Disagreement, harmony & skilful means Recently there has been some relatively lively discussion on social media surrounding the ISC’s use of parody to mock and belittle the False Dalai Lama. I’ve been surprised by the strength of feeling expressed by a vocal few in opposition to this tactic and i’ll admit i’ve been frustrated with those few at times; i would like to apologise to anyone i have been short with! I have been bashing anti-Shugden trolls on the internet for a long time and i forgot to change gear. I think this raises a couple of important points, which i’d like to discuss at some length, if you’ve the patience to read it. Firstly, the use of satire itself. It’s clear that all of us are opposed to the False Dalai Lama’s ban and we all want to bring it to an end, but there are some who disagree with the ISC’s methods in this instance. But satirising him in this way is a very effective technique. By ridiculing the False Dalai Lama, we are taking away his dignity and cutting through the glamour he has cast on the world whereby everyone thinks he’s a holy being and beyond reproach. We are making him a laughing stock. This empowers those who are afraid of him, it weakens the power of his speech - and it helps us to let go of any anger we may harbour towards him. The ridiculous are rendered powerless and their speech is ignored. Those who say that this is an act of hatred, that it is anti-Buddhist, have completely misunderstood karma. If ridiculing someone is the best method to free that person and others from the grip of their delusions, then this is exactly what Buddha himself would do. It is no more unkind than using wrath wisely and compassionately, to protect living beings quickly from the mara of their delusions. Some have argued that, however virtuous our intention is, this action cannot reflect well on us; that it is unskilful and will bring us into disrepute. There are those who have an attachment to an idea of Buddhists as sandal-wearing hippies who do nothing but smile serenely and contemplate their navels. This group may be surprised by our use of satire, just as they were surprised by our demonstrations. However, in reality this is a small group who would quickly become disillusioned if they ever spent any time with real, practising Buddhists living and working in samsara. For the vast majority, satire is a powerful and respected tool of opposition to tyranny. Most people understand its intent, and appreciate its humour and its lack of violence. Nevertheless, it is true that our own reputation may be damaged, albeit slightly, by the cartoons, and by the demonstrations overall. But western Shugden practitioners have been demonstrating for almost twenty years now, and during that time, Je Tsongkhapa’s doctrine has continued to grow; so if there is harm, it is very minimal. On the other hand, what would be the consequence if, out of attachment to our reputation, we failed to use every tool available, including demonstrations and including satire, to protect our lineage? If the False Dalai Lama’s lie that Shugden practitioners are devil-worshipers had been allowed to take hold unopposed, it certainly would not have grown so far, or so quickly. Some say that the False Dalai Lama cannot destroy Dharma because Dharma is in our minds; all we need to do is to practise purely and all will be well. These people completely misunderstand the teaching on inner and outer problems; they have never supported the demonstrations anyway. Of course, there will be those who still disagree completely with everything stated above, and this brings us on to the second point: what do we do when we disagree with the ISC’s actions? In many ways, this is more important than the rights or wrongs of satire as a tool of protest. For as long as we are in samsara, it is inevitable that from time to time we will disagree with our Teachers and with our Sangha, sometimes strongly. We live in a democracy and we have the right to express our opinions and to air our disagreement. Social media is seen by many as an expression of this - a free-for-all in which all views can be shared and discussed - and this is seen to be healthy, a method to arrive at a consensus representing the combined wisdom of the crowd, rather than the dictates of one or two leaders. At the same time, in any community, from families up to nations, there are rules that govern our interactions in the name of harmony; we agree to abide by these rules for the sake of unity and we recognise that those who refuse to follow these rules cannot remain within the community. Hence we have both freedom of speech, and laws against slander and hate-speech. In the ISC’s social media communities on the internet, both official and unofficial, it is not appropriate publicly to attack and disparage the ISC’s tactics. We are fighting a campaign against a powerful enemy, with support from many uninformed members of the general public, as well as a handful of very vocal haters with axes to grind against the Shugden Sangha. If we voice our disagreement with ISC’s actions publicly, we risk creating the unedifying spectacle of a Sangha group imploding and squabbling amongst itself, which only serves to discourage us and distract us from our main job, and to encourage and embolden our detractors. When we have doubts, and find ourself questioning the wisdom of our Spiritual Guide, or of our Sangha, then the correct thing to do - the kindest thing we can do - is to try to resolve those doubts on our meditation cushion with our Guru at our heart and our Dharma Protector beside us. If this doesn’t work, then we can *privately* seek advice from our Teachers and trusted Sangha friends who are members of the ISC. It may take time fully to resolve our doubts, but during that time we have a responsibility as Mahayana Buddhists not to cause others to lose faith or to regret their virtuous actions, or to bring the Dharma into disrepute - and therefore we should *not* share our delusions publicly all over social media! To do so would be a very unskilful and unkind action. The function of ISC’s social media forums is not to be a place to air grievances or to debate the rights and wrongs of our tactics: they function to share information and inspiration, to encourage each of us in our efforts to lift the ban, and to share with the world the sordid truth about the False Dalai Lama. Yes, we have a right to free speech - but as Buddhists and members of the ISC we also have a responsibility to exercise that right skilfully, in the right place and at the right time. It is not skilful to argue amongst ourselves publicly, as some of us have been doing recently. Once again - i apologise for my own part in this. I hope that these words make sense, and that they’re helpful. We all want the same thing; we are all one family with Je Tsongkhapa as our Teacher and Duldzin Dorje Shugden as our holy Dharma Protector. Thank you all for your dedication to our cause, and well done for reading all this! :) Don’t let Mara knock us off course.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:16:18 +0000
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