In the vast river of Chinese art history, literati landscape paintings (Wenrenhua 文人画) have traditionally served as a sanctuary for the soul—using brush and ink to transcend the mundane world and attain the highest realm of spiritual freedom. In the pantheon of contemporary Eastern art, “Ancient Cypresses Intoning by the Spring”—a Chinese landscape masterpiece by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III (Yi Yun Gao义云高)—stands as an immortal monument of the Literati Style (Wenfeng文风派). It not only showcases a profound scholarly aura and masterful brush-and-ink technique, but also ushers viewers into an eternal, boundless cosmic life-space.
The entire composition relies solely on shades of wash and ink to dot and stain the wondrous peaks, ancient cypresses, and secluded cottages. Through the masterful use of white space (liubai留白), the grand spectacle of thundering waterfalls and surging mountain springs is vividly brought to life. The sounds of roaring wind, rushing springs, and whispering pines are all transformed upon the paper into dynamic visual lines and lively ink tones, filling the entire conceptual space with invisible celestial melodies. This touch of pure ink is precisely the ultimate spiritual realm—honest, elegant, natural, yet profoundly deep—that Chinese literati across generations have spent their entire lives pursuing.
The artistic conception of Ancient Cypresses Intoning by the Spring is remarkably deep, ethereal, and serene. The imagery carries a desolate yet vast quality, evoking an ideal world of mythical mountains and jade islands completely untouched by worldly noise or secular dust.
Most profound of all is how the sense of time dissolves before this artwork:
No Human Traces: The painting features no worldly figures; it presents only the primordial essence of nature.
No Trace of the Artist: The brushwork is incredibly mature yet leaves no deliberate mark, as if the painting was not rendered by human hands but manifested spontaneously by heaven and earth.
No Trace of the Viewer: As you gaze into the painting, the ego dissolves, and the self merges entirely into the landscape.
Here, the duality of subject and object vanishes. All phenomena exist in pure, seamless unity, entirely natural and spontaneous. With a single brush, the artist delineates the physical form of the earth, yet weaves it seamlessly with the void of the universe—structuring a vibrant, ever-generating cosmic space.
📜 A Paradigm Beyond Reality: “Imagery Beyond the Universe, Life Beyond the Seasons”
The great Qing Dynasty master painter Yun Nantian once evaluated the highest realm of art with these words:
“Gazing deeply into this realm, every blade of grass, every tree, every hill, and every ravine feels uniquely carved from a pure spirit, belonging to no mortal world. Its imagery exists beyond the universe, and its life unfolds outside the four seasons.”
This means that a truly sublime artistic realm is born entirely from the pristine spirit of the artist—a sacred landscape unfindable in the mundane world. Its essence transcends physical boundaries, and its cycle of growth and decay outlasts the changing of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
Ancient Cypresses Intoning by the Spring by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the perfect paradigm of this transcendent landscape art. Refusing to be bound by mere literal resemblance, it draws directly from the primordial source of the universe, using flawless contemporary brushwork to reawaken the core spiritual essence of traditional Chinese literati painting.
Ancient Cypresses Intoning by the Spring is far more than a master-level art treasure; it is a spiritual home where the soul can find perfect rest. In our bustling, modern society, when we gaze upon this masterpiece—listening to the low hum of the ancient cypresses and watching the crystal springs rush forth—the anxieties of life dissolve instantly. This is the power of true art, and this is the soul-stirring beauty that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III has bestowed upon the world.
In this life, none of us can escape the torments of birth, aging, illness, and death. As the old saying goes, “Even the strongest man fears the toll of disease.” When our physical bodies face the pain of a terminal illness and our minds plunge into the fear of death, we often feel incredibly small and hopeless. However, the true, orthodox Tathagata Dharma possesses the magnificent power to enable sentient beings to completely sever the cycle of dark karma, achieve liberation in this very lifetime, and attain freedom over life and death.
This article is compiled from an actual radio interview with Ruzun Ruohui, the Abbot of Hua Zang Si in San Francisco. By sharing a profoundly moving example of a Buddhist disciple’s spiritual realization, Ruzun Ruohui reveals to the public how, under the guidance of our Buddha Master, one can transition from the agonizing pain of a terminal illness to passing away peacefully with palms pressed together—manifesting holy signs of liberation. This account serves as a bright highway to liberation for all sentient beings currently struggling in delusion and illness.
In the eyes of the mundane world, a severe illness—especially late-stage cancer—frequently brings excruciating physical and mental torment. However, Ruzun Ruohui explicitly points out that the fundamental purpose of our Buddhist practice is precisely to free ourselves from the suffering of birth, aging, illness, and death.
Yet, can one truly realize freedom over life and death and achieve holy fruits in this lifetime? Aside from using one’s own practice as a foundation, the most critical factor is that one must learn and practice “True Buddha Dharma.” Among the disciples of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, instances of liberation and accomplishment are too numerous to count. This is exactly because they each received the transmission of sublime, corresponding Tathagata Dharma from their Buddha Master. Even when someone is afflicted with a fatal illness and on the brink of death, they can reverse their negative karmic retributions and achieve liberation in a very short period of time.
Among these, the real-life holy feat of the great accomplished practitioner, Layperson Zhao Yusheng in 2017, serves as a shocking, firsthand testimony to the world.
Layperson Zhao Yusheng’s path to liberation was not without obstacles; he had previously experienced an unfortunate detour into delusion.
He had followed an evil teacher and joined a cult. In his confusion, he carried out its wicked rules, helping the evil teacher promote falsehoods, deceive people, and conceal fabrications. These misdeeds, which harmed the public and society to protect the evil teacher’s private interests, left him heavily laden with dark karma. Because the law of cause and effect never fails, the retribution of his dark karma manifested: he was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Tormented by the agonizing pain of his illness, he became lucidly aware that he had been utterly ruined by that evil teacher.
On June 27, 2017, suffering from terminal cancer, Layperson Zhao Yusheng mustered his last ounce of strength and flew to Los Angeles. There, he finally met the supreme H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Before the Buddha Master, he offered his most devout and deeply painful repentance.
Facing this lost soul who was covered in dark karma and racked with pain, the great Buddha Master manifested boundless compassion. The Buddha Master told him:
“Whether you repent or not is not what is important. What matters is that you practice well from now on, truly change from evil to good, and benefit society and all sentient beings.”
This teaching reflected ultimate benevolence and compassion, looking past a sentient being’s historical mistakes and focusing entirely on their current self-renewal. Layperson Zhao Yusheng immediately made a great vow, swearing that he would never associate with the cult again, even if it meant “dying right then and there.” His sole wish for this life was to ascend to the Buddha Lands. This unreserved, absolute sincerity moved heaven and earth.
The Yidam Personally Descends: A Holy, Inner-Tantric Initiation Beyond Imagination
Seeing Layperson Zhao Yusheng’s sincerity and that his causal conditions had matured, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III compassionately took him refuge and immediately transmitted a supreme Great Dharma to him, invoking the Yidam, Amitabha Buddha!
