Future Development of the Lineage

The Future Development of the Lineage in Singapore and the Region

A talk given at Karma Kagyu Dharma Centre, Singapore, 2 Feb 2002

Tonight, we are gathered together here like one family with the joy of the coming New Year. I would like to take this opportunity, before I leave, to share with you something that has been on my mind for quite some time.

You are all very devoted in the practice of the Dharma, particularly to the lineage of the Karma Kagyud. And as so many of you are here tonight, I think this is the right time, right environment and right occasion for me to tell you my thoughts about the development of the lineage. I hope this may motivate you.

Firstly, when talking about the Karma Kagyud lineage, one has to know that the Karma Kagyud lineage is a very precious lineage. This is because since it started from Vajradhara and then to the great masters, like Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa and until the Karmapa line of lineage, it is not just what they learned that was transmitted to their disciples. The lineage of transmission is what the masters actually attained and realised. In that way, the lineage is an enlightened lineage, that is, one where the master who has attained realisations, in turn, transmits his realisations to his disciple. In this way, this transmission of an unbroken lineage has been carried on until now.

I personally feel that each of us is fortunate to have come into contact with this lineage at this right time. And not only that, we are also very devoted to this lineage and we are also engaged in the practices of the lineage, such as the Four Foundations, the Mahamudra and all the other transmissions that you have already received and are practising.

It has been proven that through these profound teachings, one is able to attain and realise the Mahamudra within a single life time. Now, we have to realise that it is something very precious that we have got within our hands. However, how we are going to practice to achieve the result is more or less up to one's individual level of determination, effort and dedication. If we really put in effort, we can also achieve that state of enlightenment. However, if we do not take the practice seriously and leave it as it is, then there will sure not be any special attainments.

I feel that it is really very important that all of us should take the practice on the path seriously. We should not have any hesitation towards the practice. It is only through putting in effort in the practice that we will reach perfection. If we do not achieve something within this life-time, it will be very difficult to tell if we are able to do better in the next life. It is important that we achieve some success while we are alive in this life-time. And in order to achieve realisation, we need to treasure our teachings, we need to treasure our lineage, we need to treasure every single moment of our lives. We should really make full use of our time to develop ourselves for the benefit of sentient beings.

Now, this is the period of degeneration of the Dharma. According to past history, many great masters and Siddhas, as many as the stars in the sky, have appeared, practised and attained realisation. There are still many others who continue to practise and will attain such realisation. Although during this degenerate time, there will be a smaller number who do so, because of defilement and many other factors. Many people who practise nowadays will experience lots of distraction that cause some kind of obstacles. All this has resulted in the degeneration of the Karma Kagyud teachings, and practitioners going through a certain kind of degeneration effect. Yet, the teachings and practice under the lineage still continue, the transmissions are still alive and each practitioner, as long as he or she sincerely engages in the practice, is still able to attain the realisations.

Unfortunately, at this time, there are also a few other factors that bother many people, affecting their approach to engaging in the practice and teaching of the Karma Kagyud lineage. I think this is something very unfortunate. I think everybody knows the issue relating to the Karmapa controversy. Because of that the disciples /followers under the Karma Kagyud lineage have split into two groups. This has caused a lot of problems to everyone especially the followers of the Karma Kagyud lineage.

This may not be the first time that such a thing has happened. In the past, something similar happened in Tibet. However, during that time, it was not that serious because everybody followed the Dharma and there was not much political influence involved and after a while the matter was resolved and they managed to find the right Karmapa. Unfortunately, during this time, there is a lot of influence from politicians, government and many media groups. All this has caused the matter to be blown out of proportion and the problem has become bigger and bigger. It is very unfortunate that all this has happened. It has made everybody feel very sad.

