Dorje Shugden practitioners are still discriminated against

It's sad to report that Dorje Shugden practitioners are still being discriminated against by the Tibetan public.  The evidence comes from a recent blog post, 'The Bad Boys of Buddhism'.  The writer is J.D. Lewis, an accomplished actor and playwright who has featured in such programmes as 'Friends' and 'Suddenly Susan'.  He has also established a well respected actors coaching  school called 'The Actor's Lab' in Los Angeles.

J.D reports discrimination in the shops around Shar Gaden monastery:

In this isolated area of south-central India where an entire community of monks live, there is a great divide. As I walk down the street with my friend, Losang Tenpa, or as the boys and I call him, Monk Duke, he is glared at and in certain shops, they even refuse to serve him.

J.D. continues later:

Over the last few years, words have been spoken, rocks have been thrown and most disturbing, great walls built around each of the many monasteries in the area. What’s wild is that, after the split, the properties here were allotted in a strange way so that some of Shar Gaden’s building are surrounding by building gained by the other monasteries that have issue with this group, making it an uncomfortable and tense living situation. 

As an experiment the other day, Monk Duke and I visited a local store famous for not serving Shar Gaden monks. I went in and smiled, bought some flip flops for Buck, and then Duke came in to buy some incense. They wouldn’t even look up at him. So I piped in, “Hey, how much for the incense?” … they replied, “Forty Rupies”, and then I said, “I’ll pay for it.” They then smiled, took my money and when we went to leave, the man behind the counter and Monk Duke exchanged a smile. I felt like it was one step closer to Nirvana and I had done my small part to bridge a chasm between the two factions. Who knows… that simple meeting of the minds could have been the beginning of the reunification of the Tibetan Buddhist Federation. Or maybe not… I think it’s going to take more than a westerner’s smile to sort things out here. I’m thinking of coming back next year and shooting a documentary on the subject.

Let's hope that J.D. Lewis does indeed come back to this troubled part of India to shoot his documentary - the monks of Shar Gaden could do with a little high profile support to highlight their plight and to put pressure on the Dalai Lama to reverse his policy of discrimination and ostracism against Shugden practitioners, which is against Buddhism.

The Dalai Lama's Secret Life -- now available as a free eBook

 
A Great Deception, explaining the secret life of the 14th Dalai Lama, is now available as a free eBook on the Western Shugden Society website.

Wherever you stand on the issue of the Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden, or the Dalai Lama and other controversies, this book is certainly worth reading. It is well-researched and contains a great deal of documentation from third-party sources.

There is also a letter that is being sent along with the paperback version of A Great Deception to people around the world. 

Read the Open Letter to Everyone
Read the Open Letter to British Political Leaders

What is in the book

This book shows that the Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden is the manifestation of Je Tsongkhapa, who is the embodiment of the wisdom of all Buddhas. It also brings to light the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso's actions in banning this traditional spiritual practice and causing its followers to be persecuted.

It also highlights other controversies, including the mixture of church and state for political and personal ends, the Dudjom Rinpoche affair, the assassination of Gungtang Tsultrim, the Karmapa affair, the politics of the Kalachakra initiations, the defamation of revered Buddhist masters, the Dalai Lama's being on the payroll of the CIA, the Dalai Lama's involvement with Tibetan Guerillas and the Tibetan arms trade, the attempted coup in Bhutan, the Dalai Lama's fascination with Nazism, the friendship with Shoko Asahara, the strange and somewhat sordid history of all the Dalai Lamas, and how the Dalai Lama really "won" the Nobel Peace Prize.

From the Preface:

The purpose of this book is to achieve the following four aims:

• to liberate millions of innocent practitioners of the Buddhist Deity Dorje Shugden and their families from suffering;
• to restore peace and harmony between Shugden and non-Shugden practitioners;
• to re-establish the common spiritual activities of Shugden and non-Shugden practitioners; and
• to free Buddhism from political pollution.

Achieving these aims depends solely upon whether the present Dalai Lama will accept the four points set out at the conclusion of Chapter 4 of this book.

The Dalai Lama wishes to ban Shugden worship in general; and in particular to remove Tibetan Shugden worshippers from their communities, and Western Shugden worshippers from the international Buddhist community. Since 1996 the Tibetan exile government has continually applied effort to fulfil these wishes. In February 2008 alone, 900 monks who are Shugden practitioners were expelled from their monasteries in India.

In 1996 the Tibetan exile government publicly decreed to the Tibetan communities of each country, including Tibet, that Shugden practitioners were their national enemies and were against the Dalai Lama's wishes. The decree stated that unless Shugden practitioners promised to stop Shugden worship they would not receive any official position or job, nor any help or support, even medical assistance, either from the Tibetan exile government or from individual members of the Tibetan community. Further, any connection at all with Shugden practitioners should be cut. Children of Shugden practitioners were no longer permitted to attend Tibetan schools, and Shugden practitioners themselves could not join community meetings, social events and so forth....

