Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Malcolm »

kalden yungdrung wrote:
- How can a beginner have a knowledge about the truly qualified Dzogchenpa Master?
Admittedly this is a difficult issue.
- This does count also in chosing as a beginner, a Tantric Master.
Again, difficult.
So it seems to be nearly impossible to make a correct choice as a beginner, so good karma and to have built up in previous lives a connnection / base, would be important........ Maybe i did forgot something

It is difficult even when one is not a beginner. Sometimes people makes errors of judgement, and someone they thought was a qualified to give teachings turns out not to be qualified at all.

N
Yontan
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2010 6:57 am

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Yontan »

Agreed.
Longchenpa has done his best to give us a leg up. I believe his Resting at Ease trilogy has good info. Paltrul's seminal ngondro text has good help as well. At the least a teacher's students should show some bodhicitta, but even that can be hard to discern when first starting out.
I suppose it all comes down to karma. Best to pray to the bodhisattvas for guidance.
User avatar
kalden yungdrung
Posts: 4606
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:40 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Namdrol wrote:
kalden yungdrung wrote:
- How can a beginner have a knowledge about the truly qualified Dzogchenpa Master?
Admittedly this is a difficult issue.
- This does count also in chosing as a beginner, a Tantric Master.
Again, difficult.
So it seems to be nearly impossible to make a correct choice as a beginner, so good karma and to have built up in previous lives a connnection / base, would be important........ Maybe i did forgot something

It is difficult even when one is not a beginner. Sometimes people makes errors of judgement, and someone they thought was a qualified to give teachings turns out not to be qualified at all.

N

Tashi delek,

Thanks for the replies. :)

Yeh it is indeed very diffricult for beginners as well advanced Dharma practitioners to get an insight in what should be a qualified Dzogchenpa Master / Tantric Master.

When i was in France / Paris in 1985, there was the huge Kagyud initiation for the 3 years and 3 months retreat, which i did finish in 2 weeks.
I could cut off my legs, so long did we sit on the floor. Nowdays the most Masters make a break after 2 hours.......

Remarkable was that after the initiation, we got inisght into the related Samayas. This was not done at beforehand. The Samayas were not knowmn before, so people could make a decission in case to follow or not the initiation, if was known the concequences.

Same beat with the unknown rules about the Masters.
It is not enough that someone has a degree of Geshe, there must be more to get insight into the qualities of the Master..........

Yes the title Rinpoche and Lama can illustrate the illusion which can arise for a beginner, if he/she cannot understand these two terms correct.
How many Lamas and Rinpoches do we know who are that title not worth etc.
Maybe a black list of some persons should be published who mislead others........ :shock:

There are more unknown / hidden things in Dharma which can cause difficulties for beginners and advanced students, that is true.


Mutsog Marro
KY
The best meditation is no meditation
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Malcolm »

Yontan wrote:Agreed.
Longchenpa has done his best to give us a leg up. I believe his Resting at Ease trilogy has good info. Paltrul's seminal ngondro text has good help as well. At the least a teacher's students should show some bodhicitta, but even that can be hard to discern when first starting out.
I suppose it all comes down to karma. Best to pray to the bodhisattvas for guidance.
There is not such thing as a teacher whose conduct is immune to reproach. Buddhsit tantras warn again and again about the necessity to pick a qualified Guru.

Unacceptable conduct in teachers is not the kind of thing one can necessarily predict in the beginning of a teacher/student relationship, and erudition, even the appearance of bodhicitta, will not prevent such people from engaging in completely unacceptable conduct.

When you discover unacceptable conduct in some "teacher" like this, you have no choice but to seperate yourself from that person, as Kongtrul makes very clear.

N
User avatar
kalden yungdrung
Posts: 4606
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:40 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Namdrol wrote:
Yontan wrote:Agreed.
Longchenpa has done his best to give us a leg up. I believe his Resting at Ease trilogy has good info. Paltrul's seminal ngondro text has good help as well. At the least a teacher's students should show some bodhicitta, but even that can be hard to discern when first starting out.
I suppose it all comes down to karma. Best to pray to the bodhisattvas for guidance.
There is not such thing as a teacher whose conduct is immune to reproach. Buddhsit tantras warn again and again about the necessity to pick a qualified Guru.

If Buddhist Tantra give a warning, then there must exist some references about:

- The abilities of the Teacher
- What could be the infringement of the Teacher, or what is the infringement / shortcoming

For instance if a person is banned from a monastery by a Khenpo like Maitripa, is that allowed? Or is that an infringement regarding the Bodhisattva vows?

