The Legends of the Dalai Lama -- Die Weltwoche Article

Taken from a major Swiss publication Die Weltwoche, with extracts translated from the German. The whole article can be found here:

Die Weltwoche
Die Legenden des Dalai Lama
04.03.2009

The Legends of the Dalai Lama

March 10 this year will see the 50th anniversary of the uprising of the Tibetan people against China. In the West, the spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is worshipped like a pop star. Strange. The normally romanticized theocracy was a corrupt feudal system that enslaved its subjects.

By David Signer

Recently, in the context of his most recent trip to Europe, the Dalai Lama could receive the German Media Award in Baden-Baden, which has previously been granted to celebrities such as Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton or Bono. On March 10 fifty years ago, the Tibetans rose up against the Chinese hegemony. And it is seventy years since a little farmer's boy became 'His Holiness'.

In winter 1937/38 [the common story of recognition follows].

Everybody loves the now 73-year-old Dalai Lama, and in particular have done so since 1998 when Martin Scorsese brought his autobiography called 'Kundun' into our cinemas. From Richard Gere through to Brad Pitt, from Patti Smith through to Peter Maffay, from Dolly Buster to Robbie Williams: everyone worships the non-stop world jet-setting spiritual leader of the Tibetans. When the Dalai Lama came to Switzerland three years ago, during his eight day visit 30,000 people went onto a pilgrimage to the Zurich stadium to see him. And as is clear with the idolization of the Dalai Lama, whom even people who are not normally fond of personality cults, call 'His Holiness', the same is true for Tibet. There is a common agreement that, before the Chinese marched in, this mountainous region was a paradise of meditating monks and happy farmers living in the midst of splendid mountain scenery -- and that it would be again if it were not for the evil occupiers.

The reality is that until fifty years ago Tibet was a clerical-feudal tyranny. The truth is that a lot of the widespread common knowledge about the country is just wishful thinking. There are also dark sides to the biography of the Dalai Lama, and a lot of obscure stuff is mixed in with the esoteric Lamaism Schwärmerei (excessive sentimentality). However, since there is only little journalism on site, it is not easy to find the truth within the jungle of exile Tibetan and Chinese propaganda.

[Now follows some historical background and how the Dalai Lama, once recognized, lived until his escape.]

In the Dalai Lama's autobiography, however, it sounds like paradise when he mentally travels back to the Tibet of his youth: "No one needs to make too much of an effort in order to earn his living. Existence happens on its own and everything works wonderfully." Accordingly, during his reign, he did not make any effort to reform the country, apart from stopping the legal heritage of tax debts. The fact that political decisions are based upon oracles and astrology is no problem for him, who normally pretends to be democratic and progressive. Even though in his 'five point peace plan' he demands 'respect for the democratic freedoms of the Tibetan people', he himself has not tried until today, not even within the exile communities, to be democratically legitimized. Self-evidently he pretends to be the wholistic leader of the Tibetans, even though, strictly speaking, he is not even the spiritual representative of the whole of Tibet. He is merely the head of the Gelugpa order, the so called Yellow Hats, whose claim for leadership he has been trying to pursue for decades. These contradictions are also true for his ecological engagement. On the one hand, he demands to transform Tibet into a kind of natural reserve park and uses every opportunity to demand more ecological thinking in accordance with Mother Nature. On the other hand, from the first days of his exile onwards, at his seat in Dharamsala, the litter keeps being piled up simply on a large waste dump.

[Some stuff on the 1950’s in Tibet.]

While the Dalai Lama and his entourage went into exile to Dharamsala in India, the Cultural Revolution raged in Tibet. Between 1966 and 1976, thousands of monasteries and cultural monuments were destroyed. Switzerland was the first European country which, in 1961, accepted Tibetan refugees and offered them accommodation and work in Rikon. In 1967, the monastic Tibet Institute was opened. The information from the Dalai Lama and Tibet supporters is often not credible with regards to the Chinese occupancy. Very often it is not mentioned that in the meantime approximately half of the monasteries have been restored and are running again. Also, since the mid-nineties, you can no longer claim that there is a ban on the monastic system. If the Dalai Lama is asked about these things he replies that the monasteries have only been rebuilt for the sake of tourists; thus the Chinese are said to have no interest in maintaining the traditional culture but to re-install it as exotic backdrop and in this way it is being doomed even more. One limitation however has been enforced, undoubtedly against the will of the Dalai Lama: no more children can enter the monasteries. Also in his autobiography, 'His Holiness' claims that, due to resettlement programmes, the Chinese proportion of the population overrides the Tibetans. According to the disputed census in 2000, the proportion of Chinese people within the Tibetan Autonomous Region is 6.1%, with the highest proportion, 17%, being in Lhasa. Again and again the claim has been spread that 1.2 million Tibetans had become victims of Chinese terror, in other words a full fifth of the population. Official statements from Dharamsala even sometimes say that all of these have been Tibetan prisoners who were victims of torture or executions, and very often Chinese concentration camps are mentioned. Without doubt, China is far away from regular constitutional affairs; however the charge of systematic, lethal torture of thousands -- as indicated by the term 'concentration camp' -- is hardly plausible.

Esoteric argy bargy

Towards the end of the 1980s there were again riots in Tibet, and in December 1989 the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Price. About one year before that he became friends with the Japanese Shoko Asahara, who ran a 'spiritual community' with several thousand followers near Tokyo. According to the researches of the publisher Colin Goldner, Ashara visited with the Dalai Lama several times in 1988. This community with their 'appreciated aims and activities' (said the Dalai Lama) was 'Aum', one of the most dangerous and totalitarian cults ever, which performed the Tokyo subway poison attacks in March 1995. The Japanese authorities had been patient with the megalomaniac Guru, despite all warnings, possibly due to the protecting hands of the Dalai Lama. When the Centres after the Sarin attack were finally searched, there were deposits of chemical and other weapons which could have killed millions of people at once. The Dalai Lama however could not even find one single word of regret. Even as late as Summer 1995, when at the Peace University in Berlin, he stated that he would recognize Asahara as a 'friend, even though not necessarily an unmistaken one'.

