Chapter Twelve: Exemplary Acts 30

When a disciple was thatching the roof of a house at the Headquarters, he only laid out the straw but did not tie it down with rope. The Founding Master said, “If a strong wind blows in the middle of the night, then won’t all the work you did be for naught?” But the disciple replied, “The wind in this area is not so severe,” and left it as it was. That night a strong wind arose unexpectedly and blew away the newly thatched roof. The disciple was mortified and distressed: “You, oh Great Master, foresaw with your supernatural powers what would occur and warned me about it, but in my folly I disobeyed your order and met with this disaster.” The Founding Master said, “You didn’t listen to me when I instructed you in a sound and proper way, but it is even worse that you now turn me into a psychic. If you think of me that way, then you will not learn from me the right dharma of the great Way but will only try to observe psychic events. How will your road ahead not then be fraught with danger? You must correct your thoughts and from now on conduct yourself in all matters by only pursuing the sound and proper way.”