Why is she putting the Dalai Lama down?
Recently His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche had a series of conversations with a ‘supposed’ follower of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on Twitter. When we look at the tweets carefully, we see that the messages Tsem Rinpoche received are exactly what other Dorje Shugden practitioners receive online on a daily basis. Tsem Rinpoche was very kind to tweet answers back to @roisinelder knowing many thousands of other people will read the tweets and it is a chance to clear doubts. It is for this reason we are able to post it here for educational purposes.
@roisinelder, a so-called supporter of His Holiness, who says she is an Irish woman living in the UK, and is not acquainted with Tsem Rinpoche appears to find it acceptable to be discriminatory against someone whom she has never met or talked with before. When we examine her tweets, we find that she seems to be quite harsh and judgemental in her opinion of Dorje Shugden practitioners. This even extends to statements regarding who His Holiness should love and accept and those he should not. His Holiness is Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion, therefore he actually loves everyone. Regardless of race, religion or gender, he accepts everyone. Do you think His Holiness would agree with her discriminatory statements?
As Buddhist practitioners, shouldn’t we be more gentle, polite and respectful in our conversations with others, especially in the public domain? Would you start making assumptions about a stranger, repeating yourself over and over again, in order to push your views and beliefs on them?
As admirers of His Holiness, we should emulate his teachings of love, peace and tolerance, embracing diversity and religious harmony. To state that His Holiness discriminates people because of their religious beliefs is an injustice to all that His Holiness stands for. It is contradictory to say that His Holiness does not accept a certain group of people. To say such a benevolent and compassionate leader is prejudiced and biased towards a group of people and does not allow them to his teachings goes against his enlightened nature. Therefore, what @roisinelder says does not make sense. His Holiness is in fact tolerant, compassionate and fair.
What Tsem Rinpoche Says:
We should always respect the Dalai Lama. Sometimes we have a different opinion or view of religious practice than the Dalai Lama, but that does not mean we can disparage him, taunt him or disrespect him. We should always be respectful of him. And even the supporters of the Dalai Lama should be very careful in what they say.
1. They should not say that the Dalai Lama evicts people from his teachings because they practice Dorje Shugden, because this does not make him look like a benevolent, kind and compassionate person. I don’t think the Dalai Lama will evict people from his teachings because it does not represent a man of tolerance, peace and compassion.
2. We should not say that the Dalai Lama is afraid of broken samaya, or that people will break their samaya with him, or that if we break our samaya with him it will harm and damage him, because the Dalai Lama is a Buddha and he cannot be harmed. Those who have attained Buddhahood, who have the realisation of Emptiness and Shunyata, have ascended beyond samsara so they cannot be damaged by anything within samsara especially karma. Samaya has to do with karma; karma has to do with samaya. Therefore, if you were to say that if you have broken samaya you can harm the Dalai Lama, it is illogical.
3. To say that the Dalai Lama doesn’t like Dorje Shugden practitioners, that he segregates Dorje Shugden practitioners, that he separates Dorje Shugden practitioners, is actually highlighting to the world what is happening in the Dorje Shugden world but that doesn’t look very good. In their defence of the Dalai Lama, when people who are defending him say that “if you practice Dorje Shugden don’t come near him, don’t go near him, don’t go around him,” it actually makes him look very, very bad as though he is biased and prejudiced. The Dalai Lama is the King of Tibet; he is the secular and spiritual leader of Tibet for many, many years, and therefore all Tibetans including myself are his subjects. And because we are his subjects, we are devoted to him and we respect him. A subject may not always have to have the same opinion as the leader but we still respect him. From the side of the Dalai Lama, he will treat all his subjects kindly, lovingly and equally regardless of their religion. And whether I am a Christian Tibetan, a Muslim Tibetan, a Buddhist Tibetan, a Shugdenpa Tibetan, a Bönpo Tibetan or an atheist Tibetan, it does not matter because the very fact that I am Tibetan, I am one with the Tibetan nation and automatically a subject of the Dalai Lama.
4. In this way, whether we are Shugden Buddhists or whether we are non-Shugden Buddhists, we should never say things to defend the Dalai Lama in a way that actually has the reverse effect of defending him, which is to make him look very bad. So if you read this series of tweets which I engaged in with someone online, I am defending the Dalai Lama and I am a Shugden practitioner. This person is supposed to be a follower of the Dalai Lama, but everything this person says actually inadvertently makes the Dalai Lama look very bad. So we shouldn’t do this. Followers of the Dalai Lama and followers of Dorje Shugden should all come to terms and be gentle, kind, pleasant and compassionate, and respect each other and always talk with respect to each other. This is very important.
Thank you
Please do not say that we need to have samaya with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to attend his secular talks because those Tibetans who are not his students, or are Tibetan Christians or Tibetan Muslims see His Holiness as their secular leader and not necessarily their religious leader. They do not have samaya with His Holiness and they are allowed the same rights and privileges as any other Tibetan. They should be allowed to attend His Holiness’ public and secular talks and attend any secular events due to fact that they are Tibetans and not because of their religion. His Holiness will accept and embrace all his subjects and love them for who they are and as they are, regardless of their religion, economic status or background, because he is a benevolent, kind and compassionate leader.
If you keep saying that practising Dorje Shugden can harm His Holiness, that is contradictory and absolutely wrong because His Holiness is Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion who has been emanating for many eons to benefit sentient beings. How can the practice of Dorje Shugden harm His Holiness who is a Buddha? Nothing in this world or universe can harm him, not even so-called ‘broken samaya’ or a Shugden practitioner. Neither Dorje Shugden, any other being nor a negative spirit can harm His Holiness. Buddhas cannot be harmed and His Holiness IS a Buddha. To say that Dorje Shugden practitioners cannot be near him or associate with him due to their practice causing him harm contradicts the very fact that he is a Buddha.
This is the kind of persecution Dorje Shugden practitioners all around the world receive on a daily basis. To say that there is no ban, but to condemn others because of their religious beliefs does not reflect the compassionate nature of His Holiness as His Holiness teaches love, respect, religious tolerance and freedom wherever he goes.
Valentina Suhendra and Joy Kam
Tsem Rinpoche did not tag anyone, and he has every right to use any twitter category (hashtag) that he prefers. Tsem Rinpoche was just doing his usual tweets when @roisinelder decided to send him an unpleasant tweet and make all accusations.
@roisinelder has never met Tsem Rinpoche nor did she perform any comprehensive research about him and yet she attacked him vehemently and with such vulgar language. How would anyone justify such vulgarities? On what capacity does she have to pass judgement on someone else’s spirituality?
@roisinelder was so desperate to find fault that she would even criticised Tsem Rinpoche for his decision to purchase a particular brand of mobile phone for others, which should be his freedom of choice to do so or not.
In reality nobody has the right to intimidate anyone from using any of the hashtags on Twitter. The hashtag category does not belong to anyone, and everyone has the freedom and right to use it.
Why did @roisinelder talked about passive aggressive behaviour? No one tagged her in the first place! She was the one who tagged Tsem Rinpoche and started her rude tweets.
Using vulgar language to attack someone on Twitter reflects badly on the attacker and his or her teacher.
She justified her rude and vulgar language by further demeaning and belittling Tsem Rinpoche. She is here to glorify His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and yet her language and anger reflect poorly on the Dalai Lama whom she praised repeatedly. She should not sound so fanatical.
@roisinelder’s ignorance is glaring in these tweets. Tsem Rinpoche is not part of NKT, has never been to NKT and did not participate in any of NKT’s past protests. In fact, Tsem Rinpoche has never said anything rude against the Dalai Lama.
Why is it that people cannot share their thoughts on their faith? What law says that one cannot do so? She is infringing on religious freedom and openly enforces the ban. You can practice Dorje Shugden, but you cannot teach it. This is absolutely ridiculous!
There are millions of Dorje Shugden practitioners and among them are all types of people, just like in any other religion. But to make sweeping statements that Tsem Rinpoche is taking Chinese money and that is the reason we practice is illogical and is a result of pure ignorance.
@roisinelder has no right to insult the hard-working people of Kechara, who have sacrificed their time, resources and are committed to the Buddha’s teachings. She has no right to call them unqualified as they are beautiful and wonderful people. She has never met them. @roisinelder should not make sweeping statements about people she has never met. Kechara people are beautifully hard working, sincere and very kind.
@roisinelder said that she is not fit to sit at the feet of the Dalai Lama. In reality, all humans are fit to sit in the presence of anyone including the Dalai Lama and have positive exchanges. We are all here to learn and share with each other.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is believed to be the emanation of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion who has compassion and equanimity. Everybody and anybody can benefit from his teachings.
@roisinelder said that the Dalai Lama is kind and compassionate. The Dalai Lama loves all beings, but there are still some people who are not worthy of this. Why are they not worthy to attend the Dalai Lama’s teachings? Buddha’s teachings are for everyone. The teachings are not meant for saints. Saints do not need the teachings. If the Buddha’s teachings are not for us, then who are they for?
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given teachings to the international crowd that includes atheists, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, Shamanists, Luciferians, Satanists, Witches, Druids, Shintoists, Muslims, etc. Therefore, why is it that someone has to have samaya with the Dalai Lama in order to attend his general and secular talks? In other words, @roisinelder puts the Dalai Lama in a negative light and makes him look biased, sectarian or someone who just likes to segregate people. This does not reflect the Dalai Lama’s real character but she portrayed him in such a way.
Please do not say that we need to have samaya with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to attend his secular talks because those Tibetans who are not his students, or are Tibetan Christians or Tibetan Muslims see His Holiness as their secular leader and not necessarily their religious leader. They do not have samaya with His Holiness and they are allowed the same rights and privileges as any other Tibetan. Excluding someone based on one’s faith or background is a bad reflection on a democratic leader, because as a democratic leader one is supposed to be fair. This would make the leader look unfair and narrow-minded.
