Dorje Shugden

My most dear one,
Thank you for your email. I am sorry for the long delay.

Regarding the vows you took, thinking they were ordination vows, many of those are from lamrim practice, which has picked up the points on the vows. Actually, these are what we all need to practice anyway. In regard to vows, of course there are the five precepts and the eight precepts; the eight Mahayana vows for one day and five precepts for life. The getsul or getsulma [novice monks and nuns] has ten vows or thirty-six vows, the gelong [full ordained monk] has 253 vows and the gelongma [fully ordained nun] has 364 vows. This is without counting bodhisattva and tantric vows.

Yes, I understand you want to follow me, but I do need to mention one thing, that can be a big mistake, and you can’t do like this—taking teachings and vows, taking refuge, one-day vows, eight Mahayana precepts or pratimoksha precepts of eight or five vows, or if you have received a lung (oral transmission), even just OM MANI PADME HUM, even just a few words—thinking of yourself as the disciple and the other person as guru. If you receive lungs, commentaries or whatever, like that, with that mind, then you have to regard all those people as guru. That is why in the beginning you must check; you must be very careful. This is the most important thing in the life.

This is the most important thing, because if we make mistakes after entering that relationship, then it harms us in this life and for hundreds and thousands or millions of lives. It has a negative effect. This causes the wrong path, and the negative effect of giving up the guru destroys our life for millions and millions of lives. It’s not like returning food in a restaurant—when we get something that we don’t like, then we give it up and change to something that we like to eat. We can’t do like that.

A long time ago, there was one person involved in the Maitreya Project, when there was a plan was to build a fifty-story-high statue in Bodhgaya. The person was from Magadh University in Bodhgaya. He had a Hindu guru, not a Buddhist guru, who taught him how to meditate on the channels and winds, and then he was able to drive the kundalini, the sperm, up. He was able to bring it up to his heart, but he could not bring it to his neck and head. Later he found out that his Hindu guru had killed a human being and then he lost faith, and since that time he has not been able to bring the kundalini up to his head. After he found out that his guru had killed a human being, he lost faith. This is not even a Buddhist guru, it’s a Hindu guru, but still there was that effect on his meditation, by losing faith in the guru. So there is no question if it is a Buddhist guru.

I don’t know if you have met Geshe Kelsang Gyatso or not. Of course, the only thing in regard to Dolgyal [Tib: Dorje Shugden], you said you don’t practice Dolgyal, however if you have received any teachings from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, and you have entered into a guru-disciple relationship with him or any of the teachers from the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), you can’t just give the teachers up because of Dolgyal. You can’t give the teachers up. You can’t think of them like food or materials in a shop; what you don’t like, then you give it up. You can’t do like this in regard to gurus in Buddhism.

For example, Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche’s heart disciple was Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, who is my root guru, who I received Dolgyal life initiation from, as well as from Kyabje Zong Rinpoche. I did receive the initiation, but of course many years ago I gave up the practice.

In terms of the way to think about the guru, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s root guru was also Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, the same as my root guru. Trijang Rinpoche was also Zong Rinpoche’s root guru. However, the way to think in regard to the gurus who show the aspect of practicing Dolgyal in the 21^st century, you should think that they manifest as practicing Dolgyal, spreading Dolgyal. They manifest—not practicing but manifesting, showing the aspect. In Tibetan it is called tsul tenpa: showing the aspect [Wyl: tshul bstan pa]. Not really practicing but showing the aspect. So in the 21^st century, if the guru is practicing Dolgyal now, the way to think is that it is your mistaken mind manifesting in the guru’s actions, so like that.

For example, the Buddha gave this advice. Probably in the world, amongst the thousands of religions, the Buddha might be only one who said this. The Buddha said,

Bhikshus and learned ones, just as you check refined gold, by burning, by cutting, by rubbing, in the same way check my teachings and then follow my teachings. Do not have blind faith alone.

