During the time of the 13th Dalai Lama Thupten Gyatso, Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche was the Abbot of the Tantric College of Gyumey. Among his students were high lamas such as Jampa Chodak, who held the post of the 90th Gaden Tripa. Jampa Chodak was also the student who wrote a biography of Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche.

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo was also a student of Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche, receiving teachings and initiations that may have well been passed down to many of the most prominent Gelugpa lamas in the world today. In fact, it was from him that Pabongka Rinpoche received the initiation of the Vajrayogini’s tantra in the tradition of Ngulchu Dharmabhadra.

Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche was born in a large town known as Ganzey located in the Eastern part of Tibet, in the Trehor region of Kham. He was also known by the name of Lobsang Tsultrim Denpay Gyaltsen. The name “Trehor” originates from Mongolia, from the time when the Mongols under the rule of Gushri Khan established themselves in the Kham region after defeating the King of Beri. As a young monk, Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche studied the Five Great Treatises at Drepung Loseling College in Lhasa and went on to become the seat holder at Ganzey Monastery. Eventually, he ascended the prestigious and respected position as abbot of Gyumey.

Among the texts written by Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche, we find notable commentaries on the First Stage of Yamantaka, Quick Path Lamrim, the Profound Path of the Six Yogas of Naropa, the Kalachakra Tantra and the Profound Guru Puja. In particular, there is also a specific series of texts on the Kalachakra written by Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche that are still being used to this day.

Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche was also known to have written rituals specifically to protectors. In the fourth volume of Trehor Kangsar Rinpoche’s collected works, we find protector rituals for invoking Dorje Shugden, Setrap and Nechung oracles that were written as a “tangrang” (thanksgiving) for the deities’ activities following auspicious oracle invocations.

In the short request for activity to Dorje Shugden, the Protector is described as riding a snow lion, a description missing from earlier Gelug descriptions. The text also mentions the role of Dorje Shugden as the protector of Manjushrigarba, which is the name of Lama Tsongkhapa’s incarnation in Tushita land. The short request for activity also contains a reminder to protect the Dharma and a request to protect the practitioners from illnesses, for them to have long lives and to be assisted on their path to gain attainment of realisations.

Some contemporary scholars claim that the practice of Dorje Shugden arose and was promoted predominantly by Pabongka Rinpoche. However, the discovery of texts like those written by Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche and other Lamas before him prove that the practice was very much alive and propitiated long before Pabongka Rinpoche.

Later, Pabongka Rinpoche composed the kangsol to Dorje Shugden at the request of a lama of the Kham area, and not on a personal initiative. This alone denotes that Dorje Shugden’s practice and rituals were already established in the region prior to the arrival of Pabongka Rinpoche, countering these scholars’ assertions.

Further, Trehor Khangsar Rinpoche writings referenced the fact that oracle invocations of Dorje Shugden were very much practiced at the time, contrary to later claims that Shugden was restricted by the 13^th Dalai Lama and established only by Pabongka in the mid 20th century.

The catalogue of Lobsang Tamdin lists this particular work, which also means that Dorje Shugden’s practice had found its way to Mongolia. The practice was not confined only to Tibet, but by this time, there were many lamas who had also brought Shugden, as well as other Gelugpa teachings, into Mongolia where it was also flourishing.

Without Pabongka Rinpoche passing on the valuable teachings to his heart disciple, Trijang Dorje Chang, none of us would probably be able to even lay our eyes and hands on this immensely blessed text.

Teachings that are passed down from one generation of teachers to the next generation of disciples are highly blessed. They become the treasured “oral transmissions” that is the heart of the Gelugpa tradition. Therefore, the teacher and disciple relationship is of utmost importance. It is what we call the path of Vajrayana.

For instance, the Southern style Lamrim that we all know today as documented in the Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand was actually a priceless teaching given to a great lama named Kelsang Tenzin directly from the Buddha of Wisdom himself, Manjushri.

Pictured here is an image of Dagpo Jampel Lhundrup who was the Guru of Pabongka Dorje Chang.

