Dalai Lama encourages Chinese to seek solace in Buddhism

[diamond girl]

When I read about what HHDL says on international news about China, and how China reacts, I am quite amused how such a strong, economic world power can be easily "triggered" by one man whom they have labeled as their enemy....

I do like very much that one of the positive "side effects" is that Dorje Shugden will grow in China as a retaliation to what HHDL says about Buddhism. This is what we all here want to see.

However, how about those out there who do not share our positive views on HHDL and his "skillful means"? What do they think? Do some think that HHDL is actually a "trouble maker"? Are his allegations on China's attempted murders true? Like I asked before, if China really wanted to "kill" HHDL, would such news even reach HHDL?

At the end of all this, what end does the HHDL want to achieve with all these talks against China? Tibet is not free, and it will probably never be free? While HHDL speaks like this on international news, do some people not have the view that HHDL's motivation is more political than religious?

[Ensapa]

When I read about what HHDL says on international news about China, and how China reacts, I am quite amused how such a strong, economic world power can be easily "triggered" by one man whom they have labeled as their enemy....

I do like very much that one of the positive "side effects" is that Dorje Shugden will grow in China as a retaliation to what HHDL says about Buddhism. This is what we all here want to see.

However, how about those out there who do not share our positive views on HHDL and his "skillful means"? What do they think? Do some think that HHDL is actually a "trouble maker"? Are his allegations on China's attempted murders true? Like I asked before, if China really wanted to "kill" HHDL, would such news even reach HHDL?

At the end of all this, what end does the HHDL want to achieve with all these talks against China? Tibet is not free, and it will probably never be free? While HHDL speaks like this on international news, do some people not have the view that HHDL's motivation is more political than religious?

China's reaction shows that China is fully aware that HHDL is enlightened and that he is the real thing. They are aware of his influence and they are aware of the consequence of harming him. If not they would have sent an assassin for him a long time ago but why not? Because they know that they will not be able to kill him as he does not have the karma to be killed in that way.

China is very careful and as such how is it even possible that such news can reach the ears of HHDL? Unless of course it is nothing but a claim or a ridiculous story that someone has spread in Dharamsala to promote fear and stress out of whatever agenda that they have? I dont believe that such a leak is possible in the first place and at the same time, China obviously does not like to meddle with these kind of affairs.

HHDL is having all of these talks against china more or less to provoke them to promote their Panchen Lama and also Dorje Shugden. It is possible that HHDL recognized an emanation of Amithaba Buddha but not the actual Panchen Lama to distract China from focusing on HHDL too much and focus more on promoting the Dharma in more ways than one.

Soon, China will go all out with Tibetan Buddhism and Dorje Shugden and the leader will be their Panchen Lama! Thus fulfilling HHDL's wish to give them Tibetan Buddhism yet without the political influences that makes China uneasy. If it wasnt for that I think China would readily embrace Tibetan Buddhism in all its glory and open up even more temples around.

[DharmaSpace]

The Dalai Lama is an embodiment of compassion if he has compassion only for his countrymen and not others how can he be Avalokiteshvara. The ban is just a ruse equal to those strategem advocated in Sun Tzu's War.

If the Dalai Lama supported the Gelugpa monasteries in China what will happen, the Chinese will have given them a lot more trouble. Not it is apparent the Chinese is applying the strategy the enemy of my enemy is my friend tactic and guess what the chinese are supporting the Gelug monasteries having Dorje Dhugden practises.

[Vajraprotector]

Author of "Wisdom of Forgiveness", Victor Chan recounts His Holiness' reply when asked whether he hated the Chinese in the 1970s. His Holiness looked straight into his eyes and said that not only that he didn't hate the Chinese, but that he had truly forgiven them. For those of you who are quite skeptical, this was before the days when Dalai Lama was "big and famous".

For such a compassionate being, and many true Tibetan practitioners out there, they do not blame the Chinese because the Chinese who harm the Tibetans previously and the Chinese today are not the same. Hence, it is not valid to hold on to grudge against the Chinese.

Dalai Lama is very skillful. For those with pure view of Dharma, or those who are interested in Dharma and not politics, will perhaps see some truth in what His Holiness said - those living in an increasingly more materialistic and competitive society will definitely find solace and benefit in Buddhism. On the other hand, those who are politically inclined, or perhaps those who are patriotic will most probably fall for the reverse psychology strategy. Either way, it is a "win" situation for China for Buddhism to once again flourish whether the actual cause for it was out of political agenda, or sincere everyday-folk looking for solace.

