Malaysian Brickfields Chief Monk Sri Dhammaratana Fosters Harmony with Tibetan Buddhism
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Malaysia (centre) with the acting Abbot of Phelgyeling Monastery and the Malaysians who helped to arrange the visit.
This news was sent to me by someone wishing to remain anonymous. I was very happy to see it and share this here with you so you can rejoice in it too. Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Malaysia is a learned monk from Sri Lanka. He is stationed in the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields in our beautiful country of Malaysia to share Buddhism with those interested. He believes in harmony in all traditions of Buddhism. Each Buddhist tradition may have indigenous practices from their individual countries that may look foreign to another Buddhist tradition, but the bottom line is we all pray to the Buddha. This should be the guiding yardstick. I humbly commend Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana for reaching out to various Buddhists of other traditions to foster harmony, peace and showing us Buddha’s teachings in action.
May Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana live long, have continued great health and his dharma works grow for the benefit of many beings.
Humbly, Tsem Rinpoche
Tashi delek dearest His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche,
My warmest greetings to you. I’m stay in Malaysia but we have not met. I don’t go to any centre or organisation in KL because my lama is in Tibet so I go there to see him. But anyways I have been practice Dorje Shugden for the last 25 years due to my guru’s advices to me and I wanted to share with you this photos of our Malaysia Chief Monk Dhammaratana from Brickfields Maha Vihara. Recently he visit Phelgyeling which is Dorje Shugden monastery in Nepal. I thought maybe you like to know this news about Chief Monk because you met Chief Monk before. I hope you can share this news on your blogsite. But I remains anonymous.
Is very nice that Theravadan don’t have these types of sectarian differences. Chief Monk can go to Tibetan temple inside Nepal and pay respects to their altar and also talk with them as one monk to another monk. For me this should be the way because we are all Buddha son and daughter.
In Malaysia I know there are some Tibetan Buddhism organisations which like to take photos with Dalai Lama and then put the photo everywhere to make people think they are close to Dalai Lama. Then they want people to think they have some kind of authority over everyone and have authority which Buddhism is genuine and not genuine but actually is not true. They like to control various dharma centres and have power in Malaysia. This is very wrong. They use the Dorje Shugden issue for not making Buddhism grow but to control other people and that is very political. Malaysia allow any religion and any faith and is democratic. Some more these groups and their committee are by lay people and not learned in Buddhism and if they have some monks in the committee, is just the normal monks and not really the learned monks and Geshes. Real monks and learned Geshes will not make disharmony or criticize other Buddhism. Venerable Dhammaratana doesn’t care about Dorje Shugden issue and not political and not want power. He simply visit another temple and make more harmony. I am very proud for this. He show good example for Tibetan Buddhist monks and followers. This is the way of real Buddhism to make harmony and accept other people religion, god and spirituality. We should never hate others or separate others because of their religion. We are all human and need peace and love in the society. We need to eat, live, work, pray together in harmony. Don’t let people use religion to separate people. This is what Buddha taught.
Anyways I thought Rinpoche might like to see this happy harmony event between different religious tradition. I also send you a few pictures I found. You are not my teacher but I always pray for your long life Rinpoche. Keep up the good works sir! Sorry for my bad English as I didn’t go English school.
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu
-Anonymous.
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields (centre) with the acting Abbot of Phelgyeling Monastery (left)
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields with the acting Abbot of Phelgyeling Monastery lighting a butter lamp to the Buddha in the monastery’s main prayer hall
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields with the acting Abbot of Phelgyeling Monastery lighting a butter lamp to the Buddha in the monastery’s main prayer hall
History of Phelgyeling Monastery
Phelgyeling Monastery in Tibet was originally a Kagyu monastery but converted to the Gelug tradition in 1665, during the reign of His Holiness the Great 5th Dalai Lama. In 1959, during the Cultural Revolution, the monks fled Tibet with their most precious statues and re-established Phelgyeling in Kathmandu, Nepal located at the base of the Swayambunath Stupa.
The monastery is most famous for upholding the teachings of the Gelug lineage, including the yidam (meditational deity) practices of Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka and Heruka Chakrasamvara. The monastery also relies on a number of Dharma protectors, most famously Dorje Shugden. In the monastery’s Protector chapel, they have a statue of Dorje Shugden which was made by the 5th Dalai Lama himself.
Phelgyeling Monastery located in Kathmandu, Nepal. This monastery houses many important and sacred statues including a statue of Dorje Shugden made by His Holiness the Great 5th Dalai Lama.
The statue of Dorje Shugden which was handmade by the Great 5th Dalai Lama, that is today enshrined in Phelgyeling Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Someone today left an interesting comment below which I snagged and put here because I found it to be thought-provoking and wish to share it all with you. They also included some photos with what they wrote, which I’ve included for you here. You can click on the images below to take a closer look if you wish.
Lau’s Thought-Provoking Comment
Click on the screenshot below to enlarge and see what Lau has to say.
