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Degeneration of Religion - Tsem Rinpoche
There is a Tibetan monk Tsem Rinpoche who created a shockwave across religion lately by his speech on the Degeneration of Religion, do you agree with what he said?
watch his speech here:
watch his speech here:
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Comments
I think this homily is excellent! Partly because it is not an "us versus them" message.
My question to you Tinyeshe, is I'm not aware of any "shockwave" that has been created by this sermon.
2. He is ignoring that the noble truths apply to everyone. He undermines the sense of importance of their own suffering to people who he thinks got themselves into the position. He speaks almost if its not a case based on wrong understanding, but something completely justified simply happening to someone who is evil.
3. He is talking as if peoples ignorant, stupid, cruel side doesn't exist (and not exist in him). If it should to some point exist, it should be opposed, exterminated, thrown out. Any person meditating for a while here should know pretty well how our minds can be full of shit and nonsense sometimes
His talk is an expression of his own frustration, when people are not like how he envisions them what they should be like, and seeing they are not. It is a world of opposition (i.e. hell realm). He talks as if you're in religion, or your out. This is ridiculous.
He talks as if awareness is anywhere else then in the present, condemning people for having made mistakes in the past. I get the impression from the speech that past mistakes should determine your current self into a world of suffering, ignorance, and low awareness; that in his opinion, that is the only way for you to get what you deserve in that. That is in direct contradiction with the fourth noble truth - saying that cessation of suffering is attainable (by following ...).
Every day is a day of nourishing potential.
Your life, your choice.
Is something i said different in your view and experience?
What view do you think i hold that is the same as those of the monks you mention (but which you disagree with)?
There is a craft and skill to structuring a sermon, and he obviously has been taught or learned to do so. I've sat through a thousand sermons having been raised by a Christian Minister, and recognize the subject as "What should we expect from God?" in its many variations such as "Should we expect God to answer all prayers?" Or even "Is accepting Christ as your Savior enough?" and so on.
First time I've heard the subject and sermon from a Buddhist, though. He's very good.
As for the content, no of course I don't agree with a lot of it. Vastly oversimplifies what God based religions actually preach. Occasionally inserts suspect lines about what Buddhism actually preaches and what is taught. Also completely dismisses faith based practices of simple devotion for all religions including Buddhism, probably the worst fault of his message.
But, he was speaking to a particular Buddhist audience and telling them what he thought they needed to hear. Also, oversimplifying the "other religions" in their sermons is something all preachers do of any faith unless they're intentionally making a point about universal brotherhood.
Let it go.
Religion is not about solving problems. It's about viewing our problems in a meaningful way.
Re what language Rinpoche would speak in, if anyone is interested in Rinpoche's background, you may read more here (http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/my-short-bio-in-pictures1.html)
Personally, I found Rinpoche's teaching to be relevant because his key message was that we should not throw responsibility for our own problems to any external deity or being, but instead, we should accept responsibility and we should also know the real purpose of religion, which he says is for us to accept and understand the tenets and the teachings (of whichever religion) and apply them to make our good qualities increase and our not so good qualities transform into good qualities. It is something very pragmatic and applicable for me and for the audience that night too.
It is important to see that Rinpoche does not criticise any religion. In fact, Rinpoche emphasised that it is not religion which has degenerated but that some of us have degenerated religion by reducing God to a ghost when we ask for samsaric wishes to be fulfilled.
You are blessed to have a spiritual guide who is so articulate. All of us need to ask ourselves once in a while, "What does it mean to say I'm a Buddhist?"
While it's true that the difference between Buddhism and God based religions is a statement that grace or salvation is not a gift or reward granted by any God or force out there but is something we do through hard effort, it's also true that for many, many Buddhists in the world you would find it hard to tell the difference.
Yes i am very blessed.
Mahayana isn't based on authentic texts. It is based on transmission from a living being. Emotional energy and communication from wisdom to wisdom. This is why the guru thing. It's really not meant to take advantage of people.
So does Buddhism actually have anything comparable? Are we doomed to suffer in a neverending feedback loop of bad karma? What is sometimes forgotten is that Buddha taught freedom from the wheel of karma, not just a skillful ethical set of behaviors to minimize damage, what we call the precepts.