Why does everyone have to be the Dalai Lama’s students? Why can’t we follow our teachers without being segregated? Not everyone can or should follow the Dalai Lama and they can follow the teacher of their own affinity, karma and choice. Not following the Dalai Lama does not mean we do not respect him. We are just allowed our own choice of teacher and path and not be hated for it. Religious freedom.
Tsem Rinpoche politely, patiently, and kindly asked @roisinelder to stop saying the following statements because they put the Dalai Lama in a negative light:
- The Dalai Lama removes people from his talks
- The Dalai Lama segregate his own people
- The Dalai Lama accepts you on the basis of your religion
@roisinelder was rude and argued without basis, proper research, and knowledge. On top of that, Tsem Rinpoche does not belong to an organisation that held protests against the Dalai Lama. Tsem Rinpoche has neither participated in any protests nor has he been to Nottingham before this. If someone chose to protest, it is their right and it is permissible under English Law. However, DON’T make false accusations against Tsem Rinpoche. In this manner, @roisinelder has displayed much ignorance and lack of research.
In a democratic society, the leader should embrace all his subjects regardless of their gender, race and religion.
There should be no segregation and discrimination in a democratic society. All subjects have the right to meet their leader regardless of their religious beliefs and backgrounds.
Many Kecharians have studied, learned, practiced and engaged in retreats on the Buddha Dharma. @roisinelder has not done any research on what Kecharians have learned. Therefore, she has no right to criticize something that she is unsure of. In addition, she has no right to belittle the many students, volunteers and benefactors of Kechara Organisation who had worked so hard to study and build an organization that promotes learning.
We are happy to know that the practice of Dorje Shugden is growing. Thank you for letting us know. It will continue to grow.
Tsem Rinpoche is known to promote Je Tsongkhapa’s teachings & practices. @roisinelder does not even know who Tsem Rinpoche is and what His Emimence does, yet she falsely accuses Tsem Rinpoche and continues to put Tsem Rinpoche down with inaccurate facts.
If there is no ban, Dorje Shugden practitioners should have the right to practice the deity of their choice but why would someone like @roisinelder degrade people for their religious choice ? In order to make an informed decision, this is the age of Internet and anyone can research online to obtain information relevant for decision-making.
So is there a ban or no ban? Interesting that @roisinelder brings up this topic and uses the word “ban”. None of Tsem Rinpoche’s tweets in this conversation mention the ban. Clearly we can see there is a ban. The ban is unethical, unfair, undemocratic and should end.
We are not familiar with NKT’s policies and decision-making. NKT have their own policies and they do not represent all Dorje Shugden practitioners. Therefore, it does not make sense for @roisinelder to group Tsem Rinpoche and other Dorje Shugden practitioners under NKT policies.
Bodhisattvas who have reached high level meditative attainments like Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri cannot be hurt, damaged or affected by karma or anyone in samsara. Therefore, to say that the Dalai Lama is a high being and a Bodhisattva, and then turn around and say that he can be hurt is illogical. Even the Dalai Lama himself said that Dorje Shugden cannot hurt him. Please watch this video. Therefore, what is the reason for excluding a group of people from attending the Dalai Lama’s teachings? So why not allow everyone to the teachings?
Stating that His Holiness the Dalai Lama can be hurt by a certain deity means that one does not have faith that he is the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. Saying that Dorje Shugden practitioners need to leave His Holiness tantric initiation makes His Holiness appear bias.
Not everyone has samaya with His Holiness and so this should not be the main consideration for people attending his teachings. Beside, there are Christian Tibetans, Muslim Tibetans and they don’t have samaya with His Holiness, but he loves them all equally. To say he does not because of your religion degrades His Holiness as being opposite of a compassionate all loving leader.
@roisinelder twisted the argument back and forth for her own benefit. At first she said it’s “bollocks” that the Dalai Lama is a Bodhisattva and cannot be hurt. Then, she said he is Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), a bodhisattva of the highest order and attainments, and cannot be hurt. Therefore the question remained whether the Dalai Lama can be hurt or not, since he is Chenrezig, a bodhisattva of the highest order? Then, she changed her tune again that the Dalai Lama cannot be hurt and he loves everyone. However, she also said that the Dalai Lama removed people from his talks and condemns people because they have faith in Dorje Shugden. She should not have said this about the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Chenrezig, therefore he loves all beings equally without discrimination. To say otherwise would demean his enlightened status.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama cannot be harmed by any practice since he is an enlightened being. Regardless of religious practice, he accepts you. If he doesn’t accept you, then how can he be enlightened?
Everyone has the right to choose their own spiritual path. They can come to an informed decision after researching themselves.
The Nobel Laureate is an example of peace and freedom; the Dalai Lama represents the highest thinking of human kind. Yet @roisinelder says she saw and heard the Dalai Lama ask Dorje Shugden people to leave a Namgyal Monastery teaching in 2006! How can that be? The Dalai Lama is tolerant and accepting of everyone yet she says that the Dalai Lama had asked people to leave. She makes him look very bad. It is sad to read her tweets. She should not say that about His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a benevolent spiritual leader of Tibet. It does not matter whether you are his student, a Tibetan Christian or a Tibetan Muslim; you can attend the function or teachings by His Holiness. Only His Holiness’s students should maintain samaya with him.
@roisinelder said that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the living incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara/Chenrezig) again. Of course we believe that. Since the Dalai Lama is a Buddha, he can never be hurt or damaged. For sure His Holiness cannot be hurt by anything, hence the samaya issue is nil. Please watch this video. So why is she worried about broken samaya (relationship) and that he can be damaged? This is impossible! Therefore, removing and segregating Dorje Shugden followers from his teachings is illogical. In fact, if Dorje Shugden practitioners are such ‘evil sinners’, then the Buddha of Compassion should welcome, bless them even more so and teach them so that they ‘change’, instead of kicking them out? She contradicted herself repeatedly, which is typical of a combination of anger and ignorant tendencies. Despise the sin and not the sinner as the saying goes.
She says she doesn’t segregate people and yet Dorje Shugden people should stay away! That is segregation! Jews should stay away from Nazi Germany. Blacks should stay away from U.S.A. and go back to Africa. Dorje Shugden people have no right to attend Dalai Lama talks, Australian Aborigines should be integrated at the loss of their unique culture and so on. In actuality, her statements is pure religious segregation. Segregation appears in so many forms and none of it should be allowed!
Saying that His Holiness loves all beings but doesn’t like Dorje Shugden practitioners is very contradictory and goes against his enlightened nature. Dalai Lama loves everyone regardless of race, economy and religion. Therefore Dorje Shugden followers should not be left out.
After Tsem Rinpoche repeatedly said that His Holiness the Dalai Lama loves us all and accepts us as we are and then @roisinelder say we CAN attend Lamrim teachings by His Holiness Dalai Lama! But she also said clearly that we cannot join in Tantric teachings as our broken samaya will hurt His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Then she says that perhaps Dorje Shugden people can join Tantric initiations by His Holiness Dalai Lama but we should ask first! She changed her stance yet again. When Tsem Rinpoche pointed out how her rude views on twitter, especially on her portrayal of the Dalai Lama is incorrect, she finally calms down and realises that she made His Holiness Dalai Lama look very bad.
Now she said the Dalai Lama love and accept us for who we are but we are still not allowed in his mandala? His mandala refers to his environment. Why not? Why accept but not allow? This is illogical.
We should not assume that people are not intelligent and do not have the ability to research information and make an informed decision, especially in this modern internet age.
Now she says Tsem Rinpoche is well educated. Yes Rinpoche is well versed in Dharma. So why keep calling him ignorant? Certainly Rinpoche would vastly understand samaya, commitment, tantra, practice and Dorje Shugden than most people.
All Tibetans regardless of whether they are Muslim, non-Buddhist, atheists, Dorje Shugden people, or Bonpos should be allowed to attend the secular talks and functions of the Dalai Lama. For many years, the Dalai Lama has played the dual role of a king, leader and spiritual teacher. He is a benevolent leader because he treats all his Tibetan subjects with equanimity. People should not say he segregates or otherwise. People should not say a certain group of people are not allowed to meet the Dalai Lama or attend his secular events. They should not say he has people removed from his talks because their religion is different than his as @roisinelder is inferring.
Putting people down goes against the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which is to love everyone. @roisinelder seems to thinks that everyone who is a Tibetan Buddhist must automatically be a disciple of His Holiness.
@roisinelder told people who practice Shugden that they are not allowed to attend the Dalai Lama’s teachings, and yet she said that there is no segregation! There is segregation, pure and simple and of all things, it’s based on religion. They are not allowed to his talks/teachings because of their religion. No other person according to @roisinelder is barred from Dalai Lama’s talks except Shugden people. Why?
His Holiness promotes embracing everyone, despite race, religion and gender. It does not matter who we are, he loves us. To segregate anyone goes against the very essence of what His Holiness teaches. It is amazing how supporters, followers and students of His Holiness the Dalai Lama can be so vulgar, rude and ill mannered even in a public space. Just because they follow the Dalai Lama does not give them the righteousness over others to do and say as they like. No doubt the Dalai Lama is a great man and worked hard to benefit others, but in reflection to your admiration of him, you should reflect him better. For example if you represent Gandhi or Nelson Mandela to make a point to the opposition, when you are polite, kind and talk in a way that is non-aggressive and respectful, the impact is greater. Also we should not talk with so much anger. Anger for what? Certainly the Dalai Lama does not need anyone to defend him as he is the Buddha of compassion, Avalokitesvara. It reflects Gandhi or Nelson Mandela better, if you are speaking for them for example, when you take on the manner of communication they espouse in their philosophies which is respect everyone including ‘enemies’. Hence His Holiness the Dalai Lama always asks us to forgive and be tolerant so we should reflect that if we admire him so much and especially if we are his students.
