“Seven hundred years after my entering Parinirvana, this Marapapiyas will spoil my Wonderful Dharma. It is like a hunter donning priestly garb. Marapapiyas will also act thus. He will present himself in the form of a bhiksu (monk), bhiksuni (nun), upasaka (male Buddhist practitioner) or upasika (female practitioner).”
In our last episode we learned that, before He ascended to Heaven thousands of years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha (vegan) gave stark warnings regarding the deterioration of the natural environment and the climate at the Dharma-Ending Age.
“When the Dharma is about to perish, all the gods will begin to weep. Rivers will dry up and the five grains will not ripen. […] The mighty rivers will flood and lose harmony with their natural cycles, yet people will not take notice or feel concern. Extremes of climate will soon be taken for granted.”
The Dharma-Ending Age is the last stage of the three Dharma periods after the Buddha’s ascension. According to the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sutra, or the Sutra of the Great Assembly, the first 500 to 1,000 years after His passing is called the True Dharma Age, or the Age of the Right Dharma, when His teaching was upheld and earnestly practiced by His disciples. The next 500 to 1,000 years was the Age of Semblance Dharma, when most people followed outer rituals without understanding the essence of His Teachings. Now, over 2,500 years after His ascension, we are in the Dharma-Ending Age, also known as the Age of Dharma Decline. This is the time “where the true Dharma disappears.”
The Buddha predicted that evil would infiltrate the sacred monastic institutions and try to destroy His Dharma.
“Seven hundred years after my entering Parinirvana, this Marapapiyas will spoil my Wonderful Dharma. It is like a hunter donning priestly garb. Marapapiyas will also act thus. He will present himself in the form of a bhiksu (monk), bhiksuni (nun), upasaka (male Buddhist practitioner) or upasika (female practitioner).”
The Buddha foretold in detail the manner in which the demonic beings, acting as agents of the evil force, will conduct themselves against all His Teachings, and preach false doctrines.
“After I enter nirvana, when the Dharma is about to perish, during the evil age of the five turbidities, the way of demons will flourish. Demonic beings will become shramanas (religious practitioners); they will pervert and destroy my teachings. Monastics will wear the garb of laypersons and will prefer handsome clothes. Their precept sashes will be made of multi-colored cloth. They will use intoxicants, eat meat, kill other beings and they will indulge in their desire for flavorful food. They will lack compassion and they will bear hatred and exhibit jealousy even among themselves.”
The Buddha clearly taught people to not eat meat, outlining the spiritual and personal consequences of doing so. He also denounced anyone who eats meat from being His disciple.
“A disciple of the Buddha MUST NOT DELIBERATELY EAT MEAT. He should not eat the flesh of any sentient being. The meat-eater forfeits the seed of Great Compassion, severs the seed of the Buddha Nature and causes [animals and transcendental] beings to avoid him. Those who do so are guilty of countless offenses.” ~ Brahmajāla Sutra
“If any of my disciples still eats meat, know that he is of the candela’s lineage. HE IS NOT MY DISCIPLE and I am not his teacher. Therefore, Mahamati, if anyone wishes to be my relative, HE SHOULD NOT EAT ANY MEAT.” Candela means killer or murderer. ~ Laṅkāvatāra Sutra
However, today we see there are Buddhist monks who openly eat animal-people meat without shame or remorse. They purposely lead others to also take part in the unholy practice of eating the flesh of innocent sentient beings who have been mercilessly tortured and slaughtered.
“Can Buddhist monks allowed to eat meat? The answer to this question is yes.”
“The Buddha did not specifically prohibit all consumption of meat or fish.”
“Today, we eat dog meat. Dog meat is extremely delicious. There are seven different dishes. Dog meat is extremely delicious and nutritious!”
There are also monks who were caught using intoxicants as the Buddha predicted and engaging in gambling.
“A Buddhist temple in Thailand lost its monks after they all tested positive for meth. And it’s true. The four monks including an abbot all tested positive yesterday and were defrocked.”
“The leaked video shows eight monks from the Jogye Order playing poker, smoking and drinking in a hotel room. One monk laid down as the gambling continued for 13 straight hours through the night. It is believed the stakes amazingly reached around $900,000.”
The path of monkhood is a path of renunciation and contemplation. It is a noble way of life that Buddha exemplified Himself, yet, we see some spiritual imposters using their religious status to manipulate their followers to gain wealth and commit criminal offenses.