I mostly see the infingement of the student but never those of the eventual infringement of the " Teachers"



Unacceptable conduct in teachers is not the kind of thing one can necessarily predict in the beginning of a teacher/student relationship, and erudition, even the appearance of bodhicitta, will not prevent such people from engaging in completely unacceptable conduct.

Sure one can never predict but if one could have some guidelines in hand one has at least something in the hand for comparisation.

When you discover unacceptable conduct in some "teacher" like this, you have no choice but to seperate yourself from that person, as Kongtrul makes very clear.

There are some teachers who have unacceptable conduct like rape in case of the famous tantric karma mudra practice. It would be nice if we could have a blacklist of those so called " teachers" who make infractions like this and other things . That would save future suffering..........


N
The best meditation is no meditation
spanda
Posts: 93
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:18 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by spanda »

kalden yungdrung wrote: It would be nice if we could have a blacklist of those so called " teachers" who make infractions like this and other things . That would save future suffering..........
On March 16-19, 1993, a meeting was held in Dharamsala, India, between His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama and a group of twenty-two Western dharma teachers from the major Buddhist traditions in Europe and America. Also present were the Tibetan lamas Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche, Pachen Otrul Rinpoche, and Amchok Rinpoche. The aim of the meeting was to discuss openly a wide range of issues concerning the transmission of Budhadharma to Western lands.

The following statement ensued from the meeting:
“Each student must be encouraged to take responsible measures to confront teachers with unethical aspects of their conduct. If the teacher shows no sign of reform, students should not hesitate to publicize any unethical behavior of which there is irrefutable evidence. This should be done irrespective of other beneficial aspects of his or her work and of one's spiritual commitment to that teacher. It should also be made clear in any publicity that such conduct is not in conformity with Buddhist teachings. No matter what level of spiritual attainment a teacher has, or claims to have, reached, no person can stand above the norms of ethical conduct.”
Signed:
Fred von Allmen, Brendan Lee Kennedy, Ven. Ajahn Amaro, Bodhin Kjolhede Sensei, Jack Kornfield, Martine Batchelor, Dharmachari Kulananda, Stephen Batchelor, Jakusho Bill Kwong Roshi, Alex Berzin, Lama Namgyal (Daniel Boschero), Ven. Thubten Chodron (Cherry Greene), Ven. Tenzin Palmo, Lama Drupgyu Crony Chapman), Ven. Thubten Pende (James Dougherty), Lopon Claude aEsnee, Lama Surya Das (Jeffrey Miller), Edie Irwin, Robert Thurman, Junpo Sensei (Denis Kelly), Sylvia Wetzel.

The teachers and groups below are not all criminals or necessarily involved in distorting Buddhism, but serious complaints have been made about their conduct and/or teachings. I am not a policeman or judge, and I cannot verify if all these claims are true. I merely hope to warn innocent newcomers about potential problems and controversy.



And here you can find the list:


http://viewonbuddhism.org/controversy-c ... nable.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
florin
Posts: 1340
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:05 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by florin »

Namdrol wrote:
Yontan wrote:Agreed.
Longchenpa has done his best to give us a leg up. I believe his Resting at Ease trilogy has good info. Paltrul's seminal ngondro text has good help as well. At the least a teacher's students should show some bodhicitta, but even that can be hard to discern when first starting out.
I suppose it all comes down to karma. Best to pray to the bodhisattvas for guidance.
There is not such thing as a teacher whose conduct is immune to reproach. Buddhsit tantras warn again and again about the necessity to pick a qualified Guru.

Unacceptable conduct in teachers is not the kind of thing one can necessarily predict in the beginning of a teacher/student relationship, and erudition, even the appearance of bodhicitta, will not prevent such people from engaging in completely unacceptable conduct.

When you discover unacceptable conduct in some "teacher" like this, you have no choice but to seperate yourself from that person, as Kongtrul makes very clear.

N
But i think there are a few teachers around who's behaviour is impeccable and you can't go wrong with by following their advice.
They've been around long enough to trust that their advice is sound and comes from a good understanding of the teaching.
Moreover you can see the qualities of such a teacher reflected in the serious student.
If a student is serious and follows with dedication and to the letter the advice of his teacher but in the end there is no developing of any kind then i guess there is something wrong with the teacher.
User avatar
kalden yungdrung
Posts: 4606
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:40 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by kalden yungdrung »

spanda wrote:
kalden yungdrung wrote: It would be nice if we could have a blacklist of those so called " teachers" who make infractions like this and other things . That would save future suffering..........
On March 16-19, 1993, a meeting was held in Dharamsala, India, between His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama and a group of twenty-two Western dharma teachers from the major Buddhist traditions in Europe and America. Also present were the Tibetan lamas Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche, Pachen Otrul Rinpoche, and Amchok Rinpoche. The aim of the meeting was to discuss openly a wide range of issues concerning the transmission of Budhadharma to Western lands.

