Pema Khandro?

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Simon E.
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Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by Simon E. »

gosh don't we fancy ourself... :lol:
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
Malcolm
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Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by Malcolm »

tingdzin wrote:
In Tibetan Buddhism, as anywhere else, success is rewarded with accolade and failure is rewarded with obscurity, and it really has very little to do with puritan notions of authenticity, as much as we may wish it to be otherwise.
"Authenticity" is actually something to be valued, if the lineages are not to decline, long-term. This is not to say that the Tibetans had their act together on this matter all the time.
You are completely missing my point. My first point is that no one's qualifications to be a teacher has ever been established or refuted on a board such as Dharmawheel, and so on. My second point is that as long as someone can get some Tibetan to vouch for them, it is very difficult to make an argument that someone is an "inauthentic" teacher.

Those of us who have studied the actual history of Tibetan Buddhism, such as yourself, should understand that charges of charlatanism are quite wide spread among all four schools. We should also understand that charges of charlatanism have never ever prevented anyone from gathering students, building monasteries, funding stupas, statues, pujas, shedras and so on. The Shugden affair should prove that much to everyone. Do most of us here regard Shugden as inauthentic? Yes? Do most of us here regard teachers who promulgate this practice as inauthentic? Yes. Does that stop Shugdenpas in the slightest? No! The same thing applies to Michael Roach, and other "controversial" teachers.

Truly, the people who loose the most in this game of authenticity are the self-appointed purveyors of imagined authenticity. In order to question the authenticity of another teacher, first one must prove that one is in fact an arbiter of such authenticity. None of us here can do this. Because of this, accusing this women of being a fraud or a charlatan is a losing game. It is also unfair, and even sexist.

Honestly, the best practice is that when someone you know personally approaches you in private about this or that teachers credentials, then you can give your opinion — but making a public spectacle out of someone who is regarded as a teacher by others is simple bad form. I know, because I have been involved in this practice in the past and now regard it as folly.

You will recall that even Chogyur Lingpa in the beginning was derided as a charlatan. It was mainly due to his association with Khyentse Wangpo that his revelations were found acceptable.
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BrianG
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Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by BrianG »

tingdzin wrote: Merely giving money way to skilled marketers is hardly the Perfection of Generosity. If it were, most Americans would have attained the first bhumi.

However, as usual, I am just expressing a minority opinion, in case there are those who have ears to hear.
Image

I followed her on twitter( she added me along with ~450 other people ), apparently she's using her "skilled marketing", to uhm, ask me if I've tried meditation?

I still fail to see a problem.

If someone wants to market meditation, that's better than 99% of the other stuff that's being marketed.
Telepaths - I like to kill them
Schrödinger’s Yidam
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Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by Schrödinger’s Yidam »

As a general perspective, I'd like to make a (somewhat bizarre) analogy. You can think of "lineage" in the same way as we think of a virus, only a virus that causes spiritual growth instead of physical disease. Just as you cannot contract HIV from someone that is free of the virus, you cannot receive Vajrayana blessings from someone that has no lineage. Without that kind of blessing a person's Vajrayana practice will yield no fruit.

This is not taking a position on Pema Khandro's authenticity per se. I did not think much of her 30 years ago, but she's been at this a long time. Maybe she's been able to do more with Dharma than I have in the last few decades. But for me I am very conservative in my choice of teachers, so I will stick with the ones I already know, as least those that I know and are still alive.
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Malcolm
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Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by Malcolm »

smcj wrote:I did not think much of her 30 years ago, but she's been at this a long time.
You mean when she was 10?
Schrödinger’s Yidam
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Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by Schrödinger’s Yidam »

Malcolm wrote:
smcj wrote:I did not think much of her 30 years ago, but she's been at this a long time.
You mean when she was 10?
If I remember correctly she was active in the Santa Cruz area as Cali Ma back in the '80s as an adult. She was trying to get some land together near the crest of Hwy 17. She looked much the same.

It occurs to me that if she has figured out the secret to eternal youthful appearance she will become the biggest guru in America! :jawdrop:
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by Malcolm »

smcj wrote:
Malcolm wrote:
smcj wrote:I did not think much of her 30 years ago, but she's been at this a long time.
You mean when she was 10?
If I remember correctly she was active in the Santa Cruz area as Cali Ma back in the '80s as an adult. She was trying to get some land together near the crest of Hwy 17. She looked much the same.

It occurs to me that if she has figured out the secret to eternal youthful appearance she will become the biggest guru in America! :jawdrop:
Umm, she would have been 11, actually. She was born in 1974, a wood tiger. I think your memory is a little fuzzy.
florin
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Re: Pema Khandro?

Post by florin »

Dzogchen Teachings by Pema Khandro

https://www.facebook.com/events/1617242808531744/
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