Are you a coward if you go underground?

[pinecone]

“Cowardice is a trait wherein fear and excess self-concern override doing or saying what is right, good and of help to others or oneself in a time of need—it is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge.”…..Wikipedia

In the case those Shugden practitioners who continued their practices  secretly or underground  should in fact be regarded as  loyal , faithful  and consistent.  Therefore, the word coward is inappropriate to be used in this situation . I believe these practitioners have been going through some tough period before making the decision to go underground. I salute their courage in embracing tight to this great king protector practice.  If not of their perseverance, the lineage will be broken and extinct.

[Rihanna]

[Within the Tibetan community, you are ostracised, spat on, your children forbidden to be registered in a local school, unable to buy sundries from the local store, etc etc. What choice does one have except to practice in private while keeping his samaya with his teacher? Anyways, isn't it supposed to be a secret practice to begin with? The Gelug tradition practices humility and not flaunt practices given to them by their teachers. They are heroes, not cowards.]
“Cowardice is a trait wherein fear and excess self-concern override doing or saying what is right, good and of help to others or oneself in a time of need—it is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge.”…..Wikipedia

In the case those Shugden practitioners who continued their practices  secretly or underground  should in fact be regarded as  loyal , faithful  and consistent.  Therefore, the word coward is inappropriate to be used in this situation . I believe these practitioners have been going through some tough period before making the decision to go underground. I salute their courage in embracing tight to this great king protector practice.  If not of their perseverance, the lineage will be broken and extinct.
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[MoMo]

IMHO, the issue of being a coward does not arise here. Some of the Lama chose to go underground because the circumstance that they have taken teachings from HHDL. When the ban was imposed ,  they are caught in the absurd  position if they continued with the practice they will defy HHDL’s instructions . If they abandon , they will break samaya with their DS Guru.
For those who took on the practice after the ban, naturally we should not take formal teaching from HHDL as his advice  , doing so will be like knowingly banging our own head against the wall. There are many qualified DS Lama who could impart to us the complete teaching of the Gelupa sect. Spiritually, it would be for the best of current given situation. As for those who are caught in this dilemma, it is definitely not our cowardly act as some might perceive it to be. Many silence Lama that we know of done so with great compassion as not to create more disharmony to the Tibetan community as current situation had been bad enough. Being loud and vocal does not help the entire Tibetan Buddhism community as well.  In many instance mentioned in the scripture when Lord Buddha was asked a question, he remained silence as an answer.

[Clifford.Khong]

I do not think practicing Dorje Shugden underground is cowardly, it is a decision made that would protect not only the practitioner but those who oppose the practice of Dorje Shugden. Those who act as spiritual police of HHDL sometimes go to the extreme, by practicing it underground it doesn't give them any attention to you to what you're doing which prevents them from committing any harm on to you or those around you. It saves them the opportunity of creating bad karma for themselves. It really depends on the situation, you need to know your situation best for yourself in order to know who and what benefits more in whether practicing Dorje Shugden openly or disclosed.

Although no one needs to know your practice in the first place whether deemed politically correct to practice Dorje Shugden or not, many monks wouldn't show of whom their yidams are and practice in secret but yet may promote their yidam without having told anyone thats their yidam. I suppose it is a very subjective decision to make. One end you could be protecting those who wish to harm you, protect those who wish to harm those around you, or even protect yourself so that you may practice in peace. But I do salute those in Tibet and India who are practicing it openly and have not sworn in to leave their practices because of their guru devotion and faith in Dorje Shugden. They are the heroes for having to suffer the life of oppression, ostracization and violence yet stick so faithfully to their practice.

You may decide to practice underground in hopes to create less obstacles for yourself for a higher goal and purpose in your spiritual path of enlightenment, who knows. Nice discussion I enjoyed reading it.