Then Kelsang Tenzin had passed on these teachings to Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup, who passed it on to Dagpo Jampel Lhundrub. This is how the special teachings came to Pabongka Rinpoche. It was Pabongka Rinpoche who then spread this teaching to the masses throughout Tibet; and from there, it has spread to the world.

Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup was no ordinary Lama. As the Guru of Pabongka Rinpoche’s Guru, Dagpo Jampel Lhudrup, Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup was the conduit of the many precious teachings that survived and were passed onto Pabongka Rinpoche.

Pabongka Dorje Chang also spoke highly of Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup on many occasions, where he declared Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup as one of the most important Lamas in the Gelugpa Lineage. The role of the lineage holders is very important and thus Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup was honoured in the Lamrim, as well as in the lineage prayers of the Gandapa Heruka Body Mandala.

In his lifetime, Pabongka Rinpoche promoted two specific teachings widely and passionately. One was the Southern style Lamrim which makes up the text Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, and the other is the practice of a special powerful Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden.

During the civil unrest in Tibet, Pabongka Rinpoche passed both these practices in their entirety to Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang, as he knew that he was not able to leave Tibet. Pabongka Rinpoche did not want these precious teachings to die with him but for the lineage to continue and spread far and wide. He believed that in the future, many people would need the special Protector practice of Dorje Shugden as it would benefit many people of this time.

Following the wishes of his Guru, Pabongka Rinpoche, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche promoted both practices widely, giving thousands of people the valuable Protector Dorje Shugden Initiation. Trijang Rinpoche also wrote the famous commentary, Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors. This was a commentary on a praise of Dorje Shugden written by Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup that was called “Infinite Aeons”.

In essence, “Infinite Aeons” was a comprehensive text on the Dharmapala Dorje Shugden Fulfillment Ritual. It was passed down to Pabongka Rinpoche, who then passed it onto his closest disciple, Trijang Rinpoche. This became the vital text that Trijang Dorje Chang based his commentary upon in the Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors. This text is still being studied and used among Shugden practitioners across the globe today.

In “Infinite Aeons”, the great Dharmapala Dorje Shugden’s previous incarnations are listed to include Sakya Pandita, Birwapa, Panchen Sonam Drakpa and Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen. Within this document, there are stories about the erudite Lama, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen in this extensive praise to Dorje Shugden. There are details of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen’s life story, how he was murdered, how he arose as the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and was enthroned first by the Sakya clan and the Chinese Emperor. It also details how Dorje Shugden was finally confirmed as a Protector by the 5th Dalai Lama himself. Above all, “Infinite Aeons” explains that Dorje Shugden is an enlightened emanation of Manjushri in the wrathful form.

The text states that Dorje Shugden arose as a Protector to guard the precious teachings of the Nagarjuna’s Middle View as taught by the Dharma King, Lord Tsongkhapa.

In this text Dagpo Kelsang Kedrub included the serkym, or golden drink offering ritual, as well as offerings to the three main Yidams – Heruka, Yamantaka and Ghuyasamaja. In addition, we can find complete verses praising each of the five emanations of Dorje Shugden, and the Protector’s entourage – all 32 of them, excluding Kache Marpo.

Dagpo Kelsang Khedrup authored many important texts, such as the biographies of the Lamrim Lamas, generation of Bodhichitta and etc. However, the most crucial text of all would be the “Infinite Aeons”, as it confirms that Dorje Shugden is truly an enlightened being and not an evil spirit. Most importantly, it confirms that Dorje Shugden is none other than Lord Manjushri in a fearsome form.

The Third Trijang, Lobzang Yeshe Tendzin Gyatso was born on March 10, 1901, in Gungtang (gung thang). His mother was Tsering Drolma; his father, Tsering Dondrub, was a descendent of an uncle of the Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso (1708-1759). Tsering Dondrub had previously been Tsering Drolma’s father-in-law, until they married after the death of his son, Tsering Drolma’s husband. Altogether Tsering Dondrub fathered children with three women, and in each case at least one male child was recognized as a tulku.

As a child, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Second Trijang, Lobzang Tsultrim Pelden (1939-1901), who served as the Eighty-fifth Ganden Trichen from 1896 to 1899.

