One Family

We tend to think that Chinese Buddhists are totally different from Tibetan Buddhists and that they, in turn, are also totally different from Theravadin Buddhists. This is not a good way of thinking.

Similarly, among Tibetan Buddhists, there are Gelugpas, Sakyapas, Nyingmapas, and Kagyupas, and these, too, are seen as separate.

This way of relating to the lineages is very detrimental to the Buddhadharma. It divides and separates us into ‘us’ and ‘them’.

The truth is that we each have the same Dharma. Yes, there are different lineages, lines of masters, who emphasise different aspects of the teachings, but the fundamental body of teachings is the same.

It seems the strength with which we hold onto these differences is growing and being used to stoke attachment and aversion. There is a noticeable difference in this regard, even within my lifetime.

I remember back home when I was young that people did not regard the different Tibetan lineages as so distinct. If people wished for prayers or practices to be done for their family, they would go equally to the local Kagyu, Bon, and Nyingma monasteries to request them. If there was a good lama, people didn’t care whether they were a Sakyapa, a Kagyupa, or what have you. They had faith in all good lamas and in the Dharma as a whole.

I personally have faith in the Dharma taught by the Gelugpas, Sakyapas, Jonangpas, etc. I have received teachings from lamas of all these traditions and more. That doesn’t mean one has to neglect the tradition or lineage one is most closely linked to. It is good to work to ensure the survival of that lineage. The loss of any of these lineages, with their expertise in the particular areas of the Dharma they have specialised in would be a major loss to the world.
The same is true for the larger Chinese and Theravadin traditions. Their loss would be devastating for humanity. The decline of their Dharma would be a decline of our Dharma since it is fundamentally the same. We are one family.

To demonstrate the point by way of example. Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro and Khenpo Sodargye received teachings together from their lama, Khenpo Jigme Puntsok Rinpoche, for many years. They are close Dharma brothers. Now, they are each teaching their own students based on their experience—the topics they emphasise, and the classes they give are not the same. So, a different line or lines of students will emerge from Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro and from Khenpo Sodargye. The Dharma each line will receive is the same, coming down from Khenpo Jigme Puntsok Rinpoche. The two lines of students are Dharma family, as they share the same lineage lamas.

Like this, the Illustrious Buddha Shakyamuni taught the Dharma to his students, and it has come down to us today through the different lineages. Just as it would be strange for the students of the two khenpos to feel like they were not fellow travellers on the same path, likewise for those of us of the Tibetan, Chinese, and Theravadin traditions.

27.09.24