ANOTHER HIGH LAMA SPEAKS UP AGAINST SHUGDEN BAN!!!!

[Mana]

In a suprising yet welcomed move, the most erudite and senior Gyudmed Kensur Sonam Gyeltsen writes a letter to all the Gelug Monasteries and Tibetan Govt against the Shugden ban. He is outspoken, courageous and fearless. A great master and Abbot of debate, logic, philosophy openly says he WILL NOT CUT OFF from Dorje Shugden nor practitioners and states why clearly. Surely someone of his seniority, calibre, learning, practice and attainments could not be praying to what some others like to call a spirit?

He resembles His Holiness Gaden Trisur Rinpoche and Samdhong Rinpoche who choose to continue their practice along with millions of others in Tibet and outside of Tibet.

Gyudmed Kensur Sonam Gyeltsen is from Gaden Jangtze Monastery and chosen by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be the abbot of Gyudmed Tantric College which he successfully served as Abbot.

See his clear and decisive letter against the Dorje Shugden ban: http://dorjeshugden.com/wp/?p=9775

Mana

[kris]

Thank you for speaking up!

[Vajraprotector]

This is great! I remember Gyumed Kensur Rinpoche visited Ganden Ling Institute & Guépèle Institute and  I came across Kensur Rinpoche's work when I was reading about Bhikshuni ordination. I am interested to know more about bhikshuni ordination and there were not many available. 

Here is the link to the book: http://books.google.com/books?id=2_csOAAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:%22Sonam+Gyaltsen+(Gyudmed+Khensur+Rinpoche.)%22&hl=en&ei=mvqETvarB-vbiAKi2djADA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA

[Big Uncle]

This Lama is courageous, outspoken and very powerful icon for many who still live in fear. I think it is just a matter of time before many High Lamas will follow suit. He is among the pioneers and trail-blazers to be open about Dorje Shugden and to openly challenge the ban and the silly Central Tibetan Administration. It takes only one person to start a revolution and may his inspiring words start a revolution, a Dorje Shugden revolution. May the ban on Dorje Shugden quickly dissolve and may the lineage Lamas of Dorje Shugden spread out and manifest their enlightened activities.

[vajrastorm]

It augurs well for the continued growth and spread of Shugden practice that such a high-ranking Lama as Gyudmed Kensur Sonam Gyeltsen, the former abbot of Gyudmed Trantic College, has spoken up to say that  he will not stop his practice of Protector Dorje Shugden.

In his open letter, he clearly and forcefully shows why he cannot give up his Shugden Practice. He says that cutting off this practice would mean cutting himself off from his precious lineage of great masters of Gaden Jangtze who had given him the sacred lineage teachings of both Sutra and Tantra. THey were all Shugden practitioners and it would be a violation of his Guru Devotion to give up his Shugden practice. Furthermore, if he were to swear to abandon the practice of  Gyalchen Protector, it would create  a schism among the  monks of Tratsang Jangtze. And he would not want this to happen. Also it was against the Tibetan traditional vinaya code to ever swear.

Thus this great Lama joins the ranks of many other Lamas and Geshes and monks , including very senior and highly venerated Lamas, like Gaden Trisur and Samdhond Rinpoche, in continuing with the practice of Dorje Shugden for the benefit of all beings.   

[WisdomBeing]

Wow.. this is an amazing letter from an amazing Lama... an Abbot Emeritus from the renowned Gyudmed Tantric College, no less! Powerfully logical, humble and a perfect reflection of an erudite Buddhist scholar! His letter here is clear and indisputable. What else can anyone say?

That said, while i greatly admire the courage of Kensur Sonam Gyeltsen, I would like to add here that while there are many other monks who may have sworn in but still practice Dorje Shugden, i do not think that these monks are being two faced or disloyal. They are just trapped in a situation which is unresolvable. Although they could go to Shar Gaden or Serpom, these monks may have other personal reasons to stay in their respective monasteries. The important thing is to not judge the monks - it is between them and Dorje Shugden, who are we to say anything. It must be very distressful to 'swear' against their Protector though. But if someone like Samdhong Rinpoche could do it - from Guru devotion to his teacher - then the motivation is different and i believe Dorje Shugden would know that.

[Heartspoon]

One's refuge vows are based upon reliance on the Enlightened One, His teachings and the Holy Community.

