Respectfully Honoring the Holy Birthday of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III and Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III Complete Sutra Collection

 Respectfully Honoring the Holy Birthday of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III

and

Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III Complete Sutra Collection

   To honor the upcoming Holy Birthday of Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III, the World Buddhism Association Headquarters, Holy Miracle Temple, Hua Zang Si, Benevolence Temple, and the Sanger Mission will jointly organize the Dharma Assembly Respectfully Honoring the Holy Birthday of  Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III and the “Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III Complete Sutra Collection” on June 30 (Friday) and July 1 (Saturday), 2023 at 10AM, in the Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1401 N Verdugo Road, Glendale, 91208.

      In the duration of the Dharma Assembly, the “Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III Complete Sutra Collection” will be available for the first time for everyone to respectfully acquire. The Collection contains mainly the Chinese transcriptions of the Dharmas imparted by Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III, as well as Scriptures, poetry, and other writings by the Buddha. Having descended to the sahā world in this Dharma Degeneration Era, Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III left behind factual examples of the highest level and most complete manifestation of perfect mastery of Exoteric and Esoteric Dharma, and exquisite accomplishment in the Five Viydas. Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III also left behind incisive and complete Buddha Sutras and audio recordings of imparted Dharmas. These Buddha Sutras and audio recordings of imparted Dharmas are supreme Dharma treasures and the most important requisites for all Buddhist disciples to learn and practice in order to attain accomplishment and liberation. Simply put: Anyone who wants to attain accomplishment and liberation must study the “Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III Complete Sutra Collection.”

      From the Dharmas imparted by Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III, numerous audio recordings are being transcribed into many volumes of written text. In view of the pressing needs of Buddhists to study the Buddha Dharma, Buddhist disciples including eminent monastics and virtuous elders organized by the Office of His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III have strived to publish three volumes in time for the Dharma Assembly — Volume I: Dharma Imparted During the Trip to the East; Volume II: Dharma Imparted During a Trip in Response to the Needs of Disciples; Volume III: Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra — to respectfully honor the Holy Birthday of the magnificent Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III.

      At the same time, the “Lotus and Water Lily Paintings” catalog of Namo Yuhua Shouzhi Wang Holy Mother the Great Mahasattva will also be available. Since a long time ago, Namo Yuhua Shouzhi Wang Holy Mother the Great Mahasattva has been acclaimed by artists as the unprecedented foremost virtuoso in painting lotus and water lily. In particular, among lotus and water lily painting masters throughout the world, both in the past and in the present, only Namo Yuhua Shouzhi Wang Holy Mother the Great Mahasattva excelled in both ink painting and oil painting. Her achievement of the Ten Ultimate Artistries places Her at the highest state of artistic accomplishment. Her exceptional mastery is truly unheard of.  The “Yuhua Shouzhi Wang Lotus and Water Lily Paintings” catalog comprises a selection of 70 lotus ink paintings and 30 water lily oil paintings created by Namo Yuhua Shouzhi Wang Holy Mother the Great Mahasattva. This catalog will offer everyone a wonderful feast for the eyes.

     Good and faithful Buddhists are welcome to register to attend the Dharma Assembly. During the Dharma Assembly, the congregation will chant Sutras; reverential offerings will be made to Buddhas to pray for all sentient beings to increase their good fortune and wisdom and be blessed with happiness and auspiciousness.  All are welcome to fill out the name list in advance to be included in the prayer. Everyone attending the Dharma Assembly will have the first opportunity to respectfully acquire the “Namo Dorje Chang Buddha III Complete Sutra Collection” and the Namo Yuhua Shouzhi Wang Holy Mother the Great Mahasattva “Lotus and Water Lily Painting” catalog.

Dharma Assembly Dates:   

June 30, 2023 (Friday) 10AM to 5PM

July 1, 2023 (Saturday) 10AM to 1PM

Phone number: 626-797-1590

Dharma Assembly Venue:

Glendale Civic Auditorium

1401 N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale, CA 91208

20. The Monkey King and the Water Demon [Attentiveness]

 20. The Monkey King and the Water Demon [Attentiveness]

Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, volume 1, Prince Goodspeaker, Stories 1-50

Once upon a time, far away in a deep forest, there was a nation of 80,000 monkeys. They had a king who was unusually large, as big as a fawn. He was not only big in body, he was also ‘large in mind’. After all, he was the Bodhisatta — the Enlightenment Being.