At the site of the initiation and Dharma transmission, a sacred miracle manifested: Layperson Zhao Yusheng saw with his own eyes Amitabha Buddha descending into the sky, displaying the incomparably magnificent Thirty-Two Major Marks. The Buddha’s entire body emitted boundless golden light as He slowly descended onto the mandala. Overwhelmed with emotion, Zhao prostrated to the Buddha Master, and Amitabha Buddha personally touched his head to bestow the Dharma. The Buddha also pointed toward the West, allowing him to see with his own eyes the radiant, golden gates of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. The light streaming from within those gates was ten million times brighter than the sun!
Amitabha Buddha personally told him that at the end of his life, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (Guan Yin) would be sent to receive and guide him to be reborn into the Middle Grade of the Middle Class of the Western Pure Land.
At that moment, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said to him, “You have succeeded; your Yidam, Amitabha Buddha, has accepted you.” For over thirty years, Layperson Zhao Yusheng had chanted the Buddha’s name but never felt certain whether he could achieve rebirth. Now, he finally received a personal guarantee from the mouth of the Buddha.
Upon returning to San Francisco, he treated this transmission like an invaluable treasure, diligently practicing his daily cultivation. Originally, his fingernails had completely dried up and split due to late-stage cancer; however, after practicing the Dharma, they miraculously regrew into smooth, pink, healthy nails, and the cracking completely disappeared. This demonstrated that the blessings of the Buddha Dharma had permeated the very cells of his physical body.
A Sacred Moment of Simultaneous Resonance: Freedom Over Life and Death, Manifesting Auspicious Signs
On August 24, 2017, at approximately 2:15 PM, a moment arrived that all Buddhist disciples will remember for the rest of their lives.
At that exact time, in a mandala over 800 kilometers away, Rinpoches and Dharma Masters were requesting H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to expound the Dharma. In the middle of the discourse, the Buddha Master suddenly stopped without any prior sign and announced:
“Stop, I will not speak further. The grand causal condition has arrived; it has appeared. Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva has escorted Zhao Yusheng away, and the people beside him have witnessed it too.”
Less than two minutes after the Buddha Master spoke these words, a Dharma Master’s phone at the scene rang. On the other end of the line was Mao Meimei, the Buddhist disciple responsible for caring for Layperson Zhao Yusheng. Trembling with immense excitement, she reported to the Buddha: Layperson Zhao Yusheng had achieved freedom over life and death, and Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva had personally descended to escort him away!
It turned out that just two minutes prior, Layperson Zhao Yusheng had peacefully instructed his caregivers and his daughter from his sickbed, saying that he was about to leave. Using his remaining strength, he declared in a resonant voice:
“I will now use my freedom over life and death to perform a Dharma demonstration, proving that the Buddha Dharma of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the most supreme and holy! That evil teacher is a demon, a monster! A false teacher, a massive fraud, and a sinner! The true, orthodox Tathagata Dharma resides right here with our great Buddha Master, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Alright, alright, I will say no more—Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva has come to receive me.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a breathtaking holy feat occurred: Layperson Zhao Yusheng’s entire body emitted an extraordinary radiance. The people present clearly saw an immensely tall Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva standing directly above his head, radiating intense white light, surrounded by beautiful five-colored auspicious halos—a scene of ultimate magnificence!
Following this, Layperson Zhao Yusheng’s consciousness burst forth from the crown of his head, transforming into a radiant holy being dressed in white garments. Stepping onto auspicious clouds, his consciousness rushed toward Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, ascending into the sky and departing. This astonishing sight was even witnessed by a 92-year-old Malaysian neighbor living across the street! Everyone rushed out into the courtyard and saw the entire sky filled with a dazzling, brilliant light. Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva led the way, guiding the holy being Zhao Yusheng as he ascended to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, gradually fading into the depths of the sky.
Layperson Zhao Yusheng transformed from a terminally ill patient—deceived by an evil teacher and burdened with dark karma—into a liberated practitioner who received the true Dharma from H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Within a mere two months, he realized a miracle of liberation: breaking free from the shackles of illness, gaining freedom over life and death, being personally received by Guan Yin, and leaving a sign witnessed by the entire neighborhood. This is not a myth; it is a holy manifestation of Buddha Dharma presented right before our eyes.
He departed with absolute freedom and ease. Before his passing, he courageously demonstrated the Dharma through the reality of freedom over life and death, exposing the false teacher and denouncing the demon, thereby using his compassionate heart to awaken deluded sentient beings.
Upon receiving the news, the Dharma Masters, monastic community, and laypersons at Hua Zang Si were filled with joy and comfort. This holy feat manifests clearly to the world: the true, orthodox Tathagata Dharma resides right here with H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III! May all sentient beings who are still lost and struggling in the mundane world, on the brink of illness and death, encounter this causal condition. May they quickly stay away from false teachers and frauds, draw close to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to study the true orthodox Tathagata Dharma, and step onto the path of genuine liberation and happiness!
When people think of traveling to Guangxi, world-famous destinations like Guilin and Yangshuo immediately come to mind. But tucked away in the northwest of the province lies a hidden, crowd-free water wonderland that is about to become your next obsession: Hechi!
This isn’t Semporna or the Maldives—this is Hechi, a pristine paradise that brings together majestic karst mountains, emerald-green waters, mystical caves, and swirling schools of fish.
If you are looking to escape the summer heat and discover a side of China that most international tourists have never seen, bookmark this ultimate guide to Hechi’s three “divine hidden realms” and start packing!👇
🗺️ Deep Dive: The Three Mystical Water Spots of Hechi
1️⃣ Tian’er: The “Blue Blade” Fish Paddleboarding Drift 🐟
The Vibe: Stepping Into an Animated Fantasy World
The Experience: Imagine paddling down a river nestled between towering karst cliffs, where the water is so still it looks like a sheet of flawless green jade. This is the Hongshui River section in Tian’er. Rent a paddleboard at “Guizhiyuan Mountain Villa” and embark on a breathtaking 12-kilometer drift downstream to the old town pier.The absolute highlight of this journey is crossing the “Blue Blade Fish Storm” point. The Blue Blade fish (Hemiculter leucisculus) is incredibly sensitive to environment and only thrives in ultra-pure, wild waters. When you crumble some bread into the water, the river instantly “comes alive.” Hundreds of shimmering, silver-blue fish will swirl around your paddleboard in a mesmerizing underwater vortex. With the morning sun reflecting off their scales, it genuinely feels like stepping straight into a scene from a fantasy movie.
💰 Cost: Around 150 RMB/day for paddleboard rental (convenient pick-up and drop-off services are available at both the start and end points).
⏰ Best Time: April to October, when the fish are most active. Aim for early morning or just after a rain shower when the water is at its most transparent.
