Robert Thurman Encourages Killing for Recreation

The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to [email protected].

 


 

By: Shashi Kei

There is one prominent characteristic of genuine spirituality, which is ‘consistency’ and this is especially true in Tibetan Buddhism with its focus on lineage. All authentic masters of Tibetan Buddhism and indeed all religions and spiritual paths will tell you that at the very minimum, a person must be kind, compassionate, honest and practice right livelihood which is not to make a living based on deception and dishonesty. And it is precisely this that makes Professor Robert (Bob) Thurman and his Menla Dewa Spa business very disturbing.

Bob Thurman is regarded as somewhat of an expert in the knowledge and practice of Tibetan Buddhism and regards the Dalai Lama as his teacher. The Dalai Lama on his part is supposed to be the embodiment and personification of compassion. Bob Thurman has written quite a few books on Buddhism, all of which ultimately advocate kindness and the generation of an inner wisdom that regards all phenomena and life in a fair and non-dualistic way.

Menla Dewa Spa is Bob Thurman’s business built on an image of wellness and healing based on Tibetan Buddhist principles. Menla itself refers to the Medicine Buddha and Bob Thurman presents Menla Dewa Spa as “Tibet in the Catskills” which is how Thurman takes advantage of the Hollywood image of Tibet as Shangrila, or heaven. According to Bob, at Menla you heal your mind and body, you become one with your environment, you sharpen your awareness and you study under ‘world class teachers’ (namely Thurman himself as his picture accompanies the caption on Menla’s promotional materials).

Great taglines and buzzwords, but are any of these real? The problem with fake spirituality is eventually you slip and expose yourself and this is precisely Bob Thurman’s problem – he cannot keep up with his own rhetoric.

The tweet sent out by Menla Dewa Spa.
Click to enlarge.

While Bob Thurman preaches great kindness and tolerance in his classes, his Menla spa has been inviting Menla participants to extend their search for healing into activities such as killing other sentient beings for pleasure. Menla promotes fly fishing in the Catskills which involves luring fishes, a form of sentient being according to Tibetan Buddhist teachings, to a painful death by teasing their hunger. How can a ‘wellness and spiritual healing’ retreat center based on Buddhism promote the killing of animals for pleasure unless its Buddhist values are fake and its spirituality is just a scam to draw people into spending money on Thurman’s business.

Killing cannot lead to wellness and healing, and Thurman should already know this. In fact, any beginner to Tibetan Buddhism would already know this, what more the ‘Je Tsongkhapa Professor’ of Buddhism. So, the question is why Bob Thurman condones this. Is his belief in Buddhist principles fake? Is Menla’s foundation of spirituality fake? The killing that Menla promotes is like placing cigarette vending machines within cancer treatment centers. It is absurdly contradictory and utterly shameful.

Thurman cannot say he didn’t know that Menla was promoting killing because Thurman personally operates Menla’s Twitter and social media accounts jointly with his henchman, Justin Stone-Diaz, who is rumored to be Thurman’s propagandist and manager of Thurman’s Twitter army. Together, they spread the Dalai Lama’s political agenda and along the way, promote Bob Thurman’s image and business. Bob Thurman needs to explain in what Buddhist tradition does the study and practice of Buddhism involve killing wildlife for sport and recreation?

By encouraging Menla participants to inflict suffering on other sentient beings, Bob Thurman is knowingly allowing them to accumulate even more bad karma, all for the sake of business and the bottom line – money. 

What is even more harmful is the way Thurman creates opportunities for people seeking healing and wellness to become even more unwell by creating more bad karma. If Thurman is a true Buddhist, he will know that there is bad karma that arises from harming and killing other sentient beings. This is a fact even if Menla participants are not aware of it because the law of karma, like the law of gravity applies regardless of whether one agrees with it or not. Instead of showing innocent participants the methods to clear their bad karmic energy through proven purification techniques, Thurman encourages them to create even more bad energy. This makes Thurman and Menla not only hypocritical but also highly damaging.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the illnesses of the body and mind are often related to karma. Even if Menla participants do not subscribe to Buddhism, Thurman as a Buddhist expert and a supposed firm believer must surely know better and should assume the responsibility of subtly leading participants to meritorious activities instead of harmful ones. Why Thurman does not do that and instead allows Menla to promote fishing and killing, can only be due to a few reasons. Either

