Sunday, July 12, 2009

Ganden Tripa Authorizes Dorje Shugden Practitioner to Represent the Gelugpa Tradition

April 23, 2009

I, the undersigned, Lungri Namgyel, the official head of the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism (Ganden Tripa) and successor to the said order’s founder, Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), whose headquarters are Ganden Monastery in Karnataka state, south India, hereby confirm that:

• His Eminence Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche, having been educated in the teachings of the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism, and officially recognized by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama as being the incarnation of the late Trijang Dorje Chang, Tutor to the 14th Dalai Lama and one of the greatest twentieth-century Buddhist masters of this order, is fully qualified to act in the capacity of director of Trijang Buddhist Institute in the state of Vermont, United States of America, where he is currently residing at 210 Morning Star Lane, Northfield, Vermont 05663 USA.

• I confer upon Trijang Buddhist Institute the authority to represent and transmit the teachings of the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism in the United States.

• Thus authorized, Trijang Buddhist Institute is dedicated to preserving, representing, and transmitting the Buddhist teachings of the Gelug tradition.

Signed,

Ganden Tripa Lungri Namgyel

For more information, click here.

4 comments:

dougal said...

wow! that rocks!

Anonymous said...

About the Ganden Tripa,

I have one anonymous friend who received an empowerment from the Ganden Tripa and asked him why he didn't teach about Dorje Shugden.

The Ganden Tripa told him that he was practicing Dorje Shugden in secret and that he could not teach the practice publicly or the Dalai Lama would remove him from his position.

This shows that there may still be many lamas who practice Dorje Shugden in secret. When the Dalai Lama stops his manipulation and persecution, they will be able to practice publicly again without fear.

Wisdomsword said...

Here is some information I posted back in January that are also relevant here:

Is the Ganden Tripa (the spiritual head of the Gelugpa tradition) really siding with the Dalai Lama over his ban of Dorje Shugden?

His public pronouncements seem to indicate that yes, perhaps so. (Most Gelug Lamas have felt an obligation to agree with the Dalai Lama in public for obvious reasons, and particular pressure has been placed on the Ganden Tripa himself). But a look behind the scenes tells a different story.

The Ganden Tripa, Loungri Namgyal Rinpoche, http://www.thardeuling.com/ has a small centre in Paris.
The students of the Ganden Tripa would regularly visit the NKT Centre in Paris in around 2005-6. They would not say where they were from and the NKT teachers and students respected their wish to remain anonymous. They mainly came to the shop to buy Vajrayogini and Dorje Shugden books and ritual items.

Later, one student very close to the Ganden Tripa, (who will remain anonymous for his own protection), came to some teachings and retreat sessions, including Wishfulfilling Jewel (the Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa combined with prayers to Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden) and explained to the NKT students where he was from.

This student said towards the end of 2006 that the Ganden Tripa supports Geshe Kelsang 100% and expressed how distressed the Ganden Tripa is at the degeneration of the Gelugpa tradition.

Geshe XX (anonymous for his own protection) is a Gelugpa teacher connected with the Ganden Tripa who has a small centre in Metz, eastern France.

Here is a record of a conversation he had during July 08 with a student of his, called DT, who was instrumental in the creation of the Centre in Metz, who nevertheless still keeps her connection with the NKT. She has since helped Geshe XX buy their first building in Metz, mainly financed by Anne Lacoste (of the Lacoste family). He had previously seen DT's shrine and Geshe Kelsang's books and she said he was filled with admiration, spending a long time looking at the books and asking her for details on the development of NKT centres. He encouraged her to keep quiet if she was criticised for her faith in Dorje Shugden and to avoid conversation on this subject in his centre, but he would never speak much on the subject.

Recently however he has become more open:

DT : I plan to go to the Dalai Lama's teachings in Nantes
Geshe XX : You have received the Dorje Shugden empowerment so you cannot go. The DL has prohibited anyone who has received this empowerment from attending his teachings. I am deeply sorry that the DL has this attitude. It is negative karma that is ripening for the Dalai Lama.
DT : But the Dalai Lama is considered to be a great master.
Geshe XX : Buddha said that just because he is called Buddha doesn't necessarily imply that he is. At the same time as having some qualities, he has many faults. What he is doing is contrary to human rights.
DT : Are you aware of the demonstrations against the DL ?
Geshe XX : He has no right to ban the practice of Dorje Shugden. One does not have to ask for his permission to practice Dorje Shugden. In no way is it the practice of a worldly spirit. He and I both received the Dorje Shugden empowerment previously. It is as if he has become crazy and what he is doing is damaging to the Tibetan cause. It is really no good at all.

DT said at the time that neither the Ganden Tripa, nor this Geshe, planned to attend the DL's teachings in Nantes.
January 19, 2009 2:00 PM

Wisdomsword said...

Also, on the subject of the 101st Ganden Tripa, he does not deny even in public that he practices Dorje Shugden; he simply laughs the question off. Read his words carefully. Taken together with the Paris comments (see previous comment), it would seem that he is still doing the practice covertly.

From an Interview on his first official visit to Singapore, June 2003

How will Your Holiness describe Your relationship with HH the Dalai Lama?

His Holiness has taken care of me when I was just a newly-ordained monk, when I was the Abbot of the Tantric College of Upper Lhasa, Abbot of Ganden Shartse Monastery, when I was the Lord of Dharma of the Eastern End or the “Sharpa Choje” and even when I am now the Ganden Tripa or the Supreme Head of the Gelugpa Tradition. His Holiness is one of my precious
Root Teachers. I have taken a photograph with HH the Dalai Lama this year [ May 2003 ]. There is nothing in the world that I cherish more. Then, not forgetting also, that His Holiness is, in some ways, my “boss”. [ giggles]

Does Your Holiness practise the controversial protector Shugden banned by HH the Dalai Lama?

Did you not hear of the announcement made by HH the Dalai Lama in front of nearly
300,000 people in Bodhigaya in December 2002 about this? That I did not do the practice of this
protector? [laughing]