1301：Appreciation to the guru for teaching the value of brotherly love and respect, and for resolving disputes among siblings.

Prostrations to His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche, His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, the Lineage gurus, Dharma protector Achi, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Greetings, fellow believers and Dharma brothers, I am Chung Hsien Da of Group Four, and my Dharma name is Hui Si Drolma. I am the disciple whom Rinpoche instructed, bestowing his incomparably wondrous teachings, to kneel and apologize to my elder brother and sister. I am grateful to His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche for granting me the opportunity to praise the guru for the help he has provided to me and my family, and to repent the evil karma I have accumulated through past lifetimes.  

My mother had always been strong in body, and in February of this year, she passed away at the venerable age of 102. In the last seven or eight years of her life, my mother was diagnosed with dementia by doctors. I am deeply grateful to Rinpoche for compassionately saving my mother and bestowing her consciousness-transference through the Chod puja. 
 
My eldest sister is Chung Hui Ling from Group Six. In the ROC year 98, through the introduction of a Dharma brother, she and I simultaneously took refuge in His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. I am grateful to Rinpoche for his incomparably wondrous teachings and rescue. After taking refuge for over a year, my eldest sister recognized the profundity of Buddha Dharma as she faced her impending death. After her body was cremated, śarīra flowers appeared; her bones displayed white, pink, and green colors, with a neat, round hole at the crown. I am grateful to Rinpoche for bestowing my sister with the precious Phowa. (Please refer to Traces of Liberating Beings, number 531.)
Both my father and mother sequentially developed dementia. Still, the difference was that when my father became ill, I had not yet encountered the great practitioner Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. In contrast, when my mother passed away, I had already taken refuge in His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche.

Because my mother received Rinpoche’s blessings, her condition was completely different from my father’s. In her final years, my mother was hospitalized only three times due to illness, unlike my father, who was bedridden for five to six years. At the age of 100, my mother fractured three bones in her pelvic region. After two days on painkillers, the pain was unbearable. I immediately administered the precious nectar pill to my mother, bestowed by Rinpoche. She was bedridden for two months, her bones miraculously healed, and she could walk until her final moments. All of this is thanks to Rinpoche’s compassionate blessings and protection.
 
Rinpoche has expounded that dementia arises from not believing in karma! After my father passed away, I knew he went to a very bad place. Only after three years of taking refuge in Rinpoche did my mother dream of my father. He appeared in his thirties, joyful, seemingly coming to bid her farewell before embarking on a journey. This is all thanks to Rinpoche; Rinpoche transfers consciousness of sentient beings again and again in the monthly Chod puja, allowing their good fortune to accumulate.
 
This January, my mother was hospitalized because her blood oxygen level was critically low. Although emergency treatment was forgone, my mother wanted to pass away, yet could not. I informed my older sister that Rinpoche worked tirelessly throughout January. He performed several lengthy Dharmas at the monastery, and performed Dharma again on Lunar New Year’s Day, and even receiving the audience with believers on the Saturday of the fourth day of the New Year. Rinpoche is already 78 years old, yet regardless of his own fatigue or health, he constantly keeps sentient beings in mind. Rinpoche truly saves the suffering beings upon hearing their cries, he is immensely compassionate. I told my sister that we should seek an audience with Rinpoche to implore him to protect our mother and ease her pain. My second sister agreed, but our brother chose to stay at the hospital to look after our mother.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, I am grateful to Rinpoche for receiving the audience with believers unsparingly of himself. My second sister and I signed up together. During our audience, because I had disrespected the guru and was being presumptuous, I turned to look at my sister three consecutive times. Rinpoche scolded, ‘You show no respect for Buddha Dharma. From now on, you are not allowed to make offerings, nor to visit the monastery. You have sought refuge for over ten years, but you have not engaged in any practice. Were it not for the small measure of filial piety you still have, I would have expelled you as well!’I burst into tears on the spot! Hatred toward my second sister arose in my mind, and upon returning to my seat, I couldn’t control myself and harshly blamed my sister, ‘On a regular basis, I have asked you to learn Buddhism, but you never listen!’