2️⃣ Fengshan: Cruising the Underground “Sea” of Sanmenhai ⛵
The Vibe: A Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Experience: Don’t let the name fool you—while “Hai” means sea, Sanmenhai is actually a spectacular, world-class geological wonder featuring a cluster of massive karst “heavenly windows” (sinkholes formed by the collapse of underground river ceilings). It is the only place in the world where you can board a traditional manual wooden boat and slide through interconnected caves into hidden tiankengs.As your boat glides from the pitch-black cavern into the light, you will be struck by an otherworldly sight. A beam of natural sunlight pierces through the open roof, illuminating the deep subterranean river into a surreal, glowing Tiffany Blue and deep sapphire. Local residents describe it as “a sea within the mountains, with gates upon the sea.” The jaw-dropping contrast of emerging from a dark cave into a hidden world of vibrant turquoise waters and hanging vines is a visual shock you will never forget.
🎫 Tickets: Around 60 RMB (Group rate/Online booking recommended for independent travelers).
⏰ Hours: 08:30 – 17:30 (Last entry at 17:00).
3️⃣ Du’an: Floating on the “Jelly Water” of Jiudun Tianchuang 💧
The Vibe: The Everest of Cave Diving Meets a Healing Crystal Palace
The Experience: Du’an county is home to hundreds of underground river sinkholes, but the Jiudun Tianchuang (Jiudun Heavenly Window) is the crown jewel. Serving as the source of the Chengjiang River, this spot is legendary among global diving communities. Its underwater caves drop down hundreds of meters into a complex, mysterious labyrinth, earning it the title of “The Mount Everest of Underwater Cave Diving.” In fact, global cave diving depth records have been smashed right here.While the depths are a thrilling challenge for professionals, the surface is a gentle, healing fairy tale. The water here possesses an astonishing, glass-like transparency. It looks exactly like a giant bowl of shimmering green jelly. The best way to experience this is by renting a completely transparent paddleboard. As you float, it feels as though you are suspended in mid-air. Looking down, you can see dozens of meters straight to the bottom where lush river weeds wave like silk ribbons in the current. It requires absolutely zero photo filters—any snapshot here is an instant masterpiece.
🎫 Tickets: FREE entry to the area!
💰 Paddleboard Rental: Around 30 RMB/hour, or 50 RMB for 2 hours.
📸 Pro-Tip: Make sure to request a clear/transparent paddleboard for those stunning, weightless aerial-style photos!
🚗 【Essential Travel Tips】
📅 Best Season:May to October. This is the prime time for water activities, and you will also get the chance to see the beautiful, rare Ottelia acuminata (sea-cake flowers) blooming on the water’s surface.
🚘 Getting Around:Self-driving or renting a car is highly recommended. The highways and national roads connecting Tian’er, Fengshan, and Du’an are well-maintained, and the driving routes wind through some of the most stunning, dramatic karst landscapes in China.
🎒 What to Pack: High-SPF sunscreen, quick-dry clothing, and a reliable waterproof bag for your electronics. Keep in mind that the caves can get quite chilly, so bring a light jacket.
🕶️ Secret Weapon: Bring a pair of polarized sunglasses! They cut the glare on the water’s surface entirely, allowing you to see the fish and underwater plants with perfect clarity.
⚠️ Safety First: Always wear your life jacket when paddleboarding! No matter how good of a swimmer you are, safety makes the trip enjoyable.
The beauty of Guangxi goes so much deeper than its famous postcards. Hechi offers a raw, wild, and incredibly pure escape that is hard to find in today’s crowded world. If you want to beat the summer heat, dive into crystal waters, and explore the mysteries of the earth without the crowds—Hechi is calling. 🎒🌿
Recently, I joined an online Buddhist study group where we have been deeply immersing ourselves in learning the Sutra by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. This experience has changed my life dramatically. As I began dedicating more intentional time to reading and listening to the Sutra, I noticed a powerful shift in my daily habits. I finally found the strength to break away from the mindless habit of scrolling through screens, freeing up the space and energy to exercise regularly. By simply replacing digital distraction with spiritual study and physical movement, I already feel significantly happier and healthier.
As I continue this journey, I often find myself reflecting on how these profound teachings apply to the ordinary, messy moments of everyday life. It is easy to study a principle conceptually, but the true cultivation begins when we bring it off the page and into our interactions with the world.
One teaching from the Sutra that has particularly influenced me—and completely shifted my perspective—is the vital importance of examining myself before focusing on the shortcomings of others.
In daily life, our default reaction to friction is often outward-facing. When someone cuts us off in traffic, misunderstands our intentions, or speaks with an edge in their voice, the ego immediately jumps to defend itself. It points a finger at the other person’s impatience, rudeness, or flaws.
However, the teachings of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III remind us that external circumstances are merely mirrors reflecting our own internal state. True cultivation requires us to break this habit of looking outward and instead turn our gaze fiercely and honestly inward.
Now, whenever I encounter misunderstandings, disagreements, or situations that test my patience, I pause. Before I speak, react, or allow resentment to build, I try to ask myself these four grounding questions:
Have I truly looked inward first? Am I seeing this situation clearly, or am I viewing it through the distorted lens of my own biases and expectations?
Is there something I need to improve in myself? Instead of demanding that the other person change, what flaw, impatience, or lack of skill in my own conduct needs addressing?
Am I responding with compassion and wisdom? Is my energy coming from a place of genuine care for the other person’s well-being, or is it coming from a desire to be “right”?
What attachment or habit might I be overlooking? What underlying ego-attachment—whether to my reputation, my comfort, or my pride—is causing me to feel triggered right now?
Although it is not always easy—and requires constant mindfulness—this practice has been quietly transformative. It acts as a circuit breaker for negative emotions. By shifting the focus from “what they did wrong” to “how I can grow,” I have found myself becoming genuinely more patient, more deeply understanding of others’ hidden struggles, and far less reactive to life’s daily irritations.
Cultivation is not about achieving perfection overnight; it is about making the consistent choice to choose wisdom over ego, one interaction at a time.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wrestled with my own thoughts and feelings about identity. Why am I, David, the person I am? How changeable is that? Where do those thoughts and feelings come from anyway, and what purposes do they ultimately serve? I suppose it’s no coincidence then that I’ve also always been so curious about the subject of human consciousness. That’s the area of science and philosophy — of human thinking generally! — that burrows most deeply into similar questions and, to varying degrees of satisfaction, offers a plethora of possible answers.
The best-selling author Michael Pollan has been thinking about these things, too. Throughout his work — which includes classic books like “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” (2006), about why we eat the way we do, and “How to Change Your Mind” (2018), about the science and uses of psychedelic drugs — Pollan has waded into ideas about the inner workings of the mind. Now, with his forthcoming book, “A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness,” which will arrive this month, he has jumped into the deep end. The book is both a highly personal and expansive multidisciplinary survey of questions around human consciousness — what it is, what causes it, what it’s for and what the possible answers might mean for how we choose to live. And as Pollan explained, with the rise of artificial intelligence as well as the relentless political pressure on our attention (that is, our minds), those questions, already profound, are becoming only more urgent.
