My weekend in Frederick at the end of December 2008 was a bit more interesting than i said on the public entry. I'm letting a few folks know the full story. Before I start: feel free to forward this on as you see fit. However, I would ask that fellow sangha members please ask me before doing so. One of the rules I am now bound by is to 'not create problems with one's Vajra brothers and sisters.' Since this form of practice is not widely known, I am worried it may inadvertantly cause problems - people think I'm somehow 'special' or 'better', when I am certainly not. (in fact, just the opposite :))
(Some advance grammatical warning: I will be dropping letters from some words on purpose so this post will not be picked up by web crawlers, due to the sensitive nature of this post (which will become clear as we go on.)
The short form: For my 35th birthday, I became Buddhist ordained, part of a lineage dating back over a thousand years. However, I am still married to Meli, so I am certainly not a monastic. :)
That basically mean, you, good sir or madam, are fucked, as far as either attaining Enlightenment or even being happy in this life.
There is a very real danger of one attempting to become a cult leader, clothing oneself in the garb of a legitimate dharma practitioner. Sadly, w/o naming names, there have been several cases in the West of people donning this clothing, but then manifesting and giving teachings that are at odds with authentic Dharma.
I'm hoping I'm a little too Robyn Hitchcock or Andy Kaufman-esque for this to ever be a possibility. :)
(Some advance grammatical warning: I will be dropping letters from some words on purpose so this post will not be picked up by web crawlers, due to the sensitive nature of this post (which will become clear as we go on.)
The short form: For my 35th birthday, I became Buddhist ordained, part of a lineage dating back over a thousand years. However, I am still married to Meli, so I am certainly not a monastic. :)
What I am is something more complicated, and potentially much more dangerous: A Nagkpa (pronounced "NAK-puh").
"Complicated? Dangerous? WTF?" Plus, if I explained that it involves "tan tric vows", well, your mind already jumped to amazing fu2king, didn't it? Well, it CERTAINLY ain't about that for anyone I know. :)
The long form:
As people who have been following this thing on the interwebs know, I am a very serious practitioner of Himalayan Buddha-dharma (aka Tib etan Buddh ism). I have already given away most of my pre-vajrayana practice regiment and tricks, which are an essential basis for anything that follows.
"Complicated? Dangerous? WTF?" Plus, if I explained that it involves "tan tric vows", well, your mind already jumped to amazing fu2king, didn't it? Well, it CERTAINLY ain't about that for anyone I know. :)
The long form:
As people who have been following this thing on the interwebs know, I am a very serious practitioner of Himalayan Buddha-dharma (aka Tib etan Buddh ism). I have already given away most of my pre-vajrayana practice regiment and tricks, which are an essential basis for anything that follows.
In addition to all that, however, I am also a follower of the Vajra yana ("Diamond-like vehicle"). To give a brief explanation for those of you who don't know about this stuff, the vajra yana is a body of practices, probably first created in present-day India and Afghanistan from the 2nd century C.E. onwards based on Hindu and pre-Hindu techniques, that deploy a great number of skillful means to allow meditation in action. These consist of methods to make the fruits of meditation practice take effect faster. These use devotion and visualizations to make practice 'come alive'. It's should really be seen in the context as being an outgrowth of the Maha yana, which is like the Zen that the Vietnamese buddha Thict Naht Hahn teaches, but with some extra tricks to try to get there faster.
I am planning on doing a more through explanation of how buddhist tan tra works. I already did an entry on the Vajrayana you should read.
For a while, I had been thinking about making a formal commitment to this path to take it further. In the Drikung Kagyu, there is preserved the tradition of the "white-robed" (really "red-and-white garbed") sangha, as well as the more familiar "red-robed" (really red-and-yellow garbed") monastics.
While the clothing really doesn't bestow any "magical powers" (sorry, fans of TV's "Kung Fu" :)), what I was after was the taking on formally of the path of avoiding the "14 Root Downfalls" of a vajra yana practitioner. I like to call these "the inner robes". I wanted to be held to this higher standard to push my practice forward, by giving a sense of "every body's watching" (everybody being the lineage I promised to). There is a sort of kick-in-the-ass between 'i'll try' and 'I promise I will' in everyday life, and the same goes for 'this stuff' too.
I had been asking some more senior practitioners in the Dri kung Kag yu world about the nagkpa/ma path, and getting some great advice. (FYI- the best examples of this path I've found often almost never wear the official outer clothing. There's a lesson in this.)
