Here is a brief version of a teaching given by Kyabje Dagom Dorjechang in 2005 where he explains some of the unique qualities of the Ganden tradition. If you don't already know these, this is a must read!
(I've highlighted
in red the sentences that struck me most!)
Kyabje Dagom Rimpoche said:
Before Tsongkhapa came, the sutra and
tantra teachings were very degenerate.
Because of this, Tsongkhapa (in reality
Manjushri) was intentionally reborn in Tibet
to revive the teachings of tantra and sutra.
This lineage, the ear-whispered lineage, is the teaching that
you have to convey or give to others through
your own practice.
If you do not have your
own practice to teach to other people then
it does not belong to the ear-whispered lin-
eage. This is one of the uncommon qualities
of the ear-whispered lineage...
(A Lineage like purified gold!)
Not only has Tsongkhapa attained the
true realization of emptiness and has ex-
pounded on it, but he has composed many
books to explain the subject.
From there
on, the true union of the combination of
sutra and tantra, a lineage like purified gold,
started from Tsongkhapa. In general the root
of this, like a great river, is the teaching of
the Buddha that has come from India to
Tibet.
There are many delusions and, like
water made impure, many teachings of the
Buddha have been diluted, so Tsongkhapa
acted like a filter that purified that water, the
teachings of the Buddha, and that lineage
that has passed on from Tsongkhapa is called
the Ganden lineage...(There cannot be another new Gelugpa!)
It is not the reason that there are many
schools of faith in Tibet and they have a dis-
harmony in Tibet therefore he set up another
faith called Gelugpa or Ganden Lineage.
If
one does not understand the true meaning of
Gelugpa one might think it is a secondary
or small school in Tibet. It is not like that,
it is the essence of the Buddha’s teaching
in Tibet. It is a purified filtered teaching of
the Buddha, undiluted, and that lineage is
called Gelugpa. Because of that right now
you have in your hand a purified teaching
—a union of sutra and tantra teachings.
In
our time when we have this pure union of
tantra and sutra teaching we need to keep
this pure because after this if it becomes
diluted there will be nobody who comes who
will purify it again; there cannot be another
new Gelugpa...(The purity of the Teachings comes from realizing emptiness and keeping the Vinaya)
The way to keep the purity of the teach-
ings is to have a right understanding of the
teaching of emptiness and also to practice
accordingly to the vinaya, moral ethics, of
the Buddha. In general the demarcation to
whether or not the Buddha’s teaching exists
depends on whether there is the practice of
vinaya. When the Buddha performed the
deed of turning the wheel of the dharma, he
performed it in the form of a fully ordained
monk. The same way the great master
Tsongkhapa came...
(Purity from homelessness)
In the lineage that passes down
from Tsongkhapa it is really important to
have the purity of the teaching of tantra and
sutra and so forth. If there could be purity by
staying in the family, then the Buddha could
have stayed as a king inside the palace to
teach, and there is no reason he should have
gone to the forest and given up the princely
life, kingdoms, and everything.
If you still
maintain the family life it cannot keep the
purity of the teachings. So by giving up the
family life and so forth, one is able to retain
the purity. This is the ear-whispered lineage
that passes down in this way.
The full text can be downloaded here:
http://www.ganden.org/Resources/Newsletters/tabid/80/Default.aspxIt's in the summer 2006 issue.