After his recognition, he was moved to Lhasa in 1904, first to Trijang Labrang and then to the Chuzang Ritro hermitage of the First Trijang, the sixty-ninth Ganden Tripa, Trichen Jangchub Chopel (1756-1838). Although the young tulku had been recognized by both the Nechung and Gadong state oracles, the title was contested by a rival candidate for some time.

It was during these early years that Tenzin Gyatso first met his would-be root guru Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo (1878-1941). Pabongka spent a number of years at the hermitage and spent time playing and eating with his young student. He also received teachings from Pabongka, such as the empowerment related to Mañjūśhrī, including Dharmarāja, and instructions on how to draw the hearth mandalas for fire rituals.

Tenzin Gyatso also studied with other teachers in his early youth. When he was eight, he received the Kālachakra initiation from the famed yogi Serkong Dorjechang, Ngawang Tsultrim Donden (1856-1918). In 1907, he received novice ordination from the fourth Reting Rinpoche, Ngawang Lobzang Yeshe Tenpai Gyeltsen.

His life was not without difficulties. When Tenzin Gyatso was five years old, his father took monastic vows, which eventually caused considerable difficulties for the family. His mother and her two other children were evicted from their house by the relatives who had been left to care for her, in a situation which Trijang Rinpoche compares in his autobiography to what happened to Milarepa’s (1040-1123) mother. Tenzin Gyatso himself also often lived on the edges of poverty, at times going without sufficient food. To make things worse, during the brief Chinese occupation of Lhasa, which began in 1910, he contracted a severe case of smallpox. His brother, who also contracted smallpox during this epidemic, died.

When he was fourteen, Tenzin Gyatso received numerous empowerments and teachings from Drepung Gomang’s Buldud Tulku Lobzang Yeshe Tenpai Gyeltsen, including those of Vajrabhairava (both Ekavira and Thirteen-Deity), Guhyasamāja Akṣobhyavajra, Luipa’s Sixty-two Deity Heruka Cakrasaṃvara, Ghaṇṭāpa’ Five-Deity Heruka and the initiation of The Great Compassionate One, Avalokiteśvara according to the lineage of Bhikṣuṇī Śrī Lakṣmī (alternatively Śrīmatī, 8th. century).

Most of Tenzin Gyatso’s youth was spent studying. He joined the Dokhang Khamtsen of Ganden Shartse Monastery and was tutored by Geshe Lobzang Tsultrim. After concluding his study of the five topics of Pramāṇa, Mādhyamaka, Prajñāpāramitā, Vinaya and Abhidharma, in 1919 he received the Geshe Lharampa degree as well as full bhikṣu ordination from the Thirteenth Dalai Lama Tubten Gyatso (1876-1933). After this he entered Gyuto Monastery to engage in a detailed study of the tantras. When he turned twenty-one, at Chuzang, he received from Pabongka, the empowrment of the Mañjūśhrī cycle again, as well as the Thirteen Golden Dharmas of the Sakyapas. He also received the four initiations into the sindhura mandala of Vajrayogīni Naro Kechari, together with commentaries on the generation and completion stages, as well as the Thirteen Pure Visions of Takphu, including Cittamaṇi Tārā. Furthermore he received other teachings associated with the Ganden Nyengyu, such as the Gelug Mahāmudrā and Panchen Lobzang Chokyi Gyeltsen’s (1570-1662) Guru Puja.

Tenzin Gyatso was Pabongka’s closest student, the one to whom he passed all of his lineages. In his autobiography, Trijang Rinpoche notes that during his time at Gyuto he would often travel to wherever Pabongka was teaching to receive instruction and that he would spend his free time meditating on the Lamrim and completing the approximation retreats of deities such as Vajrayoginī, Vajrabhairava Ekavira, Ghaṇṭāpa’s Five-Deity Heruka, Secret Hayagrīva and Bhikṣuṇī Śrī Lakṣmī’s Avalokiteśvara cycle. Each of these deities features prominently in Trijang Rinpoche’s writings. He also received the lineage of the Kadam Lekbam from Pabongka.

From Pabongka, Tenzin Gyatso also received teachings and transmission for the deity Dorje Shugden, which was the main protector practice emphasized by Pabongka. Trijang Rinpoche never spoke out publicly on the controversy that erupted over the worship of Dorje Shugden in the later half of the 1970s due to the Dalai Lama’s disapproval of the practice; instead he instructed his students to keep faith in both the Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden.

