(a featured article published in the Monthly Magazine Outpost in Chinese)—Reply to Mr. Sit Ho-yin’s “Letter of Seeking Advice”

By Gong Buo

Dear Mr. Sit Ho-yin,

I read your published article titled the Dharma Is to Be Comprehended by the Mind and the Buddha Is Created in the Mind—A Letter Seeking Advice from Mr. Gong Bo (abbreviated as the Letter of Seeking Advice in this article). First I need to ask for your understanding that the purpose of my writing the articles is from the intention to provide help and from caring about whether the future destination of you and people who have similar opinions as yours is devolving into the abyss of lower realms or attaining liberation and accomplishment. I can only speak in a forthright tone the words from my heart to help and benefit you and others. Though, my tone and words may not be what you like to hear, the principle and direction I stated are not wrong. What I said are sincere words and is a fine medicine. So please forgive me.

I truly feel sorry and shame for you. Not understanding the absolute truth of Buddha-dharma is not something to ridicule you about, since you have not truly studied Buddha-dharma, have never entered deeply into the study of the sutras, and lack concrete practice and realization. It is also quite understandable that you pretend to know what you actually do not know because you are driven by the eight worldly winds. For the sake of saving your face and keeping superficial reputation while living, you naturally are unable to worry about the suffering after death in samsara. Therefore, you can only pretend to know what you actually do not know and make use of what you currently know, if anything.

However, your response lacks reasoning of common sense. Commenting on your article “the Myth,” I pointed out sternly in my article titled “Is It True That Buddhism Does Not Have a Primordial Buddha? Do People Who Practice Supernatural Powers Belong to Cults?” your evil and erroneous views and your malicious deed of seriously slandering the Buddha and Buddha-dharma. However, you did not repent your malicious act and correct the evil and erroneous views and instead pirated the correct principles stated in my article to use as out-of-context arguments to exonerate yourself.

Due to your lack of the slightest proficiency in Buddha-dharma, no matter how you pirated the correct principles and substituted them with different concepts and no matter how you tried to argue with sophistry, what you have said still belongs to insults and defamation against the Buddha and is still a terrible mess of evil views. If you do not agree, I will let you know by mentioning a few examples related to your “Letter of Seeking Advice.” Although this article of yours does not have any ingredient of seeking advice and is full of speech slandering the Buddha, ignorance and self-contradiction, distortion, and hypocrisy, I am still willing to make a last effort to rescue you.

Is Reminding You about the Karmic Retributions from Causality a Curse?

In my first article titled “Was the Concept of Conditional Causation and Emptiness of Self-Nature Invented by Sakyamuni Buddha? Is Buddha-Dharma the Wisdom of Prajna?”, I reminded you to put down hollow theories and to ponder on the impermanence of human life, think about the matters after death, and believe clearly in the law of cause and effect to become aware of the severe and heavy sins resulting from slandering the Buddha. I intended to help you. Unfortunately, my reminder from loving compassion to you not only did not cause you to take caution, but also was distorted as hatred, insult, and curse against you and was aggravated as “If so, living beings would be at a loss to understand where the Buddha’s loving compassion is.”

In the first paragraph of your “Letter of Seeking Advice,” you started vilifying me as a response to my reminder, stating, “I did not imagine that I was targeted by Mr. Gong Bo with insult and curse, stating that I would ‘have the four great elements decomposed, cease to breathe during the stage of bardo, and be taken to the netherworld by the messengers from the Yama King’ after my death.” Apparently, Mr. Sit regarded the real scene of “having the four great elements decomposed, ceasing to breathe during the stage of bardo, and being taken to the netherworld by the messengers from the Yama King” that all humans will face after death as a curse. I would like to ask Mr. Sit, is there a person in the world who does not undergo the decomposition of the four great elements, does not stop breathing, and does not enter the stage of bardo after death? Is there an ordinary person who is not taken to the netherworld after death?

Even in the situation of myself, if I do not cultivate well to attain liberation, I will have the same fate of “having the four great elements decomposed, ceasing to breathe during the stage of bardo, and being taken to the netherworld by the messengers from the Yama King” after my death. This belongs to the basic knowledge of Buddhism. Then why would the basic knowledge of Buddhism become a curse to you? There can only be two possible conclusions.

One is that you are truly ignorant and have evil views. You perceived the decomposition of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind after a person’s death as the separation of the four limbs from the body and that was why you thought that was a curse. The second possibility is that it was your deliberate vilification against me. Through vilifying me, you tried to obtain readers’ sympathy and concurrence with your evil views. The former is quite understandable. However, the later possibility is a matter of your own low and inferior character.

