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(Reported from Los Angeles) The H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum is a new addition to the museums in the United States of America. The museum is dedicated to permanently exhibit some of the accomplishments in Buddhism and in Cultural Art of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, who is the recipient of the World Peace Prize Top Honor Prize and the world’s supreme leader of Buddhism, the status of which was determined by Resolution No. 614 of the Senate of the United States Congress. On the day of the grand opening ceremony, numerous dignitaries and honored guests gathered at the museum to pay tribute and cut the ribbon. Seven WW-II era fighter jets flew over in formation and bestowed mists as a congratulatory gift to the museum’s grand opening. Additionally, post offices at the three cities of the capital of the United States (Washington, DC), Los Angeles, and Covina approved the issuance of the special postmarks for commemorating the grand opening of the H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum on June 8, 2014. At the site of selling the commemorative first-day covers, all first-day covers were sold out to a large crowd of anxious buyers in only a little over an hour.

The grand opening ceremony began with an auspiciousness-presenting lion dance. California State Senator Mr. Ed Hernandez, the mayors or mayors’ representatives of the eight cities in the greater Los Angeles area, and the newly elected Sheriff of the Los Angeles County Jim McDonnell came to the ceremony and issued certificates of congratulation. The H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum also issued the executive council certificates to Ms. March Kong Fong Eu who served as the secretary of state of California for 17 years, former deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of Education and former chief of the Western United States Office of the Department of Labor Ms. Marina Tse, and Ms. Lau Chiang Chu who is the current deputy director of the Athletic Association and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, and certificates of honorary advisor to Italy’s renowned commentator of art Professor Alessandro vezzosi who is also the director of the Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci near Florence, Ms. Olivia Toscani Rucellai who is the founder of Otto Luogo Dell Art Gallery in Florence, Italy that focuses on Avant-garde artworks, and Ms. Barbara Berlusconi who is the deputy chief executive of Italy’s AC Millan Soccer Club. The museum also issued a certificate to former chairman of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Los Angeles Zhang Zhihao to appoint him as the executive in charge of the museum’s public relation department. A senior news reporter, who had seen celebration ceremonies of various scopes and who saw so many guests of honor at the live scene, kept saying, “It is extremely rare to see so many celebrities attending such a grand celebration ceremony.”

The H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum is a non-profit organization for benefiting the public located in the City of Covina of California’s Los Angeles County. The museum is housed in a remodeled famous historic building in Covina. On the day of grand opening, crowds of visitors from all over the world tightly packed into the museum. The artworks exhibited inside the museum belong to the accomplishments of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in the category of cultural art. Visitors who came during the day gave extremely high assessments and continuously made their praises with astonishment. Some called the artworks world-astounding and utmost amazing while some others described them as miraculously elegant. A leader of the Christian faith was moved to tears after viewing H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s accomplishments and said, “The only thing I have to do is to ask the God and Jesus Christ to bless this artist H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to let Him live in this world forever. His artworks are too beautiful and can capture and transform people’s souls.” Some people said that the accomplishments of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III are unmatched by anyone in the world. The information transmitted from the exhibition always has the words of “good,” “beautiful,” “superior,” “proud,” and “too great!”

The H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum is in an extremely well-known historic building in Covina. The Holy Trace Hall within the museum exhibits artworks of Yun sculptures “One Pillar Holds the Heaven” and “Glamour of Color.” These artworks mimic the beauty of great nature but actually surpassed nature’s beauty. A reward of 50 million dollars was offered publicly on “One Pillar Holds the Heaven” to anyone who can duplicate this artwork using whatever method(s) they desire. This offer is still valid now. “Glamour of Color” is amazingly miraculous with inconceivable variations and illusions. The splendidly applied colors present a subtly and wonderfully mystic view. Moreover, no bottom can be seen when looking inside even though the artwork has an outline of just a small boulder.

Artworks created by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III fetched very high prices at the art auction market. The highest record was set in January 2010 at the auction held in the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, when the actual purchase price was more than US$900,000 per square foot. That was the highest price for a Chinese paintings by any artist, ancient or modern.

At the 2012 art auction in New York, duplications of two paintings by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, Carps in a Lotus Pond and Psychic Cat, with limited quantity of 100 copies for each were sold at the prices of about US$380,000 and US$253,000 respectively, setting the highest auction prices of limited-quantity duplicated artworks. At the art market, there are people who specialized in searching and buying paintings created by His Holiness the Buddha, offering over one million US$ per square foot. Sculptures made by His Holiness the Buddha are valued at much, much higher prices.

Director of the H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum Brian Tyan gave a speech at the ceremony. He said that the museum will follow the teaching of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and always actively participate in charity works of disaster relief, assisting the poor, and helping elderlies and ill-stricken ones in society. The museum will also hold contests of arts and establish scholarships of artistic studies for youth, to encourage, reward, and nurture young artists and raise the spiritual connotation of all generations of society.

Mr. Tyan also stated that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s achievements in cultural art do not belong to a certain geographical region or a small number of people and, rather, are precious treasures of cultural art owned and enjoyed by the entire humanity. He hopes that people of all walks to support and encourage the museum’s development.

Now the H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum is open to the public free of charge. The museum’s address is 170 E. School Street, Covina, CA 91723.

(Translated from a report in Chinese published in Washington Chinese News on June 15, 2014)