One of the most beautiful phenomena that has appeared many times at the Holy Vajrasana Temple and at other events related to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III are the spectacular rainbows that can be seen around the sun and sometimes the moon. There was even one that recently appeared as I was leaving the Central California Women’s Correctional Facility in Chowchilla, California, after holding a class on the dharma discourse given by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III entitled What Is Cultivation? The giant rainbow or Buddha Light shown above was taken when I was on my way to receive a special initiation in southern California. It is unique as it also shows a red-robed figure sitting on the bottom of the rainbow. There were also auspicious clouds that are not shown in this photo in the shape of Sanskrit characters. You can get a sense of the scale of the rainbow by the parking lot lights in the lower left-hand corner.
The first time I saw such a phenomena was at the Tibetan Kagyu leader Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s funeral in May 26, 1987, at Karme Choling, Vermont. I saw the rainbow appear when the cremation fire was lit. The light and other strange phenomena were reported in various national newspapers as well as experienced by the over 2,000 present, including many great rinpoches and lamas from Tibet. The supreme Dharma King of the Nyingma sect, Dilgo Khyentse was present. And although I understand that this is a phenomena that can be explained by scientific principles, it is most strange that it happens so frequently in conjunction with dharma-related events, especially those associated with H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.
Another example can be seen in this video. Spectacular lights appeared at a retreat given in 2015 in mainland China that also included the green light shown here.
Buddha Lights from Holy Vajrasana Temple on Vimeo.
However, we must not mistake illusory phenomena for holy manifestations, or become attached to holy manifestations when they do appear. The Buddha Master told us that “some people call a ring of light around the moon a Buddha light. Actually, it is just an illusory phenomenon. Perhaps it was caused by rain or mist. Of course, sometimes holy phenomena appear in response to certain karmic conditions, but we should not regard them as anything amazing.”
Erroneous View No. 50: THE VIEW THAT UNREAL, ILLUSORY PHENOMENA ARE HOLY MANIFESTATIONS
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I was present at Chogyam Trungpa’s cremation at Karma Choling outside Barnet, Vermont, in 1987. As the cremation fire burned, a wide round opening appeared in the otherwise solidly overcast sky overhead…a large circle of blue sky maybe a mile wide. Then, visibly forming at one edge and flowing ribbon-like across this blue opening, a long and very uniform stream of chevron shaped rainbows arched across this round opening for quite some time, maybe 30 minutes, in a steady, well delineated, geometric stream . Everyone was watching, amazed and elated. It was unlike anything I had ever imagined or heard of. In my opinion it was a genuine spiritually inspired phenomenon.
I attended that funeral, too, and remember seeing a beautiful rainbow around the sun. There were also Sanskrit or Tibetan letters in the sky. Maybe I saw what you described, but since I have seen so many of these kinds of things since I began following H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, I realize that not everyone sees, smells, or experiences the same thing.