The Magical Play Of The Original State (无生的游戏)

“The Magical Play Of The Original State” is a Great Perfection work produced by HH Dudjom Rinpoche during his youth after his dark retreat in a cave somewhere in India. I summarize the gist of the work as the details can only be shown to those who have received the empowerment:

 

“Amitabah (阿弥陀佛), Avalokitesvara (观音), Padmasambhava (莲花生), root lama (根本上是), Vajrakilaya (普巴金刚), Vajrayogini (金刚亥母) and dharma protectors are never existed. One should look into one’s heart as the truth and joy is in one’s heart nowhere and nothing else. Knowing this truth will bring eternal joy and liberation to all suffering. In another words… you are on your own folks!”

 

Having said so… what happen to those ‘idol worshippers’ in Buddhism since all deities are essentially ‘empty’ and never have existed before?

 

This is a serious claim as Amitabah and Avalokitesvara worship are deep rooted in Mahayana tradition for thousand of years; denying any one would mean that nullifying the merits accumulated by those faithful folks thus far.

 

In old days, scholar and rulers would prefer people to have blind faith as that would be easier to control them. Hence Emperors of old China kept building Buddhist and Taoist temples in the hope their subjects would not rebel against them; people call this type of policy “the policy of ignorant” (愚民政策).

 

In modern time, we see people building bigger temples as if building big temples become an act of merit creation; but no one thinks that all these big infrastructures need money to maintain. So, there are endless of fund raising and donation campaigns.

 

Oh, I heard another voice said that Tantric Buddhism is NOT Buddhism proper as except the “Namo Buddhaya” that refers to seeking refuge to Gautama Buddha and the rest of the deity worships are from Hinduism.

 

Perhaps the best way to clear this dispute is by asking the Buddha which is the authentic Buddhism that He has originally imparted to mankind. Then and again… The Buddha remains silent since His nirvana.  His worshipper kept arguing till today and split into various fractions.  It is perhaps a good idea for us to meditate until everyone achieves nirvana too, then this world would be very peaceful indeed as nothing is done hence nothing is produced.

 

Conjuring The Spirit Of A Basket (菜篮仙)

 

 

Conjuring spirits of baskets is a folk game inherited in many Southeast Asian cultures. While the Chinese call it “the immortal of baskets” (菜篮仙), the Malaysian and Indonesian call it “Jailangkung”. Such game was once popular in villages and before the advent of electronic gadgets. We can occasionally come across people make use of this folk game to perform divination and also to ask for lucky numbers.

 

It is not difficult to conjure spirit of a basket but we will first need to make the effigy of the spirit and dress it first as shown above. When the effigy is assembled, the game can be started after dark normally after dinner. We will need 3 players. In old days, we will need two young girls holding the hands of the effigy and a third person as the conjuror.

 

The conjuror will stand in front of the effigy holding 3 pieces of burning incense sticks. While swinging the incenses to and fro, the person must chant the below mantra repeatedly until the effigy moves by a mystical force:

 

“菜篮仙，菜篮神，菜篮请你来上身。一呼请，二呼请，三呼请，呼请菜篮神仙来上身。上身坐乩真灵应，诚心请神降来临，急急如律令。”

 

“Immortal of basket, god of basket, I invoke the basket to possess. I call once, twice and thrice, calling the god to possess me. Possess me and do wonders. I invoke you sincerely. As my will, so mote it be!”

 

Now that the spirit has arrived, interested parties can start asking what they want to know including lucky number picks of course. When the service of basket spirit is no longer desired, then it should be sent off by simply saying:

 

“祈请菜篮神仙退神归位！”

“I request the basket god to return to where you belonged.”

 

After the basket spirit is dismissed, the effigy should be stored in a quiet corner to be used later. Only when the service of basket spirit is no longer needed and the effigy is to be dismantled, then it is appropriate to prepare some food offerings and burn some incense to thank the spirit.

 

Related link:

 

http://liewsp1-magicsea.blogspot.com/2012/06/conjuration-of-jailangkung-spirit.html

 

Taoist Borrowing Life Ritual (借寿法术)

When a person is in his/her terminal stage, it is a norm still for some of Chinese folks to go to temples or visit spirit mediums to perform rituals in the hope to prolong the love one’s life. But if the person is determined by the gods or goddesses that his/her life is coming to an end; there is nothing one can do but to prepare for the funeral services and the wake.