I want to get some basics: How do you define consciousness? The simplest way to define consciousness is as subjective experience. Another one-word definition is “awareness.” Thomas Nagel, the N.Y.U. philosopher, wrote a piece back in the ’70s called “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” His idea is: If we can imagine it is like anything to be a bat, then a bat is conscious, because that means it has some sort of subjective experience. Why did he choose bats? Well, they’re very different than we are. Instead of using eyesight, they use echolocation. They bounce signals off of objects to move through space. We can vaguely imagine going through the world with echolocation. Whereas my toaster, I can’t do that. I don’t have a sense of what it’s like to be my toaster.
A big question of consciousness is what the philosopher David Chalmers has referred to as the “hard problem.” Can you tell people what that is? Basically how you get from matter to mind, how you cross that huge gulf from neurons to subjective experience — a gulf no one has managed to cross. Related questions are: Why don’t all these things we do go on automatically? Why do we have to be aware of anything? We could be completely automated and perhaps get along just fine. Your brain is monitoring your body and making fine adjustments in the blood gasses, in the heart rate, in digestion. There’s a lot going on that we don’t have to think about. So why do we have to think about any of it? Some interesting theories have been proposed. One is that some of the issues that we deal with have to be decided in a conscious way. When you have two competing needs — you’re hungry and you’re tired — which should take precedence? So consciousness opens up this space of decision-making. The other argument is that we live in a very complex social world where I have to predict what you’re going to say; I have to imagine my way into your head. You can’t automate human social interaction. It has too many elements. So consciousness is very helpful in navigating that world.
It seems likely to me that regardless of the source of consciousness, it’s probably a result of evolutionary processes — that consciousness evolved to make information available to certain parts of the brain, or to help us recognize patterns, or perceive threats, or maintain homeostasis. But are any non-evolutionary arguments for consciousness plausible to you? Oh, yeah. One is panpsychism.
Which could sound bonkers. It can sound bonkers. Panpsychism is the idea that everything, every particle, the ink on the page, the atoms, all have some infinitesimal degree of psyche or consciousness, and somehow this consciousness is combined in some way from our cells and the rest of our bodies to create this kind of superconsciousness. It sounds crazy. There are some very serious people who believe in it. You have to expand your sense of the plausible when you’re looking at consciousness. But we’ve done that before. How long ago was it that we discovered electromagnetism? This crazy idea that there are all these waves passing through us that can carry information. That’s just as mind-blowing, right?
I could happily talk about consciousness all day, but often when I do talk about it with people, I can tell that they view thinking about consciousness as almost akin to navel gazing. Like, it’s an interesting thing to think about, but really what difference does it make? What is your response to that? I’ve thought a lot about what good is it to think about consciousness, and I came to think that it’s more important than ever. Scientists are now learning that more and more animals and creatures — going all the way down possibly to insects — are conscious. So that’s one interesting issue: We’re sharing consciousness with more creatures. And then the big threat is artificial intelligence and the effort to create a conscious A.I., which is going to be an enormous challenge to this question of what does it mean to be human. Is consciousness something that a machine can possess? Are we more like intelligent machines or conscious, feeling animals? Who are we? So I think we’re approaching this kind of Copernican moment of redefinition.
What do you think we should do with the increasing awareness that more animals might be conscious than we previously thought? I guess the argument would be that we should have a greater amount of respect for them, but we know human beings are conscious and we exploit the hell out of other humans all the time. That’s a great question. There’s this whole conversation, very active here where I live in Silicon Valley, that if A.I. is conscious, then we’re going to have to give it moral consideration. Well, really? Have we given moral consideration to one another? Have we given moral consideration to the chickens and the cattle that we eat? The answer is no. It doesn’t automatically follow. So we’re going to have to sort out the ethics. Maybe it’s around the ability to suffer. Maybe that’s where you draw the line. I don’t know. I’m not an ethicist, but it’s not as easy as: You’re conscious, therefore you have all these rights. A.I. is really going to complicate this. Who we grant personhood to is a very subjective human decision. We give it to corporations, oddly enough, which are not conscious, but there are all sorts of creatures we don’t give it to. I don’t think we’re entirely rational or consistent in our granting of moral consideration.
You are skeptical that A.I. can achieve consciousness. Why? I’m convinced by some of the researchers, including Antonio Damasio and Mark Solms, who made a really compelling case that the origin of consciousness is with feelings, not thoughts. Feelings are the language in which the body talks to the brain. We forget that brains exist to keep bodies alive, and the way the body gets the brain’s attention is with feelings. So if you think feelings are at the center of consciousness, it’s very hard to imagine how a machine could rise to that level to have feelings. The other reason I think we’re not close to it is that everything that machines know, the data set on which they’re trained, is information on the internet. They don’t have friction with nature. They don’t have friction with us. Some of the most important things we know are about person-to-person contact, about contact with nature — this friction that really makes us human.
Despite how it may seem, the internet is not actually the whole of the world. But to a computer, it’s all you got.
How would we know if an A.I. is conscious or not? How do I know you’re conscious?
I promise I am! Your promise is what’s called reportability in philosophy. You can ask something if it’s conscious, and with humans, we kind of know.
But if an A.I. says: “Michael, I’m conscious. I promise,” how do we know? We don’t, and that is exactly why people are falling deep into these relationships with A.I. We can’t say it’s not conscious when it tells us it is. But we can test it in various ways. It all goes back to this idea of the Turing test — that the test of machine intelligence would be when they can fool us.
If the Turing test is the criteria for machine consciousness, then that test has already been passed. Exactly, it has fooled many, many people. Whether it can fool an expert, too, I don’t know, but probably. So we’re in a very weird place where the machines we’re living with are telling us they’re conscious. We can’t dispute it, but we can look at how they’re made and draw the kind of conclusions I’ve drawn. But is that going to persuade everybody? No. We want them to be conscious in some way. Or some of us do. It’s easier to have a relationship with a chatbot than another human. Going back to that friction point, they offer no friction. They just suck up to us and convince us how brilliant we are, and we fall for it.
What do you think religion has to offer to questions about consciousness? Buddhism has been thinking about consciousness for a very long time. It has been raising these questions about the self and giving people tools to transcend the self, which in itself is a desire that is surprising. We cling to this ego so firmly; at the same time, we do a lot of things to get away from it, whether it’s extreme sports or psychedelics or meditation.
Or watching a movie or having sex or any number of things. Some of the highest experiences of life are these moments where we transcend the self, and that’s curious.
What do you think that’s about? Why, if we cling to the self, are we also so hungry to lose ourselves? The self isolates us, the ego builds walls around it, it’s constantly evaluating, it ruminates. There’s a lot of crappy stuff about the self.
Yeah, it’s constantly yammering away. Yes, there is that voice in our head, and it embodies critical voices, very often inherited from parents or other people. I mean, the ego is very useful. It gets a lot done. It got my book done. It gets your podcast done. So we shouldn’t be too critical of it. On the other hand, when we transcend the self, we connect to things larger than ourselves. And this is one of the beautiful things about psychedelics — when they work, there is this sense of dissolution of self. The walls come down, and you feel part of nature. You feel love. I had an experience I describe in the book of self-dissolution where I merged with this piece of music, this Bach cello suite, and it was such a profound experience because the subject-object split went away and I was identical to this music. The interesting thing, though, is that consciousness doesn’t go away when the ego goes away. We protect our ego because we’re afraid if we lose it, we’re dead. But we’re not. It’s just one voice. There’s a lot else going on, as you learn when you meditate and use psychedelics.
