According to Nyingma theory, there is no reliable way to determine which termas are valid. As a result, Tibetans have been quarrelling about termas’ validity for a thousand years. The arguments, often vicious, convince no one. They go around in circles, because they have nothing to new to say. The dispute has rarely gone beyond “You faked it yourself!” “No, I got it from a Buddha!” “Did not!” “Did too!” “You are possessed by a demon!” “No, you are!” This level of argument should be left on the children’s playground.
On this page and the next, I suggest a way out of this deadlock. What I have to say is not traditional. However, I think you may find it sensible.
We need to go back and ask: “Why did we want to know which termas were valid in the first place?”
In Tibet, only a tiny religious elite actually practiced any termas. A main religious activity of lay people was to donate money to holy men. That is supposed to produce merit, resulting in better future lives. For most Tibetans, a key practical question is: which are the holiest men? Giving money to an authentic tertön (revealer of termas) would be the most effective use of funds. Giving money to a false tertön might be worse than useless. As a result, questions of terma validation are intimately tied up with money and power in Tibetan culture. These considerations are irrelevant to most Westerners.
For those who actually practice, the question is “which termas work?” For this, the Tibetan debate is framed wrong. It starts from the assumption that a terma is either true, or false. Apparently, if it is true, practicing it is a sure, quick way to enlightenment. If it is false, practicing it is a sure, quick way to hell. This extreme polarization is unhelpful and silly. It leads to scriptures that are full of advertising hype. They get titles like The Innermost Utterly Unsurpassable Ultra-Double-Top-Secret Essence of Life, The Universe, And Everything. It also leads to the demonization and political persecution of religious competitors.
Termas are never either true, or false. Essentially none of Buddhism is. Buddhism is concerned with methods, not truths. Termas are not factual statements that can be objectively tested. They are practices that can only be evaluated experientially, to see what happens.
In the words of Andreas Doctor, a Western expert on termas:
Recognizing that the final authenticating measure for Treasure [terma] revelation lies beyond what can be objectively verified, it appears a less rewarding exercise to perpetuate a debate of the Treasure along a simplified framework of true or false. Instead, looking beyond the traditional saint-charlatan paradigm may allow for other, more rewarding perspectives . . . (The Tibetan Treasure Literature, p. 50.)
On the next page, I suggest that the right question to ask is “which termas, or other practices, will be most useful for me?” The answer may be different for each of us.
(Source [url]http://approachingaro.org/the-wrong-question[/url] )
Apart from the doctrine of Manjughosha Tsongkhapa alone, these days the views of all Sakyas, Kagyus, Nyingmas and so on are erroneous. They are not even Svatantra or Cittamatra, let alone the view of Prasanga Madhyamaka—meditating only the nihilist view like tirthikas and Hashang.
Hello all, fellow Shugdenites
I was yesterday talking with a Nyingmapa friend, and we touched on the subject of Je Phabongkhapa (henceforth JP), and he had a view, that JP was actively acting against Nyingmapas in the Eastern Tibet. This was a bit of a shock, since my friend does not have anything against Gelukpas, or even DS-practice! It seems therefore, that even "DS-friendly" Nyingmapas have a very bad view concerning JP, and that while "JP dissing" is the hobby of anti-geluks and anti-shugdenites, similar view seems to be a general Nyingmapa view, entertained even in friendly quarters who do not go dissing JP publicly.
...
1 - JP did what no Geluk had done before, and taught the laity, who responded so enthusiastically, as to move their allegiance to Geluk from their previous lineages. Many Nyingma and Kagyu Lamas lost a lot of the support they had previously used to have.
2 - JP started a movement that converted many people who previously had been supporting their local Nyingma and Kagyu gompas. Many Nyingma and Kagyu Lamas and gompas vere impoverished.
3 - JP converted many Nyingmapas and Kagyupas, and many gompas were deserted or converted into Geluk.
4 - JP began to convert Nyingmapas and Kagyupas, and took their gompas.
5 - JP stole the Nyingma and Kagyu gompas, and converted them to Geluk.
6 - JP acted against the Nyingma and Kagyu, and stole their gompas and converted the people who had previously been Nyingmapas or Kagyupas.
7 - JP started anti-nyingma and anti-kagyu purges, and changed their gompas into Geluk strongholds.
8 - JP hated Nyingmapas and Kagyupas, and oppressed them by stealing their gompas forcefully and converting people into Geluk
Concerning the situation in the East: I am not sure about Kham as this is a region I never delt with. So let's talk about Amdo. A friend of mine is a native Amdowa from Rebgong area. He told me that basically all monestaries (with a few exceptions, I suppose) there are Gelugpa monasteries. But among the laity, there are mainly Nyingmapas and some Bönpos as well. So he seid, his family is a Nyingma-family but if he had wanted to take monastic ordination, he by this would have become a Gelug monk as there simply are no other monasteries. For him this seemed to be quite funny and he doesn't have any problems with these different traditions. And as a really Amdowa of course strongly admires Je Rinpoche ;) ! He even told me that one of his relatives was a monk at Sera monastery. (...)