“The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has confiscated 30.3 million Nepali rupees (approx. US$226,000) and 3.092 million in foreign currencies (approx. US$23,000) from the arrested ‘Buddha boy’ in Kathmandu.
The 34-year-old, originally named as Ram Lal Bomjan, who since 2005 has been known as ‘Buddha boy,’ is charged with rape and forceful disappearance at various police stations in the Himalayan Nation.”
Excerpt from “Exposing some monks’ tricks in getting offerings from others”
“I propose to fundraise through telecommunications to get money. We can use the Zalo and the Viber messaging apps, and this is my experience. I get money from Zalo and Viber – where do I get the money from? For example, when Buddhists come to see us, the known acquaintances, we just connect their phones to our phones, and that's it.
So, on their birthday, it popped up on Zalo, and I sent a message ‘Happy Birthday’ to them. Suddenly, my bank (mobile app) beeped ‘ding ding ding ding,’ my bank (mobile app) beeped ‘ding ding ding ding.’ We remind them, we say, ‘I'm here, I'm here, I congratulate madam, I congratulate sir.’
If they want to make an offering on the occasion of their party, wedding, funeral, or whatever, then they transfer the money to us. ‘Many a little makes a mickle.’ (Small individual offerings can gradually accumulate into a substantial amount.)”
“The scandals and accusations of cheating have been taken to a new level, none more so than in the case of Wiraphon Sukphon, who was caught on video in a private jet, sporting designer labels, despite taking a monk’s vow of simplicity. He’s also been accused of money laundering and accumulating tens of millions of dollars in assets. There have been other cases since, each prompting investigations from within the monkhood.”
Excerpt from “Ruma Trần Tâm is a heretic who deceives and misleads many practitioners astray. Beware of these tactics”
“Ruma Trần Tâm is a blatant cheater who uses religion to harm others. We need to condemn and boycott him to save many people who are going astray. He cast his own statue and sold it for US$5,000, or about 120 million VND, and forbids his followers to worship Buddha, God, or their ancestors. He is truly a devil in human form. He even sold an alms bowl for US$2,500, about 60 million VND. He profiteered to the extent that he sold a warm blanket to the meditators who followed him for 30 million VND (US$1,190), which Ruma called ‘the karma-dissolving blanket’. He enticed people by deceitfully claiming that buying everything he sold could dissolve karma, no matter how heavy the karma was. Do you see the contradiction in his own words, when he himself said that he has the power to dissolve all the karma for all sentient beings. But then he deceived people by selling many things at cut-throat prices, and they have to buy these items to erase all their karma. Alas, this is so absurd and delusional. But how come so many ignorant and vulnerable people have been deceived by him? Not only did they lose their money but their homes were also destroyed and their souls were lost. Please wake up!”
“I used to be a follower of Trần Tâm. […] I gradually realized that many of his actions were improper, such as taking money from the meditators, some of whom even had to sell their houses to make offerings out of fear of his curses. There were male meditators who left and reported him because he sexually harassed them during their participation in the group. Many people were abused in this way. He even wrote letters threatening and cursing that their whole family would get sick or die if they did not come back.”
The deceitful “Guruji Ruma” Trần Tâm’s love of fancy clothes is demonstrated through the multicolored sashes he wears, just like Buddha predicted when speaking of false monks: “Their precept sashes will be made of multi-colored cloth.”
In a July 19, 2024 message, our Most Precious Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) stated that God wants all the world people to know the name of this dangerous person who has been falsely proclaiming that Master designated him as Her successor.
“This Trần Tâm is a zealous demon, a very hard-boiled one. And I checked with the King of Mara. […]
But he can use the Mara power, that his boss told him to. And then he can blind people and use some little power trick to make people believe that they get something from him, or do some hula-hula-hoop stuff and faking the Power and faking the Blessing. But all this, whoever follows him has to pay; even if they get some help from him, from this Trần Tâm or Ruma, they have to pay dearly. Because it’s all from maya, from the King of Mara’s power. It’s not real; it’s not from the Buddha; it’s not from God.
I have nothing to do with Trần Tâm, […] It’s all FAKE, all FALSE and all total FICTION! May the whole world know he is harmful and be aware of him, be away from him, before he sucks you dry. The farther the better for the world.”
There are also some monks, such as Thích Nhật Từ, who preach not based on Buddha’s scriptures but on their own limited thinking and understanding.
Excerpt from “Fake Monk Thích Nhật Từ Preaching About Sex”
“In terms of karma, if you use tools to satisfy your sexual desires, it's not considered a sin. The Buddha also didn’t see that as a sin.”