This is in regard to the Buddha’s teachings, not only for beginners but also there are also learned geshes and lamas, even nowadays, who are experts in Buddhist philosophy. For example, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, who is His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s elder tutor and heart disciple of Pabongka Rinpoche. Pabongka Rinpoche showed the aspect of widely spreading Dolgyal, but Kyabje Ling Rinpoche never practiced it. Also Geshe Sopa Rinpoche, who was a university professor in Madison, Wisconsin, for twenty years, never practiced Dolgyal. There are many others, extremely learned lamas, who never practiced it.

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche gave the initiation in his room at three a.m. to Dr. Ama Lobsang from Dharamsala, also to Alan Wallace, who was Geshe Rabten’s main educated Western disciple. I was also there and Geshe Sopa Rinpoche was there, but Geshe Sopa Rinpoche did not take the initiation. Zong Rinpoche was so expert in Buddhist philosophy and an outstanding teacher from Tibet. So even like this, even for learned lamas and geshes who are so expert in the Buddha’s teachings, they were still able to check up.

Regarding my own root guru, Trijang Rinpoche, and also Zong Rinpoche, my way of thinking is not that they practice, but they pretend to practice, they pretend to give initiation, they pretend, and that is my ordinary mistaken mind manifesting in the guru’s actions. So that is what I see, not that the guru made a mistake. Like that. So with my gurus, no mistakes. If the guru has mistakes, then the guru is not a buddha, he is a sentient being, an ordinary being, then everything that the Buddha explained in sutra and tantra by Lama Tsongkhapa and so forth, everything becomes not true.

The root of the path to enlightenment is correctly following the virtuous friend, by looking at the guru as a buddha, having no mistakes, only qualities. Looking at [the guru’s actions as] a buddha’s actions, and fulfilling the wishes and following the advice on the basis of seeing the guru as a buddha, having faith and believing the guru is a buddha. There are two things, not only having the mind in faith but also in action, these are two ways to correctly follow the virtuous friend.

Of course, there are special gurus and special disciples, like Marpa, who was an enlightened being, and his disciple Milarepa. Marpa asked Milarepa to build a nine-story tower three times, and to build it by himself without any help. Then Marpa told him to tear the nine-story tower down three different times, also by himself alone. When he finished building, he had to pull it down and take the stones back to where they originally came from. The skin on Milarepa’s back became blue, covered in blisters and sores, like an old person’s skin. This was for Milarepa to purify his heavy negative karma, so then he was able to achieve enlightenment in this life, in a brief lifetime of degenerate time. Marpa, who was an enlightened being, guided him like this. Marpa also never gave him teachings but only scolded and beat him, and even when Milarepa came to his teachings with other students, Marpa kicked him out immediately.

During that time, Milarepa was a perfect disciple, only having constant faith, one-pointed faith that Marpa was a buddha, only wanting to fulfil his wishes and advice. Even when Marpa showed the aspect of being angry, Milarepa did not have heresy even for one second. He was a perfect disciple. Marpa wanted to give him more hardships so he could become enlightened much more quickly, but Marpa’s secret mother persuaded him to give teachings to Milarepa after he built the nine-story building for the third time. So then Marpa gave teachings, manifested the mandala and deity and initiated him and then sent Milarepa to the mountains, to different places to meditate. By being guided by Marpa, Milarepa became enlightened after a number of years, in that life, by bearing so many hardships and then on the mountains by meditating and practicing Dharma, he achieved enlightenment. He never got heresy or anger, and he only had one-pointed faith that Marpa was a buddha.

In that case, there was a perfect disciple and a perfect guru, and the disciple did everything that the guru said, every single word. But for common disciples, if the guru says something which is not Dharma, then it says in the Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion, if you cannot do it, then you can tell the guru respectfully, such as while kneeling, and if you are a monk, by holding the zen in your left hand and stroking the zen three times, which is a way of showing respect. Then you ask permission to not do that which is not Dharma.