 

However, if the person is the sole income earner and that he/she is still young in such a way that if he/she dies; then the whole family wouldn’t be able to live. Then there is a Taoist ritual known as “borrowing life”.

 

Basically, this ritual can only be done amongst the parents and children and it is not workable amongst brothers, sisters or amongst relatives. The life can only be borrowed for two seasons max; with 5 years as one season and no more than that.

 

Anyone who wanted the ritual to be performed must first write a written statement indicating both parties’ personal particulars including date of birth, the duration of life to be borrowed. This chore is best to be done by the Taoist who will later carry out further rituals as he should be familiar on how the statement should be written. In normal circumstances one should prepare three copies of borrowing life statements.

 

After that, an auspicious date is selected and the Taoist will bring the requestors to the temple of Lord of Death, in this case it is the “Emperor of the Eastern Mountain” (东岳大帝) and the “Three Judges of Northern Yin” (北阴三司) where two copies of the statements are burnt in front of the statues of the deities and the final copy must be burnt in front of the house deities.

 

While burning the statements for borrowing life, the person must make a wish such as to donate to the poor or to employ monks and Taoists to perform deliverance rituals for the wandering spirits. If the ritual is fruitful, then the dying person will recover within three days’ time.

 

However, if the person dies after the ritual, then the person who had ‘borrowed’ life to the deceased must visit the temple of the Lord of Death to revoke the agreement or his/her life span will be shortened too.

 

My personal take is: while performing the above “borrowing life” ritual, one must also seek the help of modern medicine too so as not to miss the patient’s critical moment that would make the love ones regret for whole of their lives.

  

Withering Of Woods (忍术枯座法)

“Withering of woods” is a ninjitshu method used by ninjas to poison a group of people within a confine space. Contrary to common believes, ninjas normally work in small groups and they are quite reluctant to engage in standard open warfare contrary to stories tell in movies about ninjas.

 

Common folks also have the opportunity to make use of the “withering of woods” technique in our modern times too. Do you believe that when I tell you I have came across many occasions this technique is used inadvertently; let me show you two real life examples:

 

My first experience happened when I was taking my undergraduate degree in UK. Well, overseas students were normally given the opportunity to stay in university hostels with a common kitchen at the centre of the hostel. Naturally, I had the opportunity to stay in the hostel as well.

 

Asian students normally like to cook, more so when they are in a foreign land. I am also no exception. There is one occasion that I tried to cook “sambal belacan” (a type of hot shrimp paste) fish in the kitchen and guess what had happened?

 

…

 

A German friend first came out from the bathroom and as he walked past the kitchen, he immediately yelled: “Good God! What a horrible smell and rushed out of the hostel covered in his wet towel in the mid of the winter!

 

Then came a Jewish friend and he yelled the same: “OMG! What a horrible smell…” and rushed out in cold!

 

And then came a Japanese student and before she could open her mouth, she already found herself out of the hostel…

 

Before I realised what had happened, almost of the hostel residents of that block had done the evacuation except me!

 

Apparently I had made use of the “withering of woods” technique.

 

The second incident happened to a factory next to mine when I was serving in the industry. An Ammonia gas tank leaked and the ammonia gas found its way into the factory air handling unit and subsequently the ammonia gas filled the hole of the factory area and the factory had to be closed for 2 weeks!

 

That is another example of “withering of woods” technique through accidents.

 

Have you ever tried this technique?

 

Poisons And Herbal Medicine In Ninjitshu (忍术用药)

If I can go back in time for 30 years, then I would learn up Ninjitshu from the monk I met in Ipoh; otherwise in my next reincarnation perhaps. Ninjas are not only expert in martial arts; they are also master herbalists amongst other fields too.

 

I have only able to recall some points during our conversations and below is what I have jotted down so far:

 

Let’s take poisons for example: there are three types of poisons commonly used by ninjas in old days: the one that kills immediately, the one that kills in 30 days and the one that kills in 70 days. Other than that there are poisons that will make people drowsy, poisons that make people crazy, or aphoristic poisons just to name a few.

