The daily prayers practitioners make to Buddha Shakyamuni, Je Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden

Liberating Prayer ~ Praise to Buddha Shakyamuni

{Kadampa practitioners traditionally start every meditation session of Sutra or Tantra with the Liberating Prayer to their principal object of refuge, Buddha Shakyamuni, who is the founder of Buddhism.}

O Blessed One, Shakyamuni Buddha,
Precious treasury of compassion,
Bestower of supreme inner peace,

You, who love all beings without exception,
Are the source of happiness and goodness;
And you guide us to the liberating path.

Your body is a wishfulfilling jewel,
Your speech is supreme, purifying nectar,
And your mind is refuge for all living beings.

With folded hands I turn to you,
Supreme unchanging friend,
I request from the depths of my heart:

Please give me the light of your wisdom
To dispel the darkness of my mind
And to heal my mental continuum.

Please nourish me with your goodness,
That I in turn may nourish all beings
With an unceasing banquet of delight.

Through your compassionate intention,
Your blessings and virtuous deeds,
And my strong wish to rely upon you,

May all suffering quickly cease
And all happiness and joy be fulfilled;
And may holy Dharma flourish for evermore.

{Kadampa practitioners traditionally start their daily practice of Heart Jewel prayers with a special Guru yoga in which they visualize their Spiritual Guide as Je Tsongkhapa, who himself is a manifestation of Manjushri. By relying upon this practice, they purify negativity, accumulate merit, and receive blessings. In this way, they naturally accomplish all the realizations of the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra, and in particular they attain a very special Dharma wisdom.}

Going for refuge
I and all sentient beings, until we achieve enlightenment,
Go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. (3x)

Generating bodhichitta

Through the virtues I collect by giving and other perfections,
May I become a Buddha for the benefit of all. (3x)

Inviting Je Tsongkhapa

From the heart of the Protector of the hundreds of Deities of the Joyful Land,
To the peak of a cloud which is like a cluster of fresh, white curd,
All-knowing Losang Dragpa, King of the Dharma,
Please come to this place together with your Sons.

Prayer of seven limbs

In the space before me on a lion throne, lotus, and moon
The venerable Gurus smile with delight.
O Supreme Field of Merit for my mind of faith,
Please remain for a hundred aeons to spread the doctrine.

Your mind of wisdom realizes the full extent of objects of knowledge,
Your eloquent speech is the ear ornament of the fortunate,
Your beautiful body is ablaze with the glory of renown,
I prostrate to you, whom to see, to hear, and to remember is so meaningful.

Pleasing water offerings, various flowers,
Sweet-smelling incense, lights, scented water, and so forth,
A vast cloud of offerings both set out and imagined,
I offer to you, O supreme Field of Merit.

Whatever non-virtues of body, speech, and mind
I have accumulated since time without beginning,
Especially transgressions of my three vows,
With great remorse I confess each one from the depths of my heart.

In this degenerate age you strove for much learning and accomplishment,
Abandoning the eight worldly concerns, you made your freedom and endowment meaningful.
O Protector, from the very depths of my heart,
I rejoice in the great wave of your deeds.

From the billowing clouds of wisdom and compassion
In the space of your Truth body, O venerable and holy Gurus,
Please send down a rain of vast and profound Dharma
Appropriate to the disciples of this world.

Through the virtues I have accumulated here,
May the doctrine and all living beings receive every benefit.
Especially may the essence of the doctrine
Of Venerable Losang Dragpa shine forever.

Offering the mandala

The ground sprinkled with perfume and spread with flowers,
The Great Mountain, four lands, sun and moon,
Seen as a Buddha Land and offered thus,
May all beings enjoy such Pure Lands.

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI

Migtsema prayer

Tsongkhapa, crown ornament of the scholars of the Land of the Snows,
You are Avalokiteshvara, the treasury of unobservable compassion,
Manjushri, the supreme stainless wisdom,
And Vajrapani, the destroyer of the hosts of maras;
O Losang Dragpa I request you, please grant your blessings. (3x, 7x, 21x etc)

Prayer of the Stages of the Path

The path begins with strong reliance
On my kind Teacher, source of all good;
O Bless me with this understanding
To follow him with great devotion.

This human life with all its freedoms,
Extremely rare, with so much meaning;
O Bless me with this understanding
All day and night to seize its essence.

