“I can’t take this pain anymore…”, cried my third sister who was painfully lying on the bed. She had a frightening and hopeless look. She kept begging the family members to turn her body over. Every now and then, she would ask for oral or injection painkillers to stop her pain. I can’t forget her miserable facial expression. It has been haunting me ever since.
August 1, 2018, was one year after my third sister’s passing. According to our hometown’s custom, this day should be observed by having all family members gather and pay tribute to the deceased at the grave so to honor the memory of him or her. However, I did not attend. I still can’t let go after her death. And even more so, I do not want to recall the time during her illness and the hard time that our whole family had been put through. I have meant to write down the happenings of my third sister so as to alert and warn others. However, I was unable to do that even after a few tries. I can still feel the pain of my heart being torn apart until now.
My third sister was a typical village woman who was shy of sixty years old. She used to be very healthy and hardly caught a cold. She was very capable around the home. Life was good, and she always boasted, “My only son is now married, and the little grandson has started elementary school. My more than 10 acres of American ginseng plantation is expected to be ready for harvest in 2 years’ time. That will at least yield a few hundreds of thousands of profits. I will have the opportunity to peacefully enjoy life at my old age.”
Unfortunately, no one can always get what he wants. In the year of 2016, just right after she finished the fall harvest, all of sudden my third sister felt pain around her waist. Usually, farmers are not that delicate. She thought she would get better after applying a few Chinese herbal plasters and resting for a few days. Unfortunately, the pain got worse. Only after she couldn’t take it anymore, she then went to the city hospital for examination. She was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer with advanced bone metastases. It was too late to be treated by surgery. Even chemotherapy and radiotherapy would not help. Instead, doing so will increase the suffering of the patient. There is nothing else that medical science can do.
In less than a month after the diagnosis, my third sister was paralyzed from her waist down. She would feel being bitten by thousands and millions of ants, and that caused her in extreme pain all the time. The doctor had clearly informed us that the main symptoms of lung cancer with bone metastases are the extreme pain which even painkillers can only minimally relieve the pain in the bone.”
Indeed, the high amount of oral painkillers and pethidine injections were not able to stop the excruciating pain that came deep from the bone marrow. Every now and then she was always crying and begging, asking for help to turn her body from side to side or asking for oral painkillers and injections to stop the pain. All of us all got worn out from taking care of her. There were four of us that took turns taking care of her throughout the day and night, trying our best to let her feel that we loved and cared about her during her last stage of life. “I can’t take the pain anymore, “she often shakily raised her scrawny hands, stared with her bulging eyes and clenched her teeth while trembling all over and crying her heart out. Even though we were trying our best to take care of her, she lost hope of surviving due to the unbearable pain.
Her condition got worse each day. The moment when she was informed about her illness, her feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and unwilling to let go rendered us helpless and not knowing what to do. She neither could ask to live nor die. When I saw her helpless and imploring glance, I felt terrible as if I was mounted and grilled by fire or being tossed in an oil pot to be deep-fried. I even hated myself for being useless and unable to help her.
She couldn’t accept the fact that she was dying soon, and the affliction she had to face while waiting for her death horrified her. Her personality totally changed. She would often take my hand to rub her face and stare at me sentimentally. But all I could do was to witness with my own eyes how she suffered and being tortured by cancer. Even though my heart was bleeding, I still can’t do anything. It was like a picture of a living hell. My dear sister, what can I do to help you?
We as Buddhist disciples believe in the law of cause and effect, and I understand that whatever happened to my sister was due to her karma. The only thing we should do was to chant and pray to beseech for help and blessings from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. I prayed so that I could take over her bad karma and transfer all my merits to her even though it would mean just a tiny bit. I tried respectfully to play the prerecorded Dharma from Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III at her bedside, hoping that the power of Buddha can reduce her suffering and help her to understand the principles of the Buddha Dharma. I hoped she would thoroughly repent her sin and wholeheartedly chant the holy name of Bodhisattva Guan Yin so that she could leave behind suffering and attain happiness.
