The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) is without doubt one of the greatest success stories of Tibetan Buddhism spreading to the West. The FPMT was founded in 1975 by the erudite Lama Thubten Yeshe, with the indispensable assistance of his heart son, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Today, under the spiritual guidance of Lama Zopa, the FPMT spreads the Dharma through monasteries and nunneries in six countries, and meditation cum Dharma centres in over thirty locations globally.
Such a feat is not easy and could only be achieved by a highly accomplished lama with the blessings of the lineage masters. Lama Yeshe, the founding father of the FPMT, was a close student of Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang and Lama Zopa is one of the last few lamas to have received tutoring and transmissions from the greatest Gelugpa lamas in modern times.
Lama Zopa graciously acknowledges his gurus in the official FPMT website and many names are highly recognisable such as His Holiness Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, Kyabje Zemey Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, Serkong Dorje Chang, Geshe Rabten, Geshe Sopa, Ribur Rinpoche, Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche and many others. Individually, these masters named by Lama Zopa as his gurus as driving forces of the pure Dharma. Collectively, they represent the powerhouse of Je Tsongkapa’s lineage.
However, what is most remarkable about all these high lamas is that they all held unshakable faith in the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and were committed proponents of the Protector’s practice. Such was the great importance of Dorje Shugden to the Gelugpa lineage, and similarly to the growth and success of the FPMT.
Of Dorje Shugden, Lama Zopa himself said this of Lama Yeshe and his trust in the Protector:
Of course, Lama and I practiced Dorje Shugden for many years. That was always the main thing that Lama did whenever there were problems to overcome. At the beginning of every Kopan course, Lama always did Shugden puja to eliminate hindrances.
Source: http://www.lamayeshe.com/?sect=article&id=1026
The majority of the lamas listed by Lama Zopa as being his teachers (and hence lineage lamas of the FPMT) are well-known stalwarts of Dorje Shugden. It is therefore baffling that Lama Zopa, together with the senior students of FPMT, most of whom have Lama Yeshe as their root guru, would denounce Dorje Shugden today. By contradicting FPMT’s lineage masters, a number of questions arise:
- If most of FPMT’s lineage masters are correct about Dorje Shugden and take the Protector as an integral practice, how can the FPMT simply dismiss it on the whim of the Dalai Lama?
- If Lama Zopa so blatantly disregards the majority of his teachers, how can the FPMT hope to inculcate guru devotion in their students? And if there is no culture of strong devotion to the gurus, how can the FPMT teach higher trainings that requite absolute adherence to the guru’s instructions?
- If the FPMT agrees with the Dalai Lama and CTA as they seem to, and accordingly treat Dorje Shugden practitioners as criminals of society and enemies of the Tibetan people, then why list “criminals” on their official website as lineage masters?
- Following on from that, why continue to pass on the lineage teachings to present and future FPMT students if indeed these teachings came from lamas who seriously erred by practicing demon worship, as the FPMT claim Dorje Shugden to be?
Let’s take a closer look at the list of gurus that Lama Zopa names as his teachers:
1. H.H. Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo
Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche’s faith and reliance on Dorje Shugden was undisputed. This enlightened master, who authored what has been recognized as an important Lamrim text (Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand) by the Dalai Lama himself, taught the great importance of propitiating Dorje Shugden as the Dharma Protector of the Gelug lineage.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/pabongka-rinpoche-wikipedia/
2. H.H. Trijang Rinpoche
In modern Gelugpa history, there is hardly any significant figure of the Ganden tradition who has not been a disciple of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Trijang Rinpoche’s role in preserving the entirety of the Oral Ganden lineage and then passing it on intact cannot be disputed, and Dorje Shugden’s practice is an integral part of that tradition.
3. H.H. Ling Rinpoche
Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was the heart disciple of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, and Ling Rinpoche received all his Dharma knowledge and practices from Pabongka Rinpoche. Ling Rinpoche, in turn, passed his knowledge and practices down to the 14th Dalai Lama. It is a known fact that Ling Rinpoche prescribed Dorje Shugden’s practice to many within the Tibetan community, and also composed prayers to Dorje Shugden.
