I don't hate Dalai Lama Anymore

[Vajraprotector]

Below is an extract from a recent news re the Atlanta visit by His Holiness. I thought it is relevant and appropriate if we too practice the "middle way" when it comes to viewing the Shugden controversy. Of course the below is based on bridging the conflict with China, but I find it quite good and useful.


How Can The Middle Way Serve as a Tool for Conflict Resolution?
The Middle Way is composed of The Noble Eightfold Path and the practice of those precepts and the conditions of each produces advancement toward wholesome states of being through intellect and understanding.

1. Right view which is true wisdom and knowledge into the nature of reality sees the world as a stream of changing, unsatisfactory and conditioned processes.

2. Right resolve concerns the emotions, with thoughts channeled towards peaceful freedom and away from ill-will and cruelty to lovingkindness and compassion to transcendence.

3. Right speech, action or livelihood. abstains from lying, divisive or harsh speech and empty gossip. Restraining from these or the immediate acknowledgement to another person when such acts occur is the attainment of virtue.

4. Right action is abstaining from wrong behavior, taking what is not given, and wrong conduct to sense pleasures.

5. Right livelihood is avoiding ways of making a living which cause suffering to others. Those based on trickery and greed or on trade in weapons, living beings, alcoholic drink or poison.

6. Right effort is directed at developing the mind in a wholesome way by avoiding unwholesome states of mind that express attachment, HATRED or delusion.

7. Right mindfulness is crucial for Buddhist meditation and is a state of keen awareness of mental and physical phenomena and how they interrelate.

8. Right concentration or unification refers to levels of deep calm through the various forms of meditation.

from: Dalai Lama Suggests The Middle Way as a Bridge to Conflict Resolution With China, Oct 19th 2010http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7072596-dalai-lama-suggests-the-middle-way-as-a-bridge-to-conflict-resolution-with-china

[thaimonk]

I am a HUGE fan of this website. Some of the views on it does not match with mine. But so what? Where else better than here is there to go to? Why find differences in a few issues, why not find commonality with the huge similarities.

Anyway if I don't like it, I DON'T HAVE TO COME HERE, but where can I go? I am addicted to this site.

I sure can't set up something like this with the time, energy, money, knowledge, research, thousands of hours necessary.

So I am here to stay and my respect for this site grows all the time.

Mehtra
San Diego

(source: post from guestbook)

[triesa]

I am a HUGE fan of this website. Some of the views on it does not match with mine. But so what? Where else better than here is there to go to? Why find differences in a few issues, why not find commonality with the huge similarities.

Anyway if I don't like it, I DON'T HAVE TO COME HERE, but where can I go? I am addicted to this site.

I sure can't set up something like this with the time, energy, money, knowledge, research, thousands of hours necessary.

So I am here to stay and my respect for this site grows all the time.

Mehtra
San Diego

(source: post from guestbook)
.

Only with differences in views can we have the real opportunity to practise acceptance and letting go. It is also a great opportunity for us to learn to focus on our commonalities and similarities rather than our differences, a great way to peace and harmony..........

Thank you San Diego for staying here with us.

[shugdenprotect]

Congratulations Lineage and thank you for the sharing.

I believe this shift from hatred to understanding and acceptance is a form of mind transformation which is the very purpose of Lord Buddha/s teachings. Such shift is so inspiring and empowering because it is like the first few steps towards the ultimate goal of self liberation.

Another "Thank you" to DS(dot)com team for creating the space that created such beneficial results for your loyal fans The continuous effort to monitor postings to ensure construction discussion amongst participants and the constant provision of valuable information to forum visitors and posters is no easy task. We can see the glaring difference when visiting other sites.

Additionally, as participants, we each can play a role and contribute to another being's spiritual journey and growth. By engaging in acts that can benefit other, from my limited understanding, we also accumulate merits for ourselves to be close to the Dharma, practice Dharma and have Dharma growth. So "WOW!!!!!" this forum is just so powerful and beneficial to so many individuals and at so many levels.

[pgdharma]

I am a HUGE fan of this website. Some of the views on it does not match with mine. But so what? Where else better than here is there to go to? Why find differences in a few issues, why not find commonality with the huge similarities.

Anyway if I don't like it, I DON'T HAVE TO COME HERE, but where can I go? I am addicted to this site.

I sure can't set up something like this with the time, energy, money, knowledge, research, thousands of hours necessary.

So I am here to stay and my respect for this site grows all the time.

Mehtra
San Diego

(source: post from guestbook)

Welcome, San Diego, and glad you chose to stay here. This website is great. It's very informative. The comments from the posters are fair and not bias even though there were times when opinions differ. That is why I visit this website only as I want to learn more.

[Gabby Potter]

I don't think anyone of us is in that position to judge or hate His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness has His own ways of doing things, some things that we do not even understand.

[Matibhadra]

I don't think anyone of us is in that position to judge or hate His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

There is no need to judge or hate any fool; it is enough to realize his foolishness.

