Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbourne

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connected
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Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbourne

Post by connected »

Amitabha Dharma Transmission

Venerable Shang Rinpoche will transmit a short Amitabha prayer, taken from the Tibetan lineage of the great Terton Dorje Lingpa. Rinpoche will also give a short talk on this Dharma, its benefits, its history and how to practice it. To our knowledge, this is the first time this Amitabha prayer will have been transmitted in Australia.

The transmission will be preceded by a qigong session led by senior students, followed by a Q&A open to anybody with questions about Qigong, the Amitabha prayer, or anything else.

Register Here ! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1YrPYDx ... w/viewform

Time : Friday 14 November 6pm,
Location : Quang Minh Temple
18 Burke Street, Braybrook

For more information, click here http://melbdharmatalks.blogspot.tw/
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Melbourne Dharma Talks Proudly Presents:
An Afternoon with Shang Longrik Gyatso Rinpoche

Saturday November 15th, 2-4pm
Register Here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XU_X43 ... 4/viewform
Come in, sit down, and enjoy a refreshing take on self-improvement from an Eastern master.

State Library of Victoria
Village Roadshow Theatrette (enter via La Trobe St)
Seats Limited !! Register now !!


This talk will cover the most fundamental of life’s issues: finding happiness and mental well-being.
We all want to escape being negatively influenced by events outside of us and beyond our control. Rinpoche will give tips on how to live in the world without being influenced by it, how to turn inward, tame our own minds and hurdle the mental stumbling blocks that keep us from being who we know we can be.
Rinpoche, a lineage holder in many great Buddhist schools, speaks from a lifetime of accumulated traditional wisdom and practice. The talk will conclude with a period of Q&A.

To read Rinpoche's Facebook, click here https://www.facebook.com/tsalpa.kagyu
Punya
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by Punya »

It might be worth considering this before attending http://leavingtaipeicult.blogspot.com.a ... aoshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
~Chatral Rinpoche
connected
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by connected »

Consider this along with other information that you find on Shang Rinpoche online. Also consider that this blog is completely anonymous and there is no way to verify the truth of the statements therein. Search a little deeper and you will find that when the blog is not outright anti-Buddhist, it uses sensational writing to evoke an emotional response by exaggerating and twisting negative parts of the stories it weaves.

Rinpoche has been invited to Melbourne by the largest Vietnamese temple in Victoria and has already been giving lectures and teachings around East Asia at the invitations of many esteemed temples, universities and organizations.

But don’t just listen to us. Look up Shang Rinpoche’s credentials, read his teachings and hear stories of study from his students around the world to make an informed decision.

His lineages:
http://www.tsalpa.org/#!lineages
His students:
http://shangrinpoche.blogspot.tw/search/label/Stories
His teachings:
https://www.facebook.com/tsalpa.kagyu
His bio:
http://www.shangrinpoche.org/shang-long ... poche.html
His e-mail:
[email protected]
Punya
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by Punya »

Sorry but the websites you are referring to looks very much like this http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=9597" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
and the posts you have made yourself about his teachings confirm it in my mind. And what credentials?
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
~Chatral Rinpoche
DGA
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by DGA »

This is a difficult situation.
connected wrote:Consider this along with other information that you find on Shang Rinpoche online. Also consider that this blog is completely anonymous and there is no way to verify the truth of the statements therein. Search a little deeper and you will find that when the blog is not outright anti-Buddhist, it uses sensational writing to evoke an emotional response by exaggerating and twisting negative parts of the stories it weaves.
I didn't read all of that blog, but I did read portions of it. None of what I read seemed anti-Buddhist to me. In fact, it seemed pro-Buddhist: the criticism of Shang seemed to be that he isn't Buddhist enough.

Also, when you say that the writer of that blog is "exaggerating and twisting negative parts of the stories it weaves," are you admitting that those negative parts are true--in short, are you saying that, when it comes to the facts, the blog has it right?

I would like to know more about this:
Rinpoche has been invited to Melbourne by the largest Vietnamese temple in Victoria and has already been giving lectures and teachings around East Asia at the invitations of many esteemed temples, universities and organizations.
specifically, I would like to know if the leaders of this temple have responded to this issue.
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Ayu
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by Ayu »

It seems to be difficult to find a neutral source about Shang Rinpoche in the internet.
Though the style of speech in Punya's link doesn't pitch my taste, I can understand why SR is noted with critisism on the other hand. In the blog that user "connected" linked in there are to find some sentences from SR himself which could be understood controversial.
Here we are in the quandary not to speak bad about a person we don't know and also not to send potential diciples to a wrong teacher... :thinking:

In the Lamrim teaching from Che Tsongkhapa (11th century) there is the recommendation to examine the teacher thoroughly. There are some features a good teacher (who is called a Rinpoche) has to have:
"- diciplined, calm and absolutely peaceful
- better qualified than the student
- energetic and knowledgeable in the scriptures
- deep knowledge about the suchness (emptyness)
- skilful in language
- and a loving character who not gets discouraged.
(Jewlery of Sutras by Maitreya)
Also he should have the same discipline which he wants to teach to his students. His own mind must be stable and under his control."
(From the Lam Rim 'Bring Ba: "Mittlerer Stufenweg" by Che Tsongkhapa.)

