Tibetan Buddhism controversy-I'm very confused!

So I was researching various Tibetan Buddhist sites, including some favs and weirdness came up on google. Some Buddhists aren't happy with the Dalai Lama which I thought was totally bogus how could anybody be unhappy with him?! But being VERY curious I started reading on more than one site including some VERY pro-Dalai Lama ones that people who do a practice I had never heard of, Dorje Shubda something...anyway, the DL is way against it so much to ban it and tell Buddhist centers and monasteries to boot out anybody who practices it, etc. It, the ban and his comments, have encouraged some nasty sectarianism. I am wayyyyy confused!! Please help somebody! This doesn't sound very Buddhist being a religion of compassion and mellowness and all.
I figure there must be more to it, but not sure which sites to trust now and what on earth is going on!
peace
Delfynasa
confused!

 

Not so see ignorant of current events but it sounds like philosophy is clouded in some way by dogma, none of this is relevant. The only thing that really matters is the personal journey, it's sad that the teachers would confuse the young people who are trying to learn the path of truth, but they probably do not realize this. What they are doing seems like the right thing to them. Don't forget, Buddhism is a philosophy that embraces all emotions, but in the end allows one to experience true peace despite.

 

Troutlord, the Dalai Lama has already confused people by making them think Buddhism is to be equated with humanitarianism and all sorts of other concepts alien to the original doctrine.

 

Than you, I'm sorry that was kind of what I was going after, I believe that dogma that is not part of the core of any religious system can be extremely harmful and even provide contradictions as in this case where we who have studied the ways of the enlightened see inconsistencies between the truth we have learned and the actions and priorities of people who supposedly hold the same core values.

 

The Dorje Shugden issue is indeed an unfortunate bit of sectarianism. Basically, it is the consequence of one teacher who insists on teaching a practice that the Dalai Lama feels is harmful and not Buddhist. That particular teacher and his followers call themselves Buddhist. The majority feel they are not.

Having tried to be as neutral as possible in my language above, I have to reveal my bias and recommend that you stay away from that particular sect.

 

I think most of the problem is the way Buddhism is presented in Western culture as being a united front, when it has just as many sects and variations as any other religion going. And just like the others, the sects range from "the good, the bad and the culty."

 

I'm not trying to stick up for this particular sect, the NKT if I'm right, but isn't it a possibility that this is one of the many doors to liberation?

 

All I know is, any group that has a large and active "ex's and survivor's" counter group associated with it, set off enough bells for me to stay clear.

 

Anything is possible. But, when choosing a path, one has to ask not if it's possible but if it's probable and, more importantly, if it's wholesome.

 

the Dorje Shugden practice is an invocation of a particular guardian deity. a pretty badass one, with a really wrathful manifestation which makes Western Buddhists, like myself, squirm. the practice has a long history in Tibet, though. What's really going on here is that the Dalai Lama has to turn Buddhism into something different from what it was in Tibet for it to be palatable for Western consumption. Some Tibetans, the New Kadampa Tradition in particular, see this as selling out, and don't like it when the Dalai Lama outlaws practices that have been a meaningful part of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for hundreds of years. HH the DL is a political as well as a religious leader, and is really caught between a rock and a hard spot. He has to maintain the warm n' fuzzy picture of Buddhism he's sold to the West, without disenfranchising his own people.

 

walsh, What IS the "original doctrine"?

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The one found in the old Pali texts.

 

I know the Pali texts, but they have no bearing on the Mahayana teaching or doctrine in that this particular text is not used as any medium of instruction in any of the Mahayana centers. And certainly not by any of the buddhist monks. They have their own version of the Tripidica (Tipitaka).

Being how this is a Mahayana thread, perhaps you can enlighten me on the "original doctrine" in relation to what HHtDL teaches and how humanitarianism is not part of those teachings.

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I am Tibetan Buddhist. I love it. I have had some Tibetan Buddhist teachers who were total assholes and shouldn't be alive. I have had others who were everything Buddha was. Tibetan Buddhists are like all people - they differe each depending upon who they are.

Also, like as in any religion were the whole culture practices there are those who are totally nonpracticing but who still consider themselves practitioners but they are rank and file and full of shit. this goes even for lamas some of whom drink and are alcoholics, sheat on their lovers, steal, eat meat, and are even homos.

I have no problem with any person who enjoys lifestyle choices who owns up. I only have troubles with people who are fake and full of shit and liars.

Dalai Lama - I am surprised that nobody mentioned the obvious smear campaign by the Chinese and all of their minion who find fault with the Dalai Lama. You simply do not know who is a Dalai lama detractor from the internet. But I would say that anyone who smears the Dalai Lama who is a pundit for the usual bogus rhetoric should be considered one.

The Dorje Shugden issue has only to do with a sect of bogus cultish Buddhist called New Kadampa Buddhist. They are a n insidious cult and they have a main practice of Shuggy Shug. Fuck Shugden. The idea that he is badass is totally stupid.

Dalai lama's problem with Shugden is people who practice Buddhism and worship Shugden Protector but who do not practice Buddhism. This is a real issue for those who are Tibetan Buddhists.

It doesn't concern you. And unlike the dipshit who said Dalai Lama equates Buddhism with humanitarianism and which it isn't, it actually is. And Dalai Lama besides Thic Nat are the two best proponents of Buddhism on the planet and responsible for more people becoming interested in it than anyone else.