December 15, 2019, Rainbow Temple, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Homa Ceremony
[TBS News]
Lamdre Exposition by Dharma King Lian-sheng
Summary of Dharma Talk

On December 15, 2019, the Dharma King, Living Buddha Lian-sheng presided over the Ksitigarbha Homa Ceremony.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is well-known for his great vow, “If the hells are not empty, I will not become a Buddha. Only when all living beings have been saved, will I attain Bodhi.” The Bodhisattva's great vow resonates throughout the 10 Dharma realms. In Ksitigarbha Sutra, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is described as having many previous lives -- for example, he was a Brahmin maiden, a girl named Bright-Eyes, and a king of a small country.

Ksitigarbha became a Bodhisattva because of his great vow. Once, in the assembly of sentient beings at Trayastriṃśa Heaven, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was instructed by Shakyamuni Buddha to become the next Great Teacher upon Shakyamni Buddha’s attainment of Nirvana and before Matreya’s attainment of Buddhahood.

Before the discourse, the Dharma King shared about the case of a policeman who had committed suicide a few days ago in Pingdong, Taiwan. In fact, for about 10 nights, the Dharma King had been hearing the sound of boots whenever he merged with Golden Mother during meditation. On the night before this ceremony, the boots were heard once again. The Dharma King looked up and saw that it was the spirit of the policeman; the man had hung himself.

Hence, the Dharma King chanted the [Amitabha] Deliverance Mantra, the Manjushri Deliverance Manta, and the Six-Realm Vajra Mantra on the spirit. The Dharma King then performed a dharma to succor the spirit. He also formed the Surupakaya Tathagata Mudra to bless the spirit so that the spirit could become whole again with his police attire on. The Dharma King also invoked the Principal Deity (of that day’s Homa Ceremony) Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to deliver the spirit to the Western Pureland.

After relating this incident, the Dharma King continued with the discourse on the Lamdre.

In the Lamdre, there is mention of: “The continuous stream of blessing without loss”. The Dharma King explained, when one diligently practices spiritual cultivation, one will naturally receive blessings.

He explained further, “According to my lineage master, who passed down the sādhanā, if a cultivator is thorough even in one cultivation session, he or she will definitely receive blessings.” Moreover, if one experiences the Dharma stream coursing from the crown to the entire body, one gets empowerment in addition to the blessings. Said Grandmaster, “After receiving the blessings, one will feel different. One will notice that one’s Lightdrops have increased, one’s Qi has grown, and one is more purified than ever.”

As illustrated, one must be able to experience something out of any cultivation practice. The Dharma King expounded: “Upon diligent spiritual cultivation, one will experience something [such as the arrival of the Yidam or the purification]. Some people do not practice any spiritual cultivation at all and prefer to listen only to Dharma discourses instead. They would not have any experiences then.”

The Dharma King instructed, if one lives very far away from Grandmaster, but is always visualizing the Root Guru on the crown, then one will get the blessings from the Yidam and protection from the Vajra Protector -- the ‘force’ of blessings is maintained. “No matter how far away one lives, if one actually takes up dharma cultivation seriously and diligently, blessings are guaranteed,” said Grandmaster.

However, if one does not even gravitate towards such an endeavor, one will not get any blessings even if Grandmaster were standing beside him or if one were living next to Grandmaster or the temple. In Vajrayana, it is well-known that “the Root Guru is like a fire, and if one is too close, one gets burnt easily. If one is too far, one doesn’t receive the rays of brilliance [from the Guru] and one will lose the blessings.” Hence, as can be seen, the main determinant is one’s heart [mind], not one’s physical distance from the Guru.

The Dharma King repeatedly emphasized the importance for disciples to diligently practice spiritual cultivation based on True Buddha Tantric Dharma.

Everyone was grateful to receive the bestowment of Ksitigarbha empowerment from Grandmaster. The ceremony ended auspiciously.

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