Praise to Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche by Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

[vajralight]

I found my hard copy of the Full Moon magazine (NKT) from way back (1994) and found this praise to Venerable Geshe-la.

A letter to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso


Dear Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

I sincerely hope that this letter finds your health and body well. I do wish you to live a very long life as it will no doubt bring tremendous benefit to many as it has in the past.

Learned spiritual teachers are becoming rare. Buddhist scholasticism in itself is not really beneficial, but combined with practice is something rare. You. I feel, are one of those rare combinations. Therefore I offer my prayers that your holy life may become stronger and live a long life.

Your books are not easy for me to get, but the few I have are excellent. I have gained tremendous knowledge from them.  They are very complete, concise, organised, easy to follow, and well translated. Guide to Dakiniland goes with me wherever I go.

Very important to me is that the author has lineage, states the lineage, follows a recognised text that has infallible authors themselves, and the translating authors have received the commentary themselves. Your works contain all of the above. I have confidence in your books.

Because of the rarity of books, works, and sadhanas/commentaries of Je Phabongkhapa and Trijang Dorjechang translated in full, I rejoice from the depths of my heart in your works, your students assistance, and Tharpa Publications. Also the quality of the books and illustrations are excellent.

I therefore sincerely request you and your students to please continue. Your works are highly appreciated and kept as holy objects to continuously refer to when in question.

I request you Geshe-la, to please remain long and continue your most beneficial works.

I offer my humble prayers towards this,

Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
Tsem Ladrang
Ganden Shartse College
Mundgod, India

[DSFriend]

Beautiful post!

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso has made such an impact in the west. I have copies of his books and they have been great study materials for me.  His books are very methodological for any dharma students of all levels.

Unfortunately, GKG has received so many criticisms and highlights of controversies on him and his organization instead of  praises and rejoicing over his  beneficial works.

I noticed that this letter was written back in 1994 when there was much harmony among all practitioners. The ban came about in 1997 where many had to conform and give up what was not permitted. It was during this period that even previously peaceful associations became a cause of suspicion and conflict.

It warms my heart that this letter reminds us of the peaceful times where people could freely praise and rejoice in the good dharma works of others.

What a degenerate age we are living in. Nowadays, our minds are more drawn towards negative matters compared to rejoicing in virtuous acts.

I wish both GKG and Tsem Tulku as well as their organizations well and may all these great lamas continue their compassionate works.

[jessicajameson]

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso has made such an impact in the west. I have copies of his books and they have been great study materials for me.  His books are very methodological for any dharma students of all levels.

I totally agree with you!

Funnily enough, it was the Dalai Lama who lead me to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. I didn't know anything about other high lamas when I was first interested in Buddhism. All I knew was the Dalai Lama and his compassionate nature - I loved it! Whenever I searched on Buddhism 5 years ago, all I found was the Dalai Lama and his beautiful quotes 

When I decided to buy my first book on Buddhism, I got "Buddhism in the Tibetan Tradition" by GKG. I didn't know which book to get started on, but when I saw that the Dalai Lama had written a foreword to this book, I felt that perhaps it was a sign to buy this one.

I found this book very clear and concise. GKG knows how to get a point across, and reading that book made me want to read more about Buddhism. I guess you could say that book got me started in Dharma

I noticed that this letter was written back in 1994 when there was much harmony among all practitioners. The ban came about in 1997 where many had to conform and give up what was not permitted. It was during this period that even previously peaceful associations became a cause of suspicion and conflict.

This book was published in 1984, a year before I was born. I seriously didn't think that since the publishing of this book so much would've happened!

[Zach]

Very wonderful Tsem Rinpoche is a very high quality teacher himself ! 

[WisdomBeing]

I agree with what DSFriend said.

