Published Works in English by or about H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III
Reposted from Thus Have I Seen by Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinpoche p.232-247
The Big Blue Treasure Book, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III
This amazing book contains the documentation of who H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is, how we know that to be true, and evidence of His mastery of the Five Vidyas. It also includes many important teachings, but only one “What Is Cultivation?” is translated into English. This is a book that gives some context to who the Buddha Master is and His teachings. This is the book we distributed and discussed in the Dharma Propagation Tour we did in 2008-2009 (FIGURE 21 page 68). The main sections of the book were published both in English and Chinese. The best source of this or any of the books mentioned below is Dharma Voice Publishing, LLC: at 656 East San Bernardino Road, Covina, CA 91723, U.S.A.
Cultivation of Character and Cultivation of the Mind
I start with the understanding that we need to develop both our character and our minds, in other words, our compassion and wisdom (prajna). And we need different strategies for each. The first we do through cultivation in the world using concrete actions and the second through cultivation of our mind with concentration (zen) and the practice of certain dharmas. There are many methods. The following teachings will usually focus on one or the other or sometimes on both. You can find all of the online references below at the temple website (https://holyvajrasana.org) unless another reference is provided. I try to offer classes either at the temple or online on these sutras. You can find a current temple schedule again on the temple website or find links to the online features on my weekly blog at https://zhaxizhuoma.org. You may also find some of these references at https://www.wbahq.org, the website for the World Buddhism Association Headquarters.
The Dharma of Cultivation
The good news is we have translations of this most fundamental Dharma in English: The Dharma of Cultivation Transmitted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III also known as the Dharma discourse “What Is Cultivation?” This is what you need to get started and to guide you throughout your journey on the path to enlightenment. I talked about it at the many presentations given on the Big Blue Book while touring the fifty states as it is the main introduction to the Buddha’s Dharma in that book—at least in English. I have included several quotes from that book in this book.
The Dharma of Cultivation is based on a discourse given by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in response to a question raised by a rinpoche (me) concerning how to best propagate the Dharma to Western students. It was such a special transmission that it was included in the treasure book H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in both Chinese and English. When the discourse was given, beings came from the holy realms and illuminated the room.61 It is the foundation that everyone needs to understand how to manage your karma and ultimately become a Buddha. Without this Dharma and the actual practice of this Dharma, it is doubtful that any of the other Dharmas will be effective. This text is included online in English and other languages.
The Great Dharma of Zen Practice
This teaching is to help you develop your mind—to acquire wisdom, transcendental wisdom or prajna. You can find the Great Dharma of Zen in Appendix A of this book and online. This translation of a discourse originally intended for Western students provides background on the origin of zen practice, as well as instruction on how to do the meditation practice and instructions on how to remove obstacles to practice. Unlike other zen practice manuals, this Dharma also introduces three mantras that will help you be able to meditate. The mantras are not included online or in this book. Holy Dharma like this cannot be transmitted electronically. You need to be transmitted those by a vajra master who has the authority to transmit them.
I pleaded with the Buddha Master for years to provide meditation instructions but was always told I needed to practice cultivation first. I needed to understand impermanence, then I needed to have firm belief. With such a foundation, I needed a mind determined to leave the cycle of reincarnation. Then I would be ready to make true vows and be able to develop a mind of diligence. After that I would be ready to receive precepts, and only then would I finally be a suitable vessel to learn meditation. The eighth right view of proper cultivation was bodhichitta. All eight if these right views need to be acquired in the proper sequence.
Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation —128 Views
The next text I would add is the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation (SAUMOL). I am adding that even though it was not yet available in English when I finished this book, partly because I believe it will be available by the time this book is published or shortly thereafter, and partly because, like the first two texts, you do not need to become a Buddhist to practice it, and also because the SAUMOL explains the different techniques needed to practice cultivation and zen (meditation). I would then add the “128 Evil and Erroneous Views” that are part of the SAUMOL. They are already available online in a preliminary English translation. With an understanding of these views, you can evaluate other Buddhist teachings and Buddhist teachers. The SAUMOL has been translated and hopefully should soon be available online. In fact, it was partly in anticipation of the SAUMOL finally being available in English that prompted me to write this book.
