The Dalai Lama condemns attack on Muslims in Myanmar

Finally, we have a major Buddhist leader who condemns the violence perpetrated (or instigated) by Rakhinese Buddhist monks on the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. But as the Dalai Lama said (and which I had also mentioned in my previous post), this fight is not religious in nature (like the crusades), rather it is political in nature.

 

Also read this:-

http://www.thestateless.com/2013/05/dalai-lama-condemns-buddhist-violence.html

Maintaining A Clear Mind During The General Election

I send this message to a group of Vajrayana Buddhists and received quite a few positive comments and likes. Unfortunately this message only reaches a limited number of people. By right this sort of message should come from Buddhist associations to advise their members. So, I can only do what I can. The rest is up to individuals. A day or two after my initial message, explosions happened during a political talk and at a political centre. That's what happens when people get too emotionally afflicted in this general election. Read on:-

 

As our nation prepares itself to elect a new government, we find ourselves drowned in a sea of hate messages. In this age of social media, the hate messages spread even more quickly like wild fire. It is so easy to lose ourselves in this frenzy of election campaigns. It does not help that even Buddhist practitioners and organisations participate in spreading this unhealthy culture of focusing on negativities. It is therefore, high time that someone takes on the unenviable task of urging the citizens to promote the positives, rather than negatives. The hate level may be at risk of getting out of hand as
it was reported in the papers that people even fight over a flag pole. Therefore it is so important to watch the conduct of our body, speech and especially, mind. I am also not a saint. I am also tempted to get into the frenzy of elections and lose my mind in the process. But suddenly, in recent days, I am
reminded that as a Vajrayana practitioner, I should see everyone as Buddhas. This is a Vajrayana method of practice. I am reminded that I am only choosing among Buddhas and will vote for the Buddha closest to my heart. None of them are devils. Instead of all the hate and anger, we should love more and condemn less. Emphasize more of equanimity and less cursing. If we take care of our mind, we will not find ourselves with a load of unnecessary negative karma at the end of the election. If we can practice this, then we can have our peace. This is spiritual maturity. With that reminder to myself, now I can rest in silence. Now I can try to maintain my clear mind and pure vision. Clear mind… pure vision…clear mind…. pure vision…

I leave you with a quote from His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa.

"When your attention is not on yourself, but others, then you are asking for trouble. Happiness or suffering is all within, no one except yourself can make you happy, sad, angry or emotional…" - Peace is Every Step. Quote from his facebook.

Spread love, compassion, joy and equanimity. Not hate, anger, lies and greed. I bow down to all of you – I am sorry if there is any transgression!

Jade Buddha Comes to Penang

Some photos on the recent (6 - 14 April 2013) Jade Buddha held in Penang Times Square, Penang. Enjoy!

  

A Pure Aspiration Prayer To the Triple Gem: For the Benefit of Departed Ones

A Pure Aspiration Prayer To the Triple Gem: For the Benefit of Departed Ones

 

On this occasion where descendants remember, honour and respect their departed ones,

Representing my family and my line of ancestors and departed ones,
I offer these delicious food, beautiful clothes, precious jewels and precious metals,
Visualized in my mind,
Made of paper,
Or real,
I offer them all to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats,
And all holy objects and representations of the Triple Gem.
May all of these items be transformed immediately,
Those burned in a fire,
and those that are not,
Turning into delightful objects

Through sacred words,

Pleasing to the Blessed Ones.
May They be delighted!
And taking this opportunity
To repent deeds done in error,
Committed by body, speech or mind,
Representing myself, my family and my line of ancestors,
All the way up,
We sincerely repent and regret!
May all sentient beings be blessed on this day called "Cheng Beng"! 

Om Ah Hum! Om Ah Hum! Om Ah Hum!
 

As I burn those offerings,

I think of the kindness of my parents, their parents and foreparents before that

Until time immemorial...

I think of the kindness of the Buddhas and my Precious Gurus,

It is so much more.....

"Infinite" would be inadequate to describe their compassionate deeds

Spanning the three worlds and beyond.

