With sadness and joy, we at the United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters announce a shocking event today. The great holy monk in our mind and eyes, the overall guiding master in Tripitaka of the United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters, Elder Monk Yinhai, has left us after perfect practices. A top-level great holy monk has forever gone in the world.

Under the condition of having no sign of sickness, the Elder Monk went into a perfect passing of a sudden. According to U.S. laws, a doctor must file a death certificate with the government. The doctor, however, could not find any sickness as the cause of death, so he just wrote the heart stopped according to what happened.

We cannot accept that the Shengzun has suddenly left us. We are unfortunate but simultaneously delighted and joyful because the holy monk has returned to the upper-level lotus platform in the World of the Ultimate Bliss.

Wangzha Shangzun had already publicly predicted when the holy examinations ended on December 30 of last year: “There is a holy monk who ever shone light from His nine burn-marks and broke the darkness of the room. He is the number one high monk I respect the most today. He will leave us in the middle of January next year. After his passing, a holy feat that has never happened in Buddhist history shall happen. That will be a great joyful matter and is worthy of joyful celebration.”

Sure enough, on January 15 this year, the Elder Monk Yinhai went to a perfect passing. Wangzha Shangzun wrote a praise verse especially:

Monk Yinhai has merits that shine brightly in the universe

His nine burn marks emitted light that broke the darkness in the room

An exceptionally compassionate Bodhi incluse who now is known to the world,

On His own will, He returned to the Upper Lotus of Ultimate Bliss

After Shengzun’s passing, His flesh transformed with a holy miracle

Creating a new sacred chapter on passing in Buddhist history

Earlier, we went to reclusive practice in the deep mountain cave together

Lately, we were both close to the Buddha to receive authentic teachings

—the humbled Buddhist disciple, Wangzha Gongbo, holding palms together. February 15, 2017

Besides composing and writing the praise verse, Shangzun also talked about the Elder Monk’s holy feats, explained that the Elder Monk’s extraordinarily compassionate Bodhi merits shone in the universe and spread the dharmic connection to genuine Buddha Dharma for the human Saha world. He let Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings show their vivacious energy and bright light once again; He exposed the dirty phenomena where evil masters and charlatans were wreaking havoc when Buddha Dharma gradually became chaotic two thousand years after Shakyamuni Buddha’s time under the daylight. He allowed Buddhists to find the path to return to the true and correct teachings of the Buddha.

After the holy monk’s perfect passing, even His fingers and nails continued to grow, showing a tremendous divine transformation in the flesh, which has never happened in Buddhist history. The holy feat manifest that is so majestic and wonderful created a new record in Buddhist history where, on the tenth day after the passing, the flesh and the bones started changing utterly. In twenty days, the body transformed into another majestic dharma image beyond compare. The awe-inspiring holy feat that the Elder Monk Yinhai left the human world indeed verified the prediction made by Wangzha Shangzun.

After the Holy Monk entered nirvana, Buddhist disciples of the seven types guarded the Holy Monk’s flesh body all day and night. Each shift had 8 to 16 persons chanting the holy name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva without pausing for even one minute. Additionally, three high dharma assemblies were held every day at the site. From the tenth day, people began to see that the Elder Dharma Master’s flesh body was changing rapidly daily and emitted unique scent and light. Dharma Master Jue Hui, Dharma Master Long Hui, Dharma Master Xiangge Qiongwa, Dharma Master Ruo Hui, Dharma Master Miao Kong, Long Zhou Rinpoche, and others touched and pressed the Elder Monk’s flesh body by hand. They found that it was substantial and as hard as a stone. They were all stunned and spoke with full praises. For that, Wangzha Shangzun was furious and scolded them, “This is total misbehavior. How could one touch and press the revered flesh body of the venerable holy one with one’s hand?” The dharma masters could only say that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III permitted touching. The Shang Zun did not know how to react and could only say, “You should read the article about what Lama Achuk told Ah Qiong Khempo. Then you will know why the flesh body cannot be touched. Fortunately, the holy venerable one’s stage and state of realization are truly very high. That is why there have not been many effects. Otherwise, this sole holy manifestation occurring for the first time in the history of Buddhism would no longer exist. You should never act so carelessly again.”

The professional staff at the Universal Chung Wah Funeral Home also praised and said it was amazing. Twenty days after the perfect passing, there were no more wrinkles, and the bones and flesh had become quite full, and it looked like a completely different person. The fingers and nails have also grown longer. We have never seen or heard of it, working here at the funeral home for twenty or thirty years. The great master practiced Buddhism too well!”

