Karma literally means action. It refers to the universal law of cause and effect whereby positive actions produce happiness and negative actions produce suffering. You must be willing to rid yourself of evil according to the principles of karmic retribution for doing evil and likewise be willing to do good for the same reasons. Only in this manner will you bring about true happiness and good fortune for yourself and others. All Buddhist disciples must understand cause and effect, but, as Dorje Pa Mu explains, merely understanding this principle is not enough. You must clearly believe in the principle and live accordingly. You must use this principle in your actual practice to solve your worldly problems. You end causes and effects through cultivation whereby you train your mind and correct your erroneous ways so that your actions of body, speech, and mind (also known as your three karmas) correspond with the teaching of your vajra master and the Buddhas. Remember that greed, anger (hatred), and ignorance are the three great obstacles of cultivation.
You must remember that the so-called good effects or bad effects of karma are not a judgment nor given as a reward or punishment by a supra mundane authority such as God. The good or bad effect produced by good or bad karma is purely and simply a natural phenomenon governed by natural laws that act automatically, with complete justice. It is just like the law of gravity and other similar rules. This Law of Karma, or cause and effect, is so powerful that it governs everything in the universe except enlightened beings or those who recognize their basic original nature. Upon enlightenment, the round of cause and effect loses its significance, just as samsara, or the round of birth and death, ceases with enlightenment. Since basic or original nature transcends all duality and is ultimate, there is no one to receive the effect, whether it is good or bad, and no one to whom any effect can apply. This unique explanation by the Buddha of the nullification of the Law of Karma is very important.
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III has said, “Thus, only through learning from the Buddha, cultivating the conduct of the Buddha, and ultimately becoming a Buddha can we thoroughly liberate ourselves from the karma (cause and effect) that binds us to the cycle of reincarnation. Cause and effect still exists when one becomes a Buddha. However, cause and effect can not affect a Buddha. For example, the Buddha saw mountains of swords and seas of fire in the hell realm. The mountains of swords and seas of fire continued to exist as extremely painful means by which living beings undergo karmic retribution. When the Buddha suddenly jumped into the mountains of swords and seas of fire in order to undergo suffering on behalf of other living beings, the mountains and seas immediately transformed into a lotus pond of nectar. They transformed into a wonderful state. With respect to a Buddha, all bad or evil karmic conditions turn into the manifestation of good karma. Not only is there no suffering, there is instead a manifestation of great happiness.”
However, until we become enlightened, we must remember that it is as Dharma King Tsongkhapa said, “the things I’ve done, the white or black and what these deeds will bring to me, follow always close behind, as certain as my shadow.”
If monastics do not abide by the Buddha Dharma precepts and tenets, there will be mistakes in their practice, and their practice will become superficial. Such practice will not produce any true accomplishment. Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of those monks who do not abide by the precepts of Buddhism. He said that even if they do not covet the affection and love of others, they still covet personal gain and the offerings of disciples. This means that those monastics who do not abide by the precepts will covet worldly gain and will thus not have minds set upon cultivation. Naturally, it will not be possible for them to become accomplished. Most contemporary practitioners who have gone forth from the household life do not abide by the precepts. These range from certain Dharma Teachers and Rinpoches all the way down to the myriad monastics. Before monastics went forth from the household life, they were attached to worldly feelings of affection and love. They therefore had thoughts of worldly affection and desire. They were no different from the ordinary person. After they cut off their hair and went forth from the household life, if they did not renounce worldly desires, the defilements that obstruct enlightenment naturally would not vanish. They would not be able to cut off the defilements. At this time, even though they are not allowed to give rise to feelings of desire, it is difficult for them to stop coveting their own gain and the offerings of disciples. Thus, the longing they have at this time is longing for their own gain and the offerings of disciples. Therefore, their attachment to the five aggregates is still strong. As monastics, they are not able to abide by the Dharma and precepts. Their practice becomes false, and in the end they are not able to accomplish anything. Many monks do not abide by Buddhism. They covet their own personal gain and the offerings of disciples. They pretend to be pure. They quietly sit in meditation, yet their thoughts run wild. They long for the objects of the five desires and are deluded by sounds, smells, and tastes. They have hearts covered with ignorance and are bound by craving. Such phenomena are described in writings on the Dharma and are manifested in the practice of a portion of those practitioners who have gone forth.
