Incorrect Views Among Some Buddhist Disciples

by H. E. Kaichu Rinpoche

[Translation revised July 15, 2011]: 

H.E. Kaichu Rinpoche

I will say a few sentences when I have a few sentences to say. I will not keep my mouth shut if what I say can benefit living beings.

I heard someone saying that he saw some Buddhist disciples not showing respect when listening to the recorded dharma discourses. His question was that, since the dharma discourses did not get respect from these people, can the dharma discourses still be regarded as true Buddha-dharma?

I can only say that the world is big and there is no lack of all kinds of strange things or ideas. There are even people who can come up with such irrational logics. If you want to judge whether the master is teaching true Buddha-dharma or not based upon whether the disciples’ attitudes are respectful or not, then the Buddha-dharma from Sakyamuni Buddha has to be false according to your way of thinking. When Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the dharma, Devadatta did not show respect to the Buddha’s dharma teaching. Moreover, he quite often made trouble and tried to oppose. There were also many beings that came to listen to the Buddha’s dharma teaching with bad intentions, including demons, heretical practitioners, foolish people and evil persons. None of them were respectful. Can you draw the conclusion that the dharma taught by Sakyamuni Buddha was false? If you do, it means you yourself certainly belong to the category of evil ones.

We must be clear about a truth. It is the Buddha’s dharma that is teaching, changing, and transforming living beings. We should not judge the true or false of Buddha-dharma from the behaviors of ordinary people or living beings. For instance, Devadatta and other heretics, evils and demons disrespected the Buddha and Buddha-dharma due to the hindrance and blockage by the bad habits inherently associated with ordinary beings and evil demons. However, they were taught and transformed by the Buddha and gradually started to understand the dharma expounded by the Buddha. They began to cultivate seriously. As a result, they naturally became respectful and sincere. Some of them even attained great accomplishment eventually.

Because of their ignorance and foolishness, living beings do not understand Buddha-dharma and do not know the importance of sincere cultivation. That’s why they need to be taught and transformed by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. If they know everything from the beginning, why would they be in need of being saved by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? Therefore, we cannot use the behaviors of ordinary beings as the standard or yardstick for judging the dharma taught by the Buddha. Using such judgment can only lead us into the three lower realms.

Fundamentally, whether one is respectful or not when listening to Buddha-dharma is decided from his own reward of fortune and karmic affinity accumulated through many eons and lifetimes. Those who have the reward of fortune to get liberated and to enjoy the eternal superlative bliss will certainly be very respectful and very joyful with the dharma as soon as they listen to the dharma discourses by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. If one does not have enough reward of fortune, he will be blocked by the cause-effect of his own dark karma and will not be respectful. He will not be interested and may even leave. Consequently, he will continue the affinity of suffering in samsara. It will be very hard for him to get liberated. As to evil spirits and demons, they will not be respectfully listening. They may even shout curses! This is due to their demon nature or being foolishly misled by evil ones. Such nature dictates that they are certain to try to damage Buddha-dharma. However, what can they do? Besides harming themselves, insults and curses will have absolutely no effect on the Buddha. Even the hill of swords or knives and the frying pot filled with boiling oil in the hell realm will turn into a lotus pond filled with nectars by the Buddha’s footstep.

At this moment, I need to comment on some foolish people who are not aware of their own evil views. Someone mentioned that some disciples of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III who are rinpoches or dharma masters are not right in their behaviors and this will contaminate the great Buddha Master, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Such opinion may sound very correct and sincere at first but is actually very evil, very foolish and very pitiful. However, they do not realize that this is because they do not understand Buddha-dharma at all.

