How Did This Happen?

Book 223 Stories of Supreme Spiritual Responses (《無上殊勝的感應》「這是怎麼回事？」)

‧Written by Sheng-yen Lu‧

Translated by Janny Chow

A US Daden Culture Publication

　　It is well understood that, in the United States, building a temple is not an easy endeavor. First, there are public hearings to be held, and the several hundred households in the neighborhood are also required to give consent. Because the land a temple sits on is used for religious purposes, the local government must approve rezoning of the land for “Religious Use.”
The Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple in Redmond, WA has undergone innumerable trials and tribulations involving altogether eleven public hearings. An account of these hardships could constitute a book.
On the other hand, Rainbow Villa was built with my own resources. It is located in the city of North Bend, about forty minutes by car east of Seattle. Zoning of the villa is still under county regulations. Rainbow Villa sits in a residential zone surrounded by land designated as “light industry zoning.”
When Rainbow Villa was first built, it was intended to be a vacation resort and retreat home. Rainbow Villa sits on forty acres, surrounded by mountain ranges with the following geomantic features: Official Hat Mount, Screen Mount, Sky Horse Mount, Benefactor Peak, Seal Mount, Drum Mount, and Banner Mount. It is a location where the seven stars have landed on earth, a land with great feng shui.
Rainbow Villa is my home.
Rainbow Villa houses a memorial site for my ancestors.
Rainbow Villa houses a main shrine and a separate shrine for dharma protectors.
Rainbow Villa holds a place for unborn baby spirits to be enshrined.
Rainbow Villa has a fire puja hall.
Rainbow Villa is a precious land where fellow students come for retreat.
Rainbow Villa has hiking trails with gymnastic equipment at the summit of a hill.
Even then, Rainbow Villa’s zoning is residential and absolutely not a Religious Use Land.

***
A few years ago, student Wang was browsing the Internet and came across the zoning listing for Rainbow Villa. He almost jumped out of his seat because the zoning indicated that Rainbow Villa was on “Religious Use Land.”
This student is a construction engineer and is familiar with the regulations and legislature for land zoning. It was not possible for a residential zone to suddenly and spontaneously transform into land for religious use.
Thus, when student Wang informed us of this discovery, we were all greatly astonished:
How did this happen?
Did Golden Mother of Jade Pond put in a zoning change request?
What about the public hearings?
How did the land zoning change on its own?
Did the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas put in a request?
What was going on?
Rainbow Villa had indeed mysteriously become the Rainbow Temple without anyone being aware of this change.
***
Oh Heavens! What kind of miraculous transformation was this?
One night, at the Baihui Point on the crown of my head, a luminous Buddha climbed out and flew to the home of the county official responsible for land zoning. The official was in deep sleep, and the Buddha entered his dream consciousness.
The next day, the official went to his office. He looked up a parcel of land under his administration and initiated the changeover of the zoning of Rainbow Villa from “residential use” to “religious land use.”
He carried this out in a daze.
Thus, “residential use” became “religious land use.”
I say: When one takes care of oneself, Heaven will also take care of oneself, and all one’s wishes will come true.
In some instances, without engaging in any overt action, everything is smoothly accomplished. There were no “public hearings.” There were no requests for zoning changes. The Rainbow Temple spontaneously came into being.