I tried to get these formally from a well-known lama in this lineage last summer, but didn't because they are usually a part of a highest-yoga tantra empowerment ceremony. However, on December 27, 2008, that same lama gave the highest-yoga tantra empowerment ceremony of Chenrezig, and Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin said right afterwards "technically you all are nagkpas now." So, I got my wish after all. :)
There are many different nagkpa/ma lineages that now exist in the West that can be found on-line. Many of them are a bit controversial in their approaches, the legitimacy of their teaching streams, etc. ("Legitimacy" in this case means there are some well-qualified teachers closely supervising the students - and especially those actually teaching to the western students - to make sure nothing get skewed, compromised, or worse.)
The way I practice is influenced by both the Drikungpa view of "ethics matter, esp. to tantrikas" and the Mind rolling view (via H.E. Khan dro Rin po che, without whom, I would not be who I am today at all) of "don't be pretentious, don't call attention to yourself", so my outward manifestation in day-to-day life is basically exactly the same.
As for the clothing -the shawl and skirt- I've gotten in the habit of referring to them as my "uniform". It is clothing to be worn 'on duty'. Then, just as a cop wouldn't keep his police uniform on after hours w/o very good reason, or any doctor/medic/nurse etc. would take off their uniforms after work is done, the zen and chubba (Tibetan for "shawl and skirt") should be seen exactly the same. A fireman shouldn't see their helmet, heavy coat, axe, etc. as some 'exotic unique thing that makes me special', but simply as what he or she wears when they are on-duty to serve others. If a fireman started wearing his helmet, airtanks, etc. out when grocery shopping and running other errands, people would worry that there was something a little mentally off with them. The nagkpa's clothing should be seen in this light. That's what I've learned, and I am sticking to it. (That said, the skirt is REALLY comfortable - if I could get one in a pretty B&O railroad Royal Blue to wear outside my shrine room and dharma practice/teaching events, I would. It'd just be Monty Python-esque camp :))
Also, just as the professions above are really always 'on-duty' at a moments notice if they are needed (see a car accident in front of them, someone choking in a restaurant, etc.), in the same way, we are always 'on-duty', no matter what we wear. Or wearing nothing at all. :) (In my case, file THAT image away for a later nightmare. :))
In particular, the nagkpa/ma way is to avoid the previously mentioned 14 major downfalls. I'll put more on them at a later date.
Some of them include:
- Showing disrespect to the Guru
- Creating problems with Vajra sangha members
- Abandoning loving-kindness for all sentient beings
- Failing to properly reflect on and understand the doctrine of emptiness
- Upsetting those with faith in the teachings
- Disparaging or denigrating women
But, really, to practice it correctly, the following passage from the great scholar Jamgon Kongtrol Lodro Thaye 's "Creation and Completion" is all you need to know:
Not understanding rejection and acceptance; lack of devotion in Dharma; careless, compulsive behavior; and excessive afflictive emotion-
if these four are present, faults and downfalls will fall like rain.
It is as if the four trapdoors to downfalls are wide open.
But if you maintain cautious mindful awareness, even the afflictive emotions will turn into great wisdom;
what need to mention all else becomes virtue?
All the essential points of daily life applications are held by mindfulness.
Without mindfulness, you won't even remember these applications,
and their mere existence is of no benefit whatsoever.
You must proceed directly with a direct attitude.
Relying on cautious attention in all activities
is like having Shakimuni (Buddha) himself as your constant companion.
Sounds great, huh?
Well, there are a -few- downsides. The biggest of all:
Ego. It can be VERY dangerous if people hear "I can have an exotic outfit and be considered ''special" and not give up sex and alcohol? Count me in!" Point blank: If someone goes in with this attitude will achieve only the 'attainment' of Rudrahood. One becomes an ego-maniac. If that happens, instead of the special methods of this particular stream of dharma to cut attachments to one's 'self' and the world around (And thus allowing one to be more truly useful to the rest of the world because there's much less 'stickiness' to self-interest), and instead becoming intent on self-aggrandizing power and worldly stuff.
Well, there are a -few- downsides. The biggest of all:
Ego. It can be VERY dangerous if people hear "I can have an exotic outfit and be considered ''special" and not give up sex and alcohol? Count me in!" Point blank: If someone goes in with this attitude will achieve only the 'attainment' of Rudrahood. One becomes an ego-maniac. If that happens, instead of the special methods of this particular stream of dharma to cut attachments to one's 'self' and the world around (And thus allowing one to be more truly useful to the rest of the world because there's much less 'stickiness' to self-interest), and instead becoming intent on self-aggrandizing power and worldly stuff.
That basically mean, you, good sir or madam, are fucked, as far as either attaining Enlightenment or even being happy in this life.