Moreover, any person who slanders the Buddha and the sutras is bound to encounter the karmic retribution of dwelling in the hell realm for innumerable eons. Such a forewarning can be seen repeatedly in the sutras. How did it become an insult and a curse to you? You are so rampant as to question the Buddha’s loving compassion. Let me ask you in terms of this quotation,

“Those who despise the Triple-gems will be reborn deaf, dumb and blind. Those who have no respect for the Teachings of the Buddha are always reborn in the evil realms of suffering. Those who steal from temples will be reborn in Hells for kalpas and kalpas. Monks and nuns guilty of sexual misconduct will be reborn as animals endlessly.”

Is this also hatred and curse to the people being met? If your answer is yes, you slandered Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva for sure, because this was what Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said. If your answer is no, then how did “the karmic retribution of dwelling in the hell realm for innumerable eons” that I mentioned become a kind of hatred and curse?

Also, please continue to read,

“These people will still be experiencing the retributions to their insulting and slandering in the Avici Hell in the current Wise Eon even after the 1000 Buddhas have all left. After this eon has ended, the suffering in the Hungry Ghost Realm will start. A thousand eons later, they will receive retributions in the animal realm. They will become humans after another thousand eons. Even after becoming humans, they will be poor, in low-classes, and deficient in multiple sense organs. Often, their minds are bounded by evil karmas. Thus, they devolve into the three lower realms again shortly afterwards.”

“Therefore, Universal Bodhisattva, to ridicule others for paying respect and making offerings to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva will receive such heavy punishment that it will be far more dangerous than to have erroneous view on the transformations of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and to destroy his images and belittle his Teachings.”

“In future lifetimes, if there are men and women who do not do good deeds and carry out evil acts instead as well as those who do not believe in the law of cause and effect, who engage in sexual misconduct or lying, who speak to cause division among people or speak harshly, and who slander the vehicle of Mahayana, the consequence of devolving into the lower destinations awaits them.”

I would like to ask you, are these statements more “cunning” than my “curse,” and making “living beings be at a loss to understand where the Buddha’s loving compassion is”? If your reply is yes, you would again have slandered Sakyamuni Buddha, and have slandered the Sūtra of The Great Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Buddha-Expounded Sutra of Causality between Good and Evil. Apparently, you do not know what true loving compassion is and have no idea about karmic retribution of causality.

After reading your two articles, I have already known very clearly what your knowledge of the theory of Buddhism is, which can only be summarized with “quite laughable.” As a matter of fact, I should not discuss and argue with you at all, since it would be quite idiotic to discuss the doctoral curriculum in the university with a kindergarten child. Then, why am I still willing to do such an “idiotic” thing to continue communicating with you instead of abandoning you, who are an outsider with shallow knowledge of Buddhism and who is not in a position to talk about Buddha-dharma and prajna? It is due to the teaching I learned from H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and all Buddhas in the ten directions. We should treat all living beings as family members and love and care for them with bodhicitta. I do not wish to see any living being getting on to evil paths. Therefore, even though you possess evil views, I still hope that I can stop you on the path leading to the hell realm. That is why I am willing to continue to be an idiot and apply bodhicitta to respond and reply to you.

Do you know what H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s decision was when we reported to Him the slandering statements in your articles? H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said,

“We should love him and inform him with bodhicitta, and must not hate and curse him. No matter what kind of living being he is, he is to benefit from us and be saved by us, and is a parent of me, the humble Dorje Chang Buddha III. I am a humble one with the mentality of an ordinary person and am unable to forget about him. I will always pray and beseech good fortune for him, to wish him to be free of disasters, be in auspiciousness, and be able to learn true Buddha-dharma to attain ultimate liberation. You must not be picky with him. Living beings all have various kinds of habitual conduct. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are spreading Buddha-dharma in the three spheres for the purpose of saving, rescuing, teaching, and transforming living beings. Once bodhicitta is lost, one must have already deviated from the teaching of the Tathagata.”

His Holiness the Buddha applies great loving compassion to you. However, I still must ring a loud bell to save your body and mind of sin. In his Song of Enlightenment, Master of Meditation Yongjia Xuanjue stated, “A cultivator must exercise great caution against falling into the traps of annihilation and eternity.” You are a person who has already fallen into the view of annihilation and will devolve into the hell of loneliness in the future. Those who support you and advocate your view will also bear the sin and negative karmas. Whether you fall into the hell realm or not is your causality and has nothing to do with what I said. However, I hope that you can understand that my rebuttal to you is not insulting you and is not hating you or cursing you. Rather, I care about you and want to rescue you with bodhicitta. If I intend to insult you, I would have exposed your past long ago.