Being so foolish, I was entirely unaware that having such evil thoughts was inappropriate. I freely indulged my body, speech, and mind in committing evil, had no slightest mind of repentance, and instead blamed my sister. This was utterly wrong.

That evening, when I returned to the hospital to see my mother, my brother informed me that her heartbeat was only in the thirties, and her body was already limp. The following early morning, my mother passed away peacefully! I placed the precious nectar pill bestowed by Rinpoche into my mother’s mouth and stayed by her side, chanting mantras for eight hours. I am grateful to Rinpoche, who cannot bear to see sentient beings suffer and compassionately saves them. After eight hours, my mother’s body was entirely soft, which is quite incredible! I cannot possibly repay Rinpoche for the immense grace in saving my mother， and sincerely thank His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche!
When Rinpoche instructed during the first audience that all three children should attend, my second sister fervently asked our elder brother in the corridor to implore for an audience with Rinpoche the following Saturday. She emphasized the importance of showing respect to Rinpoche. After much struggle, my brother finally agreed, but unexpectedly, two days later, he had regrets; no matter how my sister and I tried to persuade him, he refused to come. At the second audience, Rinpoche asked, ‘Your elder brother didn’t come?’ and instructed us sisters to kneel to beg our elder brother.
 
The General puja on February 9 is one I will never forget. Before the puja, I did not feel even the slightest mind of repentance, but without knowing why, as soon as I entered the Buddhist Center, I couldn’t help but keep crying. I am grateful to Rinpoche for his attractive power!

Rinpoche is not only a king of medicine but also a great educator. Even when facing me, who had taken refuge for over ten years without practicing at all, Rinpoche still did not give up on me. The teachings in the puja that day were incomparably precious. Rinpoche taught, ‘There was a disciple whose mother passed away. Her elder brother and sister did not listen to her, because the way she spoke to them sounded like they were being treated as enemies. Even though she had taken refuge for over ten years, her speech to others was hurtful, like wielding a knife. How could her family trust that she was learning Buddhism? Your strongest excuse is that he will not listen or believe. But who made him disbelieve? It is you! It is because you have not adjusted, have not changed, and still live with the same habitual nature. If you continue like this, fewer and fewer people in society will believe you.’

Rinpoche further taught, ‘That female disciple completely disrespects her brother and sister, speaking to them like they were enemies. Can such a person still be my disciple? She cannot speak properly to others, as if she has never been educated. Who is she?’ I stood up immediately. Rinpoche scolded me on the spot, ‘Have you ever been educated?’ (I replied: Yes.) ‘Since you have been educated, can you speak rudely to your brother and sister? Let us not talk about Buddha Dharma; have you not learned manners or received any education? No matter how I admonish you, you still go your own way. The more you learn Buddhism, the more arrogant you become, causing others to misunderstand the Buddha Dharma. Do you realize how heavy your sin is? You assume it is fine as long as your own practice goes well. What concern is it of theirs? You do not know the proper way to conduct yourself, and it is as if you have eaten garlic before talking， spreading a foul stench as soon as you speak. You think your brother and sister are completely wrong, and only you are right, is that it? No, it is nonsense. I did not expect that after over ten years of taking refuge, you had not changed even a bit. It was only when your mother had a problem this time that I paid attention to you. If you are capable, do not come to implore me. If you do not implore, I will not be aware of your shortcomings, and then I will not scold you; you could just continue to hide in the background. I am giving you two days to apologize to your brother and sister for all your bad behavior over the past decades. Do you hear me?’(I replied, ‘Yes, and I am grateful to Rinpoche.’) If you do not kneel and apologize to them, I will kick you out. Do you hear me? Everyone here is a witness.’(I answered: ‘Yes.’)
 
I am sincerely grateful to Rinpoche for bestowing such incomparably wondrous teachings! I am genuinely and profoundly thankful to Rinpoche. As a foolish and ignorant disciple like me, with a heavy hatred and strong arrogance, acting recklessly at will， if scolded mildly, I might not even understand or feel it; if scolded harshly, the mind of my hatred and arrogance might arise, and I might refuse to submit to guidance. How obstinate and difficult to subdue and tame I really am!