Also the so-called 'Shugden affair' gives rise to doubts about the much-praised wisdom of the Dalai Lama. In Summer 1996, upon the advice of his state oracle, he banned the worship of the protector Deity Dorje Shugden for his people. A number of abbots and monks protested against this ban. They accused the Dalai Lama of violating religious freedom, who reacted to this insubordination by systematic searches of houses and monasteries in the exile community. Shugden statues were destroyed and renitent monks bashed and beaten. Supporter committees even claimed that the Shugden movement was hand in glove with China.

[Mentions the triple murder. More information about that can be found here: Defamatory accusations of murder repeated over and over again for ten years]

Monks armed with iron bars

Generally, the riots before the Olympic Games were presented by the Western media in a way that they fitted into the image of 'peace-loving Tibetans'’ -- either any violence was supposedly coming from the side of the Chinese, or, if not, claims were made to the effect that Tibetan protesters had only acted in self-defence. Footage documentation and reports from eye-witnesses however give evidence of how monks armed with iron bars and bats went marauding through the historic quarter of town. Buses and cars were pushed over and set on fire, and Chinese shops and houses were pillaged. Molotov cocktails were even thrown into kindergartens, schools and hospitals. The Dalai Lama later claimed that the monks had been Chinese soldiers in disguise. This is because, by definition, Tibetans are non-violent. Around the world, demonstrations of solidarity took place.

[The rest is about the Dalai Lama’s right-wing tendencies and the stories about the liaisons between Tibetans and the Nazis and how the Tibetan regent wrote a letter to 'King Hitler'. The final paragraph is on the question why it is that the Dalai Lama is so popular in the West in spite of all the facts mentioned; and the main conclusion is that it is because Westerners are so naive.]

The story of 16 young Tibetan refugees in Nepal and India

Testimony of Lobsang Tsultrim, Tibetan Refugee

My name is Lobsang Tsultrim. I am from Gyaltang province - Yunan in Chinese - in Tibet. July 16, 2007 was the date I arrived at the Tibetan Reception Center (TRC) in Kathmandu, Nepal. Upon our arrival at the TRC, we rejoiced as though we were home and we felt secure and at ease, meeting fellow Tibetans there. However, that feeling abruptly ended when we were interviewed by the Head of the TRC.

"Do you have a Chinese passport?” the Head asked. “We have no Chinese passport,” we replied. He laughed and yelled: “Tell me honestly. If you don't have a Chinese passport, which way did you take to come down to Nepal?” I responded that I really didn't have a passport and that we gave money to a guide to help us cross the border. He then asked which monastery we were going to, and I told him Sera Mey monastery. He further inquired which Khamtsen (monastic section) I would join and I told him Pomra Khamtsen.

He clearly disliked my answer and began speaking badly to me. I was confused about what had gone wrong. I figured out that he was angry because Pomra Khamtsen practices Dorje Shugden.

I then was escorted to Room no. 5, where I gave an interview again. The staff asked my name, my parents’ names and my fatherland, and I answered them. They also asked the monastery and monastic section (Khamtsen) of my choice. I said I would go to join Pomra Khamtsen at Sera Mey. I was then asked if I worship Dorje Shugden, and I replied that I do.

I was then told that I would have to sign a statement renouncing my faith and practice in Dorje Shugden if I wanted to go to Pomra Khamtsen at Sera Mey.

I appealed to him not to force me to sign.

The staff member conducting this phase of the interview said:

"You are a Chinese spy. You dislike the Dalai Lama. If you worship Shugden, you are against the Dalai Lama.”

I denied those allegations, saying that the Dalai Lama is the spiritual master of Tibet and he is also my guru. Dorje Shugden is a Deity who is worshipped by our monastery and our province and our family.

I was pushed again regarding my reasons for refusing to sign the statement renouncing Dorje Shugden. And I repeated my earlier statement that the Deity Dorje Shugden is worshipped by our monastery and province, and that my family also has worshiped the Deity for several generations. I strenuously denied that my worship of Dorje Shugden meant I disliked the Dalai Lama. I begged him to have sympathy for me and not force me to give up my religious faith.

I was then told that I needed to think carefully about this matter, as there was no way I would be admitted to the monastery if I didn’t sign. He refused to give me a reference letter, which would have stated that my admission to Sera Mey was sanctioned by the Dalai Lama and the Kalon Tripa, head of the Tibetan cabinet.

Our purpose in risking escape from Tibet was to have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to join the monastery where we could study Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. We had no purpose apart from that.

We stayed for two months in Kathmandu without getting a reference letter from the TRC.

We are grieving.

The delegates from Pomra Khamtsen, Dhokhang Khamtsen, Shugden devotees and the Nepali government provided us help. The ministry of Nepali Home Affairs sent a notice to the UNHCR and the TRC not to engage in discrimination. The UNHCR then asked the TRC not to provide any letter to newcomers from Tibet. We left Kathmandu on July 12, 2007.

Even after we left the TRC, we were harassed. Before boarding a bus to Delhi, the head of the TRC and his staff searched our bags -- stealing our new things and leaving only those items that were second-hand. The items they took were clothes and tins of meat we needed for our journey.

Their behavior shocked us. What could we do? Our eyes filled with tears.

Instead of Tibetans helping Tibetans, they repressed and robbed us. They maltreated and discriminated against us because we worship Dorje Shugden. We felt that Shugden devotees in India suffered more than us. We then left.

On July 14, 2007, we arrived at the TRC located at Budh Vihar in Delhi. We sojourned there for approximately 10 hours. We were then sent to Dharamsala by bus. On July 15, in the morning, we arrived at Dharamsala and went to the TRC there. As soon as we arrived at the center, a staff said:

"We all are Tibetans. We all should maintain harmony and unity. And we must obey the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

He said further things we didn't understand because of differences in our dialects. Then he showed us our beds, gave us each plates and spoons, and collected Rs.150 from each of us. We were served breakfast of rice noodles and egg. After breakfast, our names were collected. For three days no one was called for interview.