One day, he advised his monkey nation by saying, “My subjects, there are poisonous fruits in this deep forest, and ponds possessed by demons. So if you see any unusual fruit or unknown pond, do not eat or drink until you ask me first." Paying close attention to their wise king, all the monkeys agreed to follow his advice.

Later on, they came to an unknown pond. Even though they were all tired out and thirsty from searching for food, no one would drink without first asking the monkey king. So they sat in the trees and on the ground around the pond.

When he arrived, the monkey king asked them, “Did anyone drink the water?" They replied, “No, your majesty, we followed your instructions." He said, “Well done."

Then he walked along the bank, around the pond. He examined the footprints of the animals that had gone into the water, and saw that none came out again! So he realized this pond must be possessed by a water demon. He said to the 80,000 monkeys, “This pond is possessed by a water demon. Do not anybody go into it."

After a little while, the water demon saw that none of the monkeys went into the water to drink. So he rose out of the middle of the pond, taking the shape of a frightening monster. He had a big blue belly, a white face with bulging green eyes, and red claws and feet. He said, “Why are you just sitting around? Come into the pond and drink at once!"

The monkey king said to the horrible monster, “Are you the water demon who owns this pond?" “Yes, I am," said he. “Do you eat whoever goes into the water?" asked the king. “Yes, I do," he answered, “including even birds. I eat them all. And when you are forced by your thirst to come into the pond and drink, I will enjoy eating you, the biggest monkey, most of all!" He grinned, and saliva dripped down his hairy chin.

But the monkey king with the well-trained mind remained calm. He said, “I will not let you eat me or a single one of my followers. And yet, we will drink all the water we want!" The water demon grunted, “Impossible! How will you do that?" The monkey king replied, “Each one of the 80,000 of us will drink using bamboo shoots as straws. And you will not be able to touch us!"

Of course, anyone who has seen bamboo knows there is a difficulty. Bamboo grows in sections, one after another, with a knot between each one. Any one section is too small, so the demon could grab the monkey, pull him under and gobble him up. But the knots make it impossible to sip through more than one section.

The monkey king was very special, and that is why so many followed him. In the past, he had practiced goodness and trained his mind with such effort and attention, that he had developed very fine qualities of mind. This is why he was said to be ‘large in mind’, not because he simply had a ‘big brain’.

The Enlightenment Being was able to keep these fine qualities in his mind, and produce a very unlikely event – a miracle. First, he took a young bamboo shoot, blew through it to make the knots disappear, and used it to sip water from the pond. Then, amazing as it may sound, he waved his hand and all the bamboo growing around that one pond lost their knots. They became a new kind of bamboo.

Then, all his 80,000 followers picked bamboo shoots and easily drank their fill from the pond. The water demon could not believe his green eyes. Grumbling to himself, he slid back under the surface, leaving only gurgling bubbles behind.

The moral is: “Test the water before jumping in."

20. The Monkey King and the Water Demon [Attentiveness]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2022/03/28/20-the-monkey-king-and-the-water-demon-attentiveness/

INTERPRETER’S INTRODUCTION – BUDDHIST TALES FOR YOUNG AND OLD, VOLUME 1, STORIES 1-50

#Buddhisttalesforyoungandold #Buddhiststories #storiesforkids #moralstories #Buddha #Jatakastories #PansiyaPanasJataka

分享此文：

19. The God in the Banyan Tree [A Bad Promise]

 19. The God in the Banyan Tree [A Bad Promise]

Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, volume 1, Prince Goodspeaker, Stories 1-50

In the past, and even in some places today, people have had superstitions. One such is that a large or unusual tree is inhabited by a tree god, or some kind of spirit. People think that they can make a promise to this tree god, so he will help them in some way. When they think the god has helped them, then they must keep their promise.