  1. Thurman is not truly knowledgeable about even basic Buddhist principles; or
  2. Thurman is aware but does not truly practice Buddhism or does not believe in Buddhism; or
  3. Thurman is aware and he personally believes in Buddhism but does not care about the wellness of Menla’s clientele; or
  4. Menla is doing so poorly as a business that it has to cross-sell wildlife adventures to prop up its flagging business.

Whatever the reason may be, as a result, many are led astray by Menla.

Did the Dalai Lama tell Bob Thurman that he is exempt from the karma of killing? Why else would Thurman, a so-called Tibetan Buddhist “expert”, encouraging the sport of fly fishing?

Or perhaps, Thurman feels immune from karma through his association with the Dalai Lama. It is well known that the ‘success’ of Bob Thurman as a Buddhist teacher is only due to his reputation as the “Dalai Lama’s man in America”. It is a confluence of agendas – the Dalai Lama needs a Westerner to sell the Tibetan leadership’s agenda for Tibet to the Western people, and Thurman needs a justification to be regarded as a Tibetan Buddhist expert.

Now however, we can see clearly that his only qualification is his sycophantic involvement with the Dalai Lama. No emanation of the Buddha of Compassion whom the Dalai Lama is supposed to be, will encourage the torture and killing of other beings for recreation. Indeed, no authentic student and practitioner of Buddhism would engage in such harmful acts. But here we have it – a ‘Buddhist teacher’ promoting killing for the sake of business and riding on the Dalai Lama’s continued endorsement because he is a useful spokesperson for the Dalai Lama’s agenda. A few factors are at play here but none of them are based on the principles of kindness, tolerance, oneness with the environment, gentle understanding of the important principle of live-and-let-live, concern for others and not least of all, awareness of the suffering of others regardless of the form they take.

Would you want to experience this? If not, why would you want to inflict this experience on others?

Robert Thurman allowing Menla to promote fly fishing and killing for recreation exposes who he truly is – a greedy businessman who is using Buddhism and his association with the Dalai Lama to make money and a name for himself. Buddhism is just a trade to Thurman, just like the plight of the Tibetan refugees whom Thurman leverages on for monetary gain. As Tibet burned and over 150 Tibetan people self-immolated, Thurman did not appeal for the Tibetan people not to waste their lives as Buddhism advocates. Neither did Thurman do anything to help the families of those who lost loved ones, nor did he visit these victims of self-immolation in hospital or offer to pay their medical bills. Instead he again took advantage of these personal traumas to promote his Menla lectures on suicide and end of life. What kind spiritual person would see business opportunities in the tragedies of others? Apparently, the Dalai Lama’s man in America.
 

Not content with promoting fly-fishing and killing at what’s supposed to be a spiritual retreat, Thurman is now trying to drive people to leave good reviews for his business. In truth, there is no correlation between good reviews for Menla and showing love and support for Tibetan culture. Menla is a for-profit, commercial entity that makes use of Tibetan spirituality and healing practices to boost Thurman’s bank balance. Promoting this commercial entity will not aid the Tibetan struggle in any way; why does Thurman ask for people to show their love for Tibet through Menla, when they can do it directly through so many other actual non-governmental organizations? Thus Thurman yet again demonstrates that he is willing to exploit his relationship with the Tibetan struggle in order to make a quick buck for himself. This is a clear reflection of his greed and his presumption that the paying public will be swindled and fooled into believing falsely-derived positive reviews. Once again, Thurman is caught behaving at odds with his standing as a so-called spiritual leader.

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  1. WHY DOES RICHARD GERE AND DALAI LAMA SUPPORT SOGYAL THE DISGUSTING ABUSER?