My body, like a water bubble,
Decays and dies so very quickly;
After death come results of karma,
Just like the shadow of a body.

With this firm knowledge and remembrance
Bless me to be extremely cautious,
Always avoiding harmful actions
And gathering abundant virtue.

Samsara's pleasures are deceptive,
Give no contentment, only torment;
So please bless me to strive sincerely
To gain the bliss of perfect freedom.

O Bless me so that from this pure thought
Come mindfulness and greatest caution,
To keep as my essential practice
The doctrine's root, the Pratimoksha.

Just like myself all my kind mothers
Are drowning in samsara's ocean;
O So that I may soon release them,
Bless me to train in bodhichitta.

But I cannot become a Buddha
By this alone without three ethics;
So bless me with the strength to practise
The Bodhisattva's ordination.

By pacifying my distractions
And analyzing perfect meanings,
Bless me to quickly gain the union
Of special insight and quiescence.

When I become a pure container
Through common paths, bless me to enter
The essence practice of good fortune,
The supreme vehicle, Vajrayana.

The two attainments both depend on
My sacred vows and my commitments;
Bless me to understand this clearly
And keep them at the cost of my life.

By constant practice in four sessions,
The way explained by holy Teachers,
O Bless me to gain both the stages,
Which are the essence of the Tantras.

May those who guide me on the good path,
And my companions all have long lives;
Bless me to pacify completely
All obstacles, outer and inner.

May I always find perfect Teachers,
And take delight in holy Dharma,
Accomplish all grounds and paths swiftly,
And gain the state of Vajradhara.

Receiving blessings and purifying

From the hearts of all the holy beings, streams of light and nectar flow down, granting blessings and purifying.

{Kadampa practitioners traditionally do their Lamrim (stages of the path) and Lojong (training the mind) meditation at this point in the prayers. More information on these Buddhist practices can be found in The New Meditation Handbook, Universal Compassion, and other books by Tharpa Publications}.

Request to receive the Guru's blessings

O Glorious and precious root Guru,
Please sit on the lotus and moon seat at my heart.
Please care for me with your great kindness,
And grant me the blessings of your body, speech, and mind.

O Glorious and precious root Guru,
Please sit on the lotus and moon seat at my heart.
Please care for me with your great kindness,
And bestow the common and supreme attainments.

O Glorious and precious root Guru,
Please sit on the lotus and moon seat at my heart.
Please care for me with your great kindness,
And remain firm until I attain the essence of enlightenment.

{Kadampa practitioners traditionally do their Mahamudra meditation at this point in the prayers. More information on this practice can be found in Mahamudra Tantra and other books by Tharpa Publications}.

Dedication

Through being cared for throughout all my lives
By Conqueror Tsongkhapa as my Mahayana Guru,
May I never turn away, even for an instant,
From this excellent path praised by the Conquerors.

{Kadampa practitioners traditionally conclude their Heart Jewel prayers by relying upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden in order to overcome obstacles to their practice and create favourable conditions so that they can nurture and increase these Dharma realizations of Lamrim, Lojong and Mahamudra}.

Inviting Dorje Shugdän and his retinue

HUM
I have the clarity of the Yidam.
Before me in the centre of red and black fire and wind,
On a lotus and sun, trampling demons and obstructors,
Is a terrifying lion, which is powerful and alert.
Upon this sits the great king Dorje Shugdän,
The supreme Heart Jewel of Dharma Protectors.
His body is clothed in the garments of a monk,
And on his head he wears a round, yellow hat.
His hands hold a sword and a heart of compassion.
To his followers he shows an expression of delight,
But to subdue demons and obstructors he displays a wrathful manner.
He is surrounded by a vast, assembled retinue,
Such as his attendant Khache Marpo and so forth.

Light rays from my heart instantly invite the wisdom beings from the sphere of nature, and from all the different palaces where they abide. They become inseparable from the commitment beings.

Making offerings and requests

HUM
Respectfully I prostrate with body, speech, and mind.
I offer a mass of inner and outer offerings, blissful tormas,
Alcohol, tea, cakes, milk, and curd,
Both actually set out and mentally imagined, filling the whole of space.

Commitment, fulfilling, reliance, and appropriate substances,
Outer, inner, secret, attractive, and cleansing offerings, filling the whole of space,
I offer these to the entire assembly;
May I fulfil the heart commitment and restore my broken commitments.

