This
is the night I will tell you a ghost story to test your courage,
and see how you will sleep tonight. You will know, OK?
Now, there was a very young
and beautiful wife, who became sick and nearly died. She was on
her death bed and told her husband, "I love you very much,
and I don't want to leave you. Please, after I die, don't marry
another person. You promise me! Okay?
Then she worried that her
husband would not keep the promise, so she threatened him. She said,
"If you marry another wife, I will become a ghost and take
care of you." It's terrible! That's what she said to her husband,
"I will make you suffer, always, forever, and eternally!"
So the husband was maybe afraid of the wife. But here (Master points
to the book) they say, "respected the wife." We always
respect the wife, do we not? We respect the wife, but we're not
afraid! So the husband respected the wife and didn't think of remarrying
another person.
But as God always makes trouble
for human beings, he met another beautiful woman, younger, charming,
sweeter and more attractive, and richer even! Rich! Oh, terrible!
And she even loved him very much and maybe more than the wife. Oh,
too bad! That was only three months after the funeral service. Now
what can we do about that?
So he got engaged to her.
After the engagement (the engagement happened during the daytime),
that night the husband saw the ghost of the wife coming. "Ah
ha! As promised, here I come." She appeared in front of him
and scolded him and nagged him, saying that he had broken his promise;
that he did not love her; that he was not sincere; that he was a
bad husband; that he had no conscience; that he was a lousy man;
that he was a terrible human being; that he was not a virtuous Quan
Yin practitioner, etc.
Then the husband got very
scared! Because this ghost was so terribly intelligent; she knew
exactly what had happened between the husband and the new fiancée.
She told him what time he did what with her, and what time he gave
her what, and talked to her about what. She knew everything, everything!
So he couldn't deny it. But he was very scared.
He was so scared that he could
not sleep, he could not eat, and he dared not go to see his fiancée
often. And their love affair nearly went on the rocks. So some people
told him that he should go to a temple and talk about his suffering
to a Zen master, and maybe the Zen master could help him. Oh, my
God! The Zen master takes care of everything, including ghosts and
marriage.
So the Zen master truly helped
him. He said to the husband, "Your ex-wife has become a ghost."
(This we knew) "And she is very intelligent. So she knows everything
that you did with your fiancée. Actually, you should respect such
a ghost. But there is a way to drive her away. Now, next time if
the ghost appears, you have to make a bet with her." The Zen
master said that she knew everything; she knew too much already.
But probably there was something she didn't know. If she answered
incorrectly, then she should not come back and bother him any more.
Then he could marry the one he loved.
Because she was dead! She
could not serve him in any way. She could not cook for him. She
could not take care of anything. So the husband asked the Zen master,
"What can I do? What should I ask her?"
And the Zen master said to
him, "Next time when she comes, take a handful of mung beans
in your hand and ask her how many beans are inside. She surely cannot
answer that. And then she will disappear. Because, if she cannot
answer that question, you will know this is only an illusion of
your own mind, your own conscience or your own imagination because
you're already too scared, afraid of the wife and imagining, an
illusion of your mind. If she doesn't answer, if she cannot answer,
then you know it's an illusion and she will vanish."
So, the next night, truly,
the ghost appeared. And the husband told her, "Oh, yes, you
know everything. You are very intelligent; I cannot do anything
about it." And then the ghost said, "Yes, I know. And
I also know that today you went to see a Zen master and you talked
about us."
So the man said, "Okay,
since you know everything, now, can you tell me how many beans are
in my hand?" As soon as he asked this question, the ghost disappeared.
So you know, was there a real
ghost? No! Then you shouldn't be afraid tonight.
