Can someone help me to answer this guy

>Hello Mimosa,
>
> Sorry to bother you.
>
> I have send my friend an article about the Shi Ja Mu Ni Gong De Wang Fa
> below is what she had written and that sadden me.
>
> She is not Master Lu disciple and quite skeptic about him, and I felt
> trouble by what she has written and hope that you can help me clarify some
> of the fact as I am not that good.

his friend said

>
> I'm quite surprised about the write-up on Shakyamuni Buddha by Master Lu
as
> all said was incorrect.
>
> First of all, the Buddha was born on the full moon day, which is the
fifteen
> day of the month.
...........................................
My understanding:
Buddha was born on the 8th day and 4th month of Chinese Calendar.

Only the "NAN CHUAN FO JIAO" celebrate the birth/enlighten/Nivara on the
15th day of the 4th month (Full Moon).
............................................

> Secondly, the Buddha is far from being a deity. A deity is still subject
to
> the cycle of birth and death but the Buddha, being an enlightened being,
is
> already out of the cycle of birth and death.
>
> The name Shakya appears to be later adopted by monks in China to indicate
> that they are disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha and not that they belong to
the
> Shakyan clan.  Monks of other tradition does not adopt this name.  Even in
> the early days when the Buddha was still around, his disciples did not
adopt
> the name.
>
> There are also no secrets in Buddhist practices.  The Buddha encouraged
the
> spirit of free enquiry and up to today, this forms an important feature of
> Buddhism.  The Buddha encouraged people to investigate the truth of His
> teaching for themselves before accepting it.  He never expected people to
> practise His teaching out of blind faith and superstition.  People should
> only practise what they find to be beneficial physically and mentally.
>
>
> While I do respect Master Lu as a very influential religious teacher, it
is
> saddening to know that all the things said about Buddhism were incorrect
and
> twisted.  It's even more shocking that the even date of birth can be wrong
> which is supposed to be factual information.

Mimosa,
    maybe this might help...

         does it really matter what day you celebrate Shakyamuni by? would he care either way? the answer is no and if you keep looking countless traditions all seem to have different days... the day chose isnt important however the day itself for the tradition is the only thing important... so if its the 8th, 10th, 30th of the 4th or 9th month... its not important and besides that, if you asked Shakayamuni what day he was born he would probably laugh and say i was never born...
          if you look for dates and times and try to compair them with other tradional beliefs you will get tangled up... this is not dharma... compair Grand Masters Dharma not dates...
        when you say "secret" what are you refering to? are you saying secret in the sense that it is hidden? or are you saying secret in the sense that there is a certain method that works? for example saying, "the secret to riding a bike is balance" when Grand Master talks about "secret" he means the second one... so you are correct to say that there are no secrets in buddhism...
         dont get caught up in word play... you miss Grand Masters Dharma when you only read the words or test out the dates... those arnt important... only the meaning is useful and its the tool that you need to open the Dharma door...

     hope this helps Mimosa...
        om mani padme hum
       

Buddha was born on the 8th day and 4th month of Chinese Calendar.  In southeast asia/south asia, Buddha was regarded as being born on the 15th and having gained enlightenment on the 15th.

I have a fren who criticised tantric Buddhism as treating Buddhas/bodhisattvas as deities. He believes that pesonification is wrong, and insisted that by "magic-ising" and "personfying" Buddhism, tantric Buddhism is refuting what Buddhism stands for...

(BTW, Tantric buddhsim , may appear to the myopic as deitification, but it is not. It is the qualities, compassion, etc that Buddhas and Boddhisattvas have realised, which resulted in manifestation of mantras, mudras, seed syllables and much more!)


what he fails to understand is that Tantric Buddhism doesn't refute what Buddha taught. In fact, TAntric Buddhism was mentioned by Shakyamuni Buddha but it was never openly discussed when Buddha was preaching. My understanding is that the Buddha had already shown this "magic" of tantric Buddhism when He performed some "magic" to convince people. Tis is because the Buddha, having gained enlightenment, knows the attachment of people to what the mind sees. Tantric Buddhism was not preached since people must first understand the undelying principles of Buddhism first. To disciples who asked, i am sure the Buddha would have taught them Tantric Buddhism too...

