Lost Legends of Immortals by Thomas Cleary

Author:Thomas Cleary [Cleary, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2012-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

Deng Decheng

Deng Decheng was a man of Linquan in Fu province [in Jiangxi]. His family had been Taoists for generations. Whenever he burned incense, he always vowed to assist the nation and support the teaching. He was initiated into the Way on Mount Magu.

When his close friends heard of his aspiration, someone said to him, “The work of assisting the nation requires competence in both military and civil matters; if you retreat into the Taoist priesthood, how can you achieve your aim?”

He smiled and said, “This aim is not something known to people of the world.”

One day, all of a sudden, he returned form the mountains to his own private residence. On the way, he encountered a giant snake lying across the road. Scooping up some water, he sprayed it over the snake and said, “If you’re a dragon, fly off with the water; don’t get in my way.” The snake suddenly turned into a sword, which he carried back home.

One day a certain Taoist priest who saw this said it was a supernatural sword, and taught him how to use it. The Enlightened Emperor [Xuanzong], who was fascinated with the supreme Way and searched all over for Taoist arts, ordered him to the capital city. One day at leisure he remarked to Decheng, “The walled city of Stone Fort in Qinghai is quite a problem on the border.”

Dechang said, “I am a lowly rustic, blessed with incomparable favor. How dare I not do what I can to relieve the emperor’s worries!” Then he lit seven lamps in the configuration of a constellation of stars. Lighting incense, he prayed silently; then one of the lamps flew off like a comet, and the city of Stone Fort was reduced to ashes!

Notes

Taoist masters and cults have long been admired, feared, tolerated, outlawed, enfranchised, and exploited by secular powers for their charismatic influence, organizational abilities, and capacity to mobilize people and resources rapidly at great distances.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.