Once upon a time, in the city of Kasi in northern India, a man came upon a large banyan tree. He immediately thought there must be a go

d living there. So he made a promise to this tree god that he would perform an animal sacrifice, in return for a wish being granted.

It just so happened that his wish was fulfilled, but whether by a god or a demon or by some other means — no one knows. The man was sure the tree god had answered his prayer, so he wanted to keep his promise.

Since it was a big wish, it called for a big sacrifice. He brought many goats, mules, chickens and sheep. He collected firewood and prepared to burn the helpless animals as a sacrifice.

The spirit living in the banyan tree appeared and said, “Oh friend, you made a promise. You are now bound by that promise. You think you must keep the promise in order to be released from the bondage to it. But if you commit such terrible unwholesome acts, even though promised, the unpleasant results will put you in much greater bondage. For you will be forced to suffer those results in this life, and even by rebirths in hell worlds! The way to release yourself into future deliverance is to give up unwholesome actions, no matter what!

“And furthermore, since you think I’m a true god, what makes you think I eat meat? Haven’t you heard that we gods eat better things, like ‘ambrosia’ or stardust or sunbeams? I have no need of meat or any other food offerings." Then he disappeared.

The foolish man understood the mistake he had made. Instead of doing unwholesome deeds that would force unhappy results on him in the future, he began to do only wholesome deeds that would benefit himself and others.

The moral is: Keeping a bad promise is worse than making it.

19. The God in the Banyan Tree [A Bad Promise]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2022/03/15/19-the-god-in-the-banyan-tree-a-bad-promise/

INTERPRETER’S INTRODUCTION – BUDDHIST TALES FOR YOUNG AND OLD, VOLUME 1, STORIES 1-50

#Buddhisttalesforyoungandold #Buddhiststories #storiesforkids #moralstories #Buddha #Jatakastories #PansiyaPanasJataka

18. The Goat Who Saved the Priest [Ignorance]

 18. The Goat Who Saved the Priest [Ignorance]

Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, volume 1, Prince Goodspeaker, Stories 1-50

Once upon a time, there was a very famous priest in a very old religion. He decided it was the right day to perform the ritual sacrificing of a goat. In his ignorance, he thought this was an offering demanded by his god.

He obtained an appropriate goat for the sacrifice. He ordered his servants to take the goat to the holy river and wash him and decorate him with flower garlands. Then they were to wash themselves, as part of the purification practice.

Down at the riverbank, the goat suddenly understood that today he would definitely be killed. He also became aware of his past births and deaths and rebirths. He realized that the results of his past unwholesome deeds were about to finally be completed. So he laughed an uproarious goat-laugh, like the clanging of cymbals.

In the midst of his laughter, he realized another truth that the priest, by sacrificing him, would suffer the same terrible results, due to his ignorance. So he began to cry as loudly as he had just been laughing!

The servants, who were bathing in the holy river, heard first the laughing and then the crying. They were amazed. So they asked the goat, “Why did you loudly laugh and then just as loudly cry? What is the reason for this?" He replied, “I will tell you the reason. But it must be in the presence of your master, the priest."

Since they were very curious, they immediately took the sacrificial goat to the priest. They explained all that had happened. The priest, too, became very curious. He respectfully asked the goat, “Sir, why did you laugh so loudly, and then just as loudly cry?"

The goat, remembering his past lives, said, “A long time ago, I too was a priest who, like you, was well educated in the sacred religious rites. I thought that to sacrifice a goat was a necessary offering to my god, which would benefit others, as well as myself in future rebirths. However, the true result of my actions was that in my next 499 lives I myself have been beheaded!

“While being prepared for the sacrifice, I realized that today I will definitely lose my head for the 500th time. Then I will finally be free of all the results of my unwholesome deeds of so long ago. The joy of this made me laugh uncontrollably.

“Then I suddenly realized that you, the priest, were about to repeat the same unwholesome action, and would be doomed to the same result of having your head chopped off in your next 500 lives! So, out of compassion and sympathy, my laughter turned to tears."

