HH Penor Rinpoche Sympathetic to Dorje Shugden Monks

[shugdenpromoter]

Dear Everyone,

Recently, I heard from a wise monk about HH Penor Rinpoche and how he was so kind towards the Shugden monks. I would like to share this with everyone. This post was quite sometime ago by TK BUT it is definietly worthwhile reading.

HH is 100% Nyingma....... but he supported the Shugden monks as HH did not see anything evil about what they did. Some Nyingma I came to know bashes Shugden, even the Nyingma monastery in Parphing has their protector which steps on Shugden. Sigh.

Well, if we want to know whether a lama is real, sometimes u need to see their actions. Please read about HH and his act of kindness, it brought tears to my eyes.




HH Penor Rinpoche Sympathetic to Dorje Shugden Monks

Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement is around 5 hours drive away from Bangalore in South India. From Bylakuppe to Sera is another 30 minutes through the villages.

Bylakuppe has a large population of Tibetans of which there are many Monasteries such as Sera, Serpom, Penor Rinpoche’s Monastery, Zongkar Choede, and not far is Gyurme Tantric College.

Many shops that sell daily needs in that area are owned by Tibetans laity.

When the ban came down from HH Dalai Lama, even association on a social, business or casual manner NEVERMIND SPIRITUAL with Dorje Shugden practitioners are not allowed. On all the Tibetan store/business fronts, notices were posted that if you practice Dorje Shugden, you may not purchase from here or enter!! Many Tibetan salespeople did not want to post up the sign, but they also had no choice. They themselves said off camera. Why? Because they need business to support their families and this ban just curtails business and Tibetan Govt does not reimburse them in any way.

From Sera Monastery to the town of Byalukuppe is a ride of around 30 minutes. But there are many stores on the way to Bylakuppe that would save time/energy to purchase from without having to go Bylakuppe.

There are many poor, sick, aged, very young and infirmed monks that makes it difficult to get to Bylakuppe to purchase supplies especially during the summer monsoons. Monsoons are relentless rains for 3 months with plenty of very muddy roads.

Penor Rinpoche’s Monastery is halfway from Sera to Bylukuppe and in his monastery there are stores selling supplies. Businesses catering to the needs of locals for a cheap price for convenience sake.

When Penor Rinpoche heard re the ban and the difficulties/inconveniences for many monks to purchase items, PENOR RINPOCHE OPENED UP HIS NAMDROLING NYINGMA MONASTERY (fhttp://www.namdroling.org/) for the Dorje Shugden monks to get supplies. Shocked the local community in both good and bad ways! Shocked the Tibetan Govt. Shocked the others shops!

This was a powerful statement from such a high being. Penor Rinpoche has never commented against Dorje Shugden. Nor do you see him running to Dharamsala to attend teachings, long life pujas to Dalai Lama or get involved with Tibetan Politics. He doesn’t dislike the Dalai lama, but he doesn’t regard Dalai Lama as the spiritual head of all sects, full stop.

Penor Rinpoche doesn’t need the support of the Tibetan Govt and Dalai Lama to make his work as large as it had become. Also Penor Rinpoche really is unbiased, compassionate and a strong lama. He doesn’t care regarding politics or religious bans that are unfair or should not be applied.

Penor Rinpoche allowing monks who refused to give up their centuries old practice of Dorje Shugden to enter his monastery and interact was a huge message to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Govt. The Dalai Lama and Tibetan Govt DARE NOT SPEAK UP AGAINST THIS ACT. They know that whatever they are doing with bans, can only be done within the Gelug for now, of which the Dalai Lama belongs to, BUT NO OTHER SECT WOULD EVER TOLERATE CRITICISM, BANS, RULES AND REGULATIONS MADE TO THEM BY A DALAI LAMA WEARING A YELLOW HAT.

In fact, because the Dalai Lama is so famous, to rub shoulders with him or take pictures can hurdle you temporarily into the limelight which will boost your centre and sponsorship. Sad.