Therefore, I absolutely will not harm you or insult you. I only hope that you know what the true dharma of the Tathagata is and hope that you can attain liberation and accomplishment in the current lifetime. My purpose of criticizing you is wishing you to correct the fault and not to devolve. Since you do not know Buddha-dharma and will harm living beings by mistake, I want to ring a loud bell to wake you up, so you can truly learn Buddha-dharma and step onto the path of enlightening the self as well as others. I am willing to serve as a stepping stone and let you step on me to get on the correct path. No matter how painful it may be to me, I welcome you to step on my body to find the true dharma of the Tathagata and get you the correct path leading to enlightenment

Even though you have committed sins, I will continue to dedicate my merit from reciting the sutras, chanting the Buddha’s name, sitting in meditation, cultivating myself, and practicing the dharma to you, to wish you to be free of pain and suffering. Such is my mentality. There is nothing I can do if you do not believe me. I can only do my best to apply my love and care to you and to help you!

Can Ignorance Be Covered Up by Sophistry?

You stated in your first article titled the Myth, “The essence of the teaching of Buddhism was established in the foundation of the Theory of Conditional Arising, or the dogma of conditional causation and emptiness of self-nature, that Mr. Shi created.” In response, my article informed you that the truth is that, “Conditional causation and emptiness of self-nature is the fundamental source, principle, and characteristic of impermanence and the absence of self-nature of everything in both the sentient world and the material world of the universe. However, this concept did not come into being by the Buddha’s creation.”

Then, your second article of the Letter of Seeking Advice changed your statement to, “Of course, the concept of the rising and vanishing of conditional causes was not created by the Buddha. …… Mr. Shi was a great philosopher and holy person who first raised this opinion and used this principle and theory to explain the original source of the universe. Therefore, it is not wrong to state that the great dharma of conditional arising was created by the Buddha and became the foundation of Buddhism. Nor is it a slander against the Buddha.”

Here, your first sin is the disrespect toward Sakyamuni Buddha. You even disrespectfully addressed the Great Buddha Sakyamuni as “Mr. Shi.” Does this belong to the speech and conduct that a Buddhist disciple should have? Moreover, all people within the family of Sakya as well as monastic Buddhists can be called Mr. or Ms. Shi. Then, which “Mr. Shi” were you referring to?

Most importantly, your first article stated, “The concept of conditional causation and emptiness of self-nature was created by Mr. Shi.” In your later article, you changed your tone based on the correct principle I pointed out to, “was not created by the Buddha.” After making this change, you also said, “Mr. Shi first raised this opinion (of conditional causation and emptiness of self-nature).” This is still wrong! The World-Honored One Sakyamuni did not raise this opinion. Rather, He reached the enlightenment to realize this truth. Additionally, the statement of “the first one to raise” also belongs to the views of slandering ancient Buddhas. If Sakyamuni Buddha had been the first one, it would mean that Dipamkara Buddha and Amitabha Buddha who are earlier than Sakyamuni Buddha had not raised or even had never known about “conditional causation and emptiness of self-nature”?! Since Sakyamuni Buddha learned about conditional causation and emptiness of self-nature from the dharma expounded by Dipamkara Buddha, how could you say that “Mr. Shi was the first one to raise” this concept?

It is true that no physicist before Mr. Newton had ever raised the “Universal Gravity” as a law of the universe. That is why Newton can be called “the first one.” However, is it true that “the great dharma of conditional arising” had never been mentioned and had never been realized by any Buddha before Sakyamuni Buddha? If so, how could there be ancient Buddhas before Sakyamuni Buddha? Thus, your mentioning Newton as an example was just a technique of substitution in your sophistry. Applying it to Buddhism is contradictory and inconsistent.

The concept of conditional causation and emptiness of self-nature was neither created by Sakyamuni Buddha nor “first raised by Mr. Shi.” This truth was stated very clearly in my earlier article. Unfortunately, you were still unable to understand from reading. You have to know that Buddha-dharma requires concrete practice and true realization and is a systematic project. You cannot acquire proficiency through just reading a few sutras and some commentaries. No matter how good you are in sophistry, because of your ignorance and evil views, engaging in sophistry can only thoroughly expose your nature of an amateur to Buddhism. Isn’t this true? The fact is there.

Can Buddha-dharma Be Comprehended by Perception? Is It Possible to Attain Enlightenment by Doing the Best to Understand?

You stated in the Myth, “Buddha-dharma itself is prajna. Prajna itself is Buddha-dharma.” In response, I told you the truth, “Prajna is the ultimate truth of no producing and no annihilation that holy ones can realize. On the other hand, Buddha-dharma is the methods that living beings use to realize prjana. Moreover, having Buddha-dharma alone cannot lead to the realization of prajna. In addition to using Buddha-dharma, one must also cultivate. Only then can one realize prajna.”