Lau’s original comment
Images Provided by Lau
 |
 |
| LOCATION: Thailand. Click to enlarge. | LOCATION: Vietnam. Click to enlarge. |
 |
 |
| LOCATION: China. Click to enlarge. | LOCATION: China. Click to enlarge. |
 |
 |
| LOCATION: Singapore. Click to enlarge. | LOCATION: Thailand. Click to enlarge. |
 |
 |
| LOCATION: Burma. Click to enlarge. | LOCATION: Thailand. Click to enlarge. |
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
With deep devotion to the guru, higher meditational insights will arise. Because of not having higher meditational insights, one will not realize the need to have devotion to the guru in order to gain higher insights. They are interdependent.~Tsem Rinpoche
With deep devotion to the guru, higher meditational insights will arise. If one does not have deep devotion to the guru, it is a clear sign one does not have higher meditational insights.~Tsem Rinpoche
Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-culture and multi-religions country. I am proud to be a Malaysia as we respect one another regardless of our racial or religion.
Chief Monk Sri Dhammaratana is showing a good example of a spiritual leader to visit other traditions of Buddhism. Despite Phelgyeling Monastery is known as Dorje Shugden monastery in Kathmandu, which Dorje Shugden practice is discriminated by some of the Tibetan Buddhism practitioners, Chief Monk is showing equality and compassion and treat all the same by visiting Phelgyeling Monastery.
All Buddha’s teaching and practices are the same and lead us to enlightenment. We should not criticise any of the Buddha’s teachings as different teachings are meant to help different types of sentient beings. When I first know about Dorje Shugden ban, I really cannot believe that Tibetan leadership-in-exile are using Buddhism for their political gain and banned Dorje Shugden practise which are there for more than 400 years and were practiced by many high lamas too.
Chief Monk’s action is truly the Buddha’s Way of promoting peace and harmony. I rejoice!
Great News…….Chief Monk Sri Dhammaratana of Malaysia fosters harmony , visiting Phelgyeling Monastery which is Dorje Shugden monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. This is a great example of true spiritual leadership even though they comes from a different traditions of Buddhism. All religions teach us all to be good and must work in harmony and cooperate in the true spirit of service. Looking at those heart warmed pictures of Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana lighting a butter lamp to the Buddha at the monastery and having a moment with acting Abbot of Phelgyeling Monastery paints a thousand words, such a positive reinforcement of true tolerance, respect and religious acceptance. This is very inspiring and hope this article will bring more awareness to others, to respect everyone. An example to promote peace, harmony, tolerance and acceptance. This should be the way , it would be wonderful if all practitioners from different tradition of Tibetans Buddhism can foster such a relationship. Differences in religious beliefs and practices should not hinder the progress of working for a peaceful common cause, for world peace and harmony.
Due to the Dorje Shugden controversy , the Tibetan leadership have been exploiting and attacking their own people and the Tibetan Buddhist communities is divided until today. No one should be discriminated and segregated just because of different religious belief. Their choice is theirs and religious freedom should be allowed. May Dalai Lama please lift the ban on Dorje Shugden.
Malaysia is a multicultural and multi confessional country, we practice what we like . There is no restriction of what we should pray or not to pray. Its our choice as long we respect each other.
Let us hope that all our religious leaders will stretch out their hands in friendship to one another and to all people irrespective of race , faith to work for a peaceful world.
Thank you Rinpoche for this beautiful sharing.
This is truly malaysia culture , we can accept mix culture in term of food, festival, and religious.
Religious supposedly bring peace , harmony and respect.
I grown up in a country, Malaysia that full of all kinds of religions practice and faith. It is very common for us to visit and pay respect to other religions. We have no issue nor idea of who cannot pray to who. We were taught since young, we need to respect all Buddhas and gods because they are here to bless us, take care of us and protect us. I am very proud to see our very own Malaysia Chief Monk Ven. Sri Dhammaratana making connection with all secs of Buddhism.
When I came across Dorje Shugden issue, my though was, why people being so ridiculous. I was very upset and i felt unfair because my freedom of choosing what i believe is being threatened. What i like to pray and practice should not even be questioned at the first place! Need not talk about agreeing with the reasons why Dorje Shugden is being ban.
What is pure and what is not pure? the moment you started segregate, discriminate and play politics using religions, do not come and talk to me about pure Buddhism, because what you did already against the refuge vows that set by Buddha himself. Since you do not believe what Buddha has taught, yet setting such a bad example of being a Buddhist, why talk to me about pure Buddhism?
On top of that, in Malaysia there’s a bunch nobody acted as some authorities to stop people from practicing Dorje Shugden in Malaysia. No one has the right to stop anyone from what they want to practice. It is our choice. In fact no matter what faith we have, we should embrace all religions, need not talk about Buddhism. All religions teach people well, harmony and love. If your lama or guru or your religion is telling you to hate or ban others religion then it’s time for you really think deeper about what you are actually into.
Years ago, I remember attended to Ven. Birthday’s celebration. He invited other monks and nuns from other lineage to attend. The scenario was so beautiful and harmony when I saw different monks and nuns from different lineage march in to hall for dana. I remember in the speech He said that, as monks and nuns, we are the sons and daughters of Buddha and monks’ and nuns’ job is to bring dharma to lay people. I was so touch that, when so many people criticize on other monks and nuns, he does not do so. He urge the sangha members to be harmony.
Dorje Shugden’s issue should not be bring as an issues to stop people from learning dharma. Especially in Malaysia where in our constitution that the people are free to practice any religion. When the conflict of Dorje Shugden brought to Malaysia, it will only destroyed the faith that people have in Buddhism. People will be confuse and fear. When people come to religion, they are seeking for peace of mind and helps. Who want to come to a religion that have so many conflict and link with politic. Many people will just get away from the religion because it is so disharmony and this is not what people wanted.