Many lamas of all sects would do that in order to further their own causes. We will observe the truth of this after Dalai Lama passes away whether the Tibetan Religious leaders/Monasteries gel together or fall further apart. Not one Leader of a Sect will be able to take over the Dalai Lama’s position. That is for sure if we observe history.

Penor Rinpoche is someone who practiced his own lineage perfectly without involving in politics which shows his great sense of dharma purpose and a truly evolved being. A great example. Very inspiring.

I wish HH Penor Rinpoche’s incarnation returns soon and spreads the light of BuddhaDharma again.

TK

Press this link to see pictures:

http://dorjeshugden.com/wp/?p=2874&cpage=1#comment-174

[Vajraprotector]

I wish there were more monks who follow Penor Rinpoche's example and choose Buddhism instead of politics. I  admire Penor Rinpoche for his humility and his real care for everyone, regardless of what the political situation is.

Below is an excerpt of his announcement of retirement from the Head of Nyingma Lineage in 2001. HH Penor Rinpoche held the position for 10 years. You can see how humble Rinpoche is from his speech. May the ban be swiftly lifted and real Dharma prevails.

His Holiness Penor Rinpoche's announcement of his retirement from the position of Head of the Nyingma Order

Historically in Tibet, there were no official positions established for the heads of three of the main orders of Tibetan Buddhism. Instead, leadership responsibilities were distributed among the various lineage masters and other highly respected lamas within each order. The Riwo Gadenpa were an exception: the lama holding the position of Gaden Tripa was in fact the highest spiritual authority for the Gelugpa Order.

The present positions of heads of the orders of Tibetan Buddhism were created after the Tibetan government went into exile. Since Buddhism is such an integral part of Tibetan culture and identity, it was considered vitally important that each of the four major orders of Tibetan Buddhism be officially represented in the newly reorganized government. It is the responsibility of each of these heads to represent their own spiritual community during government functions where religious matters are discussed. Additionally, they participate in official government rituals performed as needed to benefit the Tibetan people and help overcome obstacles that arise in their lives. The heads of the orders also help oversee the activities of the monasteries in their respective orders as well as the education and spiritual development of their communities.

His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche was the first to serve as head of the Nyingma order. He was succeeded by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Both of these great masters served in their position until they passed away in 1987 and 1991, respectively. In 1993 the Nyingma community selected me to assume the position. At first I refused. My primary concern was that I would be unable to continue to perform all of the religious duties required of me as head of the Palyul lineage together with the new responsibilities that would be required of me as Head of Nyingma. At the insistence of the Nyingma community, however, I reluctantly agreed to accept the appointment as the head of our order.

I have done my best to represent the entire Nyingma community and to discharge the duties required by the position. I am happy that over the past years the Nyingma community has continued to become stronger and more unified. Today we are like one large happy family. Much of my effort has been aimed at improving the organization of the annual Nyingma Monlam Chenmo ceremony held in Bodhgaya. This grand prayer festival gathers together the entire Nyingma community to join in prayers for world peace and happiness. It also provides us with a forum for frank and open discussion of the issues and challenges that affect our community. As such, it has become an important focus for improving communication and unity within Nyingma.

My primary responsibilities in this life are to discharge the religious duties and responsibilities I hold as head of the Palyul lineage. As such, I have many monasteries, monks and nuns for which I must care. The thousands of monks and nuns at our monasteries must be housed, clothed and fed. They must be trained in accordance with the spiritual traditions of our lineage. These responsibilities are extremely demanding and require much of my time and attention. Now, as I had originally expected, it has become increasingly difficult for me to perform fully as both head of the Palyul lineage and as Head of Nyingma. The result has been that I have been unable to attend all of the meetings, functions and ceremonies required of me as Head of Nyingma.