It is truly sad someone like this person can degrade someone else with such harsh judgments. @roisinelder has no right to criticize another person’s faith, belief systems and religion and yet she does. When you don’t agree with her, she degrades you.
Here is @roisinelder degrading Geshe Kelsang Gyatso regarding his qualifications. Again, everyone knows from his books what an eminently qualified Geshe and master Geshe Kelsang is. His Holiness the Dalai Lama in fact wrote a foreword to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s first book prior to the unethical Shugden ban. In the foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he addresses him as Geshe clearly. In fact, the founder and original head of FPMT, Lama Yeshe knowing the qualifications of Geshe Kelsang invited him to UK in the first place to his own centre to teach. What happened later is irrelevant. Lama Yeshe knew how qualified Geshe Kelsang is and invited him as they are from the same monasteries and nearly the same teachers. It was Lama Yeshe who introduced Geshe Kelsang Gyatso to everyone. Just because Geshe Kelsang refuses to give up his practice of Dorje Shugden he is not a Geshe anymore, expelled from the monastery and is a Chinese agent. This is clear how the Tibetan leadership uses threats, fear tactics and finally expulsion if you don’t do exactly as they say.
The late Lama Yeshe of FPMT invited Geshe Kelsang Gyatso to the United Kingdom. Lama Yeshe found him to be eminently qualified.
Students are educated, they can read, they can do research and they can come to their own conclusions. There is no hiding the Dorje Shugden persecution whatsoever.
Since @roisinelder says His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a Buddha then how can Dorje Shugden (derogatory name of Shugden: Dolgyal) be not good for him? There is no good or bad as a Buddha cannot be harmed. Such unclear illogic. So can the Dalai Lama be harmed or he cannot be harmed? If he cannot be harmed then he is a Buddha and therefore practicing Dorje Shugden cannot harm him. So what’s the fuss and restrictions of Dorje Shugden practitioners attending his teachings? If he is not a Buddha and therefore he can be harmed by Dorje Shugden that would mean he is an ordinary person. If the Dalai Lama is an ordinary person, then he can make mistakes too. And perhaps the ban is a mistake. That is why prior to 1996 he practiced Dorje Shugden and also composed a prayer to Dorje Shugden. We are not drawing conclusions here whether the Dalai Lama is a Buddha or ordinary person but simply asking for a clear debate. A clear answer. We are saying @roisinelder is switching the argument back and forth to win a point at the expense of so many people’s spirituality. When she cannot win the debate, she berates and uses derogatory language. You can see here the prayer to Dorje Shugden composed by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama who is no other than the Buddha of Compassion and has the wisdom of a Buddha and therefore cannot make mistakes. If he cannot make mistakes, the Dalai Lama’s prayer to Dorje Shugden is not a mistake.
Now @roisinelder is calling Tsem Rinpoche by more derogatory names. It is interesting, how when you don’t agree with them, they become instantly angry and belligerent yet they say we have religious freedom. They are telling you to follow the Dalai Lama who is the Buddha of compassion, yet their methods show zero compassion or tolerance or understanding. You don’t agree with them, and you are wrong-full stop! What sort of religious freedom is this when you are berated for your choice always. Who started this. Of course the Tibetan leadership started all this and have their western converts carry on this unethical persecution of religious choice and freedom.
The amount of aggression, hatred, ignorance, anger and vulgarity His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche is subjected to from this one @roisinelder is reflective of the lack of religious freedom he and millions of his compatriots do not have just because of their religious choice. Since 1996 when the unethical ban against Dorje Shugden started, many high lamas, teachers, meditation masters, monks, nuns have been thrown out of the monasteries forced to form their own. Some of them have lived in the monasteries their whole lives and made much contribution to the monasteries. The lay Dorje Shugden practitioners are forced to leave the Tibetan communities, denied public Tibetan services such as hospitals, schools, traveling documents. These are facts.
Now you think carefully. Dorje Shugden’s practice has been around for 400 years but it is only since 1996, it is suddenly banned. Then the wave of Western Buddhist converts like @roisinelder in the thousands speak against Dorje Shugden practitioners in such a negative manner. But prior to 1996, these Western converts do not know anything about Dorje Shugden. Prior to their conversion to Buddhism, they knew nothing of Tibetan Buddhism either. But why are they so vicious in their attacks? Who planted this in their minds. Who and what group in 1996 enacted this ban and started this whole hate campaign against Dorje Shugden followers? Someone riled up all these Western Shugden haters. In fact this is strictly a Tibetan affair and religious at that and it’s none of anyone’s business. You have to understand that in Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA and they govern the refugee Tibetans in India) personal website (http://tibet.net/dolgyal-shugden/) they show clearly a section for ‘advising’ against the practice of Dorje Shugden. CTA is the de facto Tibetan Government but in exile and they have a whole section devoted to advise against Shugden practice and inevitable against Shugden practitioners. What democratic government would have a special section in their website devoted to ostracizing one form of spiritual worship within their nation and people? This would create civil unrest. No democratic freed people would put up with this. Then they like to say Dorje Shugden practitioners receive money from China to use Dorje Shugden to create schism within Tibetan communities. Very illogical. Dorje Shugden practice has been around for 400 years and suddenly after 1996, they are agents of the Chinese? But if Tibetan leadership did not ban Dorje Shugden, then there would be no talk of them being agents of the Chinese. For four hundred years, the most highest scholars, erudite masters, yogis and their followers practiced Dorje Shugden in the millions. The great Sakya and Gelug monasteries practiced Dorje Shugden and it is impossible for four hundred years the millions who practiced in Tibet prior to 1996 were all Chinese agents! Totally ridiculously flawed logic. Let’s have an experiment. Remove the ban against Shugden followers with immediate effect and see where the Dorje Shugden followers gravitate towards? China or Dalai Lama. Until the ban is removed, ignorant western Buddhist converts zealous against Shugden followers will never know the truth of the matter.
This blog post is not to target @roisinelder but to show the world how some people take religion wrongly and hurt others. This post is for strictly educational purposes and we have no intentions of offending anyone. But since @roisinelder has attacked His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche without any provocations, it is a good example to share with how many attacks we have suffered because of our religion via social media in this case. Not only Tsem Rinpoche, but also thousands of practitioners of Dorje Shugden have suffered violence, hatred, expulsion or some sort of segregation. This is happening now and it is still ongoing. This blog post is to highlight the sufferings of a group of people because of their religion differing from what is ‘accepted’. We sincerely thank the people of www.tsemrinpoche.com for allowing us this article.
The fact is simple, all should have religious freedom. These people who support His Holiness the Dalai Lama should continue supporting him and his religion but do not use him to spout hatred towards others. Do not hide behind the robes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and then be so righteous and condemn others viciously. This does not make the Dalai Lama look good at all. They themselves do not reflect His Holiness the Dalai Lama well at all. His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche and everyone on this website deeply respect His Holiness the Dalai Lama. If the Dalai Lama would allow, we would attend his secular talks. We all very much wish His Holiness well and a very long life always. We make prayers for this. This blog post is about the people who use the Dalai Lama’s name to spout venomous hatred and this should stop. His Holiness is a man of peace, love and is Avalokitesvara. We should not only defend His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but we should take his teachings to heart and be a gentler, kinder and more of a tolerant person as he has taught for half a century now. His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaches us to let go of anger, hatred and intolerance and we should do so starting immediately. We wish @roisinelder peace but we hope people like her would practice what they admire. Everyone deserves and should have religious freedom and all forms of religious worship should be accepted and no one should be intolerant of another’s faith. This is the 21 century and the world is a much smaller place and we all need peace and make earth a zone of peace. Religion can damage this peace if not used correctly. We should never use religion for creating differences, hatred and conflicts. May His Holiness the Dalai Lama be well, live long and continue to shine his light on us.
Sincerely,
Valentina Suhendra and Joy Kam
For more interesting information:
- Never Seen Before Footage of Dorje Shugden Oracles
- Our Lama vs the Dalai Lama – The Underlying Reasons For the Ban
- The Buddhist Divide – An Unholy Campaign Against Religious Freedom
- Is This True Religious Freedom?
- Badge of Shame
- China Officially Supports Dorje Shugden
- Will the Dalai Lama Agree With This?
- The 14th Dalai Lama’s prayer to Dorje Shugden
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Hello. According to Theravada Buddhism, Buddha and arahats can still be affected by karma if they have not reached parinibbana/parinirvana. This was why Buddha Sakyamuni died of food-poisoning and Arahant Mahamaudgalyayana was attacked and got severely hurt.
I think, this lady, has too much time on her hands. Instead of practicing the dharma, she uses social media to attack, and offend Dorje Shugden practitioners. For what purpose?
Its such a waste of time, what se is doing, if you are so sure about your own practice, you do not need to be a dharma police and try to police others.
Beautiful billboard just came up in our hometown of Bentong where Kechara Forest Retreat (KFR) in Malaysia is located. All of us in Bentong are warm, simple and very friendly people. Our beautiful billboard depicts Dorje Shugden statue in KFR and Dorje Shugden is a hero (pahlawan) and a powerful being from Tibet. He is highly respected for giving great inspirations and blessings from his life story.~Tsem Rinpoche- See more beautiful pictures- https://bit.ly/2UltNE4
这个美丽的布告板刚在我们的家乡——文冬安装好。文冬是克切拉禅修林的所在地。我们文冬人热情、朴实和友善。我们美丽的布告板描绘着禅修林里的多杰雄登像，而多杰雄登是位英雄，也是一位来自西藏强大的守护者。从他的生平我们得知他因赐人加持和灵感而备受尊崇。詹仁波切- 点击链接查看更多图片： https://bit.ly/2ThOvVa
The Dorje Shugden ban has caused so many suffering to Shugden people as well as the non-Shugden people. There were peace and harmony within the Buddhist community and everything and everyone was fine. All 4 sects of Tibetan Buddhism existed in harmony and everyone just mind their own business and practice the practices that they prefer. There is no fighting, no violence, no harsh speech and most importantly everyone still co-existed in the same community without any problems.
