Dear Dharma friends,
I would like to know your opinion and experience on this widely spread criticism of Dorje Shugden practicioners being sectarians and not accepting other Tibetan Buddhist schools, not mixing them with their own school and so on.
For my case, I live as a nun in a Gelug monastery where Dorje Shugden is practiced. But I have also since 13 years continuous contact with my Nyingma master, where I received amongst others the complete Dzogchen empowerment, teachings and trainings. There was only a few years time after 97 in which I was afraid to go there because the quarreling phase on Dorje Shugden was very hot. Later I found out, that it had been calmed down in the Sangha and I asked my abbot to go there again, especially because I had also a lot of commitments connected with this lineage and I wanted to keep them up. I got the permission to go there again under the condition to be not involved in any conflicts and I was very happy, when also my Nyingma lama gave me immediately the necessary support to feel integrated again. Some people ask me sometimes, if my abbot knows, that I am here or if I can do also my Nyingma practices in the monastery. Then I can say always: yes. Of course I will not tell to much to avoid any conflicts, but actually it is like that: there hangs a big picture of Dorje Shugden on my wall, but in the middle of my altar is Guru Padmasambhava. I go regularly to all pujas inclusive the Dharmapala pujas, but inside of my monastic room I do all practices, which are traditional for Nyingmapas. Sometimes we have visit from the Dorje Shugden oracle and while the evocation he usually carries a very sharp sword. If he'd liked to kill me, as he is often said to do with those ones, who mix the lineages, he could do it immediately. But he is always very nice to me and gives me blessings. I wear also constantly a pendant with the Dorje Shugden mantra around my neck, together with a Tagdröl, which is blessed by all important Nyingma masters of the last century - and I feel very well with it
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When I read in some Buddhist forums, that I am a sectarian because of my Dorje Shugden practice, I feel myself always very strange. Sometimes I tried to answer and told, that I am a disciple of both traditions and don't have any problem with it. Then people believed me to be just crazy or naiv and told me to read some books. I asked them, with how many Dorje Shugden practicionars they already spoke, to know their habit so clearly. Of course with nobody. Their is no need to talk with them, because these points of view are all well known and furthermore H.H. Dalai Lama has told, not to talk with such people. I don't spend time with such discussions anymore, it's like posting about Buddha in a fundamental Christian forum.
Another funny idea is the habit of some Buddhist organizations, to deny the status of being a Buddhist to Dorje Shugden practitionars. So for Gelug part I am not a Buddhist, for Nyingma part I am. Sounds like a Zen Koan
I would like to know, if some other people here are in a similar situation, or if you have other interesting experiences around this topic.
Actually for my person I don't just mix the lineages 'anyhow'. Combining two lineages is for me a permanent process in which one has to check always how to bring different aspects of Dharma together in a working consense. But I think, there were in history a lot of people, who were able to do so.
yedi