    As long as you are friends with the Dalai Lama, your actions are excusable, no matter how horrendous they may be. Even something as heinous as sexual abuse of over 60 women can be overlooked when the perpetrator is friends with the Dalai Lama namely Sogyal Rinpoche. Why rush to join the chorus of Hollywood voices condemning Harvey Weinstein’s criminality, but remain silent against Sogyal’s exploitation and abuse of women? Richard Gere was vocal in condemning against all the abuses and attacks against women by Harvey Weinstein. But silent on Sogyal Rinpoche. BBC has a full length documentary on Sogyal’s abuses as you can view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhIivvmMnk. Yet Richard Gere can take photos with the disgusting and abusive Sogyal. Is it because one group of women are worth protecting and the other are not? If it is not for that reason, then it can only be because Sogyal is the Dalai Lama’s friend. The Dalai Lama’s condemnation against Sogyal is very light and it’s disappointing. I guess since Dalai Lama supported Sogyal so much, he can’t be seen as wrong in doing so. Politics is sad.

    Richard Gere and Sogyal

  2. TENMA VERY ANGRY WITH SIKYONG LOBSANG SANGYE AND PENPA TSERING

    Tenma deity takes trance of her oracle in Nechung Monastery in Dharamsala, North India. The deity is highly displeased and angry at Sikyong Lobsang Sangye and Penpa Tsering. She is scolding them by waving her arms at them and throwing rice at them. You can see Penpa Tsering shielding himself. These two has always been corrupt and extremely self-serving. Naturally the oracles of the Dalai Lama take trance and are very angry.

    http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1531344206.mp4


  3. Everyone in the Tibetan Buddhist scene knows that although Bob Thurman is as old as the hills, all he’s interested in is to MAKE MONEY. He loves money. A real saintly Buddhist he is.He does not practice what he preaches-Buddhism. He has a vile temper. Nasty arrogant way of speaking. He is full of himself and talks down to people and shouts at everyone for no reasons at all. He uses his ‘connection’ to the Dalai Lama in order to sell books, promote his HORRIBLE podcast talks and his disaster Menlha spa. Who in blazes wants to go to Menlha and go fishing??? He promotes fishing. Real good move Bob! So many bad reviews on his spa.

    None of the genuine translators of Tibetan Buddhism in the west will collaborate with him much as they know he is greedy and driven by money. He is outright nasty always trying to hack into people’s accounts too. He was caught advertising on twitter for hackers. Can you believe his stupidity. He was caught doing that. Nasty piece of work, as old as the hills and looks like melting clay yet still just greedy. Greedy, vile tempered and just plain bad representative of Buddhism.😒

    illegal bob

  4. SUMAA has been consistent in their efforts to evict Tibetans from Arunachal Pradesh as the Tibetans are known to exploit benefits given to locals. The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), especially their so-called ‘president’ Lobsang Sangay, made the situation worse by rubbing salt in the wound, making a statement that Chief Minister Pema Khandu is an ardent follower of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a lifelong friend of the Tibetan people. This was right after Khandu announced the adoption of the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy in Arunachal Pradesh.

    Tibetan refugees create a lot of problems for the locals no matter where they are, especially in Arunachal Pradesh. They take the locals’ land and resources without giving anything in return, making the locals furious to the extent that they are now demanding a written undertaking from the Tibetan refugees not to claim Indian citizenship and STC/PRC in Arunachal Pradesh. It is time to impeach Sangay for a better leader to guide and take care of the Tibetans in India before the wrath of locals evict Tibetans from the state or even the country for good.