Then the Tibetan government came out with the Dorje Shugden ban and all hell breaks loose. Shugden people are being accused as demon worshippers and against His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Monks are being beaten up and treated harshly and even chased out of their own monastery. Can you believe it? Peaceful monks are being chased out of their own monastery and all because they choose to practice the practice that their holy guru gave them.
The ban is totally unnecessary because as a democratic body, claimed by the Tibetan government, they should accept any religion and any faiths as long as they do not break the law. However, the Tibetan government went on persecuting Dorje Shugden people and even forbid them to use public schools and public hospitals. What kind of government will deny the 2 most basic necessity which is education and health care to their own people?
Thank you for posting Valentina. I had taken a couple of days before reading, as imagining the content and the likes of who it could be now that’s harassing Rinpoche on twitter is always daunting to view. Reading poisen elder’s entries in full of course was most grievous, unenlightening, nauseating and laborious. Things had been quiet as of late from the troll end of things, I guess everyone needs a cause or a hobby to take up from time to time, such is the case of this Irish woman following Tibetan Buddhist traditions? Twitter seems to be a breeding ground for indiscriminate attacks, hoisen elder is just a product of the encouraged free range hate allowed and procured by such social media sites and encouraged by a lack of respect, compassion and common sense. Might I recommend studying what Buddha taught, and if posting random comments is your cup of tea, try encouraging kindness, understanding and wisdom. Be like Buddha Roisen. Be like Buddha, at least show a bit less of your Wrathful side. His Holiness doesn’t need a protector or a champion, nor a loose canon. I feel for everyone having time wasted by these deluded, bored, inarticulate posts. Of the many fights to take up, make it a war you’ll wage on your mind, if it is indeed adverse to your development or that of others. Long life and wellbeing to all, yes even Roisen Elder, we understand misunderstanding, that’s the nature of Samsara. Buddha Blessings of love, peace and profound great fortune to you from Canada!
Why bother engaging with such a person as this woman ?
Mantras are sacred verbalized words that invoke the protection and blessings of the deity to whom the mantra is ascribed. Mantras are also the manifestations of Buddhas in the form of ‘sounds’, hence the various mantras of Dorje Shugden contain the essence of the Protector.
Dorje Shugden’s main mantra 多杰雄登主要咒语
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA SOHA
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for peace 平和咒语
For gaining attainments through the energy of Peaceful Shugden, peace of environment and mind, harmony in one’s abode and dwelling area, and calming of disasters
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA SHANTI SIDDHI HUNG
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for health 福寿安康咒语
For long life, increasing life, healing of disease and protection from diseases
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA AYU SIDDHI HUNG
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for increase 增长咒语
For gaining great merits and increase of all necessary needs, both material and spiritual
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA PUNYE SIDDHI HUNG
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for control 控制咒语
Of worldly deities, negative people and nagas and for influencing friends towards the positive
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA WASHAM KURU HO
Dorje Shugden’s mantra to grant protection 庇护咒语
Visualize that you are in the Protector’s mandala, fully protected from outside interferences. Recite when in danger or for dangerous situations, for protection while travelling or when residing in dangerous/hostile places
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA RAKYA RAKYA HUNG
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1544345059.mp4
Dear friends,
Tibet has produced many powerful meditations, rituals and guidelines to help us gain spiritual protection, gain wisdom and higher states of consciousness. In general Tibet has produced many powerful methods for the growth of our spiritual evolution. Dorje Shugden is an angel, a saint, a powerful spiritual protector-warrior who originated 350 years ago when a highly awakened Tibetan Lama fulfilled his vows to become a special being to grant protection, wisdom, material needs, safety when travelling (normal and astral travel) and spiritual awakening. Both the Great 5th Dalai Lama and the current His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama composed short yet effective prayers to invoke upon the power and blessings of this special saint and protector. One can recite either one of the prayers that you feel suits you, anytime or even daily. When you feel a special need for help, you can recite either prayer anytime. When you are feeling down, afraid or just need a blessing, you can recite them. After reciting either invocation, it is good to chant the mantra of Dorje Shugden: Om Benza Wiki Bitana Soha.
You do not have to be a Buddhist or practitioner of any religion to invoke upon the blessings and protection of this special enlightened and awakened angel Dorje Shugden. He helps all without discrimination or bias as he is filled with compassion and love. Divinity has no boundaries, they help all who call upon them.
Enclosed are the prayers in English, Chinese and Tibetan.
May you be safe, protected and blessed.
Tsem Rinpoche
More on the Great 5th Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden – https://bit.ly/2w7KHv6
More on H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden – https://bit.ly/2QdaL4n
Chapel (Trode Khangsar) built by the Great 5th Dalai Lama dedicated to Dorje Shugden in Lhasa – https://bit.ly/2zBTd8M
—
亲爱的朋友们，
西藏产生了许多有助于我们得到精神庇佑、取得智慧和更高层次之觉悟的强大禅修法、仪式和教诲。总括来说，西藏产生了许多有助于我们在修行上取得提升的强有力方法。多杰雄登是一个天使，一位圣人和一名护法战士。他的崛起始于350年前，当一位高度觉悟的西藏高僧履行本身的承诺，化身为特别的护法，赐予我们守护、智慧、物质需要、出入平安（平日外游和神游时）和灵修上的觉醒。任何人都可以随时随地在任何时候念诵适合自己的祈愿文。当你需要特别的帮助时，你可以随时念诵任何一篇祈愿文。当你感到沮丧、恐惧或仅是需要加持时，你也可以持诵这些祈愿文。在念诵任何祈请文后，你应该接着念诵多杰雄登的心咒：嗡 班杂 维格 毗札那 娑哈 Om Benza Wiki Bitana Soha。
要祈请多杰雄登这位特殊、觉悟和觉醒的天使赐予加持和庇佑，你无需是佛教徒或任何宗教的修行者。他总是没有分别或偏见，充满慈悲和慈爱地帮助一切众生。神圣是没有界限的，圣者会帮助有求于他的任何人。
以下附上英文、中文和藏文的祈愿文。
愿你平安，常受庇护和加持。
尊贵的詹杜固仁波切
更多关于第五世达赖尊者和多杰雄登护法的内容 — https://bit.ly/2zsC3tG
更多关于第十四世达赖尊者和多杰雄登护法的内容 — https://bit.ly/2r4aaDN
第五世达赖尊者为多杰雄登护法在拉萨建造的护法殿（布旦康萨）— https://bit.ly/2zBTd8M
Divination (‘mo’) Text by Dorje Shugden
This is an important divination (‘mo’) text composed by Dorje Shugden himself. Dorje Shugden took trance of the Choyang Dulzin oracle lama, the senior oracle of Gaden Shartse Monastery, and instantly on the spot composed this text within two hours.
The divination text contains information on how to use dice to do divination for the future and is known to be highly accurate. When practitioners use this text, they will be in direct contact with Dorje Shugden to get answers to questions about the future. It is for those who have good samaya with Dorje Shugden and are free of the eight worldly dharmas to be of benefit to others in divining the future.
Tsem Rinpoche
DS-MO-choyang.pdf
This lady is totally out of her mind. She is acting and tweeting as if she knows everything about Tibetan Buddhism, Tantra and Guru Samaya. What an ignorant lady to represent the Dharma and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This is why Dorje Shugden ban must be lifted. It created alot of unnecessary suffering and pain to genuine Dharma practitioner all over the world.
Tsem Rinpoche had been a pure monk for all his life, practising the Dharma that was given to him by all his gurus and root guru. He is kind, generous and does nothing to harm others. But now, just because he chose to follow his Guru’s instruction to rely on Dorje Shugden, he was being put down and scolded with vulgarities. All he does was just practice Dorje Shugden which brings no harm to anyone around him.
Dorje Shugden practitioners are being treated as such online. Can you imagine what Dorje Shugden practitioners will go through daily if they live near the Dalai Lama’s supporters that are not civilised and ignorant? There are cases where Dorje Shugden practitioners are beaten up really badly and refused basic human necessities such as medical care, food and even education.
The ban makes no sense and alot of innocent and genuine Dharma practitioners suffered because of it. May His Holiness the DalaiLama lift the ban as soon as possible and give us religious freedom to practice what w want.
The conversation with this person in Ireland is quite entertaining to read. She is acting as if she knows more than Tsem Rinpoche! What kind of qualification does she have to even criticise Tsem Rinpoche? I bet she learns Buddhism from books and youtube without having a real teacher.
Like many other people, she has this perception that the Dalai Lama is the guru to everyone and all of us must listen to the Dalai Lama. This is totally wrong. The Dalai Lama may have brought Dharma to many but it does not make automatically make him our guru just because we have listened to his Dharma talks or read his books. If we are serious in our spiritual journey, we will find ONE teacher who we will follow and listen to. If the Dalai Lama is not our guru, we are not obliged to listen to him.
If this Irish lady has taken the Dalai Lama as her guru, it is fine she follows what the Dalai Lama said. But it is not fine when she asks everyone to listen to the Dalai Lama! She has totally misinterpreted what Samaya is. If she has studied well, she would not behave like this. She is full of anger and makes people wonder what kind of Dharma practice is she doing? Why is she so angry when Buddhism is a religion to help us find peace. This is what Dorje Shugden practitioners have to suffer on a daily basis. The ban is very damaging to the harmony in Tibetan Buddhist community, the CTA must lift the ban soon.
