Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The monks did that, but of course, although the action can be wrathful, it has to fit into
Buddhist practice and be motivated by compassion, otherwise it becomes a worldly activity,
which is the same as most countries do—fighting each other, killing each other. There is
nothing different.
I heard that in Iraq, while Saddam Hussein was president, when somebody did something
wrong they took him to the place of execution and laid him on the ground. His parents and
relatives had to be there and when his head was chopped off they had to clap their hands as
if they were happy with the execution.
The original motivation must fit with Buddhism; it must be great compassion for others,
even for the enemy. Then, even if the action is wrathful, it is like parents punishing their
child in order to help him. They send him to school to educate him so he can have a good
life in the future, but if the child refuses to go they scold and beat him with compassion
because they have concern for his future and they don’t want him to suffer later. This is like
the monks tipping out the tea.
In Ganden, when the letter was read publicly, all the monks clapped their hands, indicating
they wanted to expel that geshe even though he was an expert, especially in the Madhyamaka
teachings on emptiness. They clapped their hands and kicked him out. Now he is in France.
We ordinary people don’t understand the extent of the harm that Dolgyal can do through
the great lamas, those learned in philosophy. He harms them from the top and then they
spread his influence to many people, getting them to practice him. He wants many people to
practice him, to follow him, so he influences the geshes, the lamas, like this.
This has even spread to Lama Tsongkhapa’s main monastery, Ganden, where his teachings
are preserved; where the monks not only study the texts but practice their meaning as well.
This was a great Lama Tsongkhapa tradition monastery in Tibet and is now located in south
India. They preserve the excellent Buddhist education, which is like the Pacific Ocean, deep
and vast, but it is not just faith. It is not like you are forbidden to check anything, to ask
questions, that you must just believe what you are told. The monks are perfectly qualified to
explain the Dharma to sentient beings, whether it is the vast teachings, the middle-level
teachings or just the very essence of the lam-rim, depending on the level of the students’
minds. These monasteries—Ganden, Sera and Drepung—always produced highly qualified
teachers and continue to do so.
So you can see that the harm Dolgyal can do is huge. If the top teachers, those who are
expert in Dharma, succumb to Dolgyal’s influence, then many students, if they don’t check
what their guru does, can easily follow. They might even think the reason the guru is so
successful is because of Dolgyal.
But the guru is already successful; he already has great knowledge. The great lamas like
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, Pabongka Rinpoche and all the other
lamas have renunciation, bodhicitta, the right view of emptiness, and tantric realizations of
the generation and completion stages. Even by just having bodhicitta, of course, they can
benefit others greatly. Just by giving a spoonful of food to a dog with bodhicitta purifies the
dog’s negative karma and makes a connection with that dog so that it will be able to meet the
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