A staff member (whose height was 5.5 and whose age was around 25) wrote down my name and that of Tsering Norbu, who is 14 years old. He said we needed to go somewhere else. I asked him where we needed to go, but he said nothing. As we do not speak the Lhasa dialect, communication was difficult. We asked the staff person to call a monk we knew from Sera Mey. We gave him the number and asked him to call on his mobile, but he did not do this, saying that the number didn’t work. He then took us to a two-story building. There was one Indian, a nun and three other men including the person who brought us here. The Indian didn't ask any questions.

The interrogation went as follows:

Department: "Which Deity does your monastery worship?"
Lobsang: "Our monastery worships the Deity Dorje Shugden."
Department: "If so, do you worship the Dalai Lama?"
Lobsang: "We worship Dorje Shugden as a Deity and the Dalai Lama as a Guru. Not only that, I brought a photo of the Dalai Lama. "
Department: "It is said that the photo was not allowed."
Lobsang: "As we have faith and belief, we keep the photo in our pocket."
Department: "If you worship Shugden, you are against the Dalai Lama. If you worship Shugden, you can't worship the Dalai Lama. You must choose one or the other."
Lobsang: "From generation to generation we have worshipped both the Dalai Lama and Shugden. Therefore we cannot choose between them, as I mentioned earlier."

They had a discussion among themselves and then told us to leave. We returned to the TRC. The next day, each of us was questioned by the TRC.

Interrogator: "What is your name, province and monastery?"
Lobsang: "My monastery is Gyaltang Songtsen Ling."
Interrogator: "How many monks are there in your monastery? Do they worship Shugden?"
Lobsang: "Our monastery has over eight hundred monks. They worship Shugden."
Interrogator: "Is the main statue of your monastery Lama Tsongkhapa or Guru Padmasambhawa?"
Lobsang: "The main statue is Tsongkhapa (the founder of the Gelug Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism)."
Interrogator: "Which monastic section of the monastery are you going to?"
Lobsang: "I am going to Pomra Khamtsen."
Interrogator: "If you are going to a monastery, you must sign that you never worship Shugden. You cannot go if you do not sign. This is in accordance with the Dalai Lama’s direction and the Kashag’s (Tibetan cabinet) order. We didn't formulate this policy. Therefore, you cannot have a reference letter. If you want to go to a school, there is no objection. But you cannot go to a monastery as long as you worship Dorje Shugden. So you must think well. I have no options for you."

A few days later, we were told not to stay in the TRC. We said we would leave the TRC if they gave us the reference letter, but that without a letter we had nowhere to go. A staff person threatened that if we didn’t leave the police would beat us and put us in prison. On September 20, the TRC stopped giving us meals and blankets; we were put in a empty room in the roof. We felt cold and hungry for the first time in our lives.

The staff again told us that we couldn’t stay at the TRC and would have to leave soon. We again asked them to give us the letter; they replied that they would not provide it if we didn’t sign a statement renouncing Dorje Shugden. We responded by saying that if they didn’t have the authority to provide a letter, let us meet Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche.

Then Lobsang Norbu and I were brought to the office of the Tibetan Cabinet. We didn't meet the Kalon Tripa. However, there was a young man in the Cabinet Office. We gave him our petition and returned.

“You can't stay here more than three days”, the TRC staff told us, “and you had better discuss this.” We repeated that we would go if they provided us with a letter; otherwise, we had nowhere to go. The next day we approached the Cabinet Office. After waiting a few minutes, Kalon Tripa and five or six men came together. We got up to show our respect. Kalon asked us our names and what was the matter. We said, “Rinpoche, please give us a letter of reference so that we can join the monastery.”

Kalon Samdhong responded:

“If you don’t sign declaring that you will stop worshipping Shugden, there is no way to send you to the monastery. It is better for you go back to Tibet. You’ll have to get the money for the journey”.

His response really hurt our hearts. He had no regard for us, as was evidenced by his words. Heartbroken, we returned to the TRC.

We continued to be threatened and harassed by the TRC staff, who told us they didn’t know when the police would be coming to arrest us and that we should leave as soon as possible.

On September 22, the police did come to the TRC and told us to leave Dharamshala as soon as possible or we would be imprisoned. The TRC and the police forced us to give two different signatures, declaring that: (1) we are leaving Dharamshala, and (2) we will go back to Tibet.

When I refused to sign, the police beat me with a stick. Lobsang Tseten got slapped.

They continued to interrogate us and told us again that we must sign the statement that we were returning to Tibet. The said our refusal to sign would result in our being booked into jail, and that those of us under the age of sixteen would be taken to a different facility.

The TRC staff informed us that the police gave us one week to leave or else we would be imprisoned. This was heartbreaking beyond belief. Our parents sent us to study Tibetan Buddhism and philosophy. To this end, we risked our lives to escape. We risked everything for this, but we journeyed to a free country only to have our own people persecute us—Tibetans, who always talk about peace, love and compassion for all living beings.

Again we were brought to the police station. We stayed there without food and drink for one day and were brought back to the TRC in the evening. The TRC staff said it was definite that the police would arrest us if we didn’t leave as soon as possible. We were young newcomers who were ignorant about this place and system, and had difficulty communicating. Given the situation and our experiences of the previous six months, it was clear we were trapped and that we should leave for the time being. Our hope was that we would have recourse with the Indian government to investigate our case and protect us.

We are deeply grateful to the Government of India for providing us asylum as Tibetan refugees. It is certain that the Tibetan Administration exiled in Dharamasala would not, even if they had the authority, give us refugee status.

(Background to these disturbing events can be found here.)

Al Jazeera News Documentary Video on Dalai Lama's ban ~ Transcript

View source material.

Here is a full transcript of the recent footage on Al Jazeera, called The Dalai Lama: the devil within.

Hello and welcome back.

