My Four Most Precious Guan Yin: the Fourth (Part Four of Five: Ms Moon)

Part Four of Five: Ms Moon

What is the connection between Ms Moon and Mr Ang? Except that they were both my clients, and they were very rich, and they were both touched by the hands of faith and miracles.

Ms Moon is a big shareholder and a director of a listed company. And Mr Ang has a company which he wants to get listed.

Ms Moon is a temple goer. Mr Ang is one too. Ms Moon has done many charity and Mr Ang professed that he has done much charity as well.

Ms Moon, with her acute business sense, can see that our business at Lotus on Water was doing very well.

She was amazed that so many people come to us instead of going to others who sell things at very very cheap prize.

She made friends with my media friends, made friends with my staffs, especially our top sales.

The latest Huat bus of Lotus on Water. Catch the bus 165 of Prosperity with Elegance!

And I noticed her company begin to follow us with whatever advertisement we do. For instance, she advertised on a double decker bus as well. But I noticed what she missed out in those advertisements. Mere copying will not make a good advertisement. Advertisement ought to be a angelic song that spreads the good hope, a light house that shines in darkness.

To have consistent in flow of new ideas, you need to activate your literati star. I always put a piece of Dark Earth Agarwood pendent at the corners that has the literati stars. They always give fresh and new ideas.

But since Ms Moon did not ask, I did not try telling her. Even if I tell her, she won't listen. Even if she listened, she won't believe. People only hear what they want to hear, and believe whatever they choose to.

On the right, the Lotus dark earth agarwood pendant. You can either wear it for your prosperity in direct wealth and benefactors, or as like what Master Yun did, placed it at advised corner for the respective fengshui benefits.

So I let people learn from their own experience. But not all people learn. Only some people. And a minority of them will.

Then she turned her attention to our top sales.

"Master, you are very lucky to have good sales people. Their sales talk is so good. No wonder you can sell so well."

"Yes. Very lucky I am indeed." What else could I say?

One day she told me: "Master, with the fame you have and the status you are at, you can say anything and people will listen, you can sell anything and people will buy."

I replied, "On the contrary, I believe it's because I restrain myself from saying and selling anything except those that are true and good, that's why I am where I am today."

She giggled and say: "How proud you are, Master. You should be more humble."

I smiled and said: "If pride is always to come with truth and humility with fake, I will choose pride anytime."

A few weeks later, she asked her driver to leave a packet of beads on my desk. And she left a message: "Master, I have some connections with the Vietnamese government. And I managed to get you some Agarwood beads for you to sell. You should know they are very precious."

Yes. Indeed Agarwood beads from Vietnam are rare and precious. If they are real. People find it too precious to make into beads. So very few Agarwood is made into beads.

I took out a few of them and they smelled and looked real. But just something quite strange I cannot tell. I left it on my desk for further examination and I went on with my busy schedule.

Within a few days time, my staff took one bracelet of beads and sold it to a client. He left the sold Agarwood beads bracelet and left it for me to bless before he come back a few days later to collect.

I got a shock. How can my sales staff be so fast? I have not even decided to sell it.

I held that bracelet of beads in my hand and I prayed to the Thousand Hands Guan Yin to show direction. I suddenly got an urge to force my nail into one of those beads and I tore a piece of waxy, jelly like layer out.

Oh I realized now. They have fixed a layer of real Agarwood skin onto fake wooden beads.

I asked my staff to call the client to come back. And if he was still interested in taking home a bracelet of Agarwood beads, I took one out my safe which cost three times the price he paid and let him take the real one home.

I quickly return the whole packet of Agarwood to Ms Moon and told her they are fake. She told me she didn't know. She said she just wanted to help.

It almost took our integrity and dignity away.

The Lotus galleries along Lotus on Water Street. The first gallery started in 2006. And we expanded, with true fengshui and the prosperity of our faithful clients. This is a testament to the Lotus standard.

From then onwards, I set a rule that all Lotus on Water products must be transacted in the hall of our gallery where our CCTV cameras are. And I will personally make sure that those products our clients took home are real and authentic.

She tried again a few times to sell me fake Agarwood, each time with a new story of what kind of connection she got, which country to have sent her those things. And each time I pointed out to her how I knew they are not real.

When I saw Mr Ang's fake Agarwood beads, they reminded me of Ms Moon.

After some time she gave up the idea of selling me things. She turned her attention to our media friends thinking that it was them that have brought my name up high.

I always had good relationship with the media people. There was one reporter whom we have been friends for ages. After befriending me, and gotten some advice from me, she even bought a second house and her investment grew more than double.

Ms Moon was very interested to befriend her. However, after they became friends, this friend of mine went astray. And we did not meet up for a long time.

One day I got a horror when I read the newspaper. It's a sensational photo. An old lady went to the press in wheelchair.

Her story is that she attended a concert we sponsored. We gave away a jade pendent in a lucky draw. Her ticket was picked up but her chance was denied because she did not complete the ticket. She went to complain to the press that she was bullied because she did not know she had to complete the forms.

A photo next to her show the facade of our gallery. People who saw the photo will know it's us but our gallery's name was not mentioned.

I asked my staff in charged of her lucky draw to show me proof but she said the tickets were all destroyed.

I looked at the staff deep into her eyes and her speech startled.

I knew this is a well schemed game. And this is only but a testing beginning. There will be more to come.

 

The deep waters old mountain sandalwood beads. The old mountain sandalwood beads of the Lotus are at least 80 years of age before harvest, another 20 years of fermentation. The deep waters category is even more aged than that.

If I waited till the real game begins, it will be all too late. So I quickly placed a piece of Agarwood at the benefactor star of the year, and the Deep Waters Sandalwood beads at the literati star. I need to think of a way out within a very short period of time.

