Approaching Aro - My experience with an unusual Tibetan Buddhist lineage

Has the story changed?

dc — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:17:50 +0000

People on the e-Sangha web forum have said that Ngak’chang Rinpoche frequently changes his story about who his teachers were. (Recently someone said “every few months.”) They imply he has had to do that each time skeptics disproved his earlier claims to have been a student of someone.

This has been said so often that some people accept it without question, as an urban legend.

However, it is factually false. You can check it objectively for yourself.

Burying the hatchet

dc — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:33:42 +0000

Although this has been the least pleasant section of “Approaching Aro,” I can end on a hopeful note.

The negative gossip about Aro mainly came originally from a few of Ngak’chang Rinpoche’s fellow students from twenty years ago. They appear to have been motivated by rivalries that developed in the emotional intensity of relating to their “wrathful” teachers. Some members of the Aro sangha who were around in those days have negative feelings about these critics as well. I have explained this by analogy to the similar rivalries among the students of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

My hope is that everyone can let go of these old resentments. After twenty years, maybe it is time to bury the hatchet? It is easy for me to say that, since I was not around then, and I have no bad feelings about anyone. But the experience of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s students suggests relaxing old hatreds is possible. Twenty years after their teacher’s death, they are finding reconciliation. And, after all, that is supposed to be one of the effects of Buddhist practice.

Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche

dc — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:42:07 +0000

Ngakpa Chogyam with Lama Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche

Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche was one of Ngakpa Chögyam’s five Root Lamas. Here I discuss their relationship, focusing particularly on its breakdown. Fallout from that breakdown is one of the two main roots of aggression towards Aro.

Empowerment, breakdown, punishment, and support

dc — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:16:19 +0000

Venerable Gelong Thubten Dadak, Ngakpa Chögyam, Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche.
Note the takdröl on Ngakpa Chögyam’s head.

This page discusses the history of Ngakpa Chögyam’s relationship with Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche through 1988. The next page discusses later events.

Investigative journalism

dc — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:37:14 +0000

I began this project by using Google to find everything negative that anyone has said on the web about Ngakpa Chögyam or the Aro gTér. That database was the starting point for detailed inquiry. I wanted to find out, for each thing claimed, whether it was true.

I assumed that there must be fire where there is so much smoke. (The database has 190 entries so far.) I soon found that the only questions that had any substance concerned Ngakpa Chögyam’s relationships with his lamas. The rest evaporated quickly when examined. That left his personal history as the main topic of investigation.

What did he think about the Aro gTér?

dc — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:13:12 +0000

Chhime Rigdzin Rinpoche with Aro students Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje and Ngakma Lé-kyi

People have conflicting opinions about what Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche thought of the Aro gTér. Many in the Aro sangha feel quite sure that he thought it was valid, based on what he told them. Others on the web say that they are confident he thought it was false, based on what he told them. (I have discussed those on the previous page.) Surprisingly, though, I have found no report of him making an unambiguous statement that he considered it either authentic or inauthentic. So what did he think?

What he said

dc — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:23:41 +0000

Ngakpa Chögyam and Chhi’med Rig’dzin Rinpoche making an empowerment hat

This page analyzes all the reports I have found, on the web, of things Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche is supposed to have said about Aro or Ngakpa Chögyam. Some reports were accurate; some were not; some I am unsure about.

I believe that none of the inaccurate reports were deliberate lies. Most were careless mistakes. Things that were actually said by someone else were reported as having been said by Rinpoche, by people who were not present.

Letter

dc — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:21:58 +0000

This letter from Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche to Ngakpa Chögyam discusses the breakdown in Ngakpa Chögyam’s relationship with Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche. Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche had told Ngakpa Chögyam to end his relationship with Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche, and he refused.

Here is a key section:

What happened?

dc — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:56:02 +0000

This page describes the history of interactions among Ngakpa Chögyam, Chhimèd Rigdzin Rinpoche, and others of his students. This history is useful background to understanding things people say Rinpoche said about Ngakpa Chögyam, why he may have said them, and why they may have said he said them.

Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche

dc — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:49:37 +0000

Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche with Ngakpa Chogyam

This is a mystery story. It might be a whodunnit—but I think it is a “wha’happened.”

Kyabjé Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche was one of the main teachers of Ngakpa Chögyam. As Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Ngakpa Chögyam is one of the main teachers of the Aro gTér.

Some people say that Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche said negative things about Ngakpa Chögyam or the Aro gTér. Others say he had a strong positive opinion. Since he’s dead, we can’t ask him. So that’s the mystery: why do these accounts conflict?

If this were a whodunit, the answer would be that one group or the other was lying, probably to cover something up. But I don’t think anyone has lied. The truth is more complicated. This mystery is a “wha’happened,” and there can be no short answer to that. It will take several pages to lay out the solution. If you want the short version, I have a summary of conclusions later on this page.