There is a very real danger of one attempting to become a cult leader, clothing oneself in the garb of a legitimate dharma practitioner. Sadly, w/o naming names, there have been several cases in the West of people donning this clothing, but then manifesting and giving teachings that are at odds with authentic Dharma.
I'm hoping I'm a little too Robyn Hitchcock or Andy Kaufman-esque for this to ever be a possibility. :)
The first teachers to the west, notably Trung pa Rin po che, said not a word about there being a special class of practitioners with special rules and clothing, for fear that it would lead to the above egomaniacal behavior. He was so, so correct. I always worry this could happen to me. Which, I have heard is exactly the attitude required so it never happens. :)
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Now, that in-depth explanation I was promising earlier (put together partially for myself, and partially for some scholars of buddhist stuff who get into this kind of thing :):
Now, that in-depth explanation I was promising earlier (put together partially for myself, and partially for some scholars of buddhist stuff who get into this kind of thing :):
THE HISTORY OF THE NAGKPAS (well, from the 7th Century on-wards)
In the 7th Century C.E. (or A.D.), the great Indian master Padma sambhava traveled from present-day Afghanistan to bring Vajra yana Buddhism to Tibet and Bhutan, at the request of the king of Tibet. When he set up shop in Tibet, he created two sanghas (or religious orders). These were the "red" sangha (the celibate monastics) and the "white" sangha (the not-neccessarily celibate tan tric yogi practitioners).
From all I have heard and read, I think that one reason Padma sambhava created the two sanghas with the idea that the red and white sanghas were supposed to be "checks and balances" on each other. The ordained were keepers of the vinaya - the monastic rules from the time of Buddha, obviously. Without a monastic sangha, Buddha's teachings have never been able to survive for any length of time. However, there is a potential for monastic communities to become dogmatic, and become more concerned with politics than religious practice. (Do i REALLY have to spell out examples of this occuring in the Abrahamic religions?)
I now think that the white yogi sangha were supposed to be a group that stressed practice, and would preserve that yogi tradition in case the monastics forgot it. Basically, from what I've heard and read, they were supposed to be a reminder of practice. AND, I think they were supposed to be a bit like the old Brahmin class, in that many of them were family lineages, raising succesive generations to practice in those manners. THIS lead to folks like Achi Choki Drolma (daughter of practioners) and Machig Labdon, the creator of Chod, which then became a big practice w/in the white sangha.
I should point out that these traditions, when properly followed, are NOT opposed to each other. Some people have been monastics, and then became nagkpas/mas, and vice-versa. Also, the Tibetan tan tra tradition is certainly not limited to either of these groups. As I stated earlier, most people practicing in the US, Canada, Europe, etc. have no funny-looking clothing.
The early teachers rightly, IMHO, decided not to talk about such things, for fear of Western egos about the uniform.
From all I have heard and read, I think that one reason Padma sambhava created the two sanghas with the idea that the red and white sanghas were supposed to be "checks and balances" on each other. The ordained were keepers of the vinaya - the monastic rules from the time of Buddha, obviously. Without a monastic sangha, Buddha's teachings have never been able to survive for any length of time. However, there is a potential for monastic communities to become dogmatic, and become more concerned with politics than religious practice. (Do i REALLY have to spell out examples of this occuring in the Abrahamic religions?)
I now think that the white yogi sangha were supposed to be a group that stressed practice, and would preserve that yogi tradition in case the monastics forgot it. Basically, from what I've heard and read, they were supposed to be a reminder of practice. AND, I think they were supposed to be a bit like the old Brahmin class, in that many of them were family lineages, raising succesive generations to practice in those manners. THIS lead to folks like Achi Choki Drolma (daughter of practioners) and Machig Labdon, the creator of Chod, which then became a big practice w/in the white sangha.
I should point out that these traditions, when properly followed, are NOT opposed to each other. Some people have been monastics, and then became nagkpas/mas, and vice-versa. Also, the Tibetan tan tra tradition is certainly not limited to either of these groups. As I stated earlier, most people practicing in the US, Canada, Europe, etc. have no funny-looking clothing.
The early teachers rightly, IMHO, decided not to talk about such things, for fear of Western egos about the uniform.
Most people practicing man tra yana here are laypeople, who usually have no identifiable difference at all, except in some cases an incredibly warm and genuine presence and non-pretentiousness. THAT is the mark of a good practioner. I've taken this step becuase I know for myself I need the extra discipline to get to that point, and thus be able to REALLY help others.
And, when you get down to it, that is really what this is all about. :)
-JTR
And, when you get down to it, that is really what this is all about. :)
-JTR
