If a master has not passed the test to get the level but call themselves a holy being, no matter how great a dharma king, venerable, great rinpoche, or great dharma master they may be, they are an impostor who pretends to be a Buddhist. They are just a piece of scrap metal and not gold! Some people devise excuses to avoid taking the test, deceive the public, and fake it. They say the problems in the examination held by the headquarters are not authentic Buddhist problems, so they don’t need to take the test. People, please pay attention! Those who say that are no doubt evil people and cheaters.

Now, the headquarters shall list twenty problems from the test to let everyone examine if they are authentic Buddhist problems:

1. Briefly explain what faith, vow, practice, sila, samadhi, and prajna mean;
2. Which sects are the exoteric sects?
3. How many schools are there in the esoteric sects? Who is the founder of each school?
4. What are the three spheres composed of? When were the three spheres formed? What is the meaning of the dharmadhatu?
5. Discuss what samadhi means. What is the correct samadhi? What is the source of it? What effect does samadhi create?
6. How many Buddhist precepts for keeping one’s practice are involved in the 128 evil and erroneous views?
7. Is practicing the four limitless states of mind in conflict with dhyana samadhi and true thusness? Why?
8. What is the central point of view of the Prajna Sastra? What is the fundamental aspect of Madhyamakā? Briefly describe the main thoughts of the Kosa Sastra.
9. What are the good points of the Treatise on the stages of the path to Enlightenment (Lamrim)?

10. Which three sutras are: a. the mind gist of sutras, b. the king of sutras, and c. the guiding principle of sutras? Is the Agama Sutra the opposite of these three sutras? Why?
11. Describe the pros and cons of 1. The view of total annihilation, and 2. The view of permanence. Which way is accurate?
12. What is the Unconditioned Dharma (無為法)? What is the Conditioned Dharma (有為法)?
13. Explain the effects of the Dharmas Fangyankou (放焰口lit. almsgiving to hungry ghosts), Homa Fire Offering* (護摩火供), Rite of Water and Land (水陸法會), Chöd (施身法), and Vajra Faman (金剛法曼).
14. What are the views regarding liberation for the Consciousness Only Dharma Characteristics School (唯識法相)? What are the views regarding liberation for the Huayan School (華嚴宗aka. Avatamsaka)? What are the main points to attain enlightenment for the Vinaya School (律宗)? And what is different about the Agama School (阿含宗)?
15. What is Chucan (初參), Chongguan (重關), and Laoguan (牢關)?
16. What does each of these terms mean: Dead Emptiness* (頑空), Small Emptiness (小空), Grand Emptiness (大空), Empty Emptiness (?空空), Emptiness of Annihilation (寂滅空), True Emptiness (真空), or the Eighteen types of Emptiness (十八空)?
17. What are the evidential measure* (現量) and inferential measure* (比量) of hetu vidya? What are the wisdom of a known state (已知境智) and the wisdom of an unknown state (未知境智)? How can the non-duality wisdom* (一元無二) be achieved?
18. Describe in general what Zen, Concentration, Samatha (Cessation), and Vipassana (Contemplation) are. What are the effects of the Four Levels of Zen Meditation and the Eight Levels of Concentration (四禪八定)? What are the effects of the Three Bodies and the Four Wisdoms (三身四智)?
19. Explain in detail what the View of Natural Wisdom* (自然智見), the View of External Emptiness* (他空見), the Emptiness of Self (我空) vs. the Emptiness of Dharma (法空), and the Emptiness of Others (人空) vs. the Emptiness of Dharma (法空) really are. What are the differences? Which sects or schools do they originate from?
20. What commentaries did each of Nagarjuna (龍樹), Aryadeva (提婆), Dinnaga (陳那), Candrakīrti (月稱), Vasubandhu (世親), Asanga (無著), Sankarasvamin (商羯羅), and Buddhapālita (佛護) primarily write? What are the primary viewpoints in each of those commentaries?

Can you say these are not authentic Buddhist questions? Only an evil non-Buddhist would say that. To tell you clearly, what we at the headquarters uphold is the real, authentic Buddhism of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, Shakyamuni Buddha, and the Buddhas in the ten directions.

Once learning from Buddha and cultivating oneself is concerned, every Buddhist disciple has a common wish: to find a genuinely holy guru. However, they usually select what they consider a good guru from the outside appearances. This common problem has long become broadly habitual among Buddhist disciples. For example, whenever a leader or a great dharma king of a dominant sect is mentioned, people think this person must be a reincarnated Buddha or Bodhisattva. They don’t know that a mistake was already made when that dharma king was certified for reincarnation because an ordinary man was selected to be the dharma king. People may just see that a master has read several treatises or sutras and also authored some books that are being circulated broadly, thinking the master must be a great Bodhisattva without a doubt. They then bank their wisdom life on this master. Or they see that the master has mysterious and strange dharma powers and think he must be an authentic holy person. These kinds of chaos have hurt innumerable Buddhists. The outer appearance has caused the Buddhist cultivator to stumble into the wrong, dusty paths. If Buddhist cultivators don’t wake up and validate their master with the 128 views, then they are bound to be dull-minded in this tragedy, sinking into the sea of suffering that is in the three evil realms without time for liberation.

