival of the master’s sister, a highly cultivated nun. She scolded, "You used magic to confuse people while alive. Do you still want to use the same trick to impress others at death? Come down now!"
Strangely, the body fell on command. The Ch’an master did not want to impress others with his magic. He did want others to see how Ch’an practitioners could treat the state of death with total control and freedom.
From http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/D%20-%20Chinese%20Mahayana%20Buddhism/Authors/Hsing%20Yun/On%20Magic%20and%20the%20Supernatural/The%20Buddhist%20Perspective%20on%20Magic%20and%20Supernatural.htm
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
20130318
Buddhist Magic: Reality or Dream?
What if a Buddhist spontaneously developed a siddhi such as levatation but had to become a Hindu fakir due to the Buddha stating that such parlour tricks are not Buddhist at all?
Would you consider the Buddha true to his word that anyone develop a magical power should ignore it, lest he act like a fakir, profit from his magic, and thus be drawn into the egoistical world of magic?
I would say, "Levitation isn't to hard to fake. So is mind-reading and clairvoyance. The hardest trick, however, is to turn invisible, visit all of Samsara, the Buddhist heavens, and even a million Pure Lands.
If I said I visit those realms in my dream, then who dare call me 'liar'?
As a Buddhist, it would be foolish to claim to have such powers. To dream of them with attachment, and to desire to break the rules by seeking fame and fortune — these are the temptations that a Buddhist hope she shall never face.
The best I can do as a result of twenty years of meditation is analyze sutras and read body language with difficulty. One cannot even call these two skills siddhis, let alone magic.
As well, I am able to write blog articles with enough proficiency to get a plus.
That's a talent derived from writing since I was twelve years of age, but perhaps it hasn't matured.
So, is Buddhist siddhi merely magic tricks? I cannot say for sure but if a Buddhist striving to be a Bodhisattva showed such signs, then he wouldn't tell anyone and keep on meditating. Why? Because samadhi, satori and Nirvana itself are only worth attaining.
Would you consider the Buddha true to his word that anyone develop a magical power should ignore it, lest he act like a fakir, profit from his magic, and thus be drawn into the egoistical world of magic?
I would say, "Levitation isn't to hard to fake. So is mind-reading and clairvoyance. The hardest trick, however, is to turn invisible, visit all of Samsara, the Buddhist heavens, and even a million Pure Lands.
If I said I visit those realms in my dream, then who dare call me 'liar'?
As a Buddhist, it would be foolish to claim to have such powers. To dream of them with attachment, and to desire to break the rules by seeking fame and fortune — these are the temptations that a Buddhist hope she shall never face.
The best I can do as a result of twenty years of meditation is analyze sutras and read body language with difficulty. One cannot even call these two skills siddhis, let alone magic.
As well, I am able to write blog articles with enough proficiency to get a plus.
That's a talent derived from writing since I was twelve years of age, but perhaps it hasn't matured.
So, is Buddhist siddhi merely magic tricks? I cannot say for sure but if a Buddhist striving to be a Bodhisattva showed such signs, then he wouldn't tell anyone and keep on meditating. Why? Because samadhi, satori and Nirvana itself are only worth attaining.
20130119
Left Handed Kami Spells (poem)
Let hate unleash
a myriad of kami
to usher in the fruits
of karma for the hated.
Let fear arise
in the fearful
as they face such kami
as fruits of karma.
Let these vengeful kami
correct enemies of the Dharma,
and help them realize
peace of mind forever!
a myriad of kami
to usher in the fruits
of karma for the hated.
Let fear arise
in the fearful
as they face such kami
as fruits of karma.
Let these vengeful kami
correct enemies of the Dharma,
and help them realize
peace of mind forever!
20100808
Lands Edge: A Story Summary
The Boulder
The Boulder is a massive glacial boulder that marks the lair of the dragon of Lands Edge in the outskirts of the Highlands.
Kiryn is the heroine of Lands Edge. She is the daughter of Gylan, the late Highland king who was killed by the Highland dragon in retribution for not maintaining the ancient rituals of worship that summon up the dragon that guard the energies that channel through it to keep the lands fertile and free of death and pestilence.
