There are many busybodies in the Buddhist field who like to brag and say that certain masters are holy and virtuous beings. At the same time, they also want to say by naming names that certain other masters are not good people. From ancient times till now, gossip and bickering have never stopped in the world of living beings. One will always be criticized in two ways, whether one is kind or not. Some will call them good, and others will call them evil. Such, too, is the case for holy people and swindlers. A cheater, no matter how bad they are, is consistently praised by someone to be quite good, and a sacred person, no matter how good they are, is still slandered by someone to be wrong, although there are people who praise them as a holy person as well. People respectively hold opposing arguments, and it is hard to tell whether they are authentic. The different factions cause all this bickering, each having a separate point of view of their own. Who is good, and who is evil? It can by no means be seen precisely by ordinary people. That is why there are kings vs. bandits, holy people vs. ordinary people. In seeing this, and to help Buddhist cultivators find true good masters, this Headquarters has carried out the written test and the holy test that are 100% precise.
Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III states, “A master must take the test on Sutra, Vinaya, and Sastra.” Therefore, this Headquarters set up a one-hundred-problem written exam for Sutra, Vinaya, and Sastra. On the other hand, only Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the space can measure definitively how great a master’s accomplishment is and determine whether the master is evil. The Holy Test is, therefore, set up and presided over by Wangzha Shangzun, assisted by Mozhi Jiaozun, Dharma King Gar Tongstan, and Kaichu Ruzun. In the Holy Test, the seven masters and the ten holy and virtuous witnesses first practice a Dharma and then give the Manjushri Bodhisattva’s Holy Divination to the test candidate, who then draws the divination by themselves privately. The test candidate then enters the Eight-wind Array and shows the dharma power they have gained from their practice to penetrate the boundary to enter the Auspicious Region, i.e., the Safety Zone. The final result of the level they have achieved, the type and the number of buttons they have earned from defeating the array by their own might, is one hundred percent in agreement with the level they previously obtained in the divination they made by themselves.
Over 200 people have taken the holy test by now, and no one has had any discrepancy between the result from the array and the divination they made. Everyone got precisely the same level from the Holy Test as what the divination previously revealed. They have all been convinced wholeheartedly. Therefore, this Headquarters says that only Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can definitively confirm whether one is evil or correct, good or bad. You cannot rely on ordinary people’s gossip and bickering because they cannot accurately differentiate between true and false.
For example, thirty years ago, people in Taiwan said Chiang Kai-Shek was a good man because he let people there live good lives. Mainland China was awful because people there were living in extreme poverty and misery. However, people in mainland China said Taiwanese people had nothing to eat or wear; they even airdropped food in Quemoy Island (translator’s note: an island off mainland China ruled by Taiwan) for charity. Exactly which one was telling the truth?
For another example, Dharma Master Kuiji, Master Marpa, and Master Milarepa were all once criticized for their behaviors. But what happened in the end? They all turned out to be great holy beings! Therefore, if we want to watch the level of accomplishment of a master and to see whether the master is correct or evil, good or bad, then we must check the attire they wear that bears the buttons they obtained from taking the Holy Test. We must also examine them against the 128 Evil and Erroneous Views expounded by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. There is no other way. People’s worldly hearsay is not believable because ordinary people cannot examine inner qualities.
United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters
October 18, 2016
(Eric Huang did the English translation. It was last revised on 2024-08-30)