It is indeed very rude for Roisinelder to come to Rinpoche’s tweet and made baseless allegation. Thing she stated just show how irresponsible she is with her limited knowledge of Buddha’s teaching and Dorje Shugden. We are thankful that Rinpoche has shared so many articles, videos, prayers and etc about Dorje Shugden so all students and people around the world understand the origins of the practise. None of this I found negative and the slander made by Roisinelder not only damage her own integrity but HH Dalai Lama. I hope people who read this type of comments on social media has the right understanding to what is true and not. May Dorje Shugden ban be lifted soon and Rinpoche do not need to receive such attack on social media.
Be blessed with these rare videos featuring explanation and advice about Dorje Shugden practice by His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche in his own voice. The teaching was requested by Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, one of the earliest masters who taught Tibetan Buddhism in the West.
Video 1: H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche Explains Dorje Shugden Initiation and Benefits (With English Subtitles)
Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was an erudite scholar, ritual master and practitioner of the highest degree from Tibet. At the request of Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, one of the pioneers who taught Tibetan Buddhism in America, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche gives clear explanation and advice about the life-entrustment initiation of Dorje Shugden and how to go about the practice and get the maximum benefits in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzFMvlxAqtc&feature=youtu.be
Video 2: H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche speaks on the History and Lineage of Dorje Shugden (With English Subtitles)
In this video, an erudite scholar, ritual master and practitioner of the highest degree from Tibet, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche talks about the incarnation lineage of Dorje Shugden and how the practice arose, with examples of Dorje Shugden’s previous lives that reveal his powerful spiritual attainments and contributions. This very rare teaching was given at the request of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche’s student, Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, one of the pioneers who taught Buddhism in the West to many disciples since the 1970s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIzKSJgK618&feature=youtu.be
For more information: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/great-lamas-masters/kyabje-zong-rinpoches-advice-on-dorje-shugdens-practice.html
His Holiness the 10th Panchen Lama
Tibetans commonly refer to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and His Holiness 10th Panchen Lama as the “sun and moon” of Tibetan Buddhism. They are the center of Tibetan Buddhist civilization, which draws to its sphere of influence millions of non-Tibetan practitioners. The Panchen Lama’s incarnation line began with the 16th abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Lobsang Chokyi Gyeltsen (1570 – 1662). He was bestowed the title of Panchen Lama by His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama after being declared as an emanation of Amitabha.
After being given the title, his three previous incarnations were posthumously also bestowed the title, making Lobsang Chokyi Gyeltsen the 4th Panchen Lama. He became a teacher to many Tibetans, Bhutanese and Mongolian religious figures, including His Holiness the 4th and 5th Dalai Lamas, and the 1st Jetsun Dampa of Mongolia. A prolific author, Chokyi Gyeltsen is credited with over a hundred compositions, including a number of commentaries and ritual texts that remain central in the Gelukpa tradition today. Along with his role as a teacher of the Dharma, the Panchen Lamas are usually responsible for the recognition of the rebirths of the Dalai Lamas, and vice versa.
The 10th Panchen Lama, Lobsang Trinley Lhundrub Chokyi Gyeltsen (19 February 1938 – 28 January 1989) continued both the spiritual and political roles of his predecessors. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, his contemporary, was even heard to say and echo the Panchen Lama’s own words that the Dalai Lama would safeguard Tibet from the outside while the Panchen Lama would safeguard Tibet from the inside, as he never left Tibet after the political troubles of 1959. He was truly loved by the Tibetans, all the way until his passing. When he taught, thousands of people would attend, not only from his own Gelug lineage, but masters and practitioners from all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
At his sprawling monastery of Tashi Lhunpo, he has a special chapel specifically dedicated to Dorje Shugden, where prayers and rituals are performed on a daily basis. In his great omniscience the Panchen Lama held Dorje Shugden as the principal Dharma protector of the monastery. He also personally propitiated Dorje Shugden among other Dharma protectors, and even wrote extensive prayers and rituals to Dorje Shugden. These rituals and prayers are contained within his ‘sung bum’ or collected works, which are provided here. As such a great lama, with an erudite and clear understanding of the Buddhist scriptures, a teacher to millions in both Tibet and China, from an established incarnation line and an emanation of the Buddha Amitabha, he could not be mistaken about his practice of Dorje Shugden.
His Holiness 10th Panchen Lama is known for his composition of commentaries and practice texts that are still in use by contemporary Buddhist practitioners both in Tibet and across the world. One of these is a powerful ritual composition propitiating the compassionate Dorje Shugden.
Upon the request by Acharya Lobsang Jangchub to compose a shorter version of the prayer (sadhana) for the exhortation of activities of Dorje Shugden, Panchen Lama immediately composed an abbreviate form of Dorje Shugden’s Kangsol. This text is entitled “Manjunatha’s (Tsongkapa) Lineage protector Dorje Shugden and five forms wrathful propitiations and confessional prayers and fulfilment of activities rites” or “Melodious sound of Accomplishment of the Four Activities” for short. Once the prayers were completed, he had signs and strong feelings that Dorje Shugden has been working hard to protect the Buddhadharma in general and the lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa specifically.
Mirroring the abilities of one of his earlier incarnations, Khedrub Je, a disciple of Lama Tsongkhapa and master of both sutra and tantra, the Panchen Lama used his compositional skill and poetic prowess to create a masterful sadhana. Worthy of note is a praise in which the first letter of each verse is a Tibetan vowel. Such compositions are rarely seen, and have historically only been used when propitiating senior Dharma protectors such as Palden Lhamo and Kalarupa.
The Panchen Lama also stated that while composing the Dorje Shugden sadhana (prayers) he was filled with a sense of happiness and bliss. He ends the composition with not only his official title but his ordination name, Tenzin Trinley Jigme Choje Wangchuk, endorsing the validity of his work. He composed the sadhana in his own Tashi Lhunpo monastery while in the Hall of Clear Light and Bliss.
See the Panchen Lama’s writings and download: https://bit.ly/2KIfeXb
For the first time available, Dorje Shugden and his entourage of 32 asssistants of his mandala.
Dorje Shugden is a powerful protector deity who is also an emanation of Manjushri, a wisdom bestowing Buddha. Therefore, he has great ability to help us to progress further on the spiritual path. He does this by helping us to overcome obstacles and problems for the modern individual.
Due to his enlightened nature, Dorje Shugden is able to manifest 32 deities and within the same abode resides Setrap and Kache Marpo:-
1. 5 Dorje Shugden families or emanations. They consists of the following:-
– Dulzin Dorje Shugden, which performs activities to eliminate inner and outer obstacles.
– Shize, which performs activities to pacify all illnesses and disease.
– Gyenze, which performs activities to increase all desirable material and spiritual wealth.
– Wangze, which performs activities to control difficult people and circumstances.
– Trakze, which performs activities to wrathfully eliminate all insurmountable obstacles and life-threatening situations.
2. 9 Mothers. They represent protection of the five senses and developing control of the four elements. These are all attributes that signify their ability to assist tantric practitioners with their higher meditations.
3. 8 Guiding Monks. They represent the Eight Great Bodhisattvas (Avalokitesvara, Manjushri, Vajrapani, Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Kshitigarbha, Akashagarbha, Sarva-nivarana-viskambini) and they bring about the growth of the Dharma, through the Sangha, Dharma practitioners and Dharma establishments.
4. 10 Youthful & Wrathful Attendants. They represent the ten wrathful attendants to avert inner and outer obstacles. They are beings who are from Mongolia, China, Kashmir, India, Bengali, etc.
5. Setrap. He is a senior Dharma Protector from India and an emanation of Amitabha Buddha. He had enthroned Dorje Shugden as an authentic Dharma Protector. Therefore, he also resides within the same mandala of Dorje Shugden.
6. Kache Marpo. He is not an emanation of Dorje Shugden but he is still an enlightened Dharma Protector in his own right. He was originally known as Tsiu Marpo of Samye Monastery. However, he has placed himself under the service of Dorje Shugden as his chief minister, performing many activities in order to protect and benefit practitioners. Therefore, he stands guard at the main entrance of Dorje Shugden’s mandala. He often takes trance of qualified mediums to speak.
7. Namkar Barzin. He is the reincarnation of an old Mongolian monk and when he passed away in Phari area of Tibet, his spirit was placed as a powerful assistant of Dorje Shugden. He guards and protects buildings and great institutions especially those that benefit others. He rides on a mythical Gyaling animal that resembles a goat but with scales.
These sacred images are available on *Vajrasecrets. They are made of high quality alloy and are one of a kind. They are based on the lineage of His Holiness Panchen Rinpoche’s monastery, Tashilhunpo in Shigatse, Tibet. In fact, the iconography of these statues are based on detailed photographs taken by H. E. Tsem Rinpoche during a trip to Tashilhunpo’s protector chapel. These are based exactly as the 10th Panchen Lama’s personal collection.
Dorje Shugden mandala: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=131570
Dorje Shugden’s benefit and practice: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=62422
Dorje Shugden’s origins: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=106424
Dorje Shugden chapel in His Holiness Panchen Rinpoche’s Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=68698
*Stand not included
Sakya tradition’s thangka of Dorje Shugden sitting on a throne within his palace with his four emanations and high Sakya Lamas nearby. Tsem Rinpoche
Antique Pelden Lhamo thangka with sacred Dorje Shugden at the bottom right. Can see Tsongkapa and Guru Rinpoche on the top also. Beautiful and holy.
