Dharma of Selection: Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma Assembly

        I know I have written about many extraordinary things that happened about or around the Buddha Master, and many incredible Dharmas have been transmitted or exhibited, but I think the Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma Assembly held in September 2015 is still the most amazing practice of Dharma I have witnessed. It is a Dharma in Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism for determining the result sought through selection; in this case to determine the status of two Buddhas and a Bodhisattva. Around twenty venerable ones, Dharma kings, and rinpoches including myself, participated in this Dharma led by Great Rinpoche Wangzha Shangzun. The decisions by the Dharma of Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue⁴⁰ determined that Sakyamuni Buddha is a true Buddha, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is a true Buddha, and Master Hui Neng, the sixth patriarch of the Chan (Zen) School, was not a Buddha but was the incarnation of a great Bodhisattva.

        There are many different Dharmas of selection, but this one is one of the highest. It can be used to determine the true or false status of any holy being. In this world, this Dharma and the Dharma of Forecasting the Future are the highest among the Dharmas of decision by selection. The Dharma ranked next is the holy inner-tantric Dharma of “Bai Fa Ming Men Hei Guan Ze Jue (a Dharma specifically used to determine the correct or wrong result).” The next lower Dharma is the Dharma of dropping divine pieces to receive divine instruction, which is at the inner-tantric level. Then, there are lower, outer-tantric Dharmas of lot-drawing from a golden vase, rotating a tsampa⁴¹ ball, watching a sacred lake to see the result, and others. This Dharma can only be possessed and commanded by holy ones at the level of great Mahasattvas or higher. Only a holy one who has the realization of performing holy inner-tantric initiations that are close to the level of state practice can perform the Dharma of Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue.

        The Buddha Master’s most senior students were present to witness Wangzha Shangzun perform this most solemn Dharma. First, the Dharma was performed to verify the status of Sakyamuni Buddha. The beseeching document stated, “We respectfully beseech a verification from the decision by selection. If Sakyamuni Buddha is truly a Buddha, a crown made by strands of hair will be put on the head. If not, there will be no crown.” A portrait of Sakyamuni Buddha was laid on an ordinary four-legged dark-brown flat table. Then, a pinch of sand from the Ganges River with the color of light camel wool was picked up and put on the portrait at a spot of hair at the top of the Buddha’s head. Wangzha Shangzun began to practice the Dharma at a Dharma dais, which was about 13 feet away from the table. After a ritual of knocking a wooden fish, ringing a bell, waving a Vajra, performing mudras, and chanting mantras, twelve documents written on yellow papers were burned. We all saw with our own eyes that the sand placed at the spot of hair at the top of the Buddha’s head began to disperse with inconceivable changes. Every grain of sand seemed to be alive. All sand grains moved individually with miraculous transformations. Sand grains connected with each other to form strands of hair standing in the air. The strands of hair then automatically formed a crown of hair, which very naturally and wonderfully stood up above the top of Sakyamuni Buddha’s head. A scene of adding a crown of strands of hair to the Buddha’s top-knot was manifested, proving that Sakyamuni Buddha is a true Buddha.

        Immediately after that and on the same table, the Dharma was conducted again for H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. The beseeching Dharma document stated, “We respectfully beseech a verification from the decision by selection. If H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the incarnation of the primordial Sambhogakaya-Buddha Dorje Chang Buddha, a crown made by strands of hair will be put on the head. If not, there will be no crown.” Wangzha Shangzun practiced the Dharma following exactly the same ritual as before. After the twelve documents were burned, the sand of the Ganges River with the color of light camel wool that had been flatly put on the spot of hair at the top of a photo of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s head suddenly had the miraculous transformation of being elevated upward. Sand grains connected with each other to form strands of hair standing in the air. The strands of hair then automatically formed a crown of hair. A 3-dimensional crown was put on the head of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in the portrait, proving that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is a true Buddha coming to the world!

        The last decision by selection was to verify whether the Sixth Patriarch Master Hui Neng had been a Nirmanakaya Buddha. The beseeching Dharma document wrote, “We respectfully beseech a verification from the decision by selection. If the Sixth Patriarch Master Hui Neng is a Buddha’s Nirmanakaya, a crown made by strands of hair will be put on the head. If not, there will be no crown.” As before, Wangzha Shangzun practiced the Dharma following the same ritual and the twelve documents were burned. Everyone saw that the sand of the Ganges River with the color of light camel wool placed at the top of Patriarch Master Hui Neng’s head had no movement or change at all. Therefore, the conclusion was that Patriarch Master Hui Neng was not a Buddha’s Nirmanakaya. So, a lower-level status had to be verified, i.e. to determine whether Patriarch Master Hui Neng was an incarnation of a great Bodhisattva or not. The second beseeching Dharma document wrote, “We respectfully beseech a verification from the decision by selection. If the Sixth Patriarch Master Hui Neng is an incarnation of a great Bodhisattva, a crown made by strands of hair will be put on the head. If he was not at the level of a Bodhisattva, there will be no crown.” After Wangzha Shangzun practiced the Dharma, a Dharma crown was put on Master Hui Neng’s head. Sand grains formed a crown of hair. However, because Patriarch Master Hui Neng was not a Buddha or a Bodhisattva with Universal or Wonderful Enlightenment, as stipulated by the Dharma, the crown of hair did not stand up into the air and become a 3-dimensional crown but was formed on a flat plane. However, it was very naturally structured and absolutely not something that can be made by humans. It was also amazing, but not as spectacular as the three-dimensional models for the Buddhas.