Even though some of these offerings are made of only paper,

I pray my sincerity in this pure aspiration,

Is capable of transmuting those ashes into pure blessings,

Thanks to what I have learned from Bodhisattva Samantabhadra,

Whose great aspirations and pure deeds,
Fill the myriad Buddha lands with pure gold.....
Liberating uncountable number of sentient beings! 

Even though I am not the great Samantabhadra,

May my humble aspiration not be any less!

May all sentient beings be blessed on this day of "Cheng Beng"!

Om Ah Hum! Om Ah Hum! Om Ah Hum!

 

In front of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats,

And the holy Triple Gem,

I am sorry if I am not a good descendant to my ancestors and departed ones,

But I do my best to benefit them

The way I know how....

It is just a simple offering -

Several types of fruits,

Some dishes with plates of rice,

A few cups of coffee,

Some clothes made of paper,

And gold and silver ingots made of paper.

Importantly engaging the pure ones to recite prayers,

But also personally reciting the Amitabha Sutra, Great Compassion Dharani and the Heart Sutra.

Hopefully may my departed ones and ancestors benefit from reciting those liberating words!

Dedicating the merits to them all,

May they be free from sufferings of the three lower realms!

May they be free from physical and mental sufferings of all kinds!

May they be able to meet with the Kind Gurus who are able to teach and transform them! 

May they have the merits and virtue to continue on the Path till final, complete enlightenment!

May all sentient beings be blessed on this day of "Cheng Beng"!

Om Ah Hum! Om Ah Hum! Om Ah Hum!

 

- this aspiration prayer was first written by me on 7 April 2013 but later it was extended to this version today (8 April 2013). For whatever it is worth, may all benefit from it! 

Sangha leaders in Myanmar must advice the local Buddhists

http://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-government-struggles-contain-anti-muslim-hostility-102445366.html

Referring to the news above, I want to state my stand here that I think that there is something utterly wrong somewhere if you were to wear a robe of a Buddhist monk but holds a knife at another's throat threatening his life, just because of a difference in faith. It means the monastic robe is not longer sacred and it does not hold much meaning to him anymore than just another normal clothes that lay people wear. It's the fault of people who think they hold the original and truest teachings of their religious founders for all major religions. Even if everybody else profess the demonic teachings, the saints must learn to live in harmony with the "lost souls". But even the gods cannot live in harmony with the demons. How can humans? How can we so long as our religious teachers keep harping that other teachings are wrong and destined to burn in hell? And our Buddhist leaders, especially certain Theravada teachers, have only superficial harmony with others from another tradition. Therefore, how can they live peacefully with others from another religion, if you can't even be in harmony with your fellow Buddhists? The incidents of intolerance and killing by Buddhists monks reported in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and anywhere else is indeed a shame to the principles taught by the Buddha. If they care so much of the originality of the Buddha's teachings, why is it that they are not holding to such a fundamental teaching of the Buddha? Their Buddhist monk leaders have clearly not done enough to teach this to their students or disciples. They emphasize more on their ethnicity in the fight with other ethnics in their country. But they forget they are also Buddhists and people will see this as Buddhist monks fighting and killing. I pray they come to their senses and learn to live peacefully with others. The "Buddhas" must learn to live peacefully with the "Maras". You can't eliminate all Maras. Ultimately they come from our afflictive emotions. Rightful thing is to deal with that first.

I am not saying the Buddhists are entirely to be blamed for this issue. I think I have explored this issue in an earlier post on the matter. So I will not repeat it here.

 

Rightful thing to do is for the Sayadaws to speak up and advice the local Buddhists properly in order to contain the violence in Myanmar. Their silence is deafening. I think the local Rakhinese Buddhists generally look up to the Buddhist Masters and will listen to their advice if they speak up. I think even if the Sri Lankan or Thai chief monks were to speak up, and if the news reach Myanmar, I think the Buddhists in Myanmar will listen. I think even Ajahn Brahm and the other European monks should speak up too. When violence is happening and it involves the Buddhist faith, they cannot remain secluded in their forest retreats. I find it utterly disturbing that Buddhists can go on their usual business as if nothing concerns them. Where is their compassion? It's not only about the Myanmar Buddhists, but the dignity of the entire Buddhism as a religion is at stake here. Other faiths will say "Look at the violence you guys have done in Myanmar. Despite all the talk about the peace in Buddhism, your monks can even kill others.... Your peace is a fake.... BUDDHISM IS A FAILURE". If the Sangha leaders remain silent, it clearly shows they do not have the bodhicitta that Mahayanists talk about. But if they do possess this quality, they must do something about the situation. I think. What do you think? But my advice is likely to fall on deaf ears. This blog post is unlikely to reach anywhere. When people who are in a position to do something don't do what they are suppose to do, what can small flies like me do? Hence the least I can do is to write my advice in my blog.