The Dalai Lama is revered as a hero by his people and respected worldwide for his peaceful philosophy. But a number of exiled Tibetan Buddhists living in India no longer believe in his leadership. They are accusing him of religious discrimination.

At the heart of this dispute lies a Buddhist Deity Shugden. Considered a god by some and a demon by others.

The Dalai Lama has banned worship of Shugden. In May, 400 monks were thrown out of monasteries because of their religious beliefs and Shugden worshippers have been shunned by other Tibetan Buddhists.

On the streets of the Tibetan refugee camp of Bylakuppe in southern India, Delek

Tong, a Shugden worshipping Buddhist monk, is no longer welcome. 

(Delek Tong) "Look at this, it says: 'No Shugden worshippers allowed.'"

"Hi, I worship Shugden, can I come in?"

"No, I am sorry, I don't want you or any Shugdens in my shop."

The Dalai Lama has asked the Tibetan community to stop the worship of the 400 year old Deity Shugden.

"When you followed the Dalai Lama's advice, did you not forget that us Shugden are also Tibetans like you?"

What this means in practice is that Delek Tong cannot walk into this shop because of his religious beliefs.

(Shopkeeper)

"I have taken an oath and I won't have anything to do with the Shugden poeple who are doing bad things for the Tibetan cause. I won't do anything he says. But he is telling the truth. I'm not a person who just blindly believes someone. I believe someone who is telling the truth. Here Dalai Lama always tells the truth."

(Another monk) "What do you think you are doing? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? We are both Tibetan monks. The Dalai Lama is our only protector."

(Delek Tong) "I am not violating the teaching of Lord Buddha."

(Another monk) "You have nothing to do here. There are certain rules in worshipping idols. If you don't do it right your idol becomes the devil."

For some, Shugden is an idol that protects you from harm. For the ones that follow the teachings of the Dalai Lama, Shugden is simply a spirit that brings evil.

"This is a sensitive issue. Filming is not forbidden. But filming these Shugden people can create a lot of problems. Be careful what you say in front of the camera. We are going through a critical time."

"Can you please stop. Otherwise I'm going to break that camera. I said I'm refusing all this and you are taking again and again."

Now this Deity is at the center of the controversy. On the one hand, the Dalai Lama wants to ban it; on the other, there are more than 4 million people across the world that worship Dorje Shugden.

According to the Buddhist tradition, the deceased monk came back as a spirit and was deified by the 5th Lama. Ever since, Shugden has been revered as a Protector Deity.

The worship of Shugden is a sensitive issue that is creating tension in the exiled Tibetan community. Last January the Dalai Lama asked his community to stop the worship of the 400 year old Deity so as to end the divisions.

Dalai Lama:

"I used to worship Shugden. The spirit was very fond of me. However, I realized it was a mistake. So I stopped. Recently monasteries have fearlessly expelled Shugden monks where needed. I fully support their actions. I praise them. If monasteries find taking action hard, tell them Dalai Lama is responsible for this. Shugden followers have resorted to killing and beating people. They start fires. And tell endless lies. This is how the Shugden believe. It is not good."

For Mai and her family, Shugden remains a protector. Her family have been worshipping the Deity for generations. Because they have defied the rule of the Dalai Lama, they have been ostracized from the community.

"They have made separate rules for us. They said that no one is supposed to talk to us. And no one is supposed to have any contact with us."

"If he is really Buddha, if he's really God, he would not create so much problem. He won't give us so much trouble. If he is the Buddha, he would not give any problem to any human being."

"Dalai Lama is being unfair and selfish. He is doing his own wish."

The decision to ban the worship of Shugden was taken here in Dharamsala. Since 1960 there are 46 MPs working here to decide the affairs of Tibet and the refugees living here. This is the heart of Tibetan democracy.

“Did you debate about Shugden in parliament?”

(Tsultrim Tenzin):

"There was no argument. There was no argument. If there is some opposition then there will be argument. But there is no opposition. We do not have any doubt about Dalai Lama's decisions. We do not think he is a human being. He's a supreme human being and he is god. He's Avalokiteshvara. He has no interest of himself. He always thinks of others. Everybody is happy. In our system everybody is happy because there is full democracy. Everybody can express whatever he likes."

So why are Shugden people discriminated from the community? We asked the Prime Minister what he thought about the signs posted outside the shops.

(Samdhong Rinpoche):

"That is true. ‘Who have not disassociated the perpetrating the spirit, kindly not come in this shop.’ This is very clear. Then why should they go into that shop? That is unfair on their part. A lot of Shugden perpetrators are becoming terrorists and that they are willing to kill anybody. They are willing to beat up anybody. It is very clear that now people who are perpetrating Shugden are very close to the PRC leadership. That is clear."

Being linked to the PRC, the People's Republic of China, is the highest act of treason in the eyes of the Tibetan government in exile. 

No Shugden worshipper has ever been charged or investigated for terrorism and yet the monks that continue to worship Shugden remain victims of name and shame.

"What the posters say is that we are related to the Chinese government. We don't have anything to do with China. There is no proof, yet many people are harassing us and threatening us."

Fearing for their lives, these Shugden monks are now living in hiding in a monastery in southern India where they sought refuge after being told they must leave their monastery.

Now these monks living here in India have taken matters into their own hands. They've decided to take the Dalai Lama to court on the grounds that he is breeching their freedom of religion.

Thubten is on a campaign to gather evidence of religious discrimination. 

(Thubten:)

"Why I am here - I am working very hard for religious freedom. I fight for religious freedom. So therefore, I'm here. There is no chance to have religious freedom. If you fight for religious freedom with the Tibetan exile government, then automatically they will put your picture on the poster and everybody says, “Don't talk to them. Don't listen to them.” So therefore, we haven't any chance to tell our truth all over the world."

With the help of rebel monk Kundeling Rinpoche, they are taking the most famous ex-Shugden practitioner, the Dalai Lama himself, to court.