So you try to get permission respectfully, not with arrogance, not thinking, “I know Dharma and you don’t know Dharma,” with arrogance. That is very heavy negative karma. With a respectful mind, with one-pointed devotion think that this is Buddha and what you see is your mistakes. If the guru is saying something that is not Dharma, you should think he is just showing that aspect and it is your ordinary mistaken mind manifested in the guru’s mistaken action, so seeing that, then respectfully trying to get permission so that you don’t have to do that. Very respectfully. It is also mentioned that if guru says to do a non-Dharma thing, you can decline to do that, but the way of doing it is without hurting the guru’s mind, without harming, so you do it very respectfully. Generally it is like this; this is the advice.

You can’t think Geshe Kelsang or whoever practices Dolgyal is now not your guru and throw them out like garbage, then follow someone else. You can’t do that in Buddhism, you can’t do that. That is the heaviest negative karma, the heaviest negative karma amongst all the negative karmas.

It is said in the Guhyasamaja Root Tantra: 

If sentient beings commit an action 
As grave as the five heinous crimes (killing one’s father or mother, kill an arhat, drawing blood from a buddha and causing disunity amongst the Sangha, all of these five or any of these five)
They can still attain the superior Vajra Vehicle,
But those who disregard their master from within
Shall never attain buddhahood, even if much effort is made.

So you would be reborn in lowest hot hell, the inexhaustible hot hell and you would have to suffer there for so many eons. The length of life there is one intermediate state eon and this is the karma created to be born there, to experience the heaviest suffering. Even if this world ends but your karma is not finished, you will be reborn in hell in another universe, and you will have to suffer there until your karma finishes.

This karma of giving up the guru is the heaviest negative karma. It’s even heavier than what is called tsam mä nga, the five very heavy negative karmas without interruption.

We can still achieve enlightenment and we can purify the other negative karmas, such as the five very heavy negative karmas, but this one, giving up the guru, makes it so difficult, impossible to achieve enlightenment in this life. That is the heaviest negative karma, so we can’t do that. But by following the guru with one-pointed devotion [and seeing the guru as] a buddha, if we see mistakes, anything we see as mistakes, what appears in their actions, that is our negative karma, our mistaken mind, that they manifested, showing the mistaken form, showing mistakes purposely for us, to guide us to enlightenment. If they manifest in the form of a buddha, in pure form, then we can’t see them because we don’t have karma, we don’t have the pure mind to see the Buddha as a buddha. The only way to see them is if the guru manifests in ordinary aspect, in a mistaken form, having delusions, having mistakes in morality and so forth, all the mistakes, then we can see them in ordinary form. If they are in ordinary form, then we can receive teachings, we can understand the path, we can practice and achieve enlightenment, we can become free from samsara and achieve enlightenment.

Therefore the guru shows ordinary aspect, and with ordinary aspect they are guiding us. That is most kind, most unbelievable, most unbelievable, most unbelievable, most unbelievable, more kind. The guru is kinder than numberless buddhas, past, present and future, so like that, because they are showing ordinary aspect to us and with that they can give initiations and teachings, so they guide us, to liberate us from samsara and bring us to enlightenment. Wow, wow, wow! Their kindness doesn’t fit in the sky, it’s unbelievable, unbelievable, it even frees us from the lower realms. Their kindness is unbelievable; it can’t fit in the sky.

Therefore our mistakes manifest in the guru’s actions or the guru purposely shows us the ordinary aspect, so then they are able to give us teachings, give us vows, all these things, to free us from the lower realms, to free us from samsara and then bring us to enlightenment. So every second of the guru’s kindness to us in this way, what I mentioned, is more than the sky, every second.

You can do one mala or more, thinking, “Every second the guru is showing ordinary aspect to me so that they can give me vows, refuge, oral transmissions, initiations and commentaries on sutra and tantra. They are so, so kind, in order to free me from the lower realms, to free me from samsara and then for me to achieve enlightenment—wow, wow, wow—to achieve all the qualities up to enlightenment. The guru is kinder than can fit in the sky. In each second the guru is so kind.” So think like this, even doing one mala like that, even a mala, thinking over and over about the kindness. This is so good to develop devotion.

You want to follow me, and that is OK but you can’t do it like shopping, like returning clothing that you don’t like and throwing it away.

I think that is the essence for you to think about, to learn.

