The third generation of the world's Buddhist Pope, Namo Dorje Chang Buddha, lifted the 437.2-pound Vajra Pestle with four fingers of one hand (Photo by Rambo Tsemang).
(Los Angeles News) On December 23, 2021, an unprecedented and dazzling Buddhist event took place in the Great Hall of the Holy Land Temple in Los Angeles, USA! The third generation of the world's Buddhist Pope, Namo Dorje Chang Buddha, with the witness of the seven disciples of the Buddha, lifted the giant Buddha Vajra Pestle weighing 437.2 pounds with only four fingers of one hand, suspending it in the air for 13.47 seconds, demonstrating the unparalleled and true Buddha's Vajra body and strength! From then on, the third generation of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha has established an unsurpassable peak in the history of Buddhism! At the same time, this fact also illustrates that Buddhism is a science of verification. The saints mentioned in Buddhism, whether they are true or false, and the level of their achievements can be publicly tested through Buddhist practices such as "holding the pestle on the seat"!
In this "holding the pestle on the seat" ceremony organized by the World Buddhist Headquarters, three American strongmen were invited to test and challenge. There were three pestles in the center of the Great Hall of the Holy Land Temple. The smallest one weighed only over 100 pounds, the medium-sized one weighed over 200 pounds, and the unique giant Buddha Vajra Pestle in the world. This giant pestle was the same pestle that H.H. the third generation of Dorje Chang Buddha successfully lifted off the golden steps of the holy seat on February 9, 2020, in order to facilitate the smooth progress of the "holding the pestle on the seat" test and help the organizers solve the difficulties. The weight of the pestle was increased from the original 434.8 pounds to 437.2 pounds by replacing the large nuts at both ends of the pestle, an increase of 2.4 pounds.
According to the regulations passed down in Buddhism, "holding the pestle on the seat" must be done with a Vajra hook held in one hand. There are two ways to hold the Vajra hook: one is to use all five fingers to grip the pestle together, and the other is to not use the thumb and only use the four fingers to hook and lift the pestle. Because hooking requires the participation of the thumb, it is more difficult than using all five fingers to grip the pestle. Therefore, for each second of holding the pestle with a hook, an additional level is added to the score. It can be seen that to hold the pestle with one hand and the Vajra hook for more than 7 seconds is the authentic test method for "holding the pestle on the seat" in Buddhism. This is much more difficult than lifting a bar with both hands in the sports world!
Among the three strongmen, Joshua Yancey held the Vajra hook with one hand and lifted the smallest pestle for 8.66 seconds. In the second round, when he used four fingers to hook and lift the pestle, he lifted the pestle for 5.44 seconds, demonstrating his power level as a world-class strongman, surpassing his own level. However, when Joshua Yancey continued to try to lift the medium-sized Vajra Pestle and the Buddha Vajra Pestle, despite exerting all his strength, the two pestles remained motionless, ending in failure. The other two strongmen, Daniel Simon and Trent Miller, also did their best to lift the three pestles, but they couldn't even lift the smallest pestle. After consecutive failures, they had to leave in disappointment.
In order to make the ceremony successful, the third generation of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha came to the Great Hall of the Holy Land Temple and prayed in front of the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. After that, he held the Vajra hook and walked to the huge Buddha Vajra Pestle. After standing still, the Buddha hooked and lifted the 437.2-pound Buddha Vajra Pestle with four fingers of one hand, suspending it from the ground for 13.47 seconds!!! Since the pestle was successfully lifted with a hook, the score was increased by the number of seconds the pestle was suspended in addition to the original 59 levels, resulting in a total score of 72 levels. This broke the record set by the third generation of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha himself on February 9, 2020. The shocked and amazed exclamations from the witnesses at the scene could be heard for a long time. It is unimaginable that the "Buddha Vajra Pestle" weighing over 300 pounds, which even a world-class strongman can't lift, was lifted by H.H. the third generation of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha with one hand weighing only over 100 pounds.
It is understood that the "holding the pestle on the seat" test originated from the authentic Buddhist regulations. In antique shops or Tibetan Buddhist artifact stores, you can see a kind of giant Vajra Pestle weighing from tens of kilograms to three to four hundred kilograms. These giant pestles are from Tibet and are called "seat pestles". They come in various styles, including Pupa Pestle, Five-Section Pestle, Wheel of Time Vajra Pestle, and Great Vajra Pestle. Some were made during the pre-propagation period of Tibet, while others were modified by Master Lianhuasheng during the post-propagation period to become the correct standard seat pestles. People generally consider them as works of art, but few people know that they were actually ancient instruments used to directly examine the authenticity of Buddhist teachings and practices. The person to be tested needs to lift the Vajra Pestle with one hand and suspend it in the air, and then place it on the base within a specified time. This test is called "holding the pestle on the seat". Through practice, it has been proven that it is very difficult to lift the "seat pestle" with one hand. Even a person who can lift a thousand kilograms with both hands cannot lift a three hundred kilograms pestle with one hand.
According to the regulations, each person has their own standards based on their age and weight. Those who meet the weight standard are called "Kangti Shi" (physically fit person). Those above Kangti Shi are considered as "upgraded", and those below Kangti Shi are considered as "downgraded". There are 30 levels of "upgraded" and 5 levels of "downgraded". Although the appearance of saints and ordinary people may look the same, their internal qualities are completely different. The physical composition of saints is completely different from that of ordinary people. Professional strongmen train every day and become physically strong after ten or twenty years, but this is still the accumulation of physical fitness of ordinary people, and it does not fundamentally change their nature. They cannot transform from ordinary to saintly. On the other hand, the saints who have achieved the dual holy quantity state through the complete and flawless practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Hearing, Contemplation, Cultivation, and Attainment can far exceed the physical fitness and strength of strongmen.
Generally speaking, it is quite difficult for a strong man with great strength among ordinary people to achieve an upgrade of two or three levels. National-level strongmen can achieve an upgrade of up to 9 levels, and world-class strongmen can achieve an upgrade of up to 10 levels. The primary level of saintly virtue can achieve an upgrade of 12 to 19 levels based on their own Kangti Shi standard, the intermediate level of saintly virtue is from 20 to 25 levels, the advanced level of saintly virtue is from 26 to 29 levels, and reaching the highest peak of 30 levels is the "Vajra Great Power King" level of great saintly virtue. The third generation of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha lifted the pestle and achieved an upgrade of 72 levels, completely surpassing the power limit of the Vajra Great Power King.
Therefore, it can be said that in this world, from ancient times to the present, except for the Buddha, no one can lift the Buddha Vajra Pestle lifted by Namo Chang Buddha, because they do not have the physical fitness of the Buddha, so they absolutely cannot lift it. This also illustrates that only the power of the Buddha is the true embodiment of the authentic Dharma.