Excerpt from “Is hell real or not? – Thích Nhật Từ”
“Based on that Theravada Buddhism, it is clear that the image of hell is just a means of moral education, because if everyone would be reborn immediately, then there would be no hell.”
Excerpt from “Thích Nhật Từ: The Western Pure Land Realm does not exist.”
“Can reciting the Buddha's name lead to rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss? The answer, according to history and based on the 18th sutra in the Dīgha Nikāya, is no. Because the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is not real.”
“Today, I also hope that everyone, for example, who has a plan to donate at place A, B, or C, and has set aside an annual amount for these contributions, then you could direct all of it to me. [The merits] are all the same.”
Monks take a vow of celibacy, yet we see some of them sexually prey on the vulnerable, including children.
“Media Report from ABC7 - Dec. 9, 2022: Now to the shocking accusations of sexual abuse at a Buddhist temple in Santa Ana. Eight women have now come forward saying that they were assaulted as children at the temple. They say the temple had a culture of abuse.
(f1): I really needed somebody to protect me at the time.
(f2): I thought it was just me.
The tears, pain and trauma these two women share are all too familiar for Ivy Pham. Tina Le and Thy Nguyen say when they were young girls the head monk of the Bát Nhã Buddhist temple in Santa Ana sexually molested them.
(f3): I was just in shock, and I was frozen, I couldn’t move.
Ivy says her mom reported this to the head monk, Thich Nguyen Tri, the same man Tina and Thy are suing, but Ivy said the head monk did nothing.
(f3): And to see the monk not taking any action to remove him at all, that infuriated me.”
“Media Report from Northeast Live - Aug. 31, 2018: Children rendered vulnerable once again, shocking incident alleged in pilgrim town, Bodh Gaya. As many as 15 boys hailing from Assam’s Karbi Anglong district were subjected to immense sexual and physical torture by a monk at the Prasanna Jyoti Buddhist School and Meditation Centre in Bodh Gaya where the children were studying.”
“‘Buddhism's bad boy: The fall of abusive lama Sogyal Rinpoche’ Documentary by REALWOMEN/REALSTORIES premiered Sep. 23, 2022: Sogyal Rinpoche is one of the most famous Buddhist lamas. He had a starring role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s film “Little Buddha,” and has a best-selling book to his name, ‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.” His title, Rinpoche, literally means “precious one.’
At this Buddhist center in France, Mimi worked around the clock, until one day, the relationship changed.
And then he said, ‘undress.’ If he beats you or has sex with you, he’s actually opening the way to enlightenment. After that, he very specifically asked me to swear never to speak of it to anyone and to be clear that it is a very beneficial moment for me to have this connection to my master, and that anything that I might do against it, or if I talk about it, would severe this connection.”
ETC…
To warn the public about the danger of following the false teachers, our Most Compassionate Supreme Master Ching Hai exposed the possible traps and pitfalls that people should avoid and pointed us in the right direction in a July 31, 2024 message.
“They use different ways. They don’t just use one way. They use the richness, luxuries, to attract some different types of people in society. And some use very poor and very ascetic ways even, just to attract some different kinds of people. Some are normal men that attract different people. Some are even bisexual or homosexual.
I’m not trying to offend these people. I’m just saying they (bad monks or priests) are not real. They’re not human. They are demons. They are zealous ghosts. They are all kinds of different ghosts, different kinds of demons. It’s all from the Mara Kingdom, who became monks, nuns, priests and even charitable organizers. They do all kinds of things to attract people with different kinds of karma so that they will lure them away from goodness, from God, from the real teaching of the Buddha and of Christ. […]
You have to observe a person or a Master before you leap. Don’t go with the flow. Don’t go just because he/she is famous. Don’t go just because people say he/she is good. You must know it yourself whether or not you have experiences, and you have to feel good about that. Do not just follow anyone else. Follow yourself. Always praise God for protecting you, guiding you to a real good Master. That’s the best way. Always be sincere, humble, and really, truly longing to go Home, Heaven Home. Then God will help you.”
In this Dharma-Ending Age, humanity is besieged by dangers on all fronts: material temptations, environmental destruction, climate change, economic hardship, diseases, religious and spiritual fraud. How can we find our way out of this darkness? We must keep a pure vegan diet and pray sincerely for protection and guidance. We will learn more about the Buddha’s Wisdom on this matter in our next episode.