His Holiness has His own ways of doing things, some things that we do not even understand.

One cannot understand fools as long as one foolishly deifies them. Or, as the saying goes, a fool always finds a greater fool to admire him.

[grandmapele]

Good for you, LosangKyentse. Occasionally, I still find it disturbing to see the conflict. It's so tiring especially when I am am trying to get on with my practice and things are not going well. Guess, it is just another obstacle to my practice but it is disturbing, nonetheless. All these 'wars/squabbles' among 'siblings/dharma brothers and sisters' cannot lead to anywhere good. As Buddhist, can we not just adhere to Buddha's teachings and agree to disagree to live in peace and harmony?

[yontenjamyang]

So as long as we find ourselves hating someone for whatever reason mundane or profound we are should reflect that we are in samsara mainly because of the 3 poisons, ie, Ignorance, Attachment and Anger. Anger manifest in hate and  vice versa.
When we call others a fool, unless we are enlightened we are bigger a fool ourselves for we are not able to discern our attachment to the concept of "fool" out of our ignorance. Everything is a illusion that exist but for a moment like a bubble, a lightning flash.
So I have never hated the Dalai Lama not that I am attained but fortunately I have read His books and thought that he must be Avalokitesvara. And when I come to this site I am hooked by the "middle way" approach. We only need to read the articles to understand why the Dalai Lama is doing it but nevertheless this site never give up fighting for the rights of Shugden practitioners.

So my conclusion is the Buddhas are working for our benefit.

[Matibhadra]

As Buddhist, can we not just adhere to Buddha's teachings and agree to disagree to live in peace and harmony?

Your mistaken assumption is that people promoting witch-hunts and religious intolerance, such as the evil dalie and his minions, are something like “Buddhists”.

Maybe you include such gross violators of human rights and religious freedom in your conception of “Buddhist”, which may say something about you as well.

[Matibhadra]

So as long as we find ourselves hating someone for whatever reason mundane or profound we are should reflect that we are in samsara mainly because of the 3 poisons, ie, Ignorance, Attachment and Anger. Anger manifest in hate and  vice versa.

Out of attachment to the political benefit of flattering the evil dalie, one ignorantly overlooks his crimes, and becomes an accomplice of his hatred against humanity.

When we call others a fool, unless we are enlightened we are bigger a fool ourselves

Hardly any bigger than calling a fool “Chenrezig”, or a criminal “His Holiness”.

for we are not able to discern our attachment to the concept of "fool" out of our ignorance.

Why then are you so foolishly attached to the concept of “holiness” of a criminal?

Everything is a illusion that exist but for a moment like a bubble, a lightning flash.

Great, but this is not a pretext to holify criminals, or to erect foolishness into a virtue.

So I have never hated the Dalai Lama not that I am attained but fortunately I have read His books and thought that he must be Avalokitesvara.

Don't blame the books. One should look for mistakes inside oneself, not outside. One comes to the point of thinking that the evil entity must be Avalokiteshvara not because of any books, but only because of one's own own ignorance, attachment, and hatred.

[Dondrup Shugden]

The main purpose of this forum is education towards the truth of the controversy on the Dorje Shugden Ban.

Some of us may hold very strong views which differ greatly from some but at the end of the day it is not about discrediting anyone but to be strong in our faith of DS and ensure that we do our very best to have this propitiation be spread in ten directions. 

Let us work towards our goal.

[Matibhadra]

but at the end of the day it is not about discrediting anyone

Buddhism in general is about discrediting impostures.

[lotus1]

Thank you LosangKhyentse for your sharing. Heart warming to hear that sincere sharing from the heart. Yes, indeed in this forum, we may have different view about Dalai Lama. However, all of us hold strongly to the protector practice that passed down from our Guru to us.
While we support to all efforts in various ways, be it in educating the lineage and benefits of Dorje Shugden, the protests, spreading the news and the truth about what is the ban about and how it affected the Dorje Shugden practitioners as well as Buddhism in a whole,  we should always check in and don’t let anger control us as that's one of the three poisons that Buddha asked us to stop it.

[DharmaSpace]

Thank you for all the sharing, as buddhist practitioners and those who apply the teachings and conform to a style of living that is advocated by Buddha, our goal is not to create more enemies but less or have no 'enemies' at all.

Yes the Dorje Shugden issue threatens our peace of mind but as those who wish to practice, we must still progress on our spiritual path and the Dorje Shudgen issue, Dalai Lama and CTA are all but 'precious jewels' that allow us to develop more effort and patience in facing difficult circumstances and people.

This reminds of certain multi ethnic countries whereby preferential treatment is given to certain ethnic groups either by law or conventions, yet if you observe carefully that the ethnic group who are given more incentives may do well on a short term but long term the ethnic group not getting the incentive gets ahead all the time. For example if there is always incentive of X % to ethnicity of type A, ethnic groups of type B have to work X% harder to overcome this to rise above, then the group B will always have more tenacity and can develop more capacity than ethnicity of group A. Interesting?