Tibetan buddhism
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
Did I say they are mercenary? Are you here to pick up fight?pls refrain from such speech.
i was asking for your opinions.
and i merely stated what are of mine.
at no point of time did i insinuate that you were accusing them of being mercenary.
as a general rule of thumb, it is better to go for what you're comfortable with, instead of forcibly conforming yourself to another's culture.
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Originally posted by Hkkoh:
I have been to another center and read about other's as well very commercialize.
For this center I felt very at ease with the ppl there and also close interaction with the Rinpoche, so approachable.. :) I have no idea which lineage he is from cause I am very new have yet to find out more but the feel he gave is very compassionate and righteous. He never hastily agree on my approach to have him as my Guru, and actually ask me to take my time to find out what I really want. He did share alot and i will leave that out... hehe
Nice... what is the name of the monastery?
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Originally posted by Hello Kitty:
pls refrain from such speech.
i was asking for your opinions.
and i merely stated what are of mine.
at no point of time did i insinuate that you were accusing them of being mercenary.
as a general rule of thumb, it is better to go for what you're comfortable with, instead of forcibly conforming yourself to another's culture.
oh, really, the tone of message does not sound asking for opinion
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Glad to know there is more than one tibetan temple in sg
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
Glad to know there is more than one tibetan temple in sg
There's really a lot.
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Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
There's really a lot.
wow, really. I don't know that there are a lot. Must get to know more. -
Originally posted by Hkkoh:
It is at Geylang. The Guru is a retreat master and he is very compassionate, approachable. :) not mercenary at all.
By the way a Vajrayana friend of mine said don't rush first -- one should observe the guru for a while first, like a few months or even 1 or 2 years and seeing that the criteria of a good guru is met before choosing the guru. I think this is a good advice, and is in line with advice given in traditional texts.
Here's something useful I found:
The spiritual friend as a ordinary being
This kind of teacher is the one, who has been explained most elaborately by Gampopa in this text Jewel Ornament of Liberation (Snow Lion, by Gampopa, translated by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Ripoche).
The reason, why he goes so much into details is because this is the kind of teacher who is relevant for us. That is why it is also very important for us to know, how this teacher should be, what the actual characteristic of a qualified teacher is. The best kind of ordinary teacher has :
8 qualities
4 qualities
2 qualities minimum
The eight qualities are:
The first quality is that the teacher should be somebody who himself has taken the Bodhisattva vow and who is practising according to his promise, somebody who is not himself against the Bodhisattva training. What the Bodhisattva training exactly consists of will be explained later.
The second quality is that the teacher should be somebody who himself has received the teaching of the Bodhisattva path and he has to be able to instruct the disciples in the Bodhisattva training.
The third quality is that he should have some experience and practise. These first three qualities refer to what kind of qualities a teacher should have developed in his mind. The next five refer to the qualities who are needed while he is teaching disciples.
The fourth quality is that he should only be concerned about how he can benefit his students while teaching. He should not think about how he can get money from the disciples, get a good name or control the students. He should only be motivated by the thought of benefiting others.
The fifth quality is that when he is teaching, he should have the capacity to teach with confidence, that he does not loose his courage and that he has the ability to give the complete teaching. This is referring especially to the teaching about the emptiness. He has to be able to transmit the teachings in a powerful way without being afraid of it.
The sixth quality is patience or acceptance. He should be able to take any kind of hardship in his function. If it is very cold, hot or if he is hungry, he should be able to take it and not let it disturb his activity. He should have the patience not to get tired of all kinds of questions he will be asked.
The seventh quality is motivation. He should never get tired of teaching others. If the disciples are quite impulsive or behaving in a bad way he should not give up or loose his motivation. Ex.: If some students do not like him or his work anymore, if they are criticising him, it should not turn him away from teaching, instead he should put even more effort in improving his own teaching. This means especially if one has some disciples who turned against one, at that moment the teacher should not feel sad about it, but should make wishes and try to think that one would be able to help this person at an other time. If one is directly confronted one can have a discussion.
The eighth quality is that during the teachings one should only talk in a meaningful and straight way about what ever one is teaching, one should not waste the time by talking nonsense, but stick to the important teachings. He has to make sure that what he says has some effect on the students, that it will help them to understand what one is talking about.
(These teachings are based on the Alankarika-Sutra).
The teacher himself should have studied a lot and know properly the different Mahayana texts and Sutras.
The teacher should be able to clarify doubts and questions of the students. He should have patience, be willing to listen to the questions of the students and have the capacity to give satisfying and in this way clarifying answers.
The teachings, lets say about the disadvantages of Samsara and the advantages of Nirvana, should not only be empty words. He should somehow have some understanding of what he is talking about and not just repeat the words without knowing what it means. The teacher himself also should live in accordance with what he teaches and not act totally different. His motivation should be only to benefit his students.
The teacher should be able to explain clearly about the relative and the ultimate teachings, the emptiness, and to transmit an understanding of what this means.
The teacher with the two qualities while teaching the Mahayana-path.
He himself must have taken the bodhisattva-vow
And have compassion to teach other beings
Basically he should know for himself what he teaches. If he teaches, for example, the Ngondro, he should know the Ngondro himself.