Many monastics have the appearance of being pure. While practicing, they show refined and exquisite expressions. They lower their heads and are serious in speech. They often say “Amitabha!” They are frequently seen meditating in a remote, quiet place. They very much appear to be true cultivators, but in fact they are not.
Although these monastics give the impression of being very pure and scrupulous in their practice, they still have not understood the principle that all Dharmas and all things are empty. Why have they not understood this? Because their six bases are not yet pure. Their attachment to things of the world is not yet broken. Thus, they still crave forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and thoughts. They still think that the five aggregates of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are not empty. They cannot cut off their infatuation with things of the world and thus engage in distorted, dreamlike thinking. They still allow themselves to be tossed about by the illusory things of the world. They cannot see clearly that such things, in essence, are empty. Thus, they are constantly obstructed from attaining enlightenment due to the defilements. Both day and night, they cannot avoid such confusion. Hence, this type of monastic, although appearing to be at peace, in truth has not yet become aware. Although they meditate, their thoughts run wild and are manipulated by the outside environment. Their thoughts are confused due to both inner and outer devils. They are unable to give rise to right mindfulness. Their thoughts are affected by the external environment. Their negative karma, born of ignorance, covers their original bright nature. They are obstructed and disturbed by the defilements. Although their bodies are in one place, who knows where their minds have roamed! Other people meditate and enter into a state of concentration. Their thoughts, however, are scattered, and they think of other things. They sit in the meditative posture, but they allow their good and bad thoughts – the two types of obstructions in attaining concentration – to pour into their minds in waves. They cannot attain peace.
There are a number of those who have gone forth from the household life, including some Dharma Teachers, who covet personal gain and the offerings of disciples and who devise ways to obtain money. In the end, they ruin their reputation and destroy their moral integrity. Those who ruin the reputation of Buddhist disciples are numerous. One often hears about such things.
Since monastics of this type have not yet cut off their defilements and are not permitted to fulfill their desire for love and affection, they then turn to seeking improper gain. It is just as Sakyamuni Buddha said. They will definitely turn to coveting personal gain and the offerings of disciples. Many monastics, under the pretense of furthering Buddhist affairs, cheat good Buddhist followers out of their money and property. Every now and then, some of them secretly embezzle such money or property. Some of them openly incite others to do bad. Some even brazenly steal money and property that would have been used in the furtherance of Buddhism.
There are also those who use the Buddha Dharma in other ways in order to cheat people. For example, there are many people who stand in front of certain Buddhist temples in Tibet. Holding an alms bowl, they force others to contribute money to them. Additionally, some people prostrate themselves a few times on the ground before another person, get up, and then thrust their alms bowl before this person, forcing him to contribute something.