What I like best about this post is that it is one Lama rejoicing in the work of another Lama. Different Lamas and different schools have different methods and different practices, but we either can focus on the beneficial works of each other and rejoice or we can try to put each other down. The choice is always ours. It's unfortunate that people are often quicker to criticise than to praise. And what is the purpose? What end do we want to achieve aside from creating disharmony? Why not aim instead to achieve increasing harmony amongst our community? That's what I think Dharma is about.

Here is one Lama recognising the good qualities of another. And I think it is a great example for us to learn from.

The attainments and qualities of a Buddhist practitioner is best reflected in their actions, and in this case, I am so happy to see pure bodhicitta in action!

[Helena]

Very wonderful Tsem Rinpoche is a very high quality teacher himself ! 

Hey Zach W, I have seen this Lama's name come up a few times lately. One FB friend actually posted a link about him on my wall. I didn't pay too much attention to it at the time.

After reading this post, I did a search on him and found that he has quite a following. His style is definitely LESS formal and is rather funny. I didn't have time to look into all of them but what stood out for me is that he loves animals. And as I am a vegetarian, that really speaks to me.

I thought this video is lovely -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnPrbP91obU&feature=channel_video_title
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I think it's wonderful that he is a Lama who promotes animal rights and actually loves animals. Just like Gonsar Rinpoche who takes the time to give blessings to all the students' pets in Rabten Choeling.

What touches me most about the letter posted here is exactly like what WB wrote - another Lama is rejoicing the work of other Lamas.

I wish everyone else could be like that too, then our world would certainly be a much better place.

I am also a great fan of GKG's books. I actually have a copy of "A Guide to Dakini Land". It was a gift from a friend a long time ago. I didn't even know who Geshe Kelsang Gyatso was back then!

Thanks, Vajralight for creating this thread. 

May more and more people actually pay attention to the GOOD actions of good Lamas.

[beggar]

Here is one Lama recognising the good qualities of another. And I think it is a great example for us to learn from.

The attainments and qualities of a Buddhist practitioner is best reflected in their actions, and in this case, I am so happy to see pure bodhicitta in action!

A definite point to be rejoicing for. High lamas are high not because somebody has put them on a throne and called them a high lama. On the contrary, it is because of their humility and their great practice of Bodhicitta, putting others ahead of themselves. High lamas, like we can see here in the example of Tsem Tulku, are never afraid to pay respects, praise honour and rejoice in the works of other lamas. They show clearly they have no ego and no hesitation to be joyful for the success of someone else over themselves.

This is clear if you look at the biographies of all great lamas. Even Trijang Rinpoche, the greatest of the great, and the Lama who has been the teacher to almost all teachers of our lineage today, expresses this aspect in his autobiography (see it here if you haven't already read it, excellent masterpiece... now awaiting the second half!  http://dorjeshugden.com/articles/trijangrinpoche-bio-1of2.pdf ) More recently on this forum, someone posted an example of like Denma Locho Rinpoche, such a great lama himself, who wrote a beautiful account of another lama, Lithang Gyabgon Rinpoche). The post is here: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1130.0 and of course there are many many other biographical accounts we can refer to.

Good to see a modern example in Tsem Tulku. He is becoming very well known for his good works and teachings in the Buddhist world but it is encouraging and inspiring to see he remains humble and a very strong example of real spiritual practice. There is a lot to learn from examples like this.

Rejoicing is a very central and significant practice and remember that it is one of the seven limbs. It is one of the key factors for our progress on our spiritual path. Karmically, we create the causes for our success in the swiftest and most plentiful way by sincerely rejoicing in others' success Tsem Tulku Rinpoche proves this "formula" of practice definitely works. He has a lot of his own success now but it started with something very humble. This kind of subtle but very profound aspect is is what I believe makes a lama a "high" one or not.

Humbly and in some kind of awe, beggar

[diamond girl]

Hi Helena,

Thank you for this link:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnPrbP91obU&feature=channel_video_title
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I do not know much depth about bodhicitta but if it means what Wisdombeing said then I will say it is great principles to abide to and live accordingly. It would truly make the world a peaceful and better place if we could practise the basics of harmony, respect and mutual praise. Lovely!