 

In order to make an opponent blind, a ninja would use carbide mixed with sulphur and chilli powder. If these substances enter the opponent’s eyes, then he/she would be blind.

 

If there are a large number of enemies congregated inside a house, a ninja would burn a mixture of cow dung, centipede, and sandalwood powder with other substances in the vicinity of where the enemies congregated. All the enemies would be knocked out in a jiffy. If the enemy is only one, then a ninja would let the target consume some marijuana and the person will be knock out pretty soon too.

 

Ninjas also like Amorphophallus Konjac (魔芋) a lot too for when processed properly; this aroid can be used as food as only a little quantity can last the ninja for a long time. In another way, the A. Konjac is also used to silent dogs too. I would not elaborate here as this can also be misused.

 

A ninja is also human and prone to injuries; they normally keep two to three types of herbs such as A. Konjac, Arisaema, Sambucus, Ardisia etc. along with him. These herbs are normally burnt to ashes and kept in a container only to be used when in need.

 

Other than that, ninjas are also very particular about their diets. They don’t normally consume liquor but there are exceptions. Since the ninjas mostly staying in ravens and deep jungles, they can only make use of herbs that can be found locally.

 

In addition to consuming rice and beans, ninjas’ menu normally comprises Goji-berry, glutinous rice, Licorice and Polygala. These herbs are thought to be beneficial to human body, mind and spirits.

 

Do you believe that ordinary eggs can also kill you and no modern forensic examinations can pinpoint your killer even if he/she stands in front of you? If you have the time, think about it… On second thought, be careful what your wife serves you daily… Hahaha… I am not joking!

 

 

 

The "Waste Of Time" Naïve Occult Forums

I once attended many occult forums in the hope to be able to learn from the masters:

 

·         The white magic forum: “Only I’m truly good, all others evil, evil and evil!”

·         The black magic forum: “Magic, sex and blood!”

·         The grey magic forum: “Chaos, chaos, chaos is the way!”

·         The no magic forum: “I know but I ain’t telling!”

·         The sale magic forum: “Free for all but pay if you want the answer!”

 

But alas! Many of those forums are just a waste of participants' time as many of the hosts, members and moderators are not really knowledgeable but have many hidden agendas:

 

·         An occult altar wanted to promote his/her books.

·         An amulet seller wanted to promote his/her amulets.

·         An occultist wanted to recruit students for his/her financial gains.

·         Etc.

 

The modes of operation is very simple, there is always a ‘good guy' and 'bad guy'. The bad guy is the one who would attack anyone who posts doubts on the forum agenda; while the good guy is always the pacifier who will try to pacify the situation and remove the 'trouble maker' from the forum. Hence, the unwary would be escorted or excluded out by these bouncers of the forum master.

 

Below is just a very common example of a conversation in a forum:

 

Enquirer:

 

"I would like to learn Arjan Chum's invulnerability method, can you help?"

 

The forum host:

 

"I could help but I can only give you the basic, you will need to be a 'registered' member (fees paying) to learn more."

 

The good guy:

 

"Mr. A is a very good magician and the results are guaranteed, the offer is of limited time..."

 

Enquirer:

 

"I heard your lineage is not original..."

 

The forum host (furious):

 

"If you have no money, then don't join..."

 

The bad guy:

"I know this guy; he is a trouble maker and a cheater..."

 

The crowd:

 

“Yeah lor… he is a cheater…”

 

Sounds familiar?

 

Well, my take is that a forum is a place for bullying an innocent bystander who ‘accidently’ spoke the truth but in doing so, he/she has ‘broken’ the group taboo and being abused verbally…

 

It is a free world, but it is not free until one can simply throw out slandering remarks for one’s advantage. Anyone who continues to attend those forums would feel lethargic and empty after signing off from the forums that I can assure you due to extreme negative vibe. It will also be bad karma for the ones who have created lies. Do you believe it or not? Don’t take it too seriously though.

 

Face To Face With A Ninja

I never thought I have the opportunity to come face to face with a legendary type of individual well known as a ‘ninja’.

 

My distant relative is married to a Japanese businessman and the couple is now residing in Ipoh, Perak. I occasionally bring my mom to visit her especially during the festive occasions especially during the Chinese New Year.

