1323：Appreciation to the Guru for Blessing and Helping the Disciple to become a vegetarian and learn Buddhism

Prostrations to His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche, His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, Dharma Protector Achi, the Lineage gurus, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Greetings, fellow believers and Dharma brothers, I am Huang Bang Hong from Group Seven, and my Dharma name is Gong Chu Ding Yuan. I am grateful to His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche for bestowing me the opportunity to praise the guru’s merits and repent for the evil karma I have committed. 
 
Since birth, our family has made a living by selling fish, and only when my parents retired in 2006 did they stop the sales; there definitely was fish on the table every day. Since childhood, we looked down upon monastics, thinking that they could receive money and food without engaging in physical labor. In high school, I even joined classmates in slandering Buddha statues, for me, even the slightest thought of being a vegetarian and learning Buddhism wouldn’t occur.
 
In 2006, after entering the workplace, I met Dharma Brother Yang, who had already taken refuge. He shared with us and asked whether we would like to attend the Great Indiscriminate Amitabha Puja for Transferring Consciousness presided over by Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. At that time, I simply thought that I had nothing to do on the weekend so I attended.. The Puja was held at the Taipei Arena. Beforehand, the Dharma brother reminded us that it would be very cold inside with the air conditioning, and we should bring an extra piece of clothing. During the Puja, the person sitting next to me had forgotten to bring extra clothing and kept telling his family members that he was cold. After asking, I lent them the extra clothing I had brought. About a month later, that family asked me whether I would like to go together to seek an audience with Rinpoche. Without much thought, I replied, ‘Yes.’ On that day, they asked me what guidance I wanted to seek. I thought of my mother, who was ill at that time, and my parents, who argued constantly. I also thought of the Heart Sutra that my Tai Chi teacher in the park had once lent me to read. After thinking, it was just these two matters!

Upon arriving at the Glorious Jewel, Rinpoche had already begun receiving the audience of believers. I followed my friends to hurriedly enter the queue. When it was my turn to step forward and seek an audience, I knelt and reported to Rinpoche, ‘Our family sold fish before.’ Rinpoche immediately expounded to me, ‘Your karma is truly heavy.’ At that time, I was momentarily stunned, then continued to report to Rinpoche, ‘The Buddha Dharma should be helpful to our family, right?’ After hearing this, Rinpoche continuously expounded, ‘What is “should”?’ I thought for a moment and replied, ‘Perhaps?’ Rinpoche then asked, ‘What is “perhaps”?’ I could not answer and was stunned there. Rinpoche continued to ask, ‘What is your other question?’ I replied, ‘I have read some sutras…’ Rinpoche immediately reprimanded, ‘Have you made prostrations towards me? So arrogant; go to the back and reflect.’ Seeing this, a Dharma brother beside me just led me to the back.

Standing at the back, listening to Rinpoche’s teachings, I saw that each of the believers or Dharma brothers who came in would first prostrate, then line up to wait to seek an audience, or stand at the rear listening to Rinpoche’s teachings. I asked the Dharma brother, who was in charge, beside me, ‘May I go forward to prostrate like them?’ The Dharma brother said yes. After prostrating, I returned to the back and continued standing there, listening to Rinpoche’s teachings. When almost everyone had finished seeking an audience, a Dharma brother came to ask me, ‘Do you still want to seek an audience with the guru again?’ I said yes, and the Dharma brother guided me to line up at the end of the queue.

I stepped forward again and knelt before Rinpoche, reporting to Rinpoche, ‘I was wrong. I should not have been so arrogant.’ Rinpoche expounded, ‘In learning Buddhism, one must follow a virtuous guru; it is not that one can simply learn by understanding the words and flipping through the sutras. You come to attend the pujas. I will observe you again and see.’ Then, the Dharma brother at the counter told me that to attend the pujas, one should be a vegetarian and should not eat the five pungent spices, and so on.
 
