The Dalai Lama’s Question Answered….

Khedrup Gyatso, Dalai Lama XI

December 20, 2008 by truthaboutshugden (extracted from http://truthaboutshugden.wordpress.com)

In his speech to the Gelug council, the Dalai Lama asked: “Who originally bestowed the title ‘Protector of the teachings of Je Tsongkhapa’ upon Dorje Shugden?”

Answer: The Dalai Lama!

The eleventh Dalai lama that is. This is clearly detailed in he writings of The fourteenth Dalai Lama’s own root guru, Trijang Rinpoche. You can read both the Dalai Lamas question and Trijang Dorjechang’s answer below. Incidently, the answer pre-dates the question by thirty-three years.

Given the fact that the Dalai Lama claims to have researched this matter carefully, It seems odd that he would not know about an important action performed by someone who is purportedly his own previous mental continuum (DL XI) and written about by his own root guru, does it not?

Scholars and Yogis, please check!

Trijang Rinpoche had written…

“There, in the center of a large stone courtyard, inside a pitched tent, in an elaborate auspicious ceremony, over the door of the protector palace was offered the pandit’s award. The Trokang oracle, the temple monks, and general chief monks, with the regent Ratreng Rinpoche, the Chinese Amban, the Kashag, and Shabpa as chief attendees, Tibetan and Chinese people of all ranks were offered a feast and had a huge festival. With the Chinese emperor Dhakong and the Lord of Buddhas, the Dalai Lama, patron and lama together, they all praised and enthroned Gyalchen Dorje Shugden as principal protector of the Yellow Hat Teachings as praised in this part of the verse.

I have seen with my own eyes a record of this and the previously related story in which the minister Bumtangpa was saved from execution, in the notations of the office of the Kashag of the Tibetan government, in the guest book diary for the respective dates where the essence of what occurred in each instance was described.”

The Dalai Lama’s question…

(Dharamsala, 6 Dec 2000 ):

“In a similar vein, it would be worthwhile looking into just who was responsible for first coining the epithet -Protector of the teachings for the Conqueror Manjushri (Je Rinpoche)- for Dholgyal. What were the circumstances of its being given? Was this the culmination of an authoritative spiritual figure following the correct procedure of ordering (the protector into service) and assigning (to it certain duties)?

…(snip)… So who was it that gave this name? It was not any of the Ganden Throne-Holders who was responsible for this. It was not Je Rinpoche or one of his main disciples. It was not the chief Lama of Tashi Kyil in Amdo or one of his main disciples. The practise was completely unheard of there. Now I do not suggest that Kumbum is generally to be taken as any sort of example, but still, the likes of Tongpon Rinpoche were not responsible for this. My brother Taktser Rinpoche, for instance was the abbot there for a number of years and said that he had never even heard of it whilst he was there. It is true that the former Kirti Rinpoche dabbled in the worship. However, that was just a case of following a tradition that others around him were engaged in. There was no sort of whole-hearted commitment. On inspection then, the origins of the whole thing are found to be very murky and there seems to be no reliable source for it.”

Seems a little confused, no?

It seems at the end there that he does not even consider his own root Guru, who, earlier in the same talk, he admits is a “great yogi” and a generally acknowledged master of Lamrim, Lojong and Mahamudra, to be a reliable source. Or perhaps he just never relied much on his own teachers, and is unfamiliar with their teachings? Either way, really, not so very inspiring. It doesn’t seem that the Dalai Lama has actually done much research into this issue at all…