CHAPTER I: Bodhisattva Maitreya's Past Incarnations
5. King Li Shimin
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King Li Shimin
(598–649)
From wikipedia.org
During the Tang dynasty in China, King Li Shimin was actually Bodhisattva Maitreya. At that time, the incarnation of the Venerable Moggallana was actually Chen Hsuan Tsang, who went from China to India in his quest for sutras. Incarnating Lord Maitreya, Reverend Tịnh Vương preached, and I heard the Lord say these words:
The Bodhisattva acquired the highest point of unalterable determination. He was spontaneously tranquil, without polluted love. He has strolled all over the worlds. He respectfully worshipped the Amitabha Buddha, and then He either dwelt in the Tranquility-for-Salvation World or generated the great vow to return to the human world.
Once returning to the human world, He would be a brilliant king, a leader capable of saving His country and His people, delivering them from the suffering yoke of slavery. Wherever He was reborn in the Six Taos,[9] He became a salvation leader, never being an ordinary human. Why does He have to be a king or leader? By becoming a king or leader, He could later possess a solemn, salvaged nation and become a Buddha—first to be a master to save His people and later to be a master of the Universe. That is an obvious matter; it must be like that. —T. V.
[9] The Six Taos, also called the Six Paths, those are: Deva, Human, Asura, Animal, Hungry Ghost, and Hell.
The Lord has also taught that becoming a king aims at cultivating talent, which brings about intelligence. Virtue had been accumulated through many lifetimes of practice. Now, having attained intelligence, both virtue and its corresponding level of intelligence can be possessed. A Tao practitioner has to carry out Supreme Goodness in order to attain virtue that is as large as the sea. A Supreme Intelligence is a matchless one. It is by possessing such a transcendent virtue and intelligence together that one is a Buddha. One is thus neither gentle nor cruel, neither good nor evil. It is only by correctly carrying out the No-Birth Dharma that one can become immortal — it has to be like that.
The Gentle Saint goes only on the right side of life since they have insufficient talent to face the left side. They are subject to death but without complaint. And they nevertheless show compassion. The one on this Dharma path has neither True Enlightenment nor Supreme Intelligence. The only intelligence a Gentle Saint could attain, at most, is an enlightening one. The One of complete enlightenment is the Truly Enlightened One who must wait to personally meet the Great Power, Lord Maitreya becoming a Buddha, and undergo many challenging tests and verifications through Him and only then be attested by Him in order to be integrated into the constitution.
In the past, The Founding Master Shakyamuni Buddha attested to the Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and Maitreya Bodhisattva, among others. The same process goes on in this inferior period of life: Lord Maitreya has opened Long-Hoa for thirty-seven years, but those who termed themselves the “truly enlightened ones” did not come personally to see the Lord in order to be attested. Though they claimed to be Buddhas, they were not true Buddhas. By claiming this with insufficient merits of deeds and virtues, they would get caught in Precept-Buddhas. This is truly disastrous, with effects that run through incalculable lifetimes. Therefore, a faithful Tao practitioner knows that each time Lord Maitreya returned to the human world, all of the Patriarchs from the time of The Founding Master Shakyamuni Buddha onward drew close to the Lord to practice Tao Dharma.
This can be seen during China’s Tang dynasty when King Li Shimin was actually Bodhisattva Maitreya. There was also the Venerable Moggallana, incarnated as Chen Hsuan Tsang, who went on a quest for sutras. A noteworthy point: faithful Tao practitioners need to be mindful that, before Dharma Master Hsuan Tsang’s passing, one of his true disciples, Yen-Ts’ung, and others asked him,
“Is Master sure that Master will be reborn in the Tusita Heaven?”
“Sure,” replied the Dharma Master.
And then the Dharma Master said, “This toxic body of Hsuan Tsang is truly boring. Now that my work has finished, I really should not remain here. I would like to transfer all of my virtuous merits and knowledge to all living beings, wishing that all of us would be reborn in the Tusita Heaven to follow the Maitreya Bodhisattva, to learn Tao Dharma and to serve the Lord.
“When the Buddha returns to the human world, we wish to be able to return there with the Lord to progress Buddhist works until we have attained the Supreme Purpose.”
After saying these words of farewell, the Dharma Master continued to enter into contemplative meditation. Then, he recited a eulogistic verse to the Maitreya Buddha and established his vow of being reborn in the Tusita Heaven. After the recital, his breath gradually became weaker, and he passed away tranquilly. His skin still had a ruddy complexion, and his countenance was joyful. Over seven days, his countenance did not change, and his body did not emit any unpleasant odors. This was in the year 664, the seventh century.
