Meditation Retreats & Classes
Reposted from Thus Have I Seen by Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinpoche p.159-166
The Early Retreats—2009-2014
Over the years we developed different types of retreats at the temple. They started out to be primarily work and Dharma listening retreats as we prepared to modestly develop the temple facilities. I had preliminary translations of many of the Buddha Master’s discourses and was allowed to read them to the students. At first, I could also make recordings of them that the students could take back to their Dharma centers, but some students violated their agreement and made copies and we had to recall all the recordings. Students continued to visit the temple to hear the Dharma discourses, meditate, take refuge, receive Dharma, and to work on many projects.
Rinpoches affiliated with the Xuanfa Institute visited the Institute and helped with various projects to develop and maintain the site. One morning, while posing for a group photo, a very bright golden orb of light appeared, pulsated and vibrated over their heads and disappeared. It was visible to those taking the photos and was captured on their digital cameras, and very briefly on a video camera (FIGURE 62). This golden light had also appeared on other photos and once outside the library window. A similar orb was captured in a video moving through a wooded area near the river that ran past the retreat center in Thailand where our meditation retreat was held in 2015.
The rinpoches shown in FIGURE 62 were on their way to attend a meeting with their Buddha Master in Pasadena, California. They were also able to attend an empowerment ceremony where they participated in a Dark Dharma Assembly on that trip. I am often able to arrange for my students to attend either private group meetings or Dharma transmissions with H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. In March of 2013 there was a special Dharma assembly originally intended for Western students to receive instructions on how to practice Zen meditation. However, once the Chinese students heard about this, there were many more Chinese students there as well. This Dharma transmission resulted in The Great Dharma of Zen that is included as Appendix A. Recently, whenever it is possible, I try to take those who attend retreats at the temple to see the Buddha Master at the end of the retreats.
FIGURE 62: Pulsating golden orb appears at Holy Vajrasana Temple over the heads of rinpoches who were on their way to meeting with H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.
Detail of golden orb as it enlarges.
Sometimes Benxin Chiren Rinpoche (Jason Wu) was able to come to the temple and do simultaneous English translation of many of the Buddha Master’s discourses for us. His translation and comprehension skills are such that he can listen to the discourse in Chinese and at the same time give us a translation in English. In 2012 we started the Xuanfa Five Vidyas University (XFVU) to provide more options for students to gain background in Buddhist studies online and to study the Dharma we had available from the Buddha Master; major sutras and commentaries; and the lives of patriarchs, matriarchs, great Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. As a result of Benxin Chiren’s translation work I learned how the Buddha taught us to study His discourses using the Seven-Dharma System. Our retreats and classes were then oriented to use that method, but more on that later. During this time disciples would come and meditate with the Holy Vajra Poles (FIGURE 63).
FIGURE 63: Meditating with the Vajra Poles at the Holy Vajrasana Temple.
On-the-Road Phase—2014-2015
Because we needed to remodel the old ranch house, install a new septic system, and make other improvements, the major retreats were planned to be held at other locations during the remodeling phase. When the contractors began in earnest in 2015, we started doing retreats in China, New York, Thailand, and Hong Kong. Most of these were week-long retreats. His Holiness has said that it takes at least seven days for it to be a real retreat. It takes that long to settle into the silence and schedule and quiet yourself to be able to truly concentrate.
Our retreats in both mainland China and Thailand were longer retreats. The retreat in China was held on a lake in a bamboo forest at a yoga studio. Esoteric Buddhism is considered a form of yoga and many who attended were both yogis and Buddhists.
Our first Thai retreat was held at a private retreat center on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, just north of Bangkok. Statues of nagas (FIGURE 64) guarded the center while golden globes of light like what we had seen at our temple in Sanger could be seen moving through the adjacent jungle-forest. The last day of this retreat included a trip to the Buddhamonthon (Buddhist Mandala), a park devoted to Buddhism and a gift of the Thai king to his subjects. It was dedicated in 1957 to commemorate the birthday of Shakyamuni Buddha who was born approximately 2,500 years earlier. The entrance is graced with a beautiful 57-foot statue believed to be the tallest free-standing statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in the world. It is a popular place for “Liberating the Animals (fish release)” ceremonies as the fish and other animals are very well protected. Many other disciples from nearby Dharma Centers joined the group and brought even more fish to be liberated (FIGURE 65).
FIGURE 64: Naga guarding the Thai Retreat Center.
