The Inconceivable Protective
Power

 

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Hsihu, Formosa, September 24, 1988.
(Originally in Chinese)

 

        An Indian farmer brought a cow and traveled over a tall mountain because he was going to sell the cow. They had to go through a big forest where there were many lions and tigers hungry to devour humans and cattle. Other farmers in the vicinity advised him not to make the journey. "It is already very late. Are you not afraid of being swallowed by a lion?" The man said, "I am not! I have a Master who will protect me. I must go today; I cannot wait until tomorrow morning. I must make the journey now because I have promised my customer who needs this cow. I cannot wait until tomorrow." The farmers could not stop him, but they were very worried about him.

        However, the man himself was not afraid at all. Pulling his cow along, he recited the Holy Names silently all the way. After a while, he really heard a dreadful roar, precisely like what you sound like when you are mad and roaring at your husband.[Laughter] A lion then appeared, and walked with them side by side. The lion wanted very much to devour the cow, but something was stopping it, so it could only keep on roaring and follow its would-be victim. The man carried on walking and reciting his Holy Names, with his cow on one side and the lion on the other. The three of them made good company, [Laughter] but each of them had different things on their mind. The farmer was thinking: "Better get there as soon as possible and sell the cow." The cow was thinking: "He made a nice deal again!" The lion was thinking: "How disheartening! There are two pieces of meat right before my eyes, yet I can not enjoy them." The three of them thought of different things, though they walked together. The strange thing was that the lion could not eat the man or the cow!

        When they were approaching the next village, the farmer was delighted to see the houses of the villagers. He rejoiced at heart: "Now that I can see people, they will certainly help me." He felt that he was safe and he could rely on those people to keep the lion at bay. His heart therefore was no longer with his Master. All the while, he had been reciting the Holy Names and praying for his Master to help him. But now that he had forgotten the Master, the lion immediately jumped on him; he was then relying on people and not his Master. This notion made him forget his Master and feel delighted in seeing people. This happens to most of us; when we see people outside, we feel safe thinking we can rely on them. The instant result was that the lion attacked him and almost got him. He promptly recited the Holy Names again and the lion stopped; it could not attack any more. So the three of them carried on walking as if nothing had happened. Finally, after a while, they really reached the boundary of the forest. The lion knew that the other side belonged to the humans. Not daring to take the risk, it excused itself from the other two and headed back to the forest in frustration. "Forget it! Business is bad today; I'll just go home." [Laughter]

        The Holy Names are really powerful! When we have faith in our Master, many incredible things will happen. Another story is related to one Master, who is no longer living. He had a disciple; it could have been His son also, according to what I heard, who raised cattle. One day, he was sick and could not go to take care of the cattle, and three thieves came along trying to steal his cattle. Before they could get close to the cattle, they saw five stout men, slightly taller than ordinary men, and they attacked them with the sticks in their hands. The thieves were too slow to escape and were almost beaten to death. They went home and applied some medication. After getting better, they said to each other: "Well, we are out of luck today. Let's try again tomorrow." On their second attempt the next day, they ran into the same five men, and again they almost got killed. They were really terrified and fled quickly. On their third attempt, they were still attacked by the five men, and it was very lucky that they managed to escape.

        Absolutely terrified, they stealthily went to the house of the cowherd and peeped inside. All they saw was an ordinary sick man, and the five men were not there. They crept inside the house, and next to the man's bed they saw the photo of his Master, who was his father, too. They were really shocked when they saw the photo. "God! He is the five men who beat us up every day! [Laughter] The five men look exactly like him!" Instead of being five different persons, the five men all looked the same. Very frightened, they went in and asked the sick man: "How long have you been sick?" He replied, "It's been three or four days. I have to rest in bed and can not go to attend the cattle."

        The three thieves asked him, "Then who is this person?" He replied, "He is my Master." The men asked again, "What kind of person is he?" "He is omnipotent, above life and death, omnipresent, and has billions of manifestation bodies." [Laughter] Then they were really terrified, and understood why there were five men with the same appearance. They went down on their knees and confessed their sin. "We are really ignorant! In the last few days, we tried to steal your cattle, but were almost beaten to death by five men manifested by your Master. We don't know what to do now. There seems to be something wrong with our bodies; we feel like we have some incurable disease." The cowherd told them, "It is all right! You can never steal anything from me! Just repent sincerely to my Master and go home." The three men recovered and later received initiation! This is a true story that happened only more than a decade ago!