Grand Master Guarantees that Everyone Can Attain Buddhahood

Grand Master Guarantees that Everyone Can Attain Buddhahood

盧師尊保證 我們每一個人都可以成佛

Dharma Discourse Transmitted by Living Buddha Lian-sheng after the Mahamayuri Homa at Taiwan Leizang Temple on February 27, 2010

Translated by Alice Yang, Edited by Jason Yu, Proofread by Rene Cordsen (TBTTS.org)

Let us pay homage to Reverend Liaoming, His Eminence Sakya Zhengkong Lama, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, and Vajra Master Thubten Dargye. Homage to the Three Jewels of the shrine. Honorable guests, my father, my sister, Shimu, fellow vajra masters, senior reverends, reverends, dharma instructors, dharma assistants, fellow school students, and students joining us through the internet. May all be blessed with auspiciousness [audience applause].

The main goal of today’s Mahamayuri Ceremony is to pray for national prosperity and peace, soothing winds and favorable rains, and avoidance of all calamities that disciples would otherwise encounter. We beseech for the pacification of disasters, increase in fortune and wisdom, improvement of love and harmony among people, and relief of hostility and hatred from enemies [audience applause].

For the sake of today’s ceremony, the abbot of [Taiwan Leizang] Temple pleaded, “It definitely cannot rain today, and the sun cannot come out either.” I replied, “Even if I were God, it would be really hard to do that. The weather cannot be rainy, chilly, or blisteringly hot. How could that be possible?” Therefore, I kept asking for no rain. What about the sun? The sun has come out occasionally, but hopefully, Mahamayuri can provide shade for us under her wings. Therefore, those requests were do-able, and they were completed [audience applause].

Today, you will be conferred with the Mahamayuri Empowerment. Prior to the empowerment, I have to expound the relevant teachings and conduct the respective homa. We have to call upon the deity’s divine presence. As a matter of fact, before the homa even began, Mahamayuri had already descended upon the shrine. Therefore, during this whole day, I kept praying to Mahamayuri to grant everyone’s wishes [audience applause]. In light of it being Chinese New Year and the Year of the Tiger, I want to first give everyone eight “qianwan” [note: “qianwan” is being used as a Chinese pun, because it can mean a “must,” such as “you must have/be something.” “Qianwan” can also mean “ten million.”]. You must have happiness, you must exercise, you must be safe, you must not get angry, you must be healthy, you must be satisfied with your life, you must be harmonious, and you must cultivate.

Since it’s Chinese New Year, the Year of the Tiger, I am giving you the gift of eight “qianwan” [note: here the pun refers to “eighty million dollars”; audience applause]. Eighty million. If you are not here today, you only get forty million. If you are present today, you will receive eighty million as a new years gift. You may wonder why Grand Master has so much money to give away. How can he give everyone eighty million? That’s because it’s invisible. The first ten-million worth of qianwan is: you must have happiness [audience applause]; the second ten-million worth of qianwan is: you must exercise [audience applause]; the third qianwan is: you must be safe [audience applause]; the fourth qianwan is: you must not get angry [audience applause]; the fifth qianwan is: you must be healthy [audience applause]; the sixth qianwan is: you must be satisfied with your life [audience applause]; the seventh qianwan is: you must be harmonious [audience applause]; the eighth qianwan is: you must cultivate [audience says, “Thanks Grand Master”]. The eighty million worth of qianwan are better than winning the lottery!

I taught the Mahamayuri Sadhana at the Seattle Temple in America. You can read the back pages of “Sheng-yen Lu's Unfolded Portfolio” [note: this is Grand Master’s 212th book] to learn more about the teachings and procedures. You should be content with the eighty million already. But I will top that and reiterate the pith teachings of the Mahamayuri Sadhana. The Fourfold Refuge of this sadhana differs from the one that we are familiar with. The Fourfold Refuge we generally recite is as follows: “Namo guru bei, namo buddha ye, namo dharma ye, namo sangha ye.” The corresponding version in the Mahamayuri Sadhana is “Namo guru bei,” taking refuge in the transmission root guru; “Namo Mahamayuri,” taking refuge in buddha; “Namo the Mahamayuri Sutra,” taking refuge in the scriptures of Mahamayuri; “Namo the Retinue of the Mahamayuri Assembly,” taking refuge in the sangha community and her entire entourage.