How often do you do psychedelics? Not very often at all. It’s hard to find time. It’s a big day with a lot of preparation and everything. If I can do it once a year, I’m happy. What I’m talking about is ideally a guided experience. You can let yourself go when someone’s watching your body. So when I can put myself in that situation — which isn’t easy to do, and it’s expensive — I find that very valuable. I’m still learning things.
What are you learning? Oh, every psychedelic experience is different. You never go back to the same place. That’s why I think it’s a great thing to do on or around your birthday, to sort of take stock of your reality and what the issues are. I had an experience not too long ago that kind of rocked me.
What was it? It was a guided trip on — it doesn’t matter what it was on. I had these powerful emotions that had no name. They were like these giant blimps crashing into me, crashing into each other, and I was straining and so frustrated that I didn’t know what they were, and the answer never came clear during the experience. Oddly enough, the answer to what they were came two weeks later when I happened to be at a meditation retreat. The links between psychedelics and meditation are very fruitful and interesting. I was doing a walking meditation after a couple days of complete silence, 12-hour-a-day meditating, and there were the blimps. In sans serif letters, right on the blimp, was the word “fear.” I quickly realized what it was. It was fear of losing something very close to you. So the combination of two experiences ended up being very productive. But on its own, the psychedelic experience raised more questions than gave answers.
Questions of consciousness, which are really questions about what makes us us, are some of the most important questions that can be asked. But at the same time, they can lead into other questions like: Is there some David — some stable “I” — that exists or not? Or what is the relationship between free will and consciousness? Sometimes thinking about those questions can be destabilizing. Is that just me? Do you have similar apprehensions? It can be destabilizing, absolutely. One of the reasons people are happy to be less conscious and fill their attention with distractions and drugs is because the mind can be a scary place to visit. We often want to be less aware of what’s going on. There are reasons people avoid going down these rabbit holes. It takes a willingness to risk something.
I apologize if this seems like a woo-woo question, but do you think the absence of something like a stable “self” also means the absence of something like a soul? Do you believe in a soul? Well, if a soul is something that is indestructible and survives our death, no. But I can’t say anything about the afterlife with confidence. Consciousness has become our secular substitute for the soul; we talk about consciousness the way people in the 16th or 17th century talked about souls. Some people’s interest in it is the fact that it floats free of these mortal bodies and maybe gets folded into a collective consciousness after we’re gone. So I think there is a hidden religiosity or spirituality in the whole conversation around consciousness. Somebody asked me recently, Do you think as people get older, they are more interested in consciousness? And I would say yes, and probably for that reason.
It does seem that many of us have consistencies to ourselves that are a little hard to explain in the absence of something like a stable identity or a soul. In the new book, you mention a period in your teenage years when you were reading Hermann Hesse, writing bad poetry and thinking about the big questions. I don’t know if you still write bad poetry, but the other two things don’t seem that far away from what you’re now doing in your 70s. So what might explain what seem like intrinsic core qualities that are constant for you through time if not a stable self-identity or a soul? Even though I talk a lot about this idea that maybe the self is an illusion, it still has a conventional reality. The fact that I’m using myself to talk to yourself makes this very easy. If neither of us had selves right now, it would be a very loosey-goosey conversation. I can’t even imagine what it would be like. Matthieu Ricard said: It’s like a river has a name, and that conventional name is very useful, but there’s nothing consistent there. It’s just water passing.
I brought something like this up earlier, but I want to ask another version of it. This morning I was reading the news and thinking, Gosh, right now, is talking to Michael Pollan about consciousness a kind of “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” conversation? I decided the answer is no, but do you ever have those doubts? I did at various points when I was starting on this book and the world was starting to fall apart. Like, is this how I should be using my energy? But I think that consciousness is at stake in a lot of what’s going on. One of the things Trump has done is occupy a significant chunk of our attention every single day. Our consciousness is being polluted, and protecting ourselves against that at the same time we preserve the ability to act politically is a difficult balancing act. Consciousness is a very precious realm. It’s the realm of our privacy and our freedom to think. So I think we need some kind of consciousness hygiene, particularly at this moment, where this one politician has figured out ways to command our attention. Consciousness is more relevant now than it even was 10 or 20 years ago, as something to think about, protect and nurture.
This interview has been edited and condensed from two conversations. Listen to and follow “The Interview” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, or Amazon Music. David Marchese is a writer and co-host of The Interview, a regular series featuring influential people across culture, politics, business, sports and beyond in the New York Times.
In a world that often glorifies a “survival of the fittest” mentality, we are frequently told that selfishness is the ultimate driving force for getting ahead. We view competition as the natural state of things and putting oneself first as the only way to thrive.
But what if modern science and ancient spiritual traditions are trying to tell us the exact opposite?
What if altruism—the act of selflessly helping others—is actually human beings’ ultimate evolutionary survival strategy?
The Groundbreaking Science: Tracking the “Returns” of Giving
For years, the idea that “doing good makes you healthy” was viewed as mere wishful thinking. That changed when Dr. Stephen Post, a former Professor of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University (now at the Stony Brook University School of Medicine), and novelist Jill Neimark decided to investigate the deep connection between giving and receiving from a strictly modern medical perspective.
In their landmark research, which culminated in the book Why Good Things Happen to Good People, they aggregated data from over 100 studies conducted across 40 major American universities. By tracking individuals who regularly practice altruism, they developed detailed metrics to analyze the physical and psychological “returns” of different kinds of giving.
Their conclusions revealed a profound biological reward system:
Survival of the Cooperative
From an evolutionary standpoint, true fitness in human history didn’t belong to the lone, aggressive wolf; it belonged to the community that collaborated. Dr. Post’s work highlights that tribes that shared food, cared for the sick, and protected one another had significantly higher survival rates. Humans conquered the planet because we had the capacity for deep cooperation. Altruism is quite literally a core part of our biological operating system.
To ensure we kept cooperating, nature built a flawless internal reward system. Dr. Post and other neuroscientists discovered that when you offer a genuine smile, extend a helping hand, or show empathy, your biology responds immediately:
The Helper’s High: Your brain releases a surge of dopamine (the joy chemical) and oxytocin (the bonding hormone), leaving you with an elevated sense of well-being.
Immune Protection: Remarkably, researchers found that even passing a warm, humorous, or friendly expression to someone else triggers a measurable increase in Secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) in your saliva. This antibody serves as your body’s frontline defense against respiratory infections.
The Scientific Truth: Cultivating a mindset of goodwill lowers stress hormones, dampens chronic inflammation, and actively boosts your immune system. Your body is biologically wired to thrive on kindness, yielding what Dr. Post calls a “medical effect” and a high “happiness index” for those who are genuinely open-handed.
Long before modern laboratories could measure antibody levels or compile statistical tracking sheets, ancient Eastern philosophies had already mapped out this profound connection between the mind, the body, and the universe.
