Question asked by Eli Levine
Dear Pastors,
Thank you for the feedback and the answers to my questions. They were very helpful.
I would like to clarify that I don't have many, if any doubts about Buddha's teachings, ultimately. What I do have doubts about are the at least some of the organizations, institutions, practices, and teachers which have sprung up after Buddha passed to Parinirvana. An excellent example of this is the Dorje Shugden controversy. I've listened carefully to both sides and really have done my honest best to research the issues as well as experiment with my own practice. Personally, I found that Dorje Shugden did not help me in a time when I was in extreme difficulty (I believe I was ultimately saved by Medicine Buddha and Green Tara; thinking of Dorje Shugden only made me angrier until I snapped and went to Menla and then to Green Tara). I still love and respect Tsem Rinpoche and his followers because they also have helped me through tough times effectively, even if I choose not to worship Dorje Shugden (because, after all, religious acceptance and tolerance are what Tsem Rinpoche preaches and I try my best to practice that). In the end, I follow Buddha's last words while in this physical form: "Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation."
I understand the reasons for keeping to strict samayas with teachers and to respect and honor them in order to preserve the teachings in their correct form. However, it seems to me that guru devotion is, like all things, something else that can be taken too far to an extreme, even if it is well intended by the student (which is what, I believe, HH the Dalai Lama is getting at when he rejects the Dorje Shugden teachings). In the end, the ultimate teaching that I get from Manjushri is that all concepts are void of special meaning, and that that concept itself (the concept of nothing) is also void of inherent meaning. The biggest challenge of Buddhism, I think, is to walk the fine line between being institutional for the sake of connecting to people, while also being non-institutitional for the sake of being consistent with its own teachings of non-institutionalism.
To wrap up, I suppose my biggest concern now is how to live life as best as I can for other beings while avoiding perpetuating the violence that I know was in my past lives. I think I've fought for so long in so many different wars and conflicts for the sake of others, that I'll likely repeat it again if I'm not careful. What's worse, the situation is getting as such in the US that I'm worried I'll be compelled to fight again, and create more suffering for others through my actions in order to preserve the larger body of humanity from suffering worse. Is there any way I can purify myself of this karma to prevent others from being hurt and myself from being compelled to hurt others to save more? I see no reason to continue on the pain of others or myself, and I'd like to both free and be freed of that pain.
Thank you, and many blessings to you all!
Dear Eli Levine,
Thank you for your reply. As you have mentioned you are not practicing Dorje Shugden and that is perfectly fine. His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche and Kechara have never said that everyone must practice, simply that this practice is beneficial from our own experiences and that we would like to make this practice available for the world, for those who would like to learn more and practice it.
I am very happy that you are practicing Medicine Buddha and Green Tara, these two are very beneficial as well. You should keep to these practices very strongly and your life will definitely be blessed. If you keep up in your practice and faith you will definitely see the enlightened energies of the Buddha pervade your life and propel you on your spiritual practice.
As for His Holiness the Dalai Lama rejecting Dorje Shugden because the teachings take guru devotion to the extreme, I personally do not agree with this view. Guru devotion is an integral part of any Buddhist tradition, especially within tantric practices throughout all lineages. Dorje Shugden practitioners are simply stating the fact that this practice has been passed to them by their Gurus therefore they cannot simply stop the practice, as according to the tradition of Guru devotion. In fact if other practices were rejected, such as Green Tara and Medicine Buddha, the practitioners who had received this from their Gurus would also claim that they cannot give up the practice as they have a commitment to engage in the practice as promised to their gurus.
From a non-Buddhist perspective, in areas where guru devotion is something foreign this may seem extreme to some because we are not used to it. But is an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism, as is emphasised in the 50 Verses of Guru Devotion by the great Indian master Ashvaghosha. In fact Lama Tsongkhapa even wrote a commentary to this work, which details the guru-disciple relationship. This is not extreme but a necessary part of the path within Tibetan Buddhism, especially tantric practice.
In regards to the purification of this the karma you mention, you can engage in any of the purification practice, such as prostration, Vajrasattva or 35 Confessional Buddhas. This practice are very powerful purification methods, to help purify the karma that we want to be purified. I hope this helps.
Thank you.