Dorje Shugden and Dalai Lama - Spreading Dharma Together » pabongka rinpoche

Grand Prayer Festival to celebrate 25 years of the Dorje Shugden Society

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 20:04:30 +0000

Back when the Dorje Shugden ban was first enforced in 1996, few thought that they would live to see the day when the ban was lifted. There have however, been many signs in recent years that the ban may soon be coming to an end.

These began as far back as 2016, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama said Dorje Shugden does no harm. It has continued into 2020, with His Holiness saying that it would be permissible to rely on Dorje Shugden as a land deity. As recently as June 2021, His Holiness has said that he was wrong to have banned Dorje Shugden.

For those familiar with the ban, the shift in His Holiness’s stance is undeniably clear.

In the early years of the ban, the persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners was horrific. Families were split, marriages were broken up, children were bullied in school, people were denied medical treatment and monks were expelled from monasteries, but to name a few examples of discrimination against Shugden worshippers.

And in those early days of the ban, as the persecution of Shugden practitioners began to pick up steam, a few brave people grouped to form the first resistance against the ban. They called themselves the Dorjee Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society, otherwise known as the Delhi Society.

Not only did the Delhi Society preserve important works and rituals on Dorje Shugden, but they also launched legal appeals against the ban, and worked hard to raise awareness of its illegality. In doing so, they risked their safety, their personal opportunities and their own welfare to protect the lineage. Their courageous actions proved to people that it was possible to resist and stand up against the public relations behemoth that is the Tibetan leadership, because there is strength and power in standing up for the truth.

And the truth is that Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being, that everyone deserves religious freedom and no one should be persecuted on the basis of their faith.

The 25^th anniversary of the Delhi Society

2021 marks the 25^th anniversary of the Delhi Society. In light of this, various pujas have been advised by the highest lamas of our tradition to celebrate this auspicious occasion, and to dedicate the vast amount of merits that have been accumulated over the years in the struggle to speak up for the truth.

His Holiness the 101^st Gaden Tripa Jetsun Lungrik Namgyal Rinpoche, His Holiness Kyabje Pabongka Chocktrul Rinpoche and His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche have each recommended pujas to be done. The four main aims of these pujas are:

To dedicate everyone’s efforts in bringing our lineage this far, where a light can finally be seen at the end of a 25-year struggle
To generate and dedicate merits towards the swift return of the lamas and practitioners who we have lost in recent years
To dedicate merits towards the long lives of our lamas who remain with us, and to create the causes for their works to grow
To generate and dedicate merits for all practitioners’ wishes to be fulfilled, for their obstacles to be pacified, and for them to find happiness

Pujas from H.H. the 101^st Gaden Tripa

Click to enlarge

To follow the advice of H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Chocktrul Rinpoche and H.H. Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche
To carry out a Great Prayer Festival (Monlam Chenmo) for a minimum of one day, in the tradition established by the great master Je Tsongkapa

Pujas from H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Chocktrul Rinpoche

Click to enlarge

Sixteen Arhats puja, 1,000 times
Reciting the Manjushri-nama-samgiti, 10,000 times
Reciting the sungbum (collected works) of Je Tsongkhapa and his two spiritual sons
Guru Puja with 1,000 Ganachakra Tsog offerings
General Dharmapala Puja
Dharmapala Dorje Shugden puja with 1,000 Ganachakra Tsog offerings
Smoke offerings
Hang prayer flags, as many as possible

Pujas from H.H. Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche

Click to enlarge

Reciting the sungbum (collected works) of Je Tsongkhapa and his two spiritual sons
Reciting the 8000-verse Prajnaparamita Sutra, 20 times
Reciting the Suvarnaprabhasottama Sutra
Peaceful fire puja of Solitary Hero Yamantaka, 10 times
Sixteen Arhats puja
Guru Puja with Ganachakra Tsog offerings
Gyabshi ritual
Dharmapala Dorje Shugden puja

Grand Prayer Festival on International Dorje Shugden Day

This grand prayer festival will begin on August 24, 2021 which is the International Dorje Shugden Day that is celebrated annually all over the world. It is expected that it will take a few days for the pujas to be completed, and they will be conducted by our precious sangha who have dedicated their lives to upholding the Dorje Shugden lineage, in spite of the obstacles they have been met with.

These important rituals will be held at major Dorje Shugden monasteries around the world, including:

Shar Gaden Monastery (India)
Serpom Monastery (India)
Phelgyeling Monastery (Nepal)
Segyu Monastery (Nepal)
Samten Choeling Monastery (India)
Kundeling Monastery (India)

Over 40 Dorje Shugden organisations around the world have come together in service of the lineage to contribute towards the fulfilment of our high lamas’ instructions. This means that no matter where you are in the world, you can still contribute and take part in this momentous celebration.

It has been a quarter of a century since the Dorje Shugden ban was first enforced, marking the start of two decades of suffering for Shugden worshippers everywhere. It has been 25 years of fighting, hoping, praying and begging for things to change. Now, as the tide seems to turn, it is finally time for us to rejoice and celebrate.

Official Announcement

Click here to download the PDF file

Click to enlarge

Official Announcements in Other Languages

Click on individual images to view the PDF file

Advice from Lineage Lamas

བོད་ཡིག (Tibetan)

中文 (Chinese)

монгол хэл (Mongolian)

Who made Lama Zopa a Rinpoche?

admin — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 04:42:01 +0000

Originally published on June 11, 2009

(Source: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=49.0)

This website helps me to see things better but what I as I have always believed deep in my heart the same beliefs as expressed in this website…

I respect H.H. the Dalai Lama and I respect Dharmaphala Dorje Shugden. Just like my teacher Lama Yeshe who had supreme faith in H.H. and trusted Dorje Shugden his whole life till he passed away.

LAMA YESHE was the very symbol of skillful compassionate action in constant motion and he mentioned many times that Dorje Shugden made his works grow as far as it did during his life time. Lama stayed true to his root teachers such as H.H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten and H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche showing us what guru devotion is really meant to be free of political inclinations.

In his practice of Dorje Shugden, Lama never hinted even slightly of sectarianism, or disregard for any form of religion never mind Buddhism. Lama would sometimes make breakfast for us students and during breakfast go into a dharma subject we were unclear about, or praise of H.H. the Dalai Lama or one of his personal teachers.

That truly was an age of ‘innocence’ sort of a way to say. Very inspiring stories at that. I miss those days before the controversies. Much simpler back then. Simpler that there was next to zero in lama-bashing, centre-bashing, lineage-bashing or siding up with H.H. the Dalai Lama for political reasons.

It was Lama who cared for me and taught me patiently. It is Lama whom I owe everything to. I will choose Lama always.

I am grateful to Lama for the dharma he imparted to so many. I express my gratefulness to Lama by myself never criticizing or doubting any of his practices or the practices he so compassionately gave us.

If Lama can have such deep affection/faith for H.H. the Dalai Lama, tremendous effort of guru devotion in his lamas, and keep up the practice of his protector Dorje Shugden throughout his life and see no conflicts, then I will do the same in my limited capacity.

I respect the Dalai Lama from my heart, but my root guru is Lama Yeshe and he advised us to practice Dorje Shugden and I will do so till the end.

If I must choose between the Dalai Lama and my root guru, Lama Yeshe, then I choose Lama Yeshe. He is the one that cared for me. Patiently taught me the dharma in a down-to-earth pragmatic level.

Lama Yeshe was not considered to be a scholar, or have studied much or even considered learned by his own Tibetan peers. Lama Yeshe was not a Rinpoche per se, nor ‘qualified’ to sit on a throne in a monastic environment, and did not obtain his Geshe degree that some equate as qualified to teach these days, but he was instrumental to bring thousands onto the path of BuddhaDharma.

He had real experiential knowledge of the dharma and was able to convey it in such a way that it would literally change the lives of hundreds as it did me.

I have met the Dalai Lama a few times and feel very fortunate, but the actual lama that took care of me was Lama Yeshe. I will view him as my refuge. In my meditations I invite Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa, Zong Rinpoche to dissolve into Lama Yeshe and then I focus on Lama Yeshe and proceed with my refuge.

Even when Lama was hospitalized for the last time and ‘dying’, H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche flew in to perform the rituals, prayers, ceremonies necessary. The actual cremation H.H. Zong Rinpoche again flew into Vajrapani Institute in California to oversee the whole procedure. That shows us Lama’s deep guru samaya intact that on his deathbed, his great lama would personally fly in to do the rites both during his death process and again during the cremation.

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche performing puja for Lama when he was extremely sick

Lama made no conflicts between the great lamas, his lamas, lineages, schools, diverse religions and certainly not dorje shugden and I think that embodies his capacity to think from a deeper wisdom. I bow to Lama. I MISS LAMA.

I hope his students will keep their samaya clean to Lama. I hope his students will never criticize H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, their practices and their students.

I HOPE FPMT WILL NEVER CRITICIZE DORJE SHUGDEN WHICH IS LAMA’S PERSONAL DHARMA PROTECTOR. I HOPE THAT FPMT STUDENTS WILL RESPECT LAMA’S WISHES AND PRACTICE THE DHARMA. I HOPE THEY NEVER CRITICIZE STUDENTS, CENTRES AND GREAT LAMAS WHO WISH TO CONTINUE THIS PRACTICE OF DORJE SHUGDEN.

I am very happy to see Lama Yeshe’s sacred picture in this website’s masters sections. Many people are afraid to say the truth to look politically wrong. But that is not what the dharma is about. We should let go of attachment of this sort and just do our practice. Ego-less state of mind is the goal of our practice as Lama would say.

Lama relied on Dorje Shugden, just as Kyabje Zong Rinpoche did. When we condemn Dorje Shugden, aren’t we condemning Lama’s choices? Aren’t we condemning Kyabje Zong Rinpoche’s choices?

Also never to criticize Dorje Shugden and the practices Lama gave us SO THAT HIS CURRENT INCARNATION CAN MANIFEST AS A DHARMA TEACHER. The only way his unmistaken current incarnation can manifest as a great dharma teacher again, is if his students keep samaya clean free of politics and free of politically motivated actions in the name of dharma.

Otherwise, it would be the responsibilities of the students if the current Lama Yeshe incarnation cannot perform the actions as he had set out to do. After all, if we as FPMT members criticize others who practice Dorje Shugden, then that will accumulate very heavy karma. Why? Because we destroy the faith of others in their gurus.

Do we have the right to do that? Does Lama Zopa’s closeness with H.H. the Dalai Lama validate FPMT CENTRES AND MEMBERS TO BE SOME KIND OF SPIRITUAL POLICE. That type of spiritual arrogance will be the downfall of any dharma organization. IT IS CONTRARY TO THE SPIRIT OF LAMA YESHE’S ASPIRATIONS.

We should reflect Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa well, by never criticizing other sects, lamas, lineages, practices, Dorje Shugden, etc. Why because it contradicts Lama Yeshe’s Bodhicitta aspirations. We should not especially criticize lamas who are spiritual heirs of Sera, Gaden, Drepung or who are students of Pabongkha, Trijang, Zong Rinpoches. Why? Because they are OUR LINEAGE LAMAS ALSO AND THEY ALL PRACTICED DORJE SHUGDEN AS THEIR PRINCIPLE PROTECTOR.

What if Lama’s reincarnation decides not to take over?

After all, think, how many years will Lama Zopa be alive. If Lama Osel, doesn’t decide to take over, or manifest as in his previous life, then what will happen to FPMT after Lama Zopa is gone. I shudder to think that. So we MUST CREATE THE CAUSES FOR FPMT TO SURVIVE AND LAMA OSEL TO MANIFEST AS HIS PREVIOUS LIFE BY KEEPING OUR SAMAYA CLEAN. HELPING OTHERS TO KEEP THEIR SAMAYAS CLEAN TO THEIR LAMAS BY NEVER CRITICIZING.

We can set out to cross the bridge, but if others destroy the bridge, then to get to the other side would take much more effort after great delays. Lama Zopa is working so hard, but the sad time will come when he enters death, then if Lama Osel’s incarnation is willing to take over, it will be smooth. Otherwise what will happen. What will become of all that has been started??? That would be such a waste.

So myself, I keep up my practices to create the causes for that. We cannot think of Lama’s work just expanding in our life time which it can due to Lama Zopa. But into future lifetimes. Future generations. So for that to happen, we need continuation of Lama’s successor.

If we just follow along the current political tides, we may look clean and good, but simultaneously it becomes damaging to what Lama’s previous incarnation practiced and that would not be very good. What’s the point if Lama’s centers and works grow now and after Lama Zopa’s passing, it stops, slows down or what not?

Is spiritual attainments gained by flashing pictures we have taken together with the Dalai Lama to other centers and justifying our arrogant authoritarian ways with that? I don’t think so.

I think if Dalai Lama is close to FPMT we should reflect that well by being even more humble, even more gentle, even more kind so we do not stain the name of H.H. the Dalai Lama. We cannot uplift his name or prove our guru devotion to him by putting down anything in regards to Dorje Shugden. That would be a heavy price to pay at the expense of our own Lama Yeshe’s heart protector. That is Dorje Shugden.

So when Lama was alive, we practice Dorje Shugden and Dorje Shugden is ok and a Buddha.

Lama Yeshe (far right) and Lama Zopa (second from right) doing a puja underneath a thangka of Dorje Shugden.

Kopan had monthly ‘secret’ pujas to Dorje Shugden as with most of the centers. The FPMT centers that were fortunate to have a great lama/geshe living nearby would always invite them monthly to the centers to do the monthly Dorje Shugden pujas as instructed by both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa.

The young Kyabje Pabongkha Rinpoche who resides in Nepal was often invited to Kopan Monastery to perform incredible pujas. Even before the current new Kopan Prayer Hall was built, many preliminary pujas had to be done on the land before the foundation was set. Kopan invited Kyabje Pabongkha Rinpoche to perform them.

Then when Dharamsala started stepping up on their anti-Shugden campaign, Kopan cut their ties with Pabongkha Rinpoche. It remains so till this day amazingly and he is the reincarnation of our lineage master!!!

I was amazed when I heard that from very reliable sources. In fact, Kopan wanted to look good, that the monk administrators influenced some Taiwanese sponsors against Pabongkha Rinpoche. Rinpoche was promised by them to build a Pabongkha Monastery in Nepal, and the Taiwanese had promised to sponsor it.

In order to get on Dharamsala’s good side and to get the sponsorship for themselves, Kopan administrative monks told the Taiwanese sponsors (which I will withhold name from here) that Pabongkha Rinpoche is not following Dalai Lama’s instructions to abandon Shugden practice and that they should not support Pabongkha’s Rinpoche’s intent on building the Monastery in Nepal.

Consequently it worked and unfortunately for Kopan’s karma. My question is, who put Kopan as the spiritual police in Nepal and so daringly create schism between their lineage guru’s sponsors??