The Dalai Lama: Re-think Our Traditional Buddhist Ways

This is the first part of five that records the interview between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Hyon Gak Sunim. Hyon Gak Sunim is a disciple of Zen Master Seung Sahn but has left Kwan Um School of Zen to be largely on his own. So this video means a lot to me because both Buddhist traditions have made much impress on me. Watch all five parts. In his message, I think the Dalai Lama is trying to encourage Zen tradition to think out of the box and not just follow centuries old tradition. Since the society nowadays is very much grounded on logic and scientific thinking, try to introduce some "words and speech" kind of study into Zen, although traditionally Zen is "beyond words and speech". He is not asking us to abandon it altogether, merely introduce other elements to make it more relevant to our society. All Zen Masters should pay heed of this advice. In Korea especially, many youths are attracted to Christianity and have converted. Christianity is definitely easier to understand. Korean youths might find Zen Buddhism confusing especially those puzzling Zen koans. We must adapt to our times in order for Buddhism to survive. I am not sure if His Holiness has said it or not, but I think the same is true of Tibetan Buddhism.

Also another point brought up by His Holiness is the need to identify ourselves with broader concepts, ultimately identifying ourselves a "humans", rather than narrower concepts like religion, race or politics. For example, Theravadians, Mahayanists, Tibetan Buddhists, Protestants, Catholics, Sulus, Sabahans, Chinese, Malay, etc. We should broaden it to Buddhists, Christians, Asians, etc. Then broaden it even further to just Humans.  He pointed that it is because we identify ourselves to these narrow concepts that often people fight. We fight because we want to defend our narrow little concept. We destroy each other for our own ego. In the end we achieve nothing, and indeed, everything may be destroyed. He used the example of North and South Koreans. They are the same race and the same country, but because of their narrow political identity, they end up being enemies. It's ridiculous if you think about it. Asean talks about achieving an Asean Community in 2015 or 2016, but if one country still desire to claim land that belongs to another country all these years, then what does that tell you about that community? It's superficial. There's no unity at all. Asean Community is a dream and will stay a dream if people don't let go of their selfishness, attachment and ego. So, please think about the message given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Liberation of the Penis: What is its true nature?

This is something just came into my mind in a flash of a moment. So I better write it down in case I may forget. If you are a man and you find it difficult to understand the concept of emptiness, hopefully you will find this blog post useful. All guys have something in common that women don't. Do you know what it is? A penis. Commonly referred to as the dick. What is the nature of a dick? Is its nature long and hard or short and soft? Representing "form" is "long and hard". Representing "emptiness" is "short and soft". So, putting it similar to the passage in the Heart Sutra,

 

"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Form is nothing but emptiness. Emptiness is nothing other than form."   

 

"Long and hard" penis is "short and soft" penis. "Short and soft" penis is "long and hard" penis. "Long and hard" penis is nothing but "short and soft" penis. "Short and soft" penis is nothing other than "long and hard" penis.

 