You can become a monk; that is very good. You can ask the geshes at our centers or ask Jangtse Chöje, who is going to become the 104^th Ganden Tripa soon. He will be coming to Deer Park [Geshe Sopa’s center in Madison, Wisconsin] and they may have a plan to give ordination, so you can come there. He will soon be the regent of Lama Tsongkhapa. There may be other monks wanting to take ordination also, so you can check and then let me know. If this is not possible, then I can try, but first you should try with the geshes or Jangtse Chöje.

Thank you very much.

With much love and prayers ...

My dear one,
First, I am very sorry it took so long to reply to your email.

Thank you very much for your kind letter expressing your confession. You did it before it’s too late, so that’s very good, very fortunate, because you did not take too long to confess.

I’ll tell you this, what the Buddha said:

Bhikshus and learned ones, examine well my teachings, just as a goldsmith examines refined gold by cutting, rubbing and burning it. Then take my teachings. Do not have blind faith alone.

This is not only for you and for beginners like me; this is also for even the learned lamas and geshes who have many disciples, who are learned in Buddhist philosophy and who are very famous in the large monasteries. This quotation by the Buddha is also for them. Among all the other religions in the world I think the Buddha is the only one who said to check his teachings and not follow them with blind faith.

Of course there are many other lamas who have great devotion to Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, and think these gurus are very strongly following [Dolgyal.] Also they may believe that their lives have been extremely beneficial for sentient beings by practicing Dolgyal, so they totally left out the Buddha’s advice.

I tell you, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche showed the aspect of following Dolgyal, but Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, who was the heart disciple of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, didn’t practice it at all. There are many great lamas who didn’t want to follow Dolgyal, who didn’t want to take the initiation of this Dolgyal. There are many other high lamas and geshes, for example, in the USA, Geshe Sopa, who was Lama Yeshe’s teacher and my teacher.

When Kyabje Zong Rinpoche gave the initiation in his past life—of course I had taken the initiation before —he was giving it to Alan Wallace, who was a monk at that time. Alan Wallace was Geshe Rabten’s disciple, and he had much intelligence and studied debate and Tibetan language. The initiation was mainly for him, also there was Ama Lobsang, a Tibetan lady doctor who was a disciple of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and myself. So there were three of us. His Holiness Zong Rinpoche gave sog tä [life initiation]¹ at three a.m. and before that he told many stories. Geshe Sopa was Zong Rinpoche’s disciple but he did not take the initiation; instead he was going around outside the room. So you can see the difference here. Geshe Sopa was very learned, even though Rinpoche did the initiation in his room. I don’t have to tell you, there are many stories, so this is enough.

I think what happened with you is that because you wanted very much to practice and rely on friends and practice together, so then because they practice Dolgyal and just because you are influenced by those friends—the wrong friends, the wrong guides—this is what happened. Then you just let it happen, even though you knew that His Holiness the Dalai Lama had advised to not practice Dolgyal, to abandon it.

Just in my case, yes, I did receive the sog tä initiation from my root guru Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche with two other students, but afterward I gave it up, in Dharamsala. When I was giving it up, the oracle that I used to consult regarding which lamas to invite from other sects—who to invite and who not to invite to FPMT centers, so I mainly consulted about that—that oracle appeared in my dream and gave me, not a new, but a little bit of old scarf, rolled it up and told me “Thanks” and then disappeared. So there wasn’t any kind of harm or the oracle didn’t show me that at that time.

The harm is not only in this life; the harm destroys all your next lives, to not meet the guru. You did not follow the advice of the guru, what His Holiness the Dalai Lama advised, which was to not practice Dolgyal, but you did [this practice] so you didn’t follow the advice. So that is the cause of not having the right guru, Dharma, the guru, in the next life. It could be for many hundreds or thousands of lives, on and on, you will never find, you will never hear, you will never receive teachings. You may even get reborn in the realm where you don’t hear even the voice, like that, it can be a possibility.

So it destroys, on and on, not just hundreds but thousand and millions of your future lives. This is the worst enemy and is most harmful, in particular to Gelugpa. It destroys the root of the path to enlightenment, which is correctly following the virtuous friend. That means you destroy your ability to free numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering. Not only that, you are not able to bring all sentient beings to the peerless happiness, buddhahood. So it destroys your [ability] to help the sentient beings, to bring them to enlightenment.

