The Dalai Lama's view of prayer

[psylotripitaka]

Interesting.

[psylotripitaka]

Those don't sound like the words of a valid Buddhist teacher who holds the blessings of lineage.

[Matibhadra]

Since bodhisattvas do cultivate the paramita of prayer (pranidhana, mon lam), the evil dalie's statement just confirm that he, far from a bodhisattva, or even a Buddhist, is just an ordinary gangster.

[eyesoftara]

Prayers are done to create merits and for purifications mainly. Merits are needed to get more merits and to attained the state of non self or wisdom gradually.

The Dalai Lama has a very good point albeit in a very extreme way. Perhaps is the the way the words/sentence sounds to us. In the Lamrim it is stated clearly the the only change change is via action and not so much the prayers. Prayers is supportive. The practices of Boddhicitta is the actions that will bring the real results.

Perhaps the Dalai Lama's words were targeted for certain individuals. It would be correct if that individuals thought that prayers is everything because it is really not.

[Matibhadra]

The Dalai Lama has a very good point

“Very good point” to you, who notoriously support for instance the evil dalie's morbid affection for weapons, thus showing your non-Buddhist, or rather anti-Buddhist attitude.

The inconceivable virtues of prayer (Sanskrit pranidhana, Tibetan mon lam) are extensively praised by the Buddha in his sutras, and it is not a psychotic criminal such as the evil dalie who is going to prove the Buddha wrong. Neither you his fanaticized minion obviously.

albeit in a very extreme way.

Right. The evil dalie is an extremist, as show by his criminal record.

Perhaps is the the way the words/sentence sounds to us.

Right. They sound exactly the way they are, as the words of an anti-Buddhist, a hater dressed as a monk, systematically trying to put down the Buddha and his teachings, in order to please his Jewish materialistic boss and puppet-master, the financial terrorist George Soros.

In the Lamrim it is stated clearly the the only change change is via action and not so much the prayers.

Such a spurious, illegitimate statement is never found in the Lamrim, nor in any authentic Buddhist scripture. You have just dishonestly concocted it in order to justify your materialistic, extremist cult leader, the evil dalie.

And it could not be otherwise. To start with, prayer is action, mental action; and to continue, verbal and physical actions can hardly be skillful or virtuous without a skillful or virtuous motivation, which is established by prayer.

Therefore, since your evil dalie materialistically rejects the power of prayer, he is unable to establish skillful or virtuous motivations, which explains why he is only and strictly capable of evil, harmful, damning, non-virtuous actions.

Prayers is supportive.

Since prayer, or aspiration, is that which establishes the motivation, and since the motivation is that which establishes an action as virtuous or non-virtuous, it follows that prayer, rather than merely “supportive”, is the very basis of the Buddhist path.

Chandrakirti said that compassion is the very root of the path, but even compassion is prayer, because it is the wish, or aspiration, that others are free from suffering, as expressed in the prayer “may others be free from suffering and its causes”.

Besides, and here is what you want to hide, your materialistic hero, the evil dalie, does not recognize prayer even as “supportive”; rather, he thoroughly dismisses its power when he says that “through prayer nothing can be achieved”.

Therefore, your materialistic hero, the evil dalie, only believes in gross physical actions, in that which can be perceived by the five gross physical senses; he does not believe in mind, as opposed to the Buddha, who said in the Dhammapada:

Mind always comes first
Mind is of all states the primer
By mentality are all things initiated
By thought of mind are all phenomena formed

The practices of Boddhicitta is the actions that will bring the real results.

To start with, there are no “practices of bodhicitta”, or engaged bodhichitta, except on the solid foundation of aspiring, or wishing bodhichitta.

Indeed, engaged bodhichitta, as the name says, depends on an engagement, which is the pledge, the vow, the mental action in the nature of an aspiration, which is wishing bodhichitta.

Besides, Shantideva clearly states that from mere aspiring, or wishing bodhichitta “great effects arise while in samsara”; that “this mind to benefit living beings is an extraordinary jewel of mind whose birth is an unprecedented wonder”; and “how can we possibly measure the benefits of this jewel of a mind -- the source of joy for a beings and the cure for al their sufferings?”

These are perfectly real results coming from mere aspiration, which is in the nature of wish and prayer. And all the results of engaged bodhicitta are also dependent on wishing, or aspiring bodhichitta, which is the nature of prayer. But to your rough, materialistic teacher, the cruel gangster dalie, “through prayer nothing can be achieved”. Would you expect something different from such an abominable, cold-blooded criminal?

Needless to say that the ultimate result of buddhahood is not achievable either without the 8th perfection, the perfection of prayer (pranidhana paramita), as taught by the Buddha in sutras such as the Ten Stages. But your evil dalie is hardly concerned with “ultimate results”, or even with beneficial effects in samsara; just what matters to him is to pay obeisance to his master, the materialistic Jew and financial terrorist George Soros.

Perhaps the Dalai Lama's words were targeted for certain individuals.

Definitely. Targeted to individuals like you, ready to brazenly falsify the Buddha's Dharma, replacing it with materialistic theories denying the preeminent role of mind, wish, and prayer, even through fraudulent references to the Lamrim.

It would be correct if that individuals thought that prayers is everything because it is really not.

While prayer may not be everything, it is at the very root of everything beneficial, and nothing beneficial can be achieved without prayer, whereby the evil dalie's materialistic attempt to scoff at the power of prayer just shows once more his brazen anti-Buddhist agenda, his wish to deride and disparage the Buddha and his Dharma, and his wish to please his mentor and puppet-master, the materialistic Jew and financial terrorist George Soros.