After completing his education, Tenzin Gyatso travelled throughout Tibet, including a visit to Kham. By this time, he was already giving teachings, oral transmissions and empowerments, including those of Heruka, Vajrayoginī and Guhyasamāja. One of his earliest teachings took place when he was twenty-four. At the request of Geshe Yonten of Ganden Shartse’s Dokhang Khamtsen, he gave the oral transmission of the collected works of Tsongkhapa and his main two students to about two hundred monks.

Tenzin Gyatso visited India and Nepal in 1939, passing through Dungkar Monastery in the Chumbi Valley, where he bestowed the empowerments of Guhyasamāja, Heruka Cakrasaṃvara, Vajrabhairava and others. Although the majority of his teaching activities were associated to the Gelug tradition, there are exceptions. When he was twenty-eight years old, for example, during a stay in Chatreng, Kham, he gave the empowerment for the peaceful and wrathful forms of Padmasambhava and other Nyingma empowerments. Interestingly, later on in India, in 1965, he also gave the Fourteenth Dalai Lama the oral transmissions for two treasures of the Nyingma terton Choggyur Lingpa (, 1829-1870), the Barche Lamsel and Sampa Lhundrub .

After the passing of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1933, Tenzin Gyatso played an important role in the construction and enshrining of the Dalai Lama’s remains inside a golden stupa in the Potala Palace. In his autobiography, he recounts how he visited the Potala every day for year in order to perform the necessary offerings and rituals.

Following the discovery and selection of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, in 1941 Trijang Rinpoche was appointed as his assistant tutor, and, in 1953, as his junior tutor, or yongdzin , teaching him grammar and spelling. It was also in 1941 that Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo passed away.

Trijang Rinpoche’s Collected Works comprise eight volumes. Famous examples of his work include a condensed sādhāna of the Heruka Body Mandala, a gaṅacakra offering text of Heruka and a sādhāna of Cintacakra White Tārā. A comprehensive collection of ritual texts associated with Dorje Shugden which Pabongka Rinpoche asked Trijang Rinpoche to complete entitled “Music Delighting an Ocean of Oath-Bound Protectors”, comprises a whole volume of his Collected Works. The second volume, further includes a number of essential ritual texts associated with the cycle of Cittamaṇi Tārā such as a four maṇḍala offering text, a gaṅacakra ritual, and a pacifying fire ritual text. Another important example of his writing includes the lyrics of the Tibetan National Anthem .

Trijang Rinpoche’s most famous work is undoubtedly Liberation in the Palm of the Hand, a Lamrim text based on notes taken over twenty-four days during Pabongka’s 1921 Lamrim teachings at Chuzang, which intertwined the Swift Path and Mañjūśrī’s Own Speech Lamrim systems along with the instructions on the Seven-Point Mind Training.

During the turbulent years following the Communist Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1949, Trijang Rinpoche stayed close to the Dalai Lama. In 1954, he accompanied the Dalai Lama to Beijing on the ill-fated meeting with Mao Tsedong, and, in 1959, he went into exile with him to India.

In India, Trijang Rinpoche continued teaching and travelling throughout the Tibetan communities such as Buxa, Dalhousie and later in the Karnataka settlements. Ganden Monastery was re-established in Lama Camp no.1 in Mundgod, and a residence, Trijang Labrang was established there for his use. Apart from teaching to the assemblies of Ganden, Sera and Drepung, Trijang Rinpoche also regularly taught in Bodh Gaya and Dharamsala. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he frequently met with Ling Rinpoche Tubten Lungtok Tendzin Trinle (1903-1983), the Dalai Lama’s senior tutor, in order to exchange teachings and empowerments.

Trijang Rinpoche travelled widely internationally, teaching and giving empowerments in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Switzerland, amongst others. In 1966, Trijang Rinpoche performed the site blessing ritual for the TibetanInstitute in Rikon. Later, in 1968, he consecrated the building together with Ling Rinpoche. During this 1966 trip to Europe, a delegation which included Trijang Rinpoche also met with Pope Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978) in the Vatican, following the instructions of the Dalai Lama.