Above the Mahamayuri Assembly, there are the Seven Buddhas. In the center of the assembly, there is Maitreya Bodhisattva flanked with the pratyeka-buddhas and sravakas on the left and right sides. The Eight Heavenly Kings, Twenty-Eight Yaksas and all constellations, the Nine Luminaries, and the Twelve Zodiacs, are all the attendants of Mahamayuri.

Mahamayuri is a sambhogakaya of Shakyamuni Buddha, as the Buddha once reincarnated as the Peacock King in a past life. Thus, Mahamayuri is regarded as the sambhogakaya of Shakyamuni Buddha. Mahamayuri is also the nirmanakaya of Amitabha Buddha. As depicted in the Amitabha Sutra, jivanjivas, peacocks, parrots, and kalavinkas inhabit the Western Paradise. The resident peacocks are manifested by Amitabha Buddha. Mahavairocana Buddha wears the five-buddha crown and appears solemn. His face resembles that of Mahamayuri; actually, they are identical. Mahamayuri is a nisyandakaya, an identical embodiment, of Mahavairocana Buddha. In a nutshell, Mahamayuri is the embodiment of three Buddhas. You may have seen a peacock feather inserted in the Vajrayana empowerment vase, which symbolizes that the empowerment vase is a representation of Mahamayuri. The empowerment vase embodies the manifestation of Mahamayuri. Most importantly, we should have total concentration when we practice this sadhana. Every time we cultivate, we should be fully immersed in it. We should not take it lightly – such as casually chanting the mantra, visualizing without a sincere attitude, or rushing in and out of samadhi. We should practice in accordance with the procedures, one by one, without being careless or missing any steps. Furthermore, we should focus single-mindedly. Someone once wrote me a joke, it goes like this: There were two flies, a mother and her son, and they were eating manure. The son fly asked the mother fly, “Why do we eat this every day?” The mother fly replied, “Hush! Don’t talk while eating.” The motto of the joke is to concentrate on eating.

We should apply the same principle to our cultivation. If you concentrate, you will be on the right path. If you don’t, your cultivation will be in vain. The foundation of cultivation is built on concentration. Cultivation [begins with] the preliminary section, in which you should fully concentrate. The focused mind ought to be extended to the concluding section of the cultivation. The critical part lies in the main session. I will summarize the main points for today’s teaching. You should form the mudra like me [Grand Master forms a mudra]. There are two Mahamayuri mudras: one is the “neifu” mudra [the “internal handclasp” mudra] and the other one is the “waifu” mudra [external handclasp mudra]. The “waifu” mudra mimics the flying motion of Mahamayuri, whereas the “neifu” mudra represents that Mahamayuri is at rest. Either one of them is fine. You should first form the mudra, and then you should do the visualization. You would begin by visualizing emptiness. Visualize the [Sanskrit] seed syllable YU, which somewhat resembles a peacock, transforming into a peacock. Next, we visualize the seed syllable BAM [VAM in Sanskrit] transforming into a white lotus flower. Lastly, the seed syllable MO [MA in Sanskrit] transforming into Mahamayuri. This is the visualization - visualizing the emergence of Mahamayuri from emptiness.

The Vajrayana sadhana stipulates that Mahamayuri’s third eye chakra radiates a beam of white light onto your third eye chakra; her throat chakra radiates a beam of red light onto your throat, and her heart chakra radiates a beam of blue light onto your heart chakra. The three rays of light completely purify your body, speech, and mind. After that, you can chant the mantra. Chant this mantra after the visualization: “Om, mo-yu-li, gar-la-di, so-ha.” The ji [Chinese word] should be pronounced like gar, somewhere between ji and gar. “Om, mo-yu-li, gar-la-di, so-ha,” “om, mo-yu-li, gar-la-di, so-ha,” “om, mo-yu-li, gar-la-di, so-ha.” After reciting the mantra 108 times, then you enter into samadhi. That is crucial.