 

This was just another visit I thought but when mom and I entered the house, there was another guest. He was an old Japanese monk around 70 years old perhaps but I didn’t enquire of his age due to respect and it wasn’t so nice to ask a stranger’s particular. After a few rounds of chatting, I later learnt that the monk is my relative’s father-in-law.

 

The Japanese are very friendly and generous folks and we were invited to stay overnight and join them the next day for an outdoor group hiking activities. We agreed and after a sumptuous evening meal, we knocked off early expecting for a tough work the next morning.

 

Ipoh is also known as the ‘city between hills’ (山城) as she is surrounded by limestone hills. We picked a place in Tambun, outskirt of Ipoh where the scenery is beautiful with a few lakes legacy of tin ore mining some years ago and a few limestone hills with caves.

 

After a whole morning’s hiking, we decided to pick a cave near a famous Buddhist temple for picnic and rest place.  Now that we got to know each other more, the old monk started to talk more and somehow the topic veered in to Ninjitsu and related matters.

 

Suddenly, my relative’s hubby suddenly said to his father:

 

“Why don’t you just show some of your tricks to us? There are no outsiders here.”

 

The old monk asked:

 

“What do you want me to do?”

 

I saw some Begonia Kingiana growing at about 12 feet height and wanted to get some for my collection. So, I asked:

 

“Can you get me a piece of the Begonia up there?”

 

The old monk smiled and said:

 

“It’s a piece of cake!”

 

He immediately took a few steps back and then ran forward towards the damp limestone wall. As I thought this old man is getting himself hurt, he raised his right foot and stooped his body forward. As quick as I could wink my eyes, he stepped onto the cave wall and ‘climb’ towards the Begonia plant and pluck a piece of it before somersaulted himself back to the ground!

 

When the old monk tugged the Begonia piece into my palm, I still stood with my jaw dropped couldn’t even say ‘thank you’. It just happened so fast, real ninjas still exist today; and I have to believe it!

   

They Want To Go Home (她们要回家)

I met Johan at the base of Gunung Ledang (Mount Opal) while hunting for a special type of plant known by Shrub Sterculia (假苹婆) which is only found in that particular area. Johan approached me when I was taking photo of the plant and when our chatterboxes were activated; there was no way for our big mouths to shut in a relative short time. Hence I learnt that Johan was then a member of forest rangers and also search and rescue team.

 

According to Johan, the forest search and rescue team is always put into standby mode during holiday seasons; this is especially true for school holidays. The reason is that most of the merry makers who come for hill hiking are not prepared for what they have bargained for.  These folks lack proper survival skills that are of utmost important for sustaining lives in the wilderness should anything happened.

 

Believe it or not: there are mainly two types of folks who will get lost in the mountain?

 

The first is the naïve who think that they can conquest the wilderness without fully prepared; and the other types are those who want to find a God forsaken place to commit suicide. Whatever case it may be, please don’t copy what I have just said and end your lives the same way.

 

This is the story of both the naïve and the ones who wanted to end their lives which happened about a decade ago:

 

It was yearend school holiday season again and Johan was requested to be on call 24 hours as many visitors are expected to flock Gunung Ledang when the holiday begins. He wasn’t particular worry about the ordinary folks who just want to camp beside the waterfall area; instead it is the jolly mountain hikers Johan was and still is more concern about I think. The reason is that the later groups are prone to unforeseen incidents one way or another.

 

It was on a rainy Thursday night after 9pm that Johan received a call from a frantic school teacher about his missing student. The girl was reported to have dropped out while trailing the team as they were descending the mountain after a day’s hiking trip. The disappearance of the girl was only realised when the teacher made a roll call at the base.

 

After receiving the report, a search and rescue team headed by Johan was mobilized first thing in the morning to search for the girl. To make a long story short, after continuous searching for 2 days by the team and volunteers; the girl was finally found lying lethargically on a river bank.  Not far from the school girl, they found two corpses of a couple believed to have committed suicide.

 

This looks like this is a bizarre case of “one missing, two dead”.

 

When the livings and the dead were at the base, Johan gave a cup of hot chocolate to the school girl with the intention to calm her so he started to ask the girl what she had experienced on that particular day.

