On
May 7, 2002, while I was traveling through Panama border by bus, the
local customs officers asked all the passengers to line up their luggage
for a drug inspection by a specially trained dog.
The
dog faithfully discharged his duty by sniffing each piece of luggage
without exception. However, when he came to my two bags, he walked past
without taking a single sniff. And when he turned around to check the
other side of the same row of luggage, he sniffed each piece just as
before but again avoided sniffing mine. He thus diligently checked all
the other passengers' bags, but skipped mine twice. I thought this was
incredible and became very curious. Why was the dog so certain that
he did not need to check my luggage? It might be reasonable to say that
he was very sensitive and aware that it was unnecessary to check my
bags because I truly was not carrying any drugs. However, everyone else's
luggage also passed the inspection, which meant that they were not carrying
drugs either. Yet the dog had still checked each of the other pieces
of luggage with his "professional nose." The only explanation
I could think of was that Master's photo in my luggage was shining,
or that there was an invisible sign on my bags giving the dog the instant
message that inspection was not necessary.
On
a different occasion, I visited another country and found that there
was a "resident" dog at the local center that was also very
wise and sensitive. She could distinguish fellow initiates from non-initiates
even when she was over a hundred meters from a visitor and behind the
center's gate. If a guest came who was not a fellow initiate, she would
bark and charge out. But if the guest was a fellow initiate, she would
rush out to greet him or her but not bark.
She
never once barked at me after I arrived at the center, but instead guarded
me constantly, sometimes squatting outside my room or office but never
trespassing inside. And when I went to different corners of the center,
she would immediately follow me. She was also very friendly to all the
other Quan Yin messengers who visited the center. The dog was really
a good guardian, being huge in size and seriously guarding the center
every day. Many people feared her for she would sometimes bite.
Several
fellow initiates related experiences of how the dog had barked at them
and even tried to bite them before they were initiated, and how she
stopped doing so after their initiations. It seems that initiation endowed
us with a special sign or vibration that let the dog detect a very obvious
difference. However, the dog still barked at the few initiates who perhaps
did not practice seriously enough.
The
dog also had telepathic ability and always understood when someone tried
to communicate with her. For example, a sister initiate once came to
see the resident Quan Yin messenger very late at night about an urgent
matter, and the dog slipped out of the bushes near the entrance gate
to greet her. The sister then told her to go in first, and she obeyed
immediately. On another occasion, the sister was assigned to sell a
car belonging to the center. When she led the buyers in to tow the car
away, the dog ran around the vehicle in panic. However, once the sister
had explained that the car was being sold on Master's instructions,
she became quiet and sat down calmly. The sister spoke Chinese, not
the Spanish spoken locally, yet the dog understood her. One day, I was
thinking that this dog was very responsible, and the only pity was that
she did not occasionally act like a cute, playful child. Then a short
while later, she came over and poked at my feet with her nose, trying
to play with me.
The
dog had originally arrived at the center by herself, and some of us
jokingly said that she was sent by God with a special mission to look
after the place. Her friend, also a large member of the same breed,
often came to visit her. The friend eventually left, but the dog continued
to stay, never abandoning her duty or slipping out to play. Not long
ago, when she knew the place was in good hands, she succumbed to old
age and died alone in peace beside a small stream that runs through
the center. We all miss her very much!
Master
once said, "Many dogs can see people's spiritual auras. That's
why some dogs bark at certain people, but don't bark at others. So there's
a thing such as spiritual power or different energy from different people."
(Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai in English, during the Four-day
Christmas Retreat in Florida, December 26, 2001, News No. 131) The stories
of these two dogs are testimonies to the truth behind Master's words!
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