Venerable Tsemang’s Speech Revisited

Ven. Tsemang’s April speech that we published earlier is worthy of consideration again as we prepare for a new season. He was addressing the many disciples of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III who had come to Pasadena to see their beloved Buddha and were returning to their own temples and Dharma Centers with lots of questions. The Venerable One, our Brother Vince, attempted to answer their asked and unasked question about what to do next and how to proceed. With both humility and clarity, he offered advice and insight on what we each needed to do to go forth with our own practice, cultivation, and manifestation of bodichitta in a new world—a world without the Buddha’s presence.

Most importantly, Brother Vince explained why the Buddha left this world: “The conditions of birth and death do not apply to a Buddha. When we, living beings, have good retribution, the Buddha appears in this world. When living beings no longer have such good fortune, the Buddha enters parinirvana. In the past, Ancient Buddhas did that, Namo Shakyamuni Buddha did that, and now His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III has also done the same.” We should be so grateful that we had such good fortune and do all we can to share that blessing with other living beings.

I think it took me this long to appreciate all Brother Vince told us, even though we already knew this was what we had to do. I know I felt even more determined than ever to establish the Learning From Buddha College and Seminary and make what we had of the Buddha’s teachings available to English speakers like the Buddha had told me to do. We needed to hear or read the Buddha’s words and follow them in our daily lives. Because Brother Vince’s message rang so true, I want to summarize them here and urge you to read his speech again and consider what you can do to comply.

1.  “Continue to chant Sutras, pray and beseech His Holiness the Buddha and Fomu, Holy Mother the Great Mahasattva, to return to the human world to save us living beings.
2. “Buddhist disciples should be compassionate, supportive, and helpful to each other. In particular, masters must guide your groups well, develop new people, and do not solicit people from other groups to join your group.
3. “We must earnestly and respectfully listen to the audio recorded Dharma Discourses imparted by His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III, because they are the source from which we obtain correct knowledge and views. I can even say that in this Dharma Degeneration Age, any Buddhist disciple wanting to attain accomplishment and liberation must listen to the audio recorded Dharmas imparted by His Holiness the Buddha. Whether you are a rinpoche, an acharya, or a master of Dharma listening sessions, your duty is to guide others to listen to the Discourses upon your own foundation of listening to audio recorded Dharma Discourses. This is most important. When you have done this well, your merit will grow.
4. “Cultivating ourselves in a solid and practical manner is the foundation for attaining accomplishment and liberation. In my personal opinion, the most important reason His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III came to this world is to correct the many errors made by patriarchs, and to emphasize that cultivation is the foundation for attaining liberation. That’s why Buddha Master always admonishes us that we must cultivate ourselves. Buddha Master imparted many Dharmas on what we need to pay attention to when we cultivate ourselves. You can listen to the audio recorded Dharma Discourses and practice accordingly.
5. “All Buddhist disciples must obey the laws and regulations of their respective countries and regions. This is also critically important. As Buddhist disciples, our goal is to attain liberation, to save ourselves in order to save others. We do not get involved with politics. 
6. “Another one of your concerns is about how we can learn Dharma. Actually, the answer to this question is very simple. Once you have cultivated yourself well, the natural progression is for you to receive Buddha Dharma. . . Once our foundation is well built, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will know. The natural progression is that Dharma Kings and Great Holy Gurus will transmit Buddha Dharma to you. . . Also, I recommend that you directly study and practice the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation. . . that combines cultivation practice with Dharma practice.
7. “Many people also asked about protecting Dharma. In fact, learning, protecting, and propagating Dharma are a trinity. We must first learn Buddha Dharma, and in the process of learning, we protect and support Buddha Dharma. Eventually, when we receive beneficial effects, we must propagate Dharma for more people to learn It. 
8. “Do not equate being compassionate with being unprincipled. Do not equate being a compassionate person with an unprincipled person who just wants to be nice. Genuine loving-kindness and compassion are about how to protect living beings’ opportunity to attain wisdom, and what is truly beneficial to living beings to enable them to attain liberation and accomplishment. Further, are you already a Holy Guru or a Bodhisattva, or are you an ordinary being who is still learning from Buddha to cultivate yourself? You must understand that the Buddha being compassionate is what the Buddha does. As ordinary beings, we cannot assume the enlightenment state of the Buddha. As Buddhists, we must strictly abide by the precepts, otherwise we will only degenerate. Therefore, reflect upon this, then listen to the audio recorded Dharmas imparted by His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III. 
9. “How should we treat those so-called Buddhists who do not follow the teachings of the Buddha, do not abide by the precepts, and obstinately do not admit their wrongdoing? Some people say that they are all our fellow Vajra brothers and sisters, and we are a family, so we need to support and help each other. Simply put, this is a wrong view! When the Namo World Honored Shakyamuni Buddha was asked this question before entering parinirvana, Shakyamuni Buddha taught: “Forsake them.” That means, Buddhists should stay far away from this kind of evil people, let them live and die on their own, and eventually receive their retribution from causality. Since we are ordinary people, we can’t afford to inflict ourselves with that kind of dark karma. Only great Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can edify these evil people. As living beings, we must stay far away from them. Therefore, the only thing we must do is to follow the teachings of the Buddha.
10. “Why have so many people brought up so many questions? It is precisely because they have not made good effort to respectfully listen to the audio recorded Dharmas imparted by His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III. They have not made good effort to apply what the Buddha teaches in resolving problems they encounter in their daily lives and in their cultivation. The process involves listening, contemplating, practicing cultivation, and eventually attaining fruition. If you only listen, but do not contemplate, and do not practice cultivation, then of course you will not attain fruition! Therefore, I once again emphasize: It is very, extremely important that everyone respectfully listens to the Dharmas imparted by Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III! You must listen to them earnestly, not half-heartedly.”

Brother Vince also said that “the main duty of the Office [of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III] now is to organize and translate the audio recorded Dharmas imparted by His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III. This is for the benefit of all living beings. Going forward, generally speaking, the Office will only publish transcriptions and translations of newly released audio recorded Dharma Discourses and will not be issuing any other announcements.” He also added: “For matters relating to Buddha Dharma, the Holy Gurus at the Headquarters will issue announcements. You must study and understand the announcements issued by the Headquarters with a serious attitude.” 

There are currently 20 Dharma discourses available to everyone as Auditing Students at Learning from Buddha College and Seminary and 33 full courses at least partially available and another 28 under development for the Buddhist Studies and Xuixing Seminary students. Other discourses and courses will be added when they become available.

CLICK for link to Ven. Tsemang’s speech.