We have talked about entering samadhi. If you can enter samadhi, you can attain yogic union. If you cannot enter samadhi, then you cannot attain yogic union. It’s as simple as that. What is the difference? One has achieved yogic union, while the other has not. Someone wrote a joke that goes like this:

Xiao Ming went home and said to his father, “Today my math teacher hit me.”

His dad asked, “Why did the teacher hit you?”

“My teacher asked me, ‘What is three times two?’ ”

His dad asked, “What was your answer?”

“I replied that three times two is six.”

His dad said, “That’s correct, very good!”

Xiao Ming then said, “Then my teacher asked me ‘What is two times three?’ ”

His dad then retorted, “Damn! What’s the difference?” [The Chinese term for “Damn” is “ta ma de”].

Xiao Ming replied, “That was exactly what I said.”

You cannot answer like that. “How’s your mother?” [ni ma hao] and “Mom, how are you?” [ma, ni hao] are really [similar], so there isn’t much difference. But it’s outrageous to say “damn” [ta ma de] like the father said.

The difference lies here. If you were originally able to unite [with your deity], why aren’t you able to do it anymore? You must beseech the deity to unite with you. There are many methods for that. You must purify the dharma vessel – you. Our physical body is a dharma vessel, which cannot be concealed. Did you know that? If you seal the dharma vessel, you close your heart to this sadhana. If you don’t believe in this sadhana, then you should not practice it. The dharma vessel that is placed like an upside-down bowl can neither unite with a deity nor receive “dharma milk” [which nourishes spiritual nature]. You cannot attain yogic union in this way.

A dharma vessel cannot be broken either. Why would it be broken? It is because you often violate precepts. You fail to abide by the precepts, precepts such as the Bodhisattva Vows, the Monastic Precepts, the Five Precepts, the Eight Precepts [of serious lay Buddhists], or any of the Ten Precepts. You didn’t follow any of the precepts, so you are a broken dharma vessel.

The pouring of the dharma milk enters into you, Ruwo, the deity entering into you, will immediately sense that you are a broken vessel, and the dharma milk will leak away. That is another case of failed yogic union.

There is still another type of failure to achieve yogic union. This particular dharma vessel is not fractured, and it faces upward due to one’s faith. It does not have any cracks. However, as soon as the dharma milk flows into it, it becomes dirty. Your heart is dirty, and your thoughts are filthy, so you cannot enter the state of “Ruwo-Woru.” Apart from these three faults [of not believing in the sadhana, not following the precepts, and having a dirty heart and mind], you can be infused with the brilliance of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Every time I practice a sadhana, I always attain union. Every session of cultivation I do is successful, and I am energized with the dharma stream every single time. If you practice a sadhana and achieve yogic union once, then you should achieve it during your next practice, and the session after that as well, as long as you practice as instructed. Once your body, speech, and mind are purified, you can attain union without a doubt. Make no mistake about that. Many people have practiced for ten, twenty, even forty years, and some have practiced for their whole lives, but they have never experienced the state of union. Why is that? You have made mistakes. What is the mistake? First, you don’t concentrate. Second, your body is dirty, your speech is filthy, and your thoughts are defiled. You have committed offenses. It is impossible to reach union with a filthy heart and defiled thoughts. As soon as the milk streams down, it becomes dirty, or it leaks through the cracks. It is impossible to achieve union in that way. The attainment of yogic union is attributed to the purification of body, speech, and mind. You must fortify your faith in the deity, you must concentrate, you must not violate precepts, and you must cleanse your thoughts.