Since my third sister’s family does not believe in Buddhism. They only put on a perfunctory act towards me and whenever I was not with her, my brother-in-law would turn off the player which repeatedly played the chanting of the holy name of Bodhisattva Guan Yin. Facing this kind of ignorant family, I began to understand what it meant by “The Buddha does not save those who lack a karmic connection with the Dharma.” It’s not a matter of “doesn’t want to save”; instead, it’s because “cannot be saved”. Even Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can’t save her. I could only witness the cancer cells slowly corrode my sister’s haggard and thin body. As the vital sign of my third sister slowly declined, I have truly understood what it meant by “Death is better than living” and “Days feel like years”!
Within a short period of six months’ time, my once active and healthy sister’s life was brutally taken away by cancer. I saw how her body was being tortured until she looked like a thousand-year-old withered corpse that was just extracted from the ground. It was awfully stiff. Her half-closed eyes, bare teeth and painfully frightening look on her face showed that she died unwillingly in extreme agony.
Her death has completely awakened me like a warning. When I think about myself and the rest of all other ignorant living beings, I feel we are all the same. We live in a seemingly colorful, beautiful world. It looks like we are living a happy and busy life. We often say that Buddhist practice and liberation can come after retirement or after our children have grown up. But we never realize that life is impermanent. There is no way one can decide on his or her own birth and death. You may die today or tomorrow. How much longer can you stay alive? The impermanence that can happen in a nanosecond can make a living person suddenly depart the world. Regardless of you being a layman, a wealthy businessman, or a king, the ending is the same – everyone will die and leave this world empty-handed. No matter how unwilling you are to let go of your treasures in the world, you still can’t bring them along, not even a tiny bit. At last, we will turn into a wisp of air and white ashes. This is an undeniable fact. No one can change it. Only the incredible and true Buddha Dharma can help us to reach liberation and leave the cycles of reincarnations in the six realms.
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III teaches us if we want to leave the cycles of reincarnations and attain liberation, we must understand the sufferings connected with reincarnations. Not only do we suffer in the impermanence but also the living beings in the six realms whom we regard as our mothers. If one has no perspective of impermanence, he or she will not be able to attain a deep level of correct cultivation even though he or she has already become a Buddhist.
At the Dharma-Ending Age of the five evil turbidities, evil dharma and evil masters prevail. Living beings are helpless in attaining liberation. Now the compassionate primordial Buddha, is in this world and along He brought the precious Dharma that can help us attain liberation in this life. We must not miss this auspicious opportunity that is difficult to encounter in millions of eons. We must follow the teaching of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha IIIand correspond with all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with our three karmas, action, speech, and thought. We should diligently cultivate, vow that we will leave the cycles of reincarnation, attain liberation in this life and save all living beings in suffering in the six realms whom we regard as fathers and mothers.
Learning from Buddha is a supreme Dharma treasure. It will be difficult to attain accomplishment without learning this Dharma.
The English translation of this holy book is now available. Please download the PDF file (Please note: the PDF file was last updated on September 24, 2020) of the English version by pressing either one of the download buttons below.
The following is the book’s table of contents.
Table of Contents Explanation by the Publisher Explanation by United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters Translation Notes 1. Learning from Buddha (Part 1 of 3, Lesson 1) – If You Learn Dharma but Do Not Cultivate Yourself, You Cannot Attain Accomplishment 2. Learning from Buddha (Part 2 of 3, Lesson 2) – If You Cultivate Yourself but Do Not Learn Dharma, You Cannot Generate Realization Powers 3. Learning from Buddha (Part 3 of 3, Lesson 3) — If You Do Not Put into Practice the Lessons You Have Heard on Cultivation and Dharma, It Will Be Like Trying to Scoop up the Reflection of the Moon on Water
（莫知尊者合掌恭敬而白羌佛提問：First of all, I, Disciple Mozhi, prostrate to my !Buddha Master, Namo Your Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III!