Traditional Chinese Culture: The Power of “Zheng Qi” (Positive Qi)
In Traditional Chinese Medicine and philosophy, true health is a reflection of moral alignment. The classic medical text, Huangdi Neijing, famously states: “When Positive Qi (Zheng Qi) resides within, no illness (Xie Qi) can interfere.” * Being generous, kindhearted, and open-minded (Zhai Xin Ren Hou) isn’t just a moral duty; it is a supreme form of healthcare.
By casting away malice, resentment, and narrow-minded selfishness, you release the emotional blockages that disrupt your bodily harmony. A benevolent heart naturally fosters a strong, resilient life force that is in tune with the world around it.
Buddhist Wisdom: The Mirror of “Altruism is Self-Interest”
In Buddhist teachings, the barrier between “self” and “other” is an illusion. This gives rise to the concept of Tongti Dabei (Universal Compassion)—the understanding that we are all interconnected.
Under the law of cause and effect, helping someone else is fundamentally the highest form of self-interest. When you plant a seed of kindness in someone else’s life, you are simultaneously cultivating your own “field of blessings.” The positive energy you put out inevitably loops back—transforming your own physical well-being, mental clarity, and spiritual peace, even if you are completely unaware of it happening.
Recognizing that kindness is a biological and spiritual necessity changes how we look at daily life. Every time you choose to be kind, you are not “sacrificing” something of yourself; you are investing in your own vitality and alignment.
You don’t need grand, cinematic gestures to tap into this power. You can start today with simple, intentional acts:
Offer a mindful smile: Pass a warm, encouraging expression to a stressed coworker or a stranger behind a counter to activate your own immune defenses.
Practice micro-kindnesses: Hold the door, give up your seat, or take two minutes to send a text expressing genuine gratitude to a friend.
Filter your speech: In a digital world full of sharp criticism, choose to speak or type words that build up rather than tear down, keeping your nervous system in a healthy, positive state.
As Dr. Stephen Post’s extensive data shows, an astonishing energy conversion happens when we give: the energy of the return is always flowing back to us. Every act of goodwill alters your internal neural chemistry, wakes up your immune cells, and harmonizes your spirit.
By stepping away from selfish anxieties and embracing an open, giving heart, you align yourself with thousands of years of human evolution and spiritual wisdom. Be kind to the world—not just because it needs it, but because your very life depends on it.
The moment your eyes rest upon “Flowers in the Garden”—a Chinese painting masterpiece by His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III—a sense of transcendent peace and quiet joy quietly washes over you.
The painting opens with a frame full of vital rhythm and poetic grace:
In a quiet garden, flower buds tremble on the verge of blooming, while a few solitary plum blossoms quietly unfold along the branches.
Look closely, and you can almost pierce through the canvas to inhale the faint, delicate fragrance drifting out from the silence. There is no noisy clamor of a garden in full, chaotic bloom. Instead, there are only a few scattered blossoms softly opening on the branch—yet in a single snapshot of time, they touch the tenderest part of the human heart, stirring a unique and profound sense of delight.
The Mastery of Elegance: Simple Strokes, Infinite Meaning
What truly mystifies viewers about “Flowers in the Garden” is its incredibly minimalist yet profoundly rich visual language. This artwork elevates the traditional ink-and-brush techniques of Chinese painting to their absolute zenith:
Lines that Vibrate with the Soul: The sparse, calculated lines in the painting are relaxed yet full of hidden strength, moist yet aged with character. They are not merely the structural forms of branches; they feel like the physical vibration of the creator’s soul, whispering endless stories across time. These rhythmic, undulating lines serve both as a deeply expressive emotional language and the powerful skeletal framework that supports the entire composition.
The Ethereal Space of Ink and Void: As our gaze passes through these sweeping lines to contemplate the negative space they divide, an otherworldly sense of emptiness embraces us. It is a beauty akin to “looking at flowers through a fog, or gazing at the moon reflected in water”—illusory, misty, and wonderfully detached from the mundane world.
Within this luminous, spiritually charged space, the creator embeds a crisp, rhythmically swift calligraphic inscription. The calligraphy and the painting reflect and elevate one another, suddenly bringing forth an indescribable artistic beauty.
This artistic ambiance—which flawlessly uses the solid to guide the void, remaining completely natural and untainted by the world—possesses an almost miraculous power of attraction. Effortlessly, it cleanses the viewer’s inner restlessness, transporting us into a completely transcendent, breathtakingly beautiful spiritual realm.
Words have an end, but artistic conception is infinite. “Flowers in the Garden” is far more than a traditional Chinese painting for passive appreciation; it is a tangible manifestation of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s world-astonishing artistic genius brought to the human realm.
[Introduction] This blog post is compiled and adapted from an interview with Buddhist Practitioner, Ruo Hui Ru Zun, the Abbot of Hua Zang Si in San Francisco, USA. To read the full transcript of the interview, please visit the official Hua Zang Si website:Full Interview Record.
In this chaotic and bustling world, everyone is searching for a spiritual home and the ultimate truth of life and the universe. There exists such a supreme Buddhist treasure — Expounding the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra. In this sacred text, Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III uses the verses of the Heart Sutra to directly reveal the ultimate truth regarding Buddhas, living beings, the sentient and insentient, and the cosmic principles of formation, existence, decay, and emptiness. This precious book is not only a monument of profound wisdom, but its birth and publication were accompanied by multiple miraculous events that defy modern science—leaving anyone who hears them deeply moved and awestruck.
⊙ Praise Across Time and Space: The Miraculous Audio Insertion by Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
Looking back to the first day of the lunar new year in 1992, Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III formally commenced a 15-day discourse on the Dharma, responding to the matured karmic conditions of living beings. These fifteen days of Tathagata Dharma voice saved countless beings and left behind a startling legend that resonates to this day.
On a particular day during the continuous discourse, a holy manifestation occurred right before the assembly:
A Sudden Flash of Divine Light: Halfway through the discourse, the disciples present suddenly perceived a brilliant flash of light. The entire room instantly lit up, accompanied by an indescribable sense of wonder and auspiciousness.
Dual Recordings, a Unique Miracle: To ensure a rigorous record of the Dharma, two identical cassette recorders were placed at the scene to record simultaneously. Miraculously, when a disciple checked the tapes the following day, one of the tapes unexpectedly contained a flawlessly beautiful and divine female voice, while the other tape captured only the Buddha Master’s regular voice!
A Seamless, Supernatural Interwoven Insertion: This exquisite voice was not background noise; rather, it was precisely “inserted” right into the natural pauses between the Buddha Master’s sentences. In an era of cassette tapes without digital post-production or editing, it was humanly impossible to seamlessly weave an external voice into a live recording without creating blank gaps or requiring complex studio manipulation.
Afterward, the Buddha Master personally performed a Dharma evaluation to investigate, revealing a breathtaking truth—that beautifully moving voice belonged to none other than Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Guan Yin Bodhisattva). The Bodhisattva had personally manifested at the assembly to insert Her praise at the most pivotal moment of the Dharma discourse, pronouncing a supreme Name of a Dharma.
