Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse - Poison is Medicine: Clarifying the Vajrayana

Poison is Medicine

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Poison is

Medicine

Clarifying the Vajrayana

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Poison is Medicine

Clarifying the Vajrayana

Siddharthas Intent 2021

This book is dedicated to those who, instead of dismissing the Vajrayana as a primitive superstition, have the merit to be curious about what the Vajrayana really is and who are daring enough to explore and apply the glorious, uncompromising, no-nonsense path that never kowtows to social norms and expectations.

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About this Book

Poison is Medicine was written in response to the misunderstandings and misapprehensions about the Vajrayana that were exposed by the Vajrayana guru-related scandals of the 2010s. It is not an introduction to the Vajrayana path. If you know nothing about Buddhism and less than nothing about the Vajrayana, this book may not be for you. Those of you who have some knowledge and experience of tantras profound and vast tradition may have a slightly better chance of making sense of this book than those who dont, but in all probability, you will end up just as confused. Forewarned is forearmed.

One of my reasons for writing this book is that I would like us all to think about and examine the various issues the recent Vajrayana guru scandals have brought to light, from as many different angles as possible. How much do Tibetan lamas really know about their non-Tibetan students? Which aspects of Tibetan Buddhism are rooted in Tibetan culture and preferences, and which are rooted in the Vajrayana? Why do Vajrayana gurus sometimes look and behave like despots or rock stars? Are the practices of pure perception and keeping samaya merely excuses for the lamas to control their students and force them to obey, come what may? Can you say no to your Vajrayana guru? Should the Vajrayana be updated to fit the modern world?

I know that many of you are reading this book because you feel unsettled by what you have read and heard about Vajrayana gurus over the past few years. Even those of you who have been practising Tibetan Buddhism for several decades feel disconcerted because, in spite of your long connection, you realise that you have yet to receive a complete and authentic introduction to the Vajrayana. No matter

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what your reason is for reading this book, I hope that, once you have contemplated its contents, you will feel better equipped to pursue your interest in the unparalleled Vajrayana path.

I must repeat and emphasize that this book is not an introduction to Buddhism. It has not been written for those who know nothing at all about the Buddhadharma and it is definitely not for those who know nothing about the Vajrayana.

Given all that has come to light in the Vajrayana world over the past few years, my wish is to offer aspiring Vajrayana students a few tips from the tantric texts about how to choose their guru. As such, I do not always define Vajrayana terms in this text and, even when I do, as the Vajrayana is supposed to be kept secret, my definitions and examples are necessarily vague or cryptic.

These days, the chances of any of us meeting a realised mahasiddha, let alone becoming his or her student, are slim. However much you long to follow the tantric path, choosing a tantric teacher can be intimidating. Its such a gamble! And although we are told again and again how important it is to analyse the guru and the path, we are rarely told what it is that needs analysing or how to analyse it. This book will, I hope, point you in the right direction by supplying you with the tools you need to examine a guru thoroughly before committing yourself. I should add that if, by some miracle, the guru you are interested in turns out to be a mahasiddha, not one word of this book is relevant or necessary.

Of course, only a buddha or another mahasiddha can tell whether or not a guru is an authentic mahasiddha, none of the rest of us can. And from the point of view of practice, students dont need that kind of information. The bottom line here is, and always will be, how you feel. How do you feel about the guru you are thinking of asking to be your Vajrayana guru? What does your intuition tell you? How intense is your wish to follow the Vajrayana path? How you answer these questions will depend largely on what Buddhists call puya , a loose and rather inadequate translation of which is merit.

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About this book

So, instead of wasting time trying to work out whether a guru is a mahasiddha or not, let your puya , your merit, point you in the right direction.

The relatively recent transplantation of Buddhadharma from Tibet and Asia to America, Europe and Australia has unwittingly led to a great deal of confusion about the Vajrayana path. Misconstrued language and a one-sided focus on Tibetan culture combined with some very bad timing, have conspired to fabricate all sorts of misunderstandings about Buddhism in general and the Vajrayana in particular. As a result, questions have been asked that need to be addressed. The snag here is that the Vajrayana rarely deals in black and white definitions, solutions, rules or mandates. And as I have no intention of even attempting to make up definitions, solutions or rules, I suggest we mull over the questions, issues, doubts and arguments that we are now aware of, and try to look at them all from as many different angles and perspectives as we can. In the process, lets try to make full use of the Vajrayanas deftness and perspicacity, and do our best to fully appreciate its sheer brilliance.

Yes, says the Vajrayana, certain thoughts and actions are doomed to send us straight to vajra hell and leave us there. But a second later, the very same Vajrayana reminds us that by simply chanting Vajrasattvas one hundred-syllable mantra once with perfect concentration, all past, present and even future defilements will be purified completely. In other words, the difference between doomed for all eternity and complete liberation is little more than a slight shift of dimension.