        It took over five hours for Wangzha Shangzun to perform these three Dharma ceremonies. To show the magnificence and extremely truthful nature of the crowning process through determination by the Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma, each of us attending the Dharma assembly took a test to crown the visage using the sand from the Ganges River. As it turned out, none of the holy and virtuous ones present who are at the levels of Golden Button Grade 2, Golden Button Grade 1, and Blue Button Grade 3 were able to crown the Buddha’s portrait with sand from the Ganges River. There was no manifestation of power of Buddha Dharma to cause miraculous changes. This proved that the great Dharma of Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue could only be practiced by extremely great holy and virtuous ones at the level of Golden Button Grade 3 or higher. No one else possessed the realization to practice the Dharma successfully.

        Wangzha Shangzun was very dissatisfied with himself for the first session. He said that his cultivation was shallow and lacked merit and virtue and that his own karmic forces caused him not to practice this Dharma of decision by selection perfectly. However, the truth was that a few of us who were witnessing this Dharma became so excited that we caused a disturbance and that was what caused the outcome to not be completely perfect. Seeing such a holy state was simply too much and those students could not control their emotions and shouted loudly and pushed others so they could barely see what was happening. I remember being pushed aside so that others could get a closer look.

        For this reason, Wangzha Shangzun decided to hold a second session of the Dharma assembly. Before the second Dharma assembly started, Dharma King Gar Tongstan (Ciren Gyatso) made the rules on behalf of Wangzha Shangzun. He announced that onlookers could get closer to watch but no one was allowed to speak loudly or push others. All must have the mind focusing on being respectful before moving closer. Then Wangzha Shangzun practiced the Dharma. The second Dharma assembly had a perfect success with extremely magnificent manifestations, proving again that Sakyamuni Buddha is a true Buddha and H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the incarnation of the primordial Sambhogakaya-Buddha Dorje Chang Buddha. In the process, the sand of the Ganges River of the light camel wool color placed at the top of the head exhibited unimaginably miraculous transformation. A loose-hair crown changed into a head-covering crown and a thick-hair crown changed into a thin-hair crown. The strands of hair gathered or separated as required at different places to knit into a naturally perfect crown. Every sand grain had its own independent life. Some walked extremely fast; some wandered around casually; some followed twisted paths; some traveled past the boundary and then came back; and some climbed from the bottom to the top. The sand grains followed each other one by one to form strands of hair that stood into the air without falling. Eventually, a knot was formed to create a perfect crown for the Sambhogakaya-Buddha. Then, Wangzha Shangzun snapped his fingers to perform a mudra and the strands of hair fell into a pile of sand with no trace left of the crown. Wangzha Shangzun issued a Dharma decree to distribute the sand of the Ganges River (which became Vajra Sand after the Dharma was performed) to all who were present. Every attendee received a share of the Vajra Sand that manifested the holy crown worn by the genuine incarnation of the Buddha. I used mine to make a kind of holy pill that was used in a specific tantric initiation so that I could share them with my students.

        The situation at the time was that the Dharma was practiced with the same table, at the same position, following the same ritual, and using the same sand of the Ganges River. However, the three hair crowns created were completely different. There was one Bodhisattva two-dimensional crown and there were two Buddha hair crowns that were three-dimensional and stood into the air. The latter two were also different from each other in terms of shape and structure.

        All of us attendees on the Dharma assembly that day took an oath to testify for the above reported true facts, “We all attended the Dharma assembly for determining the status of the Buddha by the Dharma of Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue as practiced by Wangzha Shangzun. We clearly understand and believe in the law of cause and effect. What was stated above is true and without any false statement. If we lied to deceive people, we not only will not become accomplished but also will descend into the three lower realms to undergo extremely miserable suffering. If what was stated above is all true, we wish and pray that all living beings be able to learn the true Dharma of the Tathagata from H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and Sakyamuni Buddha, attain perfect good fortune and wisdom, and become accomplished and liberated to benefit countless living beings.”