I chanted with my 108 Agarwood beads till my heart is calm and my head is clear. The chant means "paying tribute to the treasure in Lotus" (means Guan Yin). When a person chant like this, his world and the Lotus World will merge into one. Guan Yin, who is the treasure of the Lotus is right in front to rectify all wrongs. Bad vibes will be cleared away by the cleansing water of her vase.

Suddenly an idea came to me.

The Lotus 108 sinking agarwood beads. The more you use them, the brighter and more fragrant they become.

So I called the media head and asked her to come see me.

I told her that Lotus on Water was not just a cash cow for me. It was my family heritage and it's is born out of my deep embedded conviction. If they are going to continue in the game, I am prepared to lay down my life like a martyr. I have lived enough and enjoyed much. If I will need to lay my life down so that the Lotus would live, then so let it be. But in my will I will declare all the names who schemed and conspired against me. Let them be investigated thoroughly while my innocent blood scream.

The blood of the innocent will cut through the land of the guilty. The voice of the martyr will never silent till the debt of every conspirator is paid.

And so the drama from the media stopped but just a while. They started again when I declared my retirement from service. They were trying again when my hearing began.

Many weeks later I heard Ms Moon and my ex media friends have invited a PR person for lunch. This time she was asking them to promote her nephew who wants to be a movie star.  The PR person they tried sweet talking to happens to be a friend of my friend. And thanks to my usual generous tipping, the waitress serving their lunch is a friend of the waiter who served me food. They are concerned for my well being and they passed the word to me.

So if you ask me if Mr Ang and Ms Moon is conspiring against me like she did with my ex media friends, I will leave it up to your imagination.

But Ms Moon does have strange friends. Many of her friends have similar beginnings, and similar ends.

The one who follows her closely is one who looks pretty and modern. Used to do pretty well with her own business but ended up broke, with shaky marriage. So she have no choice but to follow Ms Moon everywhere she fancies.

Another was a beautiful and elegant lady who was a mama san. In her course of work , she met a man who owned a listed company. The man divorced his wife and married her. The whole town was gossiping behind her for they are in the media industry.

But through her methods, clean or shrewd, she helped to grow the business big and strong. In no time, she bought a land to build a big and tall building. And she came to us for help.

When my media friends heard they came to ask for our help. They asked me why was I willing to do so taking into account of her grayish past?

I told them she must have paid enough merits in her past to gain present glorious wealth. I will not need to be the judge, let the universe be the one who judge. If she would abuse the grace of Heaven now on her bestowed, the Heaven may send Guan Yin to strike her to her original state, just like how you read about in the "Journey to the West."

With her skills and tricks she used, she was able to delay payment due to us. We who were new in business were no match to her business skills.

Prosperity may have washed her status from ungracious past but have not washed her hearts and hands from greed.

As the rest of Ms Moon friends, she was a temple goer too. But most of the monsters in the novel "Journey to the West" were temple goers as well. They listened to the chanting and preaching of Buddha and thus they gained their merit to possess beautiful human forms. Many of them with seductive figures and sweet smelling breath, able to chant the sutras and perform tiny little magic to lure other monsters and righteous men. But when they fell into the trap by trapping others' souls, they were all whipped back into their original forms.

She invited me to a charity held by a temple she went to, and asked me to be a co-donar. It did not take long for me to realise she laid her unclean hands on the donation.

The blessing vermilion of Lotus on Water is specially prepared. Using the finest vermilion, with the essence of premium and never-for-sale agarwood, sandalwood and ambergris essence, plus 24k gold. The preparation of the Lotus vermilion also uses the black inkstone mentioned in last week's episode.

Out of rage, I spoke to Guan Yin and reminded her it's time for her to act. I offered up the blood red vermillion, to her I prayed.

I offer to You now the blood red vermillion. The debt of karma and pain of retribution shall not be on me but on her who owes. The merit of prosperity has not brought her grace and only fearless greed.

In a very short time retribution came. Their share price was struck humbly down to knee. The husband somehow became gambling addict and lost his fortune on the dens.

They were forced to sell off all their shares and their names are no longer heard among the wealthy class. Last I heard of them was they were under investigation and may have lost their freedom.

Sometimes the rescue of Guan Yin is fast and swift. She gave you a ball and it turned into double dragon to devour the devil. She gave you a ring and you can harness the naughty monkey king. Such are the endings of Ms Moon's many friends.

But sometime the rescue is quite delayed, just like how Ms Moon is still around.

It is as if the hand of Guan Yin is beyond reach and the eyes of karma are blind to them.

The victorious sandalwood Thousand Hands Guan Yin.

No, they are here to lure the righteous man to test their faith and to gather the evil company of other monstrous beings. And maybe that's why people like Ms Moon was meant to stay. The time is delayed for her to disappear like her mama san friend.

But I can tell you I sometimes feel like a monk in the story of "Journey to the West." He was trapped by monsters waiting to cook him up and devour him. At times the rescue came so late that I thought the dawn of next sunlight will never come. I thought the journey would end here and not in the promised land. It may take another soul to heed to the calling of conviction to complete the whole journey.

I could feel that the monsters are heating up the stove and giggling in anticipation thinking that their plan will succeed soon.

Mr Ang was the tip of the ice berg. If I drop my sword and bow to him, there will be a whole gang waiting to devour us. The only way is to pray for the mighty spear of the Thousand Hands Guan Yin to fight for our side.

But I will never know that the power is on my side if I have never stepped forward. Moses never knew the Red Sea would open till he stuck his shepherd staff into the water.

And so I told Mr Kan. Let's take him on. 

-- Master Yun Long Zi, 17 October 2014