The Fourth Vajra Throne
Reposted from Thus Have I Seen by Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinpoche p.147-151
The pill that I had received in 2003 that then flew away manifested at the Xuanfa Institute. The vajra pill was to merge with these Vajra Poles to become one and empower the site as the first Vajra Throne in the West and the fourth one in the world. There is a video of me activating the holy pill and inviting the Holy Dharma Protectors to empower the pill, which happened. The pill danced first in my hand and then in the crystal pagoda I held. It pulsated inside the pagoda as if it were alive. It looked as though it was actually breathing. During this empowerment ceremony and a subsequent ceremony to empower certain objects, a green light flashed. Green Tara had entered the mandala to also bless the pill and the event (FIGURE 54).
FIGURE 54: Holy Vajra Pill during Empowerment Ceremony at the moment Green Tara blessed the pill.
The Holy Vajra Pill is now kept in a secured location until the auspicious time arrives to make it available to bestow its blessing on those who visit and stay at the temple and retreat center. Once in a while I will bring out the precious vajra pill itself to share its blessings with those who visit. The Vajra Poles often respond to those who come to receive their blessings. They vibrate for those with a pure heart—Buddhists and non-Buddhist alike. We will build a vajra shrine to house this precious holy object and mark how this holy object merged with the Vajra Poles to form the symbol of the Dharma of the Vajra Throne or Bodhimanda. This is how the Fourth Vajra Throne on earth was born!
And there is now a holy place in the West where students can learn and practice the correct Buddha Dharma, find true happiness, and be free from suffering. This Vajra Throne will bring blessings to all living beings, grant humankind wisdom and happiness, and enable ordinary people to become holy beings.
Now, you may ask, ‘Just what is a Vajra Throne?’ Vajra Thrones are sometimes referred to as Bodhimandas or Bodhimandalas and they literally can be translated as ‘places of enlightenment’ where both great holy beings became enlightened and sites empowered by these holy beings so that others who practice there may also become enlightened.
Before Dorje Chang Buddha returned to this world, there were only three such places in the whole world and they were all in Asia. All of the world’s Bodhimandas or Vajra Thrones are very, very holy places. The first Vajra Throne is under the Bodhi tree in India where Shakyamuni Buddha was enlightened. The second Vajra Throne is at Wu-Tai Shan, a mountain in Shanxi, China. It is the Bodhimanda of a great ancient Buddha—Manjushri Bodhisattva. Many holy beings including Manjushri Bodhisattva are said to still live there and can be seen by those with great realization. The third Vajra Throne was in Tibet and it was established by Guru Padmasambhava. Guru Padmasambhava had his Vajra Throne in Tibet at Kathok Monastery where over 100,000 became enlightened and attained the rainbow body state. As I had explained while on tour, the rainbow body is a state whereby one transforms one’s body into light and at the time of death, ascends into the heavens or Buddha Lands, without leaving a body behind. Certain Christian scholars36 have been interested in this phenomenon, as they think it may explain the resurrection of Christ and it is a practice that can be learned.
Now, what about the newly discovered Fourth Vajra Throne? The Fourth Vajra Throne in this world is the site of the Holy Vajrasana Temple and Retreat Center near Sanger, California, under the umbrella of the Xuanfa Institute, a nonprofit religious corporation.37 And it will be accessible to Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike.
If someone wants to learn the Buddha Dharma or listen to the Dharma Voice of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and believes it, accepts it, and follows it according to the discourses of the Buddha, then that person will definitely get unlimited good fortune and be able to ascend to the heavens or Buddha Lands. Shakyamuni Buddha learned the Dharma that He expounded in this world from Dorje Chang Buddha, but He did not teach all that He learned. The world was not ready for certain more advanced teachings. Dorje Chang Buddha has come to this world again at this time as H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to transmit those higher teachings to those who are ready to receive them. I was told that Sanger was even more powerful than Kathok and those who come here to practice and who receive the empowerment of the Dharma Protectors here WOULD become enlightened. I was also told that this holy site was not just for Buddhists, but to provide benefit to other religions as well. All sincere cultivators of any faith who adhere to the three pure precepts of doing no harm, doing only good, and helping other living beings could practice and meditate here and become accomplished in their religion.