For example, the Delhi FPMT branch centre in the past on monthly basis would invite the great Rongtha Gyabgon Rinpoche who lived in Ladakh Budh Vihar, New Delhi to perform the pujas at their centre every month. Dorje Shugden full puja was done at FPMT centre in Delhi monthly with great offerings. It was advised by Lama Zopa. In fact, Lama Zopa used to perform the Dorje Shugden pujas in both Kopan and Delhi himself on many occasions!!

Himalayan Yogic Institute in Katmandu had a Dorje Shugden statue in their side shrine room in a box with offerings, it would be opened from time to time as did the Delhi centre.

So Kopan is now very great, how did Dorje Shugden damage Kopan?? What was the wrong results manifesting now due to the decades that Lama Yeshe practiced Dorje Shugden and had Kopan do pujas monthly?? So if a friend helped us in the past, and we get a new friend, we simply abandon the old friend? Is that ethical or dharmic?

Lama Yeshe in Kopan, 1975 doing a puja during the 8th Meditation Course. Thanks to Lama’s reliance on Dorje Shugden, Kopan has grown to become great today. So how did Lama’s reliance on Dorje Shugden curtail Kopan’s success?

Then Lama dies and we don’t practice because H.H. the Dalai Lama says not to. And HH has reasons beyond our ordinary minds can conceive. Then one unfortunate day, H.H. Dalai Lama passes away (very sad time) and Lama Yeshe is back and then we again practice Dorje Shugden?? I mean that is a strange scenario. Back and forth that is.

It is very sad, because many of the FPMT centers now go on spiritual witch-hunts condemning other centers in their same cities. Using Dorje Shugden practice as negative as their ‘pure’ reasoning to take students away from their respective centers to join the nearby FPMT centers. But in fact they are just as I see it, trying to increase their own memberships.

I have witnessed this. Many, many, many of the older Lama Yeshe students have gone underground with their practices of Dorje Shugden. Some like me do not really go to the centers here in the USA anymore. They will not abandon their practice of Dorje Shugden because of their great devotion to Lama Yeshe and are somewhat flabbergasted at the direction that some new FPMT centers’ are going with their arrogant witch hunts.

What is important to remember is JUST BECAUSE YOU ATTEND THE DALAI LAMA’S TEACHINGS, OR HAVE TAKEN PHOTOS WITH HH DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY VALIDATE YOU AS A SPIRITUAL POLICEMAN AND GO ON WITCH-HUNTS.

We must practice the essence of what HH teaches as did Lama Yeshe, which are tolerance, compassion, forgiveness and not ever slandering any lama, dharma, lineage or practice. As the karmic retributions will fall onto us. We should never mislead new FPMT students toward this line of thought. We are destroying our organization slowly if we do so.

FPMT centers citing so and so practice Dorje Shugden and so therefore they are not pure. That is so hypocritical and political because Lama Yeshe practiced and Lama Zopa was recognized as a tulku by Dorje Shugden himself. In Dorje Shugden is a ghost, then Lama Zopa’s recognition becomes nil.

In fact some of the FPMT centers’ committees are in direct competition to attach students to their OWN centers for fundraising, attendance, membership, etc. So they use the heinous method of condemning Dorje Shugden to scare other centre members into joining FPMT. In fact when they do that, it is a disgrace. Older/senior FPMT students should speak up to new and younger ones who have not had the great fortune to meet our founder, Lama Yeshe.

Lama with His Holiness Zong Rinpoche (seated) and Lama Zopa. Both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa received Dorje Shugden from Zong Rinpoche Rinpoche. Was Lama praying to a ghost? What Zong Rinpoche praying to a ghost?

Lama Yeshe’s main protector practice was Dorje Shugden till the end. He didn’t take an unfortunate rebirth. Dorje Shugden didn’t harm him? IF LAMA YESHE WAS PRAYING TO A GHOST, THEN WHY DIDN’T HE TAKE REBIRTH IN THE THREE LOWER REALMS??

We must think clearly and not be swept away by convenient political tides in order to fill our dharma centers with membership so it gives it a successful appearance. If that was done, what would be the cost? It would affect Lama Osel’s current incarnation in not being able to manifest as a dharma teacher.

We destroy other people’s faith in their lama, and help them break their samaya with their lama, that karma would return back to us PERSONALLY AND AS A GROUP.

We as FPMT should respect our founder’s wishes and not ever criticize Dorje Shugden, his practitioners, his lineage, his followers in anyway because our founder, Lama Yeshe was one of them.

We shouldn’t practice or not practice what the current political situation pressures us to or not to. We should do what our lama says. So during Lama’s life Dorje Shugden is good and now Lama is dead, so Dorje Shugden is bad??? Wouldn’t that infer that lama was wrong, had bad degenerate practices, lacking in wisdom, had no refuge, had no attainments and wasted his life praying to a spirit??

So if Lama gave us Heruka initiation and practice, then it had no blessings because lama’s refuge degenerated due to his practice of Dorje Shugden?? Since Dorje Shugden is a spirit and Lama kept up his ‘sogtae’ (Dorje Shugden’s initiation) or life entrustment practices his whole life, then all of the other practices lama did was degenerated and ineffective when passed to us.

So any practices Lama Zopa received from Lama Yeshe and passes it to others would logically be degenerate also??? Wouldn’t it?

Lama gave many teachings and practices to us. It is our duty and commitment as his students that we maintain what Lama conferred on us, and not give it up for convenience or the sake of politics or financial benefits.

The implications are quite big if we choose to believe that way….So that would mean many of the practices that Lama Zopa does now and gives others that are directly from Lama Yeshe are degenerated because Lama Yeshe was degenerated?? Of course not. Very dangerous line of thought. Very ruinous direction we are heading toward.

I watched Lama Zopa get brow-beaten into ‘giving’ up his Dorje Shugden practices. And Lama has to be degenerated because H.H. Kyabje Trijang and Zong Rinpoches were degenerated we have to falsely assume. Both these lamas practiced Dorje Shugden till they entered parinirvana (deaths)…Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche entered into 12 days of clear light meditations in Dharamsala and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, three days.

And their unmistaken incarnations are back recognized by both H.H. the Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden via his oracle again. How come they didn’t go to the Three Lower Realms since they worshipped Dorje Shugden the ‘spirit’ their whole lives in fact in all their previous many incarnations they worshipped also.

They didn’t descend into the lower realms from a lifetime of practicing and propagating a Dorje Shugden. Since these great lamas have ‘degenerated’ their refuge by the practice of Dorje Shugden which implies they have zero attainments in the first place to choose a spirit to worship, then their other practices naturally became defiled.

Do we choose to believe that way of thought?? I and many others clearly don’t. It doesn’t make sense. Many teachers and thousands of their disciples around the world today are committed and practice Dorje Shugden today. Because they have been given this practice by H.H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche. They are following the commands of their root gurus, so what are they doing wrong? We switch gurus like status symbols??

His Holiness Zong Rinpoche (left) and His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche (right) were both Lama’s gurus. Both of them practiced Dorje Shugden, and they in turn conferred this practice onto Lama. Lama maintained his commitment to them until the end of his life, so how come we cannot maintain ours?

These are both the root gurus of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa. So we should not criticize other centers, lamas, students that practice Dorje Shugden. Be true to your dharma practice.

Even if hypothetically lama had given up his Dorje Shugden practices during his life, which he did not, his gurus didn’t give it up. So if his gurus did not give it up, then the practices received by Lama Yeshe would have been degenerated since his lamas are degenerated.

Lama Yeshe was inviting H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche up till his death in the early 80’s to his centers giving teachings, initiations, transmissions and commentaries. And Dorje Shugden life empowerments to hundreds. So however you want to look at it, then many of the practice graciously conferred by lama Zopa today are in one way or another defiled or at least contaminated. Could that be so? I don’t want to go that direction.

So however many photos Lama Zopa takes together with H.H. the Dalai Lama and advertised (as today, affiliations with Dalai Lama in any way would hint at authenticity/genuine practice whether you are or not) or whoever many events of H.H. are sponsored by Lama Zopa, it still cannot wash away the inner degenerate practices received from Lama Yeshe. Is that what we choose to believe?

Lama assisting Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, who he was extremely devoted to. Lama never gave up his commitments. What kind of example are we setting for future generations of FPMT if we gave up what Lama gave to us? What does that say about our devotion to Lama?

Even if Lama Zopa truly gave up his Dorje Shugden practices to be ‘absolved’, then he would have to give up all the practices that Lama Yeshe gave him also or at least don’t pass it to others. Then we have to believe the founder of our FPMT Lama Yeshe WAS WRONG.

In order to be truly clean? Just giving up Dorje Shugden wouldn’t be enough as his root lama, Lama Yeshe would have to be thought of as WRONG IN LAMA ZOPA’S DAILY MEDITATIONS. I also don’t think so.

So I again request everyone to think of the implications. Otherwise Lama Zopa had no formal long term training in Sera, has never studied to be a Geshe and is not a known as a scholar. He is not a Geshe of any rank. But contrary to not being a scholar-Geshe, he has excelled as a great master anyways. How kind of Dorje Shugden to know that Lama Zopa would bring many benefit to others and therefore recognize him as a true reincarnation.

When Dorje Shugden recognized him as a great incarnation, everyone accepted and believed. It is believed and accepted until today WITHOUT QUESTION. So if Dorje Shugden is an evil spirit, what about Lama Zopa? Do we want to go that direction I ask again ? If Dorje Shugden is evil, then why believe Lama Zopa is an incarnation? Since Dorje Shugden pronounced it first.

I am grateful to Dorje Shugden for assisting Lama throughout his holy life. I am grateful to H.H. the Dalai Lama to spread Dharma even further now where the seeds have been sown way back then by the greats like Lama and his contemporaries for it to grow this big now..

This website speaks the same message as Lama Yeshe did. That is guru devotion, tolerance, acceptance and using one’s wisdom mind. I thank all those who participate in it and host it.

Our great current Lama Zopa Rinpoche HIMSELF WAS RECOGNIZED AS A REINCARNATION OF LAWUDO LAMA BY DORJE SHUGDEN HIMSELF.

The famous oracle of Dungkar, taking trance of Dorje Shugden. There was only one oracle at Dungkar, and this oracle took trance of six deities, three of whom are Dorje Shugden or associated with Dorje Shugden.

There was a very famous oracle of Dorje Shugden in Dromo Geshe’s Rinpoche’s Dungkar Monastery. This Monastery was visited by H.H. the Dalai Lama. When Dalai Lama visited, he was so impressed with Dorje Shugden’s prophecies via the Oracle Monk, that there and then H.H. the Dalai Lama composed the prayer and praise to Dorje Shugden. Still in use today. I am sure it is the same prayer as on the Home page of this extraordinary website.

There were many incidences of Lama Zopa wanting to become a monk or join his uncle to go to Tibet when he was very young. His mother relenting finally sent the young Lama Zopa with his uncle to Tibet where they went to Dungkar Monastery.

It was at this Monastery, the monks asked Dorje Shugden in full trance whether this young boy from Nepal was indeed a Tulku Incarnation as the young boy himself insisted that he was. DORJE SHUGDEN CONFIRMED IT. Yes Dorje Shugden took full possession/trance of Dungkar’s oracle and conferred the Rinpoche title on Lama Zopa and till this day it still holds.

So the current holder of the whole FPMT organization, our own Lama Zopa Rinpoche, was recognized, installed and enthroned by Dorje Shugden himself as a reincarnation or a Tulku. It is on that basis that Lama Zopa received special training from Lama Yeshe.

Many didn’t know that Lama Zopa was recognized by Dorje Shugden himself. He is and many of the younger FPMT students can verify that with the book written by the nun Jamyang Wangmo. Excellent book.

I would recommend highly getting this book which tells you everything:

THE LAWUDO LAMA

Written by Jamyang Wangmo (Vajra Publications)

You can get it at any major bookstore. The incredible thing is that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given a foreword to the book!

Why would His Holiness endorse this book knowing that it was Dorje Shugden who confirmed Lama Zopa’s incarnation status. Isn’t the Dalai Lama inadvertently or indirectly endorsing the recognition made by Dorje Shugden by giving a foreword to this book which is the biography of Lama Zopa Rinpoche?

See Page 172-173 of this book. Also see page 376 (footnote 250, 256) where it mentions clearly that ‘Gyachen’ (short for Gyachen Dorje Shugden) took possession of the oracle that day and pronounced Lama Zopa to be a true incarnation. This Dungkar Monastery oracle was famous throughout Tibet to take trance of Gyachen Dorje Shugden, Tashi Ober, Kache Marpo and Namkar Barzin. Kache Marpo and Namkar Barzin both being Dorje Shugden’s main entourage.

Page 172 and 173

footnote 250, as referenced in Pages 172 and 173

footnote 256

In fact many of the great masters mentioned in this book took Dorje Shugden as their principle protector. Masters such as Serkong Dorje Chang, Geshe Rabten, Zong Rinpoche, Trijang Rinpoche, Trehor Kyorpon Rinpoche, etc. etc. It seems many of the Lamas connected to Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa are great practitioners of Dorje Shugden.

We of FPMT, especially the people who joined after Lama Yeshe’s passing should think of the future from a wide scope. Our founding father was a sound Dorje Shugden practitioner, and his legacy was passed to Lama Zopa who was invested as a Tulku by Dorje Shugden.

Our lineage lamas all practiced Dorje Shugden as their principle protector. We must not criticize this protector in any way. If he was so bad, or truly a spirit, do you think all the dharma protectors of Tibet cannot out beat him?

Do you think the Dalai Lama cannot do some wrathful pujas and just subdue him as was done to Nechung (In Exile From The Land Of Snows. Wisdom Publications by John F. Avedon. Chapter: Wheel of Protection, pp. 238-270). Could it be that and evil spirit can harm the Dalai Lama’s life, merits and activities? If he can be harmed, then what is the point we take refuge?

We must think deeper, harder and refrain from actions of body, speech and mind to get immediate benefit. We must think of our organization, the dharma, and our personal growth on a long term basis. Into our future lives.

I hope all that read this would understand better. That is my hope to write. As I have not said anything for over twenty years.

