The "Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Ceremony" hosted by Venerable Jushengde was officially held at the Holy Land Temple in the United States on September 19, 2018, between the Main Hall and the Plaza, with complete success.
There are two types of participants in this rare and precious ceremony: the first type consists of highly respected monks and abbots of Buddhist temples and leaders of Buddhist organizations, who were directly invited by one Jade Venerable, Wangzha Shangzun, Mozhi Jiaozun, and Ludongzan Fawang. The second type consists of those who participate by chance, if they happen to encounter the ceremony, they will join.
The Fire Offering Ceremony is a major practice in Buddhism, especially in Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibet, India, and other places, almost everyone is familiar with the famous practice of dispelling disasters, avoiding difficulties, removing obstacles, and increasing blessings through fire offerings. This Buddhist practice is also known as the "Victorious Dharma Fire Altar Homa", but it is rare to see a true "Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Homa" in hundreds of years. The ceremonies that people usually participate in are conventional fire offerings. The blessings generated by the "Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Homa" and conventional fire offerings are as different as a step and a thousand miles.
Wangzha Shangzun and the two great holy monks talked about their personal experiences. In the past hundred years, there were famous masters like Pobangka and Kansa Rinpoche who practiced this practice in Tibet. One of the two great holy monks, who had reached the second stage of realization, said, "I have learned this practice, but I have not succeeded in practicing it. It seems that my spiritual power and skill are lacking, and I still need to make efforts. In recent decades, I have not seen any great holy monks, great Dharma kings, or great masters who have successfully practiced the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering. If the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering is not successfully practiced, it can only function as a regular fire offering." So, what is the difference between success and failure? First of all, in conventional Tibetan fire altar offerings or East Tantric fire offerings (stacked wood fire offerings), they are claimed to be accomplished, but from what I have learned, they are ignited manually. How can they be blessed by the sacred fire of the Buddha? The Victorious Dharma Fire Offering is different. It must invite nine Tathagatas, Vajra Mothers, Prajnaparamita Mothers, and the assembly of Dharma Protectors to personally come to the fire altar, and the Vajra Mother who arrives from the void personally ignites the fire. This is the true Victorious Dharma Fire Offering.
In this Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Ceremony, the participants were seated in the Main Hall, and they witnessed the process of the ceremony up close. Many different ritual implements were used on the fire altar. The fire altar was a newly built temporary furnace, without any electrical or fire appliances, just a clean copper furnace. There was a flat table with all the ritual implements, including the furnace. More than ten volunteers cleaned the table and the furnace from top to bottom on-site, placed the furnace on the table, and put wood and sandalwood inside. The table was then carried near the entrance of the Main Hall. Venerable Jushengde followed the practice and sat at a distance of about fifty meters. The "Fire Lighting Guardian" was a holy monk named Bodiwentu, who had reached the first stage of realization. He dipped the fire sign in butter, recited mantras step by step, and walked towards the fire altar, about six meters away. Originally, he was going to ignite the fire, but suddenly changed his mind and stood still, shouting to the sky, "This Victorious Dharma Fire Altar Homa is conducted by Venerable Jushengde. Please let the Vajra Mother ignite the fire. If the Vajra Mother does not ignite the fire, I will do it!" After saying this, he deeply bowed. Venerable Jushengde shouted loudly from a distance, "Please let the Vajra Mother ignite the fire to eliminate obstacles and increase blessings for all sentient beings!" As soon as he finished speaking, the Vajra Mother from the void appeared. I saw the blue Vajra Mother point her finger and a flash of light appeared, and the furnace ignited. The furnace suddenly burst into flames without any fire beforehand, which startled Bodiwentu. He ran and jumped, turned around, held his head, and bowed. Everyone at the scene saw the flames suddenly ignite up close, and immediately knelt down and bowed, excitedly starting the prayer burning.
A Buddhist voluntarily placed the Vajra Demon Subduing Bowl used in the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering upside down on a small flat table. According to the Dharma, the bowl would absorb the demonic karma of everyone present at the fire offering and subdue it within the bowl. If the demons and karma tried to escape from the bowl, they would use all their strength to shake the bowl. At this critical moment, they heard a loud "boom!" The Vajra Mother flashed like lightning and turned the demons and black karma inside the bowl into dust. The demons' souls were then taken by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to the Pure Land for strict discipline.
