Hi Kate et al.,
I'm new to the forum and introducing myself
. I have been a Buddhist for all of this century:) and also a Shugden follower for about 4 years. I heard about Dorje Shugden while in Nepal, from a newspaper, with wildly inaccurate information which indicated that not only was the Shugden practice 'witchcraft' and banned but also that only a very small group even did the practice; from the article it seemed like only 20 people did this practice. Surprisingly, I kept running into people who were rumoredly doing the practice. My first lamas were Kagyus, on Shamar Rinpoche and Karmapa's side of the lineage. Having them as lamas, I was always taught to examine issues for myself; I started studying at an NKT Center about 4 years ago, though the protests were no longer going on by then.
I sometimes ran into Kagyus on the Tai Situ/ DL/China Karmapa side of the lineage, and I think that you know, Tai Situ is maybe a Buddha teaching in reverse psychology, as are the Dalai Lama and the DL Karmapa. For me, they are reverse psychology, for their students, they are probably the normal teachers they need, and mine are the normal ones for me. Anyway, obviously in Buddhism we are trying to promote understanding and help all living beings, so I think mutual respect is really indispensable with other Buddhists. That said, I think it is fine to speak up when things are getting out of hand, respectfully, otherwise how will the karma, which is constantly changing, change in a positive way?