[Ensapa]

Author of "Wisdom of Forgiveness", Victor Chan recounts His Holiness' reply when asked whether he hated the Chinese in the 1970s. His Holiness looked straight into his eyes and said that not only that he didn't hate the Chinese, but that he had truly forgiven them. For those of you who are quite skeptical, this was before the days when Dalai Lama was "big and famous".

For such a compassionate being, and many true Tibetan practitioners out there, they do not blame the Chinese because the Chinese who harm the Tibetans previously and the Chinese today are not the same. Hence, it is not valid to hold on to grudge against the Chinese.

Dalai Lama is very skillful. For those with pure view of Dharma, or those who are interested in Dharma and not politics, will perhaps see some truth in what His Holiness said - those living in an increasingly more materialistic and competitive society will definitely find solace and benefit in Buddhism. On the other hand, those who are politically inclined, or perhaps those who are patriotic will most probably fall for the reverse psychology strategy. Either way, it is a "win" situation for China for Buddhism to once again flourish whether the actual cause for it was out of political agenda, or sincere everyday-folk looking for solace.

China knows that they are decaying and degenerating very fast morally, while they grow materialistically which is why they are engaging in Buddhism now as soon as they can. There is no doubt in that with so many recent reports that shows that their citizens no longer have compassion nor moral values to do the right thing and/or hold something dear other than their material wealth.

The Chinese need the Dharma. They will drink up Dharma readily and quickly unlike the past. This is the time that is ripe for them where they have all that they want and need, and they are educated, and they need something to intellectually stimulate them and make them realize that there is more to life than just making money, getting a house, buying big cars and getting married.

They need a direction and a star, something whose imprint has been buried deep in their culture for hundreds of years: Buddhism. And this is the exact time where they need it the most. Thus, I can only deduce that the Dalai Lama is just provoking them to pray to Dorje Shugden when he made the ban and those statements and this opened up their latent karmic dispositions.

There is much proof to Dorje Shugden's link in China: he was the 1st Lineage holder for the Chinese (29th direct lineage holder from Nagajurna himself) as Bodhidharma, one of his place of residence is in Wutai Shan, and he was China's most illustrious emperor in its history, the legendary Emperor Kangxi, the only period on Chinese history where China really advanced, next to Qianlong. With such a bond, it is only natural for the Chinese to accept him wholeheartedly.

[Positive Change]

Do you think the Chinese are going to head the advice of their sworn enemy the Dalai Lama? Do you think they are going to follow his advice to learn Buddhism, practice meditation, and by the way return the land formerly known as Tibet to the Dalai Lama?

Hardly.

So as Namdrol says, what is the closest thing the Chinese will do? They will be open to Buddhism of course, as that was one of the religions of their forefathers, and steeped in Chinese history. But they will also more than likely choose to practice Shugden - not only because he is effective, but also because they may have some hope that he will shorten the Dalai Lama's life, or destroy the cause of autonomy in Tibet.

Wrong motivation for sure, but shugden's practice will grow in China. Isnt that a good thing?
The dalai lama banned Shugden's practice, which will result in Shugden growing in China. Wrong or right motivation on our spiritual leader's part? You think.

It is interesting what you say here Thor as it really does sum up the seeming "hand" HHDL is playing. I agree that the Chinese Government on the whole may not go with the "seek solace in Buddhism" aspect as they tend to go against whatever HHDL says but in merely uttering the prospect, the idea or seed is planted in populace Chinese.

The Chinese Government may put the ground rules but inevitably it is the billions of citizens that will eventually decide, democracy or not. Even if the citizens do not think for themselves and act like lemmings, the other "choice" they would have would be to propitiate Dorje Shugden as this practice "harms" HHDL.

So either way one looks at it, it is a win win situation and the more HHDL "pushes" Buddhism to the forefront, the more lemmings will fly off the the cliff into Dorje Shugden's arms!

[Ensapa]

It is interesting what you say here Thor as it really does sum up the seeming "hand" HHDL is playing. I agree that the Chinese Government on the whole may not go with the "seek solace in Buddhism" aspect as they tend to go against whatever HHDL says but in merely uttering the prospect, the idea or seed is planted in populace Chinese.

The Chinese Government may put the ground rules but inevitably it is the billions of citizens that will eventually decide, democracy or not. Even if the citizens do not think for themselves and act like lemmings, the other "choice" they would have would be to propitiate Dorje Shugden as this practice "harms" HHDL.