And what did the then Dalai Lama do? He asked his Mongol allies to invade these regions and distroy the Kagyud and Bönpo kingdoms there, just as he did in the case of Tsang. So if anyone could be blamed for having engaged in destroying the Nyingma and Kagyud in the East then this is for sure the fifth Dalai Lama himself! (Just remember who destroyed the Jonangpa in Central Tibet.)
@ Yedi:
Thanks for your reply. No doubt there had been great achievements by the Great Fifth. But yet he lived the life of a politician. Put aside possible involvement in the East (which I still think existed) there is still the problem of the Jonangpa persecution in Ü and the war against the Kagyud in Tsang. These had for sure been supported and some even started by the Great Fifth. If he is Chenrezig, then there will be a benefit even from such actions. But as we can't see his real nature (well, basically I can't, maybe someone else do can) we have to judge by actions. And at least such actions are exactly of the kind the now 14th Dalai Lama alleges us to do.
But I am no expert on the Great Fifth's life. Anyway, Goldstein's "The Snow Lion and the Dragon" is a good compilation on Tibetan politics through the ages.
Some give an argument against this, saying that Buddhas can appear as demons, deluded beings and so on. This is true. But when they appear as Buddhas, they act as Buddhas. They never appear as demons and say, I am the Buddha, never.
Yedi, You say:
The crucial point is not, that anybody must say, DL is an emanation of chenresig. The issue is, that you wants us clearly to say, that he is not and we should not do otherwise.
I thank you so much for stating yourself so clearly that, for you, THAT IS THE ISSUE. Whew! What a relief! So your message is addressed to the person "who wants you clearly to say, that he is not Chenrezi and we should not do otherwise".
Since you invoke a limited knowledge of the language I invite you to read again my messages; you might then realize that I never said that you should say that HE IS NOT.
Please keep on posting in this forum. I guess you are from Geshe Rabten's monastery? I like Geshe Rabten so much...
Back on this topic. To me, Dalai Lama's action is quite not understandable, by cross examine with the Lamrim teaching. To my observation, those following Dalai Lama 'blindly' are:
1. Lay Tibetan with 100% trust in Dalai Lama('whatever he do must be right', 'willing to die for him for any reason'. Yes I met that kind of lay Tibetan who said DL is 'our god')
2. Geluk monks with teacher-student relationship (especially young tulku, whatelse can they do?)
3. Geluk senior monks within the institution
4. Non Geluk monks/teachers for whatever reason
5. Westen Tibetan Buddhist for whatever reason(new comer seeing DL as 'god' with a Christian mentality, following own guru's comment etc.)
And funny point is that, looks most those I met openingly say 'no, this protector is not that bad' are well-educated young geshe' :) Maybe that's because they don't have burden as a 'tulku' who inevitably be part of the institution or they don't have student-teacher relationship with Dalai Lama. And even to these geshe, the most they commented at the end was 'Boddhisatva's intention is not easy for us to guess out', not ruling out ' he might act as Chenresig in a hidden way' as Yedi said. BTW, those be Tibetan Buddhist for more that a year will know that ''XX is YY Boddhisatva/Buddha'' is very common in Tibetan culture, hence ' he might act as Chenresig in a hidden way' that kind of comment can be viewed as a polite protocol with not much significant meaning.
I once asked my guru if the institution or somebody behave really bad, can I hate them? His answer is simply 'no hatred in any case, that destroy our merit...'.
Hello all, fellow Shugdenites
I was yesterday talking with a Nyingmapa friend, and we touched on the subject of Je Phabongkhapa (henceforth JP), and he had a view, that JP was actively acting against Nyingmapas in the Eastern Tibet. This was a bit of a shock, since my friend does not have anything against Gelukpas, or even DS-practice! It seems therefore, that even "DS-friendly" Nyingmapas have a very bad view concerning JP, and that while "JP dissing" is the hobby of anti-geluks and anti-shugdenites, similar view seems to be a general Nyingmapa view, entertained even in friendly quarters who do not go dissing JP publicly.
Now of course, he merely had the view or understanding that JP acted against his lineage, but he didn't mention any real details, as seems to always be the case when JP is talked about. It seems, that people just have a general notion about 'evil actions' of JP in the East, but nobody seems quite capable of spelling anything even close to any facts or details. It seems, that it is all just rumours. Now I ask from you all, is there any real proof of any improper action by JP? Considering how many people nowadays dislike and badmouth JP, surely someone would have presented by now some actual proof. Surely. So, could someone please show me?
Surely something must have happened, because so many Nyingmapas think thatwise. Surely there are some real records about it all. There is hardly any nyingma-conspiracy at work, so "something must have been burned, since there is so much smoke". So, where is the fire?
Now, I of course do not expect that anything can be found, since I do not see how Heruka himself could have acted improperly. Nevertheless, I do have a view about what happened in the East. I present it here, so that you all could comment on whether it seems to be based on facts, or sounds reasonable. Personally I feel, that it has the following four good points about it:
- it shows that there was no fire (meaning that JP did not act improperly, but should be praised instead)
- it explains why there is smoke (meaning that Nyingmapas do have something to rant about)
- it seems reasonable and probable
- it accords with the known facts (that is, with those facts that I personally know)
I would appreciate it, if those of you who know more about history, and do have access to various Tibetan sources, could comment on whether my account accords with the known facts. And whether it seems reasonable and probable to you.