There was a doctor who dined out at a restaurant. While serving the doctor by taking his order, the waiter kept rubbing his bottom with one of his hands. The doctor noticed this and asked, “Do you have hemorrhoids?” The waiter replied, “Please sir, just order what we have on the menu. We don’t have hemorrhoids here.” What was going on? It was a miscommunication. The doctor made a mistake. The waiter’s bottom was itchy, but the doctor thought that he had hemorrhoids. The waiter also misunderstood the doctor. He thought that the doctor had ordered hemorrhoids. It turned out not to be the case, so the waiter also messed up. It turned out to be a mess-up on the waiter’s part. He thought that the doctor wanted to order hemorrhoids, which didn’t exist [on the menu].

I’ve told this joke before. Two lovers were cuddling together, and the woman whispered to the man, “I have a bit of a headache.” The man responded with a peck on her forehead and asked “Are you feeling better?” The woman replied, “A little bit.” She then said, “My shoulders are sore.” The man moved closer and kissed her shoulders, “Are you feeling better?” “Yes, a bit better.” An old woman who was next to them exclaimed, “That’s incredible!” She then asked the man, “Can you give me a kiss?” “Kiss what?” the man asked. “Kiss my hemorrhoids.” That was a joke about mistaking what other people meant. The doctor misinterpreted that the waiter had hemorrhoids, and the waiter wrongly assumed that the doctor wanted to order hemorrhoids. That was a joke. As cultivators we need to get things right.

In order to unite with Mahamayuri, the following are required – purified body, speech, and mind, totally focused cultivation, and diligent practice of the Mahamayuri Sadhana, outlined in the book Sheng-yen Lu's Unfolded Portfolio. Most True Buddha students are familiar with the basic True Buddha Tantra sadhanas [which have similarities with the Mahamayuri Sadhana]. Focus! Mahamayuri possesses great dharma power. She is the embodiment of Mahavairocana Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, and Shakyamuni Buddha. Mahamayuri holds transcendental power.

This is the Mahamayuri Praise Verse: “Lord Buddha, the great compassionate one, Your dharmakaya is endowed with the tranquility of nirvana. Your power and abilities are boundless. And all of your merits and virtues are perfect.”

The dedication “Lord Buddha, the great compassionate one” honors Shakyamuni Buddha as Lord Buddha for his unlimited compassion. “Your dharmakaya is endowed with the tranquility of nirvana” refers to the Supreme Truth. “Your power and abilities are boundless” attests to her effectiveness. What does “And all of your merits and virtues are perfect” include? Do you know? It contains perfect merits and virtues of compassion, great compassion, emptiness, and the great tantras. All buddhas and bodhisattvas have boundless power. Great compassion is an expedient means, and its nature is emptiness. These two add up and become “essence, form, and function.” The essence or the primal essence is the Buddha-nature; the form is the identical form of Shakyamuni Buddha; function refers to great power. Achieving all merits and virtues is most supreme.

As we know, the Four-armed Mahamayuri is capable of subjugation with her peacock feather. The peacock feather is used for subjugation purposes. Mahamayuri can also pacify with a white lotus flower, attract love and harmony with a bijapura, and enhance wealth with an auspicious fruit. Her arms conduct the four karma rituals: pacification [purification], harmonization, enhancement and subjugation, with no practice missing. Therefore, practicing the Mahamayuri Sadhana is equivalent to cultivating pacification, harmonization, enhancement, and subjugation. She is capable of accomplishing the four major types of Vajrayana practices.

If you can unite with Mahamayuri, you can also fly by practicing the Flying Sadhana. I will detail the Flying Sadhana today, which I didn’t teach at the Seattle Temple. Now, let me first ask you, Grand Master often appears in students’ dreams. So let me ask you, how many of you have dreamed of Grand Master or dreamed of receiving teachings from Grand Master? If you have dreamed of Grand Master or you have been taught by Grand Master in your dreams, please raise your hand high. Many people have raised their hands. What is going on? Sometimes in one night, Grand Master can visit a hundred students in their dreams, or impart teachings to a thousand students [audience applause]. How can I do that? No matter how far you are, I can reach you. Why? As long as there are stars in the sky where you are, I can enter your dreams. This is the secret [audience applause]. After Mahamayuri enters into my heart chakra and sits on the lotus flower on my heart, I visualize the deity shrinking and being elevated to the crown chakra by pushing the qi that I developed from the Treasure Vase Qi Yoga. By [visualizing the deity] sitting on the heart chakra, you have already merged with the Buddha-nature of Grand Master and Mahamayuri. That is a manifestation. Then, you push Mahamayuri to emptiness with the Treasure Vase Qi. The deity will absorb the starlight, the star’s brilliance, merging with the stars at night. The Mahamayuri in the emptiness is an emanation of Grand Master.