Parts of this book by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III are already available online in Chinese. Included are the “Xiaman Most Excellent Oceanic Mind Essence;” the “The Ultimate Bodhicitta for Attaining Dharma-Nature True-Suchness Oceanic Mind Essence,” which includes “Verses Explaining Phenomena,” a “Vajrasattva Practice,” and a “Concluding Practice;” and the “128 Evil and Erroneous Views.” Most of the mantras and the dharmas are not included. A preliminary translation in English of brief discourses on each of the “128 Evil and Erroneous Views” by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is available online and has been highlighted on my blog and included in the Lemonade Sangha classes. These dharmas offer a more advanced form of cultivation practice. They enable you to develop bodhichitta. You are training yourself to think, speak, and act like a Bodhisattva.
One of the dharmas included in the SAUMOL explains how to practice a dharma to make offerings to local ghosts and gods or devas (FIGURE 91). First, you need to explain to them that you know you have disturbed them by invading their space, but that you will bring them benefits. You ask that they protect and assist you in accomplishing all your endeavors so that you can perfect your practice and realization of the Buddha Dharma. You also assure them that you will share and let them enjoy the merit you gain. I didn’t know this, but it was what I did when I asked the Huichol deity about leaving shamanism to follow my Buddha Master. I also wrote about how another student had serious problems when she did not negotiate or seek the approval of local deities before she built on their land.
FIGURE 91: Spirit House at the Holy Vajrasana Temple.
Why do we do this? You may think this silly or crazy. When a group of us met with the Buddha Master after a March 2019 retreat, we asked why the local and land gods or devas were important. We were told that local gods are living beings, but they are beings from another dimension, not humans. They can help you with worldly things or secular things because they still have feelings. The holy Dharma protectors and Bodhisattvas will not, because they no longer have feelings and only care about cause and effect and you becoming liberated. They do not care about mundane things nor have any emotional attachments. We can still request and receive help from the ordinary samsaric beings. They can still help us with our worldly life—family matters, businesses, financial matters. We need to respect and help all living beings, even some we cannot usually see or communicate with.
A third mind-essence, “Root Master Oceanic Mind Essence” has not yet been transmitted. I already discussed several State practices from the SAUMOL earlier including the Vajra Substitute Body Dharma, the Xian Liang Great Perfection Dharma, Tummo Concentration Dharma, and others. These are very high State practices that require inner-tantric initiations and empowerments. There are also enhancement dharmas that I can transmit that are very helpful for your practice and help prepare you for more advanced transmissions.
The titles given above are from an early translation of this text and may change in the final printed version. I do not know how or when the SAUMOL will be distributed, but I will publish that information on my BLOG at https://www.zhaxizhuoma.org. You can also check at https://www.wbahq.org. Currently, I am reading a preliminary translation of “The Xiaman Most Excellent Oceanic Mind Essence” for our Sunday Service that starts at 6:00 am on Zoom every week.
Dharma Discourses
You should also listen to or read the Dharma discourses by the Buddha Master, if you can find a Dharma center or temple that has them in English or has someone who will translate them for you. There are a few that are now recorded in both English and Chinese. These (and hopefully others) will also be available online at the “Dharma Voice” through the World Buddhism Association Headquarters. Keep checking there at https://www.wbahq.org. You should use the Seven-Dharma system discussed earlier as a guide on how to listen to and/or read them. The four bilingual Dharma discourses that currently exist are:
“The Intrinsically Existing Truth of No Arising and No Ceasing in the Universe and in Human Lives Realized by the Buddha Was Not Created by the Buddha.”