After the puja ended, I suddenly felt that through Rinpoche’s powerful blessing, my body instantly became purified. It is not ‘light’ (the Chinese word is qīng) as in relaxed (the Chinese term is qīngsōng), but ‘pure’ (the Chinese word is qīng) as in cleansed (the Chinese term is qīngjié). (Note: In Chinese, the words ‘qīng’ in qīngsōng and qīngjié share the same pronunciation, but they are written with different characters and carry different meanings.) This feeling was similar to my first week of becoming a vegetarian, when I felt my body had become a little cleaner. From the vast, heavy defilement that I had accumulated from past kalpas and lifetimes, harder and thicker than steel plates, a piece was pried up by Rinpoche. That single piece of defilement, like a glimmer of light piercing through the crevice, unexpectedly granted me a trace of clarity in my mind and the slight strength to give rise to repentance. I am genuinely grateful for the blessings of His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. I felt as if a powerful cleanser had instantly removed much of my defilement, which is absolutely incredible! I sincerely feel the profound power of Rinpoche. Rinpoche once said, ‘You all know that I am powerful, but you have no idea how powerful I truly am!’ I am a living, authentic beneficiary of this.

After the puja that day, I contacted my second sister. I told her that Rinpoche had instructed me to kneel and apologize to my brother and sister within two days for the wrongdoings I had committed over these past decades. My sister said, ‘To me， it’s not necessary!’ I told her, ‘Rinpoche’s teachings are real and true. Whatever Rinpoche says, that’s exactly what we should do!’

That evening, when I entered my brother’s house, he politely said, ‘Please, have a seat!’I didn’t sit; I knelt immediately. Seeing me kneel, my second sister also stood up from her seat and knelt to beg our brother. I knelt and apologized to my brother and my sister, while my sister knelt and begged our brother. Seeing both of us sisters kneel, my brother knelt as well. He said, ‘Thank Rinpoche for reprimanding you!’ He also said, ‘I don’t know if you truly realize your mistakes, or if you are relying on Rinpoche’s miraculous power.’ Later, my brother agreed to seek an audience with Rinpoche! I am grateful to Rinpoche for compassionately granting my brother the fate to have a direct audience with a great practitioner.

On Saturday, my brother, sister, and I sought an audience with Rinpoche. Rinpoche compassionately expounded, ‘As soon as your mother passed away, she came to me; she was worried about disharmony among you siblings.’ This shocked us siblings, as our mother had never learned Buddhism in her life and had even opposed my eldest sister and me from taking refuge in Rinpoche. Rinpoche taught us the way siblings should get along, ‘When the younger does not understand, the elder should forgive. The younger should not feel unhappy just because the elder does not understand the younger’s words. Practice respect and harmony among brothers and sisters. If you quarrel again, your mother will come to discipline you!’
 
I am grateful for Rinpoche’s compassionate and incomparably wondrous teachings. With my kneeling, decades of grudges and resentments between my brother and me were resolved, and our way of speaking to each other became much kinder and more polite. Although we don’t interact much, we never quarrel again! In addition, my second sister, who has worked in Mainland China for many years, was also able to overcome obstacles and attend the pujas at the monastery because of Rinpoche’s blessings. I express immense gratitude to Rinpoche.

I am grateful to Rinpoche for agreeing to transfer my mother’s consciousness and compassionately assigning the date for her cremation. Rinpoche particularly instructed that the farewell ceremony be kept simple. Rinpoche compassionately and mercifully accepted my humble offerings and granted me the opportunity to do daily grand prostrations at the Buddhist Center. Rinpoche also granted my second sister permission to attend the Chod puja in February. I am genuinely grateful to Rinpoche for bestowing me the incomparably wondrous teachings and for saving me!