So I’m telling everyone that if you practice this sadhana, you can cultivate your own emanation: appealing Mahamayuri to enter and reside on your heart, uniting yourself with the deity as one entity, exerting your primordial qi to send Mahamayuri into emptiness, and then merging yourself with the starlight on the sky. If you repeat the process a hundred times, then you will have a hundred emanations [audience applause]. If you repeat a thousand times, you will have a thousand emanations [audience applause]. Appearing in disciples’ dreams with an emanation is called “starlight emanation in the dream,” which is a manifestation outside of my physical body, the starlight emanation that visits you in dreams [audience applause].

Therefore, Grand Master once lost fifty starlight emanations during the homa that I conducted for the ‘8-8 Flood’ victims [a major natural disaster in Taiwan on August 8th, 2009]. I sacrificed fifty starlight emanations of Padmakuamra. However, the fifty starlight emanations were restored by fifty sadhana sessions [audience applause]. That is the reason why the buddhas and bodhisattvas can fulfill your dreams, because they are everywhere, in every single corner. They can realize the dreams of all True Buddha students [audience applause]. No one will be missed. As long as you can attain union, Grand Master will appear before you. I have said before, the buddhas and bodhisattvas will also appear to you. Not just in dreams, but even in the real world, we will appear both in your dreams and in real life [audience applause]. That is fulfilling. We follow Buddhism because it is fulfilling. We call Shakyamuni Buddha the World Honored One because he is honored by the people of the world [audience applause]. That is very important.

The True Buddha Tantra and Vajrayana are quite fulfilling. Not only do they answer your mundane wishes, but they also grant your transcendental aspirations. They also help people live in peace and harmony, and are quite perfect. Here is a joke that someone wrote, so it’s not mine. There once was a bear, rabbit, and a chicken who played happily together. They thought that they should come up a nickname for each other, and this will bring them closer together. The bear said, “You can call me Little Xiongxiong [little cub].” The rabbit added, “You can call me Little Tutu [little bunny].” The chicken then groaned and said, “I am not playing anymore!” [audience burst out laughing; this is another Chinese pun, where the logical progression of the naming scheme would have left the chicken with the nickname “little penis”]. Think about it, if one of three doesn’t want to play anymore, it will not be perfect or fulfilling. If you have four people, and one of them doesn’t want to play, then you cannot play mahjong.

Therefore, the essential nature of Vajrayana is perfect, and its sadhanas are fulfilling. Worldly sadhanas are regarded as expedient methods, whereas the transcendental sadhanas are categorized as fulfillment stages. Ideally, both worldly and transcendental sadhanas would be accomplished. Vajrayana sadhanas are fulfilling practices. Sadhanas that fulfill mundane wishes exist because of great compassion. Transcendental sadhanas exist because of emptiness, the Supreme Truth, with both types of sadhanas being fulfilled. Great compassion, emptiness, and “The Scriptural Text of the Ritual of the Great King of the Teaching, the Adamantine One with Great Compassion and Knowledge of the Void” [the Chinese Hevajra Tantra] constitutes Shri Hevajra. Mahamayuri can achieve perfectly both worldly and transcendental sadhanas.