Today, I would like to beseech Buddha Master to impart a Dharma. I know that in the course of imparting Dharmas Buddha Master often revealed unfavorable opinions toward Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism. However, in my poor knowledge, there are many Dharmas within Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism. According to my understanding, the Vajra Dharmas in the Tantric Division are the highest Dharmas. The ten major Vajra Dharmas are the core and key constituents commanding the entirety of Buddha Dharma for attaining accomplishment. Therefore, I beseech my Buddha Master to impart the Dharma that tells us Buddhist disciples: What should we do to be able to learn the best and highest Vajra Dharmas, in order to ensure attaining accomplishment in this current lifetime? Additionally, do these Vajra Dharmas all have rituals and detail procedures or steps of practicing? How should we practice these Dharmas?）
（莫知尊者再度合掌恭敬白羌佛提問：Thank you, Buddha Master. Namo Your Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III! After hearing the impartations from my Buddha Master, off the many Vajra Dharmas in various sects of Esoteric Buddhism, we are truly astounded and are like being brought to a new world. Then, how can we accurately distinguish and correctly select with a one-hundred-percent certainty among all those Vajra Dharmas, in order to truly achieve great accomplishment and liberation? Also, how do we know the right or wrong of our own Dharma practice? How do we know if we have made progress to develop accomplishment through our practice?）
（莫知尊者合掌恭敬而白羌佛說：I am so grateful to the kindness of Namo Your Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III! Thank You, my beneficent Buddha Master. Thank you so much for opening the door to the supreme true Buddha Dharma today for us Buddhist disciples. This is actually the Invincible Vajra Dharma! This Dharma is more than sufficient for enabling living beings to become liberated! I am so extremely grateful! I am so grateful!）
H.H.第三世多杰羌佛的弟子－旺扎上尊證到了真正上超三十段的聖體質金剛大力王，從人類有史以來，世界上至今無人打破他的紀錄，旺札上尊和另外的三個大力士，他們四個人實際到世界各地，對應並打破了歷史上世界大力士們創造的紀錄，旺扎上尊（即Nick Best，上尊英文全名為Nicholas Kanqian Wangzha Gongbo Best）被大力士界稱為大力士祖父（英文：Grandfather of Strongman），美國的歷史頻道（History Channel）電視台也專門跟隨實地記錄報導。
以下是美國歷史頻道的紀錄片 The Strongest Man In History，1-7集：https://www.youtube.com/embed/FAhHI_Rp4hE?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=zh-tw&autohide=2&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/FrPDcHmXLoI?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=zh-tw&autohide=2&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/wIADI-2XDz4?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=zh-tw&autohide=2&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/5eH9T0ZvMIM?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=zh-tw&autohide=2&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/8yb3K2rk5Qs?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=zh-tw&autohide=2&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/8YEjcbpGvRI?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=zh-tw&autohide=2&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/gwHWrRaVfQg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=zh-tw&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
I was most fortunate to have a chance to pay my respects to the noble Wang Zha Shang Zun and receive a most wonderful teaching from him. Because of his great compassion and mercy in giving me his wisdom concerning an important dharma matter, I now have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the dharma that I practice and my cultivation. I would like to share this truth with others. I have already distributed the attached article that I wrote about this event to the readers of the Holy Vajrasana Temple’s Newsletter and to my students whom I could reach by email or WeChat. I would like to request that IBSA further distribute the attached to their extensive mailing list so that even more people can share the good news and benefit and let more people know the greatness and inconceivable virtue of Wang Zha Shang Zun. Of course, I am not capable of using words to express the supremacy of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, who is both Wang Zha Shang Zun’s and my master.
The most holy Wang Zha Shang Zun is truly great. His profound wisdom, humility, and kindness serve as an example for us all! Amitabha!
Many blessings to all for the coming New Year, Zhaxi Zhuoma.
This February Newsletter of the Holy Vajrasana Temple & Retreat Center is devoted entirely to Abbot Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinpoche’s personal opportunity to pay respect to Wang Zha Shang Zun after she participated in the Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma Assembly and the precious dharma that she received as a result of that meeting. Because of its importance to both Chinese and English-speaking disciples, this Newsletter will be provided in both English and Chinese.
To my disciples and other friends of the Xuanfa Institute:
Since the United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters (UIWBAH) article recently appeared concerning the September Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma Assembly, many of you have asked me what the most excellent and greatholy Wang Zha Shang Zun is like. In addition to successfully conducting this amazing and very high level ceremony to determine who was and who was not an authentic incarnation of a Buddha, he is a most impressive and powerful elder man who is worthy of our respect. I have met many dharma kings of different sects, but no one is like Wang Zha Shang Zun. His power and virtue surpass all of them.
