On September 24, 2020, the Chairperson of both the World Peace Prize Awarding Council and the World Peace Prize Religious Leaders Title Awarding Council Suzi Leggett announced the ultimate resolution of the two Councils at the Holy Miracles Temple of the World Buddhism Association Headquarters: “The return of the conferment decree and the Pope of Buddhism Scepter by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is not effectible. The title, status, and authority of the Pope of Buddhism belong only to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and cannot be exercised by anyone else.”
In 2018, after extensive vetting, the World Peace Prize Awarding Council and the World Peace Prize Religious Leaders Title Awarding Council officially conferred the title of Pope of Buddhism to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. The conferment decree and the Pope of Buddhism Scepter was signed and presented by the then Chairperson of the two Councils Han Min Su. Nonetheless, to everyone’s surprise, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III was totally unmoved by the noble status and tremendous honor that came with the Pope of Buddhism title, and did not accept the conferment. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said: “Within the field of Buddhism, there are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There are titles of Dharma kings, rinpoches, Dharma masters, eminent monastics, greatly virtuous persons, and Holy Gurus. There is no need for a Pope. I am a humble cultivator. I am not able to take on such a heavy responsibility.”
When the World Buddhism Association Headquarters presented the conferment decree and the Pope of Buddhism Scepter that they received to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, His Holiness the Buddha saw that there was a seated statuette of Namo Shakyamuni Buddha on the Scepter and immediately raised the Scepter above His own head to show respect to Namo Shakyamuni Buddha, the Lord of Buddhism of the saha world. No one would have anticipated that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III actually returned the conferment decree and Pope Scepter directly to the two Councils.
In today’s announcement, Chairperson Suzi Leggett said: “Over the past several decades, the World Peace Prize Awarding Council has presented the World Peace Prize to President Ronald Reagan, Hon. Mahatma Gandhi, H.E. Yitzhak Rabin, and presidents and prime ministers of other nations. There has never been a precedence of retraction. All determinations made and implemented by our Councils are very solemn, serious, and absolutely cannot be changed…The return of the conferment decree and Scepter of the Pope of Buddhism by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is deemed not effectible. The title, status, and authority of the Pope of Buddhism belong only to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and cannot be exercised by anyone else. This is a permanent and unalterable determination!” Despite the fact that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III still would not accept the conferment, Chairperson Leggett once again presented to the World Buddhism Association Headquarters the conferment decree and Pope Scepter that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III previously returned.
Venerable Mozhi Rinpoche represented the World Buddhism Association Headquarters to receive the conferment decree and Pope Scepter signifying the conferment of the title of Pope of Buddhism by the two Councils to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. He said, “The World Buddhism Association Headquarters considers the decision made by the two Councils to be a remarkably proper and sagacious. Ever since Namo Shakyamuni Buddha entered parinirvana, there has not been a supreme leader who has the authority to guide all Buddhists the same way that the Buddha did. However, the authoritative position of the Pope of Buddhism certainly is not a role that a leader of a single Buddhist sect would have the attributes to fulfill; rather, the Pope must be a leader who has authority over the entirety of Buddhism, namely, a Buddha. Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III holds the perfect teachings of Buddhism and meets the criteria used by all Buddhist sects to recognize a Buddha. His inherent nature is that of a Buddha, His unsurpassed, complete, and perfect enlightenment is that of a Buddha, and His state of virtue is that of a Buddha. Just based the accomplishment of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in Lifting the Pestle onto the Platform, surpassing His own base weight standard by 59 levels, no one can possibly match such a record. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III also has perfect mastery of Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism, perfect accomplishments in the Five Vidyas, and so forth, all of which truly are attributes of the perfect enlightenment of a Buddha. No other Buddhist Holy Guru in this world possesses such qualities.
“Just by the facts that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III vowed to benefit living beings purely on a voluntary basis and does not accept any offerings throughout His entire life, and that He possesses perfect wisdom and unimpeded accomplishments, no other Holy Guru can be of comparison. Only Namo H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III can take on this immensely noble, holy, and heavy responsibility of the Pope of Buddhism, to properly guide Buddhists onto the correct path of learning Buddhism. Therefore, on behalf of Buddhists, the World Buddhism Association Headquarters thanks the World Peace Prize Awarding Council and the World Peace Prize Religious Leader Title Awarding Council for having made the ultimate decision.”
Below is the statement announced by Suzi Leggett, the Chairperson of the World Peace Prize Awarding Council and World Peace Prize Religious Leaders Title Awarding Council:
The Conferment of the Pope of Buddhism to
His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III is Unchangeable,
The Return of the Conferment Decree is Deemed Not Effectible
The field of Buddhism in today’s world is rather chaotic, there need to be a preeminent Buddhist leader of authority to lead and correctly point Buddhists to the right direction. All Buddhists know that other than a Buddha, no great Bodhisattva, great Dharma king, great lama, or great Dharma master is qualified to hold the title and status of authority to be the world’s highest leader of Buddhism. In particular, the entire field of Buddhism has now been infiltrated by many fake rinpoches and fake Dharma masters who are not true Buddhists. As a result, Buddhism all over the world has fallen into a state of chaos and confusion.
