Tea with Great Holy Wangzha Shangzun
Reposted from Thus Have I Seen by Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinpoche p.181-183
I have been often asked what the most excellent and great holy Wangzha Shangzun is like. I have had the good fortune to meet him several times in different forms and situations. In one case I did not know who he was until much later. In addition to successfully conducting the amazing and very high level Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma Assembly to determine who was and who was not an authentic incarnation of a Buddha described in the last chapter, he is a most impressive and powerful elder man who is worthy of our respect. I have met many Dharma kings of different sects, but no one is like Wangzha Shangzun. His power and virtue surpass all of them.
After the ceremony, I had the extreme good fortune to meet an attendant of his who speaks English and requested to prostrate to the Shangzun, which to my surprise, was granted. It is very difficult to meet him. The attendant told me that, to date, probably less than 100 persons in the U.S. have had the good fortune to meet him privately. The attendant took me to the place where this great Mahasattva was staying. I was very excited to be able to see him again.
I understood that Wangzha Shangzun mostly speaks Tibetan, but I was told he can also speak Mandarin Chinese. I found out since that meeting that he also speaks English and can appear as a tall Caucasian.42 His voice was as I had remembered from the ceremony. Seeing him up close, I realize that he is probably over six feet tall and in excellent health. I had guessed that he must be at least sixty as I knew he had spent 45 years in seclusion in Tibet, but from his appearance guessed he could be even younger. His attendant told me that the Shangzun had already turned 93. He is very spirited and looked like and had the energy and bearing of a much younger man. As for his appearance, he has a most remarkable full beard, large kind eyes, bushy eyebrows, a rectangular face, and is bald, or was at that time.
I was reminded of images of Bodhidharma, the “barbarian” with such a beard and eyebrows who went to China from India, only Wangzha Shangzun is considerably more handsome than the great patriarch of Zen is usually portrayed to have been. (FIGURE 73) However, what is most impressive is his incredible modesty and humility. This is what it is like to be in the presence of a great holy being!
FIGURE 73: “Bodhidharma” painting by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.
I had wanted to meet him to express my gratitude for the empowerment I received at the Jin Gang Fa Man Ze Jue Dharma Assembly, but also just to show my respect because I knew that only someone of very high attainment could have performed that Dharma. When I offered him prostrations, he would always tell me to prostrate instead to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. His attendant told me that this holder of three gold buttons at a Shangzun level always carried an image of the Buddha Master with him and did this. When he went back to his living space, the first thing he would do was to put H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s image and Shakyamuni Buddha’s image in a high place and make offerings to them. I again prostrated, but it was just as before. Wangzha said, “The Buddha Master is here. You should prostrate to the Buddha Master. How can I accept your prostrations?” The other Dharma kings I have met always accepted and even arrogantly awaited my prostrations while silently seated on their thrones. Wangzha Shangzun is certainly the top chief great Dharma King among all Dharma kings, but he is still so humble. I was very touched. Again, I realized how very, very fortunate I am.
Wangzha Shangzun is very easy to communicate with and very amiable. Every sentence he says with a smile. He also provided me with hot tea having his assistant serve me using traditional china teacups. I accepted the teacup and put it aside on the table. Wangzha then told me that “the quality of this tea is not very good. It comes from Tibet and is called Old Eagle Tea”. However, the fragrance of the tea, was so wonderful that it betrayed his humble portrayal. I requested from Wangzha Shangzun how to practice the Green Tara Mirror Altar Dharma (Jing Tan Fa). The Shangzun said, “First you have to have a good mirror. Then you get the Dharma transmitted through holy inner-tantric initiation. The most important thing is that you should practice according to the Buddha Master’s teachings, and let all people know that they should do good and cease evil. It is then very easy to succeed with this Dharma. But you should decide by yourself if you want to practice this Dharma. The Buddha Master proposed that we should cultivate ourselves and opposed the miraculous. I am not telling you to practice this Green Tara Mirror Altar Dharma.”
The time flew by so quickly. My mouth was dry, and I realized I needed to drink the tea, but when I lifted the cup, the cup was so heavy it was as if it were glued to the table. I couldn’t move it even when I exerted a lot of force. I was so surprised. I put that cup on the table. How can I now not lift it? This time Wangzha Shangzun saw what was happening and told me, “It is no use to use force. Force cannot lift it. You have to use your mind to lift it. When your mind is not attached to anything, everything will follow your mind.” Then Wangzha Shangzun asked me to lift it again. Very strange. It was as if it was weightless. I easily lifted it and also when I opened the cover of the cup, there was a moving image like a video in the cover. I clearly saw a picture of one of my fellow brothers from the past and a moment when I was in Japan. It was very clear, but it quickly started to disappear. I was really surprised. I used my eyes to follow the cover. After a while it completely disappeared. Then the Shangzun said. “Any object can be used as a mirror.” So, I suddenly understood why my mind and my cultivation are so important and cannot be replaced by anything else.
I pray that each of you take advantage of this most fortunate fact that the H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha is living in this world now and practice the Dharma that you learn. I also pray that you all quickly become accomplished.
Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III! Namo Shakyamuni Buddha!
I then humbly prostrated and offered special thanks to Wangzha Shangzun for teaching me this important lesson.
Footnotes
42 The World Buddhism Association Headquarters also confirmed this in Answer #13 “…Wangzha Shangzun had a completely different appearance every time when He received eminent monastics and great virtuous ones,” February 28, 2018. I also experienced his presence very differently on another occasion. ↩