“Aro students must be clueless”

Some web forum posters say that what Aro teaches is obviously fake. It is not Buddhism at all, or obviously contradicts mainstream Tibetan doctrines.

One of many problems with this claim: If it is so obvious, why does anyone become a student? Why don’t existing students figure it out and leave?

The supposed answer: Aro attracts only clueless beginners; the Aro lamas try to keep them from learning about real Buddhism; students soon leave after discovering that they have been misled.

This is untrue.

• It is said that the Aro lamas do not let Aro students read books from other traditions. You see for yourself that this is false by looking at the Aro public recommended reading list. It includes authors from three of the four major Tibetan Buddhist Schools, plus Zen and Bön. The Aro apprentice reading list includes books by 41 non-Aro authors. Some of these include, in addition to the authors on the public list, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Chagdud Tulku, Dudjom Rinpoche, Herbert Guenther, Jeffrey Hopkins, Kalu Rinpoche, Glenn Mullin, Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, Patrul Rinpoche, and Miranda Shaw.
• Aro students are sometimes actively encouraged to study with non-Aro lamas. We are very rarely if ever discouraged from attending teachings elsewhere. I have recently attended a retreat with a Kagyü lama, with the encouragement of my lamas.
• Lamas from other lineages sometimes teach at Aro apprentice retreats. Most recently, Ven. Lopon P. Ogyan Tanzin Rinpoche led an Aro retreat in 2005. He is a master of the Dudjom Tersar lineage, and a prominent scholar.
• I would estimate that the average Aro apprentice has been with Aro for well over five years. (We don’t keep statistics, so I can’t give a definite number.) Many have been apprentices for a decade, or two, and some even three.
• Some new Aro apprentices are new to Buddhism. However, about half come to Aro after many years of practice and study in other Buddhist traditions. For example, you can read biographies of Aro students who arrived already having studied with Tarthang Tulku for nine years, having studied Soto Zen for more than ten years, having completed ngöndro, and so forth.
• There are Aro students who are currently authorized to teach by other Tibetan Buddhist organizations. For example, Ngakma Zér-mé Dri’mèd leads weekend retreats in the Shamabhala Training tradition, and also teaches in the Aro lineage.
• For those who have studied Tibetan Buddhism in depth, it should be clear after reading (for example) my pages on terma, that I have read and understood some moderately sophisticated Nyingma works. There are members of the Aro sangha whose scholarship considerably exceeds mine.
• Most Aro apprentices are aware of the criticisms of Aro in web forums. (We are generally unimpressed.) Apprentices applying for ordination are required to read all available criticism, as one of the many prerequisites before taking vows.
• A critic claims some Aro apprentices are not even aware that Aro is supposed to be a Buddhist lineage (as opposed to a unique new religion). I don’t know how anyone who has looked at arobuddhism.org could believe this. The words “Buddhism” and “Buddhist” appear seven times on the front page. According to Google, as of June 9th, 2008, there are 478 pages on the site that mention the word “Buddhism.” Even if you believe Aro is not Buddhism, it is impossible to imagine that its students are unaware that it claims to be.