"So there is no democracy. The man, Dalai Lama, talks about democracy, talks about compassion, talks about dialog, talks about understanding, talks about a solution, but for us there is no solution. There is no dialog. There is no understanding. There is no compassion. Because in his perception we are not human beings. We are just evil. We are evil and we are agents of the Chinese. That is what it is. It is as simple as that."

With just a few days to go before the Dalai high court hearing, Kundeling and Thubten meet with their lawyer.

(Shree Sanjay Jain:)

"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."

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.

Earlier this month the Dalai Lama's lawyers requested a 3-month extension on the   grounds that he was ill. The case will be heard on the 9th of December and we will definitely keep you updated.

Dalai Lama destroying legacy of one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist Masters

August 5, 2008

The Dalai Lama is destroying the legacy of one of Tibet’s greatest Buddhist masters

Ganden Lachi and Shartse monasteries are situated at Mundgod in South India. In both these monasteries stands a throne for Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, the spiritual master of the Dalai Lama.

Ganden Lachi and Shartse monasteries were threatened: "You must remove these thrones or else we will not hold the great prayer festival together in Drepung monastery."
It is quite certain that the thrones will be removed forever from the monasteries in order to appease the Tibetan Government in exile and the Dalai Lama.

Many old Tibetans used to display the photo of the Dalai Lama sitting with his two masters, Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche. Nowadays, many Tibetans cover the photo of Trijang Rinpoche with another photo. They are afraid that they will be labelled "Shugden worshippers" if others merely see their photo of Trijang Rinpoche.

Tibetan Followers of the Dalai Lama Gather to Protest Against the Beijing Olympics and the Dorje Shugden Society at the Same Time!

Thousands of Tibetans from different parts of India and Nepal have gathered in New Delhi to protest against the Beijing Olympics. (To see what happened last time “peaceful” pro-Dalai Lama Tibetan monks protested against the Chinese, see Response to letter from the Australian Sangha Association.)

Many protesters have been saying amongst themselves: "Along with the protests against the Beijing Olympics, we should also attack the Dorje Shugden Society so that they will not file the writ petition in the court nor dare to protest against the Dalai Lama."

The Dorje Shugden Society has received many calls from sympathizers asking them to be cautious. The Society has alerted the Indian Government and Intelligence Agency.

Does This Remind You of the Cultural Revolution?

Also, out of jealousy, rich Tibetan families are now often denounced as "Shugden worshippers".

Posted Courtesy of the Dorje Shugden Society in New Delhi, India

Can anyone explain the Dalai Lama's stance on non-violence?

Dalai Lama's stance on non-violence: In 1996, outside a monastery in southern India, a group of pro Dalai Lama supporters (including monks) surrounded hundreds of peaceful monks who had gathered to demonstrate against the Dalai Lama's ban on the mainstream Buddhist practice of Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden.

See the chronology of persecution of Buddha Dorje Shugden practitioners for more information on events leading up to this unhappy event.



The angry mob of pro Dalai Lama supporters, including many monks, threw stones and bricks at the Dorje Shugden practitioners. 60 of them were hospitalized with serious injuries.

Dalai Lama's ban affects children

Latest Updates on the Dorje Shugden Controversy

1) Chronical of events 2008: April - July

2) Chronical of events 2008: January - March

3) Dalai Lama's acts don't match words

4) Make a donation to support the Shugden practitioners in India

5) A ban by any other name

6) What would Thomas Jefferson think of the 14th Dalai Lama?

7) The Dalai Lama and Guru Devotion Video

400 Tibetan and Western Buddhists Protest Dalai Lama at Lehigh University

Over 400 Tibetan and western Buddhist monks, nuns and other practitioners who have traveled from 16 countries are gathering this weekend to stage an impassioned protest against the Dalai Lama at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, where he is scheduled to give a five-day teaching. The demonstrators hope to bring the attention of the West to the hidden, intensive persecution by the Dalai Lama of thousands of Tibetan-exile citizens who practice a 400-year old mainstream tradition of making prayers to the Buddhist Deity Dorje Shugden.

Through his power as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile and with political motive, the Dalai Lama has imposed an aggressive, forced ban on this practice (which he himself engaged in for over 40 years), claiming these prayers harm his personal health and the cause of Tibet.

Buddhist nun Kelsang Pema, spokesperson of the Western Shugden Society (WSS), an umbrella organization made up of Shugden practitioners from many Buddhist traditions, explains:
"Since this enforced ban by the Dalai Lama is causing so much spiritual, emotional and physical harm to practitioners both in India and now in the West, and for years he has refused to engage in dialog around this issue, we have no choice but to ask for the help of fair-minded citizens of the West to rectify this inhumane action by engaging in demonstrations and discussions with the Press."

"The Dalai Lama is coming to Lehigh University to talk about love, compassion and tolerance, but the great irony is that as a political and supposed religious leader he does not practice these himself. In India, because of his personal political agenda, thousands of monks have been segregated within or expelled from monasteries without resources, supporters have been denied food and travel visas, families are being ostracized and segregated within their communities, and countless Shugden Temples and statues destroyed."

"The only aim of the WSS is to have this immoral ban lifted so that millions of innocent people throughout the world can continue with their spiritual life without harassment or fear. Should we expect any less from this supposed man of peace?"

From Press Release Web

Political reasons behind the Dalai Lama's persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners

"There will be no change in my stand. I will never revoke the ban. You are right. It will be like the Cultural Revolution. If those who do not accept the ban do not listen to my words, the situation will grow worse for them. You sit and watch. It will grow only worse for them."
The Dalai Lama to monks in India who questioned the ban

There are three key political reasons behind the Dalai Lama's ban.
1. The Dalai Lama seeks to consolidate all power under him to strengthen his hand in his negotiations with the Chinese.
2. Dorje Shugden provides a convenient scapegoat for all the problems faced by Tibetans, thus deflecting blame away from the Tibetan government in exile.
3. Persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners distracts attention away from painful concessions being made by the Dalai Lama in the negotiations with the Chinese.

