People said that before the Eighth Tulku Dapu passed away, he went alone to the cave on the mountainside where the lepers dwelt, brought them highland barley and butter and lived with them for a few days. For those days, Qiari Temple was also unaware of where their Tulku had gone, and so by the time that the lamas that they had sent out looking everywhere for the Eighth Tulku Dapu finally found him, he had already passed away whilst sitting in the Lotus position in front of the cave. The Eighth Tulku Dapu used his own, broad great compassion and set a personal example for how people should act kindly towards the lepers. Now, that cave had become a shrine in front of which pilgrims flowed in an endless stream, naturally thinking of the compassion of their Tulku.
After the Ninth Tulku Dapu took charge of the temple, he urged people not to bury or burn the lepers whilst they were still alive. He suggested that every village with a leper should dig a cave outside of the village and keep the lepers isolated within. The cave dug by Wada village was roughly about a dozen metres deep, with the passages covered with tree branches. They left a small window in the face through which light could come through; this was also convenient for relatives of the leprosy sufferers to pass daily necessities and food from outside. There was a small passage inside the cave which led to the kitchen and toilet on the other side. Usually, if a relative wanted to enter the cave and visit the sufferer they came in through the passage. The ill people inside the cave were free to walk around and ventilate the cave.
When Little Tulku Jianggong followed the Ninth Tulku Dapu and entered that deep cave that isolated the lepers, he felt as if he himself had fallen into a pit of excrement. The thick, evil stench almost overwhelmed him. He also felt an inexplicable sense of fear. A few people, who appeared almost identical to the devils of legend, were huddled at the bottom of the wall watching the monks with despairing eyes. Already, the outline of their eyes was indistinguishable, like rotten holes gouged by wild beasts. But when they saw the Tulku, they struggled to kneel towards him.
"Ciren Duoji, Little Zhaxi, we've come to chant the scriptures that warn off misfortune in the New Year." The Ninth Tulku said this kindly, reaching out his hand to touch the top of their heads in blessing.
"Tulku …" The leper called Ciren Duoji opened his mouth, which was half-cracked, and then became choked with sobs. He bent over in front of Tulku Dapu and hugged the Tulku's legs close as if he were a child who had found his father.
"Let me have a look. Aiya, Ciren Duoji, you're already better, you've grown a little hair on your head. The evil spirits I saw are right now fleeing away from you." Tulku Dapu said.
Lama Yixi brought food out of his pocket, as well as two brand new leopard skin trims and a robe lined with lambskin. Little Jianggong remembered that this was an offering given personally to Tulku Dapu by a tribal headman yesterday. He also remembered that at the time Tulku Dapu had said that even if you draped a donkey in leopard skin, their ears would still stick out; the sutras do not care what they are wrapped in; the thing they care about is whether chanting them will ward off misfortunes.
Tulku Dapu had Little Jianggong and Lama Yixi each sit either side of him. In front of the three monks, several lepers sat in a lotus position. Tulku Dapu held the scriptures in his hand and began to chant the scriptures that the Eighth Tulku Dapu had specifically written for the lepers to ward off disease. Inside the deep cave, the stench was overwhelming and suffocating and even breathing was difficult, let alone chanting the scriptures. Little Tulku Jianggong frowned and secretly glanced at his master. He discovered that Tulku Dapu was just as focused and peaceful as when he usually chanted the scriptures in the great hall of the temple. He thought: surely the Ninth Tulku Dapu is able to make his nose unable to smell the stench? In what school of dharma did he study this?
On the road here, Little Tulku Jianggong had thought that today he would be able to see how his master could cast magic and save these pitiful lepers. Everybody said that Tulku Dapu's compassion could save a leper from the misery of the reincarnation cycle. He had even fantasied that once Tulku Dapu chanted the scriptures and performed his dharma, the sores on the leper's body would then heal themselves, fresh skin would regrow in patches and the lepers would immediately be able to escape this hellish hole and return to the village and reunite with their families. Tulku Dapu would be like an incomparably powerful protective deity driving out the evil spirits that attached to the body of these lepers. Little Jianggong was actually very eager to see these evil spirits.
They had now read at least two incense sticks' worth of scripture, but Little Jianggong had not seen even the shadow of a fleeing demon. But ever since the scripture first issued from the Ninth Tulku Dapu's mouth, several lepers had become very peaceful as if they were enjoying the winter sun and filling themselves with the warmth that came from the distant sky. Their faces were full of gratitude and awe. It appeared not as if they were lepers but believers who were listening respectfully to the Tulku explain the scriptures and expound the sutras.
On the road back to the temple, Little Tulku Jianggong breathed in large mouthfuls of the fresh air that came with the snow and the wind, as if he were returning to heaven. He suddenly felt an intense stirring of compassion in his heart: the power of the evil spirits was so strong, that the people who committed a sin in their previous lives were denied even the right to breathe a mouthful of fresh air. He asked, "Tulku Dapu, did you cast out the evil spirits in their body?"
"Not yet," replied Tulku Dapu.
"Can our verses make them recover more quickly?" He asked.
"No, they cannot."
"They'll soon die?"
"Maybe."