 

The girl told Johan and her teacher that as she was trailing the group, she heard voices calling out to her. Out of curiosity, she followed the voices and found scenery in front of her changes into a beautiful garden with untold kind of beautiful flowers blooming. For every few steps that the girl took, the scenery keep changing until subconsciously that she felt it is time to join her group. But the group was nowhere to be seen and she kept walking until she dropped onto the ground due to extreme hunger and fatigue. She only regained consciousness after being carried to safety by the rescue personnel.

 

Johan believe that it was the spirits of the couple who had committed suicide that had led the school girl to the place where they have committed suicide because they want to go home. Even the dead wanted to go home, so please don’t do anything stupid by ending ones lives; something for us to ponder about indeed.

 

Missing In Jungle (森林惊魂记)

Maiden jungle is a dangerous place for novice and expert alike for every journey into the jungle is not the same even one follows the exact route each time. Thick tropical forests are dark, damp and very difficult to move about with many inherent dangers. That, of course cannot deter the brave ones. However, there is a sure sign that one should not venture into the jungle for veteran or novice the like: when the forest looks foggy or as if covered by a blanket of thick fog.

 

As I have said previously there are many taboos or the locals like to call them ‘pantang larang’ before entering the jungle for example:

 

·         One should not bring pork related products into the jungle

·         One should not call real names

·         One should not urinate simply before first expressing apology to the spirits

·         One should not plug any strange looking or beautiful plants

·         Etc.

 

More on taboos:

 

http://liewsp1-magicsea.blogspot.com/2012/10/taboos-of-working-in-jungles.html

http://liewsp1-magicsea.blogspot.com/2012/03/mysterious-sea-jungle-spirits.html

 

My friend, Ahmad lost his way in once familiar Maxwell Hill after cutting down a piece of thick rattan. He went round and round the hill but couldn’t find his way out and strangely after he threw away the rattan, the route in front of him suddenly cleared almost instantly. By the time he walked out of Maxwell Hill it was already after Maghrib time (7pm).

 

I had similar experience when I ascended a forest near Cameron Highlands hunting for herbs. I went up the hill following a mud path at around 9 o’clock in the morning and as I thought it was a piece of cake as the path was quite straight; a path junction appeared in front of me. Somehow I have chosen to go straight as it led to uphill and I thought that was the way to go.

 

As I walked further uphill the woods become thicker and when I looked at my watch, it was already 3pm and I still couldn’t find the herbs I were looking for. At that time, I only had a pair of scissors and a bottle of mineral water with me. Naturally, I began to feel panic.

 

At the same time, a huge tree beside me suddenly toppled giving out a big bang and almost instantly; sounds of tigers howling coupled with the hissing of snakes echoed around me. To tell you the truth, that had really made me pissed in my pants! What else? I just took an about turn, ran and ran until the hell broke loose.

 

I am not sure if it was the luck on my side, or the piss that had done the magic; I finally reached the base of the hill where I parked my car. My friends who waited beside my car told me that they almost gave up hope waiting for me and if I had not appeared sooner, they would lodge a police report for good!

 

From that experience onwards, I seldom venture alone into any jungle without fully prepared myself.

 

Herbal Hunting In Malaysia

 

Arisaema Filiforme can be found in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia and Mt. Gede, Indonesia. Don't you think it looks like a devil emerge from a pentagram? Just joking... It is certainly too precious to be used as herbs for sure.

 

 

Malaysia is a blessed country and due to her geographical situation and tropical climate; there are around 200 tree types, 15000 types of flowering plants and amongst them; about 2000 of the plants have medicinal properties. However, only 1000 types of medicinal plants have documentation and the common ones in use are around 20 types only.

 

Basically there are two types of landscapes in Malaysia: the lowland and highland. Due to variations in temperature and humidity; plants in both types of landscapes will be different. All in all, both of the landscapes are gigantic storehouse of medicinal plants.

 

On highland such as Cameron highlands that is situated on the Titiwangsa mountain ranges, climate is cooler with moister soils and hence plants flourish and healthier. Herbs such as Glabrous Sarcandra (九节茶) and pitcher plants ( 猪笼草) can only be found on highland areas. On the other hand, lowlands are normally warmer with tall trees of various varieties.