In this video, a nice couple is being targeted and attacked just because they are pagan faith. They are Wiccan and the nice lady is a practising elemental witch, but they are being perceived to be bad people and hurting children, although none of that is true and they are being attacked for their faith. This is also another example of what Dorje Shugden people go through especially in Dharamsala, India because the Tibetan Leadership has put a notice on their official site stating that Shugden practitioners are bad and demon worshippers which is completely untrue. Hence, daily Shugden practitioners are being persecuted and if you are not there in Dharamsala, you get online abuse like what H.E. Tsem Rinpoche receives daily as well as myself and other Kecharians who are openly practising what our Guru gave us.
Is this kind of discrimination and violence acceptable in this day and age when there is religious freedom? Why are these people allowed to do this crime? Why is the Tibetan Leadership acting like a dictatorship and attacking others of a different faith? They do it indirectly and encourage this hatred because they do nothing, say nothing and have a page talking against Shugden on their official website. That is a clear indication there is a ban and discrimination against Shugden people.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516798075.mp4
In this video is a police officer being discriminated for his Wiccan religion and he is going to sue the state because he was told it was mandatory for him to attend a Christian gathering. There is supposed to be freedom of religion, so why is it okay for a group of people to force other people to join, pray and believe their religion? And what gives them the authority to tell people what to believe or not to believe in? This is a dictatorship type of leadership, not a democratic one at all. And this is exactly the same question I would like to ask the Tibetan Leadership and those who come on our social media wall to abuse us and call us names and vulgarities because we practice Dorje Shugden. Watch what the guy says in the video.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516798026.mp4
I’ve just attached a video here on a lady reading about “the Persecution of Women in Witchcraft”. It is stated that in the early 16th century there was a mass execution of witchcraft. In the year 1515 in Geneva Switzerland, they burned 500 witches at the stake.In 1526, 1000 witches in Italy were executed. In 1571 witch hunt spreads across France.In total it is estimated from 1500 – 1600, there were 50 – 80,000 suspected witches executed.
Religious persecution in any way is wrong, look at how many lives were taken because people decide to discriminate on others and persecute them just because they do not follow your belief system. This is exactly what Dorje Shugden practitioners are facing today as well when the Tibetan leadership keeps on harping and silently encouraging their people to discriminate and ostracised Shugden practitioners which we can see from all the above online abuse. Is this okay in this 21st century, is this what H.H. the Dalai Lama advocates – religious tolerance? I think not.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516797992.mp4
Everyone has rights to practise what they like. Those who practise witchcraft has their rights to practise but they are not allowed to voice out their concerns, fearing to be treated differently just like most Dorje Shugden people.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516798931.mp4
Taken away the rights to purchase items for witchcraft is the same as burning the witch for practising their religion. It is just a manifestation of different types of witch hunt and banning the sale of certain items is the same as stopping them from practising a certain ritual that is the same as taking their rights away. This scenario is the same as what Dorje Shugden people face also.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516798088.mp4
This is another proof of discrimination that is similar to Dorje Shugden people. The witchcraft people do not get to purchase their religious practise items online because there is no law that protects their rights on what they can purchase and what not they cannot.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516797979.mp4
Despite the founding fathers’ effort to give Americans religious freedom, the Wiccans and Pagans are denied their right, such as to have Chaplains to perform ceremonies, receiving books and materials and so on in prison. It is not fair and this is the kind of discrimination Dorje Shugden practitioners faces. Tibetans in exile are supposed to be ruled under democracy, but they are denied their rights of religious freedom. This is not fair.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516797960.mp4
This is another example of religious discrimination. Wicca was accused to be related to Satan, which is not true. Wiccans are being rejected from being able to participate in the governmental system as they are not a member of the mainstream Judeo-Christian religion.Similarly, Dorje Shugden is accused to be a demon/ evil spirit, and that Shugden practitioners are not allowed to participate in the system – they cannot work in governmental jobs, they are denied travel documents, they are not denied medical treatment, and the members of the public are advised to not be associated with them.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516797909.mp4
This video shows how Christians in Nigeria face enormous persecution, similar to what Dorje Shugden people are facing.Just like what Bishop Mike Moses said in the video, they are being persecuted “in your own country, your own community”, and that’s worse than being persecuted by others.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516797726.mp4
Pagan man talks about freedom of religion choices
Religious freedom should be applicable to all including Pagan practitioners and atheists
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516796937.mp4
This man’s dilemma is similar to what Dorje Shugden practitioners are experiencing. Even if the Dalai Lama has discouraged Dorje Shugden practice, those who choose to retain their practice should still have the right to do so without being penalized, without being discriminated, abused, attacked and harassed day in day out. Religious Freedom is every human’s right and should be respected, when the Tibetan Leadership stay silent when Shugden practitioners are being attacked, it is clear they condone it. So how can Tibetan Leadership claim to be democratic when they are not and how can they point the finger and blame others for human rights abuse when they do so themselves with their very own people? Illogical, injustice and unacceptable in this day and age!
Oklahoma Pagan suffer Discrimination
A lady witch suffers discrimination after being found out that she is a witch.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516796905.mp4
This is similar to what Dorje Shugden practitioners are experiencing in Tibetan settlements. Once they are found out that they are a Dorje Shugden practitioner, they would be a target for discrimination (e.g., denied service in the public places), some even target attacked. And if you are not in Dharamsala, you will be targeted and attacked online with vulgarities and all kinds of derogatory slurs.
Messianic Jews Persecuted
In 2005, a large number of protestors crashed the Messianic Jews Christmas eve celebration and told them to go back to Gaza.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/chat-videos/chat-1516796866.mp4
Any form of discrimination is wrong and should be discouraged and stopped. How can we discriminate people base on their religion, just because we dislike their religion? This is pure prejudice and hatred, so how can this be considered good and right for those executing such persecution? And this is exactly the same mentality the Tibetan Leadership has and encourage their people to attack Shugden practitioners. This is the kind of hatred that cause division, war, and suffering. How can one religion claim to be better than the other in the name of “God”? How can this be considered compassion?
Great message every Tibetan especially must read!
This comment by ‘Suzy in Hawaii’ left on Tsem Rinpoche’s YouTube is a clear indication that sentiments towards Dorje Shugden are changing for the better. Rinpoche has worked very hard to disseminate accurate information about the Protector practice and it looks like minds are shifting. Very encouraging development. See here-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl-4lIwxph4&t=11s
Its sad to see and hear people have this kind of mind set.. some say they practice dharma but why mind set is like that..
It is a common occurrence, that anti Dorje Shugden think if they are ‘right’ they can do and say as they please, its almost like they can do as they please and karma does not apply anymore.
I do hope, if people want to represent the Dalai Lama, they should represent him so that it does not tarnish the Dalai Lama’s reputation.
We got to increase our faith and understand more before saying things that was not true and logic.Why is this lady Roisin Elder putting the Dalai Lama down. Everyone deserves and should have religious freedom .
Respect our Master always whether we like or not to hear what they are teaching.Different Master have different view but we should not condemn the other as a Buddhist.Anger and ignorant is bad for our mind, will then creates problems to arise .Rinpoche always teaches us to let go of anger, hatred and intolerance.,be kind,loving ,caring and compassion
Thanks you Valentina Suhendra and Joy Kam.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing. It’s really sad to see some people with ignorant and hatred mind, they have no idea what they are attacking, who they are insulting and why they want to do this. Their attacks, their insults, are simply base on anger, ignorant, without any facts and evidence, and obviously, she’s confused.
I learnt something from this blog, although I am not good at words and comments, but after reading this, I know when we attack something or someone, we must base on something relevant, train our mind calm, not to simply pick on individuals without any facts and evidence. And, it clearly can see some people who leave nasty comments on Rinpoche’s posts, are those don’t have dharma knowledge, don’t know the truth and facts, with ignorant and anger mind, or some maybe not even Buddhist.
Thank you again Rinpoche for the sharing. It’s really an eye opener that, really got this kind of people in the world, that simply shoot and attack just simply based on their own feeling and anger. This show how ignorant are these people’s mind nowadays. May they all be blessed. _/\_
OMG, Roisin Elder does sound totally confused. She contradicts herself in her web of insults. She says the Dalai Lama is the Buddha of compassion and on the same breath, says he evicts people from his teachings because they practice Dorje Shugden and excludes them from his Mandala. Is she in his Mandala to be able to know that?
She seems to claim to know the Lamrim and thinks that we don’t and says we should go read it. But her stand does not reflect the Lamrim, and does she know that the teachings of Tsem Tulku Rinpoche is based ON the Lamrim and Dorje Shugden protects those teachings? What is she talking about?
She paints all Dorje Shugden practitioners with one broad stroke and uses the term NKT generically and negatively though we have no connection with them.
She is so seething in hatred and anger, so blinded by ignorance and negativity, I feel sorry for her.
But I thank Roisin for giving us more hits. And out of her vitriol, a whole dharma teaching has evolved. That is one positive outcome, thank you! At least it is clear how a true dharma practitioner should and should not behave and why we should not so quickly condemn and deprecate anyone in the public domain without basis as we then open up the state of our deluded minds for everyone to see. Not wise.
I am really surprised that somebody who is so protective of the Dalai Lama can also be extremely rude and biased. I am pretty sure the Dalai Lama never told his students to be rude and self centered.
Ms Roisin wasn’t just insulting a normal person, she insulted a highly attained Lama!! It was absolutely clear that she was in the wrong and yet she kept ranting on and on about the same thing over and over again.
I really hope that Ms Roisin will seek forgiveness and not repeat this act again..
Dear Pavara
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you re: Ms. Roisin’s comment. She was very rude and extremely bias. However, the purpose of this article is not to pick on Ms Roisin as she is only one of many. It was meant for us to learn how to respond to criticism politely in a civilise manner :).