This was also the site where H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III had given a discourse that was attended by many beings from other realms. Many types of birds and fish came to the area. These animals, along with dogs and insects, became totally still as they respectfully listened to the Dharma. The nearby lake started to surge up in waves. A large, dark gold-colored fish used its tail to stand up by itself on the surface of the water along with a small black fish and a silver-white fish. All three fish paid homage to the Buddha Master. His Holiness said that the large fish was really a dragon who had transformed itself into a fish (FIGURE 66).
I saw something like this happen when the Buddha Master once visited our temple at Sanger. The very large and brightly colored Koi who inhabited the pond on the property all aligned themselves, stood on their heads and did a little dance for the Buddha. I am told that they continued to dance like that even after the Buddha Master left, but I did not see it. I also saw a school of fish follow the Buddha Master like little puppies as the Buddha walked next to a lake in a Japanese Garden in the San Francisco Bay Area (FIGURE 67). Other students reported similar experiences of the Buddha Master’s interaction with animals. There is a beautiful video taken in Mexico when a flock of birds come after the Buddha Master prophesied that they would and did a sort of aerial ballet in a rainstorm. Copies of that video are available at many of our temples. Most of the many dogs that live with the Buddha Master do prostrations to Him. The cats, not so much, but there is one who I think is the father of one of our temple cats who sleeps like a guardian outside the door of His bedroom.
FIGURE 65: Buddhamonthon Fish Release, Thailand, 2015.
FIGURE 66: Dragon and other beings attend discourse given by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III at Buddhamonthon, Thailand in 1999.
FIGURE 67: School of Koi following the Buddha Master at a Japanese Garden south of San Francisco.
After holding a short meditation retreat and meeting with students, we held a Blessing of the Animals Ceremony in Hong Kong after the Thailand retreat in 2015. Pet owners brought their animal companions to take refuge in the Three Treasures and receive blessings. Twenty dogs, eight cats, two birds, and four turtles received the refuge vows and came forward with their owners and handlers to receive a sprinkling of holy water and a Vajra-Bodhi Pill to help develop their affinity for the Dharma and be able to continue to listen to the Dharma in their next life (FIGURE 68). Several had been listening to the Dharma discourses with their masters before they took refuge. All were very well behaved. One cat even cried after taking the Vajra Bodhi Pill.
FIGURE 68: Blessing of the Animals, Hong Kong. A miniature collie just received a sprinkling of holy water and a Vajra-Bodhi Pill.
Seven-Dharma System Seminars & the Xuanfa Five Vidyas University —2016-2018
Students from China, Canada, and various parts of the USA attended a retreat and seminar on how to listen to Dharma discourses at the Holy Vajrasana Temple over a Fourth of July weekend. Benxin Chiren Rinpoche gave a simultaneous translation of several discourses by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that were recorded in 2000. These Dharma discourses warned us that it will be fruitless if we do not abide by the Seven Dharma approach to listening to discourses presented in these discourses. The non-Chinese speakers were given a dispensation to be able to immediately start taking notes since it was so hard for them to even hear the discourses. We would have two-day retreats over a weekend or longer and Benxin Chiren Rinpoche could translate for us. I also read from a transcript of a recording done in China of a Grand Debate that served as an example as to how the Dharma should be debated or discussed by disciples and explained certain important and profound Buddhist principles. With this background the students prepared written summaries of the discourses and formed questions that were then debated by those present.
This was all part of the courses sponsored by the Xuanfa Five Vidyas University. Those who were enrolled in the class for credit agreed that the Seven Dharma process mandated by the Buddha Master was extremely helpful in gaining an understanding of some of the very profound principles contained in the discourses. This was the first time that XFVU had attempted to make a course available in both Chinese and English although the earlier attempts at bilingual retreats had gone very well. We are attempting to adapt this process to studying translations we have of written texts by the Buddha Master on our online Zoom classes with the Lemonade Sangha, which I will describe later.
In 2018 I received preliminary English translations of both the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation and Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra. Realizing the importance of both of these amazing sutras, I focused our efforts on making them available to other English-speaking disciples. I realized that these were what we should be focusing our Buddhist education on as well. These were the sutras we should study and follow. All I could do was read from these translations at the temple or sometimes at other locations. Nothing could be released in print until we had an official translation. I then dissolved the Xuanfa Five Vidyas University (XFVU) until such time as they were available to be used as texts.
