“Put the Three Demon-Detecting Mirrors in Use” from the World Buddhism Association Headquarters
Announcement No. 20180104 from the World Buddhism Association Headquarters (WBAH) has already been published. To enable Buddhist cultivators to become clear with the stipulations in the announcement so that they can truly understand through studying, carrying out, and application, more clear explanations are now given regarding what types of people should be checked using “Put the Three Demon-Detecting Mirrors in Use” to reveal their original forms.
During these years, among the inquiries received by WBAH, the largest number of them is related to how to distinguish whether masters are upright or evil. For issues in this aspect, WBAH has issued no less than 10 announcements. These announcements were all rigorously and seriously checked and decided by holy virtuous ones, completely belong to the correct views of Buddhism and Buddha-dharma to prevent evil masters and charlatans from defrauding the public, can absolutely break the evil to manifest the truth, benefit the great masses, benefit the country and the population, and benefit the world, and are bright lamps illuminating the roads to help cultivators traverse the correct path toward the Tathagata.
However, many people have totally forgotten the standards of distinguishing the evil and preventing fraud that they were reminded over and over again by the announcements. That is why there have been continuous occurrences of repeated inquiries from Buddhist disciples on the questions that have been replied. WBAH addressed such questions many times in the announcements. Furthermore, in the recorded dharma discourses, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III also clearly explained over and over again the distinctions between what is upright and what is evil and between what is true and what is false. This is because the issue of choosing a master is the most fundamental and life-long great matter regarding a Buddhist disciple’s accomplishment and liberation!
However, since His Holiness the Buddha has expounded the dharma clearly and explicitly and WBAH has also clearly informed you with the definitions, why are you still acting blindly and without a direction in the matter of recognizing and distinguishing whether a master is upright or evil? Why are you still unable to know what is good and what is bad and are unable to make a decision on whether to continue following your current master or to find and choose another master who is excellent? Therefore, we at WBAH truly can’t describe how we feel about your situation. Such questions from your inquiries have been made very, very clear and can’t be made clearer from the repeated explanations. If you do not make recognitions according to the announcements and are satisfied with devolving, you will go deeper and deeper into the dark karma and miserable luck. Then, even all Buddhas in the ten directions are unable to save you!
Actually, evil masters are not difficult to detect no matter how foxy they may be because they cannot escape from a rule. That is, such evil masters definitely will not regard the announcements as the foremost important writings for circulation. On the contrary, they spend big efforts to make propaganda with the falsely bragging and deceptive materials they fabricate. Even if the announcements are possibly mentioned in their propaganda, they will definitely be referred to or quoted out of context. They will not make a good effort to forward or distribute the announcements and even less likely will they organize their followers to study them. Rather, such evil masters would simply sit on the dais to fabricate demonic words to brag about themselves and delude people, for the purpose of reaping money and sexual favors.
Now, in Announcement No. 20180104, WBAH again provided all Buddhist disciples with three demon-detecting mirrors. Once you put them in use to check anyone who is either a master or a disciple, you can easily find out whether this person is an evil or malicious person or not.
The First Demon-Detecting Mirror: As long as a master does not make a big effort to facilitate the disciples to study, carry out, and broadly propagate the announcements, this master is absolutely an evil master. Take the “Important Replies from Holy Virtuous Ones and Eminent Monastics” issued by WBAH (the 35 questions with the answers) for example, any master who does not lead the disciples to study, carry out, and broadly propagate each answer earnestly and in its entirety and, rather, only makes propaganda about his/her own undertaking and the articles, writings, or books he/she put together, which not only do not refer to the specifics of the announcements but also violate the stipulations in the announcements, has definitely devolved into an evil master!!! It is just so easy to reveal such a master’s original form because his/her evil, malicious, and fraudulent conduct does not agree with the announcements.
Also, the announcements stipulated that disciples should observe and check the master to find out whether the master is upright or evil and what is proclaimed is true or false. Only then can one decide whether to follow this master or not. However, some masters who have not attained the grade level of a holy virtuous one demand their disciples to have their three karmas in correspondence with the master and not to have the slightest doubt toward the master. No matter how the master behaves, disciples can only obey one-hundred-percent. That means even when facing a demonic master, disciples are not allowed to have suspicion and must comply with their three karmas. This is extremely absurd!
Some evil master even claimed that he had achieved the state of getting rid of the bottom of the pail (a Chan term referring to having no attachment at all) and merging with the universe as one. Since he has completely replaced his body and has become a holy one, disciples are not allowed have doubt. Otherwise they will have no benefits from their dharma practice. Then, we at WBAH would like to ask: Since you have already replaced your body, why don’t you present the three Vajra phurbas to let everyone see? We can tell that you are not able to present the Earth Phurba or the Heaven Phurba, not to mention the Dharma Phurba that is 1,000 times more difficult. Uttering the words “getting rid of the bottom of the pail” is truly naive and absurd. You are simply a charlatan or ordinary person without the power to lift a phurba with your arm!
To widely benefit Buddhists, the announcements said clearly that disciples should observe and inspect their master to confirm one’s original form. However, there are even masters who forbid disciples to have doubt and even use the Fifty Stances of Guru Devotion to control the disciples. Such masters do so openly and boldly and are extremely rampant. It is true that the teachings and dharmas of esoteric Buddhism do have such statements that tell the disciples to correspond their three karmas to their master. However, disciples are also reminded that they should inspect the master and find out whether he/she truly knows Buddha-dharma or not and they should observe the master for six years. Moreover, the correspondence of the three karmas as stated in esoteric Buddhism refers to doing so toward holy masters or at least true eminent monastics and greatly virtuous ones with correct views. This is not to be done toward masters who are ordinary persons faking holy ones and lacking any proficiency in the sutras or evil and demonic masters.