 

Even though it is an exciting thing to go into a jungle to search for rare herbs, I have to confess that I am a little scared looking at the thick, dense and yet borderless maiden jungle. The reason is because the jungle houses huge trees that block away majority of the sunlight and the damp ground is covered with dead and rotten foliages. This type of environment can make a person tired easily.

 

There are also many silhouettes of unknown thick and twisted vines criss-crossing as if gigantic pythons that give the creeps to anyone who venture into the jungle. There are of course many wild, venomous animals and insects that may be harmful to the thrill seekers who decide to venture into this piece of forbidden land.

 

Old timers say that the jungle is guarded by mountain gods and many more wild spirits so there are many taboos to follow. For example, one must burn some coconut husks with tobacco as offering to the spirits before entering the jungle. It is also forbidden to plug any bright and beautiful flowers without an offering of food in return. People believe the flowers are guarded by spirits and if they are not pacified, the person who plucked the plant may not find his or her way out of the jungle.

 

Modern folks would scorn at such belief as superstitious, but let me remind you: Aren’t we all read about people lost in jungle during their jungle tracking? This is particularly true during school holidays, not less of the case is fatal too…

 

The Secret Of Kuji Kiri (九字结)

Kuji Kiri is said to be of Taoist origin and once a guarded secret in China. Legend has it that the Huang Emperor (黄帝) used the Kuji Kiri method to defeat the barbarians (蚩尤). Of course, that is only a legend yet to be proven. One thing can be sure is that the masters in Mantrayana retold the above story to the later generations.

 

The granddad Jiang (姜太公) used Kuji Kiri to help King Chou (周武王) miraculously defeated theYin (殷) King Zhou (纣王). Kuji Kiri was at that time a guarded secret amongst the nobles and it is being practised in secrecy.

 

During the Han Dynasty (汉朝), Zhang (张子房) taught Kuji Kiri to Huang (黄石公) who assisted the Hang Emperor, Liu (刘邦) unified China for about 400 years. The time moves on to the ‘period of 3 kingdoms’ (三国时代), the military advisor of Kingdom Shu (蜀国) Zhu Geliang (诸葛亮) defeated many enemies against all odds.

 

Later a scholar Shangyin (商阴) simplified the original Kuji Kiri that was a collection of Han words: 临兵斗者总必要陈列前行 into 临兵斗者皆阵列在前a total of 9 words.

 

Hence, the Kuji Kiri was originally a Taoist secret, when Buddhism came to China, some Buddhists incorporated the Kuji Kiri in to their practices and now Kuji Kiri has become a Buddhist practice proper.

 

In Japanese Mantrayana, the practitioner would add the below prayers to invoke the protection of goddess Marichi:

 

"喃摩本尊会结，摩利支来临，形影守护某某。"

 

"I prostrate to the assembly of my deity, the arrival of Goddess Marichi, protect my shape and shadow."

 

Over the years, many Chinese and Japanese masters used Kuji Kiri to make their names in history. Hence it is believed that whoever understands and mastered Kuji Kiri, he/she will be able to defeat any enemies in whatever dangerous situations; not only be safe from all harms but he/she will also accomplish great deeds.

 

It is no wonder why the ancient scholars like to learn Kuji Kiri. Once a person understands the secret of Kuji Kiri, he/she will defeat his/her enemies with ease. This person can also escape from disastrous situations, defeat demonic forces, wild animals such as tigers and snakes.

 

In our daily life, Kuji Kiri can help us to understand and defeat our opponents however strong they are. So I would say that Kuji Kiri is indeed a tool for the success. Practicing Kuji kiri will help us to stabilize our nerve and hence to overcome any challenging situations we might be facing with cool mind.

 

Needless to say that our modern society is an extremely competitive society, one who can take control of the situation will be the one who can success in life. Suntze (孙子) said:

 

“知己知彼，百战不殆。”

The one who understands oneself and the opponent, will not put oneself into danger.

 

Additional info:

http://liewsp1-magicsea.blogspot.com/2012/12/hindu-goddess-chinese-sky.html

http://liewsp1-magicsea.blogspot.com/2012/04/taoist-vs-ninja-nine-word-nips.html
 

http://liewsp1-magicsea.blogspot.com/2012/10/office-politics-offensive-rituals.html