Magnolia tree that rained Holy Nectar at
its shrine at Hua Zang Si in San Francisco, CA.
The tree was relocated from the site in
southern California where this occurred.
Disciples under the magnolia
tree while it was raining nectar
A Miracle from Heaven: with the Hot Sun Overhead and not a Drop of Rain from the Sky, a Magnolia Tree Drips Fragrant Nectar and Responds to Words
(The following article was reprinted from the Kinmen Evening News):
In 2002 in a certain place in the United States, a magnolia tree was discovered through which holy nectar fell several times. On the first day, the tree rained nectar for twelve consecutive hours from 8:00 in the morning straight through until 8:00 at night. Many people surrounded the tree and observed what was happening. The weather that day was clear with the hot sun shining down. Before that day, it had not rained even one drop for more than twenty days. Thus, before the tree rained nectar, its branches were dry. However, it was very strange that although the tree branches were dense, the nectar did not fall on the branches. Moreover, the fragrance of the drops of rain could easily be smelled. The drops of rain were slender and long, like pine needles. They could even fall diagonally. This truly can be called a miracle in this world.
This extraordinary nectar fell from between the dense branches of a magnolia tree. Because it was mid winter, the tree had no leaves. Other trees that were very close to this magnolia tree, whether they had leaves or not, surprisingly did not drip one drop of water. What was most amazing was that the nectar was very dense, yet not one drop of liquid fell on the trunk of the magnolia tree. In addition, not one drop of nectar dripped from the tree’s branches. Instead, the nectar suddenly appeared in between the branches and flowers. These drops sparkled with white light and emitted a strong fragrance.
Those who were at the scene looked up at the nectar that was falling. Some of them held the nectar in their hands and drank it. Some of them rubbed the nectar on their sores. Some of them applied the nectar on the top of their heads. Many of them spontaneously exclaimed, “How fragrant!” After a short period of time, the clothes of many people were wet with nectar. Those who were at scene included famous Great Rinpoches, famous Great Dharma Teachers, Dharma Teachers, and ordinary people.
According to a Great Rinpoche who was at the scene and saw this extraordinary sight, that magnolia tree is located on a large property housing a leading figure in Buddhist circles who is the most famous female Dharma King, as well as several Great Rinpoches and eminent Dharma Teachers.That morning at 8:00, an extremely famous Great Master together with that female Dharma King led Rinpoches and Dharma Teachers to a wide lawn on that property to inspect artwork. A disciple placed a rattan chair under the magnolia tree. That Great Master began meditating on that rattan chair.
The Rinpoches and Dharma Teachers who were standing nearby inspecting artwork suddenly noticed that auspicious clouds had enveloped that magnolia tree. They were astounded and immediately rushed over to the magnolia tree, where they discovered the Great Master in the midst of meditation. They also discovered that dense raindrops began falling from the spaces in between the crisscrossing branches of the magnolia tree. However, in the area outside of that tree, the sky was clear and sunny and there was not one drop of rain. The Dharma Teachers said that this was the manifestation of a holy event, so they quickly went to fetch their camcorders to film this scene. After about ten or fifteen minutes, they brought back their camcorders.
The Great Master then stood up and said, “This is nectar. It will stop.” As soon as those words were spoken, the rain stopped. He then said, “The nectar will continue to fall until 8:00 this evening.” Right after those words were spoken, nectar again began falling from the upper part of that magnolia tree. The Great Master then asked, “Would you like to see nectar fall from another tree?” Everyone then moved about twenty yards away to a maple tree whose leaves had completely fallen off. Fragrant rain immediately fell from that tree as they were standing under it.
At that time, with great admiration, the female Dharma King said in a loud voice, “Disciples! The Great Master sat under this tree for a short time and from it nectar descended. You can imagine just what kind of holy and virtuous being the Great Master is!”
The Great Master replied, “I do not have any ability or virtue to cause such an occurrence. It occurred because this place has the merit of housing the female Dharma King Holy Mother. Why didn’t nectar fall at another place in this entire world?”