I have mentioned that Mahamayuri can suppress earthquakes. Taiwan has many earthquakes, and so does Indonesia. Master Lianzhe can practice the Earthquake Suppression Sadhana. If there are earthquakes in the future, you can look for him. There is also the enhancement practice to increase your wealth. As far as wealth is concerned, Prithvi and Mountain Gods are the richest deities on land. Therefore, we have the Prithvi Sadhana and Mountain Gods Sadhana. The Dragon King is the richest in the ocean, and we also have the Dragon King Treasure Vase Sadhana. The richest deities in the heavens are none other than the Four Heavenly Kings, and we have the Yellow Jambhala Sadhana. Yellow Jambhala [or Vaisravana] is the richest in the heavens. Therefore, wealth gods temples are booming in Taiwan. The richest beings are actually Prithvi, Mountain Gods, the Dragon King, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the Eight Heavenly Kings. They are loaded! They are the real wealth gods, while the rest are just minor wealth gods. Therefore, the wealth god of Taiwan Leizang Temple is a great wealth god [audience applause]. The rest of the wealth gods are minor wealth gods. If you want money, you should go to Taiwan Leizang Temple. Master Lianzai is the assistant abbot. If you ask for wealth, he practices the wealth god practices. If you don’t become rich, go look for him!

As far as magnetization or harmonization sadhanas are concerned, Grand Master has transmitted the Kurukulla Sadhana and the Ragaraja Sadhana. By chanting the mantra or conducting the Ragaraja homa or Kurukulla homa, you will be loved and respected [audience applause]. The “peach flower” or love that we want is an abundance of love luck, not some minor love luck. An abundance of love luck is well received and loved by all sentient beings. If you have good affinity with sentient beings, when you debut, or get off the plane, the crowd will welcome you. When you are about to depart, the crowd will send you off. These celebrities, politicians, entertainers can gain popularity or social status by cultivating the Kurukulla Sadhana or Ragaraja Sadhana. He or she will be loved immensely. So those people running in elections, remember this! Election! In this democratic era, we should vote for the virtuous and talented. If you are elected, you must have an irresistible love luck to magnetize people to support you. If you aspire to be a politician, you should practice the Kurukulla Sadhana or Ragaraja Sadhana. Your will have an abundance of love luck.

There once was a person who came to see me at the Seattle Temple, and I taught him the Kurukulla Sadhana. He returned home and recited the Kurukulla Mantra diligently until he became a legislator and then later he became a county magistrate. After a while, he stopped chanting the mantra, so things went downhill. Really, if you have plenty of love luck, you can become a leader or a famous star like Jay Chou. Among our masters, Master Lianming is a fan of Jay Chou. Remember, one must practice the Kurukulla Sadhana or Ragaraja Sadhana. With just a fling of your hair, your fans will be screaming, fainting, wowing and whooping. These people can be categorized as a “groupies.” Do you know what groupies are? If you don’t, that is okay. Current celebrities, leaders, famous stars are all linked to Kurukulla and Ragaraja. If you want the same affinity, you should practice the magnetization practice. You two (Master Lianzhe and Master Lianzai) should be responsible. The peacock feather is for subjugation, which I won’t talk about today.

Cultivators should use wisdom on any matter. Knowledge is knowing, right? Wisdom is called prajna. When the sun was shining bright, Grand Master formed a sword mudra, and chanted, “Maha prajna paramita, om mani pa-da-mi hum, tri-li, quickly block the sun!” I recited like that [audience applause].

We should have wisdom to clearly identify the guru you take refuge under. After that, you should wholeheartedly follow the guru’s path. He will transmit all sadhanas, including the worldly and transcendental ones. The guru can unite with deities, achieve attainment, transform outside of the physical body, appear in your dreams, fulfill your wishes, unite with you, and help you realize the Supreme Truth - the Supreme Truth of the Tathagata. Within the teachings the Buddha taught, there were four types of teachings: the first type was on proper human conduct; the second type was on performing good deeds; the third type was on subduing greed, anger, and ignorance with precepts, meditation, and wisdom; and the fourth type was on the Supreme Truth. Grand Master is well-versed on all four types of teachings [audience applause]. What is a “shang shi” [This is the Chinese term for a Vajrayana master, equivalent to the Tibetan term “lama” and Indian term “guru”]? What is a “vajra master?” Vajra will never change its color and form. What is “shang”? “Shang” is supreme and ultimate, what Shakyamuni Buddha realized is called the Unexcelled Perfect Enlightenment, and there is no teaching that is more profound and enlightening than that. Our vajra masters will not change shape or color, and there is no master that is better than a vajra master [audience applause]. Therefore, you should use wisdom to identify and find a good guru, and follow the guru’s teachings with undivided attention, and then you will naturally attain worldly as well as transcendental accomplishments [audience applause].