Yeshe Sangye

FPMT Lineage Lamas

If FPMT is to be a fortress of Dharma, it has to depend on the solid foundations by which it is built, and there is no stronger foundation than to follow the Guru’s instructions, as stated in Je Tsongkapa’s text The Foundation of All Good Qualities. The majority of Lama Zopa’s teachers are well-known stalwarts of Dorje Shugden. It is no secret that Lama practiced Dorje Shugden himself too. In fact, Lama Zopa himself says,

Of course, Lama and I practiced Dorje Shugden for many years. That was always the main thing that Lama did whenever there were problems to overcome. At the beginning of every Kopan course, Lama always did Shugden puja to eliminate hindrances.
Source: http://www.lamayeshe.com/?sect=article&id=1026

It is therefore baffling that Lama Zopa and any of the senior students of FPMT, most of whom have Lama Yeshe as their root guru, would denounce Dorje Shugden today. By contradicting their lineage masters, a number of questions arise:

If most of FPMT’s lineage masters are correct about Dorje Shugden and take the Protector as an integral practice, how can the FPMT simply dismiss it on the whim of the Dalai Lama?
If Lama Zopa so blatantly disregards the majority of his teachers, how can the FPMT hope to inculcate guru devotion in their students? And if there is no culture of strong devotion to the gurus, how can the FPMT teach higher trainings that requite absolute adherence to the guru’s instructions?
If the FPMT agrees with the Dalai Lama and CTA as they seem to, and accordingly treat Dorje Shugden practitioners as criminals of society and enemies of the Tibetan people, then why list “criminals” on their official website as lineage masters?
Following on from that, why continue to pass on the lineage teachings to present and future FPMT students if indeed these teachings came from lamas who seriously erred by practicing demon worship, as the FPMT claim Dorje Shugden to be?

Let’s take a closer look at the list of gurus that Lama Zopa names as his teachers:

1. H.H. Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo

Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche’s faith and reliance on Dorje Shugden was undisputed. This enlightened master, who authored what has been recognized as an important Lamrim text (Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand) by the Dalai Lama himself, taught the great importance of propitiating Dorje Shugden as the Dharma Protector of the Gelug lineage.

2. H.H. Trijang Rinpoche

In modern Gelugpa history, there is hardly any significant figure of the Ganden tradition who has not been a disciple of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Trijang Rinpoche’s role in preserving the entirety of the Oral Ganden lineage and then passing it on intact cannot be disputed, and Dorje Shugden’s practice is an integral part of that tradition.

3. H.H. Ling Rinpoche

Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was the heart disciple of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, and Ling Rinpoche received all his Dharma knowledge and practices from Pabongka Rinpoche. Ling Rinpoche, in turn, passed his knowledge and practices down to the 14th Dalai Lama. It is a known fact that Ling Rinpoche prescribed Dorje Shugden’s practice to many within the Tibetan community, and also composed prayers to Dorje Shugden.

4. H.H. Zong Rinpoche

A heart son of H.H. Trijang Rinpoche, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche had impeccable knowledge of all rituals, art and science, and was renowned for his ‘many actions of powerful magic,’ as a result of which ‘the most marvellous, indescribable signs occurred.’ Zong Rinpoche trusted Dorje Shugden wholeheartedly and advised his students to practice strongly and devotedly.

5. Lama Yeshe

The founder of FPMT and a great practitioner of Dorje Shugden till the end, Lama Yeshe is well known to have commenced all-important Dharma projects with Dorje Shugden prayers. He remained devoted to his teachers and did not give up his practice of Dorje Shugden despite the ban on its practice.

6. Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche

Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche was a Dorje Shugden practitioner and his devotion borne out of his practice is legendary. Rinpoche absorbed the obstacles to the Dalai Lama’s welfare and works, and took them upon himself through the practice of tonglen. It is therefore incredible that anyone should accuse Dorje Shugden lamas of wishing to harm the Dalai Lama.

7. H.H. Serkong Dorje Chang

Serkong Dorje Chang was well known for writing extensive commentaries on the tantric deity Chakrasamvara as well as an extensive confession and propitiation prayer (kangso) to the protector Dorje Shugden. In this kangso, Serkong Dorje Chang identifies Dorje Shugden as the principal protector of Lama Tsongkapa as well as the special protector of Ganden’s Ear-Whispered Lineage, the heart of the Gelug tradition.

8. H.H. Sakya Trizin

History shows that Dorje Shugden was first propitiated by the Sakyas. Dorje Shugden was inducted into the pantheon of Sakya protectors by the 30th Sakya Trizin Sonam Rinchen (1705-1741). Later, Sonam Rinchen named Dorje Shugden together with two other Protectors – Setrab and Tsiu Marpo – as the “Three Kings” (Gyalpo Sum).

Other Sakya high lamas who propitiated Dorje Shugden include the 31st Sakya Trizin Kunkhyen Ngawang Kunga Lodroe, the 33rd Sakya Trizin Padma Dudul Wangchug, the 35th Sakya Trizin Tashi Rinchen, the 37th Sakya Trizin Kunga Nyingpo, the 39th Sakya Trizin Dragshul Thinley Rinchen and the 41st Sakya Trizin, who later recanted his practice under political coercion.

9. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche

Geshe Rabten was the philosophical assistant of the 14th Dalai Lama and the first Tibetan Buddhist master to introduce the complete Vinaya-tradition and the study of the five major topics of Buddhism to the West.

Geshe Rabten’s faith in the Protector is clear by his statement, “This manifestation of the Buddha has no equal. If you are really determined to tame your mind, he will even give you his heart”.

10. Geshe Sopa Rinpoche

The Dalai Lama praised Geshe Lhundrub Sopa Rinpoche as an eminent “Buddhist mentor and a guide to hundreds of Western students and a pure lineage holder of the monastic tradition”.

However, this erudite teacher disagreed with the Dalai Lama’s view of Dorje Shugden, saying that “The idea of these ritual texts of Shukden is to spread and strengthen the pure teachings and destroy wrong views and practices, so their language and imagery tends to seem rather sectarian and aggressive”.

11. Gomo Tulku

Lama Zopa himself stated that Gomo Tulku worked to spread the Dorje Shugden lineage:

“My root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche; Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s guru’s root guru; His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, from whom many of the older students received the initiation of Shugden; and the previous incarnation of Gomo Rinpoche, who has a strong connection with Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, here in Italy, all promoted the practice of Shugden. They were all aspects of the Dharmakaya”.

12. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche

Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche was born in the province of Amdo and at age six was recognized as the reincarnation of the former Abbot of Kirti Gompa. Rinpoche received teachings from many high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition including the practice of Dorje Shugden, which he kept all his life.

13. Zemey Rinpoche

So highly realised was Zemey Rinpoche that Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang regarded Zemey Rinpoche, one of his heart disciples, as being equal to him in knowledge and attainments. Zemey Rinpoche held all the same lineages, transmissions and practices as Trijang Rinpoche including the practice of Dorje Shugden.

14. Ribur Rinpoche

Ribur Rinpoche’s devotion to his guru, Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche was legendary. He faithfully held on to all the teachings he received from Pabongka Rinpoche, including the Dorje Shugden practice.

As Ribur Rinpoche said, “I have had some success as a scholar, and as a lama I am somebody, but these things are not important. The only thing that matters to me is that I was a disciple of Pabongka Rinpoche”.

15. Choden Rinpoche

Choden Rinpoche, one of the highest lamas in Tibetan Buddhism, was recognized and ordained by Pabongka Rinpoche. Choden Rinpoche was a fiercely steadfast practitioner of Dharma, saying: “I don’t remember too clearly my first meeting with Pabongka Rinpoche, but I do remember that Rinpoche was very happy with me. I really admired everything that Rinpoche did: the way he walked, the way he dressed, everything. I felt, “If only I could be like him”.

16. Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche

Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche of Drepung Loseling Monastery was a direct student of H.H. Ling Dorje Chang. He was an expert on Manjushri’s fierce form, Yamantaka, amongst many other teachings and practices, and was appointed the Abbot of the Dalai Lama’s Namgyal Monastery from 1986 to 1991.

Denma Locho Rinpoche was a scholar of the highest calibre and a very prolific gentle teacher who did not discriminate against Dorje Shugden practitioners although it cost him his reputation.

17. Khyongla Rato Rinpoche

Khyongla Rato Rinpoche is a reincarnate lama and scholar of the Gelugpa order of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche was born in the Dagyab region of Kham, in southeastern Tibet and eventually settled in the United States where he founded The Tibet Center, the oldest Tibetan Buddhist Center in New York City.

It is truly shocking to see FPMT policies that openly dishonor the practice of its lineage masters. Our root Guru, Lama Yeshe, was a Dorje Shugden practitioner. Kopan manifested with the help of Dorje Shugden. Sadly however, it appears that to be politically correct and on the Dalai Lama’s side far outweighs loyalty to the lineage masters and the pure tradition the masters used their lives to manifest.

Further Developments

After Yeshe Sangye’s stunning article on the fact Lama Zopa was recognized by Dorje Shugden as a Rinpoche, the news spread like wildfire. Lama Zopa tried to issue a clarification but it only served to confirm by Lama Zopa himself that he was indeed recognized by Dorje Shugden.

Lama Zopa’s “clarification” is included below. Notice that he ends it by saying, “So the Lopon for his own benefit asked the oracle of the monastery if this was true.” We ask – who is the oracle of the monastery? The famous Dorje Shugden Oracle of Dungkar Monastery, of course! See here: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/?p=307

Lama Zopa’s 2008 “clarification”
about being recognized by Dorje Shugden:

HOW I WAS RECOGNIZED
(Source: http://www.lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=292)

To my very dear friends and students, I heard there is some misunderstanding about how I was recognized, so I just want to give you the details here.

The main disciple of the Lawudo Lama Kunsang Yeshe (who it is said is my previous life) was Ngawang Chopel. He did many retreats during his life and he also followed the Buddha’s example of offering his own body (charity) to the insects and animals for seven days; this was quite amazing as he completely offered and they ate parts of it and he had to be taken to the hospital. Later Ngawang Chopel also built a monastery at Maritika near a cave of Guru Rinpoche (considered one of the most holy places of Guru Rinpoche – where it is said He achieved immortality). Ngawang Chopel was with the Lawudo Lama at the time of his death. The Lawudo Lama explained the signs happening in the death process to him as he was dying.

Since I was born in a very poor family, there was doubt by some if I was the incarnation, mainly on the part of the son of Lama Kunsang Yeshe. When Ngawang Chopel heard this he went immediately to Tibet to consult high lamas and all six lamas he consulted confirmed without doubt that I was the incarnation of the Lawudo Lama Kunsang Yeshe. Two of the six high Lamas were His Holiness Tulshig Rinpoche (one of the teachers of His Holiness the Dalai Lama) and his root guru, the great Lama Rongpu Sangye. So at an early age, long before going to Tibet and the monastery at Pagri (small branch of Domo Geshe’s main monastery), I was recognized. Before I left for Tibet the son of Lama Kunsang Yeshe accepted me as the incarnation and promised to return to me the cave and texts, etc. belonging to his father after I returned from Tibet.

I was brought into Tibet by two uncles; both were my alphabet teachers. Why did I have two alphabet teachers? The first one was from Thami, near Lawudo; he took care of me. When I was very small (maybe four years old) I was always escaping and running home, so my mother sent me far away to the monastery in Rolwaling, a very isolated place high in the mountains near Tibet. There I was in the care of another uncle, Ngawang Gendun, who also taught me the alphabet (Tibetan). I stayed with him in Rolwaling for seven years, memorizing and reading texts and doing pujas called “shi-trol.”

These two uncles took me to Tibet. In Tibet I stayed with another uncle. He was in the Indian army; then he met a Tibetan lady from Tsang and they married and lived in Pagri, Tibet. Pagri was a very busy place for traders from Bhutan, Kalimpong, Lhasa, etc. The three uncles with some other Sherpas left me in the care of my aunt while they went on pilgrimage to Lhasa. They didn’t take me as they thought the journey would be too difficult and I could die, as I was still very young. After living some time in Pagri (hanging around), outside my house I met a very tall monk (externally appearing not to know me) and immediately he asked me if I would be his disciple (there must have been very strong karma with him). I answered him immediately “yes.”

Next day in the morning my aunt made a very nice thermos of tea and bread in a bamboo container inside a basket and took me to the small branch monastery of Domo Geshe Rinpoche’s main monastery about fifteen to twenty minutes’ walk away, where I met the tall monk again – he was the Lopon of this small monastery. The Lopon heard stories of me from people in the village, that I was a tulku from Lawudo near Thami. So the Lopon for his own benefit asked the oracle of the monastery if this was true.

With much love and prayer,
Lama Zopa Rinpoche

If you look carefully, the explanation from Lama Zopa Rinpoche does not deny the fact that he was also recognized by Dorje Shugden.

There are other descriptions such as about hospitals, insects, tall uncles, small monastery, etc. etc. etc. that attempt to distract the reader but Lama Zopa himself writes on the last line that the lopon of this monastery asked the oracle to confirm if he is a tulku or not. But he doesn’t explain what the oracle said and which deity entered the oracle. Of course the possessing being was Dorje Shugden, as stated in the book Lawudo Lama by Jamyang Wangmo. The book was written by one of FPMT’s own nuns and even more surprising, a foreword was provided by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The private office of His Holiness definitely did not read this book carefully before issuing this foreword. Maybe they had no time to scan and read page by page so it most likely slipped past them. One thing is for sure – Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who is a special being, was recognized by the protector of his root guru, Dorje Shugden, another special being.

If Lama Zopa Rinpoche was not recognized by Dorje Shugden, then just say so. Just say that he was not recognized by Dorje Shugden. Simple and straight. But the fact is, he was.

Someone called Ronald Johnson further tried to deny all of this but his attempt was futile, and he was easily and immediately refuted:

You totally miss the point. Also, it would appear that English is not your first language so you would not be aware of the difference between recognized and confirmed. The implications of Yeshe Sangye’s first missive were that Rinpoche was FIRST identified by DS; Rinpoche’s letter clearly indicates that this is not so.

Look, anybody can ask DS anything…I could ask him if Tenzin Gyatso was indeed the Dalai Lama and he would confirm it. So what?

Also, to take a couple of sentences out of Jamyang Wangmo’s 500-page book and make a federal case out of it is simply obfuscation. Anyway, this happened in the mid-50s. The world was a very different place back then…especially Tibet. “

In response, a user on the Dorje Shugden forum known as Mountains says:

Dear Ronald,

My English being 1st or 2nd language has no point in this issue. I understand you are angry. I beg your forgiveness and wish you no ill. I am not attacking Lama Zopa nor FPMT, but the whole shugden issue has divided all of us. Imagine our Tibetan Buddhist world and how it would be if the whole Dorje Shugden issue was never brought up? Who did it harm? The majority of the Gelugpa High lamas and Geshes practiced/practice Dorje Shugden including Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa. Do you see any difference in Lama Zopa before when he was practicing and now when he says he is not?? He is exactly the same. Which leads you to believe with your own eyes, there is nothing wrong with Dorje Shugden. Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa are both sublime beings who practiced a sublime Dharma protector.

(1) Do you deny that Lama Yeshe practiced Dorje Shugden his whole life until his death? Was lama Yeshe wrong in this? Was Lama Yeshe’s refuge commitments degenerated due to this? If not, why is it so bad, that lama zopa was confirmed by Dorje Shugden?? The point is not if he was confirmed or recognized, the point is that DORJE SHUGDEN’S PRACTICE, ORACLES, TRADITION, LINEAGE WAS WIDESPREAD/PREDOMINATE AND VALID IN THE TIBET OF THE 50′S. And you are right, Tibet WAS VERY DIFFERENT BACK THEN. The gelugpas were one and coexisted with the other sects beautifully.