There are many so-called Buddhist cultivators in this world. They have a sincere mind and devote themselves to studying sutras and cultivating in their deeds. We should say that this type of person is sincere. Then, are they Buddhist disciples? Not necessarily. Some of these people not only have no knowledge about Buddha-dharma but also do not understand the fundamental doctrine of Buddhism. Let me give an analogy using the properties of the five metals of gold, silver, copper, iron and zinc. They are all different in nature. Copper and gold both have the color of yellow. Yellow copper is still copper. It is still copper no matter how you describe it. On the other hand, yellow gold has the nature of gold. It remains to be gold even if you cover or change its color. The distinction between gold, silver, copper, iron and zinc is similar to that between the fruit of an Arhat, the bhumi of a Bodhisattva, and the great enlightenment of a Buddha. An Arhat has the realization power of Arhat. It remains to be the realization power of Arhat no matter how you praise or boast about it. Buddhas have the fundamental enlightenment of a Buddha. No dirt will pollute the Buddha by any way of contamination. Dirt will turn into nectar once it gets onto Buddha’s body. The state of enlightenment of a Buddha will transform any non-pure karma into bodhi, thereby providing a role model for living beings to let them feel humble and become awaken.

The claim of the Buddha being contaminated really indicates contamination in that person who had the evil view with self-ego arising in his mind. Only the person who thinks the Buddha being contaminated is contaminated. The view of thinking that the Buddha can be contaminated has three evil properties. First, the person will not have correspondence in his mind when listening to the dharma discourses. Second, even though he is addressing the Buddha verbally, he does not regard the Buddha as a Buddha in his mind. Thirdly, he regards the Buddha as an ordinary person but does not recognize his evil. He is led by the external opinions and views he heard into thinking and judging the Buddha’s deeds with a confused state of mind of an ordinary being and forgot about the fundamental principles. The Buddha is at the enlightened state of holy realization and will not be led and changed by opinions and views. What can be led and changed is his mind that follows the external state. Such people are not Buddhists. They are as foolish as to the degree of contaminating themselves with such utmost evil. Only because they are not truly sincere Buddhist disciples, would they have such evil views in mind.

A lizard attempts to fake being a dragon. However, even though it has four feet and is very capable in mimicking the manner and poses of a dragon, it is not a dragon after all. No matter how hard it tries to jump, it will not be able to soar into the clouds. On the other hand, even if the lizard spits all saliva toward the dragon and tries to pour its foul-smelling bad smell on the dragon, a dragon is still a dragon. A dragon remains a dragon regardless how others try to contaminate it because it has the nature of a dragon. A lizard stays being a lizard and will never become a dragon by whatever ways of exaggeration and boasting. Similarly, a pig is a pig. It is a pig no matter how you describe it, because it is foolish after all. One kind of pig is foolish in thinking that it can pretend to be an elephant. There is a metaphor of “a pig wears a stick of green onion to pretend to be an elephant.” Will that work? Even if a pig wears ten thousand sticks of green onions, green onions are still green onions and will not become an elephant’s tusk. So a pig is still a pig and will not become an elephant by any trick. Furthermore, this will not contaminate the nature and image of the elephant. On the contrary, such tricks by the pig can only expose its small size, foolishness, and dirty nature. It will not escape the tragic fate of being slanted every year as a low-class animal.

These examples bear profound meanings. Please contemplate yourself.

On another topic, there is some so-called great virtuous one who bears the title of dharma king but does not possess any true realization of holy power and is actually too pitiful to be commented on. He wrote a letter of congratulation to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and, because H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III loves all living beings, the International Buddhism Sangha Association used it in the book. In the end, this human being with the foolishness of a pig went so far as to say that he wrote the congratulatory letter only because he did not know that the letter would be used in the book. Please think about it? Is he a holy being? Can a holy being not possess even a little bit of realization power of knowing the future? Furthermore, what is a person who contradicts himself? I assume everyone knows about this. He is much lower than a noble ordinary person. It’s a pity that he doesn’t even know this. Let alone that there are many great holy virtuous ones in the treasure book of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Where does a false holy one like you belong, compared to those true great holy rinpoches?