Everyone should have wisdom, but wisdom is not knowledge. There was a superintendent who was a representative of the Department of Education. We used to call this position “dushen,” but now it is called “duxue.” The superintendant asked one student, “Who burned down the Epang Palace [or Epang Gong]? Who did it?” A student stood up and answered, “Not me!” The superintendent felt the student really lacked basic knowledge. “What is going on? How did they study history? What a mess.” The superintendent took the student to see the principal and told the principal, “I asked him ‘who burned the Epang Palace?’ and he replied that he didn’t do it.” The principal agreed, “He is right. He was not involved in that case. The real culprit is someone else.” The superintendent sighed, “Ah, this principal also lacks basic knowledge.” So, the superintendent decided to take the issue to the head of the Department of Education. After hearing the story, the head of the Department of Education said, “Ah, the student said that he didn’t burn the Palace. It was indeed true. The principal also re-confirmed and supported him. It was not him. It was someone else.” The superintendent heard that and concluded, “Forget about that. That’s not the point. Let’s allocate some funds to build a new Epang Palace.” The student didn’t know who burned down the palace, and neither did the principal nor the head of the Department of Education. Who burned down the Epang Palace? In fact, I don’t know either. According to history, it was Xiangyu that did it. However, I feel that sometimes historical records are not true.

A Buddhist should have wisdom to clearly recognize a guru, a principal deity, and a dharma protector. As long as you can purify your body, speech, and mind, and you can fully engage in True Buddha sadhanas, you will eventually attain yogic union. I will also tell all of you that as long as you unite with one deity, you will be able to unite with other deities like Mahamayuri. Unite with one, unite with all. Fail to unite with one, fail to unite with all. That is a very important point.

I heard the dedication that Taiwan Leizang Temple had for this ceremony, which was to ask Grand Master to live in Taiwan forever. Let me tell you, I will live in Taiwan forever. Everything has its ancestral home. We will live together forever, in the Western Realm [a sarira pagoda at Taiwan Leizang Temple]. Definitely, definitely. I am already sixty-six years old. A senior citizen, an old man, isn’t it? I will definitely come back. Children's Day is no longer for me. I can’t celebrate it anymore. When I was in Taiwan, we celebrated Children's Day, because children are our future. I am no longer a child. Then, I celebrated Youth Day, because the youth are the pillars of the country. I have celebrated Youth Day. I also have celebrated Veterans’ Day, since I was a military officer, and graduated from a military school. I have also celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lantern Festival, but I am not sure if there is a Seniors’ Day. Maybe there is, but not many people celebrate it. In the future, Grand Master will only be qualified to celebrate Tomb-Sweeping Day or the Double-Ninth Festival [a day when people visit the elderly or the graves of their ancestors].

I welcome everyone to visit me on Tomb-Sweeping Day. This is my place. In the future, I will be placed in the basement. I don’t like high places. The basement is more inconspicuous, more low profile. I will have the following engraved on my tomb:

I have come.

I have now gone.

Please don’t take me [from my grave].

I will not have many sariras.

If you take all my sariras and sell them, I will be empty. Then I will not have any sariras left at the Western Realm because you have stolen them all, right? I hope that you will not take me away.

This is the end of the performance.

I have been an actor all my life, and this is the end of my performance.

This time it’s real.

There is no sequel to expect.

There will never be a sequel, why is that? I can no longer sit here and transmit the dharma.