4. H.H. Zong Rinpoche
A heart son of H.H. Trijang Rinpoche, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche had impeccable knowledge of all rituals, art and science, and was renowned for his ‘many actions of powerful magic,’ as a result of which ‘the most marvellous, indescribable signs occurred.’ Zong Rinpoche trusted Dorje Shugden wholeheartedly and advised his students to practice strongly and devotedly.
5. Lama Yeshe
The founder of FPMT and a great practitioner of Dorje Shugden till the end, Lama Yeshe is well known to have commenced all-important Dharma projects with Dorje Shugden prayers. He remained devoted to his teachers and did not give up his practice of Dorje Shugden despite the ban on its practice.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/letter-from-yeshe-fpmt/
6. Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche
Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche was a Dorje Shugden practitioner and his devotion borne out of his practice is legendary. Rinpoche absorbed the obstacles to the Dalai Lama’s welfare and works, and took them upon himself through the practice of tonglen. It is therefore incredible that anyone should accuse Dorje Shugden lamas of wishing to harm the Dalai Lama.
7. H.H. Serkong Dorje Chang
Serkong Dorje Chang was well known for writing extensive commentaries on the tantric deity Chakrasamvara as well as an extensive confession and propitiation prayer (kangso) to the protector Dorje Shugden. In this kangso, Serkong Dorje Chang identifies Dorje Shugden as the principal protector of Lama Tsongkapa as well as the special protector of Ganden’s Ear-Whispered Lineage, the heart of the Gelug tradition.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/enlightened-lamas-series/serkong-dorje-chang-1856-1918-2/
8. H.H. Sakya Trizin
History shows that Dorje Shugden was first propitiated by the Sakyas. Dorje Shugden was inducted into the pantheon of Sakya protectors by the 30th Sakya Trizin Sonam Rinchen (1705-1741). Later, Sonam Rinchen named Dorje Shugden together with two other Protectors – Setrab and Tsiu Marpo – as the “Three Kings” (Gyalpo Sum).
Other Sakya high lamas who propitiated Dorje Shugden include the 31st Sakya Trizin Kunkhyen Ngawang Kunga Lodroe, the 33rd Sakya Trizin Padma Dudul Wangchug, the 35th Sakya Trizin Tashi Rinchen, the 37th Sakya Trizin Kunga Nyingpo, the 39th Sakya Trizin Dragshul Thinley Rinchen and the 41st Sakya Trizin, who later recanted his practice under political coercion.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/dorje-shugden-on-a-black-horse/
9. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche
Geshe Rabten was the philosophical assistant of the 14th Dalai Lama and the first Tibetan Buddhist master to introduce the complete Vinaya-tradition and the study of the five major topics of Buddhism to the West.
Geshe Rabten’s faith in the Protector is clear by his statement, “This manifestation of the Buddha has no equal. If you are really determined to tame your mind, he will even give you his heart”.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/tributes/a-tribute-to-geshe-rabten-rinpoche/
10. Geshe Sopa Rinpoche
The Dalai Lama praised Geshe Lhundrub Sopa Rinpoche as an eminent “Buddhist mentor and a guide to hundreds of Western students and a pure lineage holder of the monastic tradition”.
However, this erudite teacher disagreed with the Dalai Lama’s view of Dorje Shugden, saying that “The idea of these ritual texts of Shukden is to spread and strengthen the pure teachings and destroy wrong views and practices, so their language and imagery tends to seem rather sectarian and aggressive”.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/geshe-lhundub-sopa-speaks-about-shugden/
11. Gomo Tulku
Lama Zopa himself stated that Gomo Tulku worked to spread the Dorje Shugden lineage:
“My root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche; Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s guru’s root guru; His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, from whom many of the older students received the initiation of Shugden; and the previous incarnation of Gomo Rinpoche, who has a strong connection with Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, here in Italy, all promoted the practice of Shugden. They were all aspects of the Dharmakaya”.
Read more: http://www.lamayeshe.com/?sect=article&id=1026
12. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche
Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche was born in the province of Amdo and at age six was recognized as the reincarnation of the former Abbot of Kirti Gompa. Rinpoche received teachings from many high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition including the practice of Dorje Shugden, which he kept all his life.