Then, in your second article, you changed your statement to, “Buddha-dharma is comprehended by perception. Buddha arises from the mind. Only through making the best effort with mind, personality, and consciousness, can our enlightened mind acquire true Buddha-dharma. Therefore, to know what Buddha-dharma is requires more than a clear explanation through teaching with words and speeches. The cultivator has to realize it through his own comprehension and practice. …… Buddha-dharma and prajna are two sides of one coin. Talking about Buddha-dharma separately from prajna is like a group of blind persons trying to find out the shape of an elephant by groping. On the other hand, empty discussions about the path of attaining Buddha-hood without knowing the wonderful utilization of prajna are like fishing for the Moon in water. The outcome is illusionary and nothing other than empty speeches.”

After discerning carefully this paragraph of “Buddha-dharma and prajna” in your article, please forgive me for pointing out forthrightly that you are still pirating reputation through deceiving the world, causing Buddhist cultivators to become deluded. In today’s society, it is because they are misled by scholars with wrong opinions and dharma masters of evil views just like you that many Buddhist disciples are unable to find the door to the precious essence of Buddhism and do not get any benefits from learning Buddhism for an entire lifetime. This is also one of the reasons why I must sternly rebuttal you for the sake of their attaining accomplishment.

First, “Buddha-dharma is comprehended by perception” is hollow and wrong and will not lead to ultimate liberation, no matter from what angle you try to state it. The reason is that, in the process of meditation practice, the presence of the slightest consciousness of illusionary cognition will prevent one from entering the “state of meditation.” Also, at the moment of “after the previous thought goes away and before the next thought arises into being,” no “comprehension by perception” can exist. If your “comprehension by perception” is interpreted to be the “mind migration practice” in Buddhist disciples’ process of practicing and upholding the ten good deeds, the four limitless states of mind, and the six paramitas, it is still tens of thousands of miles away from attaining accomplishment.

True Buddha-dharma is not identified by comprehension with perception. Rather, it must manifest true abilities and true powers of cultivation. If a living being has not learned true Buddha-dharma, it is impossible for him to enter into the state of true Buddha-dharma, no matter how good he is at “comprehension by perception.” I believe that, if you have read the supreme dharmas of Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra, the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation, and the Great Dharma of Meditation transmitted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III (published on the internet through the 40-th Public Announcement from the Office of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III), you will know clearly how hollow and erroneous “Buddha-dharma is comprehended by perception” is.

Next, I comment on your assertion of “Buddha arises from the mind.” Let me ask you, “Where is this mind?” Is it in the heart of a lump of flesh inside your body or where mental activities and thoughts are? Have you found this “mind” stated in “Buddha arises from the mind”? Actually, it can be concluded from the statement of “Buddha-dharma is comprehended by perception” before it and the statement of “making the best effort with mind, personality, and consciousness” after it that you defined the “mind” stated in “Buddha arises from the mind” as a kind of mental activities and thoughts. This reflects a view of not knowing Buddha-dharma at all or playing with terminology of Buddhism.

You should know that “Buddha arises from the mind” has the same meaning as “the mind is Buddha, and the mind acts as Buddha.” This “mind” is not the heart of a lump of flesh. Nor is it mental activities and thoughts. It is neither inside nor outside. Rather, it is our Buddha nature that does not arise or cease, does not increase or decrease, and does not defile or purify. That is also our dharma nature of true such-ness and is our dharmakaya of the Tathagata that has no shape or image and is the same as the dharmakaya of the Buddha.

However, we have never “found” this “mind” yet! That is why we have to practice and abide by Buddha-dharma to achieve enlightenment of the mind and seeing our nature. I will teach you a little more here. You will not find this mind even if you try to. This is because any effort to find it requires generating the idea in mind and having mental activities and generating ideas or thoughts is the state of mind of an ordinary person and is the seed of transmigrating in samsara. Then, what can we do? Of course we have to cultivate and learn true Buddha-dharma.

Secondly, what you stated next is letting “our enlightened mind acquire true Buddha-dharma.” This is out of order. Is the “enlightened mind” you stated a mind with awareness or a mind of vigilance? If it is a mind with awareness, I would like to ask, does the mind of an ordinary person have awareness (in the holy sense)? You should clearly understand that the so-called enlightened mind of ours (the mind of an ordinary person with awareness) will not acquire true Buddha-dharma, since an ordinary person does not have an enlightened mind by definition. The fundamental entity of an enlightened mind is the axiom of no arising and no ceasing. One who possesses an enlightened mind must have already transformed into a holy one and does not need to make the effort to realize the axiom of prajna. An ordinary being’s unenlightened mind is the very reason to quest for enlightenment through relying on true Buddha-dharma and one’s own cultivation in accord with the teaching. Moreover, Buddha-dharma is the “raft” used for realizing prajna. Once the true such-ness of dharma nature has been realized, Buddha-dharma will not be there. That is why Sakyamuni Buddha said, “The dharma I expounded resembles a raft. Even the dharma will be given up, how can things other than the dharma possibly not be so?” With the learning you currently have, you are not able to understand this principle of the dharma. That is why you repeatedly made the mistakes of confusing the goal and the method. Also, you are not the only one committing this kind of mistakes. Many famed dharma masters in the current era have done so too. They may say “using wisdom to illuminate one’s own inner mind” and so on. All are hollow and out-of-order figures of speech.