You probably know that both "long and hard" and "short and soft" are both part of the penis with only the conditions surrounding it that makes it either "long and hard" or "short and soft". For example, once the conditions for "long and hard" disappears, the "short and soft" appears". Once you get excited again, the conditions for "long and hard" re-appears.  Once you understand this, you have a little bit of understanding of form and emptiness. Where has your long and hard penis gone to when the short and soft one appears? In reality, it has not gone anywhere. It's right there within the short and soft dick.  Where is form? Where is emptiness? Different conditions but yet not apart from each other. Where is the Buddha Nature when you experience samsara? It is similarly right there within samsara. Only the conditions are not there for you to experience it. Where has samsara gone to when you experience the Buddha Nature? Actually samsara has not gone anywhere. Once you make a vow to re-enter samsara for the sake of all sentient beings, you will experience samsara again. As Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche said - samsara and nirvana are two sides of the same hand. In our context here, I will put it as "samsara and nirvana - two conditions of the same penis". Once you have understood the conditions surrounding your body, you will no longer be bound (as in attached) by them. You will be free from the problems of attachment to long and hard penis versus short and soft penis. You will be free once you are in control of the conditions that causes them. And you should be in control because in reality we are in control of our actions, thoughts and speech. Only when we are confused, we are controlled by those conditions. And we end up being slaves to our desires. For example, you think there is something special about long and hard penis and you start to be horny. That's the problem. In the early morning when guys have an erect penis, if you just let it rest as it is and don't re-act towards the conditions that arise, they will subside soon later. So conditions come and go. Once we understand the nature of those conditions and not let it muddle our thinking or actions, we will not be controlled by these conditions. Hopefully we can be free of being slaves to ourselves. Yes, be free. Be a Master to ourselves. Not slaves. Think about it. So, we have successfully (I hope) used a somewhat unusual way to point to the dharma. My apologies if anyone find this offensive. But in reality, the dick is part of the man's anatomy and it is neither derogatory nor otherwise. It is just what it is - a penis! The Zen Master's answer to "Which is the true nature of a penis?" would be to just wag his own penis, or pee right there and then!  He is demonstration control and function of a penis. In this case, there is no need for words and speech. That is Zen.

Buddhist Should Pray for Sabah Issue to be Resolved Peacefully

Malaysia has been relatively peaceful so far. Nature has been good to us. we don't have volcanoes or affected by the hurricanes that some nations suffer every year. We only have floods. We don't have problematic states seeking independence and insurgents here. But the recent situation in Sabah could potentially change all that peace we have enjoyed so far. It was attacked by a group of intruders trying to claim Sabah as thier homeland. However it is foolish if anyone thinks it is just a Sabah issue and therefore only they have to worry about it. This is so wrong. It is every Malaysian's issue. It could potentially drag on and cause more lives. So it will be ashamed if I am the only person suggesting Buddhists to dedicate their prayers for peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sabah. Buddhists cannot sit down and see events unfold. The least we could do is dedicate the daily prayers we do. That is what I am doing. Nothing special, but yet I am doing something on my part for the nation. And you will notice that I said that we pray for the situation to be resolved peacefully. I did not pray for those intruders to die. As a Buddhist, I believe in compassion and forgiveness. If they surrender, I hope we will let them go back to their actual homeland, i.e. the Phillipines. I always believe in giving criminals a chance to change for the better. Only if they don't change, will the full force of karma befalls them. And how sad that will be because lives many lives may be affected. Not just them but people who defend our country. Nobody wants to die in a battle field. So lets pray hard for common sense and wisdom to prevail. Malaysia did not annexed forcefully Sabah from them like the way Kuwait was annexed by Irag last time, or like the way China attacked Tibet in 1959. I feel that if anything it is the people of Sabah who should determine the future of Sabah. And that had been done in 1962 whereby the Cobbold Commission had determined that the people of Sabah wanted to join Malaysia. Hence the issue of the Sultan of Sulu, even if they are the rightful heirs, should not arise anymore. The people of Sabah had spoken way back in 1962 and they want to be part of Malaysia. Not Sulu. Any terrotorial claim to any land that is inhabited, must take into account what is best for the people there, and not just mere geographical or historical evidences. This is my personal opinion.

 

I call upon every Buddhist brothers and sisters to dedicate your daily prayers for the conflict in Sabah to be resolved peacefully and the Sulu intruders to return to the Phillipines peacefully. May no further persons die in the conflict! OM MANI PADME HUM!  