That day monastics and Rinpoches watched over that place from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 in the evening, when the nectar stopped falling. At that time, the Great Master and the female Dharma King told everyone to return the next morning to observe a ceremony, at which time nectar would continue to fall.
The next day, I went with a group of laypersons and monastics to that place to observe the ceremony. It turned out exactly as described to me before. It was incredibly amazing. I walked under that magnolia tree, raised my head and looked upward. My face, body, and mouth were wet with nectar. An extraordinary fragrance wafted toward my nose. Ordinary perfume could not come close to matching such an aroma. The sky was clear as far as the eye could see, and the nectar continued to descend. During that time, other people and I touched the tree trunk, branches, and flower buds. To our surprise, they were all dry. Among those at the scene, there was a person from Taiwan and an American who both were skeptical. They climbed to the top of the tree and carefully inspected the situation. They discovered that the branches were all dry, there were no insects, and the raindrops appeared out of nowhere, falling from the empty spaces where the branches crisscross. Some raindrops sprayed down, and some sprinkled down, bypassing the dry branches and trunk. They could not figure out how such phenomena occurred.
Something especially miraculous then happened. I was about to take out my camera to photograph this historical scene when a Dharma Teacher said, “You need not take out your camera. You won’t be able to take pictures!” As a member of the media, I was not about to forgo the opportunity to capture such a historical event. However, it was as the Dharma Teacher said. The camera would not work. I was unable to click the shutter. The camera would not work even after I replaced new batteries.
Then, a Dharma Teacher said, “Quickly take your camera to the female Dharma King or the Great Sage and ask one of them to empower it. We were able to photograph scenes yesterday only after our cameras were empowered. Only then did our cameras work.” At this time, Ms. Hsu said, “My camera has been empowered. Go ahead and use it!” It was very strange. I took that camera in my hands and was able to take pictures with it.
A camcorder recorded scenes of nectar falling through the branches. It also recorded the scene when the Great Master and the female Dharma King were under that tree and on the grass giving dharma discourses to Great Rinpoches, eminent Dharma Teachers, and laypersons. The female Dharma King and Great Master are extremely modest. They do not want their dharma names to be made public. Of course, they also do not want that private residence to become a tourist spot, thereby hindering the self-cultivation of those who live there. When the Great Master ordered the nectar to fall, it fell. When he ordered it to stop, it stopped. Although he manifested such extraordinary powers, that holy and virtuous Great Master said with extreme modesty, “I have cultivated myself very poorly my whole life. How, then, am I qualified to become famous around the world?”
The next day, the hot sun was again overhead. In order to compare and contrast the differences between normal rain and the above-described descent of nectar, a group of laypersons, Dharma Teachers, and I returned to that magnolia tree. We immediately noticed that the branches and trunk were still dry. In front of everyone, somebody took a shower nozzle, connected it to a hose, and sprayed that tree for quite a while. Right after it was sprayed, that magnolia tree, including its trunk, began dripping water. That tree had flower buds but no leaves. Within twelve minutes, the dripping stopped. It could not possibly have continuously dripped for more than ten hours. The branches and trunk were all wet. Some drops of water hung on the branches and did not drip down. After a stick was used to tap the tree, some of the drops fell down and some did not. This shows that had the fragrant nectar rain been caused by spraying water, it would have stopped dripping within a little over ten minutes, and the tree’s branches and trunk would have been wet. In such case, dripping could not possibly continue for ten hours straight without any signs of moisture on the branches or trunk.
From the videos that were shot, one can see that the dripping of sprayed water and the dripping of nectar water were completely different situations. The shape of the drops of sprayed water was narrow on the top and wide on the bottom. The shape of nectar water drops was like that of a pine needle. The top and bottom had the same degree of thickness. Furthermore, such drops were shiny. From the videos that were shot, one can see that the nectar drops did not fall in a completely vertical direction. There were drops that fell in a diagonal direction. It seems that of their own accord these drops of nectar water avoided the branches as they dripped down. No wonder the branches had no moisture at all even after nectar water descended for more than ten hours. Such an occurrence defies the principles of science. All one can say is that it was a miracle in this world and a miracle in history!
For more examples of manifestation of the true Buddha-dharma, read H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.