On the other hand, if this “enlightened mind” meant a mind of vigilance. What are you on guard against? How do you keep vigilant? Even a mouse has very high vigilance when coming out to find food, can it acquire true Buddha-dharma?

I suggest that you read respectfully and earnestly H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s discourse titled What Is Cultivation? and make a good effort to comprehend the sequential order of the eight fundamental right views of cultivation expounded in What Is Cultivation? You will then clearly understand how hollow, pale, not to the point, and unrelated to the principle what you said is.

Thirdly, if this evil dogma of yours could make people be enlightened through making the best effort with mind, personality, and consciousness, it would be a cunning deformation that implies the ten good deeds, the four limitless states of mind, and the six paramitas expounded by Sakyamuni Buddha are just torment for living beings! Making the best effort with mind can be making the best effort with a compassionate mind, making the best effort with a mind of slandering the Buddha, making the best effort with an evil mind, and making the best effort with a mind of bodhicitta. Speaking of making the best effort with personality, the personality of the fundamental entity is empty, tranquilized, and free of appearance, where can the effort be exerted? Exerting an effort on that leads to attachment to the self. Making the best effort with consciousness will not become enlightened. Consciousness and thought are produced by the mind of an ordinary being. Consciousness makes the mind evolve and belongs to the state of an ordinary being. Making a best effort with it is also attachment to the self.

These three sentences you stated exposed three characteristics of ordinary persons. How could you possibly know Buddha-dharma! You should know that making the best effort with mind, personality, and consciousness will not lead to enlightenment. Furthermore, if living beings have not listened to the true dharma of the Tathagata and instead were always misled by scholars with wrong opinions and dharma masters with evil views such as you, the more effort is exerted with mind and consciousness, the further one will depart from the path of Buddhism. This is the so-called phenomenon of “a small deviation at the start leading one away from the destination by thousands of miles.”

To say the least, even with the premise of accepting your statement of “making the best effort with one’s personality to be enlightened,” it is still impossible to become enlightened. According to the law of causality, no matter how you make the effort, dark karmas accumulated since the beginning-less time will follow you and become barriers to hinder you. That is why we have to cultivate deeply to work through causality and facilitate the right causes to mature. Then, we will naturally acquire true Buddha-dharma and naturally realize the absolute truth of prajna. That is why the World-Honored Sakyamuni Buddha instructed cultivators to practice broadly the six paramitas in all acts instead of making the best effort with one’s personality to be enlightened.

As to your statement of “Buddha-dharma and prajna are two sides of one coin …… ,” it is just a continuation of ambiguity and nonsense. I would like to ask you, when you were speaking of Buddha-dharma fluently, did you use the wonderful utilization of prajna or break away from prajna? If you dare say that you were using the wonderful utilization of prajna to talk about Buddha-dharma, you are telling a big lie of declaring the realization you have not attained. If you admit that you spoke about Buddha-dharma without prajna, then are you ridiculing what you said as your depiction(s) of “groping the elephant by blind persons” and/or “fishing for the Moon in water”?

Though I, Gong Bo, am a humble one, I already explained the principles of Buddha-dharma and prajna very clearly in my last article. So I am not going to repeat here. Unfortunately, you tried to expel my views due to your attachment to the self and to resist with the barrier of the known. Of course, you did not seriously comprehend the correct reasoning stated in my article. Rather, with a hypocritical word of “seeking advice,” you used sophistry to cover up your shallow knowledge and ignorance. However, instead of serving your purpose of covering up, it prominently exposed your heavy attachment to the self and the speech and conduct of slandering the Buddha with ulterior intention!

Did the Buddha Need to Learn from Other People’s Expertise?

You stated in your article titled the Myth, “Before Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment, 1) Taking refuge, receiving precepts, and initiations had been seen in the rituals of Brahmins; 2} The concepts of samsara, karmic forces, and liberation had been described in detail in books of ancient India such as the Vedas and the Upanishads. Also, yoga, meditation, dharma practice, cultivation, and other concepts had already been discussed in India’s religions and academics.”

In response, I told you that the truth is, “Taking refuge, receiving precepts, initiations, and other rituals taught by the Buddha are basically the methods of spreading and propagating Buddha-dharma for teaching and transforming living beings with cultivation and practice. Furthermore, these methods have no connections at all to the rituals of Brahmins and heretics in terms of ceremonial processes, mantras, mudras, yidams for contemplation, dharma protectors, and other aspects, and are totally unrelated to what was recorded in books of ancient India.” What I said was already very clear.