(2) Do you want to hinge on one word of Yeshe Sangye’s letter that is identified? Whether Rinpoche indicates it is or not is not the point, the point is DORJE SHUGDEN was used to confirm his reincarnation status.

In the other Lama Zopa’s book “The Door to Satisfaction” by Wisdom Publications page X of Editor’s Preface, again Lama Zopa mentions clearly in the 3rd paragraph that the Dharma Protector of Domo Geshe’s Monastery CONFIRMED THAT RINPOCHE WAS A REINCARNATE LAMA AND OFFERED ADVICE CONCERNING HIS CARE. That we can conclude since Rinpoche mentions no other names of who else recognized him, whoever else did not hold much weight in the eyes of the ppl to caretake and train Rinpoche at that time. So they had to consult something to CONFIRM AND MAKE SURE Lama Zopa is who the others say he is. Who did they trust to confirm, Dorje Shugden.

If the great emanation of Tsongkapa, Domo Geshe Rinpoche would have a oracle recieving Dorje Shugden’s presence in his temple, definitely Dorje Shugden is a beneficial and beneficient being. Unless Domo Geshe Rinpoche was also unattained? I dont think so. Domo Geshe’s famous oracle in which HH the 14th Dalai Lama himself consulted in the 50′s at Dungkar Choede, can take full possession of 6 different dharma protectors!

They are:

Dorje Shugden

Namka Barzin (Dorje Shugden’s entourage)

Kache Marpo (Dorje Shugden’s entourage)

Tashi Obar

Genyen Jingkarwa

Pawo Trobar

Three of them are Dorje Shugden and his acolytes. Surely Domo Geshe Rinpoche whose people and temple nurtured and took care of Lama Zopa in the early years are not all evil, wrong and degenerate for propitiating Dorje Shugden? Domo Geshe is famed for his devotion to Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche (root guru of Lama Yeshe and HH Dalai Lama), His great meditative concentration on the Vajra Yogini Tantras and his powerful propitiation of Dorje Shugden. Is Domo Geshe wrong to have a famous Dorje Shugden oracle in his monastery that ppl came from all parts of Tibet to consult. On all states of affairs, governmental, secular, etc. Many high incarnations are found by the oracular pronouncements of Dorje Shugden’s oracles past and present, so why not Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Even the current Trijang and Zong Rinpoche incarnations were found and confirmed by the Dorje Shugden oracle or Choyang Dulzin Kuten of Gaden. Then only it was presented to the Dalai Lama for formal recognition. What Dorje Shugden found and recognized was further confirmed by HH. Is that so bad that Lama Zopa was also confirmed by the great protector of Lama Yeshe, Trijang Rinpoche, Zong Rinpoche, Pabongkha Rinpoche, Regent Daktra Rinpoche, Domo Geshe Rinpoche that he is authentic? Of course not.

The incarnations of HH the Dalai Lamas are all confirmed by Nechung Oracle, but recognized and enthroned by the regents of Tibet. So are the confirmations by Nechung Oracle for the Dalai Lama not important? You dont say that Nechung recognized the Dalai Lama, but he plays an important part to confirm that LEADS TO EVENTUAL RECOGNITION. Just the same in the case of Lama Zopa, where Dorje Shugden confirmed he is a real tulku and even gave advice on the care. And in the Tibet of the 50′s Dorje Shugden’s oracular pronouncements carry great weight as his famous oracle in Lhasa called PANGLUNG KUTEN OR ORACLE where many high lamas, nobilities,and government officials consulted for private and governmental affairs. HH kyabje Trijang Rinpoche very much relied on the accuracy of this oracle of Dorje Shugden/Kache Marpo. You can read in his personal autobiography of HH Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche.

(3) If Dorje Shugden was an evil spirit, he would of said that Lama Zopa is not a tulku, dont take care of him. Why would he say that? Because he can forsee Lama Zopa would benefit many and he would try to stop it not being happy about that. Devadatta did whatever he can to stop Buddha, but could not of course. Similarily, Dorje Shugden was so bad, he would try to stop Lama Zopa’s works to flower in the future.

(4) I see that Sangye has taken a couple of sentences out of Jamyang Wangmo’s book, to support the fact that even great lamas alive today are direct, or indirect products of the Dorje Shugden lineage of lamas, oracles and practices. It is not making a federal case. And If it was attempted to be turned into a federal case in any country outside of the Tibetan Exile footholds, it would never be a federal case. Religious freedom is tolerated anywhere in the democratic world. What is happening in the Tibetan settlements can only happen because of the pressures of ostracization. Muslims, satanists,Hindus, Sikhs, atheists, voodoo-followers, Protestants, Baptists, Mormons, Amish, Orthodox, Jews are ALL ALLOWED TO ATTEND ANY BUDDHIST SERMON IN ANY FPMT CENTRE IN THE WORLD. CAN ATTEND ANY TEACHINGS/GATHERINGS/INITIATIONS BY HH DALAI LAMA IN THE WORLD. ONLY DORJE SHUGDEN PRACTITIONERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO. Doesnt that sound funny. Surely Dorje Shugden practitioners are ‘better’ than satanists?? Christians, Muslims would find the image of the Buddha blasphemous, yet their devotees are never barred from HH Dalai Lama’s talks, why is that? Because it cannot never be gotten away with?

(5) My point is simple. FPMT as well as many other centres, lamas, organizations in the world has practiced Dorje Shugden peacefully and without incidence for a long time. In some cases, centuries. What is the big furor now. Suddenly HH Dalai Lama is right and all other lamas are wrong?? Cannot be. If so, then HH the Dalai Lama can be wrong also. In the unfortunate time in the future, when HH passes away, what will stop ppl from saying his ban on Dorje Shugden was wrong?? In fact what is to stop people from saying it now. Since our gurus can be wrong, the whole basis of Guru devotional practices is severely disrupted. This is not a Gelugpa issue, but a issue of freedom to practice whatever lineage we wish free of any lamas condemnations. If one lama can condemn, then all can be condemned. Then who is right and who is wrong?? I dont want to go that direction.

(6) Dont hinge the whole thing on words such as recognition and confirmation. Lama Yeshe and his root gurus/lineage practiced Dorje Shugden. Lama Yeshe consulted Dorje Shugden on many issues throughout his whole life. That is what makes FPMT so great now. Lama himself mentions in his books that it is the protector’s divine help in all his works that made it grow. FPMT’s main sadhanas are composed by lamas that held Dorje Shugden as their principal protectors. So if you wish to throw out Dorje Shugden, you better abandon the practices of for example Cittamanitara, Vajra Yogini and Yamantaka composed by Kyabje Pabongkha Rinpoche. Since he practiced Dorje Shugden and that is a mistake, then the sadhanas he composed that Gelugpas do everyday could be a mistake also. After all he seems to be able to make mistakes. We have to be very careful. That is not the case definitely.

THE POINT IS THIS: FPMT’S ROOTS ARE DEEP-SEEDED IN CONNECTIONS TO DORJE SHUGDEN. YOU MAY DENY CURRENT CONNECTIONS BUT YOU CANNOT DENY PAST CONNECTIONS. PAST CREATES THE FUTURE. SO IF YOU DYE A SCARF RED, IT CANNOT COME OUT BLUE. YOU CANNOT DENY THE SAMAYA CONNECTIONS TO DORJE SHUGDEN THAT ARE DEEPLY INTERRELATED TO ALL OF FPMT’S LINEAGE LAMAS OF THE PAST THAT CREATES/RESULTED IN ITS GREATNESS NOW. IF DORJE SHUGDEN PRACTICE AND PRACTITIONERS WERE ARE EVIL, THEN THE FRUIT MUST BE EVIL, IN THIS CASE FPMT MUST BE EVIL AND IT IS DEFINITELY NOT THE CASE.

Again Ronald, I write this to you in earnest to help you and many people see that Dorje Shugden has never harmed and will never harm. If he does harm, just have the great lamas do a fire puja or binding puja and be done with it. Do you mean all the dharma protectors of Tibet cannot overcome one ‘evil’ spirit Dorje Shugden?? It is not as simple as that. There is a bigger picture as predicted by Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Dorje Shugden will go global. China will adopt the practice and on a governmental level promote the practice of Dorje Shugden first in China then from China into the world. The practice will go global and strong in the future generations. HH the Dalai Lama knows that. He cannot openly push it. So in his own way he is pushing it. China is already using Dorje Shugden as one of the bargaining ‘chips’ in the 6th negotiations with the exile govt of Tibet as stated by kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche. China is taking great interest and HH is pushing it in that directions. That is a level much more powerful than our likes and dislikes within the Tibetan Buddhist Community. China will adopt Dorje Shugden’s practice and will make it grow as HH is pushing it into that direction. As predicted in the early 70′s by HH Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang.”

Addendum

Zasep Tulku Rinpoche’s autobiography, A Tulku’s Journey from Tibet to Canada, published in 2016, provides historical evidence and irrefutable proof that the Central Tibetan Administration is falsifying the facts when it comes to the practice of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden.

The autobiography of Zasep Tulku Rinpoche, a high lama of the Gelug lineage, provides accurate historical accounts of the Dorje Shugden practice. Click to enlarge.

The back cover of the book, click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge

Historical accounts show that prior to the politicization of the Dorje Shugden practice by the Central Tibetan Administration, this popular deity was relied upon by Dharma practitioners to help in their spiritual practice. Contrary to detractors’ claims about Dorje Shugden being ‘anti-Dharma’, this Dharma Protector practice was traditionally deemed to be suitable to be practiced alongside the Highest Yoga Tantras.

Click to enlarge

Zasep Rinpoche and his family were able to escape to safety prior to the events of 1959 through the clairvoyance and prophetic advice of Dorje Shugden through one of his oracles, Lama Gelong Chojor Gyamtso.

Click to enlarge

Oracles of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden were known for the accuracy of their prophecies due to Dorje Shugden being a fully enlightened deity with perfect clairvoyance. As stated clearly by Zasep Rinpoche in his autobiography ‘A Tulku’s Journey from Tibet to Canada’, Dorje Shugden warned the Tibetans of the impending loss of their homeland but his advice was mostly ignored by the Tibetan government.

The Tibetan government chose to consult the worldly state protector Nechung, and Nechung advised that the Dalai Lama should remain in Tibet where he would be safe. This was mistaken advice, as historical events would later show. Fortunately for Tibetan Buddhists all around the world, Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang had great faith in Dorje Shugden and consulted the protector for advice on the Dalai Lama’s safety. Dorje Shugden via the Panglung Oracle urgently adviced the Dalai Lama to leave for India immediately and gave the exact escape route. In saving the Dalai Lama from certain harm, Dorje Shugden prevented the destruction of Tibetan Buddhism and preserved the future of the Tibetan culture and people.

Zasep Rinpoche’s account of events concur with monastic records that it was indeed Dorje Shugden who saved the Dalai Lama instead of Nechung, contrary to the claims of the Tibetan leadership.

Click to enlarge

Dorje Shugden’s practice was first established within the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya Throneholders regarded this Dharma Protector as an enlightened being and Dorje Shugden, together with Dorje Setrab and Tsiu Marpo formed the triune of Sakya Protectors known as Gyalpo Sum. Today, Sakya practitioners claim that Dorje Shugden was never widely practiced by their lineage but history proves otherwise. The undeniable fact is that before the CTA’s religious ban, Dorje Shugden was practiced first by the Sakyas and was later transmitted to the Gelug school where it was practiced by the majority of the Gelugpas.

Click to enlarge

Contrary to the CTA’s claims that Dorje Shugden’s practice is sectarian, Zasep Rinpoche’s autobiography shows how practitioners of all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism lived and practiced together in harmony, especially during the early years of exile in India. It was only when the CTA launched a virulent smear campaign against Dorje Shugden that the general public began to label Dorje Shugden a sectarian practice. In truth, Dorje Shugden’s practice is no more sectarian than the practices of other Dharma Protectors such as Mahakala Bernagchen, Achi Chokyi Drolma or Dorje Legpa, who protect the Karma Kagyu, Drikung Kagyu and Nyingma schools respectively.

Click to enlarge

By the 1980s, the Tibetan government had failed to fulfil multiple promises to return the Tibetan people to their homeland. A scapegoat was needed and they made one out of an ancient Buddhist practice, pinning the loss of Tibet and the failure of the Tibetan cause on Dorje Shugden. In his autobiography, Zasep Rinpoche is of the same opinion, stating that “…the [Dorje Shugden] controversy was orchestrated by the Tibetan Central Administration…”

The Tibetan leadership effectively sanctioned witch-hunts on Dorje Shugden practitioners and persecuted them using government instruments, declaring that simply by being a Shugden worshipper, one was effectively an enemy of the Tibetan nation.

As a result of the hatred against Dorje Shugden practitioners instigated by the Tibetan leadership, virtually all Shugden Buddhists had to fear for their lives, or at least for their safety.

Click to enlarge

Dorje Shugden’s beneficial practice has continued to thrive due to the courage and commitment of high lamas such as Zasep Tulku Rinpoche.

Click to enlarge

For centuries, Dorje Shugden has been practiced alongside the highest practices of the Gelug and Sakya lineages. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche’s list of transmission is an indication that the highest scholars viewed the Protector as an enlightened being compatible with their yidam practices.

For further reading:

Where is Lama Yeshe? (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/where-is-lama-yeshe/)

FPMT Lineage Masters are Dorje Shugden Believers (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/fpmt-lineage-masters-are-believers-of-dorje-shugden/)

FPMT, Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/fpmt-dalai-lama-and-dorje-shugden/)

A True Inspiration: Claudio Cipullo (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/a-true-inspiration-claudio-cipullo/)

Fabrizio Pallotti (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/fabrizio-pallotti/)

Politically Correct at the Expense of the Lineage (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/politically-correct-at-the-expense-of-the-lineage/)

Lama Yeshe and Geshe Rabten (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/mail-out/lama-yeshe-and-geshe-rabten/)

The Broken Samayas of FPMT (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/the-broken-samayas-of-fpmt/)

The Questionable Policies of the FPMT (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/the-questionable-policies-of-the-fpmt/)

Lama Zopa admitted to being recognized by Dorje Shugden (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/others-old/lama-zopa-admitted-to-being-recognized-by-dorje-shugden/)

Recognized by Dorje Shugden, but Speaks against Dorje Shugden (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/recognized-by-dorje-shugden-but-speaks-against-dorje-shugden/)

Kopan Monks Asking for Dorje Shugden Puja for Lama Zopa (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/kopan-monks-asking-for-dorje-shugden-puja-for-lama-zopa/)

Dakini Healed Lama Zopa? (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/dakini-healed-lama-zopa/)

A Tribute to Ven. Lama Yeshe Rinpoche (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/a-tribute-to-ven-lama-yeshe-rinpoche/)

The Ambitious 69th “Bhutan Abbot” of Sakya Ngor Monastery

admin — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 16:31:10 +0000

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso (1902 – 1963) the disrobed abbot

The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to ds@dorjeshugden.com.

