To All the Yogis and Yoginis in the Nation and Abroad
In Buddhism, there are the two assemblies of bhikṣus and yogis. This is not distinct to Tibetan Buddhism. Long in the past at the time of the Buddha, there had been the two saṃghas clad in maroon and white. This is all recorded history so I need not go into detail.
There are highly renowned and venerable practitioners, both in maroon and in white, in each of the eight sects of Tibetan Buddhism. They have all made immense contributions to the Buddhadharma, and they are all equal in their virtues. Currently, there are a lot of yogis with contentment and few desires who have practiced exceptionally. Not only do they possess minds of devoted faith, they also do not reveal their true merits. Of speech and practice they choose the latter, but their speech and their minds are one. They are true practitioners and I admire them endlessly.
I am a yogi. I only possess a nominal title of tulku, but still, I am a lightweight leader, and I feel a sense of responsibility and duty towards spreading the Dharma, benefitting beings, and carrying on the enterprise of the Tathāgata.
However, I have seen a few yogis, whose actions, like my own, have caused the general public to have negative views towards the Buddhadharma. Therefore, out of the motivation of devotion for the Dharma, I want to simply remind everyone: it is very bad example to slander saṃgha elders in the open view of the public.
As for the fact that the acrostic poem I wrote displeased some great lamas, I am aware of that. Lamas, I believe that none of you are in the wrong; after all, your motivations are for the good of the Vajrayana. Therefore, respectfully, whatever criticism you may have for this crazy Choktrul personally, will be happily accepted.
Every sentence in my acrostic poem came from the bottom of my heart. Anyone out there who has a sense of duty towards the Buddhadharma, who can let Shakyamuni Buddha relax for just a moment, even if it is just one person, will make me very very happy.
I have never made any contributions to the Dharma, but I have made a living out of it, so I will never forget my gratitude for it. This you need not worry about for me, so please relax. Your own deeds and actions are also all for the thriving of the Dharma, so in my heart I rejoice tremendously in whatever you have to say about me, be it good or bad. Nevertheless, personally, I have no regrets for the things I have said for the sake of Buddhism.
The real expectation I have in mind is this: that we explore together how our community of yogis should practice, uphold the Dharma, and realize equality with others in this new generation. This is very important.
If us yogis can liberate more disciples of the Buddha, it will have great benefits on multiple levels. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is to protect and improve this community. This is of utmost importance.
You say: “we shouldn’t look down on ourselves.” You are right, but if you cannot listen to the truth spoken by someone on your own team, and even proceed to act rashly according to your will, is that really the right thing to do? I suggest that you lay down your prejudice. Be objective and fair.
Right now, imposters have already caused great harm to the Buddhadharma. It can all be seen openly on the internet. This has even caused people to misunderstand and discriminate against us. But we keep on saying: “we are right. We are good. There’s nothing wrong.” What good does this kind of over-my-dead-body denial and stubbornness serve us? Therefore, I cannot help but advise everyone to reevaluate this problem.
Meanwhile, some great lamas even continue to support these fakes! It makes me wonder if there are only the few of us in this world who have eyes and mouths? Are the rest of them all blind and mute? People can do their thing, but they can never escape from the eyes above.
As of the current situation, paper cannot cover fire. So, us yogis need to expand our listening, contemplation, and practice; we need to teach, practice, and learn; and we need wisdom, discipline, and virtuous abilities. Above all, what we need is to generate bodhicitta. Apart from these essential conditions, we also need to be honest people, consistent on the outside and the inside.
Our own Dharmas are for us to protect. That is why we need more new blood among our ranks, in order to spread the Dharma far and wide. This is our duty.
As yogis, we absolutely must not create negative karma. We especially cannot lie, take our own façade for real, or to be stereotypes that say things that only create doubt in people. Even more importantly, we cannot be dealing in deception and fraud.
In addition, us yogis cannot be sheltering imposters, so I did not write the acrostic poem with the intension to denigrate Vajrayana yogis, but as a stimulus for everyone to be better. Even though I have never contributed to the Buddhadharma, I will never be the one to drag it down. So, I plead that you all look at this objectively, and please, think very carefully about this.
Palyul Choktrul , in name only.
Urgyen Translation DreamStudio
2020/12/15
Tibetan version རྒྱལ་ཕྱི་ནང་ཀུན་ན་བཞུགས་པའི་སྔགས་ཕོ་མོ་ཀུན་ལ་གསལ་བཤད་ཅིག་ཡོད།
Chinese version 致海內外所有瑜伽母與瑜伽士們
Facebook link
Community of Yogis Series