There are some people who only attained the grade levels of a few blue buttons and who scored less than 30 points in the test on sutras, vinayas, and treatises. They know very clearly that they have no proficiency in the sutras and are ordinary beings. To deceive people, they even fake great holy ones. It should be clear that a great holy one has the title of Shang Zun. Actually, from the calculation using the method of inference in the hetu-vidya, it take approximately the realization and cultivated accomplishment of 1,097 cultivators at the level of Blue Button Grade 3 to equal that of a Shang Zun who is a greatly holy one at the level of Golden Button Grade 3!
Therefore, none of the evil masters or charlatan masters will broadly propagate the announcements because the announcements are like a demon-chopping sword to those evil swindlers. Once the sword is out of the casing, any deceptive scheme of evil masters will be cut off and eliminated right there. They will have no fancy tricks to apply!
The Second Demon-Detecting Mirror: Regardless of what status or title the person you follow as your master has, such as dharma king, yogi, geshe, rinpoche, khenpo, great dharma master, layperson, professor, doctor, and so on, as long as this master’s grade level obtained from the examination is not a level within the ranks of holy virtuous persons and yet this master poses as a holy person or instructs the disciples to falsely brag or praise “My master so-and-so is a holy person.” Such a master is absolutely an ordinary person and is a charlatan!!!
The Third Demon-Detecting Mirror: One who is an icchantika or has committed sins of five extremely heinous violations means this person has committed violations in any of these six: 1) destroy or damage temples or Buddhist stupas; 2) burn, destroy, or damage Buddha statues or sutra books; 3) stab or kill an Arhat; 4) exterminate or undermine true Buddha-dharma; 5) slander or persecute holy person(s); and 6) kill or pressure one’s own parent(s)!!
Then, how should we recognize and distinguish holy persons? Holy persons of ancient times have long been known through historical records. So you all can find out by looking up the records. Regarding how to determine definitively holy persons of the current time, the fact is that evil masters and charlatans will all claim that they are holy ones to make the determination difficult. Then, how can we determine who are true holy ones and who are false?
In this world of ours, Catholics recognize holy ones by canonization. In Buddhism, holy ones of the current time have to manifest their holy realization through examination to attain holy status. Therefore, only those who attained the grade levels of golden button(s) from taking the written text and the holy test are holy ones!!! On the other hand, those who did not attain a grade level of golden button(s) after taking the examination are not holy ones!!!
Additionally, the title of Golden Button Grade 1 is Ru Zun. The title of Golden Button Grade 2 is Jiao Zun. A holy person at the level somewhat higher than Golden Button Grade 2 has the title of Lotus Button Venerable One. The title of Golden Button Grade 3 is Shang Zun. At the level of Golden Button Grade 4, male holy ones are called Sheng Zun and female holy ones are called Yu Zun.
Anyone who elevates his/her level to falsely claim a venerable status or title is an evil and demonic person. Such a person has violated the fundamental precept against deceiving and deluding living beings, belongs to the subordinates or followers of the Mara King, and must not be regarded as a master to follow and rely on!!!! Anyone who scored a high level of blue buttons can only be an eminent monastic or a great virtuous one and cannot falsely claim to be a holy one.
The issues have been brought up long ago regarding how WBAH should punish or take measure against the persons who are icchantikas or have committed sins of five extremely heinous violations as described above. WBAH now announces to everyone that WBAH has no authority to punish or take measure against anyone. Evil masters, villains, and charlatans can only be dealt with by the law of the country.
However, great holy virtuous ones including Wang Zha Shang Zun and others have already said, “To any evil person regardless of whether this person is a master or a disciple, as long as this person has been reported, once the person’s identity is known and the evidence has been verified, this person will be included in a name list of malicious persons and in this entire lifetime will not be conferred an inner-tantric initiation of transmitting any dharma that leads to perfect good fortune and wisdom and attaining liberation!!!” However, if you committed a malicious act unintentionally without knowing the consequence, the sin was created due to ignorance. As long as you can sincerely repent and correct the fault and do not commit the violation again, you will not be included into the list of malicious persons.
If you have already knowingly done things that harm holy persons under the instruction of an evil master, then the only way you have is to repent immediately to start over again and publicly expose the malicious and demonic evil person who instructed you to create the sin. You should also inform WBAH in writing about what you have done. Then your record will be deleted from the list of malicious persons. That means you have abandoned the evil and engaged in kindness and thus have returned to your original status of a cultivator. However, you absolutely must not commit the violation again. One who commits the violation again after repenting is a villain who cannot be forgiven.
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said that the decisions we made are correct. Once an evil person or icchantika learns the dharma, this person will become a demon due to his/her evil mentality and conduct and will only defraud and harm people. If marvelous and profound Buddha-dharma leading to accomplishment is transmitted to them, it would be an insult to Buddhism, an unfavorable incident to mankind, and a cruel and poisonous act to living beings. Doing so is a sinful and malicious action. Any high-level marvelous Buddha-dharma that leads to expedient and speedy accomplishment can only be transmitted to good people who are kind and sincerely learn from Buddha to benefit the public.
These three demon-detecting mirrors issued from WBAH’s Announcement No. 20180104 are the simplest and yet most powerful dharma treasures and can correctly and accurately show the true faces of all evil, malicious, and demonic persons and swindlers. Once you make use of them, you will no longer be deceived by evil masters and charlatans. Then you will always flourish in auspiciousness and enjoy complete happiness!
World Buddhism Association Headquarters (Seal stamped on every page)
October 3, 2018