Anyone who comes here to sincerely practice will gain wisdom and good fortune. And, since this is a holy place, if they come here to cultivate themselves, they will gain blessings, and, if they have sufficient merit, deities may communicate with them through the Vajra Poles. Although this is a Buddhist holy site, the deities of other religions may come here as well. Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, and others can come together and be blessed. Those who have visited the site have expressed a strong feeling of joy and the presence of great energetic beings. They are energized by just being here. One knows that this is a holy place. Not only has H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III come to America, but also the Buddha Dharma has come and can be seen, learned, and practiced here.
Many of these events were discussed while we were on the Dharma Propagation Tour but it wasn’t until the Holy Vajra Poles started vibrating, thus enabling us to be recognized as such a holy site, did I understand how it all fit together. The video that was made explained it even better.
The documentary video was released at the International Buddhism Sangha Association (IBSA) Conference held in Hong Kong in August 2011. The DVD also explains that Vajra Thrones, sometimes referred to as Bodhimandas, are either places where a great holy being became enlightened like Bodhgaya in India or a place empowered by a great holy being where people who practice there can also become enlightened like Kathok Monastery in Tibet. The DVD shows how the Holy Vajra Pill was activated or empowered to return to Sanger and the Vajra Poles shaking in anticipation of the Holy Vajra Pill’s return. The film starts with a group of weary pilgrims trekking through fields and snowy forest in search of the Truth that will relieve their suffering and finding it in the Buddha Dharma expounded by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. The Pilgrims found what they were looking for and retire to prepare a celebration. They know that a special place exists near Sanger, CA where they can always find the true Buddha Dharma. This film became very popular in China causing many pilgrims to come to the temple to pay their respect to the Vajra Poles and the temple.
Pilgrimage Site
We later learned that our temple was listed on a tourism website in China as the 19th “Must See” place to visit in the U.S., ahead of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. A group of students visiting the temple from Sichuan confirmed the fact that we are a very popular site and that they had a photo of our temple in their temple. I think this is largely due to the popularity of the video we filmed about being recognized as the Fourth Vajra Throne or Vajrasana in the world today. There is a student in China who told me she watches that video every day. The students were thrilled when the Vajra Poles responded to them and quivered as they often do (but not always). One group of students said they had chanted mantras while driving from Los Angeles and again after they arrived. Maybe the Dharma Protectors had heard and were greeting them.
Non-human Residents and Visitors
The Buddha Master had emphasized the Buddha Dharma is not just for humans, but for all living beings. We have had our share of non-humans show up and their manifestations are told throughout this book. I know I must do more to help living beings of all sorts, and I learn from the non-human residents and visitors as well as the human ones. Dharma Duck (actually a very large goose with a Mohawk and an attitude) who came and guarded the Institute for a summer has left, but before he left, he gave me a painful bite to register his complaints. When we listened to Dharma discourses, he would try his best to join us either by flying at the window or pecking at the door. We finally opened the door so he could listen, and he seemed content. We gave him a blue vajra-bodhi pill to help develop his affinity to learn the Dharma (FIGURE 55). He must have felt abandoned when I left Sanger to take care of Dharma business, because when I returned, he let me know that I need to pay more attention to the needs of others, or at least that is how I interpreted his actions. We must all continue our cultivation.
FIGURE 55: Dharma Duck receives a vajra-bodhi pill at Holy Vajrasana Temple
We see many spirit forms, especially around the Holy Vajra Poles. If you take photos at night with a flash, you may catch them. We often make food offerings to the hungry ghosts outside the kitchen door. The spirit forms we photographed there were very round and appeared to be quite fat. I do not know if there is a connection, but I thought it was quite amusing. We want them to be fed and happy and to come and listen to the Dharma talks (FIGURE 56). The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation has a section devoted to how we should pay our respects and make offerings to the local gods or devas.
FIGURE 56: These “fat” ghosts or light beings appeared where we left food offerings for them. We often capture photos of wispy transparent beings elsewhere at the Temple, but only these appeared to be quite plump.
Footnotes
36 See page 97 for more on Father Tiso. ↩
37 The Xuanfa Temple and Retreat Center was renamed the Holy Vajrasana Temple and Retreat Center to reflect this fact as Vajrasana means Vajra Throne in Sanskrit. ↩