This extraordinary recording, carrying the divine praise of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, did not merely record supreme truth; it also bore a prophecy that transcended decades.
Back then, Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III openly declared to His disciples on the recording: In 20 years, this sacred book Expounding the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra will be officially published. Upon its publication, it will move the Buddhas to shower down real holy nectar (amrita) from the Buddha Lands to empower and bless this precious book.
The wheels of history rolled forward. Twenty years later, this seemingly unbelievable prophecy achieved a 100% jaw-dropping, world-shaking realization in 2014.
⊙ Holy Nectar Descends Upon the Mandala: Ironclad Proof of Supreme Buddha Power
On March 7, 2014, the Holy Miracles Temple in the United States was filled with the resonance of sacred chants as the initial empowerment Dharma Assembly for Expounding the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra commenced.
The sacred book and holy objects were reverently placed upon the Dharma dais. The assembly was co-presided over by the venerable Dharma King Lodro Thaye Rinchen Gyatso (Luodongzan), the octogenarian Kaichu Rinpoche, and the 20-year-old Gongga Rinpoche, while the seven types of Buddhist disciples sincerely chanted the Heart Sutra and holy mantras. As the assembly progressed, a deeply moving holy scene unfolded before heaven and earth:
Howling Winds, Yet the Holy Banners Remain Still: Just over ten minutes into the assembly, violent winds suddenly rushed through the air outside, roaring loudly as the Holy Dharma Protectors descended! Yet, incomprehensibly, the yellow satin banners hanging along the walls remained completely still, undisturbed by the howling winds. Amidst their amazement, the disciples present witnessed various magnificent holy scenes unique to their own vision.
Holy Nectar Descends Out of Vacuity Into an Empty Bowl: As the chanting paused and Gongga Rinpoche prepared to pour six cups of Dharma water into a violet-gold copper bowl that was completely empty, he looked through the transparent lid and was shocked to discover that the bowl was already filled with real holy nectar that had manifested out of nowhere! Overwhelmed with joy and reverence, the Rinpoche prostrated instantly.
A Five-Colored Spiritual Splendor Beyond This World: Subsequently, the monastics and Rinpoches rushed forward to view the manifestation. They beheld the holy nectar appearing in five colors, purple-red, or pure white. Its form, texture, and substance were completely unlike any matter found on Earth—exquisite and sublime beyond words.
As the violet-gold copper bowl was struck, its crisp, sacred resonance echoed through the Dharma Realm. Although Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III was not personally present to perform the rituals that day, it was precisely because the location of Expounding the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra possesses boundless merit and supreme Buddha power that it naturally invoked this magnificent holy miracle of descending nectar, bridging the mortal and the divine.
Words can record history, but only holy miracles can validate ultimate truth.
From the miraculous insertion of Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s voice during its inception, to the descent of holy nectar upon its publication, these ironclad, auspicious miracles thoroughly prove that Expounding the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra is a supreme, perfect treasury of Buddhist text. It is a guide capable of leading living beings across the six realms to achieve perfect blessings, wisdom, and ultimate liberation from life and death. May all fortunate readers encounter this book, share in its Dharma benefits, and attain perfect realization!
As parents, how often do we catch ourselves saying things like: “Why are you being so lazy?” “Look at your cousin, why can’t you be more like them?” “If you keep acting like this, you’ll never amount to anything.”
We often mistakenly believe that harsh criticism will motivate a child to change. But psychological reality shows us the exact opposite: children almost always grow into the exact labels their parents and teachers place on them.
If we want our children to break barriers and achieve great things, we must stop raising them in an environment of constant negative feedback. Instead, we need to understand the life-altering power of a “positive prophecy.”
“One of America’s great scientists” – one of several Carver-centric posters by C. H. Alston, this one referencing the World War II effort (c. 1943)
To understand how a single person’s belief can reshape a child’s destiny, we don’t need to look at internet fables—we only need to look at the historical reality of Dr. George Washington Carver.
Born into slavery in Missouri during the American Civil War, George faced an unimaginable start to life. He was a frail, sickly child, orphaned at a tender age, and growing up in an era rife with brutal systemic oppression. In the eyes of the world at that time, his future was virtually nonexistent.
But George was an exception. He didn’t just survive; he became one of the greatest agricultural scientists, inventors, and educators in American history, ultimately advising presidents and transforming the agricultural economy of the American South.
What pushed a young boy from the absolute margins of society to the heights of global respect? It wasn’t just luck. It was the unwavering, positive expectations of the adults who raised and taught him.
After slavery was abolished, the couple who had previously owned George’s mother, Moses and Susan Carver, chose to keep George and his brother on their farm. Instead of treating him as an afterthought, Susan Carver noticed something extraordinary in the frail boy: an insatiable curiosity for nature and a brilliant mind.
Susan gave him a positive identity. She didn’t see a sickly orphan; she saw a gifted child. She taught him to read, nurtured his love for plants, and constantly reinforced the idea that his mind was a precious tool meant for great things.
Later, when George walked miles to attend a school for Black children, a midwife named Mariah Watkins took him in. Seeing his determination, Mariah looked at him and delivered a powerful prophecy that George carried for the rest of his life:
“You must learn all you can, and then go back out into the world and give your learning back to our people.”
These weren’t just empty words of praise. They were high-specification “identity anchors.” They gave George a banner to march under. From that point forward, he didn’t view himself as a victim of his circumstances; he viewed himself as a custodian of knowledge with a grand purpose. He held himself to the standard of the brilliant educator they promised he would be, eventually becoming the first Black student and faculty member at Iowa State Agricultural College.
What George Washington Carver experienced is a phenomenon heavily documented in modern psychology known as the Pygmalion Effect (or the Expectation Effect). When a caregiver or educator holds high expectations for a child and communicates them through positive reinforcement, the child subconsciously alters their behavior, self-image, and effort to meet that expectation.
Famous education expert Karl Witte famously noted: “Every child is a genius.” He firmly believed that the method of education is paramount. With the right approach, an ordinary child can achieve extraordinary things.
Psychological and statistical data strongly back this up:
Studies in early childhood development show that children with severe, unfixable intellectual disabilities make up only about 1.07% of the population, while highly precocious children make up about 0.03%.
This means that roughly 98% of children are born with perfectly healthy, fully capable intellectual baselines!
The gap that widens between children as they grow is rarely a matter of raw genetic IQ. Instead, it is a question of motivation, mindset, and confidence. And the primary fuel for a child’s confidence is the reflection they see of themselves in their parents’ eyes.
How can today’s parents apply the lessons of Dr. Carver’s life and cognitive psychology to raise thriving children?
1. Shift from “Flaw-Finding” to “Gold-Digging”
If you look at your child and constantly notice their messiness, their loud voice, or their stubbornness, you will naturally project an aura of disappointment. You must train yourself to see the gold hidden in the dirt. Is your child stubborn? Reframe it: “You have incredible persistence; you don’t give up easily.” Is your child loud and disruptive? Reframe it: “You have a powerful presence and great leadership energy.”