(... and the situation has gone from bad to worse.)

Download the free eBook today to find out more.

Help stop discrimination against Dorje Shugden devotees seeking asylum

Discrimination toward a devotee of Dorje Shugden
at the Indian Embassy in Nepal

Please write to Indian Authorities using the information below,
in a language that is simple, clear, and well mannered, avoiding harsh language against the Dalai Lama or Tibetan Government in Exile that would offend the authorities, who, in India, if addressed with proper protocol and manners,
are very helpful.
Thank you.

(Please note, we have added some sample letters below in the comments section, written and sent by followers of this blog. Please feel free to put your letter here too to help others compose theirs. Thank you.)

The following incident took place in Kathmandu, Nepal. On June 3, this year 2010, 14 newcomers from Tibet went to the Indian Embassy to obtain Entry Permits, which allows them to seek asylum in India. All but one of those newcomers received a permit. The asylum seeker whose Entry Permit was refused is Jampa Gyaltsen, 18 years old.

Jampa is a devotee of Dorje Shugden. He came to Nepal to join Serpom monastery and to study Buddhism in India.

Tibetan refugees go to Tibetan Reception Centre, and through this centre they apply for an Entry Permit. In view of the consistent discrimination and abuses faced by devotees, there is a strong misgiving that the Tibetan Refugee Reception Center was behind the rejection. They might have provided a note which triggered the rejection of the permit for Jampa.

This obviously indicates that the Tibetan Government in Exile tries to stop Shugden devotees coming to India. They wish the Shugden monasteries to dry up and vanish. And the Tibetan Government in Exile have attempted several times to stop Shugden devotees coming to India from Tibet.

We have a growing concern about Tibetan refugees (who are associated with the Deity Dorje Shugden) who might face the same fate in future, unless the rejection is revoked and he is issued the permit.

It would be very helpful if each of you wrote to the following authorities with a request and a prayer to ensure that no Shugden devotee has to experience discrimination because of their religious faith, as well as to provide an entry permit to Jampa Gyaltsen.

1) External Affairs Minister
S.M. Krishna
Fax : 0091 11 23013254 / 23011463
Email : eam@mea.gov.in
http://meaindia.nic.in/
2) Foreign Secretary
Smt. Nirupama Rao
Fax : 0091 11 23016781
Email : dirfs@mea.gov.in; psfs@mea.gov.in
3) THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
P.CHIDAMBARAM
HOME MINISTER
Email : hm@nic.in
http://mha.nic.in
Fax : 0091 11 23092462
4) HOME SECRETARY
Gopal K. Pillai
Fax : 0091 11 23093003
Nepal Indian embassy
5) Sh. Rakesh Sood
Ambassador
http://www.indianembassy.org.np/embassy.php
Email : amb@eoiktm.org
Fax: 00977 1 4420130
6) UNHCR IN NEPAL
Stephane Jaquemet
Representative
Anil Kuti, Maharajgunj,
Kathmandu, P.O.Box 2374 ,
Nepal.
Fax : 977-1 4412853
Email : nepka@unhcr.org
Website : http://www.unhcr.org

Dalai Lama found guilty of persecution by High Court

We have recently received an update regarding the court case against the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile over their persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners and their breaking of the Indian Deity discrimination law.

There was a hearing on the Dorje Shugden case on the 14th of September at the High Court in Delhi. This was the 3rd hearing, which was convened to examine the written response from the Dalai Lama's representatives to the allegations of Deity discrimination and religious discrimination against Dorje Shugden practitioners. This is nine and a half months after that response was received by the Court.

The Judge dismissed the Dalai Lama's arguments as unconvincing, further asserting that there was sufficient documentary evidence to prove that the Dalai Lama was in fact persecuting followers of the deity Dorje Shugden and that this would have to cease henceforth. The decision was made to issue a warning to the Dalai Lama to stop the persecution. The Judge declared that punitive measures would be initiated if the Dalai Lama refused to comply.

A commentator remarked:

"Apparently, Dharamsala is mysteriously silent, and this is not new! They are probably contemplating on the next course of action--whatever it may be. It is possible that they may contemplate peaceful and violent means--or, on the contrary behave as if nothing has happened!"

Postscript: It's worth noting that, although the Western Shugden Society has stopped its protests against the Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama has not stopped trying to destroy the practice of Dorje Shugden. He recently spoke out against relying on the Deity in his Medicine Buddha empowerment in Long Beach, California and during his visit to Washington, where he spoke directly to Tibetans about the issue. This is yet more evidence that the Dalai Lama is engaging in actions of religious discrimination, something he now legally has to stop in India.