Dragons here are actually shapeshifters, whose original form was that of a mortal human who were once mages but have been transformed by the primordial energies of the earth into their current form. They can maintain their human form only after doing battle with a dragonslayer, the last one dying in Lands Edge.
After witnessing her father's death, and fearing for her life because she never was taught the art of dragon fighting, Kiryn travels to the last place on her world where she may find the last of the dragonslayers, a friend of her father's.
She passes the Boulder, unaware of the dragon's presence.
Lands Edge Inn is a tavern in the lowland many leagues from the Highland plateau that Kiryn grow up in.
Kiryn finds the dragonslayer, only to be told he no longer trains and is a landowner like her father. She ignores the slight, since the dragonslayer is more like the benevolent aristocratic landlord than a true king who rules over a vast domain.
She tries to shame the dragonslayer into training her, so that she may confront the dragon of Land Edge and learn how to appease the dragon now occupying her former castle on the Highland.
The dragonslayer teaches her fighting techniques, yet never did learn the reason why a dragonslayer fight dragons. This is never revealed in the story.
Two Stones
After training hard, the two humans unleash psychic energy induced by ritual combat which awakens the dragon below.
Alarmed and already sensing the presence of its brother dragon on the Highlands, it knows it must act swiftly to maintain the balance over death and pestilence.
It reaches the surface of its home world at the Two Stones, the place of its battle with the dragonslayer's father, who died due to his slow reaction. The smaller of the Two Stones is a man-sized chip that fell from the Boulder when the dragon's deadly blow missed the dead man.
Also, previously dragon's tears are mentioned and they are the most valuable gems, the dragon's treasure.
A battle ensues, which ends when Kiryn, awakened to the dragon's mind, stops fighting and listens to reason.
Finally, the dragon uses the energy of battle to shapeshift to human form and instructs Kiryn on what must be done to regain her home in the Highlands. This is not clear in the story.
What is clear is that dragons need alcohol to be tamed.
Kiryn returns home and bribes the dragon there to be her husband Draco. Making her his betrothed, deflowering her causes Draco to be bound to her, unable to shapeshift unless she releases him from her spell.
The dragon cult is promoted by Draco in far off lands.
This marks a departure from mages who guard one kingdom or domain. He extracts fealty by warning the fiefdom that if they do not give tribute, a dragon will come out of the land to punish them. Sometimes a fiefdom will disobey him yet he cannot punish them in human form.
So he asks her to release him from the spell.
She replies that their son will do that for them.
Soon she gives birth to a dragon that her magick cannot bind to human form. She complains to her husband, who tells her that he needs to lie in wait for a virgin queen to bribe him with alcohol after a battle.
They send the son to kill the rebel lord of one fiefdom, and tell the people to send a young woman to be raised as warrior who knows the way of the sword and the queen's magick.
The fiefdom picks an orphaned girl.
The tradition of dragon sons conquering fiefdoms in exchange for an orphaned girl to be raised as warrior-mage is established. This establishes a lineage of fiefdoms, since the next fiefdom is conquered by Draco's grandson. Yet Kiryn's magick can give both her and Draco long lives.
Once the dragon lineage is established and no petty lords exist to oppress their own fiefdoms, both she and Draco retire to Lands End.
From time to time Draco would play with the Boulder dragon, staging mock battles for his queen's amusement.
In time Kiryn dies and is buried at her ancestral estate in the Highlands. Draco, freed of the spell cast by his mate, reverts to dragon form.
Draco and the dragon at Land's Edge join forces to prevent the likes of men from ruining the world through corruption.
They use magick to create worms that fly off to find places on the earth in need of protection. Nothing is mentioned of the Highland lineage.
The Boulder is a massive glacial boulder that marks the lair of the dragon of Lands Edge in the outskirts of the Highlands.
Kiryn is the heroine of Lands Edge. She is the daughter of Gylan, the late Highland king who was killed by the Highland dragon in retribution for not maintaining the ancient rituals of worship that summon up the dragon that guard the energies that channel through it to keep the lands fertile and free of death and pestilence.
Dragons here are actually shapeshifters, whose original form was that of a mortal human who were once mages but have been transformed by the primordial energies of the earth into their current form. They can maintain their human form only after doing battle with a dragonslayer, the last one dying in Lands Edge.