Yinhai Shengzun, with such vast merits, had never touched fame, wealth, or power. He stayed reclusive in deep mountains. The Elder Monk wrote a verse to Wangzha Shangzun which says:

From ancient times, the holy ones often endured being alone.

Only those the recluse left their names.

Abstain from all that is evil; engage in all that is good

Sans evil or fraud, have a tremendous compassionate mind.

I am not one belonging to a sect.

Doing good deeds to attain merit is my dharma gate.

If you want the pure Buddha Dharma to reach the apex

Then follow me to take refuge in the Buddha’s School

(Buddha’s School is the religion that belongs to all Buddhas in the ten directions and is the true Buddhism of Shakyamuni Buddha. It is not the Buddha Dharma that sectarian people of later generations altered and added their personal views. Buddha’s School directly belongs to Buddha and has no such things as lineages or sectarian systems.)

The Elder Monk also told the Shangzun that the best and the highest Buddha Dharma for cultivation is the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation. When first meeting the Elder Monk, Wangzha Shangzun observed in contemplation that His Holiness the Buddha had descended to the world. He asked the Elder Monk to help introduce him to the Buddha. The Elder Monk kindly declined the Shangzun’s request, citing that His Holiness the Buddha was still young and had not started the karmic cause of spreading Buddha Dharma. It was not until ten years ago when the Shangzun finally followed Elder Dharma Master Yinhai to become a disciple of His Holiness the Buddha to learn Buddha Dharma and entered the School of Buddha, i.e., the authentic Buddha’s teaching, which is not the sectarian Buddhism of any patriarch. The personal transmission and education belong directly to His Holiness the Buddha.

Shangzun said that He practiced Buddha Dharma in a reclusive cave deep in the mountains with the Elder Monk Yinhai in the early years and learned a lot of things from Him. The Elder Monk had holy realization powers and the state of conducting Himself with great compassion and wisdom, which cannot be exhaustively told. Among the things He learned from the Elder Monk was the formation of the Vajra Array. The Vajra of the Vajra Array does not belong to any particular esoteric or exoteric school but directly pertains to the Buddha’s Buddhism. Take, for example, the Eight Great Vajras mentioned in the Diamond Sutra, or the Ucchusma Vajra of the Tang Esoteric Sect, or the Kalachakra Vajra and the Yamantaka Vajra of the Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism. They are all contained in the meaning of the Dharma. Which sect or school would they belong to? It is not the Buddhism of any particular lineage. It is directly authentic Buddhism. Therefore, it belongs to the School of the Buddha, not any patriarchal sectarian lineage.

The Elder Monk’s holy power is extreme. Wangzha Shangzun once saw by accident the nine burn marks on the head of the Elder Monk emitting light rays, brightening the dark retreat chamber as daylight. It allowed living beings of the non-human realms to rise to higher realms. That happened many years ago. Of late, He and the Elder Monk both got close to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. They received the Buddhist highest State-Practice Initiation and the supreme Great Initiation of Buddha Bestowing Amrit.

Shangzun said: “The Elder Monk is an exceedingly accomplished one from the combined practice of Mahamudra of Liberation and Great Compassionate Magnificent Ocean Red Avalokitesvara. He is a tremendously holy being who came to this world on His own will from the World of Ultimate Bliss. He has now returned to the Upper-Level Lotus Platform in the Pure Land. I am humbled by the level and the stage the Elder Monk has realized. The tremendous meritorious achievement He manifested with His flesh after His perfect passing has never happened in history. You can compare the pictures taken just eleven hours after His perfect passing and the ones taken about His miraculous transformation later. You can see right away that the miraculous transformation reached such a magnificent degree, which has never happened in the history of the whole world. We can only say that it is terrific and dignified; it is an unparalleled holy feat; the source of genuine Buddha Dharma is there, and as such, all living beings are fortunate! That is the exact source of the faithful Dharma of the Tathagata. The holy feat of the miraculous transformation that the Elder Monk Yinhai manifests after His perfect passing lets people understand that the faithful Buddha Dharma, the great Dharma that allows people to attain liberation and accomplishment, is where H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is!

Everyone can respectfully purchase the two contrasting Dharma visages of the Holy Monk Yinhai after His perfect passing, an early-year Dharma visage of His, the couplets of calligraphy, and the praise verse composed and written by Wangzha Shangzun at the United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters.

United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters

February 22, 2017

(Eric Huang worked on translating this public announcement from Chinese to English. It was last edited on 2024-06-05)