Some people asked about which rinpoches or dharma masters are in accord with the dharma and which ones are not. I don’t know which ones are in accord with the dharma or which ones are not. I only know what deeds are in accord with the dharma and what deeds are not. I only know that, regardless of whether one is a dharma king, a rinpoche, a dharma master, or an ordinary cultivator, any deeds of the three karmas that falls into the 128 erroneous and evil views mentioned in the discourse of my master H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III are not in accord with the dharma and should not be relied upon and followed. Oppositely, opinions and deeds that do not fall into the 128 erroneous and evil views are certainly deeds of great virtue and in accord with the dharma and should be relied upon and followed. Specifically, deeds of falling into the rights and wrongs between self and others, pointing a finger at others all the time, trying to show oneself off by all means, fighting to get ahead of others, caring about one’s own reputation and interests more than living beings’ interests are not in accord with the dharma and should not be relied upon and followed. Deeds of paying no attention to the rights and wrongs between self and others, being humble and modest, doing the six paramitas, doing the Four Limitless States of Mind, strictly abiding to the Three Comprehensive Pure Precepts, making true vow of bodhicitta to benefit living beings and saving living beings are in accord with the dharma and should be relied upon and followed.

Perhaps some people would think that what I said is unpleasant to hear. If so, I will just leave it as being unpleasant to hear. So long as people can reflect upon themselves, get rid themselves of evil views and correct their cultivation after reading it, I don’t mind being scolded. Being unpleasant to hear is still worthwhile. I often contemplate myself. Why some people are so foolish and ignorant. They have the affinity to follow and learn from the great H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III but still adhere to their self-ego and evil views. Why don’t they know the need of cultivating in accord with the dharma to increase their rewards of fortune in order to receive Buddha-dharma early and attain accomplishment?

My Buddha Master is so great. The wisdom and accomplishment in the thirty big categories can be seen by everyone in this world with their own eyes. That’s a true demonstration and manifestation of the true wisdom of a Buddha. I am not going to elaborate on these here and will just mention a few things. The Xianliang Great Perfection Dharma that my Buddha Master taught me transformed me from ordinary to holy within two hours. I entered the holy state and can be together with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas any time I want. The dharma of Vajra Body Substitution Meditation taught by my Buddha Master also enabled me within two hours to let my spirit fly out of my body to go into the sky or enter the ground and come out of and go back into my body freely. That is a state truly beyond imagination. With the Corpse-Laying Tummo Concentration Dharma received from my Buddha Master, my body temperature can be raised to close to 200°F to burn out all dark karmas, illnesses and hindrance in my body. In addition, I can use the inner fire to cure other people’s illnesses.

Besides myself, many of my fellow brothers also attained great accomplishment from the dharmas taught by my Buddha Master. Mozhi Rinpoche, Gar Tongstan Rinpoche, Dharma Master Miaokong, Danbei Rinpoche and many others all attained very high accomplishments of practice. What are these if not true Buddha-dharma? These are not just true Buddha-dharma. They are the fastest and highest supreme great dharmas of all Buddha-dharmas to get living beings accomplished.

I and my fellow brothers did not have any special abilities ourselves. Before receiving the dharmas taught by our Buddha Master, we had learned in many places in Tibet and India. We also traversed many theories and books. However, we were still ordinary people without making much difference in ourselves. It is the Tathagata Dharma of The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation from the Buddha Master that totally changed us from inside out and transformed us from ordinary beings to holy ones. I now live in the benefits of the great Buddha-dharma. The gains and joy are boundless. My happiness cannot be described by words. Therefore, I like to advise some people. Don’t spend all your time in doing all kinds of analysis in a mess. You will tie yourself with rights and wrongs, have your path blocked by evil views and indulging in self-ego and self-oriented views and, consequently, miss the opportunity of learning the great Buddha-dharma. In the end, you still have to go through the suffering of samsara all over again. That would be a very bad miscalculation and a great mistreatment to yourself. We must go straight and forward on the correct path of cultivation. We should use the 128 erroneous and evil views as a whip to spur and keep us on the correct path. More importantly, we should always untie the knots of reincarnation during the three divisions of the day. Only then can we correspond to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and can we learn and then benefit from true Buddha-dharma. So we can attain the accomplishment of practice. Only the accomplishment of practice can represent holy realization. Anything other than that is just hollow theory or evil views and nonsense.