“Taking Refuge to Become a Buddhist Disciple and Practicing According to the Teachings of the Buddha Will Eradicate All Sins, Including the Retributions of Descending to Hell. You Can Naturally Become a Great Holy Person with Enormous Supernormal Power, Boundless Good Fortune, and Be Free from Birth, Aging, Sickness, and Death.”
“Living Beings Are Lost in Their Deluded Self, Not Seeing Their True Self.”
“Many People Have Deceived Themselves Yet They Do Not Even Know.”
There are many discourses you should try to read or hear. There are two that provide teachings that we include as chants in our daily service taken from a series of discourses given by the Buddha Master to a group of His senior students on a trip to the East Coast in 2009. They traveled in a caravan in RVs and at night when they stopped, the Buddha Master would give a Dharma discourse. I did not go on this trip but had on other occasions had the good fortune to be part of the entourage who traveled with the Buddha Master when this happened. All of the discourses on this particular trip were especially wonderful. Six nights were spent on transmitting the Dharma as commentary on the The Sutra on Understanding and Realizing Definitive Truth listed below. Another favorite on considering other people’s mistakes that the Buddha Master had His disciples chant before He gave the second part of an exceptionally profound discourse on determining who is a true master is included earlier in this book62. And it is part of our daily reflections on what we have learned from the Buddha. The Buddha stressed that no one should be considered a master and attempt to teach others without holding and practicing this view.
However, it is lesson eight in that series, “Cutting Off the Twenty Dharmas Relating to Ordinary Feelings” that I include on any “must read or hear” list as well as in our daily chants. These are key in our quest to become a holy person. The Buddha Master said, “If we are to reach the holy state, we must thoroughly discard the delusion-based deeds of ordinary people that hinder us and bind us to samsara and must thoroughly discard those things that cause us to be unable to end cause and effect.” They are Fame, Gain, Prosperity, Decline, Good Fortune, Gladness, Increase, Decrease, Antipathy, Resentment, Anger, Hatred, Scheming, Defamation, Seizing, Harming, Illness, Suffering, Parting, and Death. They are a more detailed rendering of the Eight Winds or worldly dharmas that Shakyamuni Buddha said must be abandoned in order to lose attachment to self and become a holy being. You may have encountered them in other Buddhist literature. In this discourse the Buddha Master gives a brief description of each of these twenty dharmas of ordinary feelings and explains how they cause us to be unable to end cause and effect and thus remain in samsara. The Buddha Master tells us that if we can cut off these twenty dharmas relating to ordinary feelings, we will no longer be entangled by attachment to self, which is the root of samsara.
FIGURE 92: Elder Dharma King Dorje Losang’s sharira.
True Stories about a Holy Monk
True Stories about a Holy Monk is a Dharma book about Dorje Losang, a senior disciple of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, that contains a complete yidam Dharma practice of the Four-Armed Kuan Yin Bodhisattva with a preliminary, formal, and closing practice. It also explains holy nectar and shows examples of different types of nectar. It has been translated and published in English. Dorje Losang left this world in 2004 leaving many shariras as proof of his accomplishment (FIGURE 92). There are other articles about Dorje Losang on our temple website (www.holyvajrasana.org).
Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra
Next, you should try to find a way to at least read or hear the introduction to the content of this sutra on prajna in Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra and the discourse given at the end of that book on how to realize prajna. This discourse covers “Not ignoring Cause & Effects;” “Take Refuge and Arouse Bodhichitta;” “Contemplation of Impermanence;” “Three Pure Precepts;” “Ten Good Characteristics;” “Four Immeasurable States;” “Dharma of Preliminary Practices;” “Dharma to Pass Through Barriers;” “The Six Paramitas;” “Correspondence with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas;” and other topics. These are not the heart of the sutra, but they will give you an idea of what this profound text offers and what you need to do to obtain the fruits of the sutra.
