An intelligent monk knows, likes and treasures to overcome all the obstacles to seek for the Supreme Fruit. A secular monk avoids obstacles to seek for fruit of tranquil mind, that is an eternal error. — T. V.

–Teacherless Sutra


The Four Holy ranks include:

C. DOCTRINE

5.1 The First Holy Level: Dharma Protector

In the early stage, protecting the Dharma with wholeheartedness, loyalty, and willingness, no matter how a Tao practitioner protecting the Dharma, they still remain in the rank of Living Being Dharma Protectors. —T. V.

Tao practitioners, faithfully protecting the Dharma with their whole mind, have gone through many lives of understanding the Buddhist Dharma until they find themselves interested and faithful in helping living beings to follow Buddhism. However, these practitioners often have not yet sensed in giving up their individuality and personal character.

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Dharma Protectors, who are not discouraged when encountering situations and their mind of practice is not dispirited in critical and difficult times, are called Willing Dharma Protectors. These Dharma Protectors have already determined, never being hindered by any obstacle, on acting Tao Dharma to help life and to develop virtue, also called Unthinkable Dharma Protectors.

Through many lives of being such a Willing Dharma Protector until a certain lifetime, when their virtuous deeds of protecting the Dharma become abundant, they will meet a Buddha or Mahasattva-Bodhisattva comming into life, who will attest them. Then and only then, they formally become a Dharma Protectors. Otherwise, if they do not meet a Buddha or a Mahasattva-Bodhisattva and are not attested by Him in any lifetime, they have remained in the rank of “Living Being Dharma Protectors” no matter how much qualified they might be.

From this fact, we can see that entering into the constitution of the universe, which means entering into the constitution of the Tathagata Buddha, at the rank of a Dharma Protector is not easy! That is how the Buddha Path is. It is similar in secular life, no matter how excellent one might be; one has to wait to pass examinations to get High School diploma, then bachelor’s degree, and meet requirements before one is admitted in any graduate school.

Therefore, Dharma Protector and Boddisattva rank need the attestation from the Buddha who has been attested by the Presiding Tathagata—the Pure King Buddha.

In this Return to the world, the Supreme Maitreya Buddha attested no more than 30 of the total 3000 true disciples noted previously to be Dharma Protectors of the interior members of the Long-Hoa Superior Association.

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5.2 The Second Holy Level: Bodhisattva Dharma Protector

The Bodhisattva Dharma Protectors practice the Bodhisattva conduct, deeply penetrating Dharma precepts to completely salvage living precepts, practicing the conduct-vow to make offerings to Tathagata Buddha. The Dharma practice gradually progresses through many lives until they attain the Willing Prajñà Bodhisattva, the Unthinkable Bodhisattva. They then readily step up to the position of Mahasattva called the Mahasattva Bodhisattva. —T. V.

Though practicing in the same Dharma place with plenty of faithful followers and Dharma Protectors; however, the Venerable rank is specially helped and taught to practice the Bodhisattva conduct. This rank has to successfully acquire one of the three qualities:

1. The No-Birth Dharma of Endurance,

2. The Equality of Nature and Mind,

3. The Samadhi Dharma Subject of Real Form and Formlessness.

And they have to attain from enlightenment to full enlightenment to have sufficiently effortful merits to follow the Bodhisattva conduct. Every day the Bodhisattva Dharma Protector rank always attentively salvages living being natures completely in order to penetrate deeply into all Dharma precepts, aiming to offer to Tathagata Buddha.

Only through many lifetimes of making full offerings to Tathagata Buddha and completely salvaging all living being natures can they attain the Bodhisattva status. They must also have a sense of determination to practice according to Prajñà, willing to practice the unthinkableness, like Dharma Master Hsuan Tsang in his quest of the Buddha’s sutras; like in this Period of Return, he willingly lived in the cruel places where there were neither virtue, nor morality and everything as deadlocked as in hell fire, he gradually resolved and detached them until he was totally free from entanglement and had a complete understanding.

If the Venerables try to keep away from thousands of Dharmas, practicing insufficiently for the clearance of their living being natures, they are not yet achieving the conduct fully to become Bodhisattvas. Until any lifetime when they could execute the form and formlessness harmoniously, they still have to wait for the attestation from the Mahasattva Bodhisattva or the would-be-Buddha—who is becoming the Buddha in His last rebirth—in order to enter the rank of Bodhisattvas.