From the very beginning, it was never my intention to hold this appointment for life. There are many Nyingma lamas today who have the abilities and qualities required to effectively discharge the duties of this position. It is my view that other qualified and willing Nyingma lamas should have the opportunity to serve in this position. By giving those lamas the chance to serve the Nyingma community as its leader, I believe our tradition will be strengthened and Tibetan Buddhism in general will benefit.

It is for these reasons that I decided to transfer my responsibilities as Head of Nyingma to a suitable successor. At the Monlam Chenmo gathering earlier this year, I proposed to the assembly that His Holiness Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche be appointed to succeed me. The Nyingma community fully supported my recommendation. The transfer of title has become official and His Holiness the Dalai Lama has sent a letter of congratulations to His Holiness Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche on his accession to the position of Head of Nyingma.

I and my staff at Namdroling Monastery will continue to be responsible for organizing the annual Monlam Chenmo ceremony in Bodhgaya. Over the years we have developed a large and effective organization that manages and executes the many tasks required to make the ceremony a success each year. It would be disruptive to transfer those responsibilities to a new administration in the short term. Additionally, we have several major construction projects currently underway in Bodhgaya which will make significant improvements in the living conditions for those participating in the ceremony each year. I fully intend to see this work through to its completion.

Regardless of who holds the title of Head of Nyingma, I will continue in my efforts to benefit the Nyingma community. I request that all the high lamas and monks of the Nyingma community join with me to assist His Holiness Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche in all his efforts as the Head of Nyingma. I have no doubt that the Nyingma community will continue to strengthen and flourish under his leadership.

Penor Rinpoche
August, 2001

From: http://www.palyul.org/docs/announce.html

[dondrup]

HH Penor Rinpoche is truly a great bodhisattva full of compassion.  He is fearless in his deeds.  How many would go against the CTA and HH Dalai Lama’s ban on Dorje Shugden followers?  Not many! HH Penor Rinpoche is unbiased and impartial towards the monks from the Gelug monasteries who were outcast as a result of the ban.

I agree with Vajraprotector.  HH Penor is truly a humble monk. He is more concerned with the welfare of the monks and nuns than holding the political position as the head of the Nyingma Tradition!  Even after stepping down as the head of Nyingma Tradition, he continues with the existing responsibilities of organizing the annual Monlam Chenmo ceremony in Bodhgaya.  He didn’t want to burden the new Nyingma leader His Holiness Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche.  How considerate and caring HH Penor Rinpohce is!

[Tenzin Malgyur]

HH Penor Rinpoche is certainly such a courageous individual to open up the store in his monastery to the DS practicing monks. While everyone around him are being very careful not to go against the order of the CTA, HH Penor Rinpoche put all the fears of consequences away and supplied the DS monks with their needs. I reckon he saw the plight and sufferings of the DS monks and decided he should be the one to help them. May there be more brave people like HH who would not be afraid to do the right thing for their fellow human being.

[beggar]

There is a great irony that anti-shugdenpas accuse shugden practitioners of being sectarian... when in fact the greatest sectarianism and discrimination is being practiced by the very people who put down shugdenpas.

A greater irony that the people so staunchly against Shugden practitioners are the ones who do so in the name of religious purity and faith to the Dalai Lama . Indeed, is this what Dharma teaches us? To discriminate against others because of their religious choices? We are taught to be compassionate to all beings, including spirits, animals (the smallest insects!) and to our greatest enemies - but to Shugden practitioners, it is "permissible" to ostracize them and treat them harshly. How is this religious purity in any way? At the deepest level, this also does not really support the Dalai Lama and what he teaches. Yes, the Dalai Lama has said not to practice Shugden, but he has also taught us to practice patience, generosity, compassion - so why do we choose to follow some teachings so specifically, to such an extreme, and not others?

[DSFriend]

Thanks for reposting. It's reassuring and encouraging to read about high lamas such as HH Penor. It is reassuring as such conduct should be more prevalent in our buddhist community but it's not so.

