User talk:Martin Mills

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This Turbulent Priest
Dear Martin A. Mills,

I wanted to point out a factual error in your essay that appears in Human Rights in Global Perspective (p. 56). You say that the Dalai Lama is head of the Gelugpa order. This is not correct. Please see the Wiki article on the Ganden Tripa for more details.

Also, I wanted to bring to your attention the sound but invalid argument that the Dorje Shugden practice is sectarian. That is, if you assume that 'mixing' Gelugpa and other teachings is the only way to express tolerance, then of course a practice like Dorje Shugden which is against 'mixing' is immediately equated with intolerance. I believe this is a subtle but major mistake constantly made in this debate.

The Dorje Shugden practice is not against Nyingma teachings themselves, or any other sect, but against 'mixing' them. (See Je Phabongkhapa's praise of all Tibetan Buddhist traditions in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.) The reason is, why would you need to combine traditions unless you thought one or both of them was incomplete? (i.e., Why can't you rely on just one?) Suddenly, no single tradition has a complete set of Buddha's teachings.

I'll give you an example. David Kay says that eclectics maintain "the validity of all paths" (p. 42) but this sentiment is insincere given the fact that they regard different traditions as only "partial descriptions and approaches" rather than complete paths (pp. 41-42).

So, you have 'mixing' at one extreme, and sectarianism at the other extreme. Since the Dorje Shugden practice is neither of these, perhaps it is the middle way? Emptymountains (talk) 13:23, 10 May 2009 (UTC)