EAR RINGING : A "True" Story from Chinese History

There is a story (in some buddhist writings, unable to locate it now, so will just summarize the gist: apologies for errors & omissions) during the reign of the first Empress [Wu] of China , who believed that she too, like all previous male emperors before her , were "sons" or "daughters" of Heaven; i.e. more than an ordinary human being, more like a "god".

Her imperial religious adviser, an honest to goodness spiritual practitioner who wouldn't lie directly even to her in acclaiming her special status, despite the threat of death to him & his entire family, was deep in one form of meditation for many sleepless nights; trying to figure a way out.

He was also charged with translating & explaining in a concise manner, some of the very important buddhist sutras brought back from India by a monk ;a most famous one in chinese folklore, where a whole series of highly exaggerated stories have been created based on this monk's (Tsuan Tsang) journey which took many years, known as "The adventures of Monkey goes West". It was also this monk who on his way, passed by Indo-China, and historically recorded his description of Angkor Wat and life there at its cultural heights.

Anyway, whilst so deep in his meditation, a maid who was bringing him some tea, accidentally dropped and broke the porcelain cup...........presumably emitting a high pitch sound upon hitting the floor...........call it coincidence or whatever, that sound somehow hit RESONANCE with the vibrationary state he was in, raising the frequency to a height he could never have reached by his own effort!.........and yet another "synchronocity": that the resultant extremely high frequency of vibration "perfectly sublimated" (RESONANT again) with the external sound he was "tuning" in to (downloaded)........and viola !.......it either broke through all barriers or canceled out to a ZERO state, giving him the "enlightenment" breakthrough he had sought for so long.

[Avalokitasvara or the "goddess of mercy" had also described a similar "sound-hearing" sublimation method to obtain her enlightenment: found in : "The Surangama Sutra"]

To cut a long story short: he instantly knew what to do and immediately ordered a room to be constructed with every inch of wall (including the doorway, floor & ceiling) covered with the most polished brass available (substituting for mirrors of today), with absolutely nothing else, except for a life size statute of the goddess of mercy placed right in the center of the room.

On the appointed day (to brief the Empress on the Indian sutras) he requested that only the empress alone was fit to enter such a "pure realm", where the answers she seek would be found within, and only she was privileged to that.

Guess what she saw?
Her own image, "superimposed" (in a sense) with the statue, reflected back & fro, up & down, ad infinitum on the polished brass panels..................and her conclusion: Yes ! She is "one with the goddess, She is the goddess"; and only she alone had access to the room whenever she needed to boost her ego henceforth.

Her adviser didn't have to lie at all. In fact, by explaining further on the reflections that "One is in All & All is in One" or : "The Macrocosm is reflected in the Microscosm" ( described in greater details in another sutra , known as "The Brahma Net Sutra", where "ALL are just ILLUSIONS", "MIND" only ), the concepts are almost identical to today's "Holographic Universe" theory.

So, it was also the empress' own illusions & delusions, strengthened by her shallow understanding of the concepts presented (of course in a most flattering manner) that they all lived "merrily" after.

For those interested, her colorful & creative SEXUAL exploits as a "Nymphomaniac" is unsurpassed in China's history.

So, Ringing in your Head (or Ears)?...don't try breaking cups!.....I won't be responsible for your loss.