When Old Guru met Dada, he asked the latter to clarify the above story and was told that the water he used was actually not hot at all, and it was true that the possessed person was the son of Cambodian General who lived in Thailand.

Based on this story, Old Guru will briefly address the principles of exorcism:

1. The exorcist must have the ‘Official Seal’ (or license) from Saints or Deities and must be knowledgeable in mysticism. The exorcising methods vary between different schools of mysticism, sects or faiths: some shaman use a rattan rod to whip into thin air while chanting a mantra. Some use ritual hand gestures (Mudras) to fight the spirit from a distance. Other use foliage (small branch with leaves) that they dip in water and sprinkle over the person’s body.
All of these and many other methods can be used to make the evil spirit scream, beg for forgiveness and finally exit from the person. However, it is strictly forbidden to beat the physical body of the possessed person in order to drive the devil out.

2. Do not attempt to exorcise if you are not an expert in the esoteric field. Do not use images of Buddha, Jesus Christ, including mantras, yantras or any magic spells to suppress the evil spirits. They may attack and chase after you and causing you to lose face.

3. You must know whether the involved spirit is a Saint, Deity or an entity from the lower realm, If it is the soul of the deceased then ask the spirit if there have been any unsettled debts between the spirit and the family of the possessed person? And what does the spirit want?.

4. Do not mistakenly think that any one who practices magic, or who has a high and revered standing in their faith or religion will automatically know how to perform an exorcism. This includes so called professional exorcists, who may only have partial knowledge of it.

The following are a few factual examples:
- A spiritual teacher nicknamed Nước Lạnh (Cold water - because he uses cold water when he exorcises) was struck very hard in the face by a hand gesture of the possessed person right in front of the altar. Seized by anger, the monk and two of his disciples knocked the possessed woman over, pinned her down and brutally beat her. In this way, they are actually beating the woman herself and not the evil spirit!

- Another monk, renowned for his exorcism success, was very proud of himself, thinking of himself as a virtuous man, by being a strict vegetarian and eating only once a day at noon time. His disciples considered him a living Buddha. Once during an exorcism, the possessed, a young girl, suddenly jumped into his lap. He lost his temper and gave her a few slaps across her cheeks (I guess the spirit must be having a good laugh at the monk: How come the "Living Buddha" be so afraid of sexual temptation and of losing his reputation that he would beat someone so brutally).

- An elderly Abbot of a provincial monastery, not particularly adept at exorcism, had heard that the mantra in the Lankavatara sutra has supreme power, capable of dealing with very powerful evil spirits, even those in the heaven’s realm. Armed with this knowledge the over confident Abbot started the exorcism ritual. He placed a tocsin on top of the possessed‘s head and repeatedly knocked on it while chanting the Lankavatara mantra. Then, right in front of the Buddha altar the possessed person knocked off the tocsin and cursed him: ‘How much virtue do you have that gives you the right to place this tocsin on my head?! ’ (quite an embarrassing situation for the Abbot when about thirty disciples were staying over after they finished reciting the evening Buddhist scriptures and witnessing it all).

- Pope John Paul II was performing an exorcism a few years ago. The possessed was a Catholic girl (this was after the time when the Catholic Church announced the forming of a committee to revise exorcism rituals). The Pope invoked the name of God to order the spirit to leave the girl’s body. The devil mocked the pope, saying: “Not even your church (head) can send me away.” (source: http://www.angelfire.com/ky/dodone/EXO.html)

- The press has written many articles about the exorcists from various faiths who, because of their anger and ignorance had killed the possessed and ended up in jail.

In summary, one has to be in a position of authority in the tangible or intangible world in order to deal with cases involving the law in this physical world or the world beyond.

Old_Guru 13-08-08