Lifting the Veil off the Fourteen Root Infractions in Tantric “Buddhism” - Part 3: Blind spots of Tantric root infractions


Published:2014/06/18 08:00

(Reported by the True Heart News interviewing team in Taipei)

The Fourteen Tantric Root Infractions observed by lamas and gurus of Tibetan “Buddhism” include neither the five basic Buddhist precepts that lay Buddhists adhere to nor the ten severe injunctions in the Bodhisattva Precepts. They are a set of non-Buddhist disciplinary rules concocted by the Tantric School. Insofar as they are not precepts established by Buddha Sakyamuni, disclosure of the secrets would not result in causality of one’s descent into hell after death. Only Tantric Buddhists are intimidated and threatened by these vows since they don’t have decent knowledge of the true Buddha Dharma.

All Buddhist disciples ought to observe the precepts set up by the Buddha. Take abstinence from sexual misconduct as an example, monastics are proscribed from any sexual acts while lay practitioners from any extramarital affair. The purpose of the Fourteen Root Infractions, however, are designed to legitimate and substantiate sex as a necessary means to attain Buddhahood and even prohibit adherents from abandoning it. The heterosexual couple practice is greatly encouraged; even group orgy does not violate the tantric precepts and is approved by Tsongkhapa. Such practice is a flagrant violation of Buddhist precepts and utterly contravenes the Way to liberation.

All practitioners of Tantric Yoga must observe the Fourteen Root Infractions, yet none of these fourteen injunctions proscribe killing, sexual misconduct or alcohol consumption. While the gurus and lamas of the four major sects of Tibetan “Buddhism” appear to be monastics, their mentality and behavior is no different from any ordinary, non-Buddhist individual. Meat, alcohol, and sex are the worldly “interests” of the average person. If a monastic cannot give them up, what then is the point of committing to a monastic life? Given that the dharma-kings, living tulkus, rinpoches, and even the Dalai Lama himself do not practice vegetarianism or abstinence from intoxicants but indulge in the Couple-Practice of the Highest Yoga Tantra, in which copulation and group sex are the norm as well as the routine, can they possibly be real Buddhist monastics? Think about it!

In Tibetan “Buddhism,” the dharma-kings, living tulkus, rinpoches, and even the Dalai Lama himself eat mostly red meat because their long-term practice of Tantric Yoga requires red meat to boost their sexual performance. It makes one wonder what their final goal is in becoming monastics in the first place? Or eventually remain as monastics, could it be a monastic status entitles them to acquire esteemed titles which privilege them to a life of extravagance and power, as well as unlimited supply of female consorts?

The “reincarnated boy lama” is a fabricated legend the four sects of Tibetan “Buddhism” use to amplify their political clout. It hoists an ordinary child up a holy throne and throws him onto a path of no return.

The holiness and the spiritual attainment projected by the dharma-kings, living tulkus, and Dalai Lamas are skillfully engineered images crafted since their childhood. In reality, these seemingly rarefied figures cloaked in grandiose titles are under the control of the corridors of power and become locked in a prison of power and vanity their entire lives. From the perspective of Buddhism, practicing and preaching the Tantric Yoga under the guise of the Dharma, they are unwittingly exchanging one short lifetime of opulence and carnal pleasure for eons of grievous sufferings in the three evil paths.

Once they are granted those lofty titles in childhood, unavoidably these lamas begin believing that they really do possess incredible achievements in the Buddha Dharma, not knowing that all they have are vacuous appellations. Misguided since childhood, the dharma these lamas learn is erroneous from the outset. When finally they have achieved considerable proficiency in Tantric Yoga, they have no idea that they are heading down a highway that ends in the evil paths. Worse yet, these accomplished lamas tend to widely disseminate their perverted “Buddhist” views by writing on the Tantric Yoga, bringing their disciples down into the abyss with them. Alas, when the blind leads the blind, both fall into the ditch.

Being the “root” infractions, the Fourteen Tantric Root Infractions are supposed to address the fundamental spirit of these injunctions. Yet, they do not forbid meat, alcohol, and especially, sex. In terms of Buddhism, when a set of disciplinary rules’ fundamental spirit fails to disapprove of killing, alcohol, and even sexual impropriety in monastics, they have no basis in the Buddha Dharma.

The Tantric Fourteen Root Infractions are the primary vows taken by the lamas and gurus of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. Specifically established solely in line with the Couple-Practice of Tantric Yoga, these vows were not founded by Buddha Sakyamuni but rather were concocted by later period Tantric gurus. Unlike real Buddhist precepts grounded in the Buddha Dharma, the Tantric root infractions were promulgated to guard the secrets of a licentious practice rather than uplifting the wisdom of Dharma life [dharmakaya] of sentient beings.

Editor’s Note:

This article is an English version of the Chinese edition published on

April 3, 2014.


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