Shangri-la Again

[Guest guest]

Thank you all for your responses on this topic. l would, though, like to

reiterate and expand on the points l made in my last post:

 

l don't have anything against the DL. From what l know, it

appears his actions have had tragic consequences, but l don't question his

motives. The problem began when he made worshipping this deity an illegal

act, thus converting private worship into criminal activity. As l said, how

many people on this list would like to have their spiritual practice decreed

a criminal activity?

The result of the

above, as the DL should have anticipated, was to unleash alienation,

divisivness, persecution and violence among the Tibetan people.

 

This is a complicated matter -- l doubt if most people writing or talking

about it fully understand the full context or all the ramifications. l'm

trying to keep an open mind while l learn more. l feel l have to do this,

because with my close connection to these monks this question will not go

away for me. l'm afraid this is going to be an ongoing thing, because of

people here trying to undermine the monks.

Much of what l've

read has been helpful, but misleading. Few of the writers, in portraying the

ghoulish Dorje Shugden, even understand what a wrathful or protector deity

is. This helps feed into the misperception that those who refuse to remove

him from their spiritual practice are all fanatics and misguided

fundamentalists. l know this not to be true.

 

lt is the views and actions of the extremists

that always draw the attention of the media, and that's what people hear.

What l have seen is the extraordinary suffering of those who have been

silent, and although much smaller in scale, it's more heart wrenching than

the suffering caused by the Chinese.

l

don't know what the DL's feelings are about the violence and suffering of the

"Shugdenites", but it wasn't reassuring to see him in total denial of it in

the interview l saw, even rudely ignoring what the reporter was confirming

from personal experience. This doesn't prevent me from feeling love for the

DL -- rather, it helps me see him as a flawed human being, just like us.

 

Tibetan Buddhism (and the Tibetan cause) has

gained prominence almost as a personality cult in the west with the DL as the

star attraction. This sorry episode is one demonstration of the downside of

this situation. The DL has probably been indispensable to this point, but

his time is running out, as he knows. Giving him his due, l for one would

like to see Tibetan Buddhism be regarded for what it is, minus the star

power. May l live that long.

 

So decreed by jerrysan rinpoche. All dissenting opinions outlawed!