By: Toby Lee

More than 50 years ago, before the practice of the enlightened Dharma protector Dorje Shugden was banned by the Tibetan leadership in 1996, there existed an extremely ambitious and gifted, but stubborn and destructive monk who courted the support of the Bhutan palace. As the 69^th abbot of Sakya Ngor Monastery, he distinguished himself by creating a strong dislike for Dorje Shugden and the teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa, leaving a trail of schism and division behind him.

This was at a time when Dorje Shugden and Lama Tsongkhapa were popularly represented by the Gelugpa stalwart H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo (1878–1941) who was not only highly respected by the monastic community but also the lay people of the Himalayas.

As a result of Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s ambitious but sectarian actions, Dorje Shugden publications were destroyed and his practice halted at many Sakya and other monasteries that Ngawang Yontan Gyatso had control over or had underhandedly leaned on.

Ironically, his sectarian actions were justified by the Gaden Phodrang (Tibetan government) which had been established in the 17^th Century by the 5^th Dalai Lama, who had not only fought with the Sakyas but also banned the printing of Gorampa’s writings. Gorampa, as the 6^th Abbot of Sakya Ngor Monastery, had been the fiercest critic of Lama Tsongkhapa in his time. Even the Mahasiddha and erudite master Je Tsongkhapa had his strong critics. With the passage of time, we can see that Tsongkhapa’s view and teachings really expanded globally, silencing his critics.

A statue of the 5th Dalai Lama (right) in the Jokhang Temple

Family influence makes a stubborn boy the Abbot of Ngor

As a child, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso is described as being intelligent and witty but also distressingly stubborn and independent, almost notoriously so. For example, it is recorded that when they were studying with their teacher (Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s uncle, Lama Gendun), his distant cousin Dezhung Rinpoche never got beatings over the head with his teacher’s slipper, but Ngawang Yontan Gyatso did.

Through the influence of his family who were relatively well-to-do and could count amongst them a number of respected lamas of rank, he was accepted as a candidate from Khangsar Labrang for the abbotship of Ngor Monastery. Subsequently, he became its 69^th Abbot. Unlike some of the other Ngor abbots who ascended the throne due to their hard work, studies and personal achievements, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso ascended the Ngor Abbot’s throne due to wealth and family position which is usually a recipe for disaster.

Ngor Monastery is one of the three main monasteries of the Sakya tradition. It was established by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1444) who is considered one of the Six Ornaments of Tibet due to his many written works (almost 200 titles), teachings, practice, and the monastic institution he established.

Ngor abbots were originally selected primarily for their spiritual attainments, without regard for familial ties or regional origins. However, in the following century after its founding, a few eminent abbots had amassed a great fortune, some of which was kept after their deaths by family members. This became the seed from the 16^th century onward for the three oldest Labrangs of Ngor to control the abbotship of the monastery.

The present day Ngor Monastery located in India

A student disrespects his lama

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso may have been known for his intelligence, but respect for those senior to him was not counted amongst his positive qualities.

His main teacher, Dampa Rinpoche, was not a permanent resident of Khangsar Labrang and instead lived in places such as Sakya and Tanag. The lamas in permanent residence at Ngor were Zhalu Kuzhang Lama and Khensur Ngawang Khyenrab Jampal Nyingpo, who had been the 60^th abbot of Ngor Monastery.

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, unsurprisingly, failed to get along with this older abbot and this was the cause of many later problems. In the second year of his term, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s behavior had so disappointed the senior master that he was even temporarily removed from his abbotship. It appears that Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s involvement in religion was for position, power, prestige and wealth. He was even disgracefully removed from the prestigious and sacred position of the abbot of Ngor Monastery. Being removed is a big disgrace.

Dezhung Rinpoche reported:

“The young zhabs-drung [now abbot] soon demonstrated not only a native intelligence and wit, but also a distressing stubbornness and independence. He soon quarrelled with the aged Khang-gsar mKhan-po. As a result of this conflict, he withdrew from the Khang-gsar Lama-palace and set up his own separate ecclesiastical palace.”

So, not only had Ngawang Yontan Gyatso disrespected a senior and older former abbot, but had gone so far as to leave the monastery to set up his own residence.

Sakya Monastery located in Tibet, China.

Spreading sectarianism

Having founded a residence of his own, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso now needed to find some way of funding his activities. In order to obtain patronage to boost his prestige at Ngor, he set out for Bhutan where he attracted the attention of the King who lavished upon him considerable wealth. He soon became the wealthiest of all the “ecclesiastical princes” of Ngor and became popularly known as the “Drukpa Khenpo” (“Bhutan abbot”). Following his success in Bhutan, he returned to Ngor where he remained a controversial figure.

Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo in his younger days

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso also began to manifest intense dislike for the enlightened protector Dorje Shugden, represented by the very popular Gelug lama Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo (1878–1941) at that time. Pabongka Rinpoche is the one who, in 1921 at Chuzang Hermitage near Lhasa, gave a historic 24-day exposition on the Lam Rim, or “stages of the path” that was attended by some 700 people. Many monks came from the three major monasteries in Lhasa (Ganden, Sera and Drepung), and many more traveled weeks from the Central Province of Tsang, and from as far away as Amdo and Kham just to receive teachings from Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. This included about 30 lamas and reincarnations of lamas, as well as many lay people.

Unlike many other lamas who became famous for their scholarship or practice, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso is perhaps best remembered for his crusade against Dorje Shugden. The writings that exist about him are predominantly related to his anti-Shugden activities, and his systematic targeting of monasteries and monks to dismantle the practice in and around Tibet. In the summer of the third and last year of his abbacy (1935), during the time of the rainy-season retreat, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso began to court open conflict with Dorje Shugden practitioners. He began by sharply criticizing the monks of Khangsar Labrang’s own community, calling them “thieves and breakers of sacred tantric commitments”.

He then set out for Kham where he embarked upon a crusade against Dorje Shugden, destroying images and ritual objects at Damthog Monastery. Around 1948, when his cousin and former classmate Dezhung Rinpoche was at Sakya on pilgrimage, he traveled to Dezhung Rinpoche’s monastery of Tharlam.

Gathering the monks together, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso told them of his crusade against Dorje Shugden and said that Dorje Shugden was not a protector of religion, but an evil spirit who would cause the doctrine to perish. He told the monks of Tharlam that in his previous incarnation as Phankhang Ngawang Kunga Tenpai Gyaltsen, this deity had caused him great obstacles and had caused his early death at the age of 36. He also elicited from the Tharlam monks their agreement to destroy the mask of this deity the next morning. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s actions showed his blatant disrespect for the previous holy Sakya Throneholders who had in their learning and wisdom installed Dorje Shugden within the Sakya tradition in the first place. But then, Ngawang Yonten Gyatso never had a penchant for respecting his seniors and the learned masters of the past, and was determined to exercise power and control in his focus to gain fame.

Hearing such words being uttered by someone of position, the monks were made sufficiently fearful and, although they were afraid of reprisals from the so-called angered deity, they felt duty-bound to follow the Ngor Abbot’s wishes.

Hence the following morning, after extensive prayers, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso led a procession of monks into the Protector Chapel. They removed a revered mask of Dorje Shugden from its shrine and carried it outside. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso then threw it into a fire, before drawing a pistol and shooting the mask several times. After the mask had been destroyed, he re-entered the Protector Chapel and removed all ritual articles associated with Dorje Shugden. He then had the monks carry the items down to the banks of the Kyichu River and hurl them into the waters.

The 342-mile Kyichu River in Lhasa

Reviving the Dharma out of spite

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s intense dislike for all things Dorje Shugden also manifested in the form of animosity towards the Gelug lama Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso claimed that in 1940, a year before Pabongka Rinpoche’s death, Pabongka Rinpoche carried out “sectarian machinations” by voicing to a Chinese Kuomintang governor his displeasure at the fact “Uncle Jamyang Gyaltsen” had published Gorampa’s works. He even claimed that Pabongka Rinpoche had criticized the exposition of the Thirteen Great Indian Buddhist Works.

“Uncle Jamyang Gyaltsen” here refers to Gapa Khenpo Jamyang Chokyi Gyaltsen (also known as Khenpo Jamgyal; 1870-1940) who played a pivotal role in the preservation and propagation of Gorampa Sonam Senge’s teachings. Gorampa had been the 6^th Abbot of Ngor Monastery, and a contemporary of Lama Tsongkhapa as well as his biggest critic. His writings were banned by the Central Tibetan government who, for centuries, had ordered they be held under lock and key, outlawing their reproduction.

In claiming that Pabongka Rinpoche continued to be against Gorampa’s works, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso accomplished a number of things:

Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche was a tremendous proliferator of Dorje Shugden’s practice

He fanned the flames of sectarianism by claiming that Gelugpas (as represented by Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche) were against the teachings of a Sakya lama (as represented by Gorampa). Ngawang Yontan Gyatso was highly sectarian as the evidence shows.
He fanned people’s hatred against Dorje Shugden, just because Dorje Shugden was being heavily promoted by Pabongka Rinpoche. If Ngawang Yontan Gyatso could succeed in painting Pabongka Rinpoche as sectarian and therefore someone to be avoided, then anything else he propagated (i.e. Dorje Shugden) should also be avoided.
This was an opportune moment to remind the laity that the Central Tibetan government, which was predominantly Gelug, had banned the teachings of a Sakya lama for centuries. The Gelugs were a convenient target now that he had gained the support of the Bhutanese palace because, whilst the Sakyas were friendly with Bhutan, the Bhutanese viewed the Gelugs as enemies stemming from the time of the 5^th Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang government.
As the 69^th Abbot of Ngor, by defending the legacy of the 6^th Ngor Abbot, it would legitimize his other actions and reinforce his power base, therefore helping him garner support for his crusade against Dorje Shugden.
Thus for Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, it suited him politically to be on the side of Gorampa and against Dorje Shugden and Pabongka Rinpoche. It was pure revenge which does not reflect well on himself. His vengeful tactics and sectarianism disqualify him as a spiritual master that can be relied upon.

An unremarkable end

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso eventually disrobed, took on a wife and lived the life of a “holy madman”. Even though he was a supposed high lama, he had not gain any sort of discipline. Even after a lifetime of monk-hood and his position as the abbot of such a prestigious monastery, he had no control over his desires, something which led him to disrobe and take on wife like an ordinary layman. Some time between 1959 and 1960, he was imprisoned by the Chinese, telling his remaining disciples, “I am going there, and will die after being tortured. If any of you have real faith and trust in me, come along with me!”

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso died in the early 1960s at about age 60 in a large prison near Siling (Xining), China, which held thousands of prisoners. His karma from persecuting others and destroying their religion finally caught up with him. Unlike other lamas who practice compassion, what Ngawang Yontan Gyatso practiced was the opposite. Genuine lamas make sure that their students do not suffer unnecessarily, but Ngawang Yontan Gyatso invited his disciples to join him in prison to suffer. During his death, he showed no extraordinary signs befitting a high lama, such as ‘thukdam‘ or death meditation, during which a lama remains in the deepest state of meditation when all bodily functions have stopped without physical decomposition occurring. There was a clear absence of rainbows, auspicious singing by celestial beings, or slight earth tremors that usually mark the birth and/or the death of a supreme high lama. There were no tears shed either. He died unceremoniously in prison and was never heard from again.

His legacy remains especially evident in Bhutan where, to this day, many people continue to view Gelugpas with suspicion in general, and Dorje Shugden with hatred in particular. Such is the effect Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s hate has had on the Bhutanese people where centuries later, they continue to dislike Dorje Shugden even though he is deeply rooted in their history via the 4^th Zhabdrung Rinpoche Jigme Norbu, the reincarnation of the lama who founded modern-day Bhutan.

Fortunately, the younger generation of Bhutanese people are educated, can do research, discern and make their own decisions regarding the sacred practice of Dorje Shugden. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s negative legacy is fading. The new literate class of young Bhutanese can see that sectarianism is harmful and that the 4^th Zhabdrung Rinpoche who was the highest incarnation in the land of Bhutan practiced and promoted Dorje Shugden. He even composed special prayers to Dorje Shugden as he knew that Dorje Shugden is beneficial for the Bhutanese people. The 4^th Zhabdrung Rinpoche must have regarded Dorje Shugden highly in order to compose texts to him. Out of faith for Zhabdrung Rinpoche, there has been a resurgence in Dorje Shugden’s practice among the younger generation of Bhutanese as they can feel the swiftness in the efficacy of his practice.

Dorje Shugden Tanag is a form of Dorje Shugden commonly practised within the Sakya tradition. Click to enlarge.

Observers will also find it contradictory that someone who was the abbot of a Sakya monastery could leave behind him such a trail of destruction and negativity, because real Sakya practitioners are upholders of Buddha Shakyamuni’s doctrine which can only lead to the development of attainments such as compassion and wisdom. Genuine Sakya masters are saintly and they benefit sentient beings. They never cause sectarian destruction.

Yet, neither wisdom nor compassion is associated with Ngawang Yontan Gyatso and when examining the course of his life, it is easy to see why. When someone can challenge an elderly former abbot of his own monastery, to the point that said abbot would try to remove him, such a negative legacy is no longer surprising. Hence, today, the Abbot of Ngor is mostly remembered for his schismatic campaign against Dorje Shugden; even in anti-Shugden literature, his actions are referred to as a “grudge”, a word one does not often associate with Buddhist lamas and Dharma practitioners.

It is worth noting that for all of Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s campaigning against Dorje Shugden, Sakya’s reliance on Dorje Shugden continued well into the 20^th Century. For example, the 41^st Sakya Trizin was often seen engaging in Dorje Shugden pujas while living in the Tibetan refugee community in Buxa, North-East India back in the 1970s. All the high lamas of the four lineages lived in Buxa together and intermingled when they first went into exile back in 1959. It was well known the Sakyas practiced Dorje Shugden including the 41^st Sakya Trizin, who later denied it most likely for political correctness at the height of the ban against Shugden. Many times, the high lamas met and shared their lineages together. Senior Gelugpa monks and Sakya monks attest that Dorje Shugden was practiced in Sakya as well as by the 41^st Sakya Trizin while in Buxa. They were all in Buxa for a few years before resettling in various parts of India as designated by the Indian government. Similarly, to this day, there remains a Dorje Shugden mural prominently painted on one of the walls of Sakya Monastery in Shigatse.

Hence, if it was Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s intention to scrub Dorje Shugden’s image and practice off the face of this planet, his own lineage’s continued connection with the deity makes it clear that he was wholly unsuccessful. So if there is one lesson to be learned from the life story of Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, it is how negativity, schism, division and disharmony never pay off in the end.

