Top Ten Misconceptions About Buddhism

[Ngawang Drolma]

Hi David, your collection is wonderful!

One small correction to #11, HHDL isn't technically the head of the Gelugpa sect. I'll find the name of the person who is though.

But as I said, it's a great collection.

Best,
Drolma

[David N. Snyder]

One small correction to #11, HHDL isn't technically the head of the Gelugpa sect. I'll find the name of the person who is though.
But as I said, it's a great collection.

Thanks for that and the correction too! I'll edit that page right away.

[David N. Snyder]

Hi David, your collection is wonderful!
One small correction to #11, HHDL isn't technically the head of the Gelugpa sect. I'll find the name of the person who is though.
But as I said, it's a great collection.

This gives me an idea, so that we can continue this list with some of the lesser known misconceptions:

22. "The Dalai Lama is the head of the Gelugpa sect."
The Dalai Lama is a member of the Gelugpa sect and the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism.

Which until now, I had that misconception too!

So he is just a member of the Gelugpa sect and someone else is the leader, but he still is the spiritual head of all Tibetan Buddhism, correct?

[Ngawang Drolma]

Hi TheDhamma,

HHDL is greatly respected among all four traditions. So many people, including venerated lamas from all four traditions seek spiritual advice and guidance from him. But there's actually no one head of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. I believe that most high lamas from all four traditions have some sort of samaya (commitment) with him.

HHDL does support the Rime movement. That's a movement that encourages people to receive teachings from all four schools. The geshe who gave me my first refuge was a student of HHDL. So logically, he encouraged me to take teachings from any of the four traditions so long as the teacher is trustworthy and legitimate.

HHDL such a public figure and very well known. He's the temporal leader of the Tibetan government in exile and he's been really active and vocal in promoting peace and autonomy for Tibet. So of course, people commonly associate him with Tibetan Buddhism. But there's no one head of it all.

Kindly,
Drolma

[David N. Snyder]

HHDL such a public figure and very well known. He's the temporal leader of the Tibetan government in exile and he's been really active and vocal in promoting peace and autonomy for Tibet. So of course, people commonly associate him with Tibetan Buddhism. But there's no one head of it all.

Hi Drolma,

Okay, thanks for that information!

[Ngawang Drolma]

The Ganden Tripa or Gaden Tripa (tib. dGa’-ldan Khri-pa) ("Holder of the Ganden Throne") is the title of the spiritual leader of the Gelug (Dge-lugs) school of Tibetan Buddhism, the school which controlled central Tibet from the mid-1600s until 1950s. He is identical with the respective abbot of Ganden Monastery. The present head of the Gelugpa order is Khensur Lungri Namgyal, the 101st Ganden Tripa and not, as is often misunderstood, the Dalai Lama.[1] The Dalai Lama is the temporal head of the Gelug school, a position of greater political authority but of lower spiritual rank.

The Ganden Tripa is an appointed office, not a reincarnation lineage. It is awarded on the basis of competitive examination. Since the position is not a life-long one, there have been many more Ganden Tripas than Dalai Lamas to date (101 as against 14).

Either Tsongkapa (Tsong-ka-pa) (1357–1419), who founded the Gelug sect, or his successor, Gyaltsab Je (Rgyal-tshab-rje), may be considered to have been the first Ganden Tripa. (After Tsongkhapa's passing, his teachings were held and kept by Gyaltsab Je and Khedrub Je who were the next abbots of Ganden monastery. The lineage has been held by the Ganden Tripas–the throne-holders of Ganden Monastery.)

In January 2003, the Government of Tibet in Exile announced the nomination of the 101st Ganden Tripa. An excerpt from that press release gives his background:

The 101st Ganden Tripa, the Venerable Khensur Lungri Namgyel rinpoche was born in 1927 in Kham (eastern Tibet). Ordained at eight years old, after fifty years of meditative practices and studies he was elevated by H.H. the Dalai-lama as successively abbot of Gyutö Tantric College (in 1983), and as abbot of Ganden Shartse Monastic University (in 1992). In 1986 he was the special envoy of H.H. the Dalai-lama to the ecumenical meetings of Assisi in Italy convened by H.H. the Pope John Paul II. He is a French national and has been living in Paris, France for more than 20 years. He transmits the Buddhist teachings of his lineage in a Dharma Center, Thar Deu Ling[2] which he founded in 1980.[3]

The 100th Ganden Tripa, Venerable Lobsang Nyingma Rinpoche,[4] has since retired and now resides at Dharamsala together with the 14th Dalai Lama.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganden_Tripa

[Ngawang Drolma]

Hi Drolma,

Okay, thanks for that information!

I'm happy to help

Best,
Drolma

[Ngawang Drolma]

#23 Tantra is magic.

[David N. Snyder]

24. Tantra is (always and only) about sex.

[Ngawang Drolma]

24. Tantra is (always and only) about sex.

Oye yes, let's please dispel that myth!

[David N. Snyder]

25. "The Japanese invented/discovered Zen."
It was actually around in China for centuries before that under the name Ch'an and they trace their lineage back to Shakyamuni Buddha.

[David N. Snyder]

24. Tantra is (always and only) about sex.

Oye yes, let's please dispel that myth!

Also related to the above:

26. "Tantra gurus and 'teachers' advertising weekend courses for individuals and couples are Buddhist teachers."
Perhaps 99% to 100% have never studied under any Rinpoche or teacher and are simply capitalizing on the fact that sometimes, "sex sells."

[Ngawang Drolma]

27. People who practice vajrayan worship deities or gods.

[Ngawang Drolma]

28. Mind only schools (of which there are perfectly valid schools within TB) are no more than solipsism.

[BFS]

29. mahāyāna teach the nirvana of a "foe destroyer" is enlightenment.



The following is an extract from - Two Truths @ url :

http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/buddh ... /cul03.php


"This is not the ultimate nirvana. It is only the exhaustion of the grosser veils, not the complete exhaustion or pacification of the very fine, subtle confusions. So it is not ultimate enlightenment. Until one achieves the ultimate state of a buddha, one has not achieved the ultimate nirvana.

When one attains the complete state of a buddha, the complete state of enlightenment, then there is a great benefit for other sentient beings. The reason for this is that when one has exhausted all of one's own confusions, one is able to really and truly work for the benefit of other beings."

[BFS]

30. Emptiness implies nihilism.

The following is an extract from : The Middle Way by The Dalai Lama

"Only when you fail to understand emptiness in terms of dependent origination do questions about whether emptiness implies nihilism arise.
The meaning of emptiness is dependent origination.
The term dependent dispels absolutism by revealing the dependent nature of all things, while the term origination dispels the extreme of nihilism because it doesn't refer to nothing but rather to something that comes into being."

[BFS]

31. " It's all an illusion "

Nothing can bare ultimate examination.

It is not all an illusion, as if nothing is there.
It is all like an illusion, as in being dependently arisen.
dependently arisen is not something that is obvious to the ignorant mind.

The following extract from - Do objects Exist ? by the Dalai Lama :
"Analysis does not contradict the mere existence of the object. Phenomena do indeed exist, but not in the way we think they do."

[David N. Snyder]

Drolma, BFS,

Good ones!

[David N. Snyder]

32. "You must be a monk or nun to get enlightened."
There are reports of lay people from all traditions who have attained enlightenment.

[BudSas]

25. "The Japanese invented/discovered Zen."
It was actually around in China for centuries before that under the name Ch'an and they trace their lineage back to Shakyamuni Buddha.

... and the Chinese word "Ch'an" was actually derived from the Sanskrit "Dhyana" (Pali: Jhana).

BDS