Question asked by Dongho
I've been looking through a few tulkus and began raising questions and was surprised upon the reading of Mipham Jamyang Namgyal. From reading about him and his instructions to Khenpo Kunpal, I was very surprised on what he said on Pehar despite Mipham being a Nyingma. According to the website(it was a Kagyu website), it said this:
"Now I shall not remain long in this body. After my death, in a couple of years hence, war and darkness shall cover the earth, which will have its effect even on this isolated snow land of Tibet. In thirty years time, a mad (smyo) storm of hatred will grow like a fierce black thundercloud in the land of China, and in a further decade this evil shall spill over into Tibet itself, so that Lamas, scholars, disciples and yogis will come under terrible persecution. Due to the demon-king Pehar taking power in China, darkness and terror ('bog) will come to our sacred land, with the result that violent death shall spread like a plague through every village. Then the three lords of materialism (gsum-gyi-kla-klos) and their cousins will seize power in Tibet, spreading war, famine and oppression. No one will be safe. Now, very soon, my mind-stream will be gathered up in the pure-land of Tusita, from whence many emanations [of myself] shall then come forth in future years. I shall not take rebirth in Tibet. In twenty years, seek me in the northern lands of distant Uttarakuru, and elsewhere, east, west, north and south. Fear not, we shall be re-united again, as father and son. Now go!"
http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/mipham-namgyal.htm
This matches what Pehar has been doing and what the Shugden practitioners have been warning, so I'm getting kind of questionable on the Dalai Lama, wordly deities, and divination. For one, is everything the Dalai Lama says really accurate and his claim of being Avalokitesvara? From looking through the history of the 3rd, 4th, and 6th Dalai Lamas, it seems to be rather suspicious. The 3rd Dalai Lama didn't have any divinations while being chosen by a khan with the next being predicted by worldly oracles. How can we believe these? Also, although I understand that this is probably more rather a path like Virupa(quitting a monastery as an abbot and becoming what people might call "crazy) and Tilopa(who reached enlightenment with understand despite being a bartender and prostitute), the 6th Dalai Lama was rather one who commited adultery and broke vows. Although I excuse part of it, I don't understand how a bodhisattva of compassion would do such a thing. I don't have any anger or hatred against the Dalai Lamas, but I'm beginning to have some doubts, especially in Shugden and Pehar. Of course, as I took refuge in Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche, I followed his instruction in quitting Shugden(with some apology prayers to him before quitting). Is there explanations please? I'm having confusions in the Gelugpa sect. As for Mahakala Panjarnata(Mahakala of the Tent), who is he the wrathful form of and what is that stick he is carrying in his hands followed by a katrika and kapala?
Dear Dongho,
Thank you for your question and it’s nice to see you back here. In regards to Pehar, this is not the first time that I have heard of this prophecy. However Pehar is still highly regarded in the Gelugpa tradition, even though he is a worldly Dharma protector. This is because, even though he is a worldly being he was subdued by a Buddha (Guru Rinpoche) and made an oath to serve the Dharma. In fact he is considered to be on the path of a Bodhisattva, and is highly attained himself. There are even prophecies that he is close to gaining full enlightenment, at which point Dorje Shugden will take his place as the chief protector of the Tibetan people.
In regards to the Dalai Lama, we still regard him as the emanation of Avalokitesvara. This is not a claim he made himself, but was recognised as such by many great lamas of the past, including those who practiced Dorje Shugden. In fact, one of his tutors Trijang Rinpoche (himself a great devotee of Dorje Shugden) told his students never to deride His Holiness the Dalai Lama because he is the emanation of Avaolkiteshvara.
Different people have differing views on these issues, however as Buddhists we believe that we are all bound by karma, and a logical extension of that is that we view the world through the filtered lens of our perception and conceptions of how things should be. This even applies to the Buddhas and the Dharma itself. Since we have conceptions about something, when we come across something that does not fit this conception, then we begin to have doubts. For example, sometimes since we hear or read things about the Dalai Lama that does not fall into our conceptions of how he should behave, we start to have doubts. But this is because our minds are not at a certain level to see who he really is or to see the true intentions behind his behaviour. However one thing for sure is that his own tutors, great masters who are also considered emanation of the enlightened beings have stated that his is the true incarnation of Chenresig. This has been mirrored by many other great masters over the course of history.
Since you have already taken refuge under a Sakya teacher, you should go all the way with the practices you have received or will receive in the future. Please be steadfast in your guru devotion and practice as well as you can, transforming your mind for the better. This has been stated by Vajradhara himself.
As for Mahakala Panjarnata, he is an emanation of the Avalokiteshvara. He was the special protector of Nalanda Monastery in India, and is also the protector of the Hayagriva cycle of tantras. The stick he carries is actually an ancient wooden gong. Within the monasteries this was struck to call the monks and nuns to prayers, attend teachings or any other daily activity. However it can also be used as a magical club, which is the form that Panjaranata Mahakala is holding. I hope this helps.
Thank you.