However, at that time, I thought that as long as I did not directly eat fish, meat, or the five pungent spices, it counted as being vegetarian. If they were used as seasoning or cooked together, they were picked out, and the leftovers should be considered vegetarian! While in Taipei, I would directly look for vegetarian restaurants. On weekends when returning to the south, I thought about how to tell my parents about being a vegetarian. I recalled that Rinpoche had once expounded on the Dharma throne that if one wished to be a vegetarian but one’s family opposed it, it would be fine to say that the body would get allergic. At that moment, I decided to say it that way. Before going home, I made a phone call to inform my parents about being a vegetarian, but they did not believe me and even persuaded me not to be a vegetarian, saying that otherwise I would have no friends and would cause trouble for others.
 
That day at noon, I ate with a friend. He asked me, ‘What kind of vegetarian diet do you follow?’ I said, ‘Vegetarian is just vegetarian; what distinction is there?’ He then asked, ‘Is it flexitarian, or something else? Does beef noodle soup count?’ I replied, ‘If there is no meat in it, it should be fine.’ While eating, for some unknown reason, the more I ate, the more uncomfortable my body felt. After eating a little, I stopped eating. In the evening, I ate at home. The table was the same as usual, with fish, meat, and vegetables. I told my parents again that I became a vegetarian, then pointed to the fish and meat on the table and said, ‘I will not eat those.’ My parents immediately opposed it. That night, I only ate some sweet potato leaves stir-fried with garlic, yet my physical discomfort became even more severe.
 
The next morning, when I woke up, there was a churning sensation in my stomach, and I immediately rushed to the bathroom to vomit. At that time, my sister’s daughter, who was not yet five years old, was living at home with my parents. She rarely went up to the third floor and usually only played on the first and second floors, while my room was on the third floor. After I finished vomiting, I turned around and saw her looking at me curiously, then she looked back and said to my mother, ‘Grandma, uncle has vomited…’After returning to my room, my hands and fingers began to itch. I thought, could it really be an allergy?
 
After returning to Taipei, my father, his voice even choked with emotion, worriedly called to persuade me to give up being a vegetarian. I replied that I would get allergic and could not. From that day on, when my mother cooked, she no longer added scallions or garlic. Whenever I ate meat again, or foods containing scallions, garlic, or eggs, my hands would inexplicably become itchy. Occasionally, I would even see clusters of transparent, blister-like or fish-egg-like bumps appearing between my fingers and on the back of my hands. Only after that did I realize which foods I truly could not eat. Moreover, in my annual health check reports, my eosinophil percentage was always higher than the normal range, and the report noted causes, including allergic illness. At that time, I had not yet taken refuge and merely listened to Rinpoche to be a vegetarian. I am grateful to Rinpoche.

After attending the pujas at the Buddhist Center in 2006, Dharma brothers at the Buddhist Center continuously shared with me and persuaded me to take refuge and learn Buddhism; instead, this caused me to feel irritated and gave rise to the thought of leaving the Buddhist Center. Before leaving, I mentioned the matter of taking refuge to my parents. Because I lacked faith and gave rise to the thought of arrogance, I thought that rather than waiting for Rinpoche to observe me, it would be better to leave first on my own. At that time, my parents said that to take refuge and learn Buddhism, it would be fine to follow a religious group to do volunteer work, so I left the Buddhist Center in this way.
 
The following year, my maternal grandfather and grandmother passed away one after another. My mother’s family arranged Buddhist rituals to help my maternal grandfather and grandmother handle their funerals. When I saw the monastics reciting sutras, they actually quarreled in front of everyone, and one monastic even left. After returning home, I said to my wife, who was my girlfriend at that time, that ifI truly wanted to take refuge and learn Buddhism one day, I would only want to follow Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche.
 
After the Great Puja in 2008, my thoughts of taking refuge and learning Buddhism arose. I again went to the Glorious Jewel to sign up to seek an audience with Rinpoche. I reported to Rinpoche, ‘I have attended the Great Puja and want to follow Rinpoche to learn Buddhism.’ Rinpoche asked, ‘Have you become a vegetarian?’ I replied, ‘I have been a vegetarian for two years.’ Rinpoche compassionately (maitrī and karuṇā) granted me permission to again attend the pujas at the Buddhist Center. After one or two months, when I returned to the south, I told my parents that I wished to take refuge in Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. They replied to me: ‘As long as it did not affect my life, it would be fine.’ I answered: ‘Learning Buddhism would certainly not affect life.’ My parents then agreed.