There are many who covertly accumulate wealth. It can be said that they are experts in making money. In the end, they ruin the reputation of true monastics, who are the majority of monastics. They cause people of the world to think that all Dharma Teachers and monks cheat people out of their money, that all of those who have gone forth, whether true or false monastics, are birds of the same feather who hoodwink devout men and women out of their money. These monastics do not abide by the precepts of the Buddha Dharma. They not only destroy themselves since they ultimately cannot become accomplished and will descend into the hell realm, they also destroy the Buddha Dharma. When their lowly, foul conduct is revealed to the world, it not only causes a great uproar in Buddhist circles, it also causes some practitioners to be unable to practice in peace. These practitioners fall into a state of improper desires. It further causes people of the world to be unable to distinguish between who is true and who is false, who is sincere and who is fake. It causes people to think of leaving the Buddha Dharma. It stirs up prejudice towards even those who are upright monastics. It causes those who have roots of kindness to stay away from the Buddha Dharma. It thus cuts off people’s interest to learn Buddhism and realize liberation. If this continues, it will be a huge disaster for the Buddha Dharma and a great misfortune for living beings. If these practitioners who have gone forth do not immediately cease such behavior and repent, they will harm themselves by descending into the hell realm. This might not matter to them. However, causing countless sentient beings to stay painfully trapped in the burning house of the six realms of samsara for eons and cons without attaining liberation is an offense that is extremely worrisome. The consequences of such an offense are too dreadful to contemplate! I have thus vowed not to accept any offerings. This demonstrates that one can cultivate oneself, propagate the Dharma, and benefit living beings without accepting offerings. It is easy for living beings to give rise to prejudicial thoughts that will cut off their interest to learn Buddhism and realize liberation. This is caused by some monastics who neglect the Dharma and violate the precepts. It can be said that these people cannot possibly become accomplished. Even if they meditate and recite sutras every day just like others, their cultivation will always be superficial. It will not produce any results.
There is the following old story. A monk went to a certain village on his alms round. He constantly reminded himself that he must carefully abide by the precepts and must not violate the Buddha Dharma or proper etiquette. When he arrived before the door of a certain house, the woman of the house invited him inside in order to test whether he strictly abides by the precepts. She said that she greatly respects those who cultivate themselves and that she wanted to offer him the best roasted barley flour and cheese. Who would have known that as soon as he stepped into the house, this woman immediately jumped up and locked the door shut! She then said, “There are three things – if you do any one of them, I will give you the key and let you go. Otherwise, do not even think of leaving here.” This monk, having no other choice, could only ask, “Tell me, what three things?” The woman cunningly smiled and replied, “First, I have here a jar of wine. Drink it all. Second, on the table there is high quality mutton. Eat it. Third, if you and I engage in sexual relations, I will let you go. Of these three, you must do one. You choose!” After the monk heard this, he was greatly surprised, since all three things involved violating the precepts. He was at his wits’ end and did not know what to do. He thought of grabbing the key away from her, opening the door, and escaping. However, she was a woman, and such conduct was not befitting of practitioners who have gone forth from the household life. On the other hand, he feared that if he did not leave, people would certainly become suspicious. He reasoned that of those three things, sexual misconduct and eating meat were both serious violations of the precepts, whereas drinking wine was the lightest violation of the precepts. After thinking it over again and again, he decided to drink the wine. After he drank the entire jar of wine, he was completely drunk. He could not tell the difference between north, south, east, and west. Thus, he ate all of the mutton and engaged in sexual misconduct with that woman. He committed all three violations of the precepts. One can imagine the consequences of such conduct! This story has been passed down and disseminated widely within Buddhist circles. Its meaning is self-evident. It tells all practitioners, especially monastics, of the seriousness of violating the precepts. Not one of the precepts may be violated. Even if it appears to be an insignificant precept, one must be very scrupulous and absolutely must not violate it. If one violates one precept, then there will inevitably be a second violation. After one violates a relatively minor precept, there is the possibility of violating a major precept. If monastics cannot scrupulously abide by the precepts, then they may violate all of the precepts. In the end, they can only blame themselves and will reap what they have sown. Thus, the practice of monastics who do not abide by the precepts will certainly be superficial. For them, becoming accomplished will be like the reflection of flowers on water or the appearance of the moon on a mirror – something that, in the end, they will not obtain.
There is the following saying in Buddhism: “At the door of hell are many monastics.” Its meaning is what I just described. Those practitioners who have gone forth must be vigilant. They must be careful in upholding the precepts! Violating the precepts is committing an offense. Committing offenses will not lead one to the land of the Buddhas. Rather, it will lead one to the three evil realms to spend time in endless suffering!