Thus, as Chief monk, Ven have done a good job by showing as example what a real sangha member should be.
This is definitely the way to go. Venerable visiting Phelgyeling monastery is an example of showing interfaith harmony. Regardless any religion, religion is just a label for the mankind to practise humanity, compassion, loving kindness and just be a good person. It’s warm to see those photos of both spiritual practitioners together without any politic or personal agenda. It’s irony to see those Tibetans who are anti Dorje Shugden attack their own people just because of different belief system. How to promote harmony as said by the Buddha Himself if we practitioners are so narrow-minded and unforgiving? Lau from Theravadan background could see clearly it’s wrong to use the name of Dalai Lama to enforce certain belief system on others and worse still, use Dalai Lama’s name for political reasons for self-gain. Everyone on this earth has the freedom to believe what we want, even praying to a tree, no one can say anything. The creation of different religions or belief in the world is not to create more separatism but to a better world full of love and humanity.
Many Tibetan lamas come to Malaysia and instead of teaching Buddhism, they always preach their sectarian views. They want you to only follow their lama and the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is a high monk but I don’t have to follow everything he says. I am from the Theravada tradition and we don’t believe the Dalai Lama is a Buddha or an incarnation of a Bodhisattva. The Dalai Lama’s name should not be used in Malaysia to force people to practise the type of Buddhism that the Dalai Lama says we should. We Malaysians practise whatever form of Buddhism we want to. We pray to whichever gods we want to pray to. We practise whatever religion we choose.
We even pray to our Chinese Taoist gods who were brought over from China a few generations ago. Some lamas say our Chinese gods are not enlightened and we should not pray to them or place them with the Buddha on our shrines. But, who are they to say such things and create disharmony? In my home we have Kuan Kong and the Buddha together on one shrine. We have been worshipping both together for generations. How dare a Tibetan lama tell me that Kuan Kong is not enlightened and I cannot pray to him! Kuan Kong has helped my family for many generations all the way back to my ancestors in China. He has been helping my family for hundreds of years. I don’t care if he is not enlightened because Kuan Kong is our family god and our good friend.
My parents are very upset about this because the Tibetan lamas are extremely biased and want us to only follow their way. They tell us that the Dalai Lama says we must practise pure Buddhism and if we have unenlightened gods on our shrine or just pray to them that we pollute pure Buddhism. They tell us that we cannot pray to gods that are not Buddhas.
But let me tell you some news. Many monks of the Theravada Buddhist tradition do not believe that the Buddhism practised by the Dalai Lama is pure. They say it is mixed with Hinduism. You can agree or you can disagree, but many people believe that. That is why in many countries where they practise Theravada Buddhism like Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, they do not allow the Dalai Lama to visit. This is not something new but something that has happened for decades.
Some people say that the Dalai Lama cannot visit because China is pressuring these countries to block the Dalai Lama, but it is actually because the sangha do not accept him. The pressure from China has only happened in the last few years since China has become a world super power. The Dalai Lama has not been allowed to visit these countries for a long time before that. The truth is that high sangha in these countries do not consider Tibetan Buddhism like what the Dalai Lama practises as being true Buddhism. So if the Dalai Lama says you are not a true Buddhist because you practise Dorje Shugden, that is ridiculous and shows his ignorance of Southeast Asian culture. Thais pray to Buddha and the wealth gods together. The Chinese, like me, pray to Kuan Kong and Buddha together. Burmese pray to the Nats and the Buddha together. A prominent wealth god in Thailand is known as Nang Kwak who is actually a spirit, Nats in Burma are the spirits of those who have died a violent death and Kuan Kong as we all know is the Chinese God of War. These are just some examples.
I heard about the Dorje Shugden issue being brought up in Malaysia. My question is, why? The Dalai Lama is not the leader of Malaysia. He is not the leader of all Buddhists in the world. He is famous, but so what! Just because he is famous it does not mean everyone should follow him blindly. It does not mean that he cannot make mistakes. In fact, he is not even the supreme leader of all Tibetan Buddhists in the first place. As I understand it, each Tibetan school has their own leader and in fact, the leaders of each school don’t get along with each other.
No lay person, monk or nun in Malaysia has the knowledge, background, standing and universal respect from every single Buddhist tradition to be made the leader of all Buddhists. No one Buddhist lay person or sangha can rule over all Buddhists in Malaysia. This is not Tibet. No one should use a famous monk’s name to back themselves up to command others. This can only lead to great disharmony and it has. We don’t need Tibetan politics here in Malaysia. All Buddhist organisations are individual entities that are given the licence to operate under the democratic laws of our country.
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields really shows a good example to all Malaysians and all Buddhists around the world. We must embrace each other and create harmony and not find reasons to stay divided. Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana visits all temples whether the temple prays to Kuan Kong or Dorje Shugden or whoever. As long as you invite him, he will go and give blessings. That is the way it should be. But with the Dalai Lama, if you pray to Dorje Shugden, he will not bless you. You cannot attend his talks. You cannot attend his secular speeches. That is segregation and unfitting of a monk. That is wrong. The Dalai Lama will not visit your temple if you practice Dorje Shugden. That is so wrong. That is not something a democratic leader will do, neither is it something a democratic monk will do.
What kind of Buddhism segregates people based on religion? The Dalai Lama should visit all temples, even Dorje Shugden temples. He should meet, communicate, talk and be friendly with everyone including Dorje Shugden people because that is how a monk practices compassion, love and tolerance which are, after all, the Buddha’s message.