2. Give High-Specification “Identity Labels”
Stop using generic insults like “lazy” or “clumsy.” Instead, anchor your child with a noble identity based on their actions. When your child carefully builds a Lego set, say: “I can see how deeply you focus; you have the mind of a meticulous engineer.” When they share a toy, tell them: “You have a deeply generous heart; you are a natural caretaker.” Give them a noble banner, and they will naturally straighten their backs to carry it.
3. Translate Expectations into Inner Standards
The power of Susan Carver and Mariah Watkins’ encouragement wasn’t just that it made George feel good—it changed his daily self-discipline. True positive reinforcement encourages a child to hold themselves to a higher standard. Help your child understand: “Because you are a capable, intelligent person, we are going to practice managing your time and respecting others the way great people do.”
Every child enters this world as a blank canvas of infinite potential. Whether they become someone who drifts aimlessly through life or someone who stands tall and alters history depends entirely on the blueprint drawn for them by the people they trust the most.
As parents, let us put away our critical, depreciating lenses. Let us irrigate our homes with trust and empower our children with genuine, high expectations.
Remember: When your educational method shifts from criticism to profound belief, your child will finally have the freedom to become the genius they were born to be.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to stand in the presence of true, living divine power? To witness a ritual where the boundaries between the mundane world and the heavenly realms completely dissolve?
While fire offerings (Homa) are celebrated throughout Tibetan and Indian Buddhist traditions for their power to eliminate disasters, eradicate obstacles, and increase blessings, there is a legendary form of this ritual that belongs almost entirely to history. It is called the Sublime Fire Offering (Holy Sunyan Homa).
For over eighty years, this ultimate rite had not been successfully manifested anywhere on Earth. But on September 19, 2018, at the Holy Miracles Temple, history was remade. Led by a Highest Holy Guru , an assembly gathered to witness an event that can only be described as a modern-day spiritual miracle.
To understand the magnitude of what transpired, one must understand the difference between a conventional fire offering and a true Sublime Fire Offering. Ruohui Ruzun, a holy virtue who was present, describes the difference as “the distance between a single step and ten thousand miles.”
Conventional Fire Offerings: Wood is stacked high, and prayers are chanted. However, when it comes time to light the fire, it is always done by human hands using ordinary lighters or matches.
The Sublime Fire Offering: Human hands cannot touch the flame. It requires the invocation of nine Tathagatas (Buddhas), the Vajra Matrika (Vajra Mother), the Prajna Mother, and holy dharma protectors to physically descend from the void. The fire must be ignited directly by the Holy Vajra Mother from the sky.
Many great masters and Dharma Kings over the last century have attempted this rite, only for it to function as an ordinary fire offering because they lacked the profound realization and spiritual power to invoke the Holy Manifestations.
The Defying of Reality: The Day the Vajra Mother Ignited the Flame
On that historic September day, devotees stood closely inside the Grand Main Hall, watching every movement with absolute focus.
The offering altar was a newly crafted, pure copper brazier placed upon a simple flat table. It contained no electrical components, hidden mechanisms, or flammables. A team of over ten volunteers had meticulously scrubbed it top to bottom in front of everyone.
The Highest Holy Guru sat on the Dharma throne about 50 meters away. A holy virtue holding the rank of One Gold Button, Bodi Wentu Ruzun, served as the “Guarding Officer of the Fire.” He dipped a ceremonial fire-token into ghee, took a step with every mantra, and stopped about six meters away from the altar.
Suddenly, instead of stepping closer to light it manually, he looked up into the vast sky and called out:
“This Sublime Fire Offering is presided over by the Namo Highest Holy Guru. I request the Holy Vajra Mother to ignite the fire! If the Vajra Mother does not ignite it, then disciple Bodi Wentu will!”
He bowed deeply. From the distance, the Highest Holy Guru called out in a resonant voice: “We request the Holy Vajra Mother to ignite the Homa fire to eliminate obstacles and increase blessings for all living beings!”
The moment the words left His lips, a brilliant flash of blue light cut through the air. The Holy Vajra Mother appeared in the void, pointed her finger, and shot a beam of lightning into the cold brazier.
Instantly, without any human intervention or spark, a roaring, magnificent fire erupted from the copper furnace. The sudden, immense power of the flame sent Rincpoche Bodi Wentu leaping back in awe before falling to the ground in prostration. The entire crowd fell to their knees, weeping and bowing in absolute ecstasy, as the sacred Homa ritual officially began.
As the offering continued, another extraordinary event unfolded. A Buddhist practitioner turned a heavy Vajra Demon-Banquishing Bowl upside down onto a small table. According to Dharma text, this bowl naturally draws in and traps the negative karma, demonic obstacles, and enmity of everyone present at the assembly.
As the negative energies tried to break free, the heavy bowl began to violently vibrate under their immense pressure. At that critical, hair-raising moment, a loud “BOOM!” echoed through the hall.
A bolt of lightning from the Vajra Mother struck the bowl, instantly pulverizing the dark karma and demonic entities into dust. Their consciousnesses were subsequently delivered by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to the Buddha Lands for strict cultivation and guidance.
Following this, the Highest Holy Guru—who had remained at a distance and never approached any of the ceremonial tables—performed the great Dharma of “Secretly Dispatching the Bodhisattva’s Petition.” With a thunderous sound, a flash of lightning swirled around the rim of the upside-down bowl and vanished. When the assembly flipped the bowl over, the petition paper inside had completely vanished into thin air under the watchful eyes of the crowd, confirming the absolute perfection of the ritual.
The transcendence of the Buddha Dharma manifested not only in grand lightning and fire, but also in the most subtle, undeniable details.
As the sacred wood burned, thick, dense clouds of Homa smoke billowed upward, filling the upper atmosphere of the grand hall. Under normal circumstances, lighting even half a cigarette in that hall would instantly trigger the ultra-sensitive smoke detectors, sounding alarms and unleashing the water sprinkler system.
Yet, throughout the entire sacred assembly, the smoke detectors remained completely silent. The spiritual energy of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas perfectly governed the environment, leaving the technology untouched while filling the hearts of the devotees with boundless peace.
Witnessing this Sublime Fire Offering left everyone with a profound realization. As one of the great holy virtues remarked: “Compared to a Sublime Fire Offering, a conventional fire offering is like a single hair from nine oxen—mere child’s play.” The merit generated by a flame ignited directly from the void by the Vajra Mother is thousands of times greater than any fire lit by human hands.
For over eighty years, the world had only heard the theories of such spiritual milestones. This assembly proved that the supreme, true Buddha Dharma is alive, real, and accessible today.
The sacred brazier, offering table, and holy instruments used during this historic assembly are now permanently enshrined at the Holy Miracles Temple, welcoming pilgrims from all over the world to gaze upon them, pay respects, and connect with the profound blessings of that miraculous day.
(This article is adapted from an interview with Venerable Abbess Ruo Hui. For the core teachings of Buddhism, please always refer to the original recorded discourses and published books of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.)
Peace LiLy 