    Self-styled student group in Indian border state calls for Tibetan refugees to be moved to ‘demarcated camps’
    [Wednesday, July 11, 2018 18:45]
    By Tenzin Dharpo
    DHARAMSHALA, July 11: Self-styled group “The Students’ United Movement of All Arunachal” (SUMAA) has reportedly submitted a memorandum to the West Kameng deputy commissioner on Monday, demanding an immediate rollback of the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014 within three days against threat of retaliatory action. 
    The students group has also called for Tibetan refugees to be moved to demarcated camps and revoke trading licences obtained by Tibetan refugees. A written undertaking from the Central Tibetan Administration not to claim Indian citizenship and STC/PRC in Arunachal Pradesh for Tibetans, has also been demanded.
    Last year, the same group initiated the “Anti Tibetan Refugee Movement” calling for ousting of Tibetan refugees from the state. Spokesperson of the group has alleged that with the implementation of the TRP 2014, benefits such as MGNREGA, PDS, Indira Awas Yojana, and National Rural Health Mission provided by the Centre for “our people will be snatched away” by the Tibetan refugees.
    The group in October 2017 also released a list of all the shops owned by Tibetans with their names in the Capital Complex area threatening that the Tibetans will be targeted individually and “forcefully evicted”.
    The Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy assures welfare to Tibetan refugees in India on matters concerning land lease, extending central and state government benefits, relevant papers/trade license/permit for economic activity and legal permit to pursue any professional career such as nursing, teaching, Chartered Accountancy, medicine, engineering etc, depending upon the qualification.
    Till date, Karnataka government has been the only state to begin implementation of the policy. In Dec 2016, the Tibetan refugee settlement of Mundgod became the first settlement to be handed over the land lease agreement by Karnataka State. 
    Arunachal Pradesh has the fourth largest number of Tibetans in India, with four settlements in Tezu, Miao, Tuting, and Tenzingang. However, the number of Tibetan refugees has dwindled to just 7500 with Canada accepting 1000 Tibetan refugees in 2016 and many youths venturing to bigger Indian cities for livelihood. In India, the total number of Tibetan refugees is close to 90,000, according to a 2009 CTA census.
    http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=40615

    Phayul Self-styled student group in Indian border state calls for Tibetan refugees to be moved to demarcated camps

  5. Hollywood is one of the most influential groups of people who have promoted the mysticism of Buddhist Tantra to the world. Together with the media, they have packaged Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan lamas into a fantasy Utopia, filled with God-like beings who are able to lead people along the quick path to enlightenment.

    This propaganda has been widely exploited by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to garner support, especially financial aid, for the so-called Tibetan Cause and the Tibetan struggle against Chinese rule. Little does the West, including Richard Gere and the so-called Buddhist Professor Robert Thurman, know that efforts from China to improve the infrastructure and standard of living for the Tibetans in China have created opportunities for Tibetans to grow and be successful. This is something that is rarely seen in exile under the governance of the CTA.

    This false image that has been promoted for the past 60 years or so is now slowly fading away as more and more victims come forward, exposing the sexual abuse they have suffered under the hands of Tibetan lamas like Sogyal Rinpoche. The root of the problem is clear, people are greedy and lazy while wanting quick success and attention. Since they get these from the Tibetan lamas like Sogyal, they are willing to accept the exploitation. This is further driven by fear that they would no longer be seen as the privileged ones in the inner circle if they do not clutch at their lamas and be seen showing tremendous devotion to their gurus. With only a superficial knowledge of Buddhism, this cult-like group of Hollywood stars and American politicians like Richard Gere continue to generate respect and love for their skewed version of the “Dharma”, while real Buddhist masters are relegated to the side lines.