Around the end of year 2001, I received a set of six books written by Ah Wang Nuo Bu Pa Mu. I remembered that in the book True Stories About A Holy Monk, Dharma King Dorje Losang said that even though he was the level of a Dharma King, he still must seriously study Entering the Door of the Dharma written by Ah Wang Nuo Bu Pa Mu. He said, “It is not fundamental Buddhist book! I have learned and practiced the five great Vajra dharma groups, the Atiyoga Supreme Dharma and the Great Perfection Mind Essence Dharma over and over again. Only now do I understand how magnificent the Buddha dharma books of the Holy Mother are.”
So I started to read the book Entering the Door of the Dharma.
The first chapter was titled, “First talk about big or small Dharma, then discuss the wrong and right dharma”. This chapter was a warning bell to me. After all, the wish I had harbored in my heart was to learn a great dharma whereby I will become a Buddha in this very lifetime. I dreamed I could learn and practice the great Dharma, such as the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) of the Nyingma sect, the Mind Within Mind of the Kagyu sect, the Great Perfection of Wonderful Wisdom of the Sakya sect, the Kalachakra Vajra of the Geluk sect, and Zen meditation of the Zen sect of exoteric Buddhism, etc…. I wanted to jump to the highest level, quickly reach the liberation with nothing to fear or to suffer… my life will full of joy and good fortune…
What a naive and selfish Buddhism practitioner I was! I felt I was so foolish, wanting to build a tower on quicksand. Such a tower could not be built.
As I continued to read the book, I gained a lot of fundamental knowledge about buddhism. The buddhism theory is so deep and broad. One chapter is focused on “cause and effect”. Pa Mu said, “most of the disciples just know about cause and effect, but they didn’t understand what is cause and effect, therefore they do not truly believe in it. “ After reading this chapter, I pondered to myself seriously. Did I truly understand the law of causality, and did I truly believe in the law of causality? If I did, how come my mind still falls into so much confusions and chaos. I looked deeply in my mind, and found out I only believed in the causality when good things happened to me. When bad thing happened or I was very sick, I started to doubt about it, and complained why I deserved these sufferings and unfair treatments. I started to blame peoples around me, and began to wonder why Buddha ad Bodhisattva did not bless me.
I thought about my marriage relationship. I was always puzzled why my husband always blames me, yells and scolds me even for a small thing, but before we married he always tried to flatter and please me. From the law of causality, everything I experience right now were the results of the cause I have done in the past. Anything that happened must have a reason. I must have done a similar thing to my husband before. I started to change my attitude towards him. When he got mad at me, I would think, this is my opportunity to pay my debt back to him — continuing to argue with him wouldn’t do any good, except cause more tension and damage. It was really hard to do it at beginning, I needed to force myself to keep quiet and don’t talk back, don’t analyze what he is saying, focus on my inner peace, don’t get irritated by outside things…. After a while I gradually became more mentally freer and at ease.
From the book I learned that everything and all phenomena arise from causality, including of course the good and adversary karmic conditions between people. If we generate resentment or hatred or take harmful actions against the other side when subjected to bullying or unfair treatment, wouldn’t another evil cause be seeded, which we will have to pay for through suffering the malicious consequence?! Then, wouldn’t the vicious process continue forever without an end?! The only thing I could do is to repent all the evil causes I did in the past, and pay it back when encountering the situation without any complaints. I do not want to plant any evil causes anymore, since the law of causality never errs.
I was happy that I finally found the door of entering Dharma.
(Part One continued: Awakened by True Stories of A Holy Monk )
I was truly astounded by the sacred events surrounding Dharma King Dorje Losang, which are recorded in the book True Stories of a Holy Monk. It struck me that though he was such an eminent person, he never uses this as a reason for being proud, nor does he spread the news of such sacred events to others. He always considers himself to be a humble practitioner. He does not seek fame or gain. He had cut off his ties to the world. He lived in seclusion cultivating himself and it was therefore difficult to pay him a visit. However, Dharma King Dorje Losang did give us Buddhists an utmost guidance. He told an eminent monk who had conveyed his desire to follow him, that “…. if you truly want to cultivate yourself, you should study the books written by Great Dharma King Yangwo Yisinubu1 and Ah Wang Nuo Bu Pa Mu. If you do so, it will not be difficult for you to end the cycle of birth and death!”. He also said, “This Buddha Master (Great Dharma King Yangwo Yisinubu1) and Buddha Mother Master (Ah Wang Nuo Bu Pa Mu) are truly the ones who I revere most of all. In today’s world, no other Dharma King can be comoared with them. Of course, this is based upon what I have seen, heard, realized and understood”.