After witnessing her father's death, and fearing for her life because she never was taught the art of dragon fighting, Kiryn travels to the last place on her world where she may find the last of the dragonslayers, a friend of her father's.
She passes the Boulder, unaware of the dragon's presence.
Lands Edge Inn is a tavern in the lowland many leagues from the Highland plateau that Kiryn grow up in.
Kiryn finds the dragonslayer, only to be told he no longer trains and is a landowner like her father. She ignores the slight, since the dragonslayer is more like the benevolent aristocratic landlord than a true king who rules over a vast domain.
She tries to shame the dragonslayer into training her, so that she may confront the dragon of Land Edge and learn how to appease the dragon now occupying her former castle on the Highland.
The dragonslayer teaches her fighting techniques, yet never did learn the reason why a dragonslayer fight dragons. This is never revealed in the story.
Two Stones
After training hard, the two humans unleash psychic energy induced by ritual combat which awakens the dragon below.
Alarmed and already sensing the presence of its brother dragon on the Highlands, it knows it must act swiftly to maintain the balance over death and pestilence.
It reaches the surface of its home world at the Two Stones, the place of its battle with the dragonslayer's father, who died due to his slow reaction. The smaller of the Two Stones is a man-sized chip that fell from the Boulder when the dragon's deadly blow missed the dead man.
Also, previously dragon's tears are mentioned and they are the most valuable gems, the dragon's treasure.
A battle ensues, which ends when Kiryn, awakened to the dragon's mind, stops fighting and listens to reason.
Finally, the dragon uses the energy of battle to shapeshift to human form and instructs Kiryn on what must be done to regain her home in the Highlands. This is not clear in the story.
What is clear is that dragons need alcohol to be tamed.
Kiryn returns home and bribes the dragon there to be her husband Draco. Making her his betrothed, deflowering her causes Draco to be bound to her, unable to shapeshift unless she releases him from her spell.
The dragon cult is promoted by Draco in far off lands.
This marks a departure from mages who guard one kingdom or domain. He extracts fealty by warning the fiefdom that if they do not give tribute, a dragon will come out of the land to punish them. Sometimes a fiefdom will disobey him yet he cannot punish them in human form.
So he asks her to release him from the spell.
She replies that their son will do that for them.
Soon she gives birth to a dragon that her magick cannot bind to human form. She complains to her husband, who tells her that he needs to lie in wait for a virgin queen to bribe him with alcohol after a battle.
They send the son to kill the rebel lord of one fiefdom, and tell the people to send a young woman to be raised as warrior who knows the way of the sword and the queen's magick.
The fiefdom picks an orphaned girl.
The tradition of dragon sons conquering fiefdoms in exchange for an orphaned girl to be raised as warrior-mage is established. This establishes a lineage of fiefdoms, since the next fiefdom is conquered by Draco's grandson. Yet Kiryn's magick can give both her and Draco long lives.
Once the dragon lineage is established and no petty lords exist to oppress their own fiefdoms, both she and Draco retire to Lands End.
From time to time Draco would play with the Boulder dragon, staging mock battles for his queen's amusement.
In time Kiryn dies and is buried at her ancestral estate in the Highlands. Draco, freed of the spell cast by his mate, reverts to dragon form.
Draco and the dragon at Land's Edge join forces to prevent the likes of men from ruining the world through corruption.
They use magick to create worms that fly off to find places on the earth in need of protection. Nothing is mentioned of the Highland lineage.
20040305
Not all Ninjas are Out to Slay Minds
The ninja stuff I am refering to is the non-physical stuff.
That actually is also the real ninjitsu, but most Westerners think of it as "mind games."
Most of the techniques are embellishments of what the media and government have taught you i.e. propaganda, opinion and influence.
We even use the same techniques on ourselves.
Sometime I see things and hear things from people that is like a ninja's been in their lives, slaying their minds one by one, leaving them broken and disheartened.
Yet not all ninjas are out to slay minds...
That actually is also the real ninjitsu, but most Westerners think of it as "mind games."
Most of the techniques are embellishments of what the media and government have taught you i.e. propaganda, opinion and influence.
We even use the same techniques on ourselves.
Sometime I see things and hear things from people that is like a ninja's been in their lives, slaying their minds one by one, leaving them broken and disheartened.
Yet not all ninjas are out to slay minds...
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