The website layout has changed to make it easier to navigate, with the links now divided into sections: (1) Brief summary (2) The Dalai Lama's position (3) Why is this happening? (4) Efforts to restore religious freedom (5) Analysis of situation (6) Evidence and first-hand accounts (7) Ongoing persecution 2008.

Do drop in and take a look.

Religious Persecution by the Dalai Lama

Disputing Pico Iyer's version of events regarding the Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden

Setting the record straight on Pico Iyer's book, Open Road, The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

In a few postings on this blog, we shall examine some of the statements about the Dorje Shugden and the Dalai Lama included in Pico Iyer's book, which are at best incorrect hearsay and at worst irresponsible lies.

First the same old calumny about the murders:

The Murder of Lobsang Gyatso, the Director of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics

From p 60:

He stands, for every Tibetan and Tibetan Buddhist (those in Mongolia, say, and now Korea and Taiwan and elsewhere, too), as a visible embodiment of their faith and, quite literally, a god – an incarnation of Chenrezig, deity of compassion- so beyond the common realm that Tibetans are too awestruck even to address him directly; and yet in recent years, those who propitiate a Tibetan deity called Dorje Shugden, sometimes known as Dolgyal have taken to picketing his public events because they felt he was discriminating against their particular corner of Tibetan Buddhism. Like many of the debates within the Tibetan world, this one goes back centuries, and yet, like many of them too, it is hardly and abstract or remote affair: seven years before, three members of the Dalai Lama’s private monastery, including the head of his Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, were found murdered in their beds only a couple of hundred yards away from the Dalai Lama’s home, and it was generally assumed that the killings were connected in some way with a string of bloody threats from the followers of Shugden.

“A string of bloody threats” sounds dramatic but has no basis in reality and thus is a shamefully irresponsible piece of writing. The one piece of evidence the Indian Police originally linked to the Dorje Shugden devotees, a letter in the room of the victim, was found upon translation to contain no threat whatsoever and was immediately dropped. And there were no other threats, let alone bloody ones. “Generally assuming” that someone is responsible for murder is quite an assumption! Aren't people innocent until proven guilty by dint of evidence? There simply is no evidence, which is why the Indian police dropped the case years ago. See the posting on this subject on this blog for details.

If the Dalai Lama were the deity of compassion, why would he be causing suffering to so many Dorje Shugden practitioners and eviscerating the tradition of his own teachers? One thing is certain, due to people’s blind faith in the Dalai Lama, when he insinuates that there is a connection between the murders and Dorje Shugden practitioners -- despite a complete lack of proof and the fact that the victim had many fierce enemies in Tibetan society -- people jump to believe it and this terrible allegation has been repeated ad infinitum.

Since the Dorje Shugden devotees have not engaged in any violent activity despite being persecuted and ostracized, and since they are committed to trying to change the Dalai Lama’s mind through peaceful non-violent methods, it is particularly cynical to keep repeating that they are actual murderers just in order to discredit them.

From a talk by Helmut Gassner, a Buddhist monk and the translator for the Dalai Lama for seventeen years:

The Director of the Dialectics School was well known for his slanderous writings in which he would drag through the mud anything that veered even slightly from the course established by the government-in-exile: famous masters, the big monastic universities and even the Tibetan guerillas were his targets. In one of his last articles he wrote, "...these people will not cease to criticize the Dalai Lama until blood flows from their bodies...."

Given the character of the assassination and the humiliations the Tibetan guerilla movement had been subjected to in earlier years, one could have assumed that the search for the murderer would eventually also lead to them. But that obviously did not occur; already the next day, Dharamsala's local newspaper claimed that the murderer would certainly be found among the Dorje Shugden Society in Delhi. Aside from who committed the murders, this gruesome act was exploited to the hilt by the government-in-exile with only one aim in mind: Resorting to all possible means they tried to incriminate the Dorje Shugden Society in Delhi in order to put its leading monks behind Indian bars.

pp135-138

Meanwhile the world of protective deities and spirits, of rival groups within Tibetan Buddhism and ancient enmities that had always cast shadows over Tibet now came out into the global order. In 1996, the Dalai Lama began, as I’d seen in Vancouver, to tell audiences not to propitiate a particular deity called Shugden, because he felt that it was proving harmful, and that certain tenets involved in its propitiation went against the principles of Buddhism and the very tolerance and reason he was trying so hard to promote. In response, the followers of the spirit, gathered in the West around a rinpoche in England who ran an organization he called the New Kadampa Tradition, started protesting the Dalai Lama’s talks (hence the warning that had greeted me in British Colombia), claiming that he was violating the principle of freedom of religion; they even allowed themselves to be co-opted to some degree by the Chinese.

Again, one only had to tiptoe across the threshold of the dispute to find oneself in a furious, febrile world of curses and threats and almost medieval intrigue. In the letters certain Shugden supporters sent the Dalai Lama’s government in exile (released in a brochure put out by that government) the sentences polluted with references to “donkey officials and poisonous and shameless” rivals. At one point, a package had been sent to a monastery in India containing a knife and the message “We were unable to meet you this time but we hope to get you next time.” A senior monk was beaten up and a barn and granary went up in flames. Then the head of the Dalai Lama’s own Institute of Buddhist Dialectics was found stabbed in his bed, along with two younger monks, apparently cut up as if for exorcism.

This is embarrassingly bad journalism on many levels. The implication of these paragraphs is that the New Kadampa Tradition is a rallying point for all Shugden practitioners, that the NKT is responsible for threats sent to the Tibetan Government in Exile and that the NKT has been co-opted by the Chinese. All of this is nonsense. When the Shugden Supporters Society (not the NKT) demonstrated against the Dalai Lama's ban in 1996/97 there were no Tibetans among them. Although at that time Geshe Kelsang was a figurehead for the opposition to the Shugden ban (no one else was brave enough to speak out against the Dalai Lama), he was hardly a rallying point for all Shugden practitioners’ unrest.