Ah Wang Nuo Bu Pa Mu is truly a Vajravarahi returned to the human realm from the Tusita Heaven.
Many years ago, Vajravarahi prophesied the Holy Monk’s Birth: When Elder Dharma King Dorje Losang was born, he had a full mouth of snow-white teeth. What was even more amazing is that he had a pinch of black hair in between his eyebrows which had grown more than a foot long. This hair was entangled with his umbilical cord in the form of a Vajra knot. The mother was at a loss what to do about this. The baby, however, stretched out his tiny, quivering hands, grasped the umbilical cord and pulled it. The baby pulled out from his body the umbilical cord along with the black hair in between his eyebrows.
Following the sound of the tingling of jades, Vajravarahi, standing in red light, said, “That which grew in between your eyebrows was Vajra hair. My child, how could you pull it out? Ay! This is also a case of the law of cause and effect never erring. Do not mind about this. You will have to wait until you are ninety years old when it will then again grow. From now on there will be a big, black mole in between your eyebrows. At the time you are ninety, your Master, a supreme Dharma King, will empower you. I will also empower your beard and your state of realization. At that time, you will attain immeasurable spiritual achievement and will save countless living beings.” After speaking, Vajravarahi floated away in the red light.
Elder Dharma King Dorje Losang was ninety years old on the birthday of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, which was February 29, 1997 of the lunar calendar. Dorje Losang’s supreme Master, Great Dharma King Yangwo Yisinubu1, was performing an Atiyoga Seven Day Accomplishment and Initiation Dharma Assembly. That day he told Dorje Losang, “The big black mole in between your eyebrows will immediately open up. Vajra hair will sprout out anew. Furthermore, it will grow three to five inches a year.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the scar on the crown of Dorje Losang’s head suddenly emitted a white light which shined continuously for about one minute until it then weakened and penetrated into the crown of his head. At that moment, the black mole in between his eyebrows suddenly opened up with a very loud sound. One could then see the Vajra hair slowly growing to about one centimeter. The Vajra hair emitted a golden dazzling light which brightened up the entire room.
Later, Great Dharma King Master Yangwo Yisinubu1 performed an empowerment for Dorje Losang in which the Buddha of Long Life is invited to bestow nectar. (It was recorded live on videotape.)
The empowerment from nectar is truly amazing. From the night the Elder Dharma King tasted this nectar, his meditative power enabled him to thoroughly enter into the supreme samadhi. He then removed his bed and kept only his rush cushion.
Later in the same year, Ah Wang Nuo Bu Pa Mu bestow the dharma water to Elder Dharma King Dorje Losang. This water empowered the beard of Dorje Losang and his state of realization. His beard can grew two to three inches per year, and would grow as long as his entire body. This verifies the Seven Branch Decision Dharma regarding the rebirth of Vajravarahi as laid out in Know the True Doctrines.
I was so grateful that the Holy Monk Dharma King Dorje Losang shared with our disciples those Dorje Losangamazing Buddhist Dharma phenomena. How I wish I could be a disciple of the Great Dharma Kings. What I could do, though, was take Elder Holy Monk’s utmost advice, and read the books written by the Great Dharma Kings. In the last page of the book, I found the contact information of a Bodhi Monastery in San Jose, who enthusiastically agreed to help me mail six Dharma books written by Ah WangNuoBuPaMu.
Note 1: Great Dharma King Yangwo Yisinubu in year 2008 had been recognized by the world’s leaders, regent dharma kings, and great rinpoches of Buddhism through official documents as the third incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha, who is the primordial Sambhogakaya Buddha of the universe.
Peace LiLy 