Relevant readings

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche

Page 31 – 32

Lama Gendun served for about four years as khenpo of the seminary of Jyekundo after Shenga’s departure and was a stout defender of Sakyapa doctrines in local controversies. After that he went to Central Tibet and became head of the small seminary at Ngor. He also traveled widely with the Ngor Khangsar lama Dampa Rinpoche (1876-1953, his teacher and senior classmate under Shenga), receiving many teachings from him, and it was in Tsang at Sakya that he passed away in 1939 or 1940.

Dezhung Rinpoche had been instructed by Gatön to stay with Lama Gendun and was accepted by Lama Gendun as his personal pupil. At this time Lama Gendun had two or three young monks under his personal supervision, including Dezhung Rinpoche and the latter’s distant cousin, the future Ngor Khangsar abbot Ngawang Yontan Gyatso (1902-ca. 1963, Ngor abbot 1933-1936), later known as the “Druk Khenpo.” As a teacher Lama Gendun was so strict that both pupils were afraid of him. Once he asked Dezhung Rinpoche to go to another room and fetch a book and a vase of water. Afraid of some rebuke, Dezhung Rinpoche immediately ran off as requested and rushed back into the room, holding the two objects before him, staring intently into his teacher’s face to try to divine his next wish. In his nervous distraction, he held the vase over the book.

“What are you doing, careless fellow?” said Lama Gendun, snatching the book out of his hands and swatting him over the head with it. “You should never hold something over a book like that!”

Another time, after some mistake, Lama Gendun scolded him sharply, saying, “You a trulku? Hah! Maybe a vulture’s trulku!” But Dezhung Rinpoche never got beatings over the head with his teacher’s slipper, as his more obstinate companion, the future Khangsar abbot Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, Lama Gendun’s nephew, did.

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 31.
Click to enlarge.

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 32.
Click to enlarge.

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche

Page 188 – 189, together with some relevant notes

During this period (ca. 1953-1954), Rinpoche’s distant cousin the Drukpa abbot Ngawang Yontan Gyatso (1902 – ca. 1963), an old classmate of Dezhung Rinpoche from the time of his youthful studies under Shenga and Lama Gendun, and now for many years the ex-abbot of Ngor turned tantrika, also visited Tharlam. He requested Dezhung Rinpoche to record the life story of Ga Lama Jamyang Gyaltsen, saying, “Since Jamgyal Rinpoche was your ‘maternal uncle’ and you studied under him for two years, you should by all means write his biography.” The Drukpa Abbot was a true paternal nephew of Jamgyal, being the son of Jamgyal’s younger brother Skal dga’ (Skal bzang phrin las). He was a well-known and almost notorious figure.

As Dezhung Rinpoche later recalled:

‘Brug pa Mkhan po… was born in Sga in Kham. His family was an old and honorable one, some of whose scions had achieved great prominence as religious figures of the Sakyapa and Nyingmapa sects. His uncle was the famous Sga Lama Jamyang Gyaltsen (1870-1940), the editor of the collected works of Gowo Rabjampa Sonam Sengge (1429-1489). He was related to the ruling houses of Nangchen and Derge. Through the influence of his family and because of his intelligence and wit, he was accepted as a shabdrung of the Khangsar Lama palace of Ngor and proclaimed to be the rebirth of Ngorpa Mkhan po Ngawang Kunga Tenpay Gyaltsen (1863-1899) of the Phan khang Lama palace.⁷¹²

The young shabdrung soon demonstrated not only a native intelligence and wit, but also a distressing stubbornness and independence. He soon quarrelled with the aged Khang gsar Mkhan po Ngag dbang snying po . As a result of this conflict, he withdrew from the Khang gsar Lama palace and set up his own separate ecclesiastical palace. In order to obtain the wealth necessary to increase his prestige at Ngor, he set out for Bhutan where he attracted the attention of the King of Bhutan, who lavished upon him considerable wealth. He soon was the most wealthy of the ecclesiastical princes of Ngor.

Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, now known as the “Drukpa Khenpo” (“Bhutan abbot”), returned to Ngor and there began a crusade against the protector Rdo rje shugs ldan.⁷¹³ Still later he returned to Kham and gave up his monk’s vows. Living mainly in Gapa, he was known there as “Lab kha Abbot,” so called from his family home near Tharlam on the opposite side of the Drichu. He is said to have died in the early 1960s in Kham, in Communist imprisonment.

Footnotes
⁷¹² – Ngag dbang kun dga’ bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan was the sixty-first abbot of Ngor and his tenure was from 1895 to 1898. During the second year of his term, the senior Khang gsar abbot at that time, Ngag dbang mkhyen rab ‘jam dpal snying po of the Zhwa lu Sku zhang family, was very disappointed at Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s behavior and succeeded in temporarily removing him from the position of abbot, saying, “I put him up as abbot, and I can take him down!”

⁷¹³ – According to Dezhung Rinpoche (as recorded in E.G. Smith, unpublished paper “Notes on the History of the Cult of Rdo-rje-shugs-ldan,” Inner Asia Colloquium, July 25, 1963, pp. 7–9), the ‘Brug pa Mkhan po lived as a sort of “holy madman” (chos smyon) and was subject to ecstatic trances in which deities would enter his person. On numerous occasions, when bestowing the initiation of Na ro Mkha’ spyod ma (Naro Kacho Vajrayogini), he would rise and begin dancing and whirling about. He intensely disliked the particular tradition within the Dge lugs pa represented by Pha bong kha pa, and his main wrath was directed against the cult of the protector Rdo rje shugs ldan. Sometimes it seemed as if he were physically struggling with another deity for the possession of his body. That deity was Shugs ldan. As Smith also recorded (pp. 7-8):

It was at Ngor that he began his “war” on Rdo-rje-shugs-ldan. One of the most important mgon-khang of Rdo-rje-shugs-ldan was the rTenmkhar at Ngor. Having made significant gifts to the various politically significant personages and to the monastic community, he assessed the climate to be ripe for the destruction of the mask of Shugs-ldan and the institution of the worship of a rival bstan-srung. His iconoclastic successes at Ngor made him only more eager for more victories against Shugs-ldan, whom, it seems, he actually viewed as a physical enemy.

He set out for Khams where he embarked upon a crusade against this deity. He visited the monastery of ‘Dam thog in Ldan rna and there destroyed the images and ritual objects of this cult. Then he came to Tharlam in about 1948, in the absence of Dezhung Rinpoche (who was at Sakya on pilgrimage). He called the monks together and told them of his crusade against Shugs ldan. He told them that Shugs ldan was not a protector of religion, but that he was an evil spirit who would cause the doctrine to perish. He told them that this deity had caused him great obstacles in his previous incarnation as the Phan khang Ngag dbang kun dga’ bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1863-1899), and that Shugs ldan had then actually caused his early death at age thirty-six. He proposed to destroy, if they would agree, the mask of this deity the following morning. Many of the monks feared the consequences of so provocative an act, and they were afraid of reprisals from the angered deity. But being the disciples of ‘Brug pa Mkhan po, they felt bound to follow his wishes. The next morning, after prolonged prayers, he led a procession of monks into the Protector’s Chapel (mgon khang). He took down a revered mask of the deity from its shrine and carried it outside. He then hurled it into a fire, and then drew a pistol and shot at the mask numerous times. After the mask had been destroyed, he reentered the Protector’s Chapel and removed all the ritual articles associated with that deity. These he had the monks carry down to the banks of the ‘Bri chu and hurl into the river.

After this, he reconsecrated the chapel to the deity Beg tse. He defied Shugs ldan to take revenge. When nothing happened, the frightened monks lost their faith in Shugs ldan and accepted the new protective deity.

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 188.
Click to enlarge.

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 189.
Click to enlarge.

Who was Trijang Rinpoche?

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 17:30:29 +0000

The Third Trijang Rinpoche, Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (1901–1981) was the foremost Gelug Lama of his generation and a direct disciple of Je Pabongka. He was the root guru and junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama for forty years. He is also the root lama of many Gelug Lamas who teach in the West including Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa. A great number of present-day Tibetan Buddhist masters are his students.

(Zong Rinpoche) sometimes said that Kyabje Trijang Dorjechang was the “director of us all.” He was the guru of practically every Gelugpa lama of his generation.
~ Molk, David. Chod in the Ganden Tradition

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso has likened Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche to “a vast reservoir from which all Gelugpa practitioners of the present day received ‘waters’ of blessings and instructions.”
~ Belither, James. Modern Day Kadampas: The History and Development of the New Kadampa Tradition

He was the most outstanding Master in every field of Buddhist teachings as well as Tibetan culture. He was the very source of all the fields of knowledge and a consultant in all of them. It was a well-known fact that he had really been the very epitome of a Master who had attained the highest realizations of the Sutras and Tantras, as well as an unsurpassable propagator.

~ The Life of a Tibetan Monk – Autobiography of Geshe Rabten, page 250, Edition Rabten

Almost every Tibetan sought his guidance and blessings in almost all situations and activities, and that includes great masters, senior and junior rinpoches, Geshes, monks, nuns, ministers, business people, men, women, old and young, poor and rich, intellectuals or practitioners. Tibetans from practically every walk of life sought his help and advice in their good and bad times. He cared for everyone equally, without discrimination, with boundless compassion and patience.

~ The Life of a Tibetan Monk – Autobiography of Geshe Rabten, page 250, Edition Rabten

About Trijang Dorjechang

[Extracted from www.tbiusa.org]

Trijang Dorje Chang’s natural nobility and rare affability captivated his many visitors, each of whom, the humble or great of this world, knew he would be assured a warm welcome and an attentive ear. That kind reception was always a prelude to precious advice, as clear as it was sensible on matters both secular and religious, because nothing escaped his luminous intelligence and the humane wisdom which he put in the service of others with unfailing abnegation.

The Junior Tutor of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama was for his generation the repository of the Ganden Oral Tradition originating with the second Victorious One — the great Je Tsongkhapa Lobsang Drakpa. He was the guardian of the Extraordinary Volume derived from Mañjuśrī, that wonderful work that only beings of the highest spirituality can appreciate.

It was the dawn of a Tuesday in spring, the twelfth day of the third lunar month of the Female Iron Ox year (1901) when Trijang Rinpoche was born. He was the third with that name after two Ganden Tripas, the sixty-ninth and eighty-fifth supreme heads respectively, of the Gelugpa school. This time he chose for himself an unusual family who lived in one of the most spiritual places of Central Tibet, Tsel Gungthang. Tsering Döndrup, his father, had two reasons to be proud: he was descended from a maternal uncle of the Seventh Dalai Lama and was in charge of the well-known local monastery. With his first wife, who died too young, he had two girls and five boys, one of whom was Tati Khamlung Rinpoche, Lama of Sera Monastery’s Je college. Later on Tsering Döndrup had another son with a servant woman, a son recognized as a Lama, this time of Ganden Shartse, and known as Pukhang Khyenrab.

When Tsering Döndrup’s recently married fifth son died by being pulled by the current of the Kyichu River while on his way to Lhasa, he did not abandon his daughter-in-law Tsering Drölma. In fact, he took such good care of her that they had three children: Trijang Rinpoche, his sister Jampel Chötso and her younger brother Lelung Rinpoche. In short, three Lama sons were born from three different mothers. And this is not the whole story. The list grows longer when later on Tsering Drölma would build a new life for herself after years of misery. When their older son was only six or seven, Tsering Döndrup, thoroughly disgusted by the empty pleasures of the world, decided to devote himself to spiritual practice. He renounced his responsibilities at Tsel Gungthang and entrusted his family to his aunt Yangzoma and her husband, a Khampa by the name of Apo, who robbed Tsering Döndrup’s family continuously and drove them out of their own home. In his autobiography, Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang tells of his grief when, at the age of eight, he learned of the problems his mother and sister had faced.

He himself knew what it was like to be poor when he was young. Very often he and his instructor did not have much to eat. Later, when the invitations flooded in and his relatives resurfaced, he recalled with a smile those days of starvation when he wished in vain to be asked to say prayers or perform rituals that would have provided him with a nourishing meal.

But let us go back to 1901. Trijang Rinpoche’s father was then fifty-nine, and his mother twenty-seven. Soon they would be visited by those in charge of finding the reincarnation of the Tutor of the Great Thirteenth Dalai Lama whose name was Lobsang Tsultrim Pelden (1839–1900), and who insisted shortly before he died that they stop at Tsel Gungthang. The little boy showed so many confirming signs that the steward Ngag-rampa Lobsang Tendar’s doubts were quickly dispelled. In fact, the two state oracles, Gandong and Nechung, each singled him out from among the candidates whose names they had been given.

The little boy was not yet three when he was taken to Lhasa early in 1904. He was placed in Chusang Ritö, the hermitage of his illustrious predecessor Jangchub Chöpel (1756–1838), who had come from his home in Kham, the Chateng, to study at Ganden Monastery. At first the boy asked to be admitted to the Jangtse college, but the head of the regional khangtsen or monastic house contemptuously turned him away because he looked awful. Meanwhile, the local inhabitants, the Chatengpas, in no way would accept that this boy from Gungthang had been designated the reincarnation of “their” Lama. The people had their own local candidate and did not hesitate to threaten “the usurper.” It took until 1929 for them to recognize his legitimacy, but from then on they vowed to venerate him unconditionally, as they had done with his predecessor. The Chatengpas literally adore their Lama, to whom they offer their possessions and dedicate their life.

Although challenged thus, the young Lama started his education at Chusang Ritö, a place where monks have always been eager to do retreats as it is such an auspicious site. In particular, many Sera Lamas went there and exchanged traditions and instructions. Their young host loved to lend a hand with the fire rituals and other colorful ceremonies. And so it happened that one day the man who would be his principal Master and whose true spiritual heir he would become arrived. The man’s name was Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang (1878–1941). Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang would remain at the hermitage no less than seven years until 1912. Meanwhile, the very young Trijang Rinpoche considered him the ideal playmate. After the morning memorization sessions, Trijang Rinpoche loved to join the young Pabongka Rinpoche, so sweet and kind, who would put him on his lap, make him wonderful drawings, and perform all sorts of sacred dances for him. And if the boy caught him at rest, the monk would put the boy next to him and share with him his own food, a gesture which in the highly hierarchical Tibetan society was meant to emphasize their equality.

It goes without saying that the time was devoted mostly to studying, but that was easy for one who had an excellent memory and a good tutor like the steward Ngag-rampa. Early in the summer of 1907, Trijang Rinpoche’s assistants took him to Reting Monastery. There, in the monastery founded in 1056 by the Master Atiśa’s main disciple Dromtön Gyalwey Jung-ne himself, Trijang Rinpoche was ordained by the fourth Reting Rinpoche, Jetsun Ngawang Yeshe Tenpai Gyaltsen, who gave him the name Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso. Because at Chusang Ritö he had twice read the conversations between Atiśa and his disciples compiled in the Kadam Bu-chö — the Kadampa Teachings of the Son — Trijang Rinpoche was able to understand everything and to situate people and things perfectly in his mind as soon as the monks began to give him an explanation.