All my harmful thoughts and actions
Which have offended your mind, O Great Protector,
I confess from the depths of my heart.
Please purify them swiftly, and care for me with love, like a mother for her child.

I beseech you from the depths of my heart, O Supreme Deity,
Please cause the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa to flourish,
Extend the life and activities of the glorious Gurus,
And increase the study and practice of Dharma within the Dharma communities.

Please be with me always like the shadow of my body,
And grant me your unwavering care and protection.
Destroy all obstacles and adverse conditions,
Bestow favourable conditions, and fulfil all my wishes.

Now is the time to show clearly your versatile strength
Through your four actions, which are swift, incisive, and unobstructed,
To fulfil quickly my special heartfelt desires
In accordance with my wishes;

Now is the time to distinguish the truth and falsity of actions and effects;
Now is the time to dispel false accusations against the innocent;
Now is the time to protect the pitiful and protectorless;
Now is the time to protect Dharma practitioners as your children.

In short, from now until I attain the essence of enlightenment,
I shall honour you as the embodiment of my Guru, Deity, and Protector.
Therefore please watch over me during the three periods of the day and the night
And never waver in your actions as my Protector.

Requesting the fulfilment of wishes

HUM
Whenever your followers with commitments
Request any of the four actions,
Swiftly, incisively, and without delay, you show signs for all to see;
So please accomplish the actions that I now request of you.

The stainless sun of Je Tsongkhapa's tradition
Shines throughout the sky of samsara and nirvana,
Eliminating the darkness of inferior and wrong paths;
Please cause its light to spread and bring good fortune to all living beings.

May the glorious Gurus who uphold this tradition
Have indestructible lives, as stable as the supreme victory banner;
May they send down a rain of deeds fulfilling the wishes of disciples,
So that Je Tsongkhapa's doctrine will flourish.

Through increasing the study, practice, pure discipline, and harmony
Of the communities who uphold the stainless doctrine of Buddha,
And who keep moral discipline with pure minds,
Please cause the Gedän tradition to increase like a waxing moon.

Through your actions please fulfil the essential wishes
Of all practitioners who uphold the victory banner
Of practising single-pointedly the stages of the paths of Sutra and Tantra,
The essence of all the teachings they have heard.

Beings throughout this great earth are engaged in different actions
Of Dharma, non-Dharma, happiness, suffering, cause and effect;
Through your skilful deeds of preventing and nurturing,
Please lead all beings into the good path to ultimate happiness.

In particular, please destroy the obstacles and unfavourable conditions
Of myself and other practitioners.
Increase our lives, our merit, and our resources,
And gather all things animate and inanimate to be freely enjoyed.

Please be with me always like the shadow of my body,
And care for me always like a friend,
By accomplishing swiftly whatever I wish for,
And whatever I ask of you.

Please perform immediately, without delaying for a year, or even for a month,
Appropriate actions to eliminate all obstacles
Caused by misguided beings with harmful minds who try to destroy Je Tsongkhapa's doctrine,
And especially by those who try to harm practitioners.

Please remain in this place always, surrounded by most excellent enjoyments.
As my guest, partake continuously of tormas and offerings;
And since you are entrusted with the protection of human wealth and enjoyments,
Never waver as my guardian throughout the day and the night.

All the attainments I desire
Arise from merely remembering you.
O Wishfulfilling Jewel, Protector of the Dharma,
Please accomplish all my wishes. (3x)

Dedication

By this virtue may I quickly
Attain the enlightened state of the Guru,
And then lead every living being
Without exception to that ground.

Through my virtues from practising with pure motivation,
May all living beings throughout all their lives
Never be parted from peaceful and wrathful Manjushri,
But always come under their care.

{Kadampa practitioners traditionally conclude every meditation session of Sutra or Tantra, including Heart Jewel, with the following prayers.}

Prayers for the Virtuous Tradition

So that the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa,
The King of the Dharma, may flourish,
May all obstacles be pacified
And may all favorable conditions abound.

Through the two collections of myself and others
Gathered throughout the three times,
May the doctrine of Conqueror Losang Dragpa
Flourish for evermore.