Lau
Dear Lau,
Thank you for your extensive opinion on this matter. I must say you have a very good point with regards to Dorje Shugden. I believe that many people are not aware of these indigenous spiritual beliefs. Furthermore, what you shared reveals the non-dogmatic approach of the Buddha and that is why there is acceptance of Buddha sharing a single shrine with other divinities.
Dear Lau,
Thank you so much for your comment and for speaking up to protect our country’s harmony. You have every right to be outraged.
I grew up in this country and I have also lived overseas and the one very unique feature of Malaysia is the way we celebrate Christmas, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Wesak and other important religious days as one nation of people. In any one suburb or region it is common to find churches, mosques, Indian kuils and Buddhist and Taoist temples in close proximity to one another and as I as a Malaysian treasure this very much.
Hence a while ago when I saw some extreme organisations promoting the kind of segregation you talked about, I was very disturbed. The Dorje Shugden discrimination that has ripped the Tibetan community apart has no place in our country and is definitely not welcomed here. We have laws against this kind of thing and if the Malaysian government doesn’t allow its citizens to create unrest, it certainly will not allow outsiders to do so.
If we allow people to use His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s name to dictate what and who a Malaysian citizen can or cannot worship, do we similarly allow other religious leaders to do the same? Do we allow anyone to outlaw the worship of Hinduism or Christianity etc? If not, then neither should we carry out any instruction to marginalise people who worship Dorje Shugden.
In Malaysia we uphold the Rukun Negara (our declaration of National Principles):
WE, HER PEOPLE, pledge our united efforts to attain these ends guided by these principles:
BELIEF IN [respective] GOD
LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY
THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION
THE RULE OF LAW
COURTESY AND MORALITY
I don’t see anything that compels me to obey the supposed dictates of His Holiness faraway spiritual leaders and if any Malaysian feels like doing so then he/she ought to move in with the Dalai Lama’s community in exile.
No unkindness and bigotry should be committed in the name of religion.
Dear Lau,
As a fellow Malaysian, I am in complete agreement with your views. Buddhism is a syncretic system, not because it is trying to co-opt other systems but because the Buddhist worldview encompasses all systems. As an inclusive system, the Buddhist cosmology can, as you have clearly shown, allow for spiritual practice indigenous to a particular place or culture to be practised alongside Buddhism.
I also found it so unbecoming of the Dalai Lama to be sectarian towards Dorje Shugden, his practice and the practitioners, especially since as a Nobel Peace Prize holder, His Holiness should be an example of acceptance and tolerance.
It is unfortunate, that because of the Dalai Lama’s fame and the material benefits of being associated with him, many lamas and Buddhist teachers have chosen to align themselves with the Dalai Lama’s discriminatory position on Dorje Shugden.
I am glad that in the true Malaysian spirit of ‘muhibbah’ (the Malay for: harmony), Ven. K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara has, in this visit of his to Phelgyeling Monastery, become an example to other Buddhist heads of schools and traditions that we are all “one taste”.
At the end of the day, we follow the Buddha, we believe in the Buddha’s teachings of the Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination, we accept the Buddha’s Dharma in the Noble Eightfold Path as the foundation for our liberation, and that makes us all brothers and sisters in one big Dharma family.
I hope that in his the wisdom of his ageing years, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will correct his injustice meted out to Dorje Shugden practitioners and in his capacity as Spiritual Head of Tibetan Buddhism — remove the Central Tibetan Administration’s ban on the Dorje Shugden practice and put into place a more tolerant and open Tibetan Buddhist faith that is not narrowed by unnecessary dogmatic beliefs.
Thank you Lau for your wonderful comment and showing the world how beautiful the world can be if we understand how open and accepting Buddhism really is.
Kenneth
Dear Lau,
Thank you very much for your direct, succinct and straight to the point. Buddhism teaches us to have compassion, acquire wisdom and to help others without agenda. These basic tenets of Buddhism is UNIVERSAL and nobody (Tibetan, Theravada or whatever lineage) have the right or authority to dictate what one should or should not practice. The right to feely choose one’s faith is enshrined in the UN Charter for Human Rights.
We should include into our prayers that one day, people will come to their senses and declare equanimity and not segregation.
Thank you
Lum KL
Any genuine spiritual practitioner would be kind, all-accepting, free of bias, compassionate, and respectful to the diversity of humanity. Chief Monk Sri Dhammaratana of Malaysia’s Buddhist Maha Vihara Temple in Brickfields is such a person. It is very refreshing to know that Venerable is not involved in the political agendas in Buddhist temples and organisations.
As a Buddhist practitioner, I am totally turned off by others who condemn each other’s faith, culture and belief systems. Why promote more hatred and negativities in spiritual organisations when the reason for joining spiritual organisations is to realise inner peace and find some sort of happiness.
Venerable Sri Dhammaratana’s visit to Phelgyeling Monastery, a Dorje Shugden Monastery, shows that he is not concerned with all the politically driven ban on Dorje Shugden. What’s most important is that we respect each Buddhist lineages’ differences and co-exist in harmony, bringing peace and kindness to the world.