Deshung Rinpoche's advice:

One who despises another Buddhist school despises the Buddha. He impairs the transmission of the Dharma. The presence of the Dharma is jeopardized by such an attitude, and one becomes cut off from its transmission. This is so because one's refuge vows are based upon reliance on the Enlightened One, His Teachings, and the Holy Community. If one rejects Dharma one breaks one's refuge vow and thereby becomes cut off from the Dharma. By rejecting this Dharma that is the only door to happiness for beings and oneself, one accumulates inexhaustible sin.

Samdhong Rinpoche's orders:

The monks must swear that they will stop propitiating the Protector.
They must also cut off all Dharmic and worldly connections with people who pray to the Protector.
Now, without fear and hesitation, we, Tibetans, must fight and destroy Shugden followers

Kensur Sonam Gyaltsen's answer:

Forcing ourselves to cut off all Dharmic and worldly material relationship with our Gurus is something impossible to do even for non-Buddhists, let alone Buddhists like ourselves.

You forced us monks to cut off all Dharmic and worldly material relationship with them, I cannot do it, because I am a monk, according to Tibetan traditional vinaya code a monk is not allowed to swear.

Fruition of Samdhong Rinpoche's advice:

Following Samdhong's Rinpoche order caused the great Gaden Monastery to fall apart into different factions. I did not swear because I did not want to create schism among Sangha. Some people abuse the vinaya power in their hands, this is widely known, it is like our Tibetan proverbs “The person in charge of the water flour mill is not the main person-in-charge, the head of the farm village is not the government officials.”

It seemed like our government-in-exile had nothing better to do, they spent so many years to create chaos, excommunicate many monks, divided a fine dratsang into two factions, I wrote this letter because I had enough, it is too much.

Samdhong Rinpoche justifies his conduct:

I fulfilled the command of my root Guru

Kensur Sonam Gyaltsen's answer:

Where did you get your Sutra and Tantra lineage from? Maybe you dug it out from the ground.

[DharmaSpace]

@heartspoon what was the point of your message that you just wrote. It is not very clear to me.

[Heartspoon]

@heartspoon what was the point of your message that you just wrote. It is not very clear to me.

As a simpleton, I happen to be quite impressed by a big name.
Such being the case, it's rather difficult for me to understand what truly matters, when two Rinpoches
give what appears as conflicting accounts of a same event :

On one hand, Samdhong Rinpoche orders us to stop propitiating the Protector, to cut off all Dharmic and worldly connections
with people who pray to the Protector and even asked us to fight and destroy the Shugden followers.

On the other hand, Kensur Sonam Gyaltsen says that agreeing with Samdhong Rinpoche's order is something impossible to do
for non-Buddhists, let alone Buddhists like ourselves.

Being easily misled, due to my thoroughly lacking of any capacity of clear understanding, it's way better for me to rely upon a very simple and sound basis, in order to distinguish between right and wrong.

For this reason, I tried to understand if each of those two conflicting points of view were compatible with one's refuge vows:

Could one follow Samdhong Rinpoche's orders without breaking one's refuge vows.
Could one follow Kensur Sonam Gyaltsen's advice without breaking one's refuge vows.

So, first I tried to remember properly the basis of the refuge vows.

And then I thought  that I had better search and find the advice on this topic from a master that could not be partial on such
a topic: for this reason, I relied upon Deshung Rinpoche's words.

Doing like that, there is no doubt whatsoever left in my mind as to which advice I should soundly follow...

Finally, after Samdhong Rinpoche made a "world broadcast" to tell us that he merely followed his root Guru's command,
I remembered Kensur Sonam Gyaltsen question:

"Where did you get your Sutra and Tantra lineage from? Maybe you dug it out from the ground."

Alas, out of laziness, I stopped there my thoughts on this topic.

Now, wishing to understand more clearly what Kensur Sonam Gyaltsen meant with his question about lineage, I searched for
the advice of an illustrious Rinpoche on this topic.

Kalu Rinpoche wrote this:

Proud to be myself

"There are two kinds of pride; we should not stick to self-important pride, but take pride in our qualities, being full of self-confidence.
I’m proud to be myself.
I’m proud to be Tibetan, and take pride in my father’s lineage. The Ratak Tsang line goes back to Dusum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa.
I’m proud to be Bhutanese. My grandfather on my mother’s side was a devoted disciple of the previous Kalu Rinpoche, and I have a deep appreciation for the king of Bhutan and his vision for our country.
I’m proud of my connection with the Shangpa Lineage which is known for it’s simplicity, clarity, and depth; a lineage of great blessing.
I’m proud of my lineage as Kalu Rinpoche with so much respect for the previous Kalu Rinpoche who had such great qualities.
I’m proud of my connection with all of the students and centers of the previous Kalu Rinpoche. I love you all and commit myself to being your best friend as we live our lives and learn how to integrate Dharma into our lives."

