The Dreams of a Coma Patient

(From Book 177: Stories About Seeing Deities and Ghosts)

I have mentioned in the past:

In the celestial heavenly realms, the most wealthy are the Four Great Heavenly Kings.

In the ocean realm, the most wealthy are the Dragon Kings.

On land, the most wealthy are the mountain gods.

These are dedicated to the wealth of the material world. There is also real wealth in the "invisible world." Beyond the material world, the most wealthy are the "Tao," The Bhutatathata," "Nirvana," "The Wisdom of Buddha" (the prajna of the six paramita).

One time during my consultations, an unusual story came forth:

A man named Jiang had come to me for a consultation about his future. After divining for him, I said to him, "You are going to prosper."

"Prosper?"

"You will become very rich."

A group of men who had accompanied him burst out laughing upon hearing this news. The truth was that Mr. Jiang was a young lumberman with very little education and from a poor family. He could rely only on his own labour to make a living cutting timber in the mountain forests. He did not earn very much.

I predicted that he was going to be rich, so everyone thought this was very amusing.

Jiang asked me, "When will I become rich?"

I divined and replied, "In five years."

I was very positive about this. I said to Mr. Jiang, "In five years, you will definitely be rich. How do I know? Because I saw a great tree under which there was a land god. The land god has followed you. He stretched out his five fingers and nodded to me."

Mr. Jiang looked very serious.

The others with him again burst out in loud laughter.

Then Mr. Jiang told me a story: He didn't have much education. He was only a lumberman. His pay was not very much and could only support his day-to-day living expenses. There were even times when he had had to go into debt. If someone had told him that he was going to be rich, it would have been very hard for him to imagine.

But a land god from under a great tree was now following him. It seemed to suggest something very meaningful. He told me that the residents of a town at the foot of a mountain had asked him to cut down several huge trees. They had hired him because of his experience.

That night, he had had a dream. He dreamt about an old man, wearing the garments of a land god. The old man had pointed to one of the large trees and said, "Please don't cut down this tree. Please wrap a red cloth around it and at the base of the tree, please build a small temple for the land god."

The old man had then said, "I will protect you and bless you."

The next morning, when he awakened from his dream, he had set out to cut down the trees. He cut down all of the trees, except for the great tree he had seen in his dream. He pointed to this great tree and said to the townspeople, "This tree has a god; it cannot be cut down. It must be wrapped with a red cloth, and at the base of it, a small temple must be built for the land god."

The townspeople had listened to what Mr. Jiang had to say, wavering between belief and disbelief. They asked the town mayor to use divining blocks to determine whether or not to follow the lumberman's advice. The result was three successive "Yes" responses.

Consequently, the great tree was spared. It was wrapped with red cloth and a small temple was built at its base for the land god.

Mr. Jiang then asked me, "The land god under the great tree ?is that the land god you mean?"

After hearing his story, I could only laugh in response.

Mr. Jiang asked me one more time, "Is it really in just five more years?"

I replied, "It's true. In five years."

I was certain because I had seen the land god under the great tree stretching his five fingers and nodding his head to me.

About two years later, Mr. Jiang came to me for another consultation.

"Will I be rich?"

I categorically told him, "With certainty!"

Mr. Jiang was struggling with believing this. The lumbermen were under the control of the local timber administration bureau and they had been told they would soon be dismissed. Mr. Jiang was going to be out of a job. His life would become even more difficult. He could see no way out. He had not only not prospered, but now he was facing more and more difficult times.

I used the finger-counting divination method to look into his future.

I then said to him, "Your future prosperity is still related to lumber."

Mr. Jiang replied, "It's impossible! I don't believe it! I have already lost my job. Right now, I can't even be a lumberman. I can only do odd jobs."

He then left angrily.

I didn't blame Mr. Jiang for being so angry. After all, he had been driven from pillar to post. But I had seen the land god still following him. Mr. Jiang was depressed, yet I was full of faith on this one.

It is now about three years later. I am at a restaurant for dinner. Just as I am sitting down, a young man walks over to me; he is wearing a well-tailored suit and sporting a diamond-encrusted Rolex watch. He bows to me.

"You are...?" I couldn't recognize who he was.

"Master Lu, my name is Jiang."

"You..., you..., are..., ...Jiang!" I couldn't believe it! In the past, Mr. Jiang's hair had been disheveled and his face had been covered with whiskers. He hadn't at all resembled the young man who now stood before me, neat, tidy, and handsome.

Mr. Jiang said, "We are having a meal at the next table. Please be my guest. Please, Master Lu, move over to our table."

Mr. Jiang introduced the other people to me: one was a factory director, another was a General Administrator, one was a secretary, one was a treasurer, and so on..."

(Continued in next issue)

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