There is nothing educational about this piece. I’m just sharing my experience from a recent road trip to Kek Look Tong so that I could speak with ‘Kai Mah’ aka Godmother. Therefore, this piece will be filed under the category of ‘Useless Information’.
But first, some background
My Chinese Metaphysics journey actually began with learning Qi Men Dun Jia. But at that time, perhaps because the timing wasn’t right, but I found QMDJ difficult to practice. So I turned to Bazi. Voila! The pictorial form of Bazi suited this visual thinker right down to her saggy socks.
But all this while, I’ve always had a hankering to pay my respects at the altar of the Lady of the 9 Heavens. After all, legends have it that she was the one who bequeathed this knowledge to mankind. So I figured, every practitioner should at least go and say thank you once!
In 2020, I found out that there was such an altar about 3 hours drive away. And then Covid hit. Lockdown after lockdown derailed the plans. But finally, in November 2021, we made it happen.
Finally… Kek Look Tong
This… is Kek Look Tong Buddhist Temple in Ipoh, Perak. It’s a temple carved into a natural limestone cave that must be millennia old. Step into the cave and immediately, a sense of calm descends. The Qi inside the cave is amazingly powerful.
Upstairs is the altar dedicated to the Lady of the 9 Heavens. Look at her… isn’t she gorgeous? (I mean, the picture of the goddess on the right, not the idiot wearing a mask on the left!) Now I say ‘her’, but in reality, this is but a form of energy and by right gender does not apply. However, Taoist and Buddhist beliefs will tend to give energy a human form. It’s easier for us to connect.
I’m not sure what happened. But seated in front of the altar, this Wealth structure person managed to release… to let go.
Of course, I went armed with a long list of ‘I want, I want, I want…’. Not a single ‘want’ was uttered while I sat there for an hour. Instead, I found myself letting go. Do you know how hard it is for a Wealth structure person to ‘let go’?
“I don’t know,” I said to her. “I’ve done all I can. Now you tell me. You show me. Show me in baby steps, what I need to do next.”
Yes, inside that cave, I experienced ‘zen-ness’ for the first time.
When I got back to the city, things started falling into place. Suddenly, the journey ahead became smoother. I no longer needed to shift heaven and earth just to get the results I wanted.
I’m not sure how to end this deeply personal piece. I’m just sharing my experience. The journey has not ended, after all. It’s only just begun. But that day, in that cave, I learnt a powerful lesson about letting go.