The nine-line Migtsema prayer

Tsongkhapa, crown ornament of the scholars of the Land of the Snows,
You are Buddha Shakyamuni and Vajradhara, the source of all attainments,
Avalokiteshvara, the treasury of unobservable compassion,
Manjushri, the supreme stainless wisdom,
And Vajrapani, the destroyer of the hosts of maras.
O Venerable Guru-Buddha, synthesis of all Three Jewels,
With my body, speech, and mind, respectfully I make requests:
Please grant your blessings to ripen and liberate myself and others,
And bestow the common and supreme attainments. (3x)

These prayers are taken from the sadhana Heart Jewel, published by Tharpa Publications. Commentary to these prayers can be found in the book Heart Jewel.

The Dalai Lama's Power Trip

Sometimes in the midst of the detailed polemical discussion on the Internet of whether or not Dorje Shugden is a Buddha or a spirit, the fact that Shugden and non-Shugden practitioners lived together harmoniously and in mutual respect until the 1970s gets forgotten. These heated discussions are only taking place because the Dalai Lama publicly demoted Dorje Shugden, a Protector Buddha loved by his own teachers and thousands of other people. On the basis of his own high status as the unquestioned head of Tibetans and the most famous Buddhist in the world, the Dalai Lama's words have had the power to destroy the reputation of this Buddhist Deity and the great, revered masters who relied upon him.

These cruel, intolerant words are what have caused the severe schismatic problems now being faced by the Tibetan exile community and the bad reputation of previously respected Shugden practitioners around the world.

The words below are not those of a humble man, but of a man who knows full well the power he wields over his people.

The reasons he gives are based mainly on the provocative claim that Dorje Shugden is a Chinese spirit and thus a danger to the Dalai Lama’s life and health, a shibboleth that has never been backed up by any reasoning or evidence. When his words to the Tibetan people are examined, they show a depth of superstition quite out of keeping with the rational teachings of Lord Buddha.

To form a political decision and destroy religious freedom based on these reasons seems preposterous, and the resulting persecution is bewildering, a Buddhist witch hunt.

From the address delivered by the Dalai Lama at the preparatory session of Tamdrin Yangsang and Sangdrub empowerments, March 21 1996

"Since it happens according to government oracles that Dholgyal (Shugden) relates to Chinese Buddhist deities, we actually mentioned him by name in our exorcism based on Tamdrin at that time. Though these exorcisms cannot be relied upon, I have had strange dreams since then. Therefore I do not feel it will be comfortable for me to have worshippers of Shugden here. If acrimony between deities results in disharmony between humans, it will be spiritual ruination."

The Dalai Lama goes on to explain:

"This will affect the life span of the spiritual master as well".

He then points out and praises those former practitioners of Dorje Shugden, including "abbots and spiritual masters", who have given up and "become pure".

He explains how he knows that Dorje Shugden is a Chinese spirit based on locals' dreams:

"Others have reported of a bearded monk strangling them: this is very clear indication that Shugden is a Chinese spirit, far from being a deity."

To those who might not have given up the practice, he asks them to publicly make themselves known by standing up and leaving, rendering them pariahs with the words:

"Not only will it not benefit yourself but in the worst case may even become the cause of shortening the life of the Dalai Lama. If you wish the speedy death of the Dalai Lama, then I have no objection."

He explains that he has reached these conclusions through divination (throwing a dough ball):

"All final decisions have been concluded only through divination. This address too is a result of a divination this morning."

He ends with a threat, setting the scene for his followers to then take up the slander and persecution with impunity, which they have done:

"If you private monks and spiritual masters in the monastic colleges continue making excuses and continue worshipping thus, you shall have a day of regret... it will not be good if we have to knock on your doors."

A comment left on this blog also draws attention to the mixture of bribery and threats with which the Dalai Lama tries to make Trijang Choktrul give up his practice of Dorje Shugden, some of which we will repeat here. In their last meeting in Europe, in Graz, Austria, in 2003, the Dalai Lama stated:

“If you give up this deity, myself and all Tibetan people will appreciate it very much and our protector Nechung will take care of you and make you more successful and famous than ever. If you do not give up this deity, then your monastic career, like receiving the full monk’s ordination and taking Geshe examinations will not be possible. So I leave it to your judgement.”

For more of the Dalai Lama’s own words, see in the Dalai Lama's words.

Al Jazeera Top Story -- Revisits Court Case against the Dalai Lama

Al Jazeera’s People and Power has named ‘The Dalai Lama: The Devil Within’ one of their top two stories of 2008. As a result, Al Jazeera is now featuring it again.