Many learned lamas and geshes, who have many disciples, so they practice Dolgyal and then the disciples find out that it’s wrong, then they destroy the root of the path to enlightenment, which is correctly devoting to the virtuous friend. Guru devotion means looking at [the guru] and seeing Buddha; by looking at [the guru as] Buddha and seeing Buddha and following that advice.

This practice is unbelievable harmful for Gelugpa teachings and so harmful to the world, harmful to Buddhism in general and in particular, Tibet and Gelugpa. This is besides the individual harm, the unbelievable, unbelievable harm to your life, in this life and future lives.

We in the 21^st century have this particular karma of following Dolgyal without checking, so our mistakes appear in the actions of the guru. So, for example, for myself, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, who was my guru, and Lama Yeshe, appeared like that, as practicing. They are Buddha, they have no mistakes, they have no true obscurations at all. They are one with all the buddhas. Each guru is one with all the buddhas. Each guru’s actions are all the actions of numberless buddhas’ holy actions, and their advice is numberless buddhas’ advice.

I’ll tell you this quotation from the Fifth Dalai Lama. It is a very rich quotation and you should learn this by heart, then you will know how to follow the guru, to not lose faith, to protect your faith, the root of the path to enlightenment.

The Fifth Dalai Lama, the omniscient one said:

In the view of your own mind—that which is totally hallucinated, opposite to reality—your own mistakes appeared in the guru’s actions. All this definitely shows is that your heart is totally rotten. Recognizing them as your own mistakes, abandon them as poison.

[Holding] the pure appearance [see] whatever is done by the guru as good. With devotion do exactly what the guru says. Then whatever you do, everything becomes Dharma. That profound importance should be realized as the root of happiness and benefits the completion of all the wishes.

Kadampa Geshe Potawa said:

If you don’t have faith in and respect for the guru, even if you rely on the Buddha it won’t benefit.

Like the monk Lekpai Karma. He served the Buddha for twenty-two years but he never saw the Buddha as Buddha, he always looked at the Buddha as a liar, so that’s why he saw only a liar, even though the Buddha was enlightened eons ago.

Please read my advice on Dolgyal, which can be found here:

• FPMT Collection of Advice Regarding Shugden (Dolgyal)
• Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Online Advice Book.

Please read the advice, so you can understand and also so you can help others. Not only will you understand but also you can help others.

What the Fifth Dalai Lama taught, this is how you can protect your devotion to the guru who showed the aspect of practicing Dolgyal and to those who do not show the aspect of practicing Dolgyal, so both.

The other way to think is that the guru purposely shows the mistakes, as you have the karma, so this is to benefit you. So think in these two ways. Think that the guru has no mistakes and from your side [see the guru as] the omniscient one. Then you can think that whatever the guru does is all the Buddha’s actions. Even when the guru coughs, it is all the Buddha’s action, there is benefit for us sentient beings; even when the guru has diarrhea, it is all the Buddha’s action, there is a purpose for that. We have to think that. So there is always that mindfulness and realization.

Every day you can do Vajrasattva, whatever you can, one mala, half a mala or twenty-one times, whatever you can, to purify the particular negative karma collected with the guru. Then make tsog offerings. You must know by now about tsog offering to the guru. Think you generate infinite skies of bliss non-dual with emptiness; beams are emitted from the guru and purify you, like the Lama Chöpa merit field. This purifies you totally, purifying the negative karmas collected from beginningless rebirth and the delusions.

But the main thing is to abandon Dolgyal practice now, one hundred percent. Think you are offering this to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and request His Holiness the Dalai Lama to guide you until enlightenment is achieved; to never be reborn in the lower realms and to be guided by His Holiness the Dalai Lama until enlightenment is achieved, in every life, every hour, every minute, every second.