The following statement ensued from the meeting:
“Each student must be encouraged to take responsible measures to confront teachers with unethical aspects of their conduct. If the teacher shows no sign of reform, students should not hesitate to publicize any unethical behavior of which there is irrefutable evidence. This should be done irrespective of other beneficial aspects of his or her work and of one's spiritual commitment to that teacher. It should also be made clear in any publicity that such conduct is not in conformity with Buddhist teachings. No matter what level of spiritual attainment a teacher has, or claims to have, reached, no person can stand above the norms of ethical conduct.”
Signed:
Fred von Allmen, Brendan Lee Kennedy, Ven. Ajahn Amaro, Bodhin Kjolhede Sensei, Jack Kornfield, Martine Batchelor, Dharmachari Kulananda, Stephen Batchelor, Jakusho Bill Kwong Roshi, Alex Berzin, Lama Namgyal (Daniel Boschero), Ven. Thubten Chodron (Cherry Greene), Ven. Tenzin Palmo, Lama Drupgyu Crony Chapman), Ven. Thubten Pende (James Dougherty), Lopon Claude aEsnee, Lama Surya Das (Jeffrey Miller), Edie Irwin, Robert Thurman, Junpo Sensei (Denis Kelly), Sylvia Wetzel.

The teachers and groups below are not all criminals or necessarily involved in distorting Buddhism, but serious complaints have been made about their conduct and/or teachings. I am not a policeman or judge, and I cannot verify if all these claims are true. I merely hope to warn innocent newcomers about potential problems and controversy.



And here you can find the list:


http://viewonbuddhism.org/controversy-c ... nable.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Tashi delek,

Thanks for your reply.

I am glad that there are some persons / teachers published on a certain blacklist, known for their special "misconduct" regarding ethics. :twothumbsup:

But here i can see also that Lin Yun is accepted in Bon but not somewhere else.......... Politics?
http://www.yunlintemple.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One can see that sexual abuse / misconduct is a case which is frequent happening. It is also a case for the national court and should be punished like that by imprisonment / detention.

Further the claim of realisation is also frequent happening, which is very misleading to some laypersons / beginners.
It is this last mentioned point, which is very confusing to others in case of lower level of understanding.


Mutsog Marro
KY
The best meditation is no meditation
User avatar
Dechen Norbu
Posts: 3056
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:50 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Dechen Norbu »

alpha wrote: But i think there are a few teachers around who's behaviour is impeccable and you can't go wrong with by following their advice.
They've been around long enough to trust that their advice is sound and comes from a good understanding of the teaching.
Moreover you can see the qualities of such a teacher reflected in the serious student.
If a student is serious and follows with dedication and to the letter the advice of his teacher but in the end there is no developing of any kind then i guess there is something wrong with the teacher.
Let me first state that I fully I agree with what you are saying. Nevertheless there's a comment I would like to make about the bold (by me) portion of your sentence. Not everyone access their status correctly in terms of seriousness or dedication; adding to that, there's always the problem of interpretation. While a student may think he is following his teacher advice to the letter, there might be the case that the teachings and advice were misinterpreted unintentionally. This may lead the student to project blames that the teacher hasn't in fact. How to counter this? Look at others and see how they are going. Usually a good teacher also has a handful of good students (not students that brag, which is a different matter all together). So it is also helpful to check if everyone is stuck or there are people progressing. Although this too is not very easy to access, you must use your best guess.

Last, but perhaps more important, usually if you are serious and committed, not suffering from any serious psychological unbalance, not gullible or easily impressionable, are very careful about getting the teachings right and making a real effort to study while being diligent in your practice, if your teacher is good you will know it beyond any shadow of doubt. You will know it because you will make progresses noticeable to yourself. In some cases, like when there's direct introduction involved, mandatory in Dzogchen, the moment it happens you know your teacher is an unsurpassable treasure and any doubt will vanish for good, never to come back. Just be sure to confirm you recognized instant presence and not some transitory mental state of bliss or other thing (that will let you down later on). If you did, and a sign of it is what I'll say next, it will be like a paradigm shift. A game changer if you prefer. A full stop in your doubts about your lama. You met your root teacher and it was not a choice or a decision you made, but an occurrence that left no remaining doubt. So all those questions about good teacher/ bad teacher and so on vanish. This should be our aim, knowing that we too may need to put some effort so that we have the required conditions do do it, as few are fortunate enough to get it without any preparation.
User avatar
kalden yungdrung
Posts: 4606
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:40 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by kalden yungdrung »

alpha wrote:
Namdrol wrote:
Yontan wrote:
But i think there are a few teachers around who's behaviour is impeccable and you can't go wrong with by following their advice.