[Lineageholder]

Samdhong Rinpoche's orders:

The monks must swear that they will stop propitiating the Protector.
They must also cut off all Dharmic and worldly connections with people who pray to the Protector.
Now, without fear and hesitation, we, Tibetans, must fight and destroy Shugden followers


Samdhong Rinpoche justifies his conduct:

I fulfilled the command of my root Guru

But how did Samdhong Rinpoche fulfil the command of his root Guru - surely his root Guru didn't intend for him to ban a sacred practice and persecute its followers - the very opposite of his own action?  It wouldn't be Trijang Rinpoche's command to act against his own views and intentions, surely?

If someone commands you do engage in a non-Dharma action, no matter how high they are, you simply say "no" or ask for reasons why.

[Heartspoon]

Samdhong Rinpoche's orders:

The monks must swear that they will stop propitiating the Protector.
They must also cut off all Dharmic and worldly connections with people who pray to the Protector.
Now, without fear and hesitation, we, Tibetans, must fight and destroy Shugden followers


Samdhong Rinpoche justifies his conduct:

I fulfilled the command of my root Guru

But how did Samdhong Rinpoche fulfil the command of his root Guru - surely his root Guru didn't intend for him to ban a sacred practice and persecute its followers - the very opposite of his own action?  It wouldn't be Trijang Rinpoche's command to act against his own views and intentions, surely?

If someone commands you do engage in a non-Dharma action, no matter how high they are, you simply say "no" or ask for reasons why.

Je Tsongkhapa's instruction:

"You should forsake partisanship and hatred for the systems of your own and others' teachers and analyze which of them provide good and bad explanations.

Then, you should adopt only that which shows the means of attaining the two aims of trainees (high status within cyclic existence and the definite goodness of liberation and omniscience) and provides correct proofs.

The scriptures of the two systems are what are to be analysed to find which does or does not bear the truth; thus it would not be suitable to cite them as a proof (of their own truth).

Only reasoning distinguishes what is or is not true."

[WisdomBeing]

But how did Samdhong Rinpoche fulfil the command of his root Guru - surely his root Guru didn't intend for him to ban a sacred practice and persecute its followers - the very opposite of his own action?  It wouldn't be Trijang Rinpoche's command to act against his own views and intentions, surely?

If someone commands you do engage in a non-Dharma action, no matter how high they are, you simply say "no" or ask for reasons why.

I am no Rinpoche, so i would give the benefit of doubt to Samdhong Rinpoche with regard to how he interpreted his Guru's instruction. Who are we to judge if his action is right or wrong if we are not at the same level. So many time there are actions by great masters which appear illogical or contrary to Dharma to us yet when explained later, makes sense. I guess in the West, we are socially conditioned to be cynical so it's in our nature to question, question and question. Which is fine for most situations. However, in the Guru-Disciple relationship, I understand that after awhile, we have to stop questioning and trust the teacher, otherwise we slow down our own spiritual journey.

I don't know Trijang Rinpoche personally, nor Samdhong. I don't know exactly how and what Trijang Rinpoche conveyed to his student. BUT, Samdhong Rinpoche interpreted his teacher's instructions and had carried them out. Whether it was right or wrong, Samdhong Rinpoche's karma will be the judge, not I, nor anyone who cannot see Samdhong Rinpoche's motivation.

[Big Uncle]

Samdhong Rinpoche's orders:

The monks must swear that they will stop propitiating the Protector.
They must also cut off all Dharmic and worldly connections with people who pray to the Protector.
Now, without fear and hesitation, we, Tibetans, must fight and destroy Shugden followers


Samdhong Rinpoche justifies his conduct:

I fulfilled the command of my root Guru

But how did Samdhong Rinpoche fulfil the command of his root Guru - surely his root Guru didn't intend for him to ban a sacred practice and persecute its followers - the very opposite of his own action?  It wouldn't be Trijang Rinpoche's command to act against his own views and intentions, surely?

If someone commands you do engage in a non-Dharma action, no matter how high they are, you simply say "no" or ask for reasons why.

