I respectfully introduced myself to Grandmaster Trieu Phuoc, and venerable Master Nguyen Mai. My name is Trieu V. Thanh, 32 years old. I own a shrimp farm in Ben Tre province. I learned martial art from instructor Thanh Hung, who had initiated me into Old_Guru Secret Teaching and taught me the religious way. Today I am very happy to have a chance to write about my own personal mystical experiences in the practice and cultivation of Old_Guru Secret Teaching - The Five Dharani. This is a short article but it is written out of true feelings from my heart.

I want to share with religious friends, the wonderful miracles that occurred to me since I received the Initiation into the Mysteries of Old_Guru Secret Teaching from sufu (respectful term for teacher) Thanh Hung whom I met 5 or 6 years ago in the Martial Arts Club that he supervised.

I came from a poor family and had to labor hard for a living. After a rough day’s work, I used to relieve my mental and physical stress by having a drink or two with my friends. Then, I would come to kung fu class with the smell of alcohol still on my breath. Many times, I was scolded and got kicked out by sufu but I kept coming back every evening, as if led by some Force, and by all means I begged him to allow me back into his class.

Though sufu is outwardly strict and inspires fear in his students, deep down he is actually easy going and compassionate. He finally agreed and said: “but if you still drink, do not come to class any more.” I made that promise to him, and since that day I quit drinking entirely, and at times I even shared a vegetarian meal with him.

Before I became his student, I used to watch him furtively, trying to know more about him. I was surprised to know that he had been a vegetarian since he was a child; I was also intrigued by his particular body shape; there was something mysterious about him that made me very curious and wanted to understand him more.

The affiliation that brought me to the training ground was from my witnessing sufu Thanh Hung’s performing an exorcism. The spirit-possessed person was so violent and caused such commotion that his family had to take him to the mental institution of BienHoa many times; they had also gone to many priests and shamans and tried every method in vain. Finally, as he continued to cause a lot of troubles and turmoil in the village, such that the local authorities were involved, he had to be bound in iron chains to keep him at home. But he broke loose easily and taking the chains with him, he went around the village, causing havoc everywhere. He particularly liked to break and destroy things inside Buddhist temples.

That day he was breaking things in a temple. Everybody ran away in panic. No one dared to approach him including the guerrilla and the local police force as he was wielding his chains around threateningly. The District police was called. A friend of mine ran to sufu Thanh Hung’s home where he was giving acupuncture treatment to my neighbor and urgently asked sufu to help out. Sufu Thanh Hung was very calm. He patiently finished his work then he walked to the temple. As he approached the place, the possessed person angrily ran out to meet him. Everybody was terrified at the sight. Then a strange phenomenon took place which people still talk about until this day: Facing the demon-possessed man, sufu Thanh Hung made a Mudra with his hands, spoke a foreign tongue, and directed the Mudra toward him. The man immediately fell to the ground with a loud thud, and lied there motionless as if he was crushed by some invisible force and being tied up by invisible ropes. Only then did the district police rush in to tie him up. As he was taken away, he cried out: “let me prostrate to the master and to the Deities”. He struggled to get loose, knelt down in front of sufu and bowed his head to the ground. Afterward the police led him to their quarters.

The next day, his family brought him to see sufu Thanh Hung, who initiated him into the religion together with two other souls from the other world that had been with him. Since then he was fully recovered and practiced the Five Dharani religiously, he often went to the temple to pray.

I was totally impressed and filled with admiration for sufu Thanh Hung. Soon, I enrolled myself in his Kung Fu class. He initiated me and I started to practice Buddhist spiritualities under his guidance.

Before my initiation, I was an ignorant outsider, knowing nothing about spirituality or Dharani. On the day of my religious initiation, I was instructed to kneel and pay respect to the Buddha and Bodhisattva, then to Grandmaster Trieu Phuoc and Master Nguyen Mai. As I finished the bowing ceremony, I felt an awakening of my consciousness accompanied by a surge of bright light, and a very warm sensation in my body. As I turned toward the altar, I saw an invisible God whom I recognized as the Patriarch of the Chieu Ha Mal sect (Cambodian martial art god). His body form is very big, he is stripped to the waist, and his skin is black and shiny. Alongside of him were two rows of Spirits, Messengers from the school of Buddha’s Kung Fu. I immediately bowed down to them, when suddenly I was attacked by spirits shadows. They were as fierce as tigers’ pouncing on their prey, with great speed and accuracy. The Force guided me to fight back aggressively, my fingers were locked in a Mudra and a foreign language came out from my mouth. I realized I was being trained in Buddha’s Kung Fu. After a while, the training was over. The Force made me bow down to the altar to thank the Deities for their teaching.

I am very glad to receive this religious practice from sufu Thanh Hung who received it from Grandmaster Trieu Phuoc and Master Nguyen Mai. I have been cultivating the spiritual path enthusiastically and diligently since.

Heavenly Scroll ceremony:
After a period of practicing the mantra, I was ready to receive the Heavenly Scroll. On that day, I had the following mystical experiences as evidence of divine recognition. After the bowing down to the Buddhas and Deities, my Grandmaster and master was completed, a white-haired God, wearing a big string of shining prayer beads appeared in front of me and I bowed down. With his right hand, he drew a Yantra with red letters on my head and body. I felt an electric current being transmitted to my body, and prompted to spread my legs and drew images on the floor, then performed a Kung Fu stance and various Kung Fu forms. The force made me bow down to my superiors and while I was still on my knees, moved me backward and from my mouth came out a prayer of repentance.

Since having the Yantra, I had been taught many beautiful and unusual forms of Kung Fu with many complicated moves involving high and quick jumping. My health was improved and I developed more power in my arms and legs. I was also very confident during competition. One time sufu took me to the national martial arts competition in the Province of Quang Ngai, I got into the fighting ring, feeling at ease and relaxed. Seeing me in this loose attitude, my opponent took me for an inexperienced fighter. He lashed at me and threw a fast kick that landed on my leg. Thwack! I felt as if my leg was a metal pole. The Force was with me and I counter attacked with a kick that sent him flying 2 meters away. The power was such that his protective gear made of thick bamboo snapped open and shattered. His leg was injured from striking against mine.

After the fight, sufu did not allow me to compete anymore. He told me: “because you have the Force, you should not use it for your personal and selfish gain such as money and fame. Wait for your opportunity to promote the religion and help others.” Since then, I no longer participated in any competition in the fighting ring. My everyday is filled with some joys and I have wonderful powers that are beyond description.

(To be continued)