    This Sexual Abuser Hollywood Doesn’t Want You To See
    Feb 28, 2018 | Posted by Christine A. Chandler
    Why is the mainstream media ignoring this Elephant in the Room?
    Is it because, once they peel the curtain back on this little sexually abusive, predator Lama,  Lama Sogyal Rinpoche, best friend of the Dalai Lama and his major benefactor, helping to spread Mindfulness throughout the West, the whole edifice of deception, corruption, cover-ups of  institutional sexual abuse, and Shangri-la pretenses will be exposed?
    Never mind that these Tibetan lamas have fooled a large part of the Western psychology profession, most  all of journalism, and certain parts of academia as well as CEO’s of major corporations.  Those who also want to jump on the billion-dollar Mindfulness bandwagon; the first cult technique these Tibetan lamas used to get us to think as a herd.
    Perhaps it is also because the  news media coverage, for the last twenty-five years, of  Saint Dalai Lama, keeper of slaves and life-time serfs less than sixty years ago, is one of the icons of the Hollywood jet-set, certain politicians like Nancy Pelosi,  Congressman Tim Ryan,  academics, like Uma’s dad- Robert Thurman,  and such Hollywood stars, as Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Scarlett Johansson, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Sharon Stone, the list goes on and on,  who will now be seen, not just as  enablers of Weinstein, but also of the Tantric cult of Tibetan Lamaism and its Tantra that has infused Hollywood with its amorality and  sexual abuse for the last four decades, given it permission for their long history of accepting this behavior as ‘normal.’
    It was not so long ago, that Trungpa fooled our sixties generation, with the help of rock and roll stars, and Allen Ginsberg, modern poet extraordinaire of the Howl, and member of NAMBLA. Ginsberg also controlled the narrative of how these Tibetan Lamas were to be seen by the public, for the next forty-plus years.
    Marxists have been in collusion with the lamas, as well,  for a very long time.  As have certain institutions on the right, of the C-Street variety. The Dalai Lama boldly sends messages of being a friend to democracy to every President since his “escape” from China. But declares himself a Marxist in India.
    Australian CEOs in the article link above are now questioning the wisdom of having Lama  Sogyal of Rigpa, the Dalai Lama’s best friend all these years, who has been their icon for mindfulness meditation  at the workplace. They are not willing to cover-up for his sexual abuse and demeaning and degrading of women, his keeping a harem, just as Chogyam Trungpa did but it was ignored, and his Tantra was allowed to spread. Thanks to Hollywood giving him a featured role in Little Buddha with Keanu Reeves.
    Isn’t it time we peeled the whole onion back to see part of what’s at the core of this sexual abuse and confusion about right and wrong?
    Nancy Pelosi goes to the Dalai Lama for advice, and gets crazier every year; Tim Ryan, groomed to take her place, writes a book about Tantric Mindfulness for a Mindless nation  and called: Mindfulness Nation .
    Ryan hangs out with Lama Sogyal’s friend, Lama Tsoknyi who is Sogyal’s strongest supporter and pal.
    Tim Ryan and Lama Tsoknyi, speak together about Global Warming. Tsoknyi surely helped Ryan write his book and Tim Ryan helps Lama Tsoknyi pretend he is a ‘scientific lama’ who also can bless books to make them understandable and can infuse statues with living mojo inside his cult groups of western followers around the world, and now in Asia, fooling the Han and Chan Buddhists that he is teaching what the Buddha taught when it is Tantra and its institutionalized sexual abuse and Lamaist corruptions.
    The occult, crazy-making Tantra of Tibetan Lamas  has been infusing Hollywood, Journalism, Academia, Psychology, Third-wave Feminism, and the Entertainment Industry and Left-Wing Politics, for the last forty years.  Recently, we have been seeing its results implode as the sexual abuses of celebrities and journalists, politicians makes explosive media news.
    Chogyam Trungpa, the Tantric Lama darling of the sixties Drugs, Rock and Roll crowd was the first Tibetan Lama to illegally keep a harem of sexual consorts on American soil. His Regent gave his students AIDS, with unprotected sex, but was never criminally charged. Instead he was allowed to brainwash his students into believing this was ‘openness’ and freedom, on the way to the realization of a non-duality mind.  They  have reinvented his ‘lineage’ along the coast of Maine, to turn that State back into Massachusetts.
     “Democracy was a failed experiment” said Trungpa’s mouthpiece, Ginsberg, who believed a totalitarian dictatorship of Tribal warlords would be so much better.  
    Time to unpeel the whole onion and get to the core of what has been making the West crazy, immoral and stupid: the civilization jihad that comes with a smiling face and a Lamaist peaceful facade. 
    https://extibetanbuddhist.com/this-sexual-abuser-hollywood-doesnt-want-you-to-see/

    This Sexual Abuser Hollywood Doesn't Want You To See

  6. This is so disgusting! I knew it, this so-called Professor Robert Thurman is nothing but a fake Buddhist expert. Why didn’t he consider fishes to be his mothers too in a previous life? What kind of Buddhist promotes fishing and what more he has his boy Justin actually asking