Trijang Rinpoche’s most famous students and lineage holders include figures such as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Zong Rinpoche Lobzang Tsondru Tubten Gyeltsen (, 1905-1984), Loden Sherab Dagyab Rinpoche , Dakpo Lama Rinpoche Jampa Gyatso , Denma Locho Rinpoche, Gelek Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten (, 1920-1986) and Lama Yeshe ( 1935–1984), all of whom were instrumental in diffusing the Gelug teachings internationally.

Trijang Rinpoche passed away on November 9, 1981.

Sources:

Blo bzang dpal ldan bstan ‘dzin yar rgyas. Khri byang rin po che’i rnam thar kha skong. In The Collected Works of Blo bzang dpal ldan bstan ‘dzin yar rgyas, vol. 4, pp. 11-407. Mundgod: Zemey labrang, gaden shartse monastic college. TBRC W14376.

Blo bzang ye shes bstan ‘dzin rgya mtsho, 1965. Rnam grol lag bcangs su gtod pa’i man nag zab mo tshan la ma nor ba mtshuns med chos kyi rgyal po’i thugs bcud byan chub lam gyi rim pa’i nams khrid kyi zin bris gsun rab kun gyi bcud bsdus gdams nag bdud rtsi’i snin po. Sarnath: Mongolian Lama Guru Deva.

Blo bzang ye shes bstan ‘dzin rgya mtsho, 1975. Dga’ ldan khri chen byang chub chos ‘phel gyi skye gral du rlom pa’i gyi na pa zhig gis rang gi ngang tshul ma bcos lhug par bkod pa ‘khrul snang sgyu ma’i zlos gar.India: .

His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, 1997. My Land and My People. New York; Warner Books.

Kar rgyal don grub. 1992. Khri byang blo bzang ye shes bstan ‘dzin rgya mtsho. In Mdo khams cha phreng gi lo rgyus gser gyi snye ma, pp. 101-108. Dharamsala: Bod kyi dpe mdzod khang. TBRC W21499.

Pabongka Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche, 1997. Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Pabongka Rinpoche, Trijang Rinpoche and Geshe Lobzang Tharchin, 1990. Liberation in Our Hands: The Preliminaries. Howell: Mahayana Sutra & Tantra Press.

Thub bstan ‘jam dbyangs. 1999. Bka’ drin zla med 7 skyabs mgon rgyal ba’i yongs ‘dzin skyabs rje khri byang rdo rje ‘chang mchog gi sku par. In Rdzong chos chos ‘byung bdud rtsi’i zil mngar, p. 352. Mysore: Zongkar Chode Monastery. TBRC W00EGS1017102.

Joona Repo
June 2011

Source : http://www.tibetanlineages.org/biographies/view/559/4309

Many great masters have kept their practice of Dorje Shugden strong. Here we see Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche, meeting with Kensur Lati Rinpoche and Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen. The Tibetan leadership forced Kensur Lati Rinpoche and Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen to give up the practice, but they went to meet Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche in 2000, a sign that they still had great faith in Dorje Shugden. Why else would they meet a Dorje Shugden lama? Despite the ban enforced by the Tibetan leadership, they held their own views strongly. Click on image to enlarge.

(Read Part 2 and Part 3)

Someone wrote in with some searching questions and has already received some good replies in the comments section from Tibetans and Westerners (see article below, Dalai Lama Demonstration Down Under). I thought I would include some longer replies here, courtesy of Lineageholder, in the hope that these will clarify things for other readers who are interested in this important issue of religious freedom.

Q: What exactly is the Dorje Shugden practice and what does it involve?

A: Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the wisdom of all Buddhas appearing as a Dharma Protector to protect and increase the Dharma realizations within our minds.

The practice of relying on Dharma Protectors was taught by Buddha Shakyamuni and practised by Indian and Tibetan Buddhists. There are many Dharma protectors such as Mahakala, Kalarupa, Palden Lhamo and Dorje Shugden. In order to protect the Dharma realizations in one’s mind, Dharma Protectors must necessarily be emanations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and are therefore part of the Three Jewels of Buddhist refuge, specifically the Sangha Jewel.

