‧by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Sheng-yen Lu‧ Translated and edited by TBTI Once, a wealthy businessman took a trip to Tibet. While touring around he happened upon a Buddhist temple and he stopped to pay his respects. He noticed that the temple was in a state of bad repair so without further thought he donated a large sum of money and offered to help rebuild the temple. The host of the temple, a Rinpoche (incarnate lama), was overjoyed and so appreciative that he believed the rich merchant must be one of the “precious” KaChiueh Rinpoches. The businessman denied this, “No, I am not one of the incarnated lamas.” But the host insisted saying, “Yes, you must be! I believe you are one!” The man responded, “I know nothing about Tibetan Buddhism.” The host replied, “You can still be one of the precious ones even though you know little about Tibetan Buddhism.” Eventually, the businessman humbly accepted the bestowed title and honor and he transformed himself from a regular person into the new role of a Rinpoche. His highly principled resolve became less and less as he became more and more misled by all of the attention and fame he received. When he returned home, the newspapers declared him to be the first great non-Tibetan Rinpoche. He wore a Buddha crown, sat on a supreme dharma throne, and dressed himself in lama robes. His new role was confirmed and well-supported by numerous Tibetan lamas. He was also surrounded by highly ranked Tantric lamas and Sutrayana monks. Within a short time, he had undeniably become one of the “precious” (incarnate lamas). He placed his hand on his believers’ heads. He blessed them. He empowered them. The new Rinpoche readily won resounding applause from audiences by merely chanting, “Om Ah Hum.” He learned some basic rituals and some basic Buddhism and built himself a huge temple. He became accustomed to the momentum of the believers’ faith in his role, immersing himself in it, and completely “became” what was expected of him, the incarnate precious one. It was a transformation that even he had never expected. He chose to fully assume the role of reborn lama over that of running his business as it was more beneficial to him. Sentient beings never doubted him for the following reasons: 1. He had been confirmed by a Rinpoche that he was the incarnation of KaChiueh Rinpoche. 2. He was confirmed by the news media. I met this “precious one” in the nether world. The king of the netherworld asked him, “Were you enlightened?” He replied, “I don’t know.” The king asked him, “What is your understanding of Buddhism?” The “precious one” could not answer. Then the netherworld king said, “You were neither enlightened nor did you have any knowledge of Buddhism; however, you pretended to be one who did. I am extremely disgusted by your deceit and by how you misled sentient beings. You deserve to be reborn as a fox to pay for your deceitfulness.” The businessman cried out loudly, “But it was not my fault!” ”Whose fault was it then?” questioned the king. ”It was the temple host. He was the one who confirmed my status.” The king laughed hard, “The temple host was blind. Because of this, he will be reborn as a blind fox.” ”But what about what the news media wrote?” ”That was all rubbish.” Events like these observed in the netherworld are terrifying. A person with little knowledge of Buddhism was arbitrarily put on a high dharma pedestal. It turned out to be no fun at all! On the contrary, it ultimately led to great bitterness and pain. I have a question for you now: ”Have you been enlightened yet? What is your opinion of Buddhism?” These questions may appear easy, but are difficult to answer. Those Buddhists who practice religiously and diligently will one day be enlightened. Pretending to be enlightened will only lead to the existence of one more wild fox. (From Book #187 “Manifestations of the Netherworld”) （本文選自蓮生活佛第187冊著作《地獄變現記》文章「又是一隻野狐狸」）