On the day of the funeral, when we paid our last respects to the remains of our mother, my sister and I noticed that our mother, at 102 years old, had passed away with a face full of wrinkles and a grayish, earthy complexion, but after Rinpoche performed the Chod puja to transfer her consciousness, her facial skin appeared smooth, even slightly firm, with not a single wrinkle. That evening after the cremation, my mother’s skull revealed two extraordinarily beautiful round holes, with several smaller round holes appearing nearby. Shining a light through the round holes, I saw they were fully pierced through. Tears promptly fell from my eyes, and I kept saying, ‘I am grateful to Rinpoche! I am grateful to Rinpoche!’I immediately grabbed my sister to look, and in my excitement, my hands were shaking while taking the photo. This showed that Rinpoche used his own merit and good fortune to bless my mother and transfer her consciousness. Considering my mother’s habit of eating meat and not learning Buddhism, it would have been impossible for her to receive the help of a great practitioner. Moreover, the auspicious signs after her cremation all demonstrated Rinpoche’s incredible ability to transfer consciousness. Without Rinpoche’s compassion and mighty power of cultivation and merit, none of this would have been possible!

I am grateful to Rinpoche for performing the Chod puja to transfer my mother’s consciousness. After her cremation, two extraordinarily beautiful round holes appeared in her skull, which are auspicious signs.

I now, with a mind of utmost sincerity, reverence, and supreme earnestness, repent on behalf of my parents and ancestors from past lifetimes to all sentient beings of the Six Realms accumulated from past kalpas and lifetimes. Also, with a mind of utmost sincerity and reverence, I offer gratitude on behalf of my parents to the great practitioner–His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche!

Rinpoche expounded, ‘What is mentioned in the sutras is in fact related to our life. Practice means correcting improper behavior, using the Buddha Dharma as the standard to change and adjust ourselves.’I had never applied the Buddha Dharma in my life, and only after Rinpoche’s forceful blessing did I suddenly awaken to a glimmer of clarity. As for greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt, as well as disbelief in Karma, I am fully endowed with them all; regarding purifying the mind by oneself, or kindness, compassion, joy, and giving
, I lack them entirely! I am attached to transient phenomena at present, like bubbles that arise and vanish. Not only do I insist on giving explanations, but I also demand to clarify right and wrong. I am precisely what Rinpoche described: if I do not explain, my mouth would rot, and my teeth would ache! Rinpoche taught that if you refuse to take this medicine, you will never make progress in the Buddha Dharma.

As written in the Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows, ‘To those engaging in harsh speech, he would speak of the retribution of having family quarrels and in-fighting.’This is karmic retribution in this life for me. I know it, and I am afraid; I fear that my harsh speech and hatred will make me fall into hell and reincarnate again. In fact, I am already in hell. Though my words express fear, my deeds still follow my own way! I am extremely coarse and lack the awareness to introspect and reflect on myself; I have no wisdom and have never applied the Buddha Dharma in my life. When I don’t know what to do, I just want to figure out a way to solve problems based on life experience. Rinpoche taught, ‘Everyone has their own thoughts, which inevitably collide with each other. If we use wisdom to resolve matters, there will be no collisions.’
 
I am deeply aware that my karmic vices and accumulated habits run deep. Whenever I think of this, I am filled with horror. Drifting up and down on the great sea of reincarnation, shunted among the Six Realms, wandering through birth and death, I have lost count of how many lifetimes I have passed through. I am fortunate now to have encountered such a great practitioner, who so patiently and carefully teaches and rescues me. With utmost sincerity, I am grateful to Rinpoche for bestowing upon me the incomparably wondrous Buddha Dharma teachings and for delivering my Dharmakaya (Dharma-body) and wisdom-life! Rinpoche teaches me to recognize my own faults and hazards. My evil karma is extremely heavy, and I should repent, repent, and repent again, repenting all the evil karma of body, speech, and mind accumulated from past lifetimes. I will strive to change myself, use the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas to examine myself, sincerely accept the karmic retribution, and never commit evil again!
 
With a mind of utmost sincerity and reverence, I repent the heavy karma of killing accumulated from past kalpas and lifetimes as well as my cruel nature. When I was a child, I saw a white snake enter our home, and my father and brother beat it to death because I was terrified. In high school, I saw the snake being cruelly skinned by the boss, yet I still ate it! I once watched my father put two live fish directly into boiling water, and after they were served on the table, I still ate them.
 