[diamond girl]

I went to check out Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. He has some great material on line. I must admit he is pretty "online charming" and up-to-the-times. This Rinpoche has a pretty extensive blog which covers so many topics from physics to prayers. I read up some interesting articles. This one caught my eye and made a lot of sense. One would even say common sense but as we all know common sense is not that common. Check this out:

http://blog.tsemtulku.com
Article: It's Not Between You and the Recipient

It is empowering to read what he writes about. Not all holy stuff yet always about goodness in life.

I also checked out a whole list of books by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Amazing list of books. I got one entitled: How to Solve Our human problems online - tharpa.com

We are all so gifted to have such great masters to learn from!

[Big Uncle]

You know, it wasn't just Tsem Rinpoche that endorses Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's books, the Dalai Lama himself wrote a foreword for Geshe Kelsang's books along with the Ganden Tri Rinpoche of that time. His books were high-regarded because of the forewords. At that time, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's books were published by Wisdom Publications. Later, Geshe Kelsang started his own, Tharpa Publications. How things have changed between the Dalai Lama and Geshe Kelsang. Despite the ban and its effects on Dorje Shugden practitioners like Geshe Kelsang, his books continue to be published and are everywhere.

[Zach]

You know, it wasn't just Tsem Rinpoche that endorses Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's books, the Dalai Lama himself wrote a foreword for Geshe Kelsang's books along with the Ganden Tri Rinpoche of that time. His books were high-regarded because of the forewords. At that time, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's books were published by Wisdom Publications. Later, Geshe Kelsang started his own, Tharpa Publications. How things have changed between the Dalai Lama and Geshe Kelsang. Despite the ban and its effects on Dorje Shugden practitioners like Geshe Kelsang, his books continue to be published and are everywhere.
[/quote

Yes I know even the Dalai lama reconmends Geshe-las books gee His Holiness sure does like to make contridictions. 

[WisdomBeing]

Yes I know even the Dalai lama reconmends Geshe-las books gee His Holiness sure does like to make contridictions. 

It's as contradictory as when the Dalai Lama wrote a prayer to Dorje Shugden and now says Dorje Shugden is a spirit! That's the inconsistency which is puzzling.

[thaimonk]

Here is the book cover and the forward by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Geshe Kelsang's book. Interesting.

It was sad to see a few months ago, some ppl on this forum writing not very kind things about Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. I am glad to see this letter and really shows who Rinpoche is. It is nice to see us supporting and bringing beautiful threads like this for all to share.

Tsem Tulku Rinpoche from his letter rejoices in the good work of others (Geshe Kelsang) and requests Geshe-la to translate more items. Can see Tsem Tulku Rinpoche is a sincere soul and has pure intentions. He rejoices in Geshe-la's works. Of course this was before the ban. But how wonderful to see this young Tulku with a great mind. I rejoice in this thread. I am very happy to see this letter. 

[Robert Thomas]

I am happy to say that even in 2006 Tsem Tulku was brave enough to contine to praise Ven Geshe-la. At around the 10 min 55 second mark of this characteristicslly inspiring and provoking teaching he says:

"The great master, the Kadampa Geshe, Kelsang Gyatso, you can see very clearly his works, his centers, his books, his pure vows, and how many thousands of people he affects."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NJkuR3pk6Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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[thaimonk]

I am happy to say that even in 2006 Tsem Tulku was brave enough to contine to praise Ven Geshe-la. At around the 10 min 55 second mark of this characteristicslly inspiring and provoking teaching he says:

"The great master, the Kadampa Geshe, Kelsang Gyatso, you can see very clearly his works, his centers, his books, his pure vows, and how many thousands of people he affects."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NJkuR3pk6Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Looks like Tsem Rinpoche is a great teacher.