White Tara said:

“When you do not know a spiritual cultivator, or have only heard rumors or biased accounts about them, please avoid engaging in casual slander. Unless you have attained perfect wisdom and possess the ability to know others’ minds, refrain from denouncing anyone.”

“Slandering” is a common affliction in the mundane world.

The precepts concerning speech karma are the easiest to break.

People easily succumb to the temptation of slandering others.

Spiritual cultivators are no exception.

Spiritual cultivators are prone to the transgression of slander when criticizing or disparaging other sects or schools of Buddhism.

Spiritual cultivators easily fall into the trap of praising themselves and criticizing others.

Spiritual cultivators easily commit the act of spreading the faults and delusions of their fellow cultivators.

Spiritual cultivators slander other religious doctrines.

Spiritual cultivators with biases slander teachers and disciples of other religions due to ignorance or misunderstanding. Hence, it is very important to abandon these biases and attachments.

***

During my time in Taiwan, I came across some books that were highly critical of Esoteric Buddhism, particularly the Tibetan schools of Esoteric Buddhism.

These writings were authored by a cultivator who followed the Consciousness-only teachings of Yogachara, and he even went so far as to denounce Padmasambhava, the revered patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism.

In addition, this cultivator also criticized Venerable Master Yin Shun of the Sanlun Sect.

He thought:

“Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism was a ‘perversion.’”
“Padmasambhava was ‘a demon of perversion.’”
“Venerable Master Yin Shun strongly believed in and endorsed the six consciousnesses. However, he erroneously regarded the seventh and eighth consciousnesses as merely symbolic.”

I would like to explain this here:

Padmasambhava had five female disciples who attained remarkable accomplishment. All of them were Padmasambhava’s dharma companions.

These five disciples were:

Yeshe Tsogyal.
Mandarava.
Belmo Sakya Devi.
Belwong Kalasiddhi.
Tashi Kyedren.

These five disciples all attained great accomplishment.

Furthermore, it has been recorded in sutras and tantras that aside from these five, there were another fifteen who achieved great accomplishment.

In addition to these twenty yoginis, there were many more.

They were all Padmasambhava’s consorts.

Hence, Padmasambhava was criticized as a patriarch of perversion.

Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism was labeled as a school of perversion.

According to my understanding:

The “Consort Practice” of Padmasambhava holds profound meaning and falls within the realm of unparalleled mysteries. Engaging in this practice allows the individual to attain a state of great bliss, radiant clarity, and profound emptiness. Furthermore, it bestows immense advantages for the esoteric development of vital energy, channels, and drops.

“Unblemished.”
“Transcendental.”
“Perfect and complete.”

This kind of secret lineage is appropriate and legitimate, as it is an integration of the generation and perfection stages, using an expedient dharma gate to arrive at the transcendental and liberating wisdom of the Tathagatas.

(This practice is something difficult for worldly people to understand, which is why it often faces criticism. The Buddhist practitioner who wrote those books had not cultivated and realized this practice, leading to inevitable misunderstanding and slander.)

By not fully grasping the hidden significance of this practice, the cultivator engaged in misleading speech, which caused him to break his vows and precepts.

This individual used Consciousness-only teachings to disparage and criticize other schools and sects of Buddhism, which is a speech transgression of slander.

In my opinion:

There are far too many people in this world who have committed the transgression of slander, because so many are unaware of the truth. There is sensationalism in the media, circulation of incorrect information through speech, and rumors spread by people with ill intent.

Consequently, false and inaccurate information becomes widespread in the world, while the truth becomes submerged.

In this world, Buddhist practitioners should remain silent! Avoid breaking the precepts!