[Dondrup Shugden]

Very good point that although prayers is not everything, it is at the root of everything that is beneficial and I totally agree with this.

Prayers verbalises the thought of the mind for something good to happen and as such a prayer answered will result in positive actions that will be enacted to full benefit.

Prayers have been written by great Lamas and recited through times and some of them through centuries, prayers are necessary in any form of religious practice.

[Matibhadra]

Prayers have been written by great Lamas and recited through times and some of them through centuries, prayers are necessary in any form of religious practice.

So true. No wonder that, although Lama Tsongkhapa performed inconceivably great deeds, among the four greatest is counted the institution of the Great Prayer Festival, or the Monlam Chenmo, in the year 1400.

This makes clear that the sordid statement of the evil dalie, besides its generic harmfulness against the Buddha and his Dharma, had a specific target, which was to denigrate Lama Tsongkhapa and his great deeds.

[Matibhadra]

From another viewpoint, one might consider that the evil dalie's statement that “through prayer nothing can be achieved” is just a confession of his failure to achieve anything through prayers throughout his disgraceful life.

Since however it is a well known Buddhist tenet that prayers are definitely fulfilled through the power of the truth, the conclusion is inescapable that the evil dalie thoroughly lacks such power, or in order words, that his is a morbidly compulsive serial liar.

[Dondrup Shugden]

Hahaha, there is agreement I have on the point that prayers may not have been answered for the Dalai Lama in the sense that I am sure He had prayed for his return to Tibet and after so long had not happened.

Prove of the fact that if the intention is not pure, the prayers hold no truth to have benefits for others. Interesting analysis. 

[grandmapele]

Since bodhisattvas do cultivate the paramita of prayer (pranidhana, mon lam), the evil dalie's statement just confirm that he, far from a bodhisattva, or even a Buddhist, is just an ordinary gangster. - matibhadra

- I wouldn't go to that level. Calling him an ordinary gangster may just result in more negative karma for you to clear, matibhadra.

Perhaps the Dalai Lama's words were targeted for certain individuals. It would be correct if that individuals thought that prayers is everything because it is really not. - eyesoftara

- I sure hope so but then again it should also show us how not to practice and what not to do. There are always 2 sides to a coin

[grandmapele]

Is that what he really does or is he asking you to look into yourselves as well? Do we ask ourselves how well we do our prayers, or how often we do it, is it consistent enough? Who are we to question a high lama however much we disagree with certain things that they seemingly do? I don't like the ban anymore than the next person. But, I do have to be aware of how my own mind works before I start pointing my finger at other - remember when you point  finger outwards 3 points inwards.

[eyesoftara]

Matibhadra. I agree with most of your points and especially of the point that prayers is an aspiration. And without action this aspirations cannot come to fruition. To act the aspirations once generated can come to fruition not in just this lifetime as it can come to fruition in future lives as well.

That the Dalai Lama has manifested in this way, does seem very un-buddhist but since I am also a Shugden practitioner, I am very aware of the suffering that his ban has caused. I am reminded of Boddhisattva Vows that require one to abandon the minor vows if it helps others and also that actions of a Boddhisattva should not be on account of the 8 worldly concerns; in this case to look good.

We can argue all we want, but let's see how things pans out. Meanwhile, I am definitely supporting to have the ban removed but in a peaceful way.

[Matibhadra]

I wouldn't go to that level. Calling him an ordinary gangster may just result in more negative karma for you to clear, matibhadra.

As much negative karma as saying that the foolish king has no clothes.

But maybe I have offended ordinary gangsters by comparing them with the evil dalie, whose perversity indeed goes way beyond that of ordinary gangsters, in which case I deeply apologize to ordinary gangsters for the unfair comparison, which might cause me to accumulate unbearable negative karma.

Anyway, instead of showing your fake concern with my negative karma, you would better stop abetting terrorists such as the evil dalie, specially with your infantile, medieval, cultish argument that denouncing your cult leader, the evil dalie, will bring one to the hell or the like.

[Matibhadra]

Is that what he really does

You do have a point here. The evil dalie surely believes in the power of prayer, and surely day and night he prays his evil, stupid prayers, aimed at achieving a delusional absolute power among Tibetans and Buddhists, in order better to serve his Western puppet masters, lest he might be discarded by them.

or is he asking you to look into yourselves as well?

Surely. He is asking his stupidified followers to look into themselves, and to find every possible root of evil, and then to enhance them by following his evil advice. And this is obviously what you have been doing, so much you admire the advice of your evil cult leader.

Do we ask ourselves how well we do our prayers, or how often we do it, is it consistent enough?

Do you ask yourself how much you try to sanctify a criminal and his crimes before doing your prayers? Are they consistent enough, so that you can qualify as a minion of the evil terrorist?

Who are we to question a high lama however much we disagree with certain things that they seemingly do?

The Buddha's teaching is that his followers *should* question even the Buddha himself, which is obviously not the case with your criminal dalaite personality cult, based as it is on bestial blind faith, and brazen accomplicity with criminals and his crimes.

I don't like the ban anymore than the next person.

How cute. How could you not like the act of your beloved cult leader? And why do you assume that the next person, like you, is the abetter of a criminal such as the evil dalie?

But, I do have to be aware of how my own mind works before I start pointing my finger at other - remember when you point  finger outwards 3 points inwards.

But then the evil dalie is pointing his bloody fingers at others, and it's all nice and dandy with you, right?

This is because in your cultish belief the pernicious entity, the evil dalie, is some kind of “god” above and beyond any human judgement, empowered to inflict on others every possible kind of suffering in order to satisfy his sickly greed for absolute power, while always justified by the putative “divine” status ascribed to him by his foolish followers.