I don’t expect to see the entire text of Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra to be available to the public in English for some time, but I am hopeful we can at least be able to study the introductory and implementation parts sooner. I also hope I am wrong and an English translation will be available soon. The last draft translation that I have is almost 800 pages, so this is a monumental work of translation. The main translator has submitted it for review, but this will take time. The main text of Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra uses every word or phrase of the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra to transmit us the Dharma relating to prajna. Since it is transmitted by a Buddha, it then also becomes a sutra. The entire text is essential to studying, understanding, and finally realizing emptiness.
This text is so important that a very spectacular Buddhas Bestow Nectar Dharma Assembly was held in March 2014 in Pasadena to honor the publication of Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra. I remember receiving an urgent phone call one morning telling me to come immediately to what later became the Holy Miracles Temple—over 200 miles from our temple. I didn’t even have time to shower, but I arrived in time for the very memorable ceremony. There is a video of this ceremony where three-colored nectar spontaneously appeared in a special bowl with no one conducting the ceremony (FIGURES 93 and 94). The nectar was then used to make the ink that stamped the memorial edition of the book that was released later that year in Hong Kong (FIGURE 95).
This book by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III was released in Chinese in 2014 but it is not yet available in English. It is based on a series of very famous discourses given in China in the 1990s, using the text, meaning, and principles of the Heart Sutra. It clearly explains the relationships between mind, Buddha, and living beings. It tells everyone what the absolute truth of Buddha Dharma and liberation is. Several years ago, His Holiness told a number of Western disciples that this is the only book you need to read to understand emptiness and become enlightened. This text is for acquiring prajna or transcendental wisdom, although it also teaches the importance of cultivating character and provides much of the homework shown in Appendix E we need to do that.
FIGURE 93: Three-color Nectar Bestowed by the Buddhas at the Holy Miracles Temple.
FIGURE 94: Witnessing the bestowal of holy nectar at the dharma assembly to congratulate the publishing of the treasure scripture Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra.
FIGURE 95: Dress Rehearsal of processional making offerings at Dharma Assembly for the release of Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra in Hong Kong.
The Definitive Truth Sutra (The Sutra on Understanding and Realizing Definitive Truth)
There are two other texts by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III besides Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra that are useful in developing your wisdom or having an understanding of emptiness: The Sutra on Understanding and Realizing Definitive Truth and A Monk Expounds the Absolute Truth to a Layperson. The first one is included in the treasure book H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, but neither are yet available to the public in English. They are both delightful and use allegory to explain concepts that are beyond words. Try your best to hear them or read them.
In the Definitive Truth Sutra, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III attends a banquet in 2007 hosted by two ancient Buddhas. The conversations that occurred amongst these three Buddhas and another discussion with a wise being were recorded in the Big Blue Treasure Book in Chinese. During the trip to the East Coast taken by His Holiness and several of his more senior disciples mentioned above, He gave a series of discourses on this sutra that are also available in Chinese. Neither these discourses nor the sutra itself have been translated into English for distribution, but preliminary translations are available at our temple in Sanger. This sutra has a very helpful discussion on why we practice the Four Limitless States of Mind and why this conditional dharma is important to train us to eventually have unconditional or ultimate and holy bodhichitta.
A Monk Expounds the Absolute Truth to a Layperson (The Monk Sutra)
This sutra was written by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III when he was only 20 years old for His good friend and abbot of the Baoguang Temple in Chengdu China, Dharma Master Xinji. It discusses the truth of emptiness. The sutra has not been translated into English for distribution, but again, preliminary translations of A Monk Expounds the Absolute Truth to a Layperson are available at our temple in Sanger.
Learning from Buddha
This important teaching from the Buddha Master was given as a discourse in America and released as Chinese CDs in 2016 and later as a small book. An English translation of the book was released in 2020 and posted online. It has three parts: One on the practice of cultivation, one on the formal practice of tantric dharma, and one on how you implement both of those practices in your daily life.
