Reply to Inquiries No. 20160102
With the utmost reverence, I address the holy gurus of the Headquarters!
I am pleading with you to resolve a doubt that several Buddhists and I have long had.
Our master often handed us assignments and asked us to do things for him. When we found out the assignments were not correct or violated cultivation, he would say that he was using them to test us.
Of course, we should carry out what the master wishes. But is such testing correct or not? Should there be testing at all? We have heard that there is a test by the four straightforward ways and a test by the four hidden ways. What kind of a master specifically can hold such testing? Concretely, what level must a master have to qualify him for using the four straightforward ways and the four hidden ways in testing his disciples? We feel that our master does not possess the level to carry out the testing, but he often hints to us that he is a great Bodhisattva. Many of us have this same question. Therefore, we would like to seek an accurate and precise answer to the question: what class of bodhisattva, what level must one have to be qualified to carry out such a Buddha Dharma as testing?
With abundant gratitude, Buddhist disciple Yueli
Above is the inquiry letter from a Buddhist regarding a master testing his disciples. In fact, testing disciples should not happen at all! What should happen is observing whether the disciple’s speech and conduct align with good behaviors.
A master who uses the four straightforward ways and the four hidden ways to test his disciples must be a holy guru who is Gold Button Level 3 or above (i.e., a Bodhisattva). Only such a master can apply the four straightforward ways and the four hidden ways to test the disciples. However, a holy guru who is Gold Button Level 3 or above usually does not resort to testing.
A regular master who himself is still practicing cultivation and, to say it bluntly, who is still in the state of an ordinary person and not yet liberated does not have the qualification to test anyone. If a master who has yet to reach the Gold Button Level calls his own wrongdoings testing, he is only looking for an excuse for himself to escape from the mistakes he has made. Such behavior is horrible and not what a practitioner of cultivation should have.
Wangzha Shangzun said: “Many years ago, my benevolent master, Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III, said this: ‘I am a humbled person and do not have the qualifications to test others. I only have the mind to test myself for whether or not I am benefiting living beings. It is for that reason that I voluntarily serve people without receiving any offerings!’”
United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters
November 27, 2016
(Eric Huang worked on translating this announcement from Chinese to English. It was last edited on 2024-07-21.)