For the students it is important to examine his teacher to make sure that he is qualified, because if he is not, one risks to go the wrong way on the path. The student also should know about the background of the teacher, where he comes from and what he has done so far. The Lama always will say nice things and his pupils will always say nice things about him, so one has to check.
Example: In the 12th century Kublai Khan invited Sakya Pandita to come and to be his teacher. But for the first three years he did not ask him for teaching. He only kept him there, gave him food and treated him very nicely as his guest. He was kind of checking him Then after three years he decided that he could be his teacher. Because of that function Sakya Pandita was the first Lama to get the position of king in Tibet. When the emperor finally came to Sakya Pandita and requested him to teach, he said: OK, but I have to examine you. So another three years Sakya Pandita examined, whether he was a proper student. After these six years it was established that Kublai Khan was the student and Sakya Pandita was his teacher. He gave him teachings. However, he did not live so long and before he died, he told the Kublai Khan, that Jamgon Pakpa, his nephew, should be his teacher. So Jamgon Pakpa became the king of Tibet.
Definitely one should examine the teacher or one might go a wrong way. One of the reasons that it is so important is that once you decided for a teacher, then you have to follow his Dharma instructions. You must listen to his teachings and practise what he is instructing you. Otherwise you won't get any results on your path.
A question might occur to some people who did not examine their teacher and then found out that he was not completely OK: What to do? If that is the case, then the best thing is to leave it in neutral. The student should not think that the teacher is bad or good, without judging too much one should leave it in neutral and keep a certain distance.
Example: Just when a bee has taken the honey from a flower then whatever he got he can use. In the same way: If we have received some Dharma teachings from a teacher and then find out that he is not acting according to the Dharma, something is not completely OK, then we should just leave it by that and keep a distance from him. But whatever Dharma we received, this is something beneficial and we can use it.
The means of attending
In the text follow instructions on how to attend a qualified teacher. Acting according to these instructions will definitely help the student to develop quicker on the path. His qualities will develop.
There are three different ways of attending the teacher.
Through respect and service
Traditionally respect to the teacher is shown by prostrating to him before he gives Dharma teachings. If for instance the students are already present, as a sign of respect, they get up when the teacher comes in.
This is more a traditional and cultural thing. But what is not cultural and what is the most important is that one has mentally respect towards the teacher. And that one respectfully regards the teacher. This must be the attitude towards the teacher. Of course one has to be flexible with that and one should also know and see what kind of situation it is. Sometimes the Lama teaches in a huge hall somewhere in the world. If the teacher comes in and all the students jump up and start to prostrate, the other people who are not involved, might think that they descended from another planet. That would be more harmful than useful.
The Buddha himself tells directly that one should show respect according to where one is (country, tradition). So this is very relative.
For instance, even at the time of the Buddha there were different customs. In some parts of India it was respectful to let the most respectable person go first and the others followed. In other parts, the other people had to go in front of him. But what is not conditioned by customs and tradition is the mental attitude. There it is important to have respect.
Another thing that is not depending on culture is that the student need to feel that can never get enough teachings. When you have listened to teachings you should not think that you have heard enough. You should be always open to go deeper while receiving more teachings. But of course when the teacher is always teaching the same, it is OK if you think, I heard it before, so right now I do not have to hear it again.
Since the Buddha's teachings are so vast and so profound that not one single teacher can know everything. Then in order to get the information of Buddhist teachings, it is good to receive them from different teachers. If one teacher knows everything it is enough.
Example: There was a very high master and scholar in Tibet, Jamyang Khyentse in the 19th century who attended 150 teachers.
Through aspiration and veneration
The second aspect of the first way of attending the teacher is to serve him in the way that if he needs something (food, clothes, etc.), one can provide him with what can be helpful. One should be willing to do it whenever necessary.
Through practise and endeavour regarding the practice Milarepa is used as an example.
The benefit - as stated in the Gandavyuhasutra
To attend a qualified teacher in the right way will give a lot of positive results and benefit:
You will not fall back into lower existences
You will not get into bad company, not get a bad teacher or be influenced by negative people---> see Jewel Ornament of Liberation, chapter three, Spiritual Friend. -
Hi all vajra/buddhist bro.From all your post i can see that this is a thread that all are communicating buddhism info.There are indeed many tibetan temples in singapore.I seldom have chances to visit these temples around singapore.But i am very fortunate that i do have a good guru that appears in my dream and eventually he really does appears in my daily life.
I would like to intro to your my guru and that is the VENERABLE TSANGSAR TULKU RINPOCHE.Tulku in tibetan buddhism means reincarnation,and this life time is the 4th time rinpoche has reincarnate to bring wisdom and the path of buddhism to his followers and varja bro.Maybe some has saw RINPOCHE before or attended RINPOCHE'S puja.5 years beore TSANGSAR TULKU came to singapore i already had a dream that RINPOCHE came to my house and 5 years later RINPOCHE really appear at changi airport and with the help of some vajra bro,RINPOCHE came and lived at my house the 1st time when he was in singapore.Here are some pictures of RINPOCHE.http://profiles.friendster.com/24249686
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
oh, really, the tone of message does not sound asking for opinion
it was and i had clarified so.you may choose not to see it as such.
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Originally posted by Hello Kitty:
it was and i had clarified so.you may choose not to see it as such.
ok ok la -
think i will go contact other tibetan buddhist temple on some info