This is very beautiful and heart warming to see Venerable Dhammaratana visited Phelgyeling Monastery in Nepal. Ven.K. Sri Dhammaratana show many buddhists good example, have humanity and respect for others beliave. This is what we should learn to create harmony between differences religion around the world. No discrimanation but respect each others. Malaysia is wonderful country have differents races stay together harmony without creating any fligting among religion practice. Rinpoche has always advocated harmony among the many various traditions of Buddhism, as the Dharma from Shakyamuni is both faultless and stainless. Thank you Rinpoche and the person who sent this beautifull event to share with everyone ?????
Any form of pure religious practice is very good for the human being. As the Buddhist, I believe that the Dharma is a perfect religious practice for virtues to be developed in the human minds which will translate to virtuous acts to benefit others in my space.
My Root Guru, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has always advocated harmony among the many various traditions of Buddhism, as the Dharma from Shakyamuni is both faultless and stainless.
I rejoice to note that the Chief Monk Sri Dhammaratana of Malaysia fosters harmony with Tibetan Buddhism. It is wonderful to also know that the controversy of worshipping Dorje Shugden does not govern his quest to foster such harmony.
Ven.K. Sri Dhammaratana show many buddhists good example, have humanity and respect for others beliave. This is what we should learn to create harmony between differences religion around the world. No discrimanation but respect each others. Malaysia is wonderful country have differents races stay together harmony without creating any fligting among religion practice. I am ready hope more monks represent buddhism well to promote religion harmony with each others.
Yes, this is a great news. We want religious freedom, we want harmony, we want to have peace of mind. Totally agreed on the “Anonymous” said “Real monks and learned Geshes will not make disharmony or criticize other Buddhism” This is what Buddha taught~to be kind to all. I hope that more high lamas and monks can speak out to promote religious harmony, It is important to respect each other religious practice and jointly shoulder social responsibilities. Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana is great monk , showing good example to promote the religious harmony, thank you.
This is very beautiful and heart warming to see Venerable Dhammaratana visited Phelgyeling Monastery in Nepal. Although different branches of Buddhism practice differently, but the ultimate teaching is still none other than Dharma, Buddha’s teaching. There shouldn’t have any boundaries in different branches and different school. Buddha taught us to create harmony, peace, and love, we followed. But Buddha never taught us to discriminate, segregate, and hate, why do some people still do that? It doesn’t make any difference for a Buddhist who practice Dorje Shugden, or Heruka, or other protector, after all, we are still Buddhist to learn and practice Dharma, Buddha’s teaching. Really hope to see more of this harmony activities, especially in Gelug, between Dorje Shugden practitioners and non Dorje Shugden practitioners. The boundaries and the conflicts in between should be taken off.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing such a wonderful news. And, thank you to the anonymous who provided the wonderful news and fruits. The anonymous has shown great faith with his/her guru by followed his guru’s advices to practice Dorje Shugden for the last 25 years.
I am so happy to see Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana visiting Phelgyeling Monastery. Thank you to him for showing a very good example to all Buddhists especially the Tibetan Buddhist that he is respecting and accepting the different tradition of Buddhism. At the same time, he is promoting peace, harmony and respect to different religious tradition. This is so true that in the post, it is stated that “They use the Dorje Shugden issue for not making Buddhism grow but to control other people and that is very political.”. It has clearly shown how CTA used the DS issue to discriminate and separate their own people, as the result created disharmony among the Tibetans society. Tibetans people will not unite again to work toward their dream to get back Tibet.
As a Buddhist, we shouldn’t discriminate and criticize other religions. Buddhism is all about promoting peace & harmony of Buddha’s teaching.
We all are living in a blissful country where everybody had their own freedom choices of spiritual practices. This is one of reason why Malaysia is a wonderful place to live in. Religion is a personal choice and religion thought us to live in peace and harmony. ?
This is so beautiful! No discrimination. Just pure Dharma practice and constantly striving to be better. It is true, all Buddhist teachings are directly from Buddha hence no matter what sect we are in, we shouldn’t put down other practices just because they are different from what we have. As Buddhist practitioners, we should always encourage each other. Never create schism out of ignorance as it is very damaging. Thank you anonymous for sharing such inspiring photos and writeup. We have so much to learn from each other.
We may come from different spiritual lineage but that doesn’t mean we can’t live together. There are so many differences on this world. What important is respect. Respect bring unity, harmony and peace.
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Malaysia (centre) show a very good example of how to respect others regardless of any differences each other has. True practitioner put what they learn into practice. Whether you practice Dorje Shugden is not important, what matter is whether you become a better person from what your practice.
we should practice more and follow the steps of lord buddha and dont let our religion seperate us
I thank Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields to show us what it means to be non-discrimination. By right, this news should not even be highlighted because Buddhists are supposed to be all accommodating and accepting. After all, didn’t Buddha teach us to be kind to everyone?
I wonder, if a respected monk can put the politics aside, how about those in VBCM, who are lay person? Are they willing to practice Buddha’s teaching of non discrimination and non separation? From a spiritual point of view, who give VBCM people the rights to discriminate others? From a secular point of view, don’t all Malaysian have the freedom to practice and discrimination of other religions is prohibited? It does not make sense, and yet, VBCM people can get away with it just because they use the name of HH Dalai Lama. It is time for them to change their thinking as it does not fit this era anymore.
Lord Buddha did not discriminate, this should be the basis of our practice. Lord Buddha teaches harmony and the middle way. Why can’t we do it now and hold this close to our hearts. Leave everyone in peace and we do our own practices which there is no right or wrong. Thank you Anonymous for sharing this as these photos are powerful to see.
