The One Hundred Holy Assemblies hosted by me, Wangzha, is formally closed today. I have held the entire ritual for the One Hundred Holy Assemblies. Some Buddhist cultivators were very serious and responsible during the One Hundred Holy Assemblies. Their minds and deeds were very focused on chanting the sutra, chanting the Buddha’s name, chanting the mantra, and singing the praise. Consequently, they received a lot of beneficial effects. Some other people, however, were distracted and looked at others’ expressions or actions, listened to others chanting or singing, and most deplorably, commented on others’ behavior. That has brought impure karma to the holy assemblies. Fortunately, they did not destroy the chance for the Yidam Dharma Affinity Initiation. I announced that anyone who completes the one hundred holy assemblies has accrued tremendous merit and can obtain one Blue Button or one Black Button. More importantly, they can get the Yidam Dharma Affinity Initiation. That involves the Yidam Dharma every Buddhist cultivator practices in innumerable past lifetimes through many eons. Because it is the supreme inner-tantric initiation, many people have generated thoughts: “Does this monk, Wangzha, have the Dharma power to invoke and invite Buddha and Bodhisattvas in the space to come and give us initiations?”

I, who am a humbled bhikkhu, will now answer you. You can rest assured and stop thinking nonsense. Even though this initiation is the highest, it is a small feat. I, Wangzha, did not have the necessary holy power. Still, Yinhai Shengzun, Gelan Deqian Shile Yuzun, Diouke Shangzun, and I have reached an understanding, and we made vows. Even if we did not have the necessary holy powers, would the tremendously compassionate H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III leave us alone? Wouldn’t it be a small feat if it is the Buddha who is to summon the Yidam? Not to mention, the four of us should be pretty capable of invoking and inviting the Yidam.

The Yidam Dharma Affinity Initiation is the first and foremost of all the inner-tantric initiations. It is also called the Holy Esoteric Tantric Initiation. To receive this initiation is more challenging than climbing Mt. Everest. Guru Padmasambhava once gave this initiation to the Tibetan King Chisong Dêzän and Yeshe Tsogyal. The Buddhist disciple receiving the initiation must ask the Yidam: What are their Dharma affinity in the innumerable past lifetimes and this lifetime? Which Dharma have they practiced the most in their many previous lifetimes, including the current one? And who is their Yidam?

Regarding Yidam, no holy guru has the right to call it regardless of their holiness level. It must be a direct consultation between the Yidam and the disciple, with the Buddhist disciple having a face-to-face discussion with the Buddha or Bodhisattva in the space. Except for the Dharma of Buddha Bestowing Holy Amrita, what other inner-tantric Buddha Dharma would you say has such real powers and can be compared with it?

According to the meaning of the Dharma, it is a cast-in-iron stipulation that the great holy guru administering the initiation cannot sit on the Dharma platform and must stand by the disciple’s side. There are three classes in the Dharma Affinity Initiation. Based on the different levels of the disciple receiving the initiation, the Yidam will meet the disciple in various levels of holy appearance. In the Top Class of the Dharma Affinity Initiation, the Buddha or Bodhisattva, i.e., the Yidam, will see the disciple face to face and answer the questions the disciple brings. He will also personally bestow the Dharma Affinity Great Treasure Pill to the disciple. In the Bottom Class, when the disciple asks a question, the Yidam will manifest the Yidam Dharma in person and bestow one Dharma Affinity Great Treasure Pill to the disciple. Even in the Bottom Class, the disciple can interact with the Yidam. The master does not speak or manifest Dharma powers on behalf of the Yidam. If the master speaks on behalf of the Yidam, that master is a witch! The disciple must gain an understanding of the Yidam Dharma from the Yidam. The initiation is only completed after the disciple gets the Dharma Affinity Great Treasure Pill. Only then can the great holy master, standing by the side to enforce the Dharma rules, have the right to speak and transmit the Yidam Dharma to the disciple according to what the Yidam told the disciple about the Yidam dharma rituals. Therefore, from the beginning of the initiation and before the Yidam told the disciple in person, the Greatly Holy Guru can only implore the Buddha or Bodhisattva to arrive in the mandala and answer the questions to the disciple. The master has no right to speak during the initiation. If the master should speak, what they say would be evil!

For Buddhist cultivators who did not participate in or did not finish the One Hundred Holy Assemblies, you can go and release captured lives or do charity work and participate in events that benefit society and the public. That would be more practical than acquiring merits from attending dharma assemblies. I guarantee that you can receive an Inner-tantric Initiation and the corresponding Yidam Dharma as long as you can do the following: 1. Do all the good deeds and abstain from all the evil deeds; 2. Use the 128 Evil And Erroneous Views expounded by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III as the bearing for verification; 3. Learn the book Learning from Buddha well, and carry out the teachings according to the staged Bodhisattvas’ Holiest Bodhi Practice of Emptiness Oceanic Mind Essence or the Xiaman Special and Wonderful Oceanic Mind Essence.

The One Hundred Holy Assemblies, hosted by Wangzha Shangzun, have ended perfectly today. The first thing Shangzun said in closing is: “Take the audio recording of my speech at the conclusion meeting of the holy exams on December 30 last year and play it to people.” This audio recorded Shangzun speaking in Tibetan with Chinese translation. Shangzun has practiced a Dharma for extinguishing the eight winds and blessed its power on every audio recording the Buddhist cultivators respectfully get back. Therefore, it has an immense beneficial blessing power to those listening to it with respect. Besides the Dharma Listening Centers, every Buddhist disciple can personally and independently request to respectfully receive this audio recording from the World Buddhism Association Headquarters and listen to it at home. Please contact the Dharma masters at the World Buddhism Association Headquarters by phone at 626-789-1001. We re-issued this paragraph because of a typo error in the last announcement.

World Buddhism Association Headquarters

March 26, 2017

(Eric Huang translated this public announcement from Chinese to English. It was last updated on 2024-08-30.)