Venerable Jushengde did not approach any ritual implements or tables from a distance. He then performed the "Secret Offering to Bodhisattva" practice. All the people present saw and heard a loud noise as the Vajra Demon Subduing Bowl on the flat table sealed tightly "boomed" and flames flashed and disappeared from the edge of the bowl. Then, the assembly turned the bowl upside down, and there was nothing under or inside the bowl. The "secret offering" of Bodhisattva had been taken away, disappearing right in front of everyone's eyes. The "Secret Offering to Bodhisattva" practice was successful! The burnt demon corpse had an extremely foul smell, worse than any smell in the world. Anyone who smelled it could not resist it, and their senses were distorted. The true nature of the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering had been completely accomplished.
It is understood that there has been no Victorious Dharma Fire Offering for more than eighty years. All the previous ceremonies were conducted based on reasoning, without the appearance of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. No matter who practiced it, there has not been a true Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Homa with such a manifestation. In other words, in Tibet, India, and other countries around the world, there was a similar extraordinary fire offering ceremony more than eighty years ago, and now it has appeared for the second time. We personally witnessed the supreme greatness of the true Dharma of the Tathagata at the scene.
Even more extraordinary, in addition to the unprecedented sacredness and immense power of this Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Ceremony, the smoke from the fire altar rose in the Main Hall, filling the entire space, but the smoke detector on the ceiling remained silent. This is truly miraculous. In this Main Hall, as long as someone smokes a cigarette, the alarm will sound and water will be sprayed. The power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas during the Victorious Dharma Ceremony is so extraordinary and subtle.
In this way, the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering appeared with incomparable sacredness and miracles. The participants of the ceremony were very excited, and even the renowned Mozhi Jiaozun lost his composure and became ecstatic. Everyone made offerings to Venerable Jushengde, but he refused to accept anything and asked them to put away their offerings.
Since then, the Holy Land Temple has truly established an internal secret altar in this world because everyone personally witnessed the "Secret Offering to Bodhisattva". However, Venerable Jushengde said that it would be best for everyone to find a great holy monk who has reached the "Golden Vajra Three Strikes" to truly establish the physical presence of the offerings there, in order to demonstrate that the internal secret altar has truly been established.
I personally participated in this true Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Ceremony, and it deeply impressed me, just as Venerable Jushengde said, "Compared to the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering, conventional fire offerings are nothing more than a drop in the bucket, just child's play." No wonder a Dharma king said, "The merit of the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering, which is ignited by the Vajra Mother from the void, is thousands of times greater than that of a regular fire offering ignited by ordinary people."
The fire altar, offering table, and corresponding ritual implements used in this Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Ceremony will be displayed for people to admire at the Holy Land Temple.
Speaking of which, I want to add the most important thing. After the completion of the Victorious Dharma Fire Offering Ceremony on the 19th, in the Main Hall, Venerable Jushengde announced, "Today, this grand ceremony has been completed. Ludongzan Fawang has been waiting for this ceremony, and it is his last blessed ceremony." In a recent announcement by Ludongzan Fawang at the headquarters of the United International World Buddhist Association, he said, "After the last ceremony, he will pass away as soon as possible." The two masters also urged him to stay and propagate the Dharma, but Fawang said, "With the presence of the Buddha Master, what use is there for someone like me with limited realization? Life is like a dream, and I will leave sooner or later. It depends on the coming together of causes and conditions. When the conditions are exhausted, everything will disperse. Let it be, I won't stay!" He also said, "I decide my own life and death. I will leave whenever I want. It's different from Zhao Yushengde, who relies on the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to come and take him at the right time." This Fawang has the freedom of life and death, and he really did what he said. On the second day of the ceremony, September 20th, he bathed, put his writing utensils on the Dharma seat, and wrote a farewell letter to the Third World Great Dharma King, saying, "The ink is not yet dry, and I will pass away." He was able to write "The ink is not yet dry, and I will pass away," which means that he passed away as soon as he put down his pen.