This is indeed a good news to hear from Anonymous. Harmony and religious freedom is the key for world peace. Without harmony and religious freedom, the world will be in a havoc.
All practitioners are equal. It shouldn’t be this tradition or that tradition is higher because of fame and reputation. By criticizing other traditions it is no longer being a Buddhist but a selfish reason to use religion to control and segregate people. Buddha never taught selfishness, the same for other world religions. So the only reason that Dorje Shugden being isolated and condemned is for personal political gain and fame.
Why hate others for their beliefs? Even the democratic constitution spelt out that everyone is entitled and be respected for their own belief and religion. You don’t need to be religious person to get along and living in harmony with others. The Chief Monk Sri Dhammaratana showed a good example that he can respect all traditions. He is not afraid to do the right thing because his motivation is for promoting peace and harmony. Everyone should do that regardless of religion, or political orientation. Choosing one over the other and segregating others are the old methods of thinking from the past. In this modern times it is viewed as narrowed and outdated primitive mentality.
Spirituality should not have borders, no discrimination, no judgment of which religion or religious head is superior than others. Among other good practices, spirituality teaches us to practice loving compassion, kindness, tolerance, patience, generosity. As humans, we should strive for discipline and not be ignorant of others wanting and seeking happiness. This would give happiness to everyone and make the world a better place to live in.
This is such a beautiful piece of news especially admist the hostility we Dorje Shugden practitioners are experiencing within Malaysia. Thank you Rinpoche and your blog team, as well as Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana, for sending the positive vibes and let many whether you are Dorje Shugden practitioners or not, to know they are not alone in the sense that there are still many who are putting efforts to foster harmony and peace. These are the people who are the walking example of the Lord Buddha’s teachings.
I hope to hear and see more people whose actions are free from worldy concern or mixing politics with religion. To divide people based on their choice of faith, or to discrimiante with the hope to gain something whether it’s to be at the side of strong and influnetial people or supressing the minority, which definitely not helping in our spiritual practice, harmony and (inner and outer) peace overall.
Malaysia is a peaceful and democratic country with the government allowing freedom to practice whatever faith you wish to. It’s difficult to imagine (but it really happened and is happening), most of us easily accept another human being who have chosen a religion differ from us, but NOT another lineage or practice from the same religion – just as the case happened to Dorje Shugden people who are not accpeted/condemned/discriminated by their own Buddhists brothers and sisters.
Hence, it would be even a more beautiful country in real sense, if all the religious communities able to hold on to what this beautiful country and her people are aspire to be – to respect other people’s choice of religion and do not use religion as a political tool to divide the beautiful people live in the country.
P.S. Dear annonymous, even you write no good English, but you are a real Buddhist, for you understand and appreciate:
– the importance of mutual respect in religion ir any aspects of life;
– the imporatnce of harmony within religions or among human beings; and
– the importance of applying in daily life what the Lord Buddha has taught us, not just practiced by mouth or believe intellectually only.
Thank you again.
It is such a pleasant surprise to see Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Malaysia visited a Tibetan Monastery in Nepal. This shows that Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana is a true monk that truly practices Lord Buddha’s teachings. In Malaysia, there are alot of Dharma centres avoided Dharma Centres who practice Dorje Shugden due to the Dorje Shugden ban.
Being the chief monk of Buddhist Maha Vihara, he must have known about the ban even though it does not concern his tradition of Buddhism. The fact that he visited a popular Dorje Shugden monastery means that he is not being affected by the ban and also being politically correct. He respects people with a different belief system and he does not try to put them down or be politically correct. He accepts Dorje Shugden practitioners as part of the Buddhist community.
The Phelgyeling monastery is a Dorje Shugden monastery that houses one of the most famous Dorje Shugden statues which is handmade by the 5th Dalai Lama. It is the first Dorje Shugden statue in the world. That is why it is also not possible for Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana to not know about the monastery being a controversial monastery due to the Dorje Shugden ban.
I hope more Dharma centres will see this and start to change their view on Dorje Shugden practitioners. Lord Buddha taught us to be kind and compassionate and that is the way we should be as a Buddhist.
It is such a rejoice to see the Malaysian Brickfields Chief Monk Sri Dhammaratana carrying the spirit of Malaysia with him in his visit to Phelgyeling Monastery located in Kathmandu, Nepal. This is the spirit of acceptance in our multi-cultured Malaysia that maintain our harmony and peace. It is a celebration of our differences, rather than the discrimination that some minor group practice in wanting to look good with the Dalai Lama. I think it is not right to claim oneself to be a practitioner of Buddhism and yet allow pride/ego to rule their actions. Why not go all the way to let go any attachment to negative traits that keep us in sufferings? It is great to see Phelgyeling Monastery in the pictures and the holy statue of Dorje Shugden as I really loved being there during my visit in January this year. We were so blessed to be able to pay our respect to Lord Dorje Shugden and to make our aspirations to this holy statue that was personally made by H.H. the 5th Dalai Lama. The great 5th had recognized the enlightened qualities of Dorje Shugden and wrote a praise as well as built the protector chapel, Trode Kangsar to Dorje Shugden. May we all celebrate in Buddha’s teachings and not in the differences that only exist in our mind. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this visit that lifts the spirits of true harmony for all to reflect on.
Very precious, powerful & touching event & photos?
To be a better person is the core teaching of all religions.
