A humble suggestion

[jeff Ryan]

I humbly suggest we stop discussing, debating, arguing, defending,...whatever you wish to call the various activities practiced in this forum regarding the various controversies. The older I get the more I come to see this as a complete waste of time and worse.... A distraction that only serves to create obstacles in our practice. That's why I don't participate in the forum much anymore. I think most of us know what is important,......serving our Masters', generating merit and purifying negativites. Any other activity is a complete waste of time. Humbly submitted to my Dharma brothers and sisters.  I hope I haven't offended

[Lineageholder]

I know what you mean Jeff, but dispelling misunderstandings about our Protector and our Gurus can also be an activity of accumulating merit and purifying negativity.  I know what you're saying, I think, in that any activity done with the eight worldly concerns is not Dharma, so it is very important to check our motivation whenever we write or post anything.

Any activity can be Dharma - it depends on the mind - but our activities can also be hijacked by delusion. It's important to know the difference and your kind post is encouraging us to check.  Thank you 

[christine V]

Dear Jeff,

This forum is important on discussing the latest progress on the "Ban" of Dorje Shugden, which to me is very unnecessary.

There are several reasons i think this forum have to keep discuss on the topic.
1) For beginner whom do not understand or knowing what exactly have happens. This Forum served as a place to dispel their doubt.
2) For the latest update on this issues.
3) For people who are confuse about Dorje Shugden

Jeff, people who banned on Dorje Shugden, the things that they did was not only talks. But, they do it by actions. I think you know what the CTA have done. Such as, impose on identity card, not allow the monks who practicing Dorje Shugden to buy daily grocery and many ridiculous actions, that causes the disharmonious amongst Buddhist.
What the people on this forum did was- only type out or write out what is in their mind, this is the only freedom they have, a place to speak , a place to voice the disagree. 

[Rinchen]

Dear Jeff,

Apart from what chritine V has said, there are several points I would like to add as well.

1) Through this forum, many doubts about Buddhism can be cleared. Not only issues towards Dorje Shugden.
2) This is a platform for all to freely ask what they would like to learn and know more about without having to have the fear of how people would look at them.
3) Through this forum, many has benefited in terms of clearing the doubts that they have.

Based on the above reasons, I feel that through this forum it is a great platform for people to learn. Especially for those who do not have the opportunity to be very close to their Lamas. They will still get to learn new knowledge and clear the doubts that they have to broaden their views.

[Ensapa]

I humbly suggest we stop discussing, debating, arguing, defending,...whatever you wish to call the various activities practiced in this forum regarding the various controversies. The older I get the more I come to see this as a complete waste of time and worse.... A distraction that only serves to create obstacles in our practice. That's why I don't participate in the forum much anymore. I think most of us know what is important,......serving our Masters', generating merit and purifying negativites. Any other activity is a complete waste of time. Humbly submitted to my Dharma brothers and sisters.  I hope I haven't offended

I dont think its a distraction at all because what we are doing here, discussing and re-iterating our stance on Dorje Shugden is meaningless or whatsoever because it serves to dispel the many lies that surround Dorje Shugden. I dont think it would be good for our Dharma practice to turn a blind eye to misunderstandings about the Dharma and against Pabongkha Rinpoche as well and just allow it to go on because we value our inner peace more than the inner peace of others.

[hope rainbow]

I humbly suggest we stop discussing, debating, arguing, defending,...whatever you wish to call the various activities practiced in this forum regarding the various controversies. The older I get the more I come to see this as a complete waste of time and worse.... A distraction that only serves to create obstacles in our practice. That's why I don't participate in the forum much anymore. I think most of us know what is important,......serving our Masters', generating merit and purifying negativites. Any other activity is a complete waste of time. Humbly submitted to my Dharma brothers and sisters.  I hope I haven't offended

A distraction?
Mmm....
Then it is a distraction from worldly thoughts, a distraction from focusing on what makes most of our lives rather insignificant, a distraction like a loud and reminding snap of fingers surprising our mind focused on unsuccessful pursuits, a distraction from letting anyone think that Dorje Shugden is not an enlightened protector, a distraction from "distractions"... actually!

There are distractions taking us away from virtuous pursuits, and there are distractions taking our minds out of worldly pursuits. This "distraction" is of the later kind.

As far as I can say, it is one that generates merits too!
Thus not a waste!

[Ensapa]

I humbly suggest we stop discussing, debating, arguing, defending,...whatever you wish to call the various activities practiced in this forum regarding the various controversies. The older I get the more I come to see this as a complete waste of time and worse.... A distraction that only serves to create obstacles in our practice. That's why I don't participate in the forum much anymore. I think most of us know what is important,......serving our Masters', generating merit and purifying negativites. Any other activity is a complete waste of time. Humbly submitted to my Dharma brothers and sisters.  I hope I haven't offended

A distraction?
Mmm....
Then it is a distraction from worldly thoughts, a distraction from focusing on what makes most of our lives rather insignificant, a distraction like a loud and reminding snap of fingers surprising our mind focused on unsuccessful pursuits, a distraction from letting anyone think that Dorje Shugden is not an enlightened protector, a distraction from "distractions"... actually!

There are distractions taking us away from virtuous pursuits, and there are distractions taking our minds out of worldly pursuits. This "distraction" is of the later kind.

As far as I can say, it is one that generates merits too!
Thus not a waste!