It’s very foolish that you stopped doing the other commitments (Six-session Guru Yoga etc.) That is like someone giving you ice cream but you don’t eat it. That is so foolish. If someone gives you ice cream and you get angry back, how [foolish] that is! Here, if someone gives you a billion dollars and you get angry and don’t accept it, how ridiculous.

Now if someone gives you a wish-granting jewel, which means whatever you pray for—all the needs in this life, however many helicopters you want, however many airplanes you want, whatever you want, however many girls you want, however many swimming pools you want—so if someone wants to give you a million wish-granting jewels and you get angry back and don’t accept them, that’s foolish. Of course, a wish-granting jewel doesn’t purify the negative karma to be born in the lower realms, it cannot stop you from being born in the lower realms, that wish-granting jewel cannot free you from samsara, it cannot free you from lower nirvana, that alone cannot help you to achieve great nirvana, buddhahood. With that alone you can’t liberate numberless sentient beings from samsara and bring them to buddhahood.

That alone can’t help, can’t help, but by you practicing Vajrayogini, Heruka and so forth, this does free you from the lower realms, this frees you from samsara quickly, and it not only frees you quickly, but it brings you to enlightenment quickly and frees numberless sentient beings from samsara quickly and helps you to bring them to enlightenment quickly.

You don’t stop continuously regarding that guru as guru, as they are your guru, but you can keep away, so you don’t have to follow Dolgyal. Keep the devotion to them as guru, as Buddha, but you can keep away, so you don’t have to do Dolgyal. This is what I advised a long time ago to other students who followed Geshe Kelsang. You can read the letters in the links above.

Another thing is, the Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion² says that if the guru tells you to do non-Dharma things, then you can stop that. I think in Vinaya also, it is mentioned, if you are monk you do tangske, that is holding your upper robe³ in your hand and stroking it slowly three times, like prostration.

Then as the Fifth Dalai Lama says, continuously keep your mind in devotion, thinking that the guru is a buddha and whatever mistakes appear, what the guru says, what actions are shown, by thinking your own mistakes are appearing in the guru’s actions. Think that the guru doesn’t have mistakes at all [and has] omniscient mind, then respectfully confess and try to get permission so that you don’t have to do that [practice]. Without losing your faith, your devotion. So that’s explained.

Thank you very much. Please enjoy your life with correct Dharma practice, so doing Vajrayogini tsog, that would help, like one thousand times or a few hundred times. Also do the body mandala tsog to Heruka, that will purify. During the tsog think beams are emitted that purify your degenerated samaya, negative karma and all the obscurations, such as not doing the commitments and so forth, collected from beginningless rebirths. Think these are purified totally. So do like that.

With much love and prayers ...

Notes

¹ A life entrustment empowerment (Tib: sog tä; Wyl: srog gtad). [Return to text]

² (Disciples) having great sense should obey the words of their guru joyfully and with enthusiasm.
If you lack the knowledge or ability (to do what he says), explain in (polite) words why you cannot (comply).
          - Verse 24, Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion [Return to text]

³ In Vinaya literature, the term is lagö (Tib); bla gos (Wyl). The contemporary Tibetan term for the upper robe is chögö; chos gos (Wyl). This upper robe is yellow and is worn by Sangha at certain events. The chögö is worn over the zen, a maroon upper robe worn every day by Sangha ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. [Return to text]

Those who advise not to practice Dolgyal are so humble to you, to the world and to the Gelugpa teachings. This advice was given not only by His Holiness the Dalai Lama but many great lamas in Tibet, even before Tibet was overtaken by Mainland China. The Fifth Dalai Lama is one. After that so many great lamas who held purely the Lama Tsongkhapa teachings advised monks and monasteries not to practice Dolgyal. They included:

1.  The 54th Ganden Tripa, Trichen Ngawang Chogden
2.  The great lama, Purchog Ngawang Jampa, an incarnation of Maitreya Buddha
3.  Gyalwa Kunkyen Jampel Gyatso, the Eighth Dalai Lama
4.  Yongdzin Yeshe Gyaltsen
5.  Tugen Chokyi Nyima
6.  Changya Rolpai Dorje
7.  Yangchen Trupai Dorje
8.  Ngulchu Dharmabhadra
9.  Dodrub Jigme Tenpai Nyima
10.  Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
11.  The 7th Panchen Lama, Tenpai Nyima.