Minds are turned, devotion to Dorje Shugden is discarded, and  practices are abandoned for worldly gains. I am well aware of the threats to any monasteries who does not fall in line with the mandate issued by HHDL/TGIE that many high lamas are staying underground for now for a higher cause. Some battles are just not worth fighting in a direct way. This website is a great way instead to educate the world regarding the truth of the matter.

Well, HH Penor doesn't need to "stick his nose" in this matter.. but my respect to him for speaking up and standing up for Dorje Shugden monks.

[dsnowlion]

I love this post on HH Penor Rinpoche... he shows us all what a true spiritual master should do and act. If Spiritual masters who represents Love and Compassion and teaches about Bodhicitta and Sunyata and all that we learnt about Buddha's loving kindness teachings act in a biased, unkind ways in their actions then who are we to follow, trust, believe, respect? They would bring the whole Dharma down and not only that destroy so many people's believe (especially those who are new to Dharma) down and some would even leave the Dharma completely.

Penor Rinpoche's actions clearly shows he is no hypocrite and He is a true Dharma teacher that upholds the Dharma. I do not see in any where written by the Buddhas, Tsongkhapa and all, that we are to dicrimate other people's religious beliefs if it differes from ours. In fact it is the opposite that has been taught all this while and we are to live in harmony, even with the spirits, we make offerings to them to apeace them. So why is our very own Gelugpa Lamas and monks and nuns not see this but spout about compassion and loving kindness? (STRANGE) Do they not realise how contradictory and ethically, morally hypocritical they sound?

You do not put people down, discredit them and shun them from even receiving basic citizen entitled welfare such as school and food just because they have a different belief... that is totally discrimination and why do does the world put up with it? Would you if it happened in your democratic country??

[vajratruth]

HH Penor Rinpoche is truly a great bodhisattva full of compassion.  He is fearless in his deeds.  How many would go against the CTA and HH Dalai Lama’s ban on Dorje Shugden followers?  Not many! HH Penor Rinpoche is unbiased and impartial towards the monks from the Gelug monasteries who were outcast as a result of the ban.

I agree with Vajraprotector.  HH Penor is truly a humble monk. He is more concerned with the welfare of the monks and nuns than holding the political position as the head of the Nyingma Tradition!  Even after stepping down as the head of Nyingma Tradition, he continues with the existing responsibilities of organizing the annual Monlam Chenmo ceremony in Bodhgaya.  He didn’t want to burden the new Nyingma leader His Holiness Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche.  How considerate and caring HH Penor Rinpohce is!

Thanks for this post Shugdenpromoter. I heard the same story and I was bowled over. In an environment where most people would either not care, because the ban doesn't affect them, or are too worried about upsetting HHDL, the CTA by going against the "trend", Penor Rinpoche's concern was only for the monks affected by a ban which he knows is not only totally unjustified but also spiritually and morally wrong. Think about it. Why would the head of a major Tibetan Buddhist school bother to help monks who supposedly worship an evil spirit that is not only out to destroy his sect and also hell bent on harming the Dalai Lama? Penor Rinpoche not only knows the truth behind the Dorje Shugden ban, he is also a true and compassionate Dharma Master who has no interest in politics and propaganda.

What is laughable is that in response to Penor Rinpoche's act of kindness and correctness, there is only dead silence from the CTA and pro-ban people. Why mere silence if HHDL and the CTA truly believe in their own claims about Dorje Shugden? Shouldn't they and everyone else who have supported the ban based on HHDL's false reasons be up in arms against the Nyingmas for supporting an act which supposedly harms the life of Tibet's Spiritual leader and also sabotages the Tibetan Cause? Alarm bells should be ringing loudly by now for those still believing in the ban.

Things are not as they seem and Penor Rinpoche knows it.