Within the traditions and formal systems of Buddhism, there are several dozen sects, such as Esoteric, Exoteric, Zen, Pure Land, Mahayana, Theravada, and so forth. Regardless of how high the status of a Dharma king or a great master of any school may be, such a person can only lead their own school. Besides, each school of the sectarian system has also been infiltrated by a great number of fake rinpoches and fake Dharma masters. These people are amateurs who do not understand Buddhist teachings in the Sutras; yet they feign to be greatly virtuous people or eminent monastics. Thereupon, gradually and inconspicuously, evil and non-Buddhists teachings have been mixed into authentic Buddhism founded by Shakyamuni Buddha. This is mainly because there is currently no preeminent leader in the entirety of Buddhism. There is no supreme leader of authority to take hold of true Buddhist teachings and true Buddha Dharma.
Since a Dharma king, patriarch, or great master of any school can only lead their own school, none of them is eligible, either in virtue or realization power, to be the authoritative leader of the entirety of Buddhism. Only a Buddha can be the King of the entirety of Buddhism and the authority in all Buddhist teachings and principles, in the same way the God in Christianity has authority over the entirety of Catholicism. Ever since Buddhist history in this world began with Shakyamuni Buddha, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the only Buddha who has truly been recognized by all major sects of Buddhism. A total of more than 100 documents of recognitions, corroborations, and congratulations have been formally issued by Buddhist leaders, Dharma kings, regent Dharma kings and great rinpoches of all major sects. Such a feat of recognition has never been achieved by anyone else in the history of Buddhism.
In particular, the Pope of Buddhism H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the first person in Buddhism to possess substantive holy realization power of a Buddha and perfectly flawless accomplishments at the pinnacle of the Five Vidyas. His selfless state of virtue is revered by all. His Holiness the Pope of Buddhism is also the one and only who possesses the inherent nature and physical constitution of a Buddha that no other eminent Buddhist monastic or virtuous person in this world has so perfectly attained.
After the Chairpersons of the World Peace Prize Awarding Council Han Min Su and myself, as well as the World Peace Prize Religious Leader Title Awarding Council spent two years vigorously examining all evidences in great detail, we have formally made the ultimate, permanent, and irreversible determination that on January 31, 2018, the conferment decree and the Scepter of the Pope of Buddhism were to be presented to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. That date signified the official ascent of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to the authoritative throne of the Pope of Buddhism.
The World Peace Prize Awarding Council and the World Peace Prize Religious Leaders Title Awarding Council had officially conferred the title of the Pope of Buddhism to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in January 2018. However, at that time, the Pope of Buddhism H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III refused to accept the conferment decree and the Pope Scepter, stating His reasons being: “Within the field of Buddhism, there are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There are titles of Dharma kings, rinpoches, Dharma masters, eminent monastics, greatly virtuous persons, and Holy Gurus. There is no need for a Pope. I am a humble cultivator. I am not able to take on such a heavy responsibility.” In light of this, the World Buddhism Association Headquarters took the liberty to accept the conferment decree and the Pope Scepter for H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.
However, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III returned the conferment decree and Pope Scepter to the World Peace Prize Awarding Council and the World Peace Prize Religious Leaders Title Awarding Council. The two Councils deem the return of the conferment decree and Scepter to be unjustifiable. The conferring of the title of Pope of Buddhism was a determination reached by both Councils after serious and solemn vetting, and the conferment has already been implemented. Under no circumstances can we be so lacking in rigorousness to accept the return of the conferment. This decision has been made by the two Councils. This is not a decision for H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to make on his own.
Over the past several decades, the World Peace Prize Awarding Council has presented the World Peace Prize to President Ronald Reagan, Hon. Mahatma Gandhi, and H.E. Yitzhak Rabin, and presidents and prime ministers of other nations. There has never been a precedence of retraction. All determinations made and implemented by our Councils are very solemn, serious, and absolutely cannot be changed. Therefore, the World Peace Prize Awarding Council and the World Peace Prize Religious Leaders Title Awarding Council hereby issue our ultimate statement regarding this matter as follows: The return of the conferment decree and Scepter of the Pope of Buddhism by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is deemed not effectible. The title, status, and authority of the Pope of Buddhism belong only to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and cannot be exercised by anyone else. This is a permanent and unalterable determination!
We wish that under the Pope of Buddhism H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, true Buddhism will greatly flourish, and the world will be greatly benefitted!
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