Although Dorje Shugden helps everyone because he is a Buddha, his main job is to protect the Gelug tradition of Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and especially the Ganden oral lineage instructions. The practice of Dorje Shugden involves making offerings and requests with faith to Dorje Shugden — who is seen as one with Je Tsongkhapa and the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri — to protect the teachings of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition, to pacify all obstacles to its growth throughout the world and to bestow favourable conditions for the Buddhadharma to flourish both in our minds and in the world in general.

You can read more about this subject here. If you would like to read the prayers to Dorje Shugden that are recited every day by faithful practitioners, you can read them here.

Q: What benefits do practitioners derive from practising it?

A: In the introduction to the practice of relying upon the Dharma protector in the Heart Jewel sadhana published by Tharpa Publications it says:

“This sadhana includes two practices revealed by the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri. The first is a special Guru yoga in which we visualize our Spiritual Guide as Je Tsongkhapa, who himself is a manifestation of Manjushri. By relying upon this practice, we can purify negativity, accumulate merit, and receive blessings. In this way, we will naturally accomplish all the realizations of the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra, and in particular we will attain a very special Dharma wisdom.

The second practice is a method for relying upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. Through this, we can overcome obstacles to our practice and create favourable conditions so that we can nurture and increase our Dharma realizations. If we rely upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden sincerely, our faith in Je Tsongkhapa will naturally increase and we will easily gain experience of the pure Buddhadharma transmitted directly to Je Tsongkhapa by the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri.

If we practise these regularly and sincerely, we will reap a rich harvest of pure Dharma realizations, and eventually come to experience the supreme joy of full enlightenment.”

You can read more about the benefits of relying upon Dorje Shugden here. Here are a couple of extracts:

“Dorje Shugden always helps, guides, and protects pure and faithful practitioners by granting blessings, increasing their wisdom, fulfilling their wishes, and bestowing success on all their virtuous activities.”

“If we rely sincerely upon Dorje Shugden, he will arrange the conditions that are most conducive for our Dharma practice but these will not necessarily be the ones that we ourself would have chosen! Dorje Shugden will bless our minds to help us transform difficult situations into the spiritual path, and he will open the wisdom eyes of his faithful followers, enabling them always to make the right decisions.”

Q: Where did it originate, and what is its significance today for practitioners?

A: Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri who arose as a Dharma Protector to fulfil a promise he had made in a previous life when as Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsän, one of the principal disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, he promised to become a protector of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition. This is explained by the Dalai Lama’s teacher and Gelugpa lineage holder, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, in his text called “Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors” which can be downloaded here.

Ngatrul Dragpa Gyaltsen (1619-54), a revered teacher who lived at the same time as the fifth Dalai Lama, predicted that he would arise as Dorje Shugden. He was the last incarnation in a long line of enlightened Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Masters which includes Manjushri, Mahasiddha Biwawa, Sakya Pandita, Butön Rinchen Drub, Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsän, Panchen Sönam Dragpa, and many others. See biographies of these previous incarnations of Dorje Shugden.

For its significance for today’s practitioners, see the answer to the next question.

Q: How does it fit in with Buddhist teachings and practices and implementing those into daily life?

A: The practice of Dorje Shugden supports and enhances our practice of Sutra and Tantra in daily life. By making requests to Dorje Shugden and relying upon him sincerely — just as the great enlightened Masters of the Gelugpa tradition have done for centuries — we will be cared for so that we can accomplish our final goal of full enlightenment as swiftly as possible.

Buddhas can and will appear as anything that will benefit living beings, including as Spiritual Guides and in a protecting aspect as a Dharma Protector. In this spiritually degenerate time it is very difficult for spiritual practitioners to make progress on the paths to liberation and enlightenment on their own; there are many obstacles and we have little merit or good karma. We need help to remove obstacles and to manifest good conditions for our practice and this is the unique function of a Dharma Protector. The Dharma Protector is seen as an aspect of our Spiritual Guide to help us to accomplish pacifying, increasing, controlling and wrathful actions that are necessary for making spiritual progress.

