December 21, 2019, Amitabha Buddha Group Cultivation
[TBS News]

On December 21, 2019, the Amitabha Group Cultivation took place. Upon the session’s dignified conclusion, Grandmaster shared with the audience a true spiritual response that had occurred recently.

Anecdotally, True Buddha School is known to be a "sure-win" sect; in the past, many US and Taiwanese disciples had won state lotteries. There were also winning streaks reported by disciples from Singapore and Malaysia as well.

During the recent Yellow Jambhala Homa Ceremony at Rainbow Temple on Nov 10, 2019, Grandmaster had seen four bags of monies thrown down from Yellow Jambhala’s treasure-spitting rat in space. At that time, Grandmaster had mentioned that someone would be winning a prize.

Sure enough, a Taiwanese disciple did message Shimu to tell her that he had won the lottery in Taiwan. The whole family had registered as a main supplicant of the Yellow Jambhala Homa Ceremony and had stoically watched the live telecast from beginning to end. After the ceremony, in a moment of inspiration, the disciple decided to buy a lottery ticket, which later won the top prize. He even sent Shimu some photographs of his bet and the winning numbers as proof of his win.

Grandmaster joked that in the future, if ever he talks about bags of money coming out of space, everyone in the audience should be on the alert for a potential windfall!

Grandmaster also recounted another case of spiritual response. A dharma sister had planned to get married to a Catholic friend. However, being a staunch Catholic, the latter had requested that the dharma sister convert to Catholicism upon marriage. The dharma sister was in a dilemma, because she had taken refuge under Grandmaster since young.

The bridegroom then extended an offer of truce to her: if some kind of unusual spiritual incident regarding her religion occurred to him, the dharma sister would not need to comply with his request. In the end, that very night, the bridegroom dreamt that he was invited to tea by Grandmaster. Hence, the dharma sister did not need to become a Catholic.

In general, True Buddha School (TBS) disciples are more magnanimous than many people. Grandmaster was previously a Christian; currently, the altar at the temple has an image of Jesus. To Grandmaster, Jesus is his Guru and God. Jesus is in the Devas or Heavenly Vehicle of Buddhism. Hence, a TBS cultivator can practice the sadhana of a principal deity or even go to the Catholic church to attend a mass. There is the Human Vehicle of Buddhism as well, which encompasses philosophies of Confucius and other Sages, to whom TBS disciples pay respect. All of us are more open-minded [than others].

The Devas Vehicle includes the Heavens of Mahābrahman, Śakra devānām Indra, and Vishnu. In Buddhism, there are also the Vehicles of śrāvakas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. The Five Vehicles of Buddhism are therefore broad and all-encompassing.

On that night’s Amitabha group cultivation, Grandmaster remarked that Amitabha had appeared before Grandmaster before in the past. At that time, Grandmaster was flying from Beijing to Taiyuan, and when he glanced out through the window next to his seat, he saw a giant Amitabha who was so tall that Amitabha’s crown was touching the roof the sky.

Amitabha has many manifestations, such as the three bodies of nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya and dharmakaya, and the [transformation of] 36 trillion 119 thousand and 500 Amitabha Buddhas.

Padmakumara and Padmasambhava are all saṁbhogakāya of Amitabha. On a deeper level, Yeshe Tsogyal is the saṁbhogakāya of Amitabha as well. Hence, the greatness of Amitabha is immense. There is also a great Bodhisattva known as Manjushri. Normally, people would just regard Manjushri as just one of the eight major Bodhisattvas in Buddhism. However, he is more than that. Shakyamuni once revealed that the Pureland of Manjushri is as big as the ocean; comparatively, the Pureland of Amitabha is just like a strand of hair plucked from one’s scalp and using it to touch a little of this ocean.

The Pureland of Manjushri is therefore even bigger than Amitabha’s. This is because the merit of Manjushri is so great and limitless that it is beyond description in words. Of the eight major Bodhisattvas, Manjushri is the first and foremost in terms of merit. In terms of compassion, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is an embodiment of the great compassion of the Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future. However, Manjushri represents the congregated wisdom of Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future in the Ten Directions.

On the other hand, Vajrapani Bodhisattva is known for his dharma powers. Although not anyone can see him, the Bodhisattva will always be present at the back of a true cultivator, especially a Vajrayana cultivator. Shakyamuni Buddha once asked Shariputra if he could see who was guarding the Buddha’s back. Upon the Buddha’s majestic empowerment, Shariputra, who was initially unable to see, then noticed Vajrapani Bodhisattva behind the Buddha. Shakyamuni told Shariputra that any true cultivator who has validated awakenment, attained the right view and fruition, will definitely have Vajrapani Bodhisattva guarding him or her at the back. Manjushri, Avalokitesvara and Vajrapani denote the Three Reliances in Vajrayana.