Valentina
It is such an honour to have HE the 25th Tsem Rinpoche as my Guru, as I read from this post Rinpoche’s graciousness and kindness in trying to correct the views of Roisin Elder who is twisted by anger and hatred and complete disrespect.
It is sad that HE the 25th Tsem Rinpoche has to deal with such an example of complete vulgarities and rudeness just because of His belief in the Protector of this time, Dorje Shugden.
Let us respect and honour Great Teachers whether or not we like to hear what they are teaching.
This post also articulate the wrongful prejudice against Dorje Shugden practitioners.
This person is a natural “smartypants” but he or she can’t get away with it when faced with a trained logician.
The article below I think quite accurately describes whomever is behind these evil tweets.
“The problem with smart people is that they like to be right and sometimes will defend ideas to the death rather than admit they’re wrong. This is bad. Worse, if they got away with it when they were young (say, because they were smarter than their parents, their friends, and their parent’s friends) they’ve probably built an ego around being right, and will therefore defend their perfect record of invented righteousness to the death. Smart people often fall into the trap of preferring to be right even if it’s based in delusion, or results in them, or their loved ones, becoming miserable. (Somewhere in your town there is a row of graves at the cemetery, called smartypants lane, filled with people who were buried at poorly attended funerals, whose headstones say “Well, at least I was right.”)
Until they come face to face with someone who is tenacious enough to dissect their logic, and resilient enough to endure the thinly veiled intellectual abuse they dish out during debate.”
http://scottberkun.com/essays/40-why-smart-people-defend-bad-ideas/
Thank you, Valentina and Joy for posting this as I learnt a few things that we should remember when engaging with anyone on a social media platform such as Twitter.
1) We should ALWAYS be very careful with our choice of words and tone.
2) Our Tweets should be of value and will bring some benefit to the readers.
3) We must respect other’s views and agree to disagree.
4) Good manners and kindness will never hurt.
5) When one has insufficient knowledge or information, it is better not to post anything as it may not only reflect poorly on oneself but can reflect on one’s teacher or organisation.
It is a shame to see someone who professes to be a practitioner, get on the religious high horse and talks down to another. By trying to impose his/her views on another via harsh and disparaging speech is itself one of the 10 non-virtues as pointed out so aptly by Bradley Kassian in his comment. What makes it even worse is that the person that the harsh speech is directed to is a man of robes and a highly attained one too.
From this exchange between Rinpoche and @roisinelder, I feel that a healthy debate is a good thing when both parties engage in informative and educational exchanges in a friendly manner. However, when one party is using harsh speech and hateful words, it reflects not only his/her skills (or lack of) as a debater but also as a practitioner of whichever chosen religion. Actions of such practitioners are detrimental to not only himself/herself but also to the religious organisation (s)he belongs too and his/her leader/spiritual guide.
Arrogance and ignorance at play together can be deadly. It shuts the mind from listening and using logic to analyse information received. Prejudice is what it becomes eventually. Roisin Elder claimed she read widely, but her replies did not reflect her knowledge. She is not just disrespectful to Tsem Rinpoche but many high masters who have acknowledged Rinpoche’s incarnation including HH Dalai Lama. I hope that she would come out of it. May this article helps us to learn to be kind to others regardless of situations and practice the precious teachings from Rinpoche.
Wow! From this article two things stand out so glaringly…ignorance & compassion. Roisin Elder’s ignorance really stood out as she continuously go back & forth with her “debates” (I would personally say its more like accusations) without getting her facts right and wrong views. Comments by Bradley Kassian sums up so well how a practitioner should watch one’s speech and Roisin Elder would do well to heed his advice. She is a very good example of how important a qualified Guru is to our practice of gaining real wisdom and compassion. And I do pray that Lord Dorje Shugden will help her in his compassion that she does not continue committing such negative karma.
Compassion is what Rinpoche had showered on her with his skilful replies to teach her real respect for the Dalai Lama. Rinpoche had so patiently replied to her although she kept throwing her wrong views at him in rude and vulgar accusations. If Roisin Elder had a Guru to guide her in understanding the teachings of real Dharma, then she would have realised the kindness of Rinpoche had for her.
Rinpoche had always been respectful to the Dalai Lama from the very first time I saw him. He would put his hands together in respect whenever the name Dalai Lama was said by him or others. Although the Dalai Lama and Rinpoche may have differing views on Protector Dorje Shugden, our Guru had always taught us to be polite and kind in our speech in replies to attacks from others. Our Guru had given us the precious Dharma and being students, we should apply it in our practices as we are reflections of our Guru. We are most certainly not members of some cult as our Guru always encourage us to read and learn so that we gain more knowledge if not wisdom. In other words, we have the full freedom to learn and practice our spirituality and to remain in ignorance or to pursue higher attainments is our free choice. Our Guru loves us just as much and of course worry for our continual suffering in samsara. Why wouldn’t I stay with my precious Guru who has all the enlightened nature of a Buddha? Hey, with such a Guru, even if it is a cult, sign me up for membership, in blood if you need.
Thank you Valentina and Joy for this article that brings to our attention of the accusations, abuse and threats that Rinpoche had to face every day. No one should be invaded and subjected to receive such vulgarity (I must say Roisin Elder was quite mild compared to some I saw which has the ability to make me cringe) on a daily basis, what more someone who is one with the Buddha like our Guru, H.E. the 25th Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. Thank you Rinpoche for your endless compassion towards all sentient beings and may you live very long to continue teaching and guiding us out of our self inflicted delusion and ignorance. _()_
Horrible, is all I can describe from the verbalizations coming from @roisinelder. Is this how you would treat your family, friends, coworkers, or kids? Disgusting display, on their part. This makes me feel very ashamed since I am a westerner myself. Coming onto someone else’s twitter page and trying to aggressively berate them is an action of an internet troll & a bully who clearly has too much time on their hands to spread hatred. Just because you have some set viewpoint and see things from your own limited understanding does not give you the right to harass another online or offline. How does their actions represent the Dalai Lama or his viewpoints? Would the Dalai Lama attack someone through this divisive/harsh speech which @roisinelder displayed?
Want to get back to what the Buddha taught? Then please @roisinelder review what Buddha Shakyamuni taught. Right Speech is the third of the eight path factors in the Noble Eightfold Path. Buddha defined this in this manner: “And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.” – That is found in the Samyutta Nikāya 45.8.
Buddha Shakyamuni went on to describe what constitutes right speech: “Monks, a statement endowed with five factors is well-spoken, not ill-spoken. It is blameless & unfaulted by knowledgeable people. Which five?
“It is spoken at the right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of good-will.” That is found in the Anguttara Nikāya 5.198.
Buddha Shakyamuni goes on to explain again this concept of right speech in other sutras, one of which reads: “One should speak only that word by which one would not torment oneself nor harm others. That word is indeed well spoken.
“One should speak only pleasant words, words which are acceptable (to others). What one speaks without bringing evils to others is pleasant.”
— Thag 21
Buddha again addresses Right Speech in the form of practice and reflection on what should be done before, during and after speaking. He does so in what is the Majjhima Nikaya : [The Buddha speaks to his son, Rahula:] “Whenever you want to perform a verbal act, you should reflect on it: ‘This verbal act I want to perform — would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Is it an unskillful verbal act, with painful consequences, painful results?’ If, on reflection, you know that it would lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it would be an unskillful verbal act with painful consequences, painful results, then any verbal act of that sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. But if on reflection you know that it would not cause affliction… it would be a skillful verbal action with happy consequences, happy results, then any verbal act of that sort is fit for you to do.
“While you are performing a verbal act, you should reflect on it: ‘This verbal act I am doing — is it leading to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Is it an unskillful verbal act, with painful consequences, painful results?’ If, on reflection, you know that it is leading to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both… you should give it up. But if on reflection you know that it is not… you may continue with it.
“Having performed a verbal act, you should reflect on it… If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful verbal act with painful consequences, painful results, then you should confess it, reveal it, lay it open to the Teacher or to a knowledgeable companion in the holy life. Having confessed it… you should exercise restraint in the future. But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to affliction… it was a skillful verbal action with happy consequences, happy results, then you should stay mentally refreshed and joyful, training day and night in skillful mental qualities.”
I confess my understanding is not on a scholarly level, but I strive to understand & practice the most basic pricinples Buddha taught. In the form of Tibetan Buddhism we have the condensation of all his teachings in the Lam Rim. It does not matter which Lam Rim book you look at each one of them sources the information they contain at the back, and what sutras the information comes from, so to suggest someone like H.E. Tsem Rinpoche or even Geshe Kelsang Gyatso limits what their students can read is wrong view.
H.E. Tsem Rinpoche works tirelessly to bring dharma to all he can, and never saids anything bad about His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His actions of Body, Speech, and Mind always reflect and emulate what he wants his students or anyone close to him to achieve. To become better, kinder, more compassionate human beings. To develop loving kindness, bodhichitta, the full view of shunyata, equanimity, joy, patience perseverance, wisdom, to gain merits, and purify their karma. He has always been consistent in his speech, and dharma talks. He stresses very highly Lam Rim, longjong, and guru devotion. The fundamentals for attainments to arise, for without the Guru they would not arise. Every single teaching he gives he always encourges his students to analyze, discuss, debate, and most importantly critically think about the topic at hand, and then finally apply what was taught. Is that an action of someone who runs a cult??? For anyone that reads this please stop and reflect on that last sentence. I have seen repeatedly H.E Tsem Rinpoche accused of running a cult, but the actions he himself, and the Kechara Organization do are clearly the opposite in nature. Cults limit information, and social interactions through cocersion, threats, violence, shaming, and many underhanded methods.