 

Source:

http://www.theage.com.au/world/sulu-sultan-invades-sabah-to-stake-claim-20130304-2fgu8.html

Internal Threats to Mahayana & Tibetan Buddhism

Today I urge my dharma brothers and sisters of various Vajrayana centres to consider my suggestion here. Every year we are very fortunate to have Lamas and Rinpoches coming to Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere. There are also many of you who are very well-versed in Vajrayana, who can conduct and give dharma talks on your own. Unfortunately we are also faced with a threat from within the Buddhist family. Last year there was this Buddhist conference whereby various dharma speakers presented their papers. After their presentations are over, there will usually be a “Q&A” session. These dharma speakers come from all three main traditions of Buddhism. Here we consider Vajrayana as a separate tradition because of its distinct practices and teachings even though it is Mahayana in nature. The audience come of all kinds of background but many of them are Theravadas and Chinese Mahayana. So there was this elderly Tibetan professor who spoke on one Tibetan topic. Unfortunately the audience is not so interested in his topic. During his “Q&A”, he was bombarded with questions on the authenticity of Vajrayana teachings instead. The audience observed that many of these Tibetan teachers come and conduct rituals and chanting. So they learn nothing on the true essence of Vajrayana. Many of them think that Vajrayana is a messed-up Buddhists teachings combined with Tibetan local indigenous beliefs. Unfortunately the speaker is not aware of our particular Malaysian audience who come from other Buddhist traditions and have some messed-up idea of Vajrayana. Hence he did not quite do a good job in answering these questions from the audience. In fact I would say he was quite taken aback by all these questions. It is unfortunate that the audience have to leave the conference with all those questions still unanswered. It is for that reason that I want to make a list of possible topics that our Vajrayana centres in Malaysia could seriously consider as possible dharma topics in future.

But first, allow me to explain a little bit further why many Buddhists in Malaysia have this wrong idea of Vajrayana. This is mostly prevalent amongst Theravadas but slowly it is creeping into Chinese Mahayanists as well. They don’t quite investigate enough into the teachings of Vajrayana even though they exalt the concept of ehipassiko. They don’t study and check enough to understand what we are doing. This is made worse by certain fundamentalist Theravada teachers (both monks and lay teachers) are also contributing factors to this misunderstanding. Vajrayana practitioners normally are not aware of what is happening in other traditions and their impact on our tradition. That is because Vajrayanists usually are not critical of other traditions. In fact it is against our tradition to do so. It is stated in the tantric vows not to belittle other traditions. But our brothers and sisters in the other traditions, especially certain Theravada teachers, are adamant on promoting their tradition as the only true teachings of the Buddha. I feel that we cannot sit down and do nothing about this matter. I am not asking you to go fight with them. No. Even though pujas are important, we need to be more aware of what is happening in the Buddhist scenario around us and during public dharma talks, please request the dharma speakers to talk on topics that will create better understanding of what Tibetan Buddhism is truly about. At the moment, people think of it as only rituals, mantras and all kinds of weird deities. There is also a lot of misunderstanding on His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Some of these fundamentalist Theravada teachers have gone to spread their message at our local undergraduate students through talks organised by the university Buddhist student associations. Slowly they have been taught that Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings are incorrect and all these Bodhisattvas and Buddhas do not exist. They are to get rid of them. Some of these undergraduates have since grown up to be leaders of our Buddhist associations. Some are even leaders in the umbrella Buddhist bodies. These umbrella bodies deal with Government authorities from time to time. So you can just imagine the influence they have over our Buddhist community and our future.

I know sometimes committee members run out of topics when asked to think of a topic for their Rinpoche to talk on. They usually talk around these few topics, such as Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara, Eight Verses of Mind Training, Lam Rim, Four Thoughts that Transform the Mind, or topics on Guru Yoga and Emptiness.  I know a centre that talked on paranormal activities and ghosts. I am going to suggest you give tougher topics to them next time. Give them topics other than what they are used to. These are the topics that come to my mind randomly: -

1. The key differences between Tibetan Buddhism and other traditions

2. Why are the rituals in Tibetan Buddhism important?

3. An introduction to some rituals in Vajrayana Buddhism

4. Did the Buddha teach Tibetan Buddhism?

5. Why are there so many sects and sub-sects within Tibetan Buddhism? Does it mean that one of  them is true and the rest is false?