However, for reasons unknown, you second article titled the Letter of Seeking Advice still insisted on mentioning those books to continue insulting the World-Honored One. Although you pulled over out-of-context and irrelevant quotations and used all kinds of tricks to exonerate you, the effect is quite in vain. Doing so not only cannot remove your sins, but also further exposed your evil character. For example, your second article stated, “The reason that the Buddha was great and accomplished holiness to become a great holy one is because He was able to adapt the strengths of various sects and schools for His use to re-propose the world-astounding great dharma of conditional arising. ……” This sentence of yours is a proof that you not only have not acquired even superficial knowledge in the learning of Buddhism but also slandered the Buddha again.

I, Gong Bo, have to seriously inform you today that how great the Buddha is cannot be expressed by your low-level worldly opinion. The reason behind Sakyamuni Buddha’s attaining Buddha-hood include: He had learned and practiced the Buddha-dharma transmitted to Him by Dipamkara Buddha; prior to that, He had cultivated as a god enduring humiliation and extreme cruelty; He had realized in person the emptiness of the entity in consideration and the lack of self-nature of all phenomena; more importantly, He had possessed the unsurpassable and incomparable bodhicitta of sacrificing the self to benefit others; and opened up the ultimate wisdom of the supreme, non-limiting by differentiation, and perfect enlightenment!

Now, discerning again your assertion of “able to adapt the strengths of various sects and schools for His use to re-propose the world-astounding great dharma of conditional arising,” you told people that the Buddha’s wisdom to re-propose the great dharma of conditional arising resulted from taking advantage of the strengths of various sects and schools. Such slandering against Sakyamuni Buddha can hardly be tolerated.

I seriously inform you again that the Buddha did not need to learn from heretics and worldly mundane people or from any school. The Buddha stated in the Dīrgha Āgama, “In heaven and on earth, I am the only venerable one.” That proved that only living beings need to learn from the Buddha and there is no such thing that the Buddha has to learn from or adapt the strengths of various schools or individuals. Needless to mention various schools or individuals, even a great Bodhisattva is not worthy of being learned by the Buddha. Wasn’t this the fact? Sakyamuni Buddha only needed the teaching from Dipamkara Buddha to attain Buddha-hood with the realization of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (the supreme, non-limiting by differentiation, and perfect enlightenment)!

Without mentioning the fact that a Buddha is free of any defiled mentality, even in the case of an ordinary cultivator at the time of penetrating through the grave barrier, any defilement from external causes of non-Buddhist affairs will prevent one from entering concentration. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha informed cultivators to diminish completely external causes when entering concentration. Otherwise the four types of barriers will emerge to prevent one from seeing the fundamental nature thoroughly. At that time, where could “adapting the strengths of various schools or individuals” be possibly applied to?

I believe that you simply do not understand the above reasoning. That is why you expressed such absurd knowledge and views. You can think over what I said here. Weren’t you clearly slandering the Buddha?

Doesn’t the Tathagata Possess Appearance of Form? What Are the Supernatural Powers of Buddhism?

At the end of your Letter of Seeking Advice, you called your article false statements and quoted from the Diamond Sutra, “Those who see me in form, or seek me through sound, are on a mistaken path; they do not see the Tathgata.” This is the only place in your entire article where you stated the truth. It is absolutely true that your article is a big lie, a big lie of claiming the realization that you have not attained! Moreover, I know your hidden implication by ending your article with “Those who see me in form, or seek me through sound, are on a mistaken path; they do not see the Tathgata.” You are truly very thoughtful with the attempt of slandering the Buddha and Buddhism from another angle.

First, you should know that the assertion of “Those who see me in form, or seek me through sound, are on a mistaken path; they do not see the Tathgata.” was made to expound Buddhism’s absolute truth about the nature of emptiness, or the awareness and realization of dharmakaya. It applies to the stage of realizing dharmakaya by cultivators who are ordinary beings. Dharmakaya has no shape or image. That is why the Diamond Sutra said, “All appearances are illusionary.”

Let me ask you, was the Diamond Sutra expounded by a Buddha with image or a Buddha without image? Please also think, why is Buddhism in the world now? The answer is in the fact that Dorje Chang Buddha who has appearance transmitted Buddha-dharma to benefactors in the ten directions who also have appearances. Eventually, they realized the enlightenment to become all Buddhas in the ten directions. If there had never been any Buddha with appearance, where did the ancient Buddha Dipamkara who transmitted Buddha-dharma to Sakyamuni Buddha come from?

Let me ask you again, had there been no Buddha with image and appearance of form, could the five hundred monks with the sixteen venerable ones among them hear Buddha-dharma and the teaching of Buddhism formlessly and soundlessly? As recorded in the sutras, the Buddha expounded the dharma many times. Wasn’t the dharma expounded to Arhats and Bodhisattvas by the Buddha possessing a solemn appearance at the time? Had there been no Buddha with an image, who played the role of expounding the dharma and where did Buddha-dharma come from to save living beings?