So to attack him on a social media platform over a simple hashtag and because of a particular practice given to him by his Root Guru, like that of the practice of Dorje Shugden who is none other than Manjushri/Tsongkhapa is wrong, it helps no one, and only pushes you further from enlightenment. Not everyone has samaya with his Holiness the Dalai Lama, but if we have samaya with another guru like H.E Tsem Rinpoche, or Geshe Kelsang Gyatso then we should do everything in our power to maintain clean samaya as it is the most precious thing we can have in samsara, for the guru can help liberate us by giving us teachings, methods, and practices that are only beneficial. So if anyone takes anything at all out of this long winded comment by me, then please watch your speech and practice Right Speech which Buddha Shakyamuni taught, and not slander, lie, defame, insult, or create divisive speech but promote a peaceful, harmonious, conducive, conductive environment for everyone, and especially the dharma. So it may grow, and flourish in this world and remain a long time. Do not attack monks, but keep an open mind. You never know, if you do, something good might stick. 😉
Dear Bradley
First of all, I would like to thank you for your comprehensive comment because it is a reflection on how much you appreciated our work. Tsem Rinpoche always welcome a healthy debate, but I have to admit that @roisinelder was using vulgar language toward Tsem Rinpoche and therefore she purposely tried to act like a bully and make Tsem Rinpoche looks bad. But I think she miscalculated something, she claimed that she represented the Dalai Lama and to have a lot of faith in him. However, her action showed that she does not have much faith in the Dalai Lama. And the fact that she was using vulgar language like calling Tsem Rinpoche a “spoilt brat” is making the Dalai Lama look bad. The following are some examples.
There are indications that @roisinelder’s faith in the Dalai Lama is bogus. However, her action was on the contrary. If she did have faith in the Dalai Lama and believe that he is a Chenrezig, then why does she is convinced that Dorje Shugden can harm the Dalai Lama who is the emanation of an enlightened being. What sort of faith that she is having then?
@Roisinelder made false accusation. Another note, she repeatedly claimed that Tsem Rinpoche is part of NKT and hate the Dalai Lama. Tsem Rinpoche definitely is not part of NKT and never speak badly of the Dalai Lama. There is nothing in his language that indicates Tsem Rinpoche is against the Dalai Lama.
@roisinelder also think very lowly of Tsem Rinpoche’s students by saying Tsem Rinpoche has low intelligence and limited access to information. Another ignorant comment from her.
I just think that it is important to post these exchanges between Tsem Rinpoche and @roisinelder to illustrate what Tsem Rinpoche and other DS Lamas are going through on daily basis as a Dorje Shugden practitioners.
Valentina
I hope #roisinelder and people with similar mind set has learn new knowledge and information from H.E. Tsem Rinpoche’s teaching. When we say we support HH the 14th Dalai Lama or claim to be his student, we should represent him well, because H.H. is a Bodhisattva, we should emulate his loving kindness and generosity. When we say we are a Buddhist, then we should act accord to a proper Buddhist conduct, hold our vows, watch our body, speech and mind. If we are matured enough to understand this and yet we still continue with the bad behaviour, with slandering, divisive speech and creating non stop schism, then these people are up to no good. It seems that they might have specific intention and task to damage others by repeating their bad behaviour day and night. Why are these people so malicious? Who hired you and what is your agenda?
Look at this tweet that @EnquirySelf wrote to Rinpoche about this post. It is just heart warming to see comments like this.
Thank you Valentina and Joy for composing this article. I agree with what is written in this article that many people make sweeping statements about Dorje Shguden practitioners are evil, cult and China supporter. They didn’t do their homework well by grouping all Dorje Shugden practitioners as NKT (no disrespect to NKT).
Furthermore, this lady @roisinelder lives in the England who is supposedly born with the ceoncept of religious freedom, and yet she does not hesitate to launch vulgar and vicious attacks to someone she doesn’t know. From this, we can already see the amount of hatred that has been implanted to many people, and many are Buddhists(just like @roisinelder).
Can you imagine that people become a Buddhist only to become have more hatred? Does it make sense? Why is it happening? Do people like @roisinelder even realise this fundamental issue? Buddhism is about getting rid of hatred and be kind to everyone, but people like @roisinelder become a Buddhist and they become more vengeful & vicious?
I feel something is really wrong here, and we need to fix it very soon. This blaming of Dorje Shugden is really unhealthy for Buddhism as a whole, as it results in something that is totally against the Buddha’s teaching.
Wit the recent video of HH Dalai Lama saying that He cannot be harmed by Dorje Shugden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-f8GpxvfUA), I pray this is the start of the lifting of the ban, and people can all unite again.
People will believe what they want to believe sometimes. In this case, this lady merely wants to ingratiate herself to the Dalai Lama’s group. unfortunately, she is ill informed and have no firm grasp of the situation that was propagandize by others.
The Dalai Lama has always taught love and compassion and the middle way. The Dalai Lama is also the winner of the Noble Peace Prize and would be most askance at the hostile manner this supposed followers of his, is behaving.
May I learn the dharma from my lama well and be able to apply it in my everyday life well as my most supreme of offering to my lama.
Dear Fong
Thank you for your comments. I think it is important to remember that the purpose of this post is not to pick on @roisinelder. She is one of the many self-proclaimed followers of the Dalai Lama, who think that they have the right to police others and harass those who opt to exercise their religious freedom.
Not only they harass other people and make incorrect accusations on public notice board like Twitter, they also reflect badly on the Dalai Lama. Indirectly, they accused the Dalai Lama of segregating his own people. If these so called self-proclaimed followers of the Dalai Lama really care about him, they will stop using His Holiness’s name to police others and being so judgemental.
Valentina
I wish that Ms. Roisin Elder learns the good qualities of kindness and compassion from the Dalai Lama instead of blindly following Him. I hope that this debate would open up her mind and allow her to make deep contemplation as well as taking refuge in the Buddha, dharma and sangha in future.
Dear Jan,
Thank you for your comment and I am glad you see the illogical and rudeness of Ms Roisin Elder. There are many out there who have differing views with us, but it does not give us the right to be rude, judgemental and unkind to others. Worst still when you claim to be a fan of someone as holy as the Dalai Lama. It really paints His Holiness in a bad light because if this was the kind of people who follows the Dalai Lama, then one would wonder what is the Dalai Lama teaching and why does He allow such behaviours in his followers. I also hope she will calm down and from this realise how wrong it is to discriminate and infringe on other people’s spiritual choice.
Goes to show there are many “blind faith” followers and not necessary real practitioners, unfortunately.
Dear Valentina and Joy,
Thank you for taking time to meticulously put up the twitter debate between our Guru His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche and Roisin Elder.
Rinpoche has always been teaching us to answer with compassion and wisdom to haters of Dorje Shugden, to people who do not really understand the situation and persecution.
From the lack of research and understanding of our Guru made Roisin Elder looked somewhat ill-informed.
This persecution is real. The vulgarities, profanities, abuses, hate words are real. Drove Shugden practitioners are constantly facing these perils, and especially high Lamas [like Rinpoche] are subjected to harsher, worse remarks and snide.
I do seek the understanding of those who do not know the real situation to learn more from Rinpoche’s blog or go to http://www.dorjeshugen.org.
What these “fanatical” followers of His Holiness the Dalai Lama do not know is that constantly hurling abuses at Dorje Shugden practitioners only make HHDL look bad, as what your article clearly states.
I wish for the best for the ignorants ones and for the lift of the ban soonest!
Thank you.
From the exchanges of tweets, it is very clear that this lady @roisinelder have little understanding if the Dalai Lama and Dharma. She talks as if she knows it well but from her tweets I can actually see she know little of everything and acts like she knows it all.
Her tweets contradicts with each other and her closed minded thinking is a clear example of ignorance. We should learn dharma with an open mind and not being stubborn on our own perceptions. Furthermore, using harsh words and vulgarities on a member of the ordained community shows that she has no respect for Buddha, dharma and Sangha.
From the twitter exchange between Rinpoche and this #roisinelder it is very clear that #roisinelder has very little knowledge on Tibetan Buddhism as well as tantric teaching. The beating around the bush exchange by #roisinelder is pretty annoying to read and Rinpoche is kind enough to engage #roisinelder and patiently explaining the matter in a logical way but apparently #roisinelder has shut itself in a dark corner and not open to a more intellectual level. I believe Rinpoche purpose is not to prove anything but helping #roisinelder clear the dark cloud that is hovering over the head.
I would advise #roisinelder not to hide behind Twitter and be brave enough to come out and debate openly about the distorted and misguided misgivings #roisinelder mind on Tibetan Buddhism. If #roisinelder is afraid and not prepare to do so it only reflects on how small #roisinelder mind is and only revolving around on what #roisinelder believes to be right and not accepting others opinions.
#roisinelder concept of the moon is square in shape and no matter how hard one may try to make #roisinelder believe that it is round the mind has already being put into deep slumber land and only #roisinelder can only make itself wake up and start to realize that daylight has arrived.
Dear Sonny
Thank you for your comments. I agree with you that @roisinelder seemed to have shut herself on an intellectual level and not open to an intellectual discussion. She also seemed to have a very low opinion of the intelligence level of Tsem Rinpoche’s students by implying that we have been influenced blindly by our teacher.
In truth, Rinpoche always advised us to study and learned as much as we can to increase our faith and understanding. When I was first introduced into Dorje Shugden practice, Rinpoche encouraged me to research about Dorje Shugden myself because only with understanding my faith will be stronger. It is amazing that someone like @roisinelder who does not know much about Tsem Rinpoche and Kecharians can make such a degrading comments about us.
@roisinelder is definitely not a good reflection of the Dalai Lama.
Valentina