GM has great compassion; he taught us the secrets of secrets. At the same time, he teaches us the foundation of Buddhism in the many books he writes. To me, what GM has done is to provide a convenient and efficient way to cultivation. THat is why it is very fortunate that we are able to come into contact with GM this lifetime and learn from GM. This affinity is very dear and must be cherished!

looks to me that thsi guy who wrote to mimosa probably was confused by the seeming logic that prevails in his fren's argument...I dunno, but i feel that the fren is wrong for criticising something that he has no knowledge of, and probably burns his bridges with Tantric Buddhism in the next life... A lot of people are doing that right now, which is quite saddening...

i believe strongly in what i say and I feel that the fren probably will probably change his mind should GM appear in his dreams, just like what Shakyamuni Buddha must have done to convince people whose minds are still shrouded...

ultimately, what matters is what really's in our hearts. whatever definitions -- words like deitification, magic-isation, etc -- are terms tat humans use to denote their understanding and perhaps attachment to naming...

but i feel that often, the medicine to cure such attachment is to do it in ways that attachment-holders understand (use attachments to realise attachments). it is a way to get the essence to them first, however illusionistic...just like the Buddha's way of teaching Ananda in the Surangama Sutra.

I agree with Lyciss it is a shame when people choose to believe the box rather than what's inside. I really marvel at Grandmaster for having endured the snides and the accusations hurled at him from these people.

I have relatives who criticise GM and yet I can't say anything because i knew i'd never outshine them in words -- they know their Buddhist terms, they can probably argue their way to vicotry...I can only defend GM in my heart, for I know that such setbacks are nothing compared to the great endurance that GM has shown to those who show no respect to him.

yeah, Lyciss, Buddha won't mind what we call him -- a deity or whatever etc. He has reached enlightenment and wouldn't let such trivials upset him! :) Just like GM!  Only us who are still attached to the world!

thank you all for replying it.

this guy sent me another email to thank  all of you

"I have read the reply, and found a different angle to look at things.

Thank you very much!

"

I was so afraid that my words would offend the letter-writer...

THE BIRTHDAYS OF BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS
(page 264-266 Achievement of Rainbow Light Body volume two)
One of my disciples wrote to me a few days ago, as his father wanted to ask me a touchy question. If I can answer to his satisfaction, he will take refuge in me , otherwise he would not have any confidence in me. The question is : "Why was the date seventeenth of November (Lunar calendar) chosen as Amitabha Buddha's birthday ?"

Various Buddhist Sutras told us that Amitabha Buddha was an Indian Prince who renounced the world and was later on ordained as Dharmakara (mind of the Law).(So was Sakyamuni Buddha) The name of Amitabha Buddha had been mentioned many times, in the Amitabha Sutra and Sukhavativyuha Sutra by Sakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, we can safely conclude that Amitabha Buddha must have lived long before Sakyamuni Buddha was born.

To-date, we still do not have any concrete evidence to prove that Sakyamuni Buddha was born two thousand five hundred years ago. In fact, it has been a contentious subject at this juncture, as Sakyamuni Buddha's birthday is celebrated on a different date by Buddhists in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, China and Japan.

In short, no one really knows for sure when Sakyamuni Buddha was born.

If we can't even tell the birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha, who was born after Amitabha Buddha, how can we know the birthday of Amitabha Buddha for sure ?

However, there is a record on how Amitabha Buddha's birthday was chosen. A Zen master by the name of Yong Ming Shou (meaning forever bright and long life) in China was acknowledged by many Buddhists to be the reincarnation body of Amitabha Buddha. As Chinese Buddhists believe them to be the same person, Master Yong Ming Shou's birthday is taken as that of Amitabha Buddha.

As you know, there are eighteen Padmakumara (Lotus Lads) residing in the heaven realm. The date, May the eighteenth, has been chosen as the birthday of Padmakumara, since this was the day Padmakumara was born into this Samsara world.

Master Padmasambhava is said to be born out of lotus flower at the Guo Xiao sea. And July the tenth is considered to be his birthday. In other words, a child just appeared on the lotus flower, and the day his father, the king carried him back to the palace was deemed to be his birthday. The birthday can never be accurate, as we do not know how long he had stayed put on the lotus flower. It could have been three days, four days, or even ten days before he was found.

In conclusion, they are quite a lot of records on the birthdays of many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, although the records might not be accurate. It is not necessary to care too much about the accuracy of them - just take the days they came to this world as their birthdays.