[Dorje Pakmo]

This is truly a touching article thanks for sharing. It is comforting to know that when everyone else is blindly following the leader, discriminating, condemning, making everything hard and not wanting to be associated in anyway to the Dorje Shugden practitioners even to the extend of forcing business owners to shut them out, a Bodhisattva such as HH Penor Rinpoche chose to do the right thing. By selling supplies to monks that practice Dorje Shugden out of compassion, knowing that it'll be very inconvenient for them to travel further from Sera to Byalukuppe.

It is sad to see even fellow monks become enemies due to the Doje Shugden ban. The late head of Nyingmapa HH Penor Rinpoche should be made an example of by many who have forgot about what is loving kindness, compassion and Guru Devotion. Why make life hard for those who follow the words of their Lama and have genuine faith towards their protector. May HH Penor Rinpoche return swiftly to continue his good work and benefit more people.

[WisdomBeing]

I find this story very heartening. With the tremendous schism in the Tibetan monastic community due to the Dorje Shugden controversy, here is a true example of Dharma – of kindness, of respect, of bodhicitta. Nyingmapas are often accused of being sectarian – but this compassionate act to Shugdenpas by the Head of the Nyingmas HH Penor Rinpoche proves otherwise. It is a stance which should be emulated by all. Despite the Dalai Lama’s directive to ostracise Dorje Shugden practitioners, HH Penor Rinpoche decided that compassion was more important. This should be something that everyone should know about – so I’ll share it on my facebook!

[diablo1974]

Its a very sincere article by the sangha from a different tradition and lineage which ironically our own people are 'bashing' one another. HH showed compassion towards our buddhist brothers and not sectarian. Understanding that each individual has its own affinity with spirituality be it buddhism or not and practice real compassion towards them, and even DS practitioners shoudl continue to practise compassion towards anti-DS followers. 

[Big Uncle]

This is just a beautiful act from Penor Rinpoche. I believe that he is acting out of pure compassion without any thought of politics or anything of that sort. I think that he is a real Buddhist practitioner and I believe that he did this out of good will towards Dorje Shugden practitioners. That brings a tear to my eye and I think that sends a rather powerful and inspirational message of compassion.

I find his act really interesting because this Lama is Nyingma and yet he has compassion for Dorje Shugden  practitioners. What about practitioners within the same tradition? Where is their compassion? Where is their humanity? This is what comes to mind when I think about Penor Rinpoche.

[dsiluvu]

Penor Rinpoche lifts up the Dharma and is the Dharma... this is how Dharma brothers and sisters and people should be acting. Thank you for reposting this Shugdenpromoter as it really reminds us that there is real Dharma and not all is totally lost in the Tibetan society. We definitely need to see more of Penor Rinpoche types of Lamas. This can change with people like Penor Rinpoche. May His life be long and may he continue to turn the wheel of Dharma!

Funny that the very people who are causing the split and disharmony are the very people who wishes and want it soooo badly. Isn't this just so ironic? Sure seems like Dorje Shugden is being used to carry all the blame for those who are guilty of their failure in delivering what they have promised to the people. So it is much easier to distract the people from discovering their failures, they find a scapegoat to allow people to lash out their frustration.

[DharmaSpace]

HH Penor Rinpoche is truly a Bodhisattva and very kind and courageous. He is a true dharma practitioner who is unafraid to make the right decision no matter what the consequences are. The people who says there are sectarian friction between the Nyingma and Gelugpa take a look at this example. If during the time of Je Pabongka the Gelugpa did bully and persecute Nyingma take a look at this example of a high Nyingma Lama helping Gelugpa monks. I say the people who spread rumours about sectarianism by Gelug lamas especially Dorje Shugden practitioners is simply a lie.

[samayakeeper]

When we see a fellow being going hungry, we just feed, regardless of religion or creed. That, I think, is practicing dharma. What dharma are we practicing if we bash another fellow being who remains steadfast in his guru devotion by not giving up on Dorje Shugden?

HH Penor Rinpoche is truly a great dharma pracitioner and a great teacher who shows by examples. May he live long.