That is true as well! But perhaps, i guess, some of us are too attached to their concept of peace and would do everything to defend them. But can we really get peace knowing that we have done nothing to help stop the discrimination against Dorje Shugden practitioners around the world, allowing them to continue suffering while we quietly and peacefully do our own practices? Is it Dharma to ignore the sufferings of others? These are a few things to think about when you say that the discussions here are pointless.

[jeff Ryan]

Thank you to all who replied. As I said, I was speaking from my experience. I can assure you to continue in the arguing, debating, defending on this forum is not productive for me.  I find serving my Masters, our monasteries, etc. is a truly productive way for me to be useful. It seems to my mind what is crucial is that we preserve this unbroken lineage for the generations to come and that in and of itself sometimes seems like a insurmountable task. The arguing, debating, defending, etc. that I SOMETIMES see here is serving the interest of those who desire us to fail. I get my confidence in seeing the success of Shar Ganden, Serpom, etc. putting all my attention toward that is surely not a waste of time for me or distraction for me.  I'm just speaking for myself. Be assured I meant no disrespect.

[Ensapa]

Thank you to all who replied. As I said, I was speaking from my experience. I can assure you to continue in the arguing, debating, defending on this forum is not productive for me.  I find serving my Masters, our monasteries, etc. is a truly productive way for me to be useful. It seems to my mind what is crucial is that we preserve this unbroken lineage for the generations to come and that in and of itself sometimes seems like a insurmountable task. The arguing, debating, defending, etc. that I SOMETIMES see here is serving the interest of those who desire us to fail. I get my confidence in seeing the success of Shar Ganden, Serpom, etc. putting all my attention toward that is surely not a waste of time for me or distraction for me.  I'm just speaking for myself. Be assured I meant no disrespect.

Of course, if we have the good fortune to serve Shar Ganden or Serpom directly, that would be the best but not all of us have connections to those monasteries, and even so, some of us have limited resources. Also, there are tons of articles out there who bad mouth Gelugpa, Dorje Shugden, Trijang Rinpoche and Pabongkha Rinpoche and all these undermine the growth of Shar Ganden and Serpom. As you are the fertilizer that makes the main trees grow we are the landmowers who destroy the weeds who choke the trees. We both contribute in our own ways, and we should work together.

[kris]

I do agree with Jeff that ultimately Buddhism is about mind transformation, serving the Guru and benefit all sentient beings, but from where I live here, many people are very puzzled about the issue of Dorje Shugden. I must say the confusion has been created in the first place, and people are holding back and observe what is going on. You may call it an obstacle..

Someone close to me has exactly the same experience. When he explain to his friends about Tibetan Buddhism and friends starting to talk about Dorje Shugden and they are utterly confused. I know these friends and they are the serious type and they genuinely want to know more as to what is happening. I am happy that this website and forum has given me the points to explain to friends.

I must also say that Jeff has a lot of good merits to continue practicing without any doubt, which from what I see, is not to case to many of us (me included) in where I live.

@Jeff, I pray you can continue the practice and preserve the unbroken lineage!!

[lotus1]

Thank you jeff for your opinion and advice. Indeed, able to serve our Masters, generating merits and purifying negativities are important. It requires one with tremendous merits to be able to serve our masters and practice Dharma. Rejoice to hear that you are able to do it.
When I first get to learn about Dorje Shugden, my Buddhist friends told me that he is an evil spirits and we should not practice it and asked me to be away from some centres that practice Dorje Shugden or they suspects are practicing Dorje Shugden. However, I get to learn the truth and more information of Dorje Shugden from the articles and videos on dorjeshugden.com and discussions on this forum. Therefore, I would think that discussion and debating in some of the controversal topics are important that it would help a us to have better understanding and able to make a better decisions.
Therefore, I would agree to Lineageholder that we should always check our motivations on writing any comments and it is good to discuss and debate on the controversial topics so as to dispel the misunderstanding about our Protector and our Guru. This would be another way of accumulating merits and purifying negativity as we are also spreading the teaching and lineage of our divine protector. The more we spread on Dorje Shugden, more people can be blessed and protected by him.

[samayakeeper]

Thank you to all who replied. As I said, I was speaking from my experience. I can assure you to continue in the arguing, debating, defending on this forum is not productive for me.  I find serving my Masters, our monasteries, etc. is a truly productive way for me to be useful. It seems to my mind what is crucial is that we preserve this unbroken lineage for the generations to come and that in and of itself sometimes seems like a insurmountable task. The arguing, debating, defending, etc. that I SOMETIMES see here is serving the interest of those who desire us to fail. I get my confidence in seeing the success of Shar Ganden, Serpom, etc. putting all my attention toward that is surely not a waste of time for me or distraction for me.  I'm just speaking for myself. Be assured I meant no disrespect.

Of course, if we have the good fortune to serve Shar Ganden or Serpom directly, that would be the best but not all of us have connections to those monasteries, and even so, some of us have limited resources. Also, there are tons of articles out there who bad mouth Gelugpa, Dorje Shugden, Trijang Rinpoche and Pabongkha Rinpoche and all these undermine the growth of Shar Ganden and Serpom. As you are the fertilizer that makes the main trees grow we are the landmowers who destroy the weeds who choke the trees. We both contribute in our own ways, and we should work together.

I agree with you Ensapa. I, too, do not have direct access to these great monasteries nor do I have the monetary fund to support their good work due to my own negative karma. But I do find this forum very interesting, rich with dharma knowledge and sharing. I guess it is up to each individual if he/she would want to join in the forum or not. Some prefer to garner the information provided herein. As for me, sometimes I do give my two bits worth