In modern context: the teacher should have a good lineage and not follow bad forces.
connected
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by connected »

We thank you, Ayu for your well-reasoned response, and we couldn’t agree more about the dilemma you state.

We also thank you for the opportunity to help clarify things. It was we, the long-term students of Shang Rinpoche, who “implored” him to come with us to the west; he has never courted publicity, and we convinced him that it was worth the time and cost investment to help others in our home countries.

First, with regards to Rinpoche’s credentials.
Shang Rinpoche’s main lineage and the lineage of his Root Teacher, the current incarnation of Dorje Lingpa. From his teacher, Shang Rinpoche received the full lineages and teachings of the 16th Karmapa, Kalu Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse as well as the teachings of many other renowned masters.

The close (direct) lineage is as follows:
Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa, Tokden Shakya Shri (1), Lama Sönam Zangpo(2), Terton Dorje Lingpa(3), Shang Longrik Gyatso Rinpoche.(4)


The lack of detailed lineage information, or information in general, is partly because Rinpoche is based in the Chinese-speaking world and has only recently asked his Western students to translate his materials publicly. The other reason is in keeping with the tradition and precepts of a Vajrayana master, none of whom broadcast or promote the details of their lineage in the public arena. You will find this consistent with the biographies of masters of the past, before the digital age.

There are hundreds of Buddhist lineages and masters in the world today, many of which remain unknown to the internet. In the past, Buddhist masters and practitioners didn’t have official websites and third-party public references, and often were indistinguishable from common farmers (Marpa) or beggars (Tilopa). If today we went to the Himalayas and stumbled upon a hermit in a cave, we wouldn’t assume them to be a villain and all of their words false simply because they were spoken by that person alone and without reference to a “hermit website.” Nor would we base our conclusions off hearsay alone, either from friend or foe. We would make a decision after making a thorough assessment of that person’s words, actions and character.

In the Vajrayana tradition, the qualifications a teacher should possess have been stated, as Ayu references, in many sutras and by great masters of the past. To start with evaluating his words, Rinpoche has hundreds of articles available on his official facebook page, or (in Chinese) along side Sodargye and Khyentse Rinpoche’s articles on major Chinese websites(5) and in Taiwan’s largest Buddhist newspaper.(6) This is ample material for, as Gampopa states in his Jewel Ornament of Liberation(7), starting a sound evaluation.

We encourage you to express your opinions after thoroughly reading Rinpoche’s teachings and by citing particular evidence.

As for a judgment on character and actions, you would have to, in some form, interact with and observe Rinpoche over a period of time, and not base it off the stories in an anonymous blog, or for that matter, by his students alone.

We hope this response respects the opinions and beliefs of everyone in this forum, and that we can all be careful as Buddhists about resorting to assumptions, accusations or personal attacks about any person or teacher in any religion.

Eric Canzano, Mike Cameron, Dave Archdall, Michelle Bradley,
Neil Anthony Swanson - https://www.facebook.com/neilanthonyswanson" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(1) http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?titl ... hakya_Shri" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(2) http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?titl ... nam_Zangpo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(3) http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dorje_Lingpa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(4) http://www.shangrinpoche.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(5) (http://read.goodweb.cn/page03.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://big5.xuefo.net/show0_25_0_1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(6) http://www.merit-times.com.tw/NewsPage.aspx?unid=362861" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(7)(http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhis ... npoche.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Malcolm
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by Malcolm »

Ayu wrote:
In the Lamrim teaching from Che Tsongkhapa (11th century)
Late 14th, early fifteenth, actually.
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Ayu
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by Ayu »

Malcolm wrote:
Ayu wrote:
In the Lamrim teaching from Che Tsongkhapa (11th century)
Late 14th, early fifteenth, actually.
True, thank you. I mixed some numbers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je_Tsongkhapa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Shang Rinpoche dharma transmission and lecture in Melbou

Post by Punya »

Please see my further questiins here http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... 56#p259456" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
~Chatral Rinpoche
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