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Tibetan Buddhism questions
What's your opinion of Tibetan Buddhism?
I was introduced to Buddhism through an uncle who was at one point considering becoming a Tibetan Buddhist monk.
So naturally when I became curious about Buddhism I started at the most familiar point.
However now I feel sometimes that Tibetan Buddhism is the most "distorted" school of teachings, mainly because:
The reincarnation system of the Lamas relies on, to some extent, blind faith. I have trouble with this.
The Dalai Lama: I have seen him talk in person a few times and it was great hearing what he had to say, however I have some problems/questions, specifically: why does he eat meat? (Because of Tibetan traditional medicine?) Why does it seem like he associates with celebrities? (sometimes it looks like they get special treatment).
The Dalai Lama is coming to my home city soon to give a talk. Naturally I was excited to see him, until I discovered that (for the first time) you have to pay! This didn't sit well.
All in all these are just some questions and I hope this isn't interpreted as an attack.
I was introduced to Buddhism through an uncle who was at one point considering becoming a Tibetan Buddhist monk.
So naturally when I became curious about Buddhism I started at the most familiar point.
However now I feel sometimes that Tibetan Buddhism is the most "distorted" school of teachings, mainly because:
The reincarnation system of the Lamas relies on, to some extent, blind faith. I have trouble with this.
The Dalai Lama: I have seen him talk in person a few times and it was great hearing what he had to say, however I have some problems/questions, specifically: why does he eat meat? (Because of Tibetan traditional medicine?) Why does it seem like he associates with celebrities? (sometimes it looks like they get special treatment).
The Dalai Lama is coming to my home city soon to give a talk. Naturally I was excited to see him, until I discovered that (for the first time) you have to pay! This didn't sit well.
All in all these are just some questions and I hope this isn't interpreted as an attack.
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Comments
My teacher eats meat because her teacher told her to for her health. She eats a mostly vegetarian diet but occasionally meat.
I don't know exactly why he associates with celebrities. Why shouldn't he? Its hard to know. You are more likely to hear about relationships with celebrities than his relationships with monks in India. Because the relationships with celebrities are newsworthy.
The payment goes to dharma activity. Consider Catholicism. They cannot have churches and monasteries/nuneries without donations. There cannot be missionary activity without donations. You could say in a sense that teachers coming to the west is a missionary activity. They must have lodgings and food. Usually buddhists do not do things like food/cloth homeless because those things don't need to be buddhist. Buddhism is not looking for the special status of doing those things and so you may donate to christian organizations or secular and still fulfill dana practice as a buddhist. I am not aware of all the uses of money in buddhism. As far as I know there are no rolls royces and so forth, though sometimes even some buddhists have guards and money spent for safety so they are not assassinated. Just an example. My teacher's teacher has stuffed animals that I imagine came from donations.
It is good to these questions. I am not entirely sure I am right. I could take a job ain a far away city and I would investigate the job, go to an interview. I would only move if I thought it was a good thing. But to a certain extent it is a gamble. With buddhism you can always leave. I haven't heard of harassment as similar in scientology, though I have heard on this forum guru cast spell although that was not substantiated by a news article and was certainly only based on testimony if any substance.
I am in a sangha presided over by a Tibetan Buddhist of Nyingma lineage.
He sometimes alludes to the almost insanely rich infrastructure he grew up with: legends, demons, rituals, reincarnations, etc. But he makes it clear that these are just stories -- sometimes quite enjoyable/helpful ones -- and that one should always keep one's eye on the only "prize" worth yearning for: the full realization/actualization of emptiness.
I personally think that tibetan buddhism has a lot of tradition and culture stemming from tibetan people. However, this does not mean that true buddhist teachings are absent from tibetan buddhism, and it does not mean that it is more distorted than another school.
it might be upto you to learn to distinguish between culture, rituals, tradition, and true dharma, by reflecting, and also not binding yourself to one school. dont take any given teaching for true dharma but dont rule it out either.
i have some simple ideas in response to your post that you might like to consider.
1. i suggest you focus your attention inwards, rather than on the outward actions and appearances of others. what the dalai lama eats or who he associates with is not really important to you.
2. question why you consider something to be good or bad, or right or wrong! for example, what is wrong with the dalai lama associating with celebrities? do you think he should be amongst the poor instead? what does it matter?
3. the requirement of money does not mean true buddhism is absent, and an absence of money does not imply true buddhism is present.
:-)
I was involved offline for a long time, until I started having nagging doubts about various aspects of it, and so I investigated the teachings of the historical Buddha and the Pali Canon, and now feel a lot more comfortable with the Theravada Forest tradition.
'Different strokes for different folks' as the saying goes !
I think it is okay to not have answers.
I think it is okay to think for yourself, and not blindly accept everything just because some says so.
The only real knowledge is that which has been experienced firsthand, and Buddhism assures us that we must be patient for that.
Keep exploring and asking questions. Over time, you will find what you are looking for. In my lifetime I have read many 'buddhist' literature that I know now are completely inconsistent with BUddha's teachings.
Don't get me wrong I think the Tibetan school is extremely rich in its teachings.
The main thing that I have trouble with is the system of reincarnation that the Lamas have. For instance Thubten Yeshe, who they decided was reincarnated into a Spanish boy, who has since as an adult come to distance himself from the tradition.
That's really my main point, I'm open to reincarnation but I feel somewhat sceptical of "organised reincarnation".
Also concerning the Dalai Lama charging, well when he used to come, you could pay to be up close and have a seat but otherwise it was free. Now its like $70 just to get in the door. I feel a lot of people aren't going to go simply because of how expensive it is. I hope the payment goes to something worthwhile.
“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.”
— Buddha