What is here meant with impeccable? This is a personal choice and not a general. Missing is still the guidelines for this so called impeccable behaviour. We saw that Lin Yun is seen by some as corrupt but in Bon a great person. So who is making those decissions about good or bad Masters? Is here spoken of personal freedom or a general freedom? Again we need the law on paper which is agreed by all parties who teach Dzogchen, isn' t it?


They've been around long enough to trust that their advice is sound and comes from a good understanding of the teaching.

Even about H.H. the Dalai Lama is spoken as good or not, regarding some aspects. So there are here pro and contras about his person as a Master or not. Myself i am very neutral and am happy to be not involved inn Gelug politics with its related results. So also here what is what regarding samayas and Tantra. It is not clear at all about what are the rules........

Moreover you can see the qualities of such a teacher reflected in the serious student.

The case is that a student never can analyze the level of his Teacher, therefore the many infringments of teachers. Never knew the sexual interests of Sogyal and i know some of his students. I cannot see in them the shortcoming of Sogyal Rinpoche........

If a student is serious and follows with dedication and to the letter the advice of his teacher but in the end there is no developing of any kind then i guess there is something wrong with the teacher.

Again a student can have a misunderstanding about the teachings and his level of understanding whereas he/she is proclaiming a certain realisation which is based on illusion. Here there is no development but only illusion in the form of self centered ego. It was always hard to understand what is illusion and what is not. On this misunderstanding is based the power of certain so called Masters and therefore is needed some guidelines as reference about what is and what is not an infraction on the side of the so called " Master". I am still expecting a booklet with those rules about infractions. Untill now i know only the sexual abuse related to karma mudra but there must be more like for instance the money shuffle side of town which is based on a certain Sangha power.


Mutsog Marro
KY


The best meditation is no meditation
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Malcolm »

kalden yungdrung wrote: Untill now i know only the sexual abuse related to karma mudra but there must be more like for instance the money shuffle side of town which is based on a certain Sangha power.
There are two main things: sexual misconduct and misusing the money of students for personal gain.
User avatar
kalden yungdrung
Posts: 4606
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:40 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Namdrol wrote:
kalden yungdrung wrote: Untill now i know only the sexual abuse related to karma mudra but there must be more like for instance the money shuffle side of town which is based on a certain Sangha power.
There are two main things: sexual misconduct and misusing the money of students for personal gain.

Tashi delek,

Ok, we have 2 main things.

Are the subdivisions based on those 2 main things?

Then what would be a sub-division ?
SM and Casino Royal? :)

Or is it more complex than it looks like?


Mutosg Marro
KY
The best meditation is no meditation
User avatar
Sönam
Posts: 1999
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:11 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Sönam »

kalden yungdrung wrote:
Then what would be a sub-division ?
SM and Casino Royal? :)

Or is it more complex than it looks like?


Mutosg Marro
KY[/color]
In fact, it's much more complex ... because in certain case it involves relative and absolute, and maturity of involved person. Are we always able to define clearely what abusing means? Are declared abused always truly abused? ... and so on. Some time it's clear cutted ... sometime it's not, our westerners society are often very touchy where it is not so justified ...

Sönam
By understanding everything you perceive from the perspective of the view, you are freed from the constraints of philosophical beliefs.
By understanding that any and all mental activity is meditation, you are freed from arbitrary divisions between formal sessions and postmeditation activity.
- Longchen Rabjam -
User avatar
Paul
Posts: 1726
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 8:12 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Paul »

Namdrol wrote:
pemachophel wrote:
I offer this as a caveat against simply reading the available Dzogchen literature in English, thinking that one has understood the natural state, and then traveling down a wrong path. :namaste:

Dzogchen texts are manuals, not literature, and need to be understood in that way.

They need to be studied in conjunction with a teacher, until one's understanding is comprehensive and moving in the right direction. If one is studying with someone who does not have an actual understanding of Dzogchen but merely uses Dzogchen as a way attracting students in order to make a living, this can also interfere with a student's progress. So it is important to make sure that one's teacher of Dzogchen is a truly qualified teacher.
Do you recommend that a practitioner (ie me) not bother reading any texts, other than those that we have been given teachings on?

