I would like to bring everyone's attention to the history of 2 global buddhist organisations in the gelugpa tradition. FPMT and NKT - which are bound together due to their origins, but I particularly want to highlight several key points in NKT's history
Historical background of the formation of NKTIn 1976 the students of Lama Thubten Yeshe founded the Manjushri Institute, a registered charitable company with Lama Yeshe as the Spiritual Director and purchased the assets of Conishead Priory, a sadly neglected Victorian mansion in Ulverston (Cumbria), England for the price of £70,000. In the same year Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Geshe Kelsang in India and invited him over to teach at the Manjushri Institute, which was a part of their FPMT network.
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, monk and scholar from the Gelug Tradition, is a contemporary of Lama Yeshe's from the time they spent studying at Sera Monastery.
According to researcher David N. Kay, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso was invited in 1976 by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who sought the advice of HH the 14th Dalai Lama when choosing Geshe Kelsang. Whereas according to a NKT brochure, "Lama Yeshe requested Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche to ask Geshe Kelsang to become Resident Teacher of Manjushri Institute. Geshe Kelsang later recounted that Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche asked him to go to England, teach Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Chandrakirti's Guide to the Middle Way and Lamrim, and then check whether there was any meaning in his continuing to stay."
For everyone who wants to argue about the authenticity of lineage, Geshe kelsang gyatso was authorised by the Dalai Lama AND lama Yeshe as a fully qualified buddhist teacher.
Geshe Kelsang was requested by Lama Yeshe to lead the "General Program" of Buddhist study. In 1979 Lama Yeshe installed another Geshe at Manjushri Institute, Geshe Jampa Tekchok, to teach a parallel twelve-year Geshe Studies Programme, which was recognized and validated by the Dalai Lama and which was modeled on the traditional Geshe degree. From 1982 to 1990 this program was led by Geshe Konchog Tsewang. According to a disciple of Lama Yeshe from this time, Lama Yeshe intended the institute "to become the central monastery of the FPMT... one of the early jewels of the FPMT crown" and "the pioneer among the western centers".
In the late 1970s, Geshe Kelsang, without consulting Lama Yeshe, opened up a Buddhist Centre in York under his own spiritual direction. Kay sees this as the beginning of a conflict between Lama Yeshe and Geshe Kelsang. However, according to Geshe Kelsang, "the opening of the Centre in York caused not one moment of confusion or disharmony".
Geshe-la first started opening his own centres in the late 1970s. That was coincidentally the same time that the Dalai Lama first started criticising the practice of Dorje shugden.
Geshe Kelsang was asked to resign so that another Geshe, described by Kay as "more devoted to FPMT objectives", could take over as a resident teacher of Manjushri Institute. Many students of Geshe Kelsang petitioned him to stay and teach them, and on this basis he decided to remain. In the following years prior 1990 Geshe Kelsang established 15 centers under his own direction in Great Britain and Spain.
Geshela rebelled against lama Yeshe and decided to stay against lama Yeshe's wishes? Remember that Geshe-la's root guru is trijang Rinpoche, not lama Yeshe, and by trijang rinpoche's instructions, he was supposed to teach in England then evaluate if there was any meaning in remaining. I conclude that through the requests of Geshe-la's students asking him to remain to turn the wheel of dharma, he thought it would be more meaningful to stay than to leave. I also wonder if Geshe-la had any inkling of what was to come in future (ie the shugden issue) and stayed behind in order to create a strong and powerful institution to uphold shugden's practice?
Both David Kay and Daniel Cozort describe the management committee of Manjushri Institute from 1981 onwards as made up principally of Geshe Kelsang's closest students, also known as "the Priory Group". According to Kay, "The Priory Group became dissatisfied with the FPMT's increasingly centralized organisation." Cozort states that different disagreements "led to a rift between Lama Yeshe and his students and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and his, and eventually the Manjushri Board of directors (comprised of Geshe Gyatso's students) severed the connection of the between institute and FPMT."
According to Kay, Lama Yeshe tried at different times to reassert his authority over the Institute, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Kay goes on to describe an open conflict of authority which developed between the Priory Group and the FPMT administration in 1983. In February 1984 the conflict was mediated by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in London. Kay states that after the death of Lama Yeshe in March 1984, the FPMT lost interest because they saw it as a fruitless case. Since that time, Kay states, the Manjushri Institute has developed mainly under the guidance of Geshe Kelsang without further reference to the FPMT, but legally remained part of the FPMT until late 1990.
In the early eighties, during the time that the Dorje shugden movement was slowly gaining momentum, Geshe kelsang and lama Yeshe's differences escalated, resulting in the separation of Manjushri institute with the rest of FPMT. In facts from the side of FPMT, the reasons for the dispute are:
At issue was whether the centers and their students ought to identify primarily with Lama Yeshe, local teachers, the Gelugpa tradition, or Tibetan Buddhism as a whole.
I would conjecture that Geshe kelsang was more inclined to stay truest to the Gelugpa lineage, above everything else. We will see more proof of this in his later actions.
According to Kay, of the two Geshes at Manjushri Institute, it was Geshe Kelsang who had always taken the greater interest in the running and direction of the Institute, and most of the students there were closer to him. The courses offered by both Geshes complemented each other, but as Kay remarked, they "differed in one important respect: only Geshe Kelsang's General Programme included courses on Tantric Buddhism, and attendance upon these required the reception of a Tantric empowerment."
Further, Kay argues that "Lama Yeshe's and Geshe Kelsang's different ideological perspectives provided the conditions for the organisational dispute between the Institute and the FPMT to escalate. Geshe Kelsang was already predisposed to support his students in their struggle with the FPMT administration because the organisation was inspired by a vision that he did not totally agree with."
Kay writes that, "the determination of Geshe Kelsang and the Priory Group to separate from the parent organisation was uncompromising, and this was a position that only hardened during the following years." He goes on to describe the split from the Gelug school and FPMT as follows:
"Geshe Kelsang's perception of himself and his centres vis-á-vis the contemporary Gelug sect changed dramatically, and he came to believe that he could only uphold the tradition of Tsongkhapa purely by separating from the degenerate world of Tibetan, and specifically Gelug, Buddhism."
Geshe Kelsang made a 3-year retreat from 1987-1990 in Dumfries, Scotland and asked Geshe Losang Pende from Ganden Shartse monastery to lead the General Program in his absence, whilst Geshe Konchog Tsewang continued to teach the Geshe Studies Programme at Conishead Priory (Manjushri Institute). Different Lamas, including Lama Zopa Rinpoche, were still invited. Especially the visit of Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1988 "is significant, indicating the ongoing devotion of the students to this lama and their desire to leave the negativity of the schism with the FPMT in the past."
In 1988 and 1990 the uncle of Geshe Kelsang, Ven. Choyang Duldzin Kuten Lama - the oracle of Dorje Shugden - also visited Manjushri Institute. Before that time Song Rinpoche, Geshe Lhundup Sopa, Geshe Rabten, as well as other lamas such as Ajahn Sumedho and Thich Nhat Hanh have taught at Manjushri Institute.
During Geshe Kelsang's period of retreat he wrote some of his books and worked out the foundations of the NKT. Kay states: "The first major development that took place during Geshe Kelsang's retreat was the introduction of the 'Teacher Training Programme' (TTP) at the Manjushri Institute." Kay comments the developments at that time: "By giving his study programmes a textual basis, Geshe Kelsang not only provided accessible materials to enhance the focus and commitment of his students, but also laid down structures through which spiritual authority could later be concentrated exclusively on him."
According to Kay,
"At this stage in the development of Geshe Kelsang's network, students were not required to rely on him exclusively...His perspective had yet to harden further, and the decisive shift appears to have taken place shortly after he came out of retreat in 1990 when he began to introduce new and radically exclusive policies within his centres. He had come to believe by this time that he had a central role to play in the preservation of Tsongkhapa's tradition in the modern age. The substance of the various reforms he implemented, therefore, was that the student within his centres were now to rely exclusively upon him for their spiritual inspiration and welfare."
According to Kay, Geshe Kelsang was gravely concerned that the purity of Tsongkhapa's tradition was being undermined by the lingering inclusivism of his Western students, something he had been outspoken for some years, "but he now acted more forcefully in his opposition to it by discouraging his students both from receiving guidance from teachers of other traditions and from reading their books."
Kay states that another result of these "radically exclusive policies" was that after the foundation of NKT the Manjushri Institute Library, with over 3000 books, was removed. Kay goes on to state that, "this began with non-Gelug books being removed, but as Geshe Kelsang's vision crystallised, even books by Gelug teachers became unacceptable to him and the library disappeared altogether. He thus became convinced that the Tibetan Gelug tradition as a whole no longer embodied Tsongkhapa's pure teachings and that he and his disciples must therefore separate from it. From this point onwards, Tibetan Gelug lamas would no longer be invited to teach within his network. This perceived degeneration extended to include its highest-level lamas, and so even veneration for the Dalai Lama was now actively discouraged." The pictures of the Dalai Lama were removed from the gompas and shrines of Geshe Kelsang's centres. In 1990 Geshe Kelsang became also outspoken against the Geshe Studies Programme, and "made the pursuit of his new programmes compulsory." According to Kay "As it was no longer possible for students to follow the programmes of both Geshes, the basis of Geshe Konchog's teaching programme at the Institute was undermined, and in 1991 he retired to Gyuto Monasteryin Assam, India."
When Geshe kelsang started eliminating all other teachers except himself, that was after a 3 year retreat, and just before the Dalai Lama went all out in his crusade against Dorje shugden. (Yes I call it a crusade.) I would say that Geshe Kelsang was setting the groundwork so that the future NKT members would have faith in his actions, and would not abandon the true path of lama tsongkhapa. I would also conjecture that Geshe had foreseen that many other Gelug masters would choose their sides in the Dorje shugden debate, and did not want his students torn between different teachers and different paths.
It is also interesting that out of everyone, Geshe-la chose Geshe lobsang pende to teach in his absence. And now, Geshe lobsang pende is the abbot of Shar gaden monastery. Is it just coincidence that Geshe la chose someone at has remain true to the Dorje shugden movement to this day?
The foundation of the New Kadampa TraditionAccording to David Kay, "in 1991, through the successful exploitation of a legal loophole, the assets of Manjushri Institut finally fell under the sole control of the Priory Group"(the close disciples of Geshe Kelsang). In the Spring of that same year, Geshe Kelsang announced the creation of the 'New Kadampa Tradition', an event which was celebrated in the NKT-Magazine Full Moon as "a wonderful development in the history of the Buddhadharma." In 1992, the Manjushri Institute developed a new constitution, which constituted the formal foundation of the NKT. The Manjushri Institute was renamed the Manjushri Mahayana Buddhist Center, and later the Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Center. Since then, it has remained Geshe Kelsang's home and the NKT's flagship center.
With the foundation of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, he established a new and independent religious movement aiming to "principally follow the teachings and example of Je Tsongkhapa". This also gave a new identity to his followers. The many NKT centres which were built up rapidly by his followers could gather under the common auspices of the NKT and their spiritual guide, distinguishing and disassociating themselves from other Tibetan Buddhist traditions, especially the Gelug school from which Geshe Kelsang Gyatso originated. Kay argued that with these changes, Geshe Gyatso provided a basis for the NKT to become a Western tradition whose "spiritual authority could later be concentrated exclusively on him." Cozort describes this as unusual in the Tibetan tradition. The NKT described themselves as being "an entirely independent Buddhist tradition with no political affiliations ... that is appropriate to the needs and conditions of the modern world". David N. Kay comments:
“In defining the movement in this way, the organisation is not simply maintaining that it represents Buddhism adapted for westerners; it is also striving to underline its separation from the Tibetan Gelug sect and emphasise the point that the West - via the NKT - is now the guardian and custodian of the pure tradition of Tsongkhapa in the modern world. From an NKT viewpoint, Geshe Kelsang has played a unique role in the transmission of Tsongkhapa's pure teachings, and the organisation and study structures he has created in the West are now believed to protect and preserve a tradition that is all but lost in its indigenous Eastern context.
Geshe kelsang gyatso is NOT trying to create a new lineage or sect of Buddhism. He is merely trying to retain the authenticity of tsongkhapa's teachings. For all the naysayers who are constantly criticising the NKT's syllabus, have you ever checked it against the teachings of Tsongkapa himself?