Next, Grandmaster expounded on the Lamdre.

Lamdre Text:
4. The Occasion of Attainment: Temporarily, one attains the four goals to attainment. Finally, one achieves the fruition of four bodies, hence also known as having achieved the ‘occasion of attainment’. The basis is fundamentally the oral (ear-to-ear) transmission by the Guru.

To be able to achieve ‘occasion of attainment’ is very supreme. So, what are the four goals to attainment? What is the fruition of four bodies?

The four goals refer to the four types [levels] of empowerment.

The first goal refers to the Vase Empowerment during which the cultivator is given permission to begin the development stages of cultivation.

The second goal is the Empowerment of the Inner Cultivation involving the Completion Stage of cultivation concerning Qi, Channels and Lightdrops.

The third goal is the empowerment of the Highest Yoga Tantra, where the cultivator utilizes the bodily Lightdrops, inner fire and Qi to emanate pure-light radiance. Lightdrops will increase, inner fire will rise, and Qi will spread to the whole body in a smooth manner without blockages. The empowerment here is also known as the Wisdom Empowerment.

The fourth goal refers to the fourth empowerment, where the Great Perfection Empowerment takes place.

After these four kinds of empowerments are achieved and practiced, one achieves attainment. Hence one will also achieve the fruition of the four bodies, namely, the nirmanakaya body, sambhogakaya body, the dharmakaya body and the true body. Achieving ‘the occasion of attainment’ means achieving this fruition of the four bodies.

There are four undertakings and occasions that one must take note for continuous and non-stop blessings: diligent cultivation, spiritual experience in cultivation, blessings, and attainment.

Grandmaster explained in detail. When a cultivator practices diligent cultivation, the blessing power stream will not be severed. The cultivator will then experience the descent of the Yidam as blessings occur during the cultivation session. Such blessings can include inner blessing, blessing from the Space, or blessing from the dakinis.

The latter involves remote empowerment. Grandmaster explained what remote empowerment entails. For example, if someone wants to take refuge, but is as far away as in Mongolia, and he or she is unable to visit Seattle to take refuge in person, but if he or she is full of confidence, then he or she can simply fill out a refuge-taking form and fax it over to Seattle.

Upon this, Grandmaster will invoke the dakinis to send the blessed water of empowerment to the person [in Mongolia for example] who would receive it the moment he or she feels the sprinkling of the drops of water on himself or herself.

This was precisely what took place on an actual person in Mongolia. He had felt the true spiritual response when he felt the drops of water on his head while performing the great prostrations in the direction of the East. This is indeed the true experience of remote empowerment, made possible and brought about by the numerous dakinis beside Grandmaster.

Grandmaster also makes it a daily routine to bless all the letters that come in through the post. Once the letters are sent off after blessing, some disciples are known to have dreamt of a voice telling them, "Your letter has arrived," a day before receiving the letter. Indeed, such premonitory spiritual responses are always occurring.

Grandmaster said that, when one practices Buddhism, one must be cognizant of the fact that there is no such thing as good or bad circumstances. It is fine to have excellent circumstances [while they last]; however, in bad circumstances, one must learn to transcend the obstacles. There is a saying, “If things get tough, take them in one’s stride. Everything is for the best.” One must realize that everything happens for a reason. Hence one should not have grouses, pessimism or sadness, because whatever happens, it is a matter of karmic cause-and-effect. Once you have transcended the situation, then it is akin to reaching the light at the end of a dark tunnel.

As a Buddhist, one must learn to be "happy-go-lucky", with a level of magnanimity as limitless as the sky. One must not be narrow minded. Grandmaster said that he had observed that the human world is beset with scenarios of narrow-mindedness. Learning Buddhism entails having non-self, that is, there is no self in existence. After a person understands perfectly that the sky is the limit, then that is Buddhism. If the study of Buddhism is restricted to a narrow perspective, there is a "me", and therefore one cannot hope to transcend.

One point to take note is that the mind must be all encompassing and broad -- everything is fine by the person since everything is for the best. In fact, one's mind becomes non-abiding on anything or place [pratiṣṭhita]. The mind is like the space and there is no self-centeredness. Hence, one can gain attainment in the future.

After the ceremony, Grandmaster bestowed the refuge-taking initiation on the new disciples. He also blessed the compassionate water and performed the consecration ritual on the Buddha statues and images. Before leaving the temple, Grandmaster touched the crown of every disciple to help them in the fulfillment of their wishes.

With Christmas around the corner, let's wish Grandmaster and Shimu good health, joy and auspiciousness. We wish every dharma brother and sister Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May everyone have a good year ahead and be able to make progress in cultivation.

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