Lineageholder,

You should read or rather re-read the thread on Samdhong Rinpoche carefully - http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1302.0 You have been taking things too literally and you didn't get the underlying context embedded within Samdhong Rinpoche's speech.

Samdhong Rinpoche upon finishing his office have proclaimed to everyone that the very reason he served office was because of the direct instructions of his root Guru, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche told him to serve the Dalai Lama wholeheartedly and that was what he did... totally.

In other words, he didn't serve office because of his love for the Dalai Lama or for patriotic reasons. This is almost tantamount to treason. He did it because he is following the vajra command of his Guru. He is indirectly saying he does not fully agree with the Dalai Lama but he is doing it anyway and he is going all the way with it because he cherishes his Guru's instructions above all else. Samdhong Rinpoche also mentioned the attitudes of serving one's Guru and particularly focused on the point of serving our Guru even when we feel we are unable to do it. There was a lot of slack and people bad-mouthing him and was totally against him.

On top of that, there's nothing to gain from such a proclamation and put himself at great risk for saying such things, which clearly reveals his heart. Clearly, he possess an unmatched devotion to his Lama that you only hear of such stories in great masters of old Tibet and India. There's more to it that this and you can read about it in the thread.

[Heartspoon]

But how did Samdhong Rinpoche fulfil the command of his root Guru

He didn't

[Heartspoon]

Samdhong Rinpoche's orders:

The monks must swear that they will stop propitiating the Protector.
They must also cut off all Dharmic and worldly connections with people who pray to the Protector.
Now, without fear and hesitation, we, Tibetans, must fight and destroy Shugden followers


Samdhong Rinpoche justifies his conduct:

I fulfilled the command of my root Guru

But how did Samdhong Rinpoche fulfil the command of his root Guru - surely his root Guru didn't intend for him to ban a sacred practice and persecute its followers - the very opposite of his own action?  It wouldn't be Trijang Rinpoche's command to act against his own views and intentions, surely?

If someone commands you do engage in a non-Dharma action, no matter how high they are, you simply say "no" or ask for reasons why.

Lineageholder,

You should read or rather re-read the thread on Samdhong Rinpoche carefully - http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1302.0 You have been taking things too literally and you didn't get the underlying context embedded within Samdhong Rinpoche's speech.

Samdhong Rinpoche upon finishing his office have proclaimed to everyone that the very reason he served office was because of the direct instructions of his root Guru, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche told him to serve the Dalai Lama wholeheartedly and that was what he did... totally.

In other words, he didn't serve office because of his love for the Dalai Lama or for patriotic reasons. This is almost tantamount to treason. He did it because he is following the vajra command of his Guru. He is indirectly saying he does not fully agree with the Dalai Lama but he is doing it anyway and he is going all the way with it because he cherishes his Guru's instructions above all else. Samdhong Rinpoche also mentioned the attitudes of serving one's Guru and particularly focused on the point of serving our Guru even when we feel we are unable to do it. There was a lot of slack and people bad-mouthing him and was totally against him.

On top of that, there's nothing to gain from such a proclamation and put himself at great risk for saying such things, which clearly reveals his heart. Clearly, he possess an unmatched devotion to his Lama that you only hear of such stories in great masters of old Tibet and India. There's more to it that this and you can read about it in the thread.

So he served wholeheartedly HH the 14th Dalai Lama... :

Nagarjuna on the topic of public governance:

For your sake always speak the truth.
Even should it cause your death
Or ruin your governance,
Do not speak in any other way.

Just as by themselves the true words
Of kings generate firm trust,
So their false words are the best means
To create distrust.

What is not deceitful is the truth;
It is not an intentional fabrication.
What is solely helpful to others is the truth.
The opposite is falsehood since it does not help.

Let's think a little :

If Samdhong Rinpoche carried the instructions of HH the 14th Dalai Lama, even though he knew they were the opposite of the truth,
then he would not have acted in the best interests of HH the 14th Dalai Lama, neither in the best interests of his Guru, nor in the best interests off any living being.

Ridiculous, isn't it ?

If Samdhong Rinpoche carried the instructions of HH the 14th Dalai Lama, knowing that they were not the opposite of the truth, then he would have acted in the best interests of HH 14th Dalai Lama, of his Guru and of any living being. And then he would not tell us that in fact he disagreed with HH the 14th Dalai Lama and only did it to please his guru.

Ridiculous, isn't it ?