So either way one looks at it, it is a win win situation and the more HHDL "pushes" Buddhism to the forefront, the more lemmings will fly off the the cliff into Dorje Shugden's arms!

Well, here are 2 things, the first of course being Dorje Shugden's practice propitiated and promoted by China, and the second thing here is China actually promoting Buddhism in general outwardly and officially, but not other religions, not even the native ones such as confucianism and taoism, but Buddhism. These 2 are separate, but one thing for sure is they are both triggered by the ban.

And the result of this is that millions of Chinese have a chance to heal and have a chance to pursue spirituality, although government sanctioned, but they still get to pursue it and reap the benefits which they sorely need. And even so traditional Chinese Buddhism may be quite daunting to some, so they would be naturally interested in Tibetan Buddhism and that's where Dorje Shugden steps in.

So no matter how we want to see it, the Dalai Lama's action of banning Dorje Shugden served more or less as a trigger for this to happen, although it did take many years before China actually trusted religion again and they were actually able to take religion seriously and see the importance of having religion in China. With that said, it is never too late for them to start.

No matter what is being done, or who is hurt, in the long run an enlightened being can only bring benefit if we check their actions and what happens over time, then we can validate the actions of that enlightened being. Short term benefit and comfort is useless if at the end of the day we are going to lose that and we suffer even more over time. Therefore, I trust the Dalai Lama's decision, even if it is painful to accept.

[Positive Change]

Well, here are 2 things, the first of course being Dorje Shugden's practice propitiated and promoted by China, and the second thing here is China actually promoting Buddhism in general outwardly and officially, but not other religions, not even the native ones such as confucianism and taoism, but Buddhism. These 2 are separate, but one thing for sure is they are both triggered by the ban.

And the result of this is that millions of Chinese have a chance to heal and have a chance to pursue spirituality, although government sanctioned, but they still get to pursue it and reap the benefits which they sorely need. And even so traditional Chinese Buddhism may be quite daunting to some, so they would be naturally interested in Tibetan Buddhism and that's where Dorje Shugden steps in.

So no matter how we want to see it, the Dalai Lama's action of banning Dorje Shugden served more or less as a trigger for this to happen, although it did take many years before China actually trusted religion again and they were actually able to take religion seriously and see the importance of having religion in China. With that said, it is never too late for them to start.

No matter what is being done, or who is hurt, in the long run an enlightened being can only bring benefit if we check their actions and what happens over time, then we can validate the actions of that enlightened being. Short term benefit and comfort is useless if at the end of the day we are going to lose that and we suffer even more over time. Therefore, I trust the Dalai Lama's decision, even if it is painful to accept.

Brilliantly summarised Ensapa. Your last paragraph just plucked the words right out of my mouth! It is so relevant... why do we even bother to check, validate or begin to understand the workings of an enlightened mind? If we trust who HHDL is, that really is all we need to go on... pure faith and trust in HHDL decisions and actions come what may.

Its true what we view is merely the short term or immediate "repercussions" and have very limited vision when it comes to the bigger picture.

Your point on the Chinese accepting religion AGAIN is also very valid as Chairman Mao came very near to eradicating all that was culturally and religiously important during the Cultural Revolution. Something truly worth rejoicing with regards to China embracing Buddhism somewhat unwittingly...

[Big Uncle]

China has had a long history with Buddhism and it is deeply embedded in the culture of this great civilization. The Chinese is a culturally advanced and because they had been relatively wealthy throughout its long history, they are naturally arrogant and closed minded towards foreign influences. However, due to the profundity of the Buddhist teachings that was imported along the silk route across the Himalayas, that the Chinese intellectuals began to adopt it.

Naturally, over time, Buddhism began to gain a stronger and stronger foothold in the vast middle kingdom. Depending on the ruling dynasty, some rulers adopted and propagated it widely while some sought to destroy the powerful monastics. Later, Tibetan Buddhism also began to emerge and the first to gain foothold was during the Mongol Yuan dynasty when the Emperor Kublai Khan took Sakya Pandita as a spiritual advisor. Later dynasties maintained ties and sought spiritual advisors from Tibet. However, it was the Changkya Rolpe Dorje that re-established ties during the Qing dynasty and cemented the spiritual relationship between China and Tibet. This is evident with the conversion of a royal palace into a royal Tibetan Buddhist monastery called Yong He Gong right in the heart of Beijing.

This goes to show that Buddhism has a long and deep roots in Chinese culture and psyche. I think that is why the modern day Chinese seeking spirituality would more inclined towards Buddhism that any other spiritual traditions.