Every individual on Earth is unique, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t live together in harmony with peace & love. We would just need to understand & respect each other to eliminate all the unnecessary WARS.
Every one of us plays a part to make the world, a better place to live on. Life is not just about ourselves & our loved ones, we need to retrain ourselves to not be selfish & cruel.
In this era, it’s not the era to strive for survival, in this era, it is for people who are capable to help & take care of those who are less fortunate & together we build a better world for all sentient beings.
It is very heartwarming to see Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Malaysia visiting Phelgyeling Monastery in Nepal. Regardless of the tradition, we are all Buddha’s students. Buddha has left behind 84,000 methods for us to practice in order to achieve enlightenment. Buddha is very flexible, we can choose the method that we like to follow. Hence, there are so many different traditions.
Just Tibetan Buddhism alone, there are already 4 main different traditions. Since we are all Buddha’s students, we should respect each other. However, it is not the case for Dorje Shugden practitioners. Dorje Shugden practitioners are also Buddhists but we are segregated by other Tibetan Buddhist traditions. We are not welcome to their temple or establishment. Due to ignorance and fear, some other Buddhist traditions like the Chinese Mahayana traditions also keep their distance away from us, saying we are not following Buddha’s teachings, our lineage and practice is not pure. They even criticise the lamas who are spreading Dorje Shugden practice.
Since the Dorje Shugden ban is highly controversial in the Buddhist community, I believe the Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana must know about it. He must also know Phelgyeling Monastery is a Dorje Shugden monastery. The visit of the Venerable to Phelygyeling shows he is an opening minded person, he has respect for people of different faith, he promotes peace and harmony. Whether or not Phelgyeling Monastery is worshipping a demon or a Buddha is not his main concern. To him everyone is the same, as a Buddhist the Venerable practices what the Buddha has taught us, i.e. to be kind to all sentient beings. From the photos, we can see the Venerable is very happy to meet with the acting Abbot of Phelgyeling and he also makes offerings to the Buddha statues in the monastery. What the Venerable sees are, all of us are Buddha’s students and we should be friendly and respect each other without prejudice and always promote peace and harmony as taught by the Buddha, this is how a real Buddhist should be.
Malaysia is a multicultural and multireligious country. Although our official religion is Islam, the constitution gives us the right and freedom to practice our own faith, and hence, many Malaysians know of and respect the various faiths, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christianity, Sikhism and so on. It is common for Malaysians to celebrate and participate in religious celebrations of another faith, as well as visiting the holy places of other faiths in their community.
Chief Monk of Malaysia, Ven. Dhammaratana is a true Buddhist as he does not discriminate against any religion, and obviously not affected or influenced by some groups or factions that tried to create problems for Dorje Shugden practitioners in Malaysia. Although Ven. Dhammaratana comes from Sri Lanka, he has served the Buddhadharma by being a resident monk for over 28 years in Malaysia, and many are grateful for Ven. Dhammaratana’s great service in propagating the Buddhadharma, as well as the welfare and social services he provides through the Vihara and his supporters.
Although there are some differences in the focus and practice of Theravada and Mahayana, Ven. Dhammaratana shows great respect by visiting a small monastery in Nepal, one that the monks were discriminated because of their practice of the Protector Dorje Shugden. This visit reflects the wish of Ven. Dhammaratana to show support and solidarity for fellow monastics in Phelgyeling Monastery, which is very much needed for today’s world. I rejoice and fold my hands to Ven. Dhammaratana for being a great Buddhist leader, setting an example for Malaysians and Buddhists around the world to live our ideal of embracing and respecting all religions and various schools or branches of the religious faiths. Today’s world is a melting pot, and as citizens of the world, we should never discriminate or disrespect another race, ethnic, culture or religion.
A respected and well known Buddhist leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that we can promote genuine harmony among the different major traditions on the basis of mutual respect and that practically all religious traditions are the same with the same message. I implore Buddhists around the world, especially Malaysians, to truly embrace this message from His Holiness, and not only work towards achieving peace within our minds, let’s work towards world peace and harmony, starting here in Malaysia.
This is really beautiful to see and a great rejoicing news.
It shows me what a great sangha and Buddhist representative Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana is and what more a Malaysian Theravadan monk! Wow… his actions are Dharma and bring Lord Buddha’s to live because he does discriminate Dorje Shugden practitioners and does not get himself mixed up or involved in politics. This is a true dharma practitioner and his actions bring more faith in Buddhism than those with high ranking names playing politics while they wear the sangha (monk) robes. How contradictory when one does that. How very disappointing and makes people especially those new to Buddhism to lose faith when they see and hear such things.
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana actions create harmony and friendship and bridge the gap between different schools of Buddhism. Although the Theravadan’s methods are different than the Vajrayana methods, we are in reality ALL THE SAME as all the teachings stem from one father, Lord Buddha. Hence, different methods and different schools to suit and help different people. Hence, Lord Buddha taught 84,000 teachings. Never have I ever once heard Lord Buddha said we should discriminate another just because their style, their method or their belief is different. In fact, even if their faith is totally different, we are not supposed to criticise anyone. This is similar to Christianity and what Jesus said or the ten commandments which I heard when I was young, going to Catholic Sunday classes. Hence, real spirituality does not criticise anyone/any religion but embraces all compassionately and help all without discrimination.