I repent that during accumulated past kalpas and lifetimes, for the sake of my appetite, intentionally or unintentionally, countless sentient beings lost their lives because of me. I repent to all the sentient beings I have eaten, killed, or harmed in the past. I repent for having, in the past, fully indulged in killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and drinking alcohol, as well as in greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt; even a casual thought could easily lead me to tell lies or make excuses, speak carelessly, act without caution, fail to repent, and create many evil karmas. I repent that, when Rinpoche granted the good deed of donating to Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery, I failed to act promptly due to my habitual laziness and procrastination. I repent for not putting the guru’s things first, being disrespectful to the guru, lacking a mind of making offerings, and approaching everything slowly. I have committed so many faults, and I am deeply grateful that Rinpoche is still willing to teach me. Without Rinpoche bestowing the Dharma-body and wisdom-life for me to learn Buddhism, I would surely continue to sink in the karmic sea of reincarnation, following the karma. I now repent all my evil deeds; I will cease the evil, do the good, and never commit the evil again! I am willing to accept all the karmic retribution. Everyone, please take me as an example. I am deeply thankful to Rinpoche！

Finally, I had long-term sleep deprivation and poor appetite because of caring for my mother, and many Dharma brothers said that my complexion was dark. I am grateful to Rinpoche for founding the Glorious Jewel Chinese Medicine Clinic. My health, which had been severely depleted, quickly improved after taking the Chinese medicine, because Rinpoche uses only the finest Chinese herbal medicine. Rinpoche imported extremely precious saffron. The first time I performed the grand prostrations at the Buddhist Center, after only 100 prostrations, my heart felt like it would burst out of my mouth, and I was extremely uncomfortable. I immediately drank saffron water and felt much better, allowing me to complete the prostrations smoothly. Since then, I have been drinking saffron water every day without interruption. Bao Yuan Gao is a household must-have. Once, my mother was in the hospital elevator when the back of her hand was scraped by the elevator door, leaving a large 4×4 cm wound. The hospital provided emergency care and even had a plastic surgeon stitch it for several hours, with a lot of bleeding. When we got home, I applied Bao Yuan Gao to my mother’s wound. Not long after, she fully recovered, and not a single scar remained on such a large wound.
 
One time, my mother had a bedsore on her back, about the size of a 10NT coin, which had already broken the skin. I knew that bedsores are very difficult to heal, and when they reach the bone, they can be fatal. I was terrified. I applied Bao Yuan Gao to the bedsore every day, and before long, the flesh grew back and the bedsore healed!

My mother’s lungs tended to accumulate phlegm, and once there was too much phlegm, she could easily develop pneumonia. The Perilla Drink was an essential remedy at home. In her later years, except for COVID-19, she rarely had pneumonia. The Perilla Drink was undoubtedly a major contributor. I’m deeply grateful to Rinpoche for importing such an excellent drink! Additionally, the soy milk, high in protein, is very suitable for elderly people who eat small amounts but still require adequate nutrition.
 
All of this is thanks to the Glorious Jewel business units established by Rinpoche, including Chinese herbal medicines and Bao Yuan Gao from the Chinese Medicine Clinic, high-quality Japanese foods such as perilla drink, soy milk, goji berries, and the Coffee Shop at Dongfeng street, which was my best retreat when I was utterly exhausted caring for my mother. I am deeply grateful to Rinpoche for providing us with such excellent, safe, and health-conscious foods to enjoy. 

Lastly, I pray for His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s good health and longevity; the Dharma wheel turns unceasingly; his Dharma activities may flourish; Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery will be smoothly and successfully constructed to perfect completion; Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Dharma lineage may spread eternally; and that Rinpoche will benefit all the sentient beings of the ten directions of the Dharma Realm! I sincerely thank all fellow believers and Dharma brothers for listening patiently. I am grateful to Rinpoche. 

 

             Respectfully written by Chung Hsien Da , Group Four, On September 7, 2025

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Updated on September 19, 2025