You quoted a few sentences from the Buddha’s discourses about the nature of emptiness and, with that, you have deluded yourself and people who have no knowledge about Buddha-dharma. However, you have forgotten the fact that the Buddha possesses an extremely handsome image with form, shape, and voice. Moreover, the Buddha is able to manifest thirty-two distinguished marks, eighty minor marks of His body, the sixty-four noble characteristics of His tone or voice, and so on. All these are appearances of form that are visible to eyes and audible to ears. You really should study deeply into the sutras. I cannot understand that, as an adult person having passed a young age, you have not learned anything from the surface of Buddhism yet.

Separately, I explained very clearly regarding the supernatural powers of Buddhism in my article titled Is It True That Buddhism Does Not Have a Primordial Buddha? Do People Who Practice Supernatural Powers Belong to Cults?. Even a person who know very little about Buddhism should know that true Buddha-dharma is never separated from supernatural powers. Without super-normality, there is no power. Any lack of proficiency means the inability of utilizing the power. The realization must possess both power and utilization, to turn the true emptiness of dharma nature and true such-ness into wonderful utilizations.

Since your Letter of Seeking Advice mentioned H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s feat of reversing an aged appearance to that of a youth, let’s take this as an example. If reversing an aged appearance to that of a youth does not belong to supreme Buddha-dharma, can it be accomplished by an ordinary person with afflictions such as you? Furthermore, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s sudden reversion of an aged appearance to that of a youth was a true phenomenon witnessed by cultivators who only stated the fact. However, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III denied that this was a phenomenon of Buddha-dharma and even said that He is an ordinary person who does not know the dharma of reversing an aged appearance to that of a youth and that the change was due to being treated with the method of medicine to remove speckles, winkles, and old skins. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said that such phenomena bear no significance because all things are temporary and impermanent in nature and only cultivation with bodhicitta of great compassion to benefit living beings is eternal. However, you still distorted the fact to use this event to fabricate slandering deformation to insult H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.

H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III knows that the descendants of Mara, evil masters, and swindlers are rampant in the world. They try to damage true Buddha-dharma upheld by Sakyamuni Buddha and all Buddhas in the ten directions and destroy living beings’ opportunities to acquire wisdom. They live on scamming people for money. That was why His Holiness the Buddha made a vow to prove the fact while in Mexico. The facts unfolded since then totally proved what the people who slandered the Buddha are. Please view the video recording titled Buddhas Recognize H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III; A Holy Feat May Seem to be Ordinary but Can Only Be Carried Out by a Buddha.

As to the so-called “supernatural powers” such as going through customs without a passport that you mentioned, only evil beings and demons will carry out such acts. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III vehemently opposes this kind of evil and demonic conduct of violating precepts and disciplines, superstition, and playing strange paranormal phenomena. Only demonic persons with evil knowledge and views will speak what you said. Just based on what you said, your view shows that you do not abide by the law of a country and is not a good citizen. Then, how could you be an authentic Buddhist?

Perhaps you should pose a question to Sakyamuni Buddha. Since the Buddha was so great, why didn’t He apply His supernatural powers to rescue the members of His own Sakya Clan when they were massacred by King Virudhaka’s soldiers? You can also ask Sakyamuni Buddha, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Since They are so great and possess boundless supernatural powers, why don’t They apply a great supernatural power to transform the world into a world of gods and Buddhas? Why didn’t these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas rescue living beings from suffering and hardship when big earthquakes, tsunamis, and various kinds of disasters hit? Where did the Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’ supernatural powers go then?

Actually, the reason is very simple. First, all events are due to causality. Supernatural powers cannot overcome karmic forces. Secondly, without talking about experiencing the abilities of supernatural powers, even the opportunity of listening to one dharma is based on whether one has the corresponding karmic condition or possesses the roots of goodness to enjoy the dharma. Needless to say, with your shallow and defiled karmic root, how could you be able to experience even a little of the mighty supernatural powers of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, Sakyamuni Buddha, and Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara?

I can only make the same conclusion on you. You constantly speak nonsense because you do not know Buddha-dharma and do not understand the law of causality and the relations between causes and effects. The so-called “anything spoken is false” can really be a truthful description of you. If you do not agree, please read your own articles again. Weren’t you slandering the Buddha everywhere with such a mess as filled with the evil views in these articles?

It has been clearly expounded in H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s teaching and can be seen in the public announcements published by the Office of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that cultivation and learning Buddhism require speech and conduct of morality and true realization rather than supernatural powers. Sakyamuni Buddha’s teaching in the sutras also clearly pointed out that true Buddhists carry out bodhicitta in their conduct to benefit living beings and bear sufferings of living beings in their quest for the precious essence of Buddha-dharma. They are not deluded by the views and opinions about supernatural powers from fortune tellers and witches who use the name of Buddhism as a disguise.