At this moment, you may ask me why I am standing where I am now, or what is the reason for me to be standing firmly in this position. I have never disclosed this to anybody in the past because it is something very personal. But today I feel it is the right time to tell everyone here. The reason why I am in full support of this lineage is because I am actually following His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa's instructions to follow up this particular position or lineage. During my first visit to Rumtek in 1980, I purposely went to see His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa. During that time, His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa was sick and we took that opportunity to see him. Together with four other lamas from my Monastery, we went to Rumtek. We stayed there for some time and even spent the Tibetan New Year with His Holiness. During that time, I met His Holiness personally on three occasions. His Holiness asked me to go to him and we had general discussions about the situation of my Monastery. At that time, I was young but had a big responsibility for the monastery. At that time, my monastery did not have any basic facilities at all and, financially, it was very poor with no funds at all. On the last day of my visit, I took the opportunity to tell His Holiness about my situation. His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa advised me "Do not worry, you just need to keep your land and do not let any others take your land. It is very important for you to have a big plot of land because you will be able to build a temple, a place for the monks to study, and you will be able to develop it very wonderfully. You must keep your land." This is what His Holiness told me and I thought he was just encouraging me because we were all struggling for day-to-day survival. I did not even imagine anything like building a big monastery and institute. However, since that was what His Holiness said, I just took it as a blessing but I did not really take it very seriously.

At that time, I also made a request to His Holiness: "Please guide me always because I am still young. I do not know so much about how to run the Monastery and how to take care of the monks and how I myself must progress. Please guide me so that I will be able to do it well." I made all these requests to His Holiness exactly in this way and these are the words I used. I did that because, at that time, in regards to all these things I was very unsure and did not know what to do. His Holiness always had to guide me, or even to write to me or ask me to see him. When I made my request, His Holiness told me, "I do not know how long I will live, I may not be able to guide you for long, I also may not be able to write to you but do not worry as in our Karma Kagyud we have many Rinpoches and particularly His Eminence Shamar Rinpoche is a very great master, you just have to follow him and you just have to get instructions from him. It is equivalent to what I can advise you, it is equivalent to me guiding you. Never ever give up the following of His Eminence Shamar Rinpoche and this is very important. No matter what, you should always follow his directions and if you follow his directions, you would be able to accomplish everything that you want. You will be able to develop your temple, you will be able to develop your monks' standard and you will be able to contribute a lot to the Karma Kagyud lineage." These were the exact words that His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa had instructed me with at that time.

Of course, at that time, we did not have any problem like the existing controversy. Everything was in harmony and good. When His Holiness gave me these instructions, at first I was a little surprised. I wondered why Shamar Rinpoche is the only one that I must follow. There were other Rinpoches like Tai Situ Rinpoche, Gyaltsa Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and many other Rinpoches who were equally good to me. But then, of course, His Holiness's words are just like Vajra words, and we just have to follow. All along, I have treated every Rinpoche with equal respect, but deep within my heart, I knew that I must follow His Holiness Shamar Rinpoche's direction. So, every decision that I had to make, every major work that I had to do, I always consulted His Holiness Shamar Rinpoche and obtained advice from him before taking any action. This has been how things have gone on since then.

It happened like that exactly as I have said. That was the conversation between His Holiness and myself. But I did not tell anybody because certain words of advice are meant for one to keep. It is a guideline for oneself. So that is why I took it as my own guideline to follow, so I did not tell anybody what His Holiness told me. Particularly when the trouble started, when the controversy started, there were lots of rumours and big situations occurred. Then, I realised that His Holiness' advice to me was actually meant for that time. And his advice was telling me what I should do when this incident happened. So, I took His Holiness advice for me to make the right choice, the right standing and the right decision. For me, I am very sure that to follow Shamar Rinpoche is right, because His Holiness had given me such a clear guideline. So I just keep following that guideline and continue moving on in my progress.

Now everything is very clear. And today, I am telling you this because I feel that all of you have trust in me. Because, all of you do not have doubt on me, there is no harm in telling you the words that His Holiness had told me. Because, if I tell this to the people who do not have the trust in me, they may start to doubt whether HH has said these things to me or perhaps feel that I made up a false story. So this would then become like speaking against His Holiness' words and this would then create much negative Karma. Therefore, talking in terms of the Vajrayana's Samaya, the Vajra guru/master, like His Holiness Karmapa, every one of his words is like a Vajra word. His every word is an enlightening word. If someone says that this is not true, then the consequence will not be good. Thinking in this way, I did not tell anybody. But I am telling you now. That is the reason why I am in this position, why I am following this particular Karmapa, why I am following the guidance from His Holiness Shamar Rinpoche. This is very clear to me and regardless of what goes on, I will follow this line and this direction. To me, this direction and this guideline can lead me to the right path all along, this is what I strongly believe because this somehow comes from His Holiness 16th Karmapa. For each individual, it is up to him or her, whom they feel comfortable about, whom they feel is okay, which they feel is right, and he or she will then follow whichever line and Karmapa. It is up to the individual to make his or her own choice.

Shamar Rinpoche asked me to go to Singapore to set up the Karma Kagyud Centre just after His Holiness 16th Karmapa passed away. At that time, I was not very capable, in terms of the English language and my age and so on. Several times, I refused. I said I was not able to do it. I felt that at least, one must be able to speak basic English to communicate with the people, but I did not have that. So I kept trying to find excuses to reject the request. But Shamar Rinpoche called me four times and he told me, "you must go, the Singapore Centre is for you to go and you must go." At last, I had to come here, and when I came here, I was just like a dumb person in the human world. Everyone could speak, but I could not communicate with anyone. Some people even got angry because when they asked a question, I could not answer. But, eventually, I picked up English little by little and gradually I improved until now. In this matter also, I followed the guidance of Shamar Rinpoche.

Since I first came to Singapore until now, from my observations of the Karma Kagyud Centre, there have been a lot of ups and downs, and yet there has always been some kind of progress all the time. There have also been a lot of changes as far as the members and devotees are concerned. Old members gradually disappeared, and new members gradually replaced them. And yet, there are a number of old members, who have been very loyal and who are always very devoted to the Karma Kagyud lineage. They are always present whenever we have difficulties and whenever we have good times and bad times, they are always present, always ready to give a helping hand to support the lineage.

Compared to the time when I first came, people now have a different mindset. This is because Tibetan Buddhism was new here when I first arrived. People who came into contact with the Vajrayana, and those who came to the Karma Kagyud Centre were seeking something mysterious. Over time, the number of these people coming to the Centre gradually decreased and more intellectual people started taking their place instead. The practice should be more of a learning process rather than just a tool to make money or a tool to obtain power and so on; which is actually wrong. It is really more of an intellectual basis for people to learn and practise and in that way to improve spiritual development and so on. It is a sort of mental training. People are now taking the practice in this way. This proves that you have understood what Vajrayana is, as well as the Karma Kagyud teachings.

Today the Karma Kagyud Centre here, is undergoing some kind of turning point. Since it was established until now as I told you, there has been gradual progress. And, although there were lots of ups and downs, the general mind set has been changing. This is the time when we really need to have some kind of development for the Karma Kagyud Centre. It will enable all the devotees and all the people who have an interest to engage in the Dharma and teachings from this lineage, to have a better opportunity to receive the teachings and to develop their spiritual practice. Therefore, it is the time for me to engage in the process of progress and development. It is also the time for all of you to be fully engaged in this process. If all of work together, I have no doubt but, in fact, full confidence that we will definitely be able to develop this Karma Kagyud Buddhist Centre into a very different, a very up to date, a very spiritual place in Singapore. It will become one of the best, effective and beneficial Centres that we can develop.

The reason why I have so much confidence is because this Centre was blessed by His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa. It is very special that His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa came here and established this Centre. Every action and every thought of His Holiness carries many immeasurable blessings. So, therefore, when His Holiness recognised the importance of having a Karma Kagyud Centre in Singapore, it meant that there was a future for the Karma Kagyud lineage to be here in Singapore. Based on my own experiences, I have more than 100% faith and trust in His Holiness' words. I am sure that all of you also do not have any doubt in His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa's words.

There are many minor obstacles that we have experienced or we will have to experience along the path of development; obstacles such as discouragement, gossip and rumours causing misunderstanding. We should clear all misunderstandings and unite and work as a family and feel close to each other. We need to be firm in what we want to achieve and what we are doing and have unwavering trust and confidence towards that direction and towards accomplishing our goal. This is the quality that we need to have in order for us to develop ourselves and in order for us to develop this Karma Kagyud Buddhist Centre.

So let us work for the future development of the Centre. And for that, we should forget and we should forgive whatever has happened in the past. We should have this kind of attitude. We should have a vision for tomorrow, a vision for the future, what it should be, and what we can achieve. For this, we should work together in the direction that is good for the Karma Kagyud, as well as for each of us.

So, I am sincerely asking everybody to come forward to contribute according to your abilities in order to fulfil the vision of the Karma Kagyud Centre. To develop it so that it will become a very advanced and established Centre in the South East Asia region, bringing lots of benefits to people in this region. Since we know that the lineage is so precious and so profound, we should let everyone enjoy its precious teachings. Not only those in our generation or our time, but for many generations in the future. We cannot leave the Karma Kagyud fate to the committee alone because the committee just consists of a few people, and a few persons' effort is not sufficient to develop the whole Karma Kagyud following. Everyone should take part and work together to achieve progress and development.

I think there are a few things that we need to focus on. Firstly, we need to create good relationships with other Buddhist Centres, and establish a harmonious atmosphere with other Dharma Centres, and devotees and followers of other Buddhist traditions such as the Mahayana and the Theravada. We should establish a very good relationship with all these organisations, religious organisation, social organisation, non-government organisations and as well as government. Somehow, we need to focus in these areas; to develop further and enhance the Karma Kagyud image. We should present the image in the right position, the right way, and introduce it to all other organisations, and make all the others feel comfortable and pleasant about it.

The second focus is that of internal matters such as setting up programmes, inviting Rinpoches or any masters to give some kind of important teachings and programme to benefit all the members or devotees here. We need to have a very efficient team of people here to conceptualise, plan, organise, survey and get feedback from people on what they need. Since this Centre is for learning the Dharma, we should make it very efficient and effective in this area.

The third area is related to development. Our Centre needs to have some kind of vision for its future development; both in the long run or in the short run. We need people to focus on the development side of Karma Kagyud. In the past, we set some goals to set up, develop and establish an institute and centre. But, unfortunately, due to the poor economic situation and various reasons, we were not able to push strongly towards that goal. But somehow, we still have to move ahead for that project and really achieve it within a certain period of time. For that kind of development, we also need people to focus and organise fund raising projects and think of various ways of funding of the development.

The last area is that of publicity and information. We should have a good system of publicity and information that goes to everybody; something that is very transparent and outstanding. This is the age of information. We should make full use of new technologies and talents to promote the Karma Kagyud and Dharma teachings, to make the Karma Kagyud teachings and the existence of this Karma Kagyud centre known and accessible to everyone. For this, we also need a very effective team of people.

I hope and I also wish and I also request that all of you, if you feel that you are able to contribute and you are able to help in these areas, please come forward. If you think if your good friends can also help in certain areas, also you should encourage and ask them to come forward. We hope to create a very strong and efficient team to work, to progress and to achieve. This is what I am requesting today and also I am hoping that all of you think positively and come forward to do your best. To make things effective, you should first initiate yourself to show the example and let the person next to you also come forward to contribute. Eventually, everybody will feel encouraged and feel the joy to be part of this Karma Kagyud team to develop and to succeed in achieving our goals. You should think this way and come forward.

This coming new year will be a great year for us. We should have this view and clear the obstacles and make progress, proceed towards development and achieve a certain kind of development and progress. All of us should set that kind of mission and take it very positively. We should also pray for it. And then, I think we will be able to achieve our mission.

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year. May the year bring you happiness, prosperity, longevity, good health and most importantly, progress in your Dharma practice.

Email : Shangpa Rinpoche

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