– Short Biography: Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (1901–1981)

[Source: http://dorjeshugden.info/2014/07/12/who-was-trijang-rinpoche/]

The Great Lama Je Pabongka According to His Disciples and Others

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 16:10:37 +0000

My guru, kind-in-three-ways, who met face to face with Heruka, whose name I find difficult to utter…

Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo was an unbelievable lama who lived in the early part of the twentieth century [biography].

His two main students, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, were the most highly esteemed Gelugpa Lamas of their day, so respected that they were chosen to guide the education of the Dalai Lama when he was recognized and enthroned.

Pabongka Rinpoche, a recognized reincarnation of Chankya Rolpai Dorje, was the one who was responsible for widely propagating the practice of Dorje Shugden among the Gelugpa tradition.

As a result of the attempts in recent decades to convince the world that Dorje Shugden is a worldly Deity, Je Pabongka’s reputation and lineage has come under attack, so I thought it would be nice for students who practice in his lineage to see, once again, that things are not as cut and dried as his detractors would have you believe.

Scholars and yogis, please check!

Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey on Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche

He was such a great lama, unsurpassed by any, that hardly any lamas or geshes of the Three Pillars (the monasteries of Ganden, Sera and Drepung) had not been his disciples. Read more…

Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 1

This feeling of renunciation was overwhelming. These are some of the ways in which all of his discourses were so extraordinary. Read more…

Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 2

Our childish minds were unfit vessels for so vast an ocean of teachings… Read more…

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 1

Kyabje Pabongka had such vast qualities it is difficult to comprehend them… Read more…

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 2

Mahasiddha Pabongka Rinpoche has a long history and during his time the Dharma increased greatly in Tibet. He was actually Heruka Demchok. Read more…

Sermey Jetsun Khen Rinpoche Losang Tharchin on Je Pabongka Part 1

An unbelievable expert on all subjects Read more…

Sermey Jetsun Khen Rinpoche Losang Tharchin on Je Pabongka Part 2

He displayed tremendous abilities as a public teacher… Read more…

Sermey Jetsun Khen Rinpoche Losang Tharchin on Je Pabongka Part 3

I felt as though I had received his blessing, and some special power to pursue my studies… Read more…

Lama Zopa on Je Pabongka Part 1

It’s impossible that he can really be some kind of evil being, as those extremists accuse him of being… Read more…

Ribur Rinpoche on Je Pabongka

The only thing that matters to me is that I was a disciple of Pabongka Rinpoche. Read more…

Glenn Mullin on Je Pabongka

Undoubtedly the greatest living Gelukpa lama of the period… Read more…

Michael Richards on Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche

Pabongka Rinpoche was probably the most influential Gelug lama of this century, holding all the important lineages of sutra and tantra and passing them on to most of the important Gelug lamas of the next two generations; the list of his oral discourses is vast in depth and breadth. Read more…

[Source: www.truthaboutshugden.wordpress.com]

Glenn Mullin on Je Pabongka: “Undoubtedly the greatest living Gelukpa lama of the period”

admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 22:40:05 +0000

His (Reting Rinpoche, Regent of Tibet) first choice for a replacement was one of his own Gurus, the famous Pabongkha Tulku. Pabongkha was undoubtedly the greatest living Gelukpa lama of the period, and would have been an ideal candidate. However, he strongly disliked political affairs and distrusted the Lhasa aristocracy. He therefore declined the request.
~ Glenn H. Mullin, The Fourteen Dalai Lamas

Glenn H. Mullin is a Tibetologist, Buddhist writer, translator of classical Tibetan literature, and teacher of Tantric Buddhist meditation. Glenn lived in the Indian Himalayas between 1972 and 1984, where he studied philosophy, literature, meditation, yoga, and the enlightenment culture under thirty-five of the greatest living masters of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

His two principal tantric gurus were the late great masters Kyabje Ling Dorjechang and Kyabje Trijang Dorjechang, who were best known as Yongdzin Che Chung, the two main gurus of the present Dalai Lama. The list of Glenn’s other teachers and initiation masters includes the Dalai Lama, Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Ngakpa Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Khenchen Konchok Gyaltsen, Geshe Ngawang Dargyey, Geshe Rabten, and Gongsar Tulku.

[Sources: www.dorjeshugden.info and www.glennmullin.com]

Zong Rinpoche on Je Pabongka: “He Was Actually Heruka”

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 22:52:59 +0000

Mahasiddha Pabongka Rinpoche has a long history and during his time the Dharma increased greatly in Tibet. He was actually Heruka Demchok.

He was born in North Central Tibet and as a boy entered Gyalrong house of Sera Mey. At first he was very poor and not famous. He studied hard to be a Geshe, meditated and gave empowerments. Pabongka studied with Jaba Sonpo Rinpoche who was a complete lineage holder, especially of the teachings of Ranchi Lama. One night, he dreamt of a person giving him a pot of milk and requesting him to drink it completely. This symbolized that the complete teachings would be transferred to him.

Later on, a monk came to see him. This monk explained that there were a lot of philosophies in Tibet but not much teaching on Lam Rim. The monk offered to be his patron so that he could go and teach.

At one time while returning from the south of Tibet, Pabongka Rinpoche met many people, requesting Lam Rim teachings. He taught in Lhasa and he went everywhere in Tibet and many people became his students. Of course this caused some jealousy at times. He propagated Je Tsongkapa’s Dharma with much enthusiasm and stated that these teachings were the best.

Finally, the monk who was Pabongka Rinpoche’s patron returned and thanked him. He told him to rest, while he was away at the Five Mountains of Manjushri in China. At this period, no one asked him to teach Lam Rim. Three years later, this monk returned and requested him to teach Tantra. After this many people requested Tantra teachings. Now, Pabongka contemplated these events and realized that this monk was Dorje Shugden.

Pabongka went to see his guru Tapo Dorje Chang. His spiritual master was very special. He was born in Na Sur Tapo where his monastery was located. He had a long line of incarnations numbering four or five. The first Tapo Khacho Uncho, while meditating, saw Tara, Chenrezig and they gave empowerments to him. Tapo Dorje Chang also traveled to the pure lands. Yidams give him initiations such as “Cittamani Tara“. He also held the thirteen deity initiation called “Da-pan Na-ja soon“.

Mahasiddha Pabongka asked Mahasiddha Tapo Dorje Chang, his guru, to go to Tusita. In Tusita, the Mahasiddha Tapo Dorje Chang had met Lama Tsongkapa. At that time, Tapo Dorje Chang had requested teachings from Je Tsongkapa. Lama Tsongkapa lifted the cloth that covered the front of the golden throne he was sitting on. From under the golden throne came the five forms of Dorje Shugden. Dorje Shugden gave to Mahasiddha Tapo Dorje Chang Tenpai Gyaltsen complete instructions and the Mahasiddha returned to Tibet with these texts.

Tapo Dorje Chang gave Pabongka not only the initiation and lineage of Dorje Shugden, but also all his lineages that he held. When Tapo Dorje Chang was young, he had many visions of Lhasa and he went to Drepung Monastery. Later in his life, he became a sage and remained in Tapo meditating. One time, Pabongka was going to Kham and he wanted to visit the guru. Tapo Dorje Chang told him to visit on his return. But he went before so he could visit twice. Tapo Dorje Chang told him

I told you after your trip to Kham. Anyway, now many dakinis are requesting me to come.

Pabongka knew what this meant and requested him to live longer. He asked what he should do. Pabongka said to meditate on the emptiness of the events. So he went to Kham and Tapo Dorje Chang passed away.

Pabongka Rinpoche spread the Dorje Shugden practice and had many famous and wise students beginning in 1920’s. He was particularly famed for his pristine elaboration of the Lam Rim.
~ From Chod in the Ganden Tradition: The Oral Instructions of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, Snow Lion, 2006.

Zong Rinpoche (1905-1984) was a Gelug Lama and disciple of the third Trijang Rinpoche, junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama. Rinpoche was famous as a sharp analyst and master of philosophical debate, as well as a powerful Tantric practitioner. He had impeccable knowledge of all rituals, art and science, and was renowned for his ‘many actions of powerful magic,’ as a result of which ‘the most marvellous, indescribable signs occurred.’

Zong Rinpoche served as the Abbot of Ganden Shartse Monastery for nine years beginning in 1937, during which he brought about new heights of scholarship and monastic discipline among the monks, as well as raising living standards for the poorest of them.

Zong Rinpoche first came to teach in the West in 1978, at the request of Lama Thubten Yeshe. Thousands of Westerners have since received teachings from him, both in the West and in India. He forged strong links with dharma centres in America, Canada, England, France, Italy and Switzerland. (Read more about H.H. Zong Rinpoche here)

[Extracted from: www.dorjeshugden.info and www.fpmt.org]

Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey on Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 22:25:11 +0000

Likewise, Lama Trijang Dorjechang, Junior Tutor to His Holiness the present Dalai Lama, folds his hands upon the crown of his head whenever he mentions Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. He was such a great lama, unsurpassed by any, that hardly any lamas or geshes of the Three Pillars (the monasteries of Ganden, Sera and Drepung) had not been his disciples.

Once, in the “cave-under-water,” he experienced a manifestation of Yamantaka for nine days, while he himself was essentially Heruka Chakrasambhara. Further, he experienced a manifestation of Vajrayogini who told him of the benefits to be derived from merging the Vajrayogini teachings of the Sakya and Gelug traditions into one meditational practice. When he once made a great tsog offering beside a Heruka statue in Lhasa, the wisdom body actually entered into the statue. The statue danced and told him that whoever received Heruka initiation from him up to the seventh generation would be taken to the dakini realms.
~ From The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, with Commentary by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey pg 55, ISBN: 81-85102-08-2, The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives – Second Revised Edition 1994.

Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey (1921-1995) was born in the Trehor district of Kham in Eastern Tibet and studied at the local Dhargye Monastery until he was eighteen, when he went to Sera Monastery in Lhasa. He went into exile in 1959 and in 1971 was appointed chief Dharma teacher at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. He remained there until he moved to New Zealand in 1985, where he passed away ten years later. (Read more about Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey)

[Sources: www.dorjeshugden.info and www.lamayeshe.com]

Dalai Lama Recognizes the Bön

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 06:59:24 +0000

Traditional Bonpo Shamans in Nepal

The Bön tradition predates the advent of Buddhism in the ancient kingdom of Tibet. The religion and its beliefs, which were initially focused on shamanistic practices based on stories and myths of Tibet’s forefathers, can be traced back to the civilization of Shang Shung in Eastern Tibet.

At its heart, the Bön religion centers around the personage of a divine being called Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, the monarch of the Bön teachings. His consorts and offspring played important roles in the dissemination of the Bön religion in Tibet.

Outwardly the Bön religion appears exotic and rather similar to what Tibetan Buddhism has to offer, i.e. salvation or liberation through practice and realizations. But in actual fact, the original Bönpo practices revolved around shamanism and animistic traditions, instead of the individual’s salvation. Thus, practitioners of Bön focus primarily on nature and spirit worship, and the control of supernatural forces.

The pantheon of deities within the early Bön tradition varied in their appearances. Some had animal heads, some were peaceful looking, some had wrathful demeanors, some took on human form and others were formless. In terms of belief systems, Bön promises paradise in the afterlife as opposed to the Buddhist belief of liberation through purification, attainments and ending the cycle of reincarnation.

Following the introduction of Buddhism into the barren plateau of the Himalayas, the Bön religion then borrowed many scriptural and tantric Buddhist elements in order to ensure its survival within its own homeland.

New Bön – The Camouflage

Bön practitioners have incorporated Buddhist monastic principles into their practices. However Bönpo monks wear a blue upper shirt (tögag), setting them apart from other Tibetan Buddhists

During the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava spent most of his time engaging in psychic wars against nature spirits and other ethereal beings who were displeased with the introduction of a new faith. Each of these unseen beings was subjugated by the Tantric master Padmasambhava, and many came under oath to protect the Buddhist teachings. Some were made responsible for guarding specific monasteries or teachings, while the uncooperative or malevolent ones were sealed in a pit, locked away in a part of Samye Monastery. The Bön religion was thus tremendously affected by the actions of Padmasambhava.

As the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them. The same applied to the Bön tradition. As they could not hope to overcome the attainments and knowledge of the erudite Indian Buddhist masters who were arriving in Tibet, the Bön yogis decided to take matters into their own hands. Instead of opposing Buddhism, they studied the Buddhist texts and slowly incorporated them into the Bön belief system. Thus, the Bön religion evolved to keep up with the times.

The Bön pantheon of deities was revamped into a new system similar to its Buddhist competitor, classified into Father and Mother Tantras. The Transcendent Lords were given consorts, each lineage was led by a teacher, and so forth.

Bön deities also took on the familiar iconography that we have come to associate with Buddhism, but were still fundamentally different in that Bön deities were the complete opposite of Buddhist ones. For instance, Buddha Shakyamuni’s right hand touches the earth, but the Bön version of a Buddha has its left hand touching the earth instead.

The new brand of Bön even incorporated some Buddhist tenets which did not exist before, including texts on monastic life, which was light years away from the original Bön beliefs. (The monastic system originated from Buddha Shakyamuni and did not exist in other religions/traditions at the time.)

Thus, Bön eventually took on a new life, and the newly packaged religion reestablished itself in Mount Menri, or Medicine Mountain near Mount Kailash. A monastery was built and its leaders took on the title of ‘Mentri’ or throne holders of the Medicine Mountain.

Tibetan Buddhist Masters on the New Bön

Despite its outwardly familiar appearance, great Buddhist masters of the past never recognized nor advocated the Bön religion and its teachings as being a worthy source of refuge, or as anything more than a corruption and plagiarization of Buddhist teachings. For instance, Drigung Jigten Gonpo, founder of the Drikung Kagyu school said:

As for the Bön meditations and [philosophical] views: in their system there seems to be the systems that the universe was born from eggs or created by the Cha deities, Shiva and so on. These are borrowings from Tirthika views.

Similarly, the great Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang said in his famous Lamrim teaching which has since been compiled into the book Liberation in the Palm of your Hand:

The dharmas of Bönpos, tirthikas, and so forth are non-Buddhist and should not be taken as our refuge.

and

Bön is not a refuge for Buddhists; it is not worthy of being a refuge … It is vital that you should know the sources of the Bön religion.

Even the great yogi Jetsun Milarepa, one of the major figures of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, said:

The source of Bön is perverted Dharma. A creation of nagas and powerful elementals, it does not take one to the ultimate path.

These great Buddhist masters were not being hostile towards the Bön religion but were merely recognizing its source, nature, and spiritual potential.