If you read the two great mind essences of Contemplating the Magnificence of Perfect Prerequisite Oceanic Mind Essence and the Most Magnificent Bodhi Dakini Oceanic Mind Essence expounded by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that have been published on the internet, you would know what the absolute truth and axioms of Buddha-dharma are and what you should do. Supernatural powers are something that is very insignificant. Any attempt to utilize the dogma of supernatural powers is simply playing with strange paranormal phenomena and is always opposed by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Once you have read the public announcements from the Office of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, you can realize that how far you are away from being an upright and respectable person just because of your fabricating baseless rumors without even taking into account that you do not know Buddha-dharma at all.

The Ending Words

Sakyamuni Buddha said in the sutras, “One becomes a Bodhisattva through the Five Vidyas.” You should know that one who does not have accomplishment in the Five Vidyas definitely has no wisdom of prajna at all and is impossible to be a great Bodhisattva. Without relating to the Five Vidyas, hollow talks about prajna and the conditional arising and nature of emptiness are just worthless and superficial views with biases. Even when one possesses some accomplishments in the Five Vidyas but has not reached the level of perfect proficiency, the comparison of this person’s realization of prajna with the Buddha’s enlightenment is still like comparing an arm’s length with clouds and mountains stretching thousands of miles. How could the Buddha’s views and teaching about the emptiness of the current entity and the conditional arising and nature of emptiness be easily comprehended?

Buddha-dharma is based on concrete abilities of cultivation. To resolve the discrepancy between your self-claimed proficiency in Buddha-dharma and prajna and my criticism of your empty talks of theories, please manifest your abilities with true Buddha-dharma to prove that you can do more than talking about empty theories. Please evaluate yourself: How many of the Five Vidyas you have accomplished? Can your accomplishments be compared to that of experts in the related of fields? Do the accomplishments bring you benefits in your good fortune and wisdom? Have you opened up your wonderful wisdom of prajna? Do you make your living with offerings from other people or by relying on your own perfect good fortune and wisdom?

The facts are obvious. In addition to concluding that you speak hollowly about Buddha-dharma without any knowledge of Buddha-dharma, I can be certain that you have no knowledge of prajna and are even less likely to have any utilization of prajna. Actually, you do not even have any understanding in the prajna of languages. That is why you are unable to read the poems I composed and dared not discuss poetry. Without any accomplishments in the Five Vidyas and without manifesting true Buddha-dharma, you cannot cover up your nature of a mundane person no matter how you try to argue. You are not able to develop your good fortune and wisdom and to make high achievements regardless of how you boast. Sakyamuni Buddha’s teaching of “One becomes a Bodhisattva through the Five Vidyas” in the sutras totally proved that you are not a Bodhisattva because you are not proficient in prajna, have no wisdom, and have nothing to do with the Five Vidyas.

You have committed great sins in your slandering attacks against the Buddha and Buddha-dharma. The facts can be seen clearly. People who can think clearly in mind will not follow you to share your dark karmas and fall into the abyss of the three lower realms. This is a truthful statement, without any intention of cursing you. If you do not agree, can you show some wonderful utilization of prajna? Can you demonstrate your abilities in one or two of the Five Vidyas to prove that I am wrong?

Or, can you duplicate the sculptures created by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that represent only one percent of His accomplishments in the Craftsmanship Vidya of the Five Vidyas? A prize of 50 million dollars has been offered to anyone who can do so. If you can, you will win the prize of 50 million dollars. Additionally, I will repent to the world and prostrate to you in public and people will all respect you. This is definitely not a curse to you, Mr. Sit Ho-yin. However, I can be certain that you dare not accept my proposal, since you have no wisdom of prajna at all. Other than speaking nonsense with evil views, all you have is the view of a practitioner of heretics using the name of Buddhism.

I am not going to say more. My reply to your letter may be regarded either as settling a cause or as a new conditional cause. To say this is settling a cause means I will no longer respond to your speech and conduct. No matter how much I say, you will not understand and are not in a position to understand. Rather, you will have a mentality of spontaneous repulsion from your biased views. Calling it a new conditional cause reflects my sincere hope that my care can cause you to know and understand the absolute truth of Buddha-dharma, abandon the evil and erroneous views and the barriers of the known that you stubbornly hold onto, and can cause you to sincerely repent the heavy sins you have committed. Thus, what I said can be a conditional cause for you to truly learn Buddhism and cultivate.

I hope that you can study and cultivate earnestly to benefit all humans and all living beings. First, make yourself become a good person and a person with virtue and talent. That is a prerequisite to learning Buddhism and progressing on the path toward liberation.

With my auspicious wishes to you,

Gong Bo