Mahasattva Bodhisattva

Di Như

The First Inherited Patriarch of Dharma Constitution Meditation, 1938-2019.

5.3 The Third Holy Level

From the Mahasattva Bodhisattva called the Great Bodhisattva who has undergone the no-receding Bodhisattva, achieved abundant virtuous deeds, and entered the rank of the Great Bodhisattvas. —T. V. 

During the time when Lord Maitreya was executing the Tao Dharma, there were a Bodhisattva Dharma Protector and a Bodhisattva, who did not acquire the Nine Qualities of Connecting Flowers in their practice, so they were not attested by the Lord to enter the rank of the Bodhisattva executing Mahasattva.

Within the Nine Qualities of Connecting Flowers, a Bodhisattva in the true sense of Buddhas must know clearly what these Qualities are, from the First Quality to the Ninth Quality. Self-enlightenment will make one know sensitively, neither strictly following the sutras nor the dogmatic. The Ninth Quality is the Supreme Rank True Enlightenment. He, who terms himself a Bodhisattva, must know the right path to follow footprints of the Bodhisattvas in the past, with the correct order step by step, to be called the true attainment of the Supreme Rank, Supreme Master. Not being self-enlightened about the order of Nine Qualities is being the “Supreme Rank, Supreme Master” by theory and hypothesis without true attestation.

In the Dharma Constitution, there was one case of terming oneself Supreme Rank who had neither been recognized nor attested to be in the Dharma Protector rank by the Lord. What an eternal error of the awakening hypothesis! These ones are often mistaken easily; in fact, they must penetrate deeply into Dharma precepts millions of thousands of times in order to truly acquire the Supreme Rank, Supreme Master. In this Period of Return, there are countless cases of mistaking theory, hypothesis and terming oneself Buddha—who is caught in the Precept-Buddha. Also concentrating one’s thoughts to get supernatural power is making the living beings erroneous and Tao practitioners attached because not knowing well the path of Bodhisattvas.

The Lord has taught: Since having acquired the Supreme Rank True Enlightenment, having been ordained by The Founding Master, and having been a Bodhisattva until now, the year of 2538 of the Buddhist calendar, Lord Maitreya could attain the Buddha Fruit. Thereby, His words could represent the Three Postures and become reality.

Only the one certified by the Buddha as a Bodhisattva could conduct his vows to become a Mahasattva Bodhisattva. The Mahasattva Bodhisattva also called the Great Bodhisattva could overcome all extremely difficult, extremely miserable obstacles with neither being discouraged nor giving up on his conducting vow. Thereby, his virtuous deeds are abundant to make offerings to Tathagata to enter the Great Bodhisattva rank.

Reverend Long-Hoa Sangha Chief —

The Supreme Maitreya Buddha

Returned to the world in Vietnam, 1918-1993.

5.4 The Fourth Holy Level

The would-be-Buddha would become a Buddha by just one rebirth. The four stages of the four Holy Levels are too long, too profound, a Tao practitioner has undergone countless lives with countless virtuous deeds, countless qualities offered to Tathagata, to the Buddhas in order to become a Buddha; one cannot become a Buddha by just one lifetime of practice. The becoming Buddha in just one lifetime has been already sowed, planted everything beforehand, so that the attainment of True Enlightenment is possible today. —T. V.

Reading to this point, you should admire and worship Lord Maitreya in this Period of His Return: The Lord has become the Buddha in this last rebirth. The year of 2500 has come. Reverend Long-Hoa Sangha Chief Supreme Maitreya Buddha has perfectly accomplished the Miraculous Bodhi Fruit in this atomic era in the place of ‘the oil is boiling; the fire is burning’. Such a fact is unique second to none.

Being paralysed, unable to transport thousands of Dharmas in tough circumstances, one should not rush to term themselves a Buddha; although they think themselves acquiring the Supreme Fruit, they are mistaken by the self and self-possession, resulting to the attachment — it’s indeed a waste of Dharma practice. It is already difficult to become an Arahant in this Degenerate-Life Period, not to mention the Bodhisattva fruit. As for a Buddha, the Lord is extremely discreet, extremely excellent, not ordinary; with confused thoughts, still terming oneself a Buddha is really a sin.