CELESTIAL DRAGONS LAUGH JOYFULLY
After pure water used to bathe the celestial beings was successfully poured, the Great Dharma King began practicing the Dharma to bathe the celestial beings. As soon as all of the attendees chanted in unison one time the verses relating to bathing the celestial beings, suddenly, a strong wind began swirling. The curtain screens began to bulge and rumble. The tankas hanging on the curtain screens flew upward in a ninety-degree angle from the ground. The poles holding up those curtain screens creaked in the wind as if they were about to break. Even the sandbags used to anchor the curtain screens were turned over and moved by the wind. Two-thirds of the people there heard very loud, low, and deep dragon roars explode in the air accompanied by the clap of rolling thunder. One-third of the people there only heard the sound of the wind but did not hear the sound of thunder. This all the more proves the magnificence of the Buddha Dharma, since different karmic states manifested at the same time.
At that time, the hot sun was high in the sky. It seemed as if the joyful roars of the celestial dragons shook the sun so that it shined even more brilliantly! The Dharma protecting deities came to the mandala where the Buddha was bathed and received a Dharma bathing bestowed by the Buddha! At this time, people remembered that a few days before the Dharma Assembly when the curtain screens and Dharma altar were being erected, the Great Dharma King personally arrived. He repeatedly instructed everyone to fasten well the foundational support for the Dharma altar and curtain screens so that the altar and screens would not be blown over by the wind. A layperson whose last name is Hsu said to the Dharma King, ‘The weather station forecasted that there will be no rain or wind for the next seven or eight days.’The Great Dharma King then told everyone, ‘At the Dharma Assembly, of course it will not rain. However, when I practice the Dharma, a strong wind will blow. There will be strong gusts of wind, especially when all of the Dharma protecting deities arrive and manifest their powerful spirits. Therefore, the foundational support must be fastened firmly.’It is very fortunate that the Great Dharma King made such a prediction. On the day of the Dharma Assembly, the dharma protecting deities joyfully laughed in the sky. Although there were strong gusts of wind, the dharma altar and curtain screens did not fall.