Whatever individual Shugden practitioners do, such as sending death threats, is up to them – but in truth there is no evidence nor research behind any of Pico Iyer’s implications that Dorje Shugden practitioners were responsible for the knife or the barn or the beating. This is just hearsay, very likely from the Dalai Lama who was consulted on this book (certainly no Dorje Shugden practitioner was consulted!) Of course, the Dalai Lama has shown many times that he is capable of slandering Dorje Shugden practitioners. Repeating the unproven murder story again just for dramatic effect is unconscionable in someone who is supposed to be a respected journalist.

The NKT is a Western Buddhist tradition that completely eschews politics – NKT is not sympathetic to the Chinese Government or any other political body. It is a tired accusation that is always fired at anyone who disagrees with the Dalai Lama. It is a lazy accusation because if you label someone 'a Chinese sympathizer' you can just dismiss them as extreme; you don't have to think about what they are saying and whether there is a grain of truth in it.

Posted courtesy of Lineageholder

More accounts of human rights abuses of Dorje Shugden practitioners in India

The problem is still spreading.

Please see the Dorje Shugden Devotees Charitable and Religious Society website for more information.

Journalists researching the ostracism are intimidated at Otty Tibetan market, May 22, 2008
Two independent French journalists visited Otty, in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu, to interview the families of Shugden devotees, who told them their stories of discrimination and human rights abuses. At 6 pm, the journalists went to the Tibetan market where Shugden devotees and non-devotees used to sell clothes together. (The story of how the Shugden devotees have been ostracized by the others in the market has been documented here, along with many other reports of discrimination).

The journalists questioned the officer there about the ostracism being experienced by Shugden devotees. Because the officer denied that Shugden devotees have any problems, the journalists later brought a Shugden devotee to the office and pointed out that there is indeed a problem.

The officer got angry and said: “Why do you question us? You must question the Tibetan representative in Bangalore and the Dalai Lama.” The office was then surrounded by Tibetan men and women – some of whom tried to snatch the journalists’ camera and smash it on the ground. They threatened to beat the journalists, who immediately fled to the nearby police station for protection.

After that, a meeting was convened in the office. Shugden devotees are now in great stress, scared about what will happen to them after the meeting.

Indians helping the journalists carry their luggage lose their jobs, May 28, 2008
At the time when the two French journalists received intimidation at the hands of Tibetans in Otty on May 22, there were two Indians employed to help carry their luggage. The Tibetans of Otty Tibetan market demanded that the employers fire the Indians from the market on the mere charge that they had helped the journalists. So they have lost their jobs and cannot work with the Tibetans at the market again.

Dorje Shugden practitioners barred from public temple, May 28, 2008
Shillong is a city in Magalaya State, North India, where over a hundred Tibetans run restaurants and shops. There is a temple built by public funds for the purpose of prayer services and social gatherings. This year, Sera-jay monks have been managing the temple. When Shugden families went to the temple as usual to make prayers and have a picnic, they found the temple locked. When the Sera-jay monks were asked the reason for the temple being locked, they replied that they have signed and sworn not to share religious or material contact with any Shugden followers. These innocent Buddhist parents and children have therefore been barred from the publicly funded temple.

The oath-taking continues in the Tibetan settlements, June 25, 2008
The signature and swearing campaign is currently being conducted in two different Tibetan settlements in North India, Deradun and Lakenwala. Tibetans in the refugee camps are made to sign an oath that:

• He/she will never worship Shugden
• He/she will never share material or religious ties with Shugden followers

As the Dorje Shugden devotees in India say, "Thus this disease is still spreading and being exported, flying in the face of the Delhi High Court Case and international demonstrations."

Can I help restore religious freedom?

Signing the Petition Please let the Dalai Lama know that his behaviour on this issue is completely unacceptable, and petition him to stop intimidating Dorje Shugden practitioners and to allow them religious freedom.

Making Donations Donate towards Shugden practitioners, including the Dorje Shugden Devotees Charitable Trust in India who are helping to document the abuse and working to restore human rights. Please send an email to: dharma.protectors@gmail.org for information on how to make donations.

Prayers and dedications Please make prayers and dedications for the success of our campaign, the preservation of the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa, and peace and freedom for everyone in our world.

What about the WSS demonstrations?

An account of the first Western Shugden Society demonstration in May from someone in attendance:

Yesterday the Western Shugden Society held a demonstration at Colgate University in Hamilton, protesting the Dalai Lama's ban of Dorje Shugden and the persecution of followers of this Buddhist lineage of Je Tsongkhapa in the Tibetan exile community in India.There were over 200 Dorje Shugden practitioners from the West (from 10 countries altogether, but mainly the USA and Canada), and nearly 100 Tibetan monks, nuns, and lay people, including Geshes (doctors of divinity) and Rinpoches (reincarnate Lamas).

When Western Shugden practitioners demonstrated over a decade ago on behalf of Tibetan Shugden practitioners in India, the Tibetan Shugden practitioners in the West were too afraid to stand with us. Having the Tibetans with us this time greatly increased the impact of the demonstration.

Many of them decided to come along even though they are frightened of what might happen to them or to their families back in India; but I found them to be peaceful, composed and courageous. We risk only having bad words spoken against us from people who don’t understand the situation. For them, they risk a good deal more than that. [ed: Since that time, a call has gone out from the Tibetan office criticizing the demonstration and urging: “look at the video (of these Chinese spies) and find the names and addresses of Tibetans”, several of them have received threats of violence, and the restaurant of one of their relatives in New York was blacklisted such that they face severe financial difficulties.]

The demonstration started at around 11am and finished after the Dalai Lama had finished his address at around 5:30pm. It was peaceful but powerful. We all chanted the words: "Dalai Lama, stop lying" and "Dalai Lama, give religious freedom". One elderly Tibetan lady held a Tibetan flag and others held placards. Booklets called The Tibetan Situation ~ Surprising Hidden News were distributed in the street to whoever wished to receive them.

The police attending said they had never met such helpful, peaceful, and non-angry demonstrators. [ed: this is a comment that has been echoed by police in all subsequent demonstrations.]

