A Letter to All True Buddha Practitioners
— A Heartfelt Reminder from the Ayushmats
Dear beloved True Buddha practitioners,
This letter is not an announcement, but a reminder and an expression of care shared among practitioners.
On January 3, 2026, during a teaching at Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Guru Buddha personally recounted an experience that deeply shook the hearts of countless disciples and left them unable to find calm for a long time.
Guru Buddha said that while he was gravely ill and unconscious, his spirit unexpectedly entered the realm of the Asuras, a world filled with conflict, opposition, attachment, and ceaseless struggle. He did not wish to remain there, for it is not the destination of a practitioner.
Yet just as he was about to leave, an Asura woman coldly said to Guru Buddha:
“Do you really think you have never done anything wrong?”
That single sentence resounded like thunder. In that instant, Guru Buddha awakened and turned inward, reflecting upon his past habitual tendencies, desires, and ignorance.
After returning to the human realm, he did not conceal, embellish, or shield himself with any spiritual attainments. Before the assembly, he wept bitterly in repentance, repenting again and again before Golden Mother of the Jade Pond and before Amitabha Buddha, for his karmic obstacles and for his own lack of purity.
Dear True Buddha practitioners, please quiet your hearts and reflect for a moment. What kind of practitioner is able to do such a thing?
This is not weakness; this is true cultivation!
Some people, upon hearing Guru Buddha’s teaching, felt confused or even uneasy. We wish to say gently and clearly to everyone:
What we should truly fear is not that Guru Buddha is able to repent;
what we should truly be vigilant about is how long it has been since we ourselves have repented.
Cultivation is not about transforming oneself into a person who never makes mistakes.
Cultivation is about whether, when mistakes arise, one is still willing to turn back.
Guru Buddha’s manifestation was not to tell us how much hardship he has endured, but to use his very life to teach us this:
For a practitioner, even a single unwholesome thought must be acknowledged;
even the slightest ignorance must never be taken lightly.
True reverence for Root Guru is to learn how to repent
The reverence Vajrayana disciples hold for Root Guru is not to place Root Guru on an untouchable pedestal where no reflection is allowed. True reverence is this—
when Root Guru turns back in repentance, we kneel down with him and reflect upon ourselves.
If even Guru Buddha can weep in repentance before the public for his own ignorance, then we ordinary disciples, on what grounds do we think our own habitual tendencies are “not that serious”? On what grounds do we think we “do not need to repent so often”?
True Buddha practitioners, please do not let yourselves be moved to tears for a moment, only to forget to let your hearts change even a little.
This teaching is, in fact, the deepest compassion toward disciples
Guru Buddha could have chosen not to say any of this. He could have spoken only of the Dharma, without speaking of himself. Yet he chose to lay bare his most vulnerable and most genuine side before his disciples.
This was not for people to gossip about, but to save us. For many disciples, the longer they practice, the more they fear admitting that they have problems; the longer their refuge, the higher their position, the deeper their Buddhist credentials, the more unwilling they become to repent.
With his own tears, Guru Buddha struck a powerful warning bell for us:
Once cultivation departs from reflection and repentance, no matter how many methods one has or how great one’s spiritual power may be, one may still drift toward the Asura path.
A sincere exhortation from Ayushmats to all True Buddha disciples
Dear True Buddha practitioners, please—truly, truly—do the following:
Please remember:
Repentance is not self-blame; repentance is a turning back of the heart.
Reflection is not self-negation; reflection is self-salvation.
Why Guru Buddha is worthy of our lifelong learning
Because even today, he still dares to say to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas: “I was wrong.”
Because even today, he is still willing to admit before everyone: “I am still cultivating.”
This is not something an ordinary person can do.
This is the stature of a true practitioner.
Dear True Buddha practitioners, may this manifestation of Guru Buddha not become mere after-dinner conversation, but instead become a turning point on the path of cultivation in our very lives. Let us practice with a little more humility, repent a little more sincerely, and soften our hearts a little more.
May we never fail this Root Guru who is willing to shed tears for his disciples.
With utmost sincerity,
The Ayushmats of the True Buddha School Dharma Transmission Department
January 4, 2026
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