After the ceremony, I had the extreme good fortune to meet an attendant of his who speaks English and requested to prostrate to the Shang Zun, which to my surprise, was granted. It is very difficult to meet him. The Assistant told me that, to date, probably less than 100 persons in the U.S. have had the good fortune to meet him privately. The attendant took me to the place where this great mahasattva was staying. I was very excited to be able to see him again. Wang Zha Shang Zun mostly speaks Tibetan, but I am told he can also speak Mandarin Chinese. His voice was as I had remembered from the ceremony. Seeing him up close, I realize that he is probably over six feet tall and in excellent health. I had guessed that he must be at least sixty as I knew he had spent 45 years in seclusion in Tibet, but from his appearance guessed he could be even younger. His attendant told me that Shang Zun had already turned 93. He is very spirited and looked like and had the energy and bearing of a much younger man. As for his appearance, he has a most remarkable full beard, large kind eyes, bushy eyebrows, a rectangular face, and is bald. I was reminded of images of Bodhidharma, the “barbarian” with such a beard and eyebrows who went to China from India, only Wang Zha Shang Zun is considerably more handsome than the great patriarch of Zen is usually portrayed to be. However, what is most impressive is his incredible modesty and humility. This is what it is like to be in the presence of a great holy being!
I had wanted to meet him to express my gratitude for the empowerment I received at the Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma Assembly, but also just to show my respect because I knew that only someone of very high attainment could have performed that dharma. When I offered him prostrations, he would always tell me to prostrate instead to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. His attendant told me that this holder of three gold buttons at a Shang Zun level always carried an image of the Buddha Master with him and did this. When he went back to his living space, the first thing he would do was to put H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s image and Shakyamuni Buddha’s image in a high place and make offerings to them. I again prostrated, but it was just as before. Wang Zha said, “The Buddha Master is here. You should prostrate to the Buddha Master. How can I accept your prostrations?” The other dharma kings I have met always accepted and even arrogantly awaited my prostrations while silently seating on their throne. Wang Zha Shang Zun is certainly the top chief great dharma king among all dharma kings, but he is still so humble. I was very touched. Again I realized how very, very fortunate I am.
Wang Zha Shang Zun is very easy to communicate with and very amiable. Every sentence he says with a smile. He also provided me with hot tea having his assistant serve me using traditional China teacups. I accepted the teacup and put it aside on the table. Wang Zha then told me that “the quality of this tea is not very good. It comes from Tibet and is called Old Eagle Tea”. However, the fragrance of the tea, was so wonderful that it betrayed his humble portrayal. I requested from Wang Zha Shang Zun how to practice the Green Tara Mirror Altar Dharma (Jing Tan Fa). The Shang Zun said, “First you have to have a good mirror. Then you get the dharma transmitted through holy inner tantric initiation. The most important thing is that you should practice according to the Buddha Master’s teachings, and let all people know that they should do good and cease evil. It is then very easy to succeed with this dharma. But you should decide by yourself if you want to practice this dharma. The Buddha Master proposed that we should cultivate ourselves and opposed the miraculous. I am not telling you to practice this Green Tara Altar Dharma.”
The time flew by so quickly. My mouth was dry and I realized I needed to drink the tea, but when I lifted the cup, the cup is so heavy it is as if it were glued to the table. I couldn’t move it even when I exerted a lot of force. I was so surprised. I put that cup on the table. How can I now not lift it? This time Wang Zha Shang Zun saw what was happening and told me, “It is no use to use force. Force cannot lift it. You have to use your mind to lift it. When your mind is not attached to anything, everything will follow your mind.” Then Wang Zha Shang Zun asked me to lift it again. Very strange. It was as if it was weightless. I easily lifted it and also when I opened the cover of the cup, there is a moving image like a video in the cover. I clearly saw a picture of one of my fellow brothers from the past and a moment when I was in Japan. It was very clear, but it quickly started to disappear. I was really surprised. I used my eyes to follow the cover. After a while it completely disappeared. Then Shang Zun said. “Any object can be used as a mirror.” So I suddenly understood why my mind and my cultivation are so important and cannot be replaced by anything else.
I pray that each of you take advantage of this most fortunate fact that the H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha is living in this world now and practice the Dharma that you learn. I also pray that you all quickly become accomplished.
Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III! Namo Shakyamuni Buddha!
A very ashamed and fortunate disciple, Zhaxi Zhuoma prostrates and offers special thanks to Wang Zha Shang Zun for teaching her this important lesson.
