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TEACHINGS | EASTERN HORIZON 555
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Ming Wei: It is obvious that there are many outstanding ripe for entering into tantric practices. Among the many
Buddhist writers or scholars who are not monks or contemporary Gelug teachers and practitioners are
nuns, and some of them may not even be Buddhists. Dagyab Rinpoche, Rato Kyongla Rinpoche, Alexander
Let us take Etienne Lamotte for example who was a Berzin, Alan Wallace, Jeffery Hopkins, and Robert Thur-
Roman Catholic clergyman. He was an Indologist and man, to name only a few. Similarly, there are even more
is one of the greatest scholars on Buddhism in the contemporary lay teachers and practitioners in the
West. Lamotte is also known for his French translation other three lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.
of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa (Treatise on
the Great Perfection of Wisdom), a text attributed to Are there specific topics in Buddhism that lay
Nagarjuna, and many other great works. Lamotte’s people should avoid teaching, and leave such topics
importance as a scholar in general and his contributions to the monastics?
to improve mutual understanding between Buddhists
and Christians has also been acknowledged by the Aggacitta: None, if they are well-versed in them
ecclesiastic authorities of the Roman Catholic Church. theoretically and experientially. But perhaps certain
He was a modest, amiable, and generous man who lived topics pertaining to the practice of Vinaya rules because
up to the highest ideals of the two great religions. they may lack the practical experience of a practicing
monastic.
Geshe Namgyal: There are so many prominent lay teach-
ers, past and contemporary. In the Nyingma lineage, Ming Wei: In Mahāyāna tradition, lay devotees are
we have Guru Padmasambhava and his 25 chief dis- normally not allowed to read or teach the Vinaya rules
ciples, many of whom were either male or female lay of monks and nuns.
practitioners of very advanced stages. In the Kadam
school founded by the Indian master Atisha, there was Geshe Namgyal: The monastic Vinaya should be taught
Dromtonpa who was Atisha’s main disciple, and many only by a monastic; aside from that, there is no other
others. Dromtonpa founded Reting Monastery and had restrictions. All the other topics within Buddhism may
many disciples himself. In the Sakya lineage, of the five be engaged with and taught, from the specific teacher’s
prominent Sakya masters, two were ordained and the level of skill and wisdom, irrespective of whether the
other three were lay people. Within the Kagyu lineage, teacher is ordained or a laity.
there are Marpa, Milarepa as well as Gampopa, who was
initially a lay person until he was ordained. In the Gelug Written by Geshe Dadul Namgyal, and edited by Martha
lineage, traditionally a strong emphasis has been placed Leslie Baker. EH
on monastic ethics, and thus there are relatively fewer
lay teachers who were mostly ones who ‘entered the
conduct’ upon achieving high levels in sūtra practices,

Venerable Geshe Dadul Ven. Ming Wei is a teacher of
Āyasmā Namgyal e-learning at the International

Aggacitta is the is a Geshe Buddhist College (IBC) and
founder of the Lharampa and an independent translator of
Sāsanārakkha senior resident Buddhism.
Buddhist teacher at
Sanctuary (SBS) in Taiping, Perak, Drepung Loseling Monastery in
a Pāli scholar and a meditation Atlanta, Georgia, USA
teacher.