The Dalai Lama Recognizes Bön

The Dalai Lama endorses the Bön by wearing the Bön ritual hat and holding the Yungdrung

There has long been a historical competition between the Bön tradition and Buddhism in Tibet. In general, Bönpo practitioners were stigmatized and marginalized by Tibetans, who labeled them ‘chipa’ (“outsiders”) while Buddhist practitioners were called ‘nangpa’ (“insiders”).

In 1977, things began to improve for the Bönpos. The Bön leaders sent representatives to Dharamsala to initiate talks with H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama. As a result, the Dalai Lama advised the Tibetan parliament-in-exile and the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies, to accept Bön practitioners into their ranks. In the Dalai Lama’s own words:

Similar to the four Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Bonpo community elects representatives to the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies. ~ H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

In 1978, the Dalai Lama also acknowledged the Bön religion as the sixth principal spiritual school of Tibet, along with the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug and Jonang schools of Buddhism, after visiting the newly built Bön monastery in Dolanji.

Since then, Bön has received official recognition as a religious group, enjoying the same rights as the Tibetan Buddhist schools. This was further reiterated in 1987 by the Dalai Lama, who forbade discrimination against the Bönpos, stating that it was both undemocratic and self-defeating.

The Dalai Lama accepts tenshug (long life prayers) from Trizin Rinpoche of the Bön tradition at Menri-Ling Bönpo Monastery in Dolanji on 20 April 2007

The Dalai Lama even went to the extent of donning Bön ritual paraphernalia, emphasizing “the religious equality of the Bon faith.” This occurred in 2007, when the Dalai Lama was offered a ‘tenshug’ or a long life prayer by the Yangdrung Bönpos. During this ceremony, the Dalai Lama wore the Bön ritual hat and held the ‘Yungdrung’, a sceptre marked by two swastikas. These emblems are synonymous with the founder of Bön, Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche.

On the part of the Bön, offering these highly symbolic implements to the Dalai Lama was a sign of their respect for him as the secular and spiritual leader of Tibet, usually accorded only to the highest Bönpo authorities. On the part of the Dalai Lama however, accepting the implements was nothing less than a seal of his approval and a clear sign of his support for the Bön tradition.

Why doesn’t the Dalai Lama persecute the Bönpos?

Although the practice revolves around the worship of spirits, H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama included the Bön religion within the ranks of Tibetan Buddhism

A casual comparative study of the Bön and Buddhist religions would immediately reveal that Bön does not qualify as a proper object of refuge, at least not according to Buddhist principles, Tibetan or otherwise. The Bönpos engage in spirit worship and their practices do not lead one to Enlightenment. These facts have already been established by many eminent masters.

Of course, everyone is free to practice whatever religion they wish, and it is not the premise of this article to criticize the Bön. The point that needs to be highlighted is that the Dalai Lama has thrown his support squarely behind the Bönpos, not only officially recognizing these “spirit worshippers” as a spiritual tradition of Tibet but also granting them equal privileges as other Tibetan Buddhist schools.

Yet, the same Dalai Lama has condemned the practice of Dorje Shugden on the (wrong) basis that it is spirit worship. Specifically, the Dalai Lama says there is a danger of “Tibetan Buddhism degenerating into a form of spirit worship” and that if left unchecked, the “cult” of Dorje Shugden will cause “the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhism to degenerate into the mere propitiation of spirits.”

Clearly there is a blatant contradiction and gross inequity in the Dalai Lama’s policies. For example:

#1: Why is one form of spirit worship (Bön) allowed but not another (Dorje Shugden, an enlightened Buddha wrongly believed to be a spirit)?

#2: Why does the Dalai Lama recognize the Bön spirit worshippers as the sixth principal spiritual school of Tibet but try to extinguish the practice of Dorje Shugden, claiming that it is demon worship, non-Buddhist and therefore practically illegal?

#3: Why does the Dalai Lama welcome Bönpo spirit worshippers with open arms when their teachings are completely at odds with Buddhist principles (Jetsun Milarepa even called the Bön religion “perverted dharma”) yet ban the practice of Dorje Shugden (which is in accordance with the tradition of Lama Tsongkapa) because it will supposedly cause Tibetan Buddhism to degenerate into spirit worship?

#4: Why does the Dalai Lama support the Bönpos, allowing them the same privileges as the other Tibetan Buddhist schools while taking away the rights of Shugdenpas?

#5: Why were Bön practitioners granted the privilege of audience with the Dalai Lama back in 1977, but Shugdenpas are denied all requests for dialogue to address the Dorje Shugden ban?

#6: Why are Bön practitioners invited to hold office in the Tibetan administration while Shugdenpas are specifically excluded through legislation?

#7: Why does the Dalai Lama forbid and speak out against discrimination of Bönpos, but remain silent and even subtly encourage the discrimination of Shugdenpas?

#8: Why is it undemocratic and self-defeating to discriminate against the Bönpos but perfectly alright and even necessary to isolate Shugdenpas and not have any association, material or otherwise, with them?

#9: Why does the Dalai Lama invite Bön leaders to gatherings of “heads of Tibetan Buddhist sects” but expel Dorje Shugden practitioners from their monasteries?

#10: Why does the Dalai Lama pose for photos with Bön leaders and practitioners, accept their offerings, wear their ritual implements while any form of association with Shugdenpas, monetary transactions or even a photo, is forbidden?

These questions above are enough to raise deep concerns about the Dalai Lama’s true motives in supporting the Bönpos while banning Dorje Shugden and condemning the Shugdenpas to a life full of discrimination and ostracism.

As the spiritual and secular leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama should have impartiality and practice equanimity towards all religions, whether Buddhist or otherwise. Unfortunately, the truth is that the 14th Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize winner, is not practicing the loving kindness, compassion and tolerance that he preaches, to the detriment of all Dorje Shugden practitioners living in Tibetan communities and beyond.

A photo courtesy of the Dalai Lama’s private office. The original caption reads ‘His Holiness the Dalai Lama with the heads of Tibetan Buddhism sects’. Note how the Dalai Lama affectionately holds the hand of the Bön leader while the Ganden Tripa, head of the Gelugpa school of Buddhism stands at the far right.

One can only conclude that the Dalai Lama’s support for the Bön and his ban against Dorje Shugden are for political gain – to gain the support of the Bönpos while making Dorje Shugden a convenient scapegoat for the failures of the Tibetan administration. There is no other reason why a master as erudite as the Dalai Lama would accept and recognize a practice which is not rooted in Dharma (Bön) but reject a deity and practice which originates from the sacred pantheon of Buddhism (Dorje Shugden).

Sources

Bon, Buddhism and Democracy: Building of a Tibetan National Identity by Per Kvaerne, Rinzin Thargyal
www.bonfoundation.org
Wikipedia
www.tibetmuseum.org

Dharma Demystified: The Enthronement of Dorje Shugden

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 05:00:23 +0000

A rare statue of an enthroned Dorje Shugden in Trode Khangsar

The enthronement ritual is traditionally performed at the end of the medium or long Dorje Shugden Kangsol (propitiation text), originally composed by Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche in Melodious Drum Victorious in All Directions, and is an investiture of power and authority placed upon Dorje Shugden by the practitioner.

The enthronement prayer seals the merits of Dorje Shugden’s blessings in a particular location, image or practitioner’s life. Through this ritual, one is able to consecrate statues, pictures and thangkas of Dorje Shugden. It is also a request for Dorje Shugden to reside in a particular location, thus blessing the place and dispelling various negativities and interferences.

Most importantly, the enthronement ritual plays a key role in supporting the growth and flourishing of the Dharma, particularly if performed in a location that will be used for the practice and furtherance of Lama Tsongkapa’s rare lineage.

OM SARVA BI PURA PURA SURA SURA AWARTAYA AWARTAYA HO BENZA PARANAKAM(recite 3x)

The enthronement ritual begins with the recitation of a special mantra that enthrones and empowers Dorje Shugden, followed by special requests that delineate the reason and purpose of the enthronement.

HUM
We enthrone you as the holy venerable one
Inseparable with root and lineage Vajradhara gurus,
Grantor of infinite easy attainments
And dispeller of all obstructions on the path without exception!

In the first verse, Dorje Shugden is enthroned as a fully enlightened monarch who has the same qualities as our root Guru and the rest of the enlightened lineage Gurus stemming directly from the Buddha.

With this Buddha nature, Dorje Shugden is also enthroned as the protector deity who bestows all common and uncommon attainments. Common attainments are those that are common to both Sutra and Tantra, for instance Bodhichitta, renunciation, valid view of reality and so forth. Uncommon attainments are those specific to Tantra, such as those of the generation and completion stages.

We enthrone you in the nature embodying the three refuges;
The fully enlightened, verbal and realised dharma’s sovereign,
Holy dharma, peaceful, freed from all attachment,
And Sangha, untiring in serving others’ welfare!

Next, Dorje Shugden is enthroned as the holiest object embodying the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, in which we take refuge.

From emptiness’s great sphere, whatever various forms will subdue
Full distinctly appear like the moon’s reflection in water;
Principal of all Tantric sets’ countless mandalas,
We enthrone you in nature of the yidam deity!

Dorje Shugden is then recognized as having direct perception of emptiness or Shunyata. He is praised as being equal to the Tantric deities and is thus enthroned as an equal of a Buddha-Yidam. In this verse, the practitioner recognizes Dorje Shugden’s enlightened qualities and enthrones him accordingly to create the merits to achieve the same qualities.

The Choyang oracle in full trance of Duldzin Dorje Shugden is enthroned like a lama

In form of a red raksha protecting, without exception,
The temple libraries of Jambudvipa,
The teachings, and Sangha assembly upholding them,
We enthrone you as principal of all dharmapalas!

In this verse, Dorje Shugden is praised as the special guardian of the scriptural and oral lineage teachings. We also request him to protect practitioners and members of the Sangha, thereby protecting the spread of the lineage and its teachings.

Powerful king granting all wished common and supreme attainments
To anyone who properly relies on and propitiates you;
Bestowing all easily like a wish-granting gem,
We enthrone you as protector who fulfils all hopes!

We, master, disciples, and entourage,
Entrust ourselves to you, protector, guard us unceasingly!
Pacify all negative circumstances and grant accomplishment
Of whatever desired attainments at our mere wish!

In the final verse, we request Dorje Shugden to remove all difficulties and problems resulting from our negative karmas that may distract or pull us away from the spiritual path. Lastly, Dorje Shugden is entreated to accomplish whatever purpose that the practitioner requests.

Dorje Shugden and Dalai Lama - Spreading Dharma Together » pabongka rinpoche

Grand Prayer Festival to celebrate 25 years of the Dorje Shugden Society

The 25th anniversary of the Delhi Society

Pujas from H.H. the 101st Gaden Tripa

Pujas from H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Chocktrul Rinpoche

Pujas from H.H. Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche

Grand Prayer Festival on International Dorje Shugden Day

Official Announcement

Official Announcements in Other Languages

Who made Lama Zopa a Rinpoche?

THE LAWUDO LAMA

FPMT Lineage Lamas

1. H.H. Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo

2. H.H. Trijang Rinpoche

3. H.H. Ling Rinpoche

4. H.H. Zong Rinpoche

5. Lama Yeshe

6. Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche

7. H.H. Serkong Dorje Chang

8. H.H. Sakya Trizin

9. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche

10. Geshe Sopa Rinpoche

11. Gomo Tulku

12. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche

13. Zemey Rinpoche

14. Ribur Rinpoche

15. Choden Rinpoche

16. Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche

17. Khyongla Rato Rinpoche

Further Developments

Lama Zopa’s 2008 “clarification” about being recognized by Dorje Shugden:

Addendum

The Ambitious 69th “Bhutan Abbot” of Sakya Ngor Monastery

By: Toby Lee

Family influence makes a stubborn boy the Abbot of Ngor

A student disrespects his lama

Spreading sectarianism

Reviving the Dharma out of spite

An unremarkable end

Relevant readings

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche

Page 31 – 32

A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche

Page 188 – 189, together with some relevant notes

Further reading

Who was Trijang Rinpoche?

About Trijang Dorjechang

The Great Lama Je Pabongka According to His Disciples and Others

Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey on Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche

Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 1

Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 2

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 1

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche on Je Pabongka Part 2

Sermey Jetsun Khen Rinpoche Losang Tharchin on Je Pabongka Part 1

Sermey Jetsun Khen Rinpoche Losang Tharchin on Je Pabongka Part 2

Sermey Jetsun Khen Rinpoche Losang Tharchin on Je Pabongka Part 3

Lama Zopa on Je Pabongka Part 1

Ribur Rinpoche on Je Pabongka

Glenn Mullin on Je Pabongka

Michael Richards on Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche

Glenn Mullin on Je Pabongka: “Undoubtedly the greatest living Gelukpa lama of the period”

Zong Rinpoche on Je Pabongka: “He Was Actually Heruka”

Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey on Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche

Dalai Lama Recognizes the Bön

New Bön – The Camouflage

Tibetan Buddhist Masters on the New Bön

The Dalai Lama Recognizes Bön

Why doesn’t the Dalai Lama persecute the Bönpos?

#1: Why is one form of spirit worship (Bön) allowed but not another (Dorje Shugden, an enlightened Buddha wrongly believed to be a spirit)?

#2: Why does the Dalai Lama recognize the Bön spirit worshippers as the sixth principal spiritual school of Tibet but try to extinguish the practice of Dorje Shugden, claiming that it is demon worship, non-Buddhist and therefore practically illegal?

#4: Why does the Dalai Lama support the Bönpos, allowing them the same privileges as the other Tibetan Buddhist schools while taking away the rights of Shugdenpas?

#5: Why were Bön practitioners granted the privilege of audience with the Dalai Lama back in 1977, but Shugdenpas are denied all requests for dialogue to address the Dorje Shugden ban?

#6: Why are Bön practitioners invited to hold office in the Tibetan administration while Shugdenpas are specifically excluded through legislation?

#7: Why does the Dalai Lama forbid and speak out against discrimination of Bönpos, but remain silent and even subtly encourage the discrimination of Shugdenpas?

#8: Why is it undemocratic and self-defeating to discriminate against the Bönpos but perfectly alright and even necessary to isolate Shugdenpas and not have any association, material or otherwise, with them?

#9: Why does the Dalai Lama invite Bön leaders to gatherings of “heads of Tibetan Buddhist sects” but expel Dorje Shugden practitioners from their monasteries?

#10: Why does the Dalai Lama pose for photos with Bön leaders and practitioners, accept their offerings, wear their ritual implements while any form of association with Shugdenpas, monetary transactions or even a photo, is forbidden?

Sources

Dharma Demystified: The Enthronement of Dorje Shugden

The 25^th anniversary of the Delhi Society

Pujas from H.H. the 101^st Gaden Tripa

Lama Zopa’s 2008 “clarification”
about being recognized by Dorje Shugden: