A Challenge To A Wise Lama

I-m inviting World-famous Tibetan Lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche to debate me on the policy of ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM as I think we all need to be clear that true Buddhism will never turn a blind eye to abuse under any name or in any form whatsoever - Surely authentic Buddhism should neither be deaf to the cries of the world - from whatever source they come - My own view is that the best deterrent for institutional abuse is to shine a searingly bright light into the heart of that institution whilst sounding a siren to wake the town and tell the people -
Institutions - be they prisons or monasteries - be they police-departments or job-centres - schools - armies - mental-hospitals or trading companies - tend to be hierarchical in structure and thus require submission of a portion of sovereign autonomy from constituent members - these structures are often arranged like concentric rings of power or tiers of a wedding-cake - The point is that some people - like me - believe that your own conscience should be the boss - the Guvnor - and even the most respected opinion can only resonate with our own - not impose or dominate it!  As usual I have said too much - so here is the letter:

Open Letter to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche – 8^th January 2018

Dear Rinpoche                               

I have offered to the Three Jewels the policy of ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM and would be so delighted to receive at least a verbal endorsement of this idea from a real Tibetan Lama –

I would like to invite you to debate me on youtube for at least one hour of unedited free and open discussion of the above offering and its connotations –

I understand that Rinpoche is an unusually busy man and it may be some time before you find the appropriate hour to do this but as I recently discovered that you were visiting my country it seemed timely to extend the invitation -

When you are able to make this meeting I recommend it be in a secular space so free speech can prevail without causing possible offence to anyone-s beliefs –

My view is that for the Buddha-Dharma to flourish in the West and in the World generally it-s representatives will need to conduct themselves in a manner that inspires trust and respect – When the teacher is advertising teachings to the general public my view is that the teacher-s morality must be seen to be at least as good as those he or she is going to teach and possibly even a little bit better -  Given a stark choice between Enlightenment and Human Rights most people I know will tell me exactly where I can put my Enlightenment –

It would make me very happy to see the Buddha-Dharma flourish in new countries like Britain but I know these people and when it comes to teachers - school or religion – we have high standards –

The more Buddhism spreads in the modern world the more attention is focusing on the teachers - the Lamas and Gurus who are spreading this extraordinary message – Some of them have already achieved a status approaching that of a minor pop-star (in worldly eyes) and obviously H H The Dalai Lama is a massive super-star by any definition in this world –

Whilst some of the less critical Buddhists are unwilling to hear tales of abuse within Buddhism I can assure you that the more public Buddhism becomes as its success spreads – then countless secular media people are going to be looking for ways to attack the Dharma – Are we going to hand them a box of weapons –

If abuse continues within Buddhism the media will root it out – they have barely given it any attention so far in history because journalists follow leads – so far there have not been many – In the future we might even see Buddhist-Journalists who make it their life-s work to root out abuse and throw it on the table before the eyes of the world – Personally I would respect a journalist like that –

I look forward to your response Rinpoche

Kind regards – Jeremy Schanche – Penwith - Kernow – Britain – The West

Well this is how naive I am - I was looking for a nice photo of a Tibetan Snow Lion to put on this blog as I thought it would go well - Just a few seconds ago I discovered that the snow lion is a mythical or celestial animal - not to be found within Animalia!  I heard about them years ago and  I always thought these beasts were real - and I also prided myself on knowing a lot about Tibet!  Hmmm - Perhaps I-m just an ignorant pig and nothing more -
Well - don-t panic anyone!  We-ll just have to make do with a picture of a real animal from my country - Palores Kernouac Yw - Pyrocorax pyrocorax - The Cornish Chough - Note how generations of being used down tin-mines has led to the visible evolution of a pick-axe bill -

Feileacan

Almost certainly the best thing to do is KEEP CALM AND PANIC