Hence, Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana shows an exemplary action of what real Buddhist should do and it is an inspiration because this is what will bring peace and harmony with all Buddhist in the world. We are after all brothers and sisters in Dharma, we should be treating each other with kindness and compassion instead of hostility and discrimination. Once any Buddhist does that and discriminates someone, they are actually breaking their vows and to act against Buddha’s teachings which are to have compassion for all sentient beings. I wish those who discriminate Shugden practitioners would contemplate on the meaning of the four immeasurables which is chanted daily in our sadhanas.
“May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes,
May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes,
May all sentient beings never be separated from sorrowless bliss,
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.”
Thank you Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana for showing us all what true Buddhist teacher/sangha should be like. May there be more Gurus, sangha and Buddhist practitioner like Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana.
Dear Rinpoche
Thank you for the information about a Theravadan monk from Brickfields, Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana, who visited Phelgyeling Monastery in Nepal. I am very moved to see the pictures of how Ven. Dhammaratana acted so respectfully at Phelgyeling Monastery. His action could not be more different than the action of some people who claimed to be associated with the Dalai Lama and felt that they have the right to reprimand Dorje Shugden practitioners for worshiping the world peace protectors.
I hope Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana’s dharma work continues to grow and may he continues to foster religious harmony and tolerance among Buddhist practitioners and other religions.
Thank you
Valentina
Given that to date, (unwarranted) controversy still shrouds the practice of Dorje Shugden which is perpetuated by those driven by politics and secular concerns, this visit by Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Malaysia to Phelgyeling Monastery is really a refreshing change from the usual reports. In a time where it is usually the case where practitioners from other schools (sangha and lay alike) either (i) stay clear from the issue and Dorje Shugden practitioners to avoid the mess or (ii) unnecessarily condemn or ostracize, it is very inspirational to witness a true sangha walking the talk and showing us Buddha’s teachings in action.
In addition, the observations from Anonymous about the mentality those who sought to bring Tibetan politics into Buddhism and even attempt to perpetuate divisiveness within fellow Dharma brothers and sisters in Malaysian soil are also very astute. Indeed, any genuine Dharma practitioner would not create disharmony and incite animosity with other Buddhist traditions, or any traditions for that matter! After all, Dharma is but a vehicle to get us to the destination of enlightenment and not meant to be another avenue for us to feed into our attachments. To convolute and use Dharma for worldly benefits is not only meaningless but detrimental in the long run.
Thank you Rinpoche and team as well as Anonymous for sharing about the exemplary conduct of Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana with us.
This is such a touching and wonderful news to come by. Malaysia, though a Muslim country, has been practising religious freedom for decades. Members of all religions perform their religious activities in harmony. Bhagawan Dorje Shugden has been well received by the Indian race of Malaysia too!
However, due to the Tibetan politics, some Tibetan Buddhists in Malaysia and Singapore put up signs to ban Dorje Shugden people from entering their premise. They also proudly display the picture they took with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to justify their act of discrimination. This is a norm in the Tibetan society where the Tibetan Leadership (CTA; Central Tibetan Administration) encourage the already small and segregated Tibetans to ostracise each other, especially the Dorje Shugden practitioners. The CTA has been using Dorje Shugden as a scapegoat for their failure in getting Tibet back for the past 25 years.
It is most unfortunate that some Tibetan Buddhists in Malaysia went along with the CTA’s irresponsible and political move ignorantly thinking that they are doing the right thing. They released notices and policing Tibetan Buddhist who does Dorje Shugden in Malaysia while manipulating other Buddhists to stop supporting the beneficial works of Dorje Shugden centres and temples.
The Buddha taught us compassion, wisdom and equality. The Buddha respects all beings and spiritual practices. He went to different teachers to learn before attaining enlightenment under the sacred bodhi tree. The Buddha wanted to achieve enlightenment for all sentient beings. The Buddha loves and treats all sentient beings which include the Dorje Shugden practitioners.
Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes the mind training and the generation of bodhicitta (the mind that wishes to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings). With this as the core practice, there is no way anyone could be ostracised for their beliefs, race, gender, education background, culture, language, sexual preferences and etc. Banning Dorje Shugden practitioners, therefore, goes against the core and essence of Tibetan Buddhism.
Ven K. Sri Dhammaratana of Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sets a very good example for Buddhists, in particular, those in Malaysia. His actions are in accordance with the Buddhadharma to accept all beings equally. His visits to the famous Dorje Shugden Phelgyeling Monastery is a clear message that discrimination others for their religious choice are against the Buddha’s teachings. Venerable making the butterlamp offering and building a relationship with the sangha of Phelgyeling Monastery to bridge different Buddhist traditions shows us who Venerable really is – a genuine dharma practitioner, a bodhisattva, an advocate of religious harmony by action.
I rejoice Anonymous for his/her loyalty and follows his guru’s advice to practice Dorje Shugden since 25 years ago. Furthermore, this is really good that Anonymous shared these precious photos of Malaysia Chief Monk Dhammaratana visited to Phelgyeling which is Dorje Shugden monastery in Nepal. It is believed that not many people like what Anonymous has done even many Tibetan people may not dare to say out because of the DS ban issue.
Buddhism teaches us to stay in harmony because we are all Buddha son and daughter as mentioned by Anonymous. As such, the issues of segregation, discrimination or prejudice of Dorje Shugden practitioner should not be happened as it is totally contradicted to Buddha teachings and bring harm to many others eventually.
Powerful message remind us that “Don’t let people use religion to separate people. This is what Buddha taught.”
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this wonderful news.