6. How Buddhism spread from India to Tibet? An introduction into the past Kings of Tibet and Padmasambhava.

7. What are the aspects of local Tibetan indigenous beliefs that had been incorporated into  Vajrayana Buddhism?

8. Have the Buddha’s key teachings in Vajrayana changed due to those local beliefs that had been incorporated?

9. Have the teachings of Tibetan Masters deviated from the Buddha’s fundamental teachings? An analysis of several key commentaries and texts written by Vajrayana Masters against the Pali Canon. (note: this would be a good thesis to write)

10. Where do all these Tibetan Buddhist deities and imageries come from? And their significance.

11. What are the key texts used by Tibetan Buddhism? Do they come from the Buddha? (Note: In Theravada, they use the Tripitaka. Is there a Tibetan Buddhist Tripitaka and what is it consists of? To explain why they are authentic texts).

12. Who is the Dalai Lama? Is he a conniving agent of the West or a spiritual reincarnation of a Buddhist Deity?

13. An introduction to the Dalai Lama: a look into his worldly and spiritual role.
14. Is the 14th Dalai Lama the unofficial "pope" for all Buddhists? What is his importance?

You can add more to the topics above. These are only my suggestions. Basically these topics, if explained properly, would have been able to answer most of the questions hurled to the Tibetan professor I mentioned earlier. I have given my personal views on the issue of these certain Theravada teachers' claim of authenticity in my previous posts under the same label. Therefore I will not repeat them here. Please spread these suggested topics around and hopefully it will curb some of those misconceptions people have on Mahayana generally and Tibetan Buddhism specifically. When these topics are presented, please announce it vigorously so that more people can come. There is no point if only your own members attend. Put up public banners. Inform all Buddhist e-forums of such teachings. I put my palms together and apologise if I have said anything incorrect here. Please remember – we are only doing what we can to promote the right understanding of Mahayana and Vajrayana. It is the same for Chinese Mahayanists. You can come up with a list of topics as above. Peace. Sarvam Mangalam. 

Can You Still Commit Errors after Enlightenment is Achieved?

I was still young and raw when I first met Seung Sahn Sunim. But after I decided that it probably wasn’t the right time for me to be involved in Zen practice, there was a period of blackout. During that blackout period, there was no contact or news about him or the Zen school. I did think about him from time to time and perhaps even read his books but that was all. So I was oblivious about the scandal affecting him when it happened. Now when I retrospect, I think that was a blessing by the Buddhas.  They might have thought that it was not important for me to know about the scandal until I am ready. Many years later, I came into contact with his Zen school once more and found out that he had passed away.  I also found out about the scandal. Now it really did not matter anymore, at least for me. It might even be better had he been alive and decided to grope me. Serious. But that is me. I am not advocating this to everyone, because everyone has different levels of worldly and spiritual experience. For me the only impact that scandal has in me is of spiritual in nature. I now have the question whether for enlightened beings, does he or she still have the propensity to commit questionable acts of morality. I have no doubt over the enlightened status of this Zen Master and other Tibetan Masters who were also implicated in similar scandals. I began to do research on it. Apparently, even on after achieving enlightenment, there is still a propensity to slide into duality, although you have transcended it. This is mentioned in Lam Rim Chen Mo and Lama Tsongkhapa supported this by providing passages from other earlier Masters such as Candrakirti. Candrakirti referred to the remaining obscuration as “cognitive obscuration”. This has not been eliminated even though “afflictive obscuration” has been eliminated.

Quote: "Therefore, bodhisattvas and Hinayana arhats who have reached the eighth level have put an end to the creation of new latent propensities for errors of dualistic appearance, but since they have many long-established latent propensities for dualistic appearance that are yet to be cleared away, they still must train for a long time. When they clear away these propensities – stopping all latent propensities for error – they become Buddhas.”  

Lam Rim Chen Mo mentioned that elimination of cognitive obscuration is not by way of meditation alone but involves other behavioural aspects of training. This is where the importance of bodhisattva activity comes in. Without bodhicitta, this behavioural aspect of training can never be accomplished. If bodhicitta is not activated, one will remain as a Sravaka or Pacceka Buddha and will not be able to comprehend fully the knowledge of the lack of self in phenomena (even though they have eliminated fully the afflictive ignorance).

