Market Friday: praying at a Chinese shrine and reminiscing about a psychic phase.

It’s customary for people here to visit temples and famous shrines before the New Year. During this year I had been too busy to visit temples (to pray and meditate) as I used to do in the past. As I looked at the calendar, I realised that it’s almost the end of the year and I still haven’t done the proper things. No wonder, my energy has been fluctuating like crazy from one extreme to the other and bad things (like flooding) occurred in my neighbourhood.

I knew this year my Chinese astrology chart did warn me of some loss or misfortune. But what could an ordinary person do to change the impact of flying stars. As a Buddhist, I thought it was a part of my past karma in which old debts or bad karma had to be repaid. So, I wouldn’t try to change the impending negativity but tried my best to lessen the impact. I found out that praying and doing walking meditation did give me some protection and warning of impending disaster. If I were very mindful, the warning voice was quite explicit but sometimes I thought I was just imaging things again. So, it’s quite important to learn to listen and trust our ‘guts feelings’. I have to tell my ego not to be too sure that it’s always right. Such a subtle thing, trying to integrate my ego self with the unconscious self. This journey has been going on for a long time.

So, I jumped on a bus and get off near the famous Kuan Yin shrine in Yaowarad road in Chinatown. During the New Year period, this place would be too crowded. I was there at the right time as there were very few people around. A few ladies came to pray and sat quietly inside the shrine. I did my long prayers and meditated for ten minutes to quiet my mind. The atmosphere was very calm and soothing. But I couldn’t pick up any vibes from the Kuan Yin statue. Perhaps the deity was summoned to have a meeting in other dimension.

It’s common belief that holy statues of gods and goddesses, after proper ceremonies were performed by prestigious monks or Brahma, some high level spirits would be invited to guard those statues. These high ranking ‘spirits’ or ‘angels’ have been assigned to different statues depending on the karmic status of the hosts and the ‘strength’ of the ceremonies performed by those learned holy persons. These ‘spirits’ would have to attend regular meetings with their respective groups and higher ranking ‘gods’ or deities. So, some psychic people could find out whether the assigned ‘spirits’ or ‘guardians’ were present or absent from those holy statues.

I could sometimes feel special energies around some statues and my friend who stood close by me could feel the rush of energy too. So, she turned to me in surprise, she never had such experience of getting in touch with the ‘guardian spirit’ of a Hindu god be before. So, whenever we went to pay respect to old Buddha statues in the museum, she would stand close by me just to have that special energy flowing through her body. This friend even took me to a very spooky room in the basement of a storage building in the old palace one day. She was very afraid of that big dark room and dared not visit that place. But she knew I would be very curious to feel all the antique weapons and statues there.

As soon as I saw that room, I could feel many strange energies or weird vibes. They were at first quite intimidating and my friend stood at the door. I couldn’t resist the attraction of those ‘living’ antiques with so many hidden stories from the past. My friend started walking behind me and told ne that she would never come inside thus room alone. I sent out compassion and sympathy to those old weapons and objects which were used during several battles. Then, I felt more at ease and a sense of sadness came over me. I thanked them for their services to protect the country and their sacrifice.

Then, at the deep end of the room I saw a large slap of black stone. It was the stone seat where the old kings and princes sat together in the palace hall during formal meetings with all the high ranking officials. The black stone slap was almost five meter long and three or four meter wide. I couldn’t resist putting my hand on the stone. Suddenly, a warden yelled at me ‘no touching’. So, she was watching me all time from hidden cctv inside the room. But she gave me enough time to get in touch with the sacred stone. I was about to fall down on the floor and was saved by her voice. The energy was very strong and kind of ‘swirling’ in a circle. I saw briefly a scene from the past and felt the sudden pressure of ‘live or dead’ situation among those men talking about battle plans. I thanked them for their amazing effort and dedication to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the nation. I also thanked my friend for bringing me there. She was quite pleased to see my reactions towards those antique objects.

She was trying to test my hidden ability so I was persuaded to visit museums and some Buddhist temples. It was rather nice to have my friend driving around the city taking me to find new adventures and experiences. In fact, this friend was also a psychic but at that time she had not yet found her meditation teacher. Years later, she found a very skillful and adept master of meditation, he’s also a genius medical doctor with psychic abilities. We lost contact for several years and I met her again during a turning point in her life.

I was amazed by her methods of meditation and the progressive results she could achieved in under one year. I was invited to have lunch with her teacher as several people in that ‘school’ were curious about me, my friend told them stories about my special ability. It was a bit daunting to see a high level meditator with psychic ability, I didn’t want anyone to read my mind or my past lives. But I kept my mindfulness and compassionate vibes around me. So, the meeting went off to a great success. I was invited to join their meditation session one weekend.

But I found the method too stringent for me, I preferred lots of freedom and natural flow of learning process. I was afraid that I might lose the spontaneous dimension of my unconscious. ‘Nothing is free’, so I was unwilling to risk what I might lose while gaining more psychic power. My friend’s training was specific to certain aspect of ‘clairvoyance’. She could see through a person’s physical body, she could describe and draw the problematic areas inside the body with accuracy. I had heard and read about this ability as a result of certain level of meditation before. But I wasn’t interested in seeing things like that, I’d rather understand my inner conflicts and past karma.

In the end, my friend’s ability brought her more problems. People would expect more such as how to cure or dissolve the problematic physical issues. I was quite concerned that she was interfering with other people’s karmic consequences. According to Buddhism, illness was a consequence of past karma, especially severe illness and accident. Then, strange things began to happen to my friend. She was visited by several strange spirits and ghosts. I had to help her as soon as I saw the ‘shadow of death’ on her face. I warned her not to interfere with people’s karmic cycles as those spirits whose debts were due to wouldn’t be very pleased.

I told her how to talk to some people’ debt-owners and to enquire about their stories and willingness to let go. She reported to me with excitement that she could get responses which shocked her meditation teacher. Many dramatic things occurred and my friend almost lose her life, so she decided to withdraw from her meditation project. I was quite relieved that she could free herself from very unhealthy methods of meditation. Finally she understood why I never indulged in seeking ‘power’ from meditation and that’s why I could receive more special gifts (I was instructed to resort to these gifts only in time of emergency). I wasn’t allowed to make any world profits or gains from these gifts. So, I continued to be self -sufficient and relying on friends for their special treats and charity. These friends were like fairies who were sent to me whenever there was a need. So, this kind of lifestyle has been a journey of testing for my stamina and determination.

But I always wished I could find my own teacher or someone who could guide me to a higher level of development. I felt I had been stuck at a spot for too long. My old and friendly monk who knew me quite well told me that it would be very difficult for me to find a spiritual teacher. I had been self-taught for too long and I was a natural learner who questioned all structured methods. I had met several accomplished meditators in the past, but I felt they were all lacking in some important aspect. They weren’t very happy or compassionate so I thought something was missing from their meditation techniques.

I had no idea how my quest would end but I no longer felt the urgent need to find the right teacher. But it would be nice to be able to find someone who could talk with at the same wavelength. I had to stay from my friend until she went through her own karmic cycle. Meanwhile, I had better get on with practical things in my life so that I could finish several important tasks in preparation for the uncertainty and sudden changes in 2025. Time is running short and I ought to pray more often for guidance and protection.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.