To correctly select a good, holy, and virtuous master, you must see that the master’s robe bears the level and their level certificate. In addition, you must use the 128 views to check against that master’s words and deeds. Unless validated as such, any much-vaunted status, the revelation of mysterious powers, and all the superficial titles or status are not the essence of dharma capabilities from having attained accomplishment.

There was a master who had practiced Dharma using a straw effigy to raise the dead to a higher realm, practiced the Great Compassionate Avalokiteshvara Dharma to bless believers, empower them with brightness and remove their black karma, and even revealed the supernormal ability to uncover a terma. But because that master didn’t practice cultivation according to the rules of Dharma, he ended up having evil views and wasn’t liberated in the end. A dharma king revealed the state of the three lower realms at the time of his death. Fortunately, people around him let him listen to the audio recordings of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s teaching of Buddha Dharma. He generated a mind of true repentance and was saved in time by Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, who took him to the pure land and allowed him to obtain the holy fruit of Sotapanna (須陀洹果).

With the lessons drawn from all these previous mistakes, you, the Buddhist disciples, must be careful. No matter what noble status one has, even if they have something higher than this master, you must not judge whether they are ordinary or holy just by their status. The only correct way is to check the robe they wear, which indicates their level and their level certificate. A real holy being can only be found through the test, but moreover, you must observe and verify through their views and understanding whether they had regressed from what dharma level they had before and became an ordinary person or even a cheater.

A great dharma king of a dominant sect came to take the test. He had thought he would pass the test for the Gold Button level because his fame and influence in the world were top-rate and prominent. Little had he expected that his score on the written test was only 47 points, and he got only the level of Blue Button Level 2. The Seven Holy Beings and the Ten Gurus were stunned at the result on the spot. They all thought this was a very penetrative lesson. No matter who he is, you cannot judge if he is an ordinary or a holy one by his status. The only standard way to select a correct and proper guru is to let the seventeen proctor masters take the vow and guarantee the result for you, to see the master’s result from the test, to check the master’s views and understanding, and to examine that master’s robe wear that indicates their level as well as their level certificate.

All people should be equal in front of the truth, so even the Buddha should lead by example and take the test to show everyone. But H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III does not participate in our holy test. He said He is not a sacred being but just an ordinary man. (See the text of a speech the Buddha gave, printed under the Buddha images of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, published by the Juehai Publishing House for details.) On the contrary, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the only one who has obtained the most recognition and corroborations in the entire Buddhist history, which is unprecedented by any ancient holy one. In this world, besides Namo Shakyamuni Buddha, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the only Buddha recognized by Buddha Dharma’s rules and the true highest leader of Buddhism in the world.

After all, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III holds the title of Buddha. Since our headquarters must provide the correct final determinations to living beings, our Shangzuns, Jiaozuns, Ruzuns and so on brought the 100 questions of the written test and beseeched H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to expound the answers. His Holiness the Buddha answered on the spot without preparation for us. At that time, we realized our answers were so rough and incomplete compared to the Dharma teaching by His Holiness the Buddha. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s answers are the most incisive and precise, which nothing can compare. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III wasn’t merely answering the one hundred problems for us; His teaching of the Dharma covers the entirety of Tripitaka. There are true and correct answers to hundreds of thousands of questions in the Dharma discourses, and the 128 views are a precious jewel of the correct precepts of authentic Buddha Dharma and the faithful teachings by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.

But H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III does not participate in our holy test. Therefore, this headquarters had to use the Dharma of Holy Determination by Vajra Faman (金剛法曼擇決法), which is explicitly used for determining the most sacred beings. There are not seventeen proctors onsite; tens of high monks and great virtuous ones were present to monitor the determination process. What was being determined are Shakyamuni Buddha and H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. The conclusions from the determination are that Shakyamuni Buddha is a genuine Buddha; H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the true incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha, the Sambhogakaya Buddha; and the Sixth Patriarch Huineng is a Great Bodhisattva.

A regular dharma king or a venerable cannot be determined like the Buddha via a major Dharma; they must go through the 100-problem written exam and the Holy Test. The Seven Gurus and the Ten Witnesses are the onsite proctors who issue the test candidate’s guarantee. The seven gurus are composed of holy beings who are of Gold Button levels or at least the Rundes and Dades who are of Blue Button Level 3, while the ten witnesses are composed of rinpoches or dharma masters who are the virtuous Blue Levels 2 or 1. There are a total of 17 people.

We must state that there are great holy-and-virtuous, holy-and-virtuous, and great virtuous ones among the seven gurus and the ten witnesses, but most are not holy. The critical point is that all 17 proctors take solemn vows to collectively guarantee the test candidate they have monitored. They guarantee that the level the test candidate got from the test on the test site is accurate.

Therefore, we must solemnly tell everyone that the levels, buttons, and certificates the candidate masters got from the test indicate their accurate and actual status. We must also remind everyone once again that to tell whether, at a later time, someone who wears a robe with the level buttons has regressed to ordinary or not because they say incorrect words or do wrong deeds, the best check is using the 128 views expounded by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to examine them. You can then decide whether you would rely on them.

This public announcement has now been published.

United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters

April 27, 2016

* Translator’s note: the English translation of the items with an asterisk (*) requires further confirmation

(Eric Huang translated This announcement into English on 2020-04-08 and last revised it on 2024-08-30.)