In The Jewel Treasury of Advice, Drikung Bhande Dharmaradza wrote:

Ordinary people can’t keep the discipline of the sharavakas,

Yet many think that the vows of secret mantra,
The discipline of maha aryas, are easier to keep.
Even though the activities of union and liberating,
And so forth are stated in the tantras,
These are the deeds only of those on pure bhumis.

In the name of secret mantra, some take women,

Drink, wear strange clothes, and act like madmen, and so forth.
If in this way, one deceives oneself,
One will become stuck in the mud of samsara,
And then fall to the depths of hell.

Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen explained,

“ Liberating, or putting others to death through curses and black magic, is also mentioned in the tantras. This type of liberating does not harm others’ lives, but rather it frees them from samsaric delusion, causing them to attain enlightenment. But this can only be done by highly realised bodhisattvas who are accomplished in their meditation practice and who have attained the eighth or higher bhumis, called the “pure bhumis”. The great Indian master Tilopa is an example of such a bodhisattva.” He gave an example of how Tilopa had eaten fish and they were all liberated. In Zen, Master Hsuan Hua had in his sutra commentaries, given an example of a similar Zen Master who could eat fish to the bones and then vomit out the entire fish still alive.

However, even though the bodhisattvas of pure bhumis could do such great liberating deeds, still they have to continue training to eliminate the cognitive ignorance as mentioned earlier. How much more do persons who have attained only the lower levels of enlightenment!  

For me, it is not necessary for me to judge whether Master Seung Sahn or any master have attained the eighth level or not. That is not my business. It is no longer about them or what they do. It is about what I do with knowing that. It is about how I react to it. My business is only moment to moment clear mind. For me, I do not believe in punishment. I believe more in reforming and transforming criminals or wrong doers. I have my own experience of being “groped/ molested”. But I won’t go into it, except to say that I do not think it is proper for me to report it up to the authorities or make this into a big issue. It will bring untold suffering to the person. I am only concerned about the person because I understand human weakness to strong desires. Who doesn’t have desires? You? Hence I try to learn from what happened and did my own research on this topic. After finding out the facts as above, now I will be more careful when and if I ever achieve enlightenment. Therefore I thank the Buddhas for educating me on this aspect of enlightenment. And thank them for the period of “blackout”. It happened for a reason. In the intervening period, my path matures and I re-connected. My relationship with him remains pure. Had it not been for the “blackout” period, I do not know how I would have re-acted if I knew of the scandal then. I might have been disgusted and left Sunim, like some people had back then. Who knows I might too? But it is useless speculating. Since it is my karma not to know about it, I accept it as it had happened. However I understood that 2 repentance ceremonies were done and the School community accepted these. Therefore some rules were changed for the better of the future Zen cultivators and case is close. The way I see it, it ended up well. I do not know about the scandals of other Zen or Tibetan Masters, but in Kwan Um School, in this sense, there is still some positive development from the scandal. It is now more disciplined and proper. I am grateful to be back in Seung Sahn Sunim’s fold and having the opportunity to utilise its facilities for meditation and study under the tutelage of the current Zen Masters.

So back to the original question – after achieving enlightenment, can we still commit errors? It depends on what level is achieved. But generally, answer is "Yes" unless you have achieved the final Buddhahood level. If we still have the propensity for errors even at such high bodhisattva levels, how much more lower levels. So, even though we can bring up issues with gurus for proper solution to such problems, and to prevent innocent persons from being taken advantage of by unenlightened fraudulent gurus, we must learn to forgive genuine masters with some flaws. The reason is simple - we ourselves could be susceptible to such moral questionable acts. Continuous practice is required until actual Buddhahood is achieved. Even at the last level of Bodhisattvahood, there will be the cognitive obscuration. But I understand it is really tricky to know when we have achieved Buddhahood or not. Along the way, we could be “deceived” (by our own wrong thinking) that we have achieved it but actually not. Be careful. My advice is always to be humble and doubt your own achievement.

References:

1. Tsongkhapa. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Lam Rim Chen Mo. Snow lion Publications. 2002.
2. Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen. A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path. Snow Lion Publications. 2009.