And there were many more. If you so desire, you can check the collections of their teachings.

One day a spirit came to the great Sakya lama Dakchen Sonam Rinchen and said, “I am the damtsig of Gelugpa,” which means [having] degenerated samaya and harming Gelugpa practitioners and the great lamas. That story is also mentioned by the Mongolian lama, Taiyen, and also by Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche in the commentary to the praise of Dolgyal. So Dakchen Sonam Rinpoche wrote a prayer called Viciously Destroying the Mischievous Guide, Dolgyal.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the king of Dharma and of the population of Tibet in the past; now he has given the population the power. His Holiness checked for a long time, for many years, and proved there were so many mistakes, so many questions, related to Dolgyal. Then His Holiness gave up the practice. After that, many high lamas and geshes gave up the practice of Dolgyal. That is without talking about the many learned lamas, such as Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Geshe Sopa Rinpoche, who did not do the practice from the beginning. They knew the practice was questionable and didn’t practice it.

That Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche practiced and spread Dogyal is to lead us to liberation and enlightenment. They have to show ordinary aspect to us, and “ordinary aspect” means showing mistakes while not having mistakes. This applies not only to Dolgyal but to so many other things in the life. They show not having understanding. They are buddhas, they have omniscience, but they show that they don’t understand and then you have to explain to the guru. Their practicing and spreading Dolgyal is showing ordinary aspect, showing mistakes, while there’s no mistake. In the Tibetan language, this is tsul tenpa (Wyl: tshul bstan pa). As Buddha said, he shows death, rebirth, old age and sickness while he doesn’t have them. Even arhats do not have them in reality.

My very dear one,
Thank you very much for your kind letter and for what you are expressing.

Regarding your questions: yes, burn the material you have. Regarding the crystal, you don’t need to crush it. Just put it high on a mountain far away, where it won’t be found.

Regarding Vajrayogini, the syllable should be BAM not VAM. Anyway, please use the Tibetan syllable, not English. The English is just for sound, but the Tibetan has incredible significance. The sun, the moon& and the nada are signifying the three appearances. If you use just English you lose all that, so you must visualize the Tibetan syllable.

It’s very good what you do, Lama’s blessing. It is so good that you gave up the Shugden. Thank you very much.

With much love and prayers...

If you are making a new Dharma connection with a teacher, aside from the other qualities of the teacher that you should check, you should also examine the teacher to make sure that he or she is in harmony with His Holiness Dalai Lama regarding the practice of what is called Dolgyal, the protector Shugden. Make sure that the teacher does not do this practice. These days, that is an extra analysis you should make. In that way, you’ll avoid problems in the future.

Recently, I also introduced a new guideline for the protection of the Dharma centers and their students, which is not to invite to the center teachers who do the protector practice and are therefore against His Holiness the Dalai Lama. However, this doesn’t include gurus who may have practiced the protector in the past. It doesn’t mean that they’re bad. I’m not saying that. If you have already made a Dharma connection with such teachers and you criticize them or give them up, that is totally incorrect; that is opposite to lamrim practice. The lamrim, sutra, and tantra teachings all explain how to practice guru devotion so that we can avoid creating such heavy negative karmas as criticizing our gurus. It’s for our benefit. Since we disciples want profit, not loss, since we aspire to achieve the highest profit, enlightenment, the complete qualities of cessation and realization, it is crucial to know how to practice guru devotion.

If those gurus who used to do the practice still had the same aspect now, if they were still alive in that aspect, they would also change. For example, His Holiness himself did the practice in Tibet for a short while, but after extensive analysis, checking many experiences and signs, and considering the advice of many other high lamas who advised not to do the practice, His Holiness also decided against it.

It is not only His Holiness who is saying not to do this practice. Before His Holiness, many other high lamas, holders of the entire Buddhadharma, also instructed their monasteries and students not to do this practice. After checking in many ways, His Holiness came to the conclusion that for the benefit of individual people as well as the world in general, he would stop doing this practice and also advised others to stop. Therefore, if those gurus who did the practice still had the same aspect, they would stop. Also, many gurus, many great teachers who are still living, have stopped as well, even though they used to do the practice before.