The reporter has added at the end of the updated report:

"The case against the Dalai Lama is still with the courts. We hope to bring you an update later in the year."

As the lawyer for the persecuted Shugden practitioners, Shree Sanjay Jain, explains:

"It is certainly a case of religious discrimination in the sense that if within your sect of religion you say that this particular Deity ought not to be worshipped, and those persons who are willing to worship him you are trying to excommunicate them from the main stream of Buddhism, then it is a discrimination of worst kind."

Al Jazeera adds:

"No matter what the outcome of the court case, in a country where millions of idols are worshipped, attempting to ban the Deity is an uphill battle. One in which many Buddhist monks have lost their faith in the spirit of the Dalai Lama."

For a full transcript, see Al Jazeera News Documentary, October 2008.

The Scapegoating of Dorje Shugden and Dorje Shugden Practitioners

In a recent letter, taking up many pages, Shugden (‘Dholgyal’) is once again blamed for Tibet’s religious and political problems:

Dharamshala, Edition 205, December 3, 2008

The warning that overpowers the dark side of the Three Realms, the self-voice of truth that reveals nakedly the self-embarrassment of the enemy who ambushes Tibetan religion and politics!

Written by some interested persons including Thupten Choepel

With our own eyes, we are observing a matter of life and death, where Tibetan religion and policies, including Tibetan nationals, are on the verge of extinction. This gloomy predicament has not occurred without a cause, nor was it simply due to the invasion by China. It is also not that there is lack of sufficient instruction from qualified gurus and deities, nor something that has taken place suddenly. This is a repercussion of negligence, backward, and many unfavorable conditions in many ways – the most serious of which is the Dholgyal issue… I view that China, Dholgyal, and Dholgyal society are equal in creating obstacles to Tibetan religion and politics.

Which brings us to a series of articles called "The Buddhist Witch", whose author has presented theory and research into how a witch-naming, scapegoating psychology has enabled the superstitious persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners (induced by the actions of the Dalai Lama). Judging by the comments, people have found these articles thought-provoking, so we include some extracts here. If you are interested, please go to the original blog.

The Buddhist witch: Part one

... it is still apparent to me that there are enormous parallels between the naming and shaming of Shugdenites, particularly in India’s exiled Tibetan community, and the naming and shaming of so-called witchcraft practitioners all over the world.

The Buddhist witch: Part two

Well, let’s remove the Shugden scenario from its current political and religious context and examine it in stark academic terms. The fact is, once you’re familiar with examples of witch persecution around the world, the similarity with the kind of social ostracism and persecution that’s being visited on Shugden practitioners in the Exiled Tibetan Community in India, and indeed in the West too, becomes all too apparent.

Like ‘witches’, Shugdenites are accused of conducting harmful practices. In the language used, the nature of this harm is often vague, but it includes a general harm against other practitioners and against unwitting Shugden worshippers too. And just as with accusations against so-called ‘witches’, actual proof of this harm is rather scant. In fact, there is none. Not even the most ardent detractors of Shugden worship have been able to show any tangible evidence of the harmful and destructive nature of Shugden practice…

Like ordinary witchcraft trials the world over, no evidence has been needed to confirm the guilt of Shugden worshippers in perpetuating what is considered a harmful practice . With witch persecution, the effectiveness of the accusation has never depended on actual or reliable evidence. The same is the case here. For the most part, the claim of harmful practice against Shugdenites is reliant on hearsay and hypothesis, and the same would be true at any witch trial. It is given authority by numerous lamas, including the Dalai Lama, just as once inquisitors and sometimes even the Pope lent weight and authority to allegations of witchcraft and heresy…

And like those accused of being witches elsewhere, Shugdenites are currently being shunned within their communities. More than that, this ostracism is completely socially acceptable to most constituents of those communities.

The Buddhist witch: Part three

Witchcraft cannot be proven. Indeed, no proof is required. The success of any accusation relies entirely on whether or not the accusation can gain popular sanction. This is the basis of another theory: status degradation. If the accuser is able to convince the community that the person he or she has accused really is a witch, then he or she will have managed to reduce the status of that person in the eyes of everyone else. Moreover, they will have elevated their own status considerably….

I think it’s certainly pertinent that the Dalai Lama did not begin his campaign against Shugden in earnest until many of the most influential Shugden practitioners had died or had passed from influence….