There are many different Dharma Protectors that we can rely upon, but it is said that at this time Dorje Shugden is the protector who is most able to help us. We have a special karmic connection with this Deity, which means that we can receive swift and powerful help by relying upon him as opposed to other protectors. Check here for more information about Dorje Shugden.

I would just like to give some relevant quotes to help at this point:

There is no difference in the compassion, wisdom, or power of the various Dharma Protectors, but because of the karma of sentient beings, one particular Dharma Protector will have a greater opportunity to help Dharma practitioners at any one particular time.

Among all the Dharma Protectors, four-faced Mahakala, Kalarupa, and Dorje Shugden in particular have the same nature because they are all emanations of Manjushri.

However, the beings of this present time have a stronger karmic link with Dorje Shugden than with the other Dharma Protectors. It was for this reason that Morchen Dorjechang Kunga Lhundrup, a very highly realized Master of the Sakya tradition, told his disciples, “Now is the time to rely upon Dorje Shugden.” He said this on many occasions to encourage his disciples to develop faith in the practice of Dorje Shugden.

Posted courtesy of Lineageholder.

(Read Part 2 and Part 3)

(Source: http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/2008/06/frequently-asked-questions-about-dorje.html)

By saying that those practicing Dorje Shugden are spirit worshippers, the Dalai Lama is saying that his own root Guru, Trijang Rinpoche, was a spirit worshipper. But a quick look at Trijang Rinpoche’s biography shows that he was a holy and reliable Lama, that the Dharma of Je Tsongkhapa that he taught was beautiful and authentic, and that the disciples who follow faithfully in his lineage of relying on Dorje Shugden as the holy Protector of this Dharma are correct to do so, even if it means disobeying the political will of the Dalai Lama.

Kyabje Trjang Rinpoche (1900-1981) was a foremost Gelug Lama and a direct disciple of the great Je Phabongkhapa. He edited Pabongka Rinpoche’s Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand – one of the most-studied Lamrim (stages of the path to enlightenment) texts in the Gelugpa lineage.

He served the fourteenth Dalai Lama first as philosophical assistant, then as personal tutor, together with Kyabje Ling Dorjechang (also a Dorje Shugden practitioner) for altogether fifty years. In this capacity, he taught the Dalai Lama from the elementary level up to the highest Tantric transmissions. He was the Ganden Tripa, the head of the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism to which the Dalai Lama belonged.

Up to the end of his life, Trijang Rinpoche continuously and widely taught the pure Dharma of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition for the sake of all sentient beings. The growth of Dharma in the West is also directly and indirectly connected with him because of his own teachings as well as the activities of his disciples such as Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa, Tomo Geshe, Gonsar Rinpoche, Dagom Rinpoche, Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, the Dalai Lama, and many more. Without him the situation of Tibetan Buddhism in the West would be completely different.

Trijang Rinpoche was also the backbone of the struggle against the Chinese occupation at the most difficult and confused time of Tibetan history (that is, until now). The escape of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959 was also thanks to his wisdom and efforts. He is credited with writing Gyallu, the Tibetan National Anthem adopted by the community in exile, around 1950.

Trijang Rinpoche relied upon Dorje Shugden until the day of his death and (according to a heart disciple with him at the time) was “very disappointed” when the Dalai Lama told him he was giving up the practice. He wrote Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors, a commentary to a praise of Dorje Shugden called Infinite Aeons by Je Pabongkhapa’s own root Guru Dagpo Rinpoche.

Trijang Rinpoche is universally revered, respected and loved by Dorje Shugden practitioners and even by former disciples who have given up his lineage to follow the Dalai Lama. Tellingly, Lama Zopa, for example, has nothing bad to say about Trijang Rinpoche or even Dorje Shugden. It seems that he has given up this spiritual practice and obliged his disciples to do so simply out of political expediency.

Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche now lives as a private citizen in America so as not to come under the control of the Dalai Lama.

Read also Kuten Lama’s (a Dorje Shugden oracle) biography to see how far-spread the reliance upon Dorje Shugden was amongst the greatest Gelug Lamas of the last century.

(Source : http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/2008/06/can-this-holy-being-and-his.html)