Sunday, January 14, 2007

A Non-believer

I remember many years ago a story that was shared by my fellow classmates when I was learning under my Daoist teacher. My teacher had a best friend that he first knew when he was in the army. While my teacher is a Daoist master, his best friend was a firm believer of science and he never accepted the former's religious practices. One day, the friend made a visit to my teacher's home and saw the altar in the house. He queried the teacher about the many amulets he saw on the altar and my teacher explained that some of these amulets are actually home to spirits that he kept. Claiming his faith in science and not spirits, the best friend wanted proof and requested to bring one of the amulets home and see what happens. My teacher was reluctant but obliged, allowing him to take a spirit with him back. Before leaving, my teacher cautioned the friend that he will definitely return it before the next day.

True enough, the best friend called the teacher in the middle of the night and begged him to take the amulet back. The friend was not able to sleep as he kept hallucinating that the walls are closing in on him. Other supernatural occurences happened too but I was not given the details. Nevertheless, the spirit definitely scared the hell out of this guy and nearly drive him insane. My teacher then made a fast trip down to the friend's house and collected his spirit 'friend' back. The best friend became an overnight believer of the spirit world and learned to respect my teacher's religious practices.

Regards
Alvin Chua

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