It is an interesting fact that it’s taken over 10 years for Shugden to surface as a human rights issue within any degree of credibility. The impregnable reputation and status the Dalai Lama has enjoyed has ensured that the issue has never received popular sanction. And the vilification of proponents of Shugden has ensured that their case has not, until recently, been properly aired.

Moreover, as a consequence of the ban on Shugden, and the claims levelled against Shugden as a practice, lamas such as Trijang Rinpoche and Phabongka Rimpoche, who once enjoyed great status, are now discredited and even widely despised.

The Buddhist witch: Part four

The traitor within the gates: The underlying thesis of this theory is that, in the view of the persecutors, witches can be likened to traitors. It identifies the fact that, in social terms, witches are not generally viewed as an external threat. They are almost always people known to the accusers, and close to them. In truth, in most communities, the witches identified are usually neighbours, friends or family members – not strangers. So they are ‘within the gates’, operating within the confines of the community, part of the fold. And this makes the malicious acts attributed to them even more reprehensible. After all, there’s nothing more despicable than betrayal. And nothing inspires fear quite like the suspicion that someone close to you is out to get you.

Of course, the acts of treachery ascribed to witches are as invisible as they are harmful. And this makes the perceived breach of faith that much more acute….

…. In Dorje Shugden and his practitioners, Tibetans have been able to find the cause for a host of misfortunes that afflict them- from cattle disease to inexplicable deaths.

….. Tibet has found its scapegoats. And so has international Tibetan Buddhism.

The Buddhist witch: Part five

Where a cause to something is not evident, it is readily created. This is the real psychology behind witch naming. It is born from fear. And it is universal.

In many ways, the Yellow Book seems to be where much of the current conflict started. It’s a book of stories. Or, I should say, it’s a catalogue of misfortunes. The same sort of misfortunes I became familiar with in stories relating to witch naming in African, European, North American, Asian and Pacific accounts. Something bad happens, something supernatural is attributed as the cause. This is the pattern…

When you look at the stories above, there is nothing remarkable about the cause of death. These are ordinary deaths, by all accounts. Falling on a bicycle spoke is unfortunate, but it’s not unfathomable, and neither is it mysterious. Well, of course, neither is getting hit by lightning. Neither are any of the multitude of misfortunes generally attributed to witches….

How come these far-fetched accounts seem to have had such a big impact on the Dalai Lama, on lamas in other schools, and on ordinary Tibetans?

The Buddhist witch: Part six

“The danger of Dorje Shugden practice is that it can cause Buddhism to degenerate into a form of spirit worship.”

The above statement by the Dalai Lama was used to explain his stance on Dorje Shugden practice during the first demonstrations on the ban in the late 1990s. It is something he has reiterated several times in 2008 during the most recent demonstrations.

For those who are aware that the Dalai Lama himself is involved in various forms of spiritism, this has often been a source of tremendous bemusement. That involvement includes personally consulting the Nechung oracle on numerous issues, the nature of Dorje Shugden being just one of those issues…

The Buddhist witch: Conclusion

In Australia in 2008, when members of the Western Shugden Society protested against the Dalai Lama outside Sydney’s Olympic Park, a TV reporter asked a Tibetan supporter of the Dalai Lama what all the fuss was about. Her response was insightful. She said she didn’t really know much about the protesters, but she suspected they practiced some kind of Tibetan witchcraft. These were the words she used. They were in English. Nothing was lost in the translation.

In New York a month or two later, during the most dramatic moment of the protests by far, WSS demonstrators were surrounded by a highly energised and volatile crowd of Tibetan Dalai Lama supporters. I watched footage of the event online later. The most striking thing for me were the many Tibetan women waving their aprons at the protesters. This is a gesture Tibetans use to ward off spirits.

Of course, there was another common reaction that day. Many people waved money, or threw coins at the protesters, indicating that they had been bought off by the Chinese. In other words, they were treacherous. There were perfidious violators of trust. Like witches everywhere, they were traitors within the gates, and objects of utter contempt.

There is a great deal of evidence to support the points I’ve been making in this series - that supporters of Shugden are indeed the ‘witches’ of Tibetan Buddhism. They are the scapegoats of the Tibetan predicament. …

Ironically, China then is not the real problem. The real problem is Shugden. China’s invasion is just the natural consequence of the evil of Shugden worship. Though karma is invoked here, the parallel to accusations of witchcraft elsewhere couldn’t be clearer.