Learning from Buddha is essential for anyone wanting to become enlightened and a holy person. It is available for anyone to read and study, but you would need to take refuge and be willing to have the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as your role models to receive the full benefits from the tantric dharmas explained therein. There are three parts in Learning from Buddha:
Part I: “If You Learn Dharma but Do Not Cultivate Yourself, You Cannot Attain Accomplishment,” which focuses on cultivation of your behavior or character — how you treat others and develop bodhichitta.
Part II: “If You Cultivate Yourself, But Do Not Learn Dharma, You Cannot Generate Realization Powers,” which explains how you do tantric meditation practice with a yidam including the preliminary, formal, and concluding practices. This section also explains the importance and practice of the dedication of your merit to help other living beings.
Part III: “If You Do Not Put Into Practice the Lessons You Have Heard on Cultivation and Dharma, It Will Be Like Trying to Scoop Up the Reflection of the Moon on Water,” which tells you how to apply the other two parts to your daily life. The Buddha Master tells us we need to stop and reflect on what we have learned from the Buddha three times during the day. We have revised our daily morning and evening chants to enable us to do just that. It also includes background on “Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s Great Compassion Empowerment” mentioned earlier.
This little book has been so important to the Chinese students that they dare not go to see the Buddha Master without having it with them. They were tested on their understanding of all three parts by the nuns before they would be allowed to see the Buddha Master. The book also contains photos of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III before and after He changed His appearance from a wrinkled old man to a beautiful youth that was discussed in an earlier chapter. (FIGURE 96) It also includes a discourse He gave about the event insisting He is just an ordinary man. However, He told us that He does have what Buddhists need, the highest-level great Dharma of the Tathagata to attain perfect liberation and accomplishment; this is also the invariant Dharma jointly possessed by all
FIGURE 96: Photos taken on October 18, 2012 (left) and October 19, 2012 (right) of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III
The blue text below is a complete transcript of the words spoken by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III regarding the publication of the photos. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said:
United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters has requested permission to publish and distribute these two photos of me and asked me to say a few words. First of all, I will not accept any money from the sale of the photos. However, your Headquarters should set a low price for those who purchase them. The name on the photos is Dorje Chang Buddha III. Whether I agree or not, this will be the way the name is written. This is my name, which was recognized and corroborated in official documents issued by leaders of many Buddhist sects throughout the world! It was legally affirmed by the government! It is not a name I conferred upon myself. Although the title of Buddha has been legally affirmed in my name, nevertheless, I am very humbled, and this title means nothing to me. I am not a Bodhisattva, not an Arhat, not a venerable one, not a Dharma king, and not a rinpoche. I am not a holy person. I am one with a heart of humility. When your Headquarters publishes the photos, do not add “Namo” to my name. I am not qualified to be honored with the title “Namo.”
I previously vowed to bear karma on behalf of living beings. My physical strength greatly weakened. I quickly became exhausted, and an aged appearance emerged. Rather than saying I bore karma on behalf of living beings, it would be better to say that my humble body was weak and sickly. Recently, United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters insisted on using my photo to perform the Vajra Fa-Man Determination by Holy Selection Dharma. Regardless of what selection method you use to determine my status, I will not accept it. That is because I am just an ordinary person. The photo of my youthful appearance was the result of having washed my face with medicine given to me by an elder virtuous one. Actually, more cosmetic treatment methods already exist in the field of medicine nowadays. I do not know the Buddha Dharma to reverse old age and return to a youthful appearance. As time goes on, I will gradually become old again. This is because I am a person who is just like you, with no ability to stop the process of impermanence. However, I have one thing that is different from you! I have what Buddhists need, the highest-level great Dharma of the Tathagatas to attain perfect liberation and accomplishment. This is also the same Dharma possessed by all Buddhas in the ten directions:
Stay far away from feudal superstition, strange or heretically induced phenomena, evil masters, deceivers, non-Buddhists under the guise of Buddhism, cults, evil teachings, and evil books. Strictly abide by the precepts and disciplinary rules of Buddhism. Establish great compassion as your foundation. Do not do anything that is evil. Do all things that are good. Give up self-interests and benefit others. Patiently endure humiliation and adversity. Practice humility. Purify the mind. When encountering living beings, regardless of whether they are handicapped, deficient, sick, or healthy, treat them all equally as family members. Know that all phenomena are governed by causality. With good causes, you receive good retributions. Good retributions yield good fruits. Good fruits enable you to receive the true Dharma. Relying on the Dharma, you can achieve perfect good fortune and wisdom. Then you can step into the state of accomplishment, break away from the sufferings that living beings experience, cease transmigrating in the cycle of birth and death, and accomplish the perfect enlightenment of a Buddha!