During a break I sat with Geshe Sopa and other Tibetans and found out some more sad stories. For example, Geshe Sopa is a disciple of Trijang Rinpoche, the root Guru of many of the greatest Gelug Lamas including the Dalai Lama; and he received teachings from him directly. He has 4 brothers and 5 sisters in India, and any number of nieces and nephews, but they have not been permitted to communicate with him for years because he refused to give up his practice of Dorje Shugden. He told me: "The connection I have with my Spiritual Guide will last for lifetimes, until I attain enlightenment. The relationship I have with my family, even though I love them, is just one life relationship. I had to choose, so I chose my Spiritual Guide."

Geshe Sopa said to me: "How can I deny the evidence of my own eyes? I know that Trijang Rinpoche practiced Dorje Shugden his whole life. How can I agree with the Dalai Lama and stop this practice, breaking my commitment to my own Spiritual Guide?"

Geshe Sopa now lives in Vermont with Trijang Choktrul (the reincarnation of Trijang Rinpoche) and recently received his American citizenship. He said: "Now I am free to practice openly." He also explained how Trijang Choktrul had chosen to remain as a private citizen so as not to come under the control of the Dalai Lama. He is, naturally, a Dorje Shugden practitioner.

When I thanked Geshe Sopa for coming along and inspiring others to do so he told me that he and all the other Tibetan practitioners were deeply regretful that they had not joined Western Shugden practitioners (principally represented at that time by the New Kadampa Tradition) to protest in 1996. Back then, they had hoped that if they kept their heads down, the problem would go away. However twelve years later the problem has only worsened, especially since January of this year. He said there would have been more Tibetans at this demonstration if there had been more time. It was only three days ago that they had a large meeting in Queens to discuss whether or not to join us. They made their momentous decision at 3am.

The Tibetans at the demonstration had come from all over the US and Canada. When I asked if there were many more Tibetan Dorje Shugden practitioners in the US or Canada other than the ones here today, he replied in surprise: "Of course. This practice is very widespread".

Many of the Tibetans said, when asked by various Western practitioners why they were here: "We need to protect Je Tsongkhapa's tradition."

One of the highlights of the day happened late in the afternoon. The personal representative of the Dalai Lama came out to speak with us, carrying our booklet in his hand. (ed: His name was Tashi Wangdi and he can be seen in various publications over the years as defending the Dalai Lama on this ban.)

In all our previous demonstrations more than a decade ago we had never received such official acknowledgement. This was a clear sign that the combination of Western and Tibetan Shugden practitioners, as well as the powerful rhetoric in our booklet, was having an effect. Our voices were being heard!

The Tibetans crowded around him, along with Kelsang Pema, the Western spokesperson.He started off by smoothly stating practiced words to this effect [ed: this interview now appears here]: "This use of the word "ban" is not correct. Of course the Dalai Lama has spoken up against this practice but it is just his encouragement. I spent much time in India. I can tell you there is no discrimination, you just can't go to any of his teachings. Also you cannot live together, but you can live separately."

Kelsang Pema replied that she had just returned from a two-week visit to India where she observed many things. If people did not sign to say they'd given up their practice, they were not issued ID cards. If you have no ID card you are not a recognized citizen of any state, and you cannot shop at any stores. Others had to promise that they would not "materially or spiritually support" any Dorje Shugden practitioners. She pointed out that people were being expelled from monasteries and children were removed from schools if their parents were Dorje Shugden practitioners. Statues were being smashed. People were not allowed to see their relatives. For example, one mother was visited by four Dalai Lama representatives and told to make her son, a monk, give up the practice of Dorje Shugden or never see him again. All this and more she observed in India a few weeks ago.

The representative replied: "Of course, if this is really happening, it is wrong. I will investigate. Put it in writing. Tell me who is saying these things." Then a Tibetan woman called Heidi gave him a piece of paper that listed grievances. And many of the Tibetans animatedly started telling him one instance after another of abuse – all in Tibetan so I could not understand details [ed: it transpired later that the words they used were very respectful].

The representative was visibly taken aback. He tried to repeat: "There is no ban". He said he wanted the names of people who had experienced these grievances. Pema then asked him to explain why, if there was no ban, the day after she had spoken with the six monks in the monastery about the situation, they had each received death threats. The spokesperson said again: "If this happened, of course it is wrong. I will investigate." All this is on camera. He has promised to investigate all these instances of discrimination and abuse. Let's see if he does. [ed: no sign of him doing so yet].

By the end of the demonstration, everyone was very moved. Geshe Sopa and Atta (the Tibetan spokesperson) and a reincarnate Lama (whose name I cannot recall) all said that they were very grateful to the organizers and Western practitioners who attended these demonstrations. They said: "In the future, you and us will be like milk and water. We will always join you now wherever you need us to do demonstrations. We are members of the Western Shugden Society. We thank you so much for helping us."They asked if we could finish with prayers to Dorje Shugden and then recited some of the prayers from Heart Jewel in Tibetan.

Future demonstrations are planned in the Germany, the UK, Australian, New York and elsewhere, until the need for them goes away. It looks like we may be turning the corner. The press indicate that they are beginning to get a handle on this complicated situation and understand that it is Tibetans who are driving these protests as they are the ones who are being victimized and ostracized. It is gradually becoming clearer that what we have been saying all along is true and not just the ravings of a Western Chinese-sponsored cult. We hope an independent-minded journalist will be curious enough to investigate this for herself/himself.

Earlier in the day, I went with others to the Tibet Office to hand the booklet to three representatives of the Dalai Lama. I spoke with two of them and explained who the booklet was from and asked them to get it to the Dalai Lama before the next day. They said they would but I don't know if they did. Others also tried several different methods to get the booklet into his hands before we protested against him.

The Dalai Lama never replied to any earlier letters sent to him giving him a deadline to stop expelling the monks from Sera Je Monastery (removing all their spiritual and material support, effectively outcasting them in their own exile community) or we would protest publicly, which is why the demonstrations are going ahead.