The priest was afraid this goat might be right, so he said, “Well, sir goat, I will not kill you." The goat replied, “Reverend priest, even if you do not kill me, I know that today I will lose my head and finally be released from the results of my past unwholesome action."

The priest said, “Don’t be afraid, my fine goat. I will provide the very best protection and personally guarantee that no harm will come to you." But the goat said, “Oh priest, your protection is very weak, compared to the power of my unwholesome deed to cause its necessary results."

So the priest cancelled the sacrifice, and began to have doubts about killing innocent animals. He released the goat and, along with his servants, followed him in order to protect him from any danger.

The goat wandered into a rocky place. He saw some tender leaves on a branch and stretched out his neck to reach them. All of a sudden a thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere. A lightning bolt struck an over-hanging rock, and cut off a sharp slab, which fell and chopped off the goat’s head! He died instantly, and the thunderstorm disappeared.

Hearing of this very strange event, hundreds of local people came to the place. No one could understand how it had happened.

There was also a fairy who lived in a nearby tree. He had seen all that had occurred. He appeared, gently fluttering in the air overhead. He began to teach the curious people, saying, “Look at what happened to this poor goat. This was the result of killing animals! All beings are born, and suffer through sickness, old age and death. But all wish to live, and not to die. Not seeing that all have this in common, some kill other living beings. This causes suffering also to those who kill, both now and in countless future rebirths.

“Being ignorant that all deeds must cause results to the doer, some continue to kill and heap up more suffering on themselves in the future. Each time they kill, a part of themselves must also die in this present life. And the suffering continues even by rebirth in hell worlds!"

Those who heard the fairy speak felt that they were very lucky indeed. They gave up their ignorant killing, and were far better off, both in this life, and in pleasant rebirths.

The moral is: Even religion can be a source of ignorance.

18. The Goat Who Saved the Priest [Ignorance]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2022/03/07/18-the-goat-who-saved-the-priest-ignorance/

INTERPRETER’S INTRODUCTION – BUDDHIST TALES FOR YOUNG AND OLD, VOLUME 1, STORIES 1-50

#Buddhisttalesforyoungandold #Buddhiststories #storiesforkids #moralstories #Buddha #Jatakastories #PansiyaPanasJataka

17. THE WIND AND THE MOON [FRIENDSHIP]

 

17. THE WIND AND THE MOON [FRIENDSHIP]

Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, volume 1, Prince Goodspeaker, Stories 1-50

Once upon a time, there were two very good friends who lived together in the shade of a rock. Strange as it may seem, one was a lion and one was a tiger. They had met when they were too young to know the difference between lions and tigers. So they did not think their friendship was at all unusual. Besides, it was a peaceful part of the mountains, possibly due to the influence of a gentle forest monk who lived nearby. He was a hermit, one who lives far away from other people.

For some unknown reason, one day the two friends got into a silly argument. The tiger said, “Everyone knows the cold comes when the moon wanes from full to new!" The lion said, “Where did you hear such nonsense? Everyone knows the cold comes when the moon waxes from new to full!"

The argument got stronger and stronger. Neither could convince the other. They could not reach any conclusion to resolve the growing dispute. They even started calling each other names! Fearing for their friendship, they decided to go ask the learned forest monk, who would surely know about such things.

Visiting the peaceful hermit, the lion and tiger bowed respectfully and put their question to him. The friendly monk thought for a while and then gave his answer. “It can be cold in any phase of the moon, from new to full and back to new again. It is the wind that brings the cold, whether from west or north or east. Therefore, in a way, you are both right! And neither of you is defeated by the other. The most important thing is to live without conflict, to remain united. Unity is best by all means."

The lion and tiger thanked the wise hermit. They were happy to still be friends.

The moral is: Weather comes and weather goes, but friendship remains.

17. The Wind and the Moon [Friendship]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2022/03/01/17-the-wind-and-the-moon-friendship/

INTERPRETER’S INTRODUCTION – BUDDHIST TALES FOR YOUNG AND OLD, VOLUME 1, STORIES 1-50

#Buddhisttalesforyoungandold #Buddhiststories #storiesforkids #moralstories #Buddha #Jatakastories #PansiyaPanasJataka