These are the teachings and precepts that I practice and uphold. I say without the slightest ambiguity that the Buddha Dharma I impart is absolutely the true Dharma of the Tathagatas possessed by all Buddhas in the ten directions! I cannot be modest about this. Why? I must speak true words. Otherwise, I would mislead practitioners. If you truly practice the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation; thoroughly comprehend Imparting the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra; often listen to my audio-recorded Dharma discourses that have not been altered or spoken in my stead by other people and, best of all, read published books that record the Dharma I imparted; and if you are truly devout toward all Buddhas, then I, Dorje Chang Buddha III, guarantee that you will learn great Dharma to achieve perfect good fortune and wisdom and will attain accomplishment in your current lifetime!
If you are a master with disciples, you must at least study in depth some sutras and commentaries as a foundation, such as the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Suramgama Sutra, the Agama Sutras, the Hetu-Vidya Treatise, the Madhyamaka Treatise, the Abhidharma-kosa Treatise, the Prajna Treatises, the Precepts and Discipline Treatise, the Consciousness-Only Treatise, the Lam Rim Chen Mo, the Bodhisattvacharyavatara Treatise, and others. Doing so will reduce the possibility of leading others astray in the process of teaching.
Some people have now mentioned that they just want to learn my medicinal cosmetic regimen. Fine! As long as you thoroughly learn either The Xiaman Most Excellent Oceanic Mind Essence or The Ultimate Bodhicitta for Attaining Dharma-Nature True-Thusness Oceanic Mind Essence in The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation and have put into actual practice what you learn, you can be assured that the highest, holiest great Dharma will be available to you for achieving perfect good fortune and wisdom, liberation, and accomplishment! At that time, why would you still need any medicinal cosmetic regimen?
Finally, I remind you that you must pay attention to something. Some people, including some who are masters, are now using my name to commit fraud in various ways. I hope that you will be careful and observe with caution. Be cautious!
Whoever distributes my above contrasting photos must be sure to include my words stated above. Anyone who removes my words and just distributes the photos is undoubtedly an evil person!
The Holy Vajrasana Temple Book of Chants
Finally, the main teachings that we have are included in the hymnal or chant book that we chant every day at the temple and again when we have classes there or at other locations as well as the weekly class we hold internationally via the internet. This is our communal homework that we do together with our personal Dharma practice. I’ve included part of it as Appendix E, so that you may chant these verses as well and take the time to reflect each day on how well you are doing to think, speak, and act like a Buddha or Bodhisattva. If you do this often enough, and are sincere enough, you will become one.
I will continue to hold classes on all the dharmas listed above and others that may be transmitted by my Guru as long as I am able. I pray that you will be able to read, hear, study and understand all of the above and practice them in your daily life to quickly become accomplished. If you do, you should be able to receive the initiations and empowerments that you need to become enlightened. May you have good fortune, live a blessed life, excel in the five vidyas, have true wisdom, bestow compassion, attain sainthood, and attain enlightenment as symbolized below in the Xuanfa Institute logo.
