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Tibetan Buddhism - Basics

 

Regarding the New Kadampa Tradition and Related Topics

I can not guarantee for the accuracy of the present Wikipedia articles.

Some days before the New Kadampa Tradition started their second Worldwide Media Campaign against the Dalai Lama (April 22, 2008) under the name of Western Shugden Society - accusing the Dalai Lama of being the "21st Century Buddhist Dictator" who is "persecuting his own people" - a new group of editors appeared at Wikipedia.org. These new editors mutilated the articles by inserting very poor sourced and questionable material from anonymous websites, by adding personal opinions whilst removing quotes and passages based on academic research or scholarly papers, which offered a more neutral and unbiased perspective on these complex issues, including the controversial aspects.

For all articles included here, I can at least give my personal guarantee that they are not misleading, put a spin on the facts, include grave faults or are based on non-verifiable and questionable sources. The articles included here are mainly based on academic research and quotes from the websites of those parties involved.

The Guardian article of Bunting, Madeleine (1996), Shadow boxing on the path to Nirvana, is also used in Bluck's, Kay's, Lopez's and other's academic research. The essay The Shuk-Den Affair: Origins of a Controversy by Prof. George Dreyfus is used in different academic research and it is also listed in bibliographies of reputable scholars. Prof. Geoffrey Samuel also referred to it in his expert testimony: The Recognition of Incarnate Lamas in Tibetan Buddhism and the Role of the Dalai Lama (PDF) for a court case.

Some academic research related to NKT / Shugden I found very worthwhile, well informed and profound:

 

Dharma Quotes

»A wise person will have faith in the teachings of all orders, will love the Dharma found in each just as a mother cherishes all her children. A wise person's mind is vast like the sky, with room for many teachings, many insights, many meditations. But the mind of an ignorant sectarian is limited, tight, and narrow like a vase that can only hold so much. It is difficult for such a mind to grow in Dharma because of its self-imposed limitations. The difference between the wise Buddhist and the sectarian Buddhist is like that between the vastness of space and the narrowness of a vase.«

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

 

»And from this day on in every life, with the special motivation that holds others dearer than self, bless me to protect the Buddha's teaching like my life, as you Mahatma, have done.

And you in whose heart or pure appearance there is no sectarian prejudice please clear away the trouble to the Buddha's teaching raised by the specter of sectarianism in those who become partisan when they hold you as supreme.«

(The final two verses of Taktsang Lotsawa's Biography of Tsongkhapa, Sarnath 1967, p. 619)

 

»Just as a king overpowered by self-interest
Is not worthy of being the protector of the kingdom,
A sectarian person is not worthy of being a holder of the dharma.
Not only that, he is unworthy of upholding even his own tradition.«

»The noble ones share a single ultimate view,
But arrogant ones bend that to their own interests.
Those who show all the teachings of the Buddha as without
contradiction can be considered learned people. But who would be
foolish enough to think that those who cause
discord are holders of the dharma?«

»The scholars and siddhas of the various schools make their own individual presentations of the dharma. Each one is full of strong points and supported by valid reasoning. If you are well grounded in the presentations of your own tradition, then it is unnecessary to be sectarian. But if you get mixed up about the various tenets and the terminology, then you lack even a foothold in your own tradition. You try to use someone else's system to support your understanding, and then get all tangled up, like a bad weaver, concerning the view, meditation, conduct, and result. Unless you have certainty in your own system, you cannot use reasoning to support your scriptures, and you cannot challenge the assertions of others. You become a laughing stock in the eyes of the learned ones. It would be much better to possess a clear understanding of your own tradition.

In summary, one must see all the teachings as without contradiction, and consider all the scriptures as instructions. This will cause the root of sectarianism and prejudice to dry up, and give you a firm foundation in the Buddhas teachings. At that point, hundreds of doors to the eighty-four thousand teachings of the dharma will simultaneously be open to you.«

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

According to Ringu Tulku Rinpoche:

Shakyamuni Buddha forbade his students to criticize others, even the teachings and teachers of other religions and Cultures. This directive was so strong and unambiguous that in the Introduction to the Middle Way, Chandrakirti felt compelled to defend Nagarjunas Madhyamaka treatises by saying:

»If, in trying to understand the truth, one dispels
misunderstandings, and therefore some philosophies cannot remain
intact, that should not be considered as criticizing others' views.«

 

(Quotes from: The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet by Ringu Tulku, ISBN 1-59030-286-9, Shambhala Publications & Golden Garland of Eloquence Vol. 1 - Tsong Kha Pa, translated by Gareth Sparham, Jain Publishing)

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last update: 11 Oct 2008