Even though many people, groups, and monasteries have asked His Holiness to change his advice on this, he has remained firm. Since he arrived at his decision through many years’ analysis, there has been no change; His Holiness always says the same thing in this regard. As His Holiness has said in many teachings, he will never change his opinion on this matter. If His Holiness the Dalai Lama is not Chenrezig, if he’s not Buddha, who else is there in the world that you can point to as Buddha? If His Holiness is not the Buddha of Compassion, then it’s a mistake to call other lamas Buddha, who are said to be incarnations of a Buddha.

[Rinpoche then explained in detail how His Holiness is Chenrezig and how the guru is Buddha.]

My dear one,
I hope you are well. I received your message regarding the other student. I think it is very good that he has stopped that practice, and especially it is excellent that he has faith in His Holiness the Dalai Lama. That is really great!

There are so many reasons to follow His Holiness. He is the embodiment of compassion of all the Buddhas, and especially now he has reincarnated to guide the Tibetan people. In fact, as we all know, for many lives His Holiness the Dalai Lama has reincarnated to guide the Tibetan people, and especially to preserve the complete teachings of the Buddhadharma. His Holiness is the only one in this world who completely preserves the holy Dharma that came from the Buddha, which has come through the great yogis and pandits of India and Tibet. Because of His Holiness, the Buddhadharma has spread all over the world. Not only the Buddhadharma, His Holiness is also able to speak in a universal language that goes beyond religion. Every year thousands of people follow the path and make their life meaningful, and are able to find answers to their life questions due to His Holiness.

This is all due to the kindness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. So, you can see how His Holiness is of the greatest benefit to this world. Even the political leaders of this world respect His Holiness. It is the same with so many great Tibetan reincarnations, who also follow His Holiness. If this isn’t Guru Shakyamuni benefiting the world, if this isn’t Manjushri benefiting the world, then who could it be?

There are many reasons for following His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s advice regarding not following or practicing the protector. His Holiness is able to teach in any culture and able, in a very grounded way, to relate so well to others. Therefore, we have the responsibility to pray for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s long life and to help and support His Holiness’s holy wishes and activities.

His Holiness supports many things, such as the environment, etc., but His Holiness’ main message has to do with the mind, because everything comes from the mind. Suffering and happiness depend on the mind. His Holiness not only teaches the entire path to enlightenment, but also in a very practical way helps people to deal with the problems of their daily lives. Therefore, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s existence in this world is extremely important. He is the guide and gives the antidote for all the problems of this world.

Therefore, one person following His Holiness’s advice achieves His Holiness’s wishes—this is the cause of His Holiness’ long life. The more we as individuals follow His Holiness’ advice and support His Holiness, the longer His Holiness will stay in this world and benefit sentient beings.

As far as reincarnation is concerned, the most important thing is being recognized through this life’s actions. Recognition should come naturally and organically in dependence on how that person conducts his life and activities to benefit others. The label tulku doesn’t mean anything; the importance is how much you benefit sentient beings. If you don’t benefit sentient beings, the title is empty, really empty. So, we should not be concerned with a label. People will respect or not respect in dependence on this life’s actions .

In essence, everything will depend on his practice, how well he does this in accordance with Lama Tsongkhapa’s instructions. And that’s it. The result will come from that.

Actually, more and more people want to be recognized as a tulku. In fact, all of us are reincarnations—we are the reincarnations of worms in our stomach, pigs, dogs, cats, and bugs. So, everyone is a reincarnation of someone, something. The worms in the stomach are there because of their past negative karma of being attached to sex. So, everyone is a reincarnation. Without a past life, there will not be this life.

So, the conclusion is: whether recognized or not, people respect you on the basis of your actions to benefit others. This approach fits.

Thank you for all your activities. Please try as much as possible to do everything with bodhicitta. In this way there will be the most benefit to sentient beings.

With lots of love and prayers...