Dorje Shugden Hits the Streets

The Dorje Shugden brochure in Thai

When DorjeShugden.com first released a new concept of free-distribution brochures of our Protector, some people expressed their concerns on the forum that this was not a positive way of promoting the practice. In response, TK, one of the forum posters, offered a very helpful and insightful perspective on this and other methods of bringing Dorje Shugden to the world.

These brochures, available in English and Chinese, include a brief introduction to Dorje Shugden, the benefits of doing his practice, a short prayer, a detachable prayer card and links back to this website.

Fantastic week! Have passed out another 4,000 or so brochures this week. More people will access this website, and gain understanding and awareness of this Protector.

Since every part of Dorje Shugden’s holy body represents one aspect of the Lam Rim, then whoever views his body will plant the seeds of enlightenment in their minds. I am very happy for that. Through Dorje Shugden I am spreading Dharma to many. Since an enlightened being can manifest in form, words and thought, any connection to them would be beneficial to beings of this degenerate age when their minds would ordinarily never consider Dharma.

We all have to spread Dharma one way or another, no matter how small. Those doing it even through brochures are not the ‘enemies’ of the devotees of this website. If we have so much to say, perhaps direct it to Dharamsala, if it needs to be directed at all.

A brochure in Hokkaido, Japan

Big Dharma, cheap Dharma… but Dharma is Dharma. Whatever your subjective views are. I will promote deities, the Lam Rim, Dharma, lamas, images, and whatever I can promote. It doesn’t matter to me. Any promotion is a promotion. I am no longer worried what the people in the Tibetan government (now known as the Central Tibetan Administration) in Dharamsala are going to say or think about our methods to promote Dorje Shugden because their remaining years in power are numbered. Just a few more years and the whole thing in Dharamsala will be over. The minute the Dalai Lama passes (sorry), the people under him will scatter like stones thrown at a group of vultures. That day is coming soon. So the ‘Dharamsalites’ can say what they like. Desperate people will do desperate things when the situation is not going to be in their favor. They are becoming more and more insignificant.

For some, the worship of Dorje Shugden will confer attainments; for others, protection from three lower realms and more learning of the Dharma; and for a few, wealth and worldly gains. But leave it to Dorje Shugden’s wisdom what he will grant or not grant these wishes, and to whom. I think we don’t need to worry about that. Just spread his lineage. This is a Dorje Shugden website… so what is wrong with proomting Dorje Shugden, his practice, his prayers, his benefits to everyone. Dorje Shugden’s practice is Dharma. During Ra Lotsawa’s time, the majority of the lama elite considered Yamantaka to be evil, and not a true Yidam. Who says that now? Ra Lotsawa’s courage is amazing in the face of his ‘Dharamsala foes’. Similarily, Dorje Shugden’s kangsol also contains incredible beneficial practices, but we have to start somewhere to first promote his practice and lineage.

We could start a Lam Rim website, Mahamudra website or VajraYogini website too. But this is a Dorje Shugden website and promoting Dorje Shugden to the virtuous, greedy, old, needy, sincere and materialistic is what I am here for. Otherwise, why have this website and get involved? We have debated everything we could almost possibly on Dorje Shugden. There’s nothing new to debate. The court cases in Delhi are a stalemate. What else is there to talk about on a Dorje Shugden website?

Shar Gaden Monastery in south India

So perhaps, the next step is to do actual legwork to promote him. I have happily donated a lot of money towards Shar Gaden, their monks and activities; I have spent a lot of energy on this website, typing hundreds of hours on this forum, doing my kangsol, etc. and it cannot be directed just toward a few people. I have also purchased and distributed over 300 copies of the book Heart Jewel by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso to many people, institutions and various places; and I will continue to do so. (I have never met Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, but he is one of my heroes). Now it is time to get to the thousands and thousands out there. And if I look like a Jehova’s Witness to some, then so be it. I am a Dorje Shugden’s ‘witness member’. I am fine with it. Those who are not capable of practicing the deep, wide Dharma for reasons of age, karma, delusions, greed, merits, locality, etc. then we can still give them some imprints for a future life through Dorje Shugden. For all those who see this pamphlet, let it be so.

Scorn me, mock me, put me down, criticize me, find fault with me, but I will spread Dorje Shugden through pamphlets at this time, sponsoring Shar Gaden, and keeping up my practice. There are more ways and I will do it. And if that is not some sort of Dharma, maybe you can do better than me. If you can, I sincerely and wholeheartedly rejoice.

I may accumulate negative karma if people develop wrong views about Buddhism through these pamphlets (and can you please be Dharmic and not label them derogatory names like “crakerjack handouts”… It is like Dharamsala calling our Protector ‘Dhogyel’). But I may also create positive karma when they accumulate positive views from gaining what they need help on through Dorje Shugden, as many more forum members and brochure recipients have pointed out here.

A brochure in Lancashire, UK

Not everything is one-sided please. If the many brochures end up in sewers or in the garbage in the streets, then I accept the karma. But I also accept the merit of many whose lives that could be changed. The pamphlets are like statues (samaya being) in a store that are not consecrated. The wisdom being has not entered. So in a way, it is just a sort of paper… If this is the case, then we should also pull all Dharma books from the shelves of thousands of bookstores around the world. They are not placed at the highest levels to show respect, they are mixed with non-Dharma books, not many people show respect to these books while browsing through them, the books are carelessly packed and unpacked, mishandled by staff, placed on the floor, torn – this is also all negative karma we have to accept to have the Dharma books in shelves all over the secular world. Also, we should therefore not print articles or have pictures of our lamas, Buddhas, Buddhism, Buddhist sites, monasteries or deities in magazines like Time, National Geographic, Newsweek, Reader’s Digest etc. because people read those while sitting on the toilets, they are mixed with other secular articles showing great disrespect, and they are placed in offices, homes and kitchens, mixed in with fashion and other secular magazines. It is very negative karma to print these items in mainstream magazines. We should write in, protest, stop the negative karma, have compassion for everyone. We should stop printing everything… But this is not practical, not logical, not applicable during these times.

Yes, Mohani (one of the forum posters) is absolutely correct – cultural differences play almost 99% of the differences shown here. And I thank Mohani of thinking deeper. Not all countries will see the pamphlets through a cynical eye I promise you.

(Editor’s Note: Mohani had suggested that these brochures may not appeal to Western practitioners but that perhaps these brochures would have more effect in eastern countries. He expressed that it is not that the brochures themselves are ineffective but that cultural differences might make it a little harder for people in England, for example, to accept)

If some of you find the brochures so ‘bad’, then ask our kind webmaster – who has done so much and created the most comprehensive Dorje Shugden website in the world – to remove it. I personally love the idea of this brochure. May my passing out of this brochure with my network of friends, quietly and without disturbing anyone, create more awareness of this sacred Protector, whose time has come.

TK

This opinion piece has been extracted from the DorjeShugden.com forum. Please add to the discussions on the forum if you have further perspectives, comments and thoughts. We always welcome debate and exchange. The original thread can be viewed at http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=735