I have personally gained a lot of understanding of the method of dzogchen practice from reading many texts, but am all too aware of accidentally building an intellectual fake of the Real Thing. It's something I definitely did for several years.
Look at the unfathomable spinelessness of man: all the means he's been given to stay alert he uses, in the end, to ornament his sleep. – Rene Daumal
the modern mind has become so limited and single-visioned that it has lost touch with normal perception - John Michell
muni
Posts: 5559
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:59 am

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by muni »

Since now my coarse mind goes for Dzogchen like stepping in a brown beer changkhang (no need of right karmic....), we need not at least intellectual understanding of the empty Dzogchen master which is not a worldly clinging one at all. If we don't know that, what do we expect by our suspiciousness or blind love their projections? Then we expect no problems? The given list is very helpful but not enough.


One must be ready. The master will not be there to fit with our ideas. Ready since a genuine master is going to kill that what we love so much, that what we trust so deeply and polish like golden anchors since so long time: the imagined Me and its labeling world. He cuts through all habitual tendencies, rusty fabrications which never arised.

We shouldn't forget the immeasurable kindness and wisdom, liberating us from the prison holder. In right devotion, strong Me loses in compassion.
Greg
Posts: 404
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:42 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Greg »

Getting back to Fenner . . .

I thought these comments on amazon were interesting:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3JKF09PUM ... hisHelpful

Initial post: Dec 31, 2009 6:41:29 PM PST
Mark S. Mandell says:
Having attended Fenner's Radiant Mind course in Berkeley just about three years ago(which included teleconference calls, one on one "consultations" with a few he personally designated for that(one being his newly married wife whose English pronunciation suffered from her heavily accented French), and this in addition to all kinds of essays periodically emailed to all participants about aspects of "Unconditioned mind" and intergroup exchanges which seldom if ever transpired, I must say you're sensible enough not to make any investment in this.

Posted on Feb 5, 2010 3:23:25 AM PST
slingblade says:
The organization being built around Peter Fenner, his course, other teachers he is training, and growing numbers of followers is showing where this is really going. Be very careful about just buying into the hype.

In reply to an earlier post on Feb 5, 2010 7:16:11 AM PST
Mark S. Mandell says:
Yes, and to think that he's now charging some $3200 for one to then be "priviledged" to acquire the status of an officially sanctioned Advaita instructor. One attends these sessions "intellectually" empowered with the notion that once having completed said course that he or she will have the newly acquired wisdom to "transmit" Radiant Mind to other seekers.


I don't know anything about him but slick, expensive programs get my guard up. Would be interested to hear from people with experience.
User avatar
mzaur
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2011 6:18 am

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by mzaur »

I happened upon the 7 disc audio series a while back. I was intrigued by it because of his credentials (background in Madyamaka and student of Dzogchen), but really his focus is Advaita, not Dzogchen or Buddhism. Very much like Eckhart Tolle. He's very fixated on awareness and has the view of substantial nonduality (monism). i'm not quite sure how he got his PhD in Madyamaka and ended up with an eternalist view.
User avatar
Sönam
Posts: 1999
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:11 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Sönam »

mzaur wrote:i'm not quite sure how he got his PhD in Madyamaka and ended up with an eternalist view.
Because philosophy is somehow already eternalist ...

Sönam
By understanding everything you perceive from the perspective of the view, you are freed from the constraints of philosophical beliefs.
By understanding that any and all mental activity is meditation, you are freed from arbitrary divisions between formal sessions and postmeditation activity.
- Longchen Rabjam -
Dharmaswede
Posts: 297
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:22 pm

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by Dharmaswede »

I am not saying Mr. Fenner is a bad apple, but him being a disciple of Sai Baba was enough to deem him on a path too different from mine.

Radiant Mind, Dedication page:
"I dedicate this work to my main teachers.
...
Sri Satya Sai Baba – I don't know who I am thanking when I thank you, but I know you've been guiding me in recent."

Acknowledgements, page XI:
"I am forever grateful to the blessing field of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. My relationship with Sathya Sai is a complete mystery to me, but it has been instrumental in the development of the Radiant Mind program."

Best Regards,

Jens
User avatar
catmoon
Former staff member
Posts: 3423
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:20 am
Location: British Columbia

Re: Peter Fenner - "Radiant Mind"

Post by catmoon »

Hm, any association with Sai Baba pretty much wraps it up as far as I can see. Gurus jut ain't spozed to be worth nine billion dollars.
Sergeant Schultz knew everything there was to know.
Post Reply

Return to “Dzogchen”