This vow, until now, in the twentieth century, has been responded to in the most vigorous manner and with the highest sincerity, and it has been attested to by Reverend Tịnh Vương Nhất Tôn, incarnating Lord Maitreya. This affirms that the birth-death transmigration cycle is true.
This time, Lord Maitreya returned at the end of the twentieth century. The Lord appeared as a layman, as did Chen Hsuan Tsang. All of the Patriarchs from the time of The Shakyamuni Buddha also now fully appeared, taking on the characteristics of laypeople. All of them were married, had children, and worked in all careers in Southern Vietnamese society.
They were now gathering in sufficient numbers, following Lord Maitreya to practice and learn Tao Dharma. Among them, Chen Hsuan Tsang, in his new incarnation and with his new name for this lifetime, was selected by Reverend Tịnh Vương, who was incarnating Lord Maitreya, to be head of the central ministry. He was tasked with progressing Buddhist works all along the Lord’s Tao-executing path in this world. He also underwent uncountable difficulties and hardships of the Degenerate-Life Period, which were even much more than when he went on his quest for sutras. Many true disciples of Lord Tịnh Vương, practicing side by side with Hsuan Tsang, tried to conspire to attack, subvert, and destroy by many different means. However, they did not have enough Prajñā Intelligence,[10] so they were unsuccessful even after numerous attempts.
King Li Shimin and
Dharma Master Hsuan Tsang
From longhoahoithuong.org
[10] The Prajñā Intelligence is the essential nature of Tathagata, universally, solemnly, and uniquely. It is the great ocean intelligence, owing to the deep penetration of Prajñā Prajñāparamitā. When a Tao practitioner carries out the resolution of thousands of Dharmas properly and brightly, their works are therefore always perfect; they are those of Prajñā Intelligence.
In truth, this is an extremely rare thing: an ancient vow, made in the seventh century, holding completely true in the twentieth century, the scientific and atomic century in which Lord Maitreya appeared. Today this vow is carried out with fidelity to its original intention.
Once again: “When Lord Maitreya returns to the human world, we wish to be able to return there with the Lord to progress Buddhist works until we attain the Supreme Purpose.” This vow was fulfilled and the former Hsuan Tsang attained the Supreme Rank True Enlightenment. This was attested to by Lord Maitreya on the Great Ceremony Day—the thirtieth day of the ninth month of the lunar year 1989.
We can discern that the Tao practitioner with a faithful, fervent mind is always supported and attested by the Buddhas of Ten Directions without omission. If Dharma Master Hsuan Tsang had not been reborn in the Tusita Heaven according to his vow, how could we see that, in this Period of Return, Lord Maitreya and Hsuan Tsang both appeared as laymen and met each other in the final lifetime when Lord Maitreya became a Buddha. Hsuan Tsang also successfully served in conformity with his vow. In all previous lifetimes, the Patriarchs had always renounced their families, but when Lord Maitreya lived as a layman, they also all lived as laymen. For this reason, we should know that they had all been gathered together beforehand, and there was an arrangement made by the Lord before His return to the world—it’s a matter of course.
At the end of the second half of the eleventh century, the Venerable Moggallana was reborn in Tibet as the Lama Milarepa. This event was recorded in the book Milarepa, the Transcendent Man. At that time, Lord Maitreya was the Master who taught Tao Dharma to Milarepa. So many lifetimes of actively fulfilling the vow belonged to the Unthinkable Dignity of the Venerable Moggallana, which was waiting to be attested in this Period of Return. That was long, continuous chains of effort through many lifetimes of diligent, tireless practice; the hard endurance that lasted through the evolution of thousands of Dharmas, on some occasions, wore out. Many Tao practitioners ran away in this Dharma-Ending Age, unable to endure, and they returned to the temples or hermitages while at the same time avoiding the evolution of thousands of Dharmas in the human world!
One day, Reverend Tịnh Vương, incarnating Lord Maitreya, preached: Among the Lord’s many true disciples today, those of lowest rank were also mandarins; the others were the Lord’s Great Mandarins in the time of Kong-Ming and of King Li Shimin of the Tang dynasty. They all generate their minds of practicing Tao Dharma nowadays. These things affirm that the foundation of cause was deeply set, and thus they are able to stand unified today.
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