If you want to see me, don’t come too close to me.

I have been placed in the basement.

Please don’t step on my box.

Please don’t touch my box with your feet.

My dharma dissemination has come to an end.

With glory and triumph, I will return to Maha Twin Lotus Ponds.

Why do you come to see me?

Sooner or later, we will end up the same.

Sooner or later, you and I will be put in a box, and then we will be the same.

The space is too small.

The space in the Western Realm is very small.

So small that I can barely turn my body.

Turning in my sleep will be very difficult.

I rest at the very bottom of the Western Realm.

If you have time, please come and chat with me.

Don’t worry.

Please don’t worry.

Unless my grave has been robbed,

I will forever live there.

I will never leave.

In the past, I was a fat person.

In the past, Grand Master was fat, I was a fat person.

Now, I am fit.

In the future, I will become pieces of sariras and sarira flowers.

I will write my last word.

Finally, it is time to bring down the curtain.

Unfortunately, I cannot come out to take a bow to you all. One day, I will be like that. Those would be the final words engraved on my tomb. “It’s time to bring down the curtain. I am sorry for not giving my thanks in person.”

What worries me the most? I am afraid that people will steal my sariras, taking all of them away and leaving only an empty box. Actually, there is nothing to be concerned about. I will be very content that my sariras can be distributed and shared among Leizang Temples in the world. This is my affinity with my students in True Buddha School [audience applause].

I will live in Taiwan forever. Why is that? I bought many spots at the Western Realm. Not quite, I didn’t purchase them, Taiwan Leizang Temple offered many to me. I have promised to give my sister a spot at the Western Realm. My younger sister’s name is Lu Sheng-mei, and mine is Lu Sheng-yen. She is actually well-off, but she is very frugal, so I will give her one. She is my sister, and she will live next to me. Did I promise you that? Is Lu Sheng-mei here? [Someone answered that she is in the VIP room.] Okay, Master Lianzhe and Master Lianzai. I have promised my sister. I have so many spots, please leave one for her –Lu Sheng-mei. My name is Lu Sheng-yen. One last reminder, you should distinguish Lu Sheng-yen from Lu Sheng-mei. She will be next to me. If you are mistaken and speak a lot to Lu Sheng-mei, I will not hear any of that. You should face and speak to Grand Master, the one engraved Lu Sheng-yen. If I hear it, I will bless you for sure [audience applause].

The fate of life is intriguing and unpredictable. The dharma taught by the Buddha is also very captivating. The Buddha said that suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-existence of self are part of human existence. If you can see through suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-existence of self, then you will understand the path of liberation. You will be liberated.

The Buddha also taught a second type of dharma on cause and effect. If there is a gathering, there is also a dispersal; if there is health, there is sickness; if there is birth, there is death; if there is youth, there is old age. You should observe cause and effect and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. You will discover the path of liberation, which is the path of the Emptiness of Dependent Origination.

The Buddha also taught us the Middle Way and Consciousness-Only. Using the Middle Way and Consciousness-Only, you can penetrate the Buddha’s Supreme Truth. After you understand the Supreme Truth, you will realize your mind and awaken your Buddha-nature. You will realize Buddhahood. You will attest the fruition of Buddhahood, and attain the levels of Equal Enlightenment, Wondrous Enlightenment, up to the thirteenth level, which is the attainment of Mahavairocana Buddha, or the sixteenth level of Adi Buddha. In the future, everyone can attain Buddhahood, everyone can attain accomplishment, and everyone can achieve yogic union. Today, Grand Master is making the following guarantee to everyone: Everyone can attain Buddhahood.

Everyone can achieve yogic union.

Everyone can return to the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds.

Last but not least, I want to thank all of the staff and volunteers who have supported today’s ceremony. I also would like to thank the vajra masters, senior reverends, reverends, dharma instructors, dharma assistants, and fellow school members who attended the ceremony. I sincerely wish that you will achieve everything, and all your wishes will come true. I really appreciate your effort.

Om Mani Padme Hum [audience applause]