13. Zemey Rinpoche
So highly realised was Zemey Rinpoche that Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang regarded Zemey Rinpoche, one of his heart disciples, as being equal to him in knowledge and attainments. Zemey Rinpoche held all the same lineages, transmissions and practices as Trijang Rinpoche including the practice of Dorje Shugden.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/tributes/a-tribute-to-h-e-zemey-rinpoche/
14. Ribur Rinpoche
Ribur Rinpoche’s devotion to his guru, Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche was legendary. He faithfully held on to all the teachings he received from Pabongka Rinpoche, including the Dorje Shugden practice.
As Ribur Rinpoche said, “I have had some success as a scholar, and as a lama I am somebody, but these things are not important. The only thing that matters to me is that I was a disciple of Pabongka Rinpoche”.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/recent-masters/ven-ribur-rinpoche/
15. Choden Rinpoche
Choden Rinpoche, one of the highest lamas in Tibetan Buddhism, was recognized and ordained by Pabongka Rinpoche. Choden Rinpoche was a fiercely steadfast practitioner of Dharma, saying: “I don’t remember too clearly my first meeting with Pabongka Rinpoche, but I do remember that Rinpoche was very happy with me. I really admired everything that Rinpoche did: the way he walked, the way he dressed, everything. I felt, “If only I could be like him”.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/recent-masters/h-e-choden-rinpoche/
16. Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche
Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche of Drepung Loseling Monastery was a direct student of H.H. Ling Dorje Chang. He was an expert on Manjushri’s fierce form, Yamantaka, amongst many other teachings and practices, and was appointed the Abbot of the Dalai Lama’s Namgyal Monastery from 1986 to 1991.
Denma Locho Rinpoche was a scholar of the highest calibre and a very prolific gentle teacher who did not discriminate against Dorje Shugden practitioners although it cost him his reputation.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/recent-masters/h-e-dhenma-lochoe-rinpoche/
17. Khyongla Rato Rinpoche
Khyongla Rato Rinpoche is a reincarnate lama and scholar of the Gelugpa order of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche was born in the Dagyab region of Kham, in southeastern Tibet and eventually settled in the United States where he founded The Tibet Center, the oldest Tibetan Buddhist Center in New York City.
Read more: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/great-masters/recent-masters/khyongla-rato-rinpoche/
If FPMT is to be a fortress of Dharma, it has to depend on the solid foundations by which it is built, and there is no stronger foundation than to follow the Guru’s instructions, as stated in Je Tsongkapa’s text, the Foundation of All Good Qualities.
Kunu Lama Rinpoche, who is also named as one of Lama Zopa’s gurus had this to say:
Our responsibility as disciples is to follow the guru’s instructions exactly, offer service, make prostrations and so forth. By following the perfect guru perfectly, we can receive enlightenment. If, instead, we follow a misleading guide, a false teacher, all we’ll receive is rebirth in one of the lower realms, such as the hells.
Source: http://www.lamayeshe.com/?sect=article&id=403
Therefore, if the core of Vajrayana Buddhism is pure devotional relationship to one’s Guru, it is shocking that the FPMT would on the one hand claim to be preserving the lineage and on the other hand blatantly discriminate against a practice regarded as important to the lineage masters and the founder of FPMT itself.
FPMT’s published policy regarding Dorje Shugden is, in fact, a policy of discrimination that clearly flies in the face of the lineage master’s practice:
- Those in service or teaching in FPMT centers, projects and services do not engage in the practice of Shugden.
- Students regularly attending FPMT centers should not practice Shugden.
- FPMT teachers and key staff should not attend teachings by teachers who are known Shugden practitioners.
Source: http://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advice/shugden/
It is truly shocking to see FPMT policies that openly dishonour the practice of its lineage masters. Their Guru’s root Guru, Lama Yeshe, was a Dorje Shugden practitioner. Kopan manifested with the help of Dorje Shugden. Sadly however, it appears that to be politically correct and on the Dalai Lama’s side far outweighs loyalty to the lineage masters and the pure tradition the masters used their lives to manifest.
FPMT’s lineage lamas listed on their website.
Click to enlarge