I have no problem with ppl learning from others, earl, as that is what we all do, and no- I am not trying to dissuade others from opening themselves up to any form of anything- my gripe is against those who think teacher knows best when he often doesn't... is all... I have met many ppl along the way who have influenced me, and I accept that as part of the human condition, but I do not hero worship them, as they are just human beings, like the rest of us...
by the same token, I would not line up in a neat row and curtsey to the king/queen either, regardless of how much I was supposed to, and again for the same reasons... I am no worse or better than anyone else, and I'll be damned if I'm going to tie myself up in knots pleasing others and towing the party line just for the sake of it...
...most members of a heirarchy have an interest in maintaining the heirarchy so they can maintain their status...
by birth one is not a brahmin, by deed one is a brahmin... this is my point...
i remember meeting a "guru", whose name I will not mention, and I felt he was looking at my breasts... I attempted to put this thought to the back of my mind, as, after all, he was a guru, wasn't he, and didnt think like that, of course.... but.... well, he actually was looking at my boobs... he had a thing for boobs, and later got thrown out of his gang because he was feeling up the ladies...he wrote books, toured the world telling ppl about the dharma, and preyed on the weak simpering middle class neurotic ladies, so he could feel their boobs! oh! and they paid him too, usually, via donations...hahhaa...
did I tell u about meeting another supposed "master", who deliberately ensnared ppl into his cult and persuaded them to give up their houses, etc, to build a church? which he did? only he also built a big house for himself too, and then disposed of the members who had paid for it by creating scandals about them and having the group turn against them...?
Did I tell u about the master I met one time who wanted me to join his gang so he could marry me off and I would make good babies for Jesus, or the master who stole my shoes and wouldn't let me leave the ashram we were in...?
I have met plenty of people who have big flocks around them of earnest devotees, and the masters themselves are involved in naughty things, or evil doers, playing the lost sheep, and I hate it...
everyone of those ppl in those organisations thought they were right to trust these men, who, by virtue of their status, where beyond stain, beyond fault, and the majority of ppl involved in these organisations are weak, or sick, or desperate, or disparate and become blind to what is really going on...
now... I posted the "Gampopa's ornament" pc, because... online buddhists study seems interesting... the Kaygu's at Samye Ling are not a cult- they do charitable works with their profits, it doesnt all go on a cushy life for their masters... they are "worthy" buddhists, in my humble opinion, and I treasure them for the precious jewels they are... that does not mean I have to agree with every aspect of their presentation of doctrine, and I don't... it simply means I thought it might interest others here...
is all...
I am not especially fond of vajrayana... I think it isn't the quickest, but the slowest vehicle, and I think it is, in the main, overworked... I think fundamentally, dharma is much simpler, and easier than that, and I think it involves study of the texts, and ethics, and meditation, and nothing else... I do not have a lineage, so to speak, and don't think it is necessary either...
although plenty will disagree...