Important Replies from Holy and Virtuous Monks#
Responses from the World Buddhist Headquarters Consultation Center to Inquirers#
Lunar January 21
Answer 21:
Indeed, many people have written vows to make offerings to the Third Supreme Dharma King, Dorje Chang Buddha III. However, whether it is the extravagant offerings from the wealthy or the offerings from ordinary people, Dorje Chang Buddha III has not accepted a single cent, nor will He ever accept any. After sincerely reading their vows, Dorje Chang Buddha III said, "The Buddha Dharma is meant to be given to sentient beings!!! Whether one can learn it or not depends on whether one has a genuine and devout heart. I am well aware that I am an ordinary Buddhist practitioner. I have no merits or virtues to receive everyone's offerings. Therefore, I have made a lifelong vow to not accept any offerings and to serve sentient beings voluntarily. You all regard me with such sincerity, and I will pray and bless you with all my heart. However, I am still an ordinary Buddhist practitioner. My prayers may not be effective, but the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can see your sincerity. Do not abandon your merits and virtues! Today, I want to make my stance clear and tell you all that there are a very small number of people who make false vows. They are wealthy but lack a sincere heart to make offerings to support the Buddha Dharma. They write false vows. I will not teach such people. Even if I were to teach them, they would not be able to practice and achieve accomplishments. Even more pitiful are those who take advantage of my lack of attachment to money and fame, thinking that I am the easiest to deceive. Without consulting me, she took my invention, "Fabihsheng," which was approved by the Chinese Ministry of Health as the number one product, and used it to make money for herself. She has never given me a single cent in the thirty years she has used it. Yet shamelessly, she wrote a false vow saying that she will further develop "Fabihsheng" to make even more money. How shameless! She has seized all the resources for my "Fabihsheng" Buddha Dharma activities and claims to be doing Buddhist work. If she were to seize all the resources for Sakyamuni Buddha's activities for one day, what kind of sin would that be? Although I am not a holy and virtuous one, she has seized it for thirty years. It is enough to build a large temple, but can such a person learn the great Dharma? Can she achieve accomplishments? Or will she go somewhere else? How foolish and pitiful! On the contrary, the vast majority of people make vows sincerely. Over eighty percent of them are living in difficult circumstances, some even have almost nothing to eat, very pitiful! Yet, they still make offerings and engage in Buddhist activities despite their exhausted physical and mental strength. In such situations, there are still people who can bear to accept their offerings and cultivate blessings. These people can't even afford to eat, yet they still cultivate blessings! Remember!!! Those who are struggling to meet their basic needs are not allowed to make offerings to any Buddhist activities, especially since I do not accept offerings in the first place. Rest assured, as long as you refrain from doing evil and practice good deeds sincerely, I will teach you to learn and practice the best Buddhist Dharma. You are all facing great difficulties and hardships, so use your money to sustain your own lives! With a stable life, you can then focus on learning and achieving accomplishments in Buddhism! If you do not listen to me today, I will no longer teach you!"
Furthermore, those who can only receive the "borrowed empowerment" of the innermost secret empowerment, rather than the true innermost secret empowerment from a holy and virtuous one, are not Bodhisattvas who will not regress. Therefore, when the holy quantity decreases, it may not be possible to receive the borrowed empowerment of the innermost secret empowerment again. In other words, it is possible for the power of the path to decline and not be able to receive the borrowed empowerment of the innermost secret empowerment.
World Buddhist Headquarters Consultation Center
Representatives of Holy and Virtuous Ones answering questions
March 8, 2018