After returning to Taipei, I again signed up to seek an audience with Rinpoche and implored for taking refuge. Rinpoche asked, ‘Why do you want to take refuge?’ I reported, ‘Rinpoche, I want to learn Buddhism.’ Rinpoche asked again, ‘Why do you want to take refuge?’ I reported, ‘I want to learn Buddhism.’ Rinpoche looked at me for a moment, then asked what work I was doing, and benevolently granted me permission to register. I am grateful to Rinpoche.
 
In 2009, my girlfriend, who was still a believer, joined and attended the anniversary consecration puja group in Japan. Before registering, she first went to seek an audience with Rinpoche to implore for permission to join the group and attend the puja. I am grateful to Rinpoche for granting her permission to join the group, and also grateful to Sino Travel Services for helping to arrange other itineraries during the puja period. At that time, H5N1 was prevalent. Before departure, Rinpoche instructed all disciples and believers in that group to gather at the Glorious Jewel Group and expounded that during that period, the entire group should be vegetarians. Before going abroad, my girlfriend originally followed a vegetarian diet for one meal a day. After returning from attending the group, she has continued being a vegetarian up to now. I am grateful to Rinpoche.

I am grateful for Rinpoche’s Glorious Jewel Group. Japanese food products are not only used in our daily life at home, but are also our first choice for gifts. The house we currently live in was found with the assistance of Glorious Jewel Real Estate, which we entrusted. My wife, who is very sensitive to noise, is highly satisfied with it and unceasingly expresses gratitude to Glorious Jewel Real Estate for helping us find this house even after living there for several years. Although new buildings were constantly constructed around the house, she has never felt noisy. As for the decoration, we also invited Glorious Jewel Interior Design to handle it. From the initial discussions to completion, and before construction began, the Dharma brother even asked for my zodiac sign. I am grateful to Rinpoche for selecting the start date of construction. The entire construction was completed according to the planned schedule. During the process, they also helped take photos for documents, and there was no need to worry about the materials used or about missing any details. When we first moved in, I shared this experience with neighbors, heard them say that although they spent over two million on decoration, they still had to spend time in going to the site personally every week with the design drawings to check against the actual work, and they actually found many discrepancies from the original design plans, which later required a great deal of time to correct.
 
I repent that I have harmed sentient beings, intentionally or unintentionally, from accumulated past lifetimes, and unceasingly reincarnated according to karma. I repent for having, since childhood, looked down upon the Three Jewels and slandered the Three Jewels. Buddhist monasteries and temples were, to us, merely places for sightseeing and passing time, and we did not believe in any religion. Only after attending Rinpoche’s pujas did I know that the Buddha Dharma can really benefit sentient beings and prevent them from reincarnating. Only by experiencing my maternal grandfather and grandmother’s funerals did my thought of wanting to learn Buddhism arise.

I repent for being unfilial to my parents since childhood, often giving rise to thoughts of harming my parents, and even using them as a shield; the concern from my parents instead made me feel irritated. Using the university as an excuse, I left home for long periods without returning. I did not heed my parents’ advice and rode a motorcycle traveling between Tainan and Kaohsiung, and had a car accident on the way home, causing my parents to worry.
 
I repent that, for two generations, from my granduncle to my parents, our family made a living by selling fish, and every year during the Spring Festival period, we also followed along in killing countless sentient beings.
 
I repent that before taking refuge, I once told my then-girlfriend that if she became pregnant, we would first abort the child and have children after marriage. When I met her again a few weeks after we broke up, only then did she tell me that she had been pregnant, but the child had already been aborted. My single sentence caused the death of a person.
 
I repent that my mind of haughtiness and arrogance is very heavy; I am stubbornly image-conscious and refuse to admit fault. On January 1 and 2, 2012, the monastics led the assembly in reciting the Lotus Sutra and other sutras. At the puja the following week, Rinpoche asked whether anyone felt very joyful while reciting the Lotus Sutra, and raised their hand. In 2013, when I attended a puja at the Phyang Monastery, I was reprimanded by Rinpoche: ‘You are still playing around, grinning mischievously, and taking yourself to be the guru.’ Not only did I not examine myself, but I also gave rise to the thought of hiding, choosing to avoid rather than face it. After completing practicing the grand prostrations, I also did not go again to implore for the Dharma. Previously, as long as Rinpoche received the audience of believers on Saturdays, I would rather find another time to finish my work and make every effort to free up time to go. But from then on, I repeatedly used being busy with work as an excuse and no longer appeared, only appearing on Sunday pujas; it wasn’t until last year that I realized how gravely mistaken I had been.

I repent that I lacked determination, procrastinated in doing things, and slacked off, not learning the Buddha Dharma with the urgency of saving a head on fire; I clung to worldly enjoyment and did not strive to pursue the fruit of liberation. I often thought of starting to chant mantras after another ten minutes, and as a result, an hour was wasted by me just like that; when I was chanting mantras, my mind was often like merely going through the routine, and was that it would just be fine to have done it; I did not sincerely chant with a mind of imploration, repentance, and gratitude.
 
I repent that after learning Buddhism, I did not diligently correct my own behavior. When I returned to the south, I shared with my parents and invited them to come together to seek an audience with the guru. Although they had attended the Great Puja several times, they were still unwilling to come to the Buddhist Center to seek an audience with Rinpoche. Because of issues with her parents-in-law, my mother had long suffered from depression, and after my grandparents passed away, my mother attempted suicide twice but did not succeed. Although my mother was unwilling to come to seek an audience with Rinpoche, I am grateful that Rinpoche still ceaselessly bestowed blessings, and she has also given up the thought of suicide in these past years.

I repent that I previously loved playing video games. Only after Rinpoche expounded about it on the Dharma throne did I delete all games from my computer and mobile phone, and no longer played from then on. Only after using the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas each day to examine myself, did I gradually realize that during that period I wanted to compete and win in everything, found many things displeasing the eye, continuously harmed others and bore resentment toward them in order to protect myself, developed harsh speech, forming the habit of first criticizing and blaming others without first examining myself, and even gave rise to thoughts of harming others.

I repent that after learning Buddhism, I still helped my family burn joss paper and offer incense to worship my ancestors, and only stopped after Rinpoche expounded on it. Once Rinpoche has expounded, one should act accordingly; the guru’s words are the precepts.
 
I repent that in 2025, due to involvement in a government project at work, I did not first clearly understand the project and the department’s handling procedures, but falsely reported the actual number of participants, instructed subordinates, or personally cooperated in writing work records. It wasn’t until July 2025, when Rinpoche expounded on falsifying accounts, that I realized that my actions were no different from falsifying accounts. After I reported this to my supervisor and observed that the department would not make any change, I submitted my resignation at the beginning of this year and left after completing the handover.

All the evil karma I have created in the past is too numerous to record. I will unceasingly use the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas to examine my body, speech, and mind every day, correct my faults and not commit them again, diligently practice the fruit of liberation, and vow to be reborn in the Pure Land to continue to practice, getting liberated from reincarnation in the Six Realms.
 
I have the fate to encounter the virtuous guru, yet not cherishing the fate. Rinpoche is always right, constantly extending his hand to receive and guide us, but I keep withdrawing my hand. I am grateful to Rinpoche for sparing no effort to continuously teach with patience and earnestness, so that I, this evil disciple without root capacity, can have the slight awareness to examine my own faults. If I had not encountered Rinpoche, my future would only be to fall into Hell or the Three Evil Realms. Dharma brothers, please take me as a warning.

I pray for His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s good health, longevity, and auspiciousness; the Dharma wheel turns unceasingly; his Dharma lineage spreads eternally; the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery of Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche is perfectly and smoothly constructed, benefiting vast and boundless sentient beings. 
 
I thank all fellow believers and Dharma brothers for listening patiently. 

 
 

 Respectfully written by disciple Huang Bang Hong, Group Seven, 

 on March 29, 2026

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Updated on April 2, 2026