Smashing open the gate of Hell and guiding those who died in the flood to deliverance
破地獄門 接引水災亡靈
Grand Master Lu`s Dharma Talk at Rainbow Temple on August 16, 2009

Homage to Reverend Liaoming, Vajra Acharya Sakya Zhengkong, His Holiness, the Sixteen Karmapa, and Vajra Acharya Thubten Dargye. Homage to the Triple Jewels of the Shrine, Principal Deity of the Homa, Padmakumara, multitude of buddhas, bodhisattvas, dharma protectors, dakas, dakinis, devas, and spirits of the netherworld. Shimu, vajra masters, senior reverends, reverends, speakers, dharma assistants, fellow school members, and those school members joining us through the web, may all of you be prosperous.

Today`s deliverance homa was drastically different from the usual homa. The main reason was to deliver those killed by Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. (Applauses from the crowd). Earlier, my vajra hook mudra failed to summon the spirits of those killed by Typhoon Morakot. Instead, my summons was answered by dark angels. All of them were dark angels, netherworld`s guardians. They first demanded that I offered them liquors. They didn`t just want a drop or two. They wanted the entire bottle. They only wanted liquor. So, I poured bottles after bottles into the homa fire. Poured in entire bottles. They were unexpectedly stubborn and didn`t acquiesce after receiving offering. They refused to leave. I was left with no choice but to evict them forcibly. This is to say that the dark angels came out of the homa furnace and surrounded it. I couldn`t see any victim killed by Typhoon Morakot. I only saw crowds of black angels.

At that time, I decided that I couldn`t leave this homa uncompleted. So, I had to make some sacrifices. I sacrificed more than of my fifty spiritual emanations. About half of my spiritual emanations died. So, I must make new spiritual emanations. I summoned all my spiritual emanations. One spiritual emanation faced-off against one netherworld guardian. Only after most of the dark angels had died, did I see the crowds of victims killed by Typhoon Morakot hidden behind the army of dark angels. No one can open gate of hell. So, I continuously stomped my foot opening the gate of hell. I kept chant mantra to open the gate of hell. Finally, the Typhoon Morakot`s victims escaped from hell. I saw that their spirits were all weighted-down with severe negative karmas. I had to purify them before they could be reborn into the pure land. That`s why I asked for the water. I took a gulp of water and spit it on them washing away their negative karmas. Then, I used Buddha-dharma to evoke the multitude of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and vajra protectors to guide these spirits to the pure land. (Applauses from the crowd)

There were three important obstacles I had to overcome. The first obstacle was that I had to evict all of the dark angels. I had to defeat the dark angels. The second obstacle was that I had to open the gate of hell. I stomped my foot and slammed my hands together. I opened the gate of hell by the force of foot stomp and slamming my hands together. Third obstacle, I had to wash away the negative karmas of the spirits. Then, I could use deliverance rite to guide them to pure land. So, I sacrificed fifty some spiritual emanations. I have to create new spiritual emanations because I lost about half of them. This is to say, more than fifty of my spiritual emanations perished along with the black angels. The gate of hell is extremely difficult to open. You couldn`t bring spirits of those killed by Typhoon Morakot out here unless you had opened the gate of hell. So, you must know how to open gate of hell. Then, the third obstacle, you must know how to cleanse these spirits` negative karmas. Fortunately, my gurus had taught me all these methods. The method to open the gate of hell, how to cleanse the karmas of netherworld𠏋 beings, and mutual destruction rite which took down those dark angels. All of these rites were used today.

I had never imagined it would come down to this. I thought this homa would be very straightforward. It turned out to be extremely difficult. Even the ring that I had worn for many years was thrown into the homa fire. I had two of these rings on my fingers this morning. Now, I only have one left. The other one was thrown into the fire and probably burnt to a crisp. The ring held a two-caret diamond. Someone should go through the furnace a bit later and see if you can find it. This deliverance homa was really difficult. I almost broke the skins of my palms slamming my hands together. This was first time in my life that I had experienced such difficult deliverance homa. Those dark angels said the disasters caused by Typhoon Morakot were karmic fruitions. You cannot change karmic fruitions. The gate of hell cannot be opened. These spirits cannot be reborn to the pure land. You don`t have the power to overcome karmic fruitions. You don`t have the power to deliver these spirits to the western pure land. They told me those deliverance rites performed by other masters had all been ineffective. Yes, they evoked the multitude of buddhas, bodhisattvas, dharma protectors, dakas, and dakinis. But, they couldn`t open the gate of hell. They couldn`t summon the spirits of those killed by Typhoon Morakot. So, they only formed Yogacara Ulka-mukha mudra, but didn`t deliver any victim`s spirit because gate of hell did not open.

If you want to open the gate of hell, smash it open, you have to know the way. You have to know the mantra, the mudra, and the way to smash it open. Most teachers wouldn㦙 be able to handle the appearances of these dark angels. I could have just kept forming mudras and chanting. Meditated for a bit and declared the homa a success. Then, watched these dark angels go away laughing. I could have done that. You wouldn`t have know those spirits of Typhoon Morakot`s victims were not deliver; the gate of hell did not open; the karmas of those killed by Typhoon Morakot were not cleansed; their rebirths into the pure land was an impossibility. I made a colossal effort, sacrificed fifty some Padmakumaras, so this deliverance homa would not become meaningless. Thank the gods; those Padmakumaras were only spiritual emanations. It was kind of like story of the Monkey King. The Monkey King pulled off some of his hairs. Then, transformed these hairs into fifty some emanations. They all perished along with the dark angels. It was kind of like the Monkey King stories. But, it was more like being burn at the stake. But, I did say I was going to deliver the spirits of those killed by Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. Then, this deliverance homa had to be properly completed. The three obstacles had to be overcome. Forget about it. It wasn㦙 a big deal. But, that diamond ring was really expensive. (Laughter from the crowd) The diamond was two carats of D grade colorless diamond. D grade is the highest grade for colorless diamond. It may still be in the furnace. See if someone can find the ring. (Laughter from the crowd) They even stole the ring off my finger. This homa was really too difficult. (Applause from the crowd)

Were you able to recognize the mudras that I used? There was the Four Horizontal and Five Vertical Slashes Mudra for boundary protection, and Five Thunders Mudra to evoke the thunder gods to evict these angels. There was the vajra mudra for combat like sword mudra and fire mudra; purification mudra, and deliverance mudra. It was extremely hard work. It is good that the deliverance homa was completed. (Applauses from the crowd). Tonight, I have to visit the netherworld to speak with Lord Yama. We need to sit down to make some compromises, negotiate for a bit. Compromise and negotiate. Sit down and talk it over. Why did it have to be so difficult causing me to be so unhappy? I am furious. I was angry and that fire was burning the whole time. Why did he cost me to lose so many Padmakumaras? It takes a long time to form just one Padmakumara. In one instant, more than fifty of them were gone. I have to sit down with Lord Yama and settle this.

Today`s homa befuddled me because I had expected it to be straightforward. Dark angel after dark angel flew out of the smoke, out of the homa fire, startled me. I was stunned. In the confusion, I didn`t know how to react or which rite to use. Then, gradually, I remembered how I should respond. As you grow older, you would have these moments of confusion. So, I was suddenly stunned unsure how to respond despite knowing multitude of rites by heart.

There is this joke about becoming lost. A student submitted this joke, so I should share it. A hog farmer had a troublesome hog. So, he decided to get rid of it by setting the hog loose in a far away field. But, this hog was very smart and found its way home. Every time the hog farmer tried to get rid of the hog, the hog would somehow find its way home. As a last resort, the farmer drove the hog to a very far off place and set it loose. Then, sometime around midnight, the hog farmer called home. He asked, had the hog found its way home? The hog farmer`s family told him that it had. The hog farmer said, put it on the phone, I don`t know how to get back home. (Laughter from the crowd)

When I saw those dark angels flew out, I was startled, shocked, and stunned. I didn`t know what to do. I was lost like that hog farmer. I didn`t know what to say to these netherworld guardians. I couldn`t think of a way for handling the situation. Whatever they demanded, I tried to satisfy. They wanted me to pour in liquor. I poured in liquor. They wanted me to throw it into the homa fire. I threw it into the homa fire. Whatever they wanted, I gave. Then, I suddenly realize there was something seriously wrong. I didn`t see any spirit of those killed by Typhoon Morakot, not one of them came. Originally, I made offering to these dark angels. As time went on, I was forced to evict them. At the end, I had to use mutual-destruction method to take them down. Then, I realized that spirits of those killed by the Typhoon Morakot must be locked up in hell. Hence, I broke open the gate of hell. I discovered that they were all defiled with severe negative karmas. I had to use purification rite. My guru taught me to drink a gulp of water. So, I told Reverend Lian-wan to get me some water. I drank a big gulp and quickly spit the water on them. Then, I chant the purification mantra to cleanse them of their negative karmas. Finally, I could use deliverance rite to deliver them. I evoked for the help of multitude of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Killing these dark angels, combating these dark angels required the use of great palm power to eliminate them. I slammed my hands together and one of them died. Every one of these dark angel said, \`No!\` \`No!\` They were not like people from China who always say, \`Yes!\` (Laughter from the crowd). These dark angels kept saying, \`No.\` 㛝ou can`t deliver them.?This made me mad. There is another joke that was submitted. There was a beautiful young maid working in a household. One day, the lady-of-the-house was out. So, the master-of-the-house asked the maid to go out and buy him a copy of newspaper. The maid said, no. The master-of-the-house was perplexed. Why couldn`t you go out to buy a copy of the newspaper? That was something very easy. The maid responded, the answer was no. The lady-of-the-house told me before she left to say no to all your requests in the house. (Laughter from the crowd). Whatever request the master-of-the-house made in the house while the lady-of-the-house was out, the maid`s response was to be no. That was what the lady said.

Today, Shimu had given me specific instructions. She told everybody that she couldn`t come to the homa today. She was taking the city tour with her nephew and niece. So, she couldn`t attend the homa. But, she said that we鏆 meet at 6:30 P.M. Besides performing the deliverance homa and watching the performance after the homa, I can`t do anything else. Vajra Master De-hui will drive me to meet her at the specified location at 6:30 P.M. That was the boss?order.

Today, the Hevajra Tantra talk is on the eighth chapter. The secrets of Twin body. Hevajra`s throne is a lotus with sun and moon disc above it. Hevajra is an one-taste buddha, one who attained one-taste, a buddha who achieved dual application of insights and means. Hevajra`s consort is Nairatmya (\`She Who Has Realized Selflessness\`). If you chose Hevajra as your principal deity, you would be like Marpa, the founder of Kagyu School. Marpa`s wife was called Dagmema, which is Tibetan for Nairatmya. Why was she called Dagmema? This was because Hevajra was Marpa`s principal deity. So, his wife became known as Dagmema. Nairatmya has the same color as Hevajra. She is depicted with one face and two arms. Her right hand holds a curved knife (kartika) and her left hand holds a skullcap (kapala). Most wisdom dakinis (female buddhas) are depicted as holding curved knives with their right hands and skullcaps with their left hands while embracing with herukas in the twin body pose. The skullcap holds the most delicious food, nectars, or the finest medicine. This is the image of female buddha. Okay, our talk will end here.

Om Mani Padme Hum.

Translated by TBTT (Lianhua Zhi-wei, Proofread: TBD, Edited by TBD)