Buddhist True Enlightenment Practitioners Association (BTEPA) Beware!

[lightning]

Buddhist True Enlightenment Practitioners Association (BTEPA) is a Mahayana Buddhist group based in Taiwan is very biased against the Vajrayana group and they are out to disparage Vajrayana practise. There are a number of followers are actively out to stalk others on Vajrayana forums, facebook etc. Please beware, when encountering this extreme buddhist group. Attached is the link and the what their Spiritual director have to say.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jack_W_Mayer
Pings Xiao repeatedly proves that the most ultimate practice method of Tibetan Secret School?Mahayoga?is in fact the worldly method which pursues sexual happiness, not only having nothing to do with the Buddha dharma but also violating the Buddhist practice and being unable to get liberated.

[Mana]

I think I can understand why this group is even formed in Taiwan. Taiwan is a very liberal country, and religiously too, but over the years there have been quite a few cases of scandals in the Vajrayana scene, high reincanated tulku raped disciple, best-selling chanting CD lama had affair with a married disciple, lama inventing their own new sect, questionable relics etc etc...it is very confusing for the public.

Perhaps the original motivation of BTEPA is good, which is to educate the public how to recognize real and dubious Buddhist organizations, but if they generalized that all Vajrayana is bad, then it is very bad karma to criticize other schools of Buddhism.

Instead of focusing on spreading Buddhism, BTEPA could actually spend so much money and manpower to press down their own Buddhism, just like how the CTA presses down theor own Gelug school, totally doesn't make sense.

[Ensapa]

The moment they call  themselves true, you know something is wrong.

There will be more and more associations like these that deride the older Buddhist traditions that will come up in the near future, hasting the demise of Buddhism. This is what happens when scholars only study but do little or no Buddhist practice at all, and feel that they have authority over Buddhism because they know so much. They dont hold any vows, do any practice or have any attainments and are just laypeople.

It is also interesting to note that there is also another movement called original buddhism who practices and teaches sutras which they think is pure and original, free  from cultural influences etc, as close as possible to what the historical Buddha taught. Again, it is very dry and scholarly and no attainments can be derived because it is very shallow in nature. It is just Buddhism being reduced to material for intellectual stimulation.

It is said that mara had declared to Shakyamuni that he will destroy Buddhism from the inside. Maybe these few schools are doing that.

[bambi]

I totally agree with what Mana said.  I believe that there are many methods used in Vajrayana that in modern society, a lot of people do not understand the true motive behind it. Just like the Mahasiddha, Choygam Trungpa Rinpoche having sex with his 'companions'. I have friends who disapprove me practicing the Vajrayana method because of what HH The Dalai Lama say or do. They think that Tibetan Buddhism is a CULT!!! One of my friend in HK told me he took refuge in Chenrezig(Boddhisattva of Compassion) but I still see him eating meat! Another one, goes for teachings almost every other day but still enjoy meat, selfish, etc. But this doesn't mean that all practitioners are like that hence instead of spending time/money putting down Vajrayana, they should use it to educate people the different methods used in Buddhism so that people can choose what they want and not based on what they are told.

[DSFriend]

Which religion has not had any sexual scandals with involvement from the highest ranking religious authorities? And are these religion bad?

I do not doubt that such sexual activities happened and more than likely, the religious authorities who initiated the sexual encounters have strong personalities coupled with the element of guru devotion which requires submission from students.

People like to pick on other religions. There will always be something to pick on. That's the nature of samsara isn't it.

It is not the religion which is at fault but the actions of samsaric beings who send the wrong message about the religion.

I find it pointless and such a waste of energy to stalk and criticize other buddhist sects. I have not come across any teachings of the Buddha, which teach that Enlightenment can be attained by being a  "cult buster".

[WisdomBeing]

It's sad to see this... Tibetan Buddhism is a “worldly method which pursues sexual happiness”?? Associating tantra with sexual happiness is pure ignorance. Aside from that, putting others down is not Buddhist at all. Criticising another school of Buddhism is schism, which is one of the heinous sins. Fair enough if they are trying to educate people on how to identify a genuine school or genuine teachers but what is reported in that wikipedia link is a blanket and WRONG condemnation of an entire tradition, here the Vajrayana tradition, which breaks every Buddhist rule in the book. It is ignorance which leads people to think that Vajrayana is a wrong school.

[biggyboy]

Even the name itself is a mouthful. I am not sure why BTEPA was originally formed for. May be it was meant to guide people not to be conned into bogus religious organization. However I think it is not right for it to criticize other school of Buddhism.

Nowadays we often hear or read in the papers of Catholic priests, some very senior priests and their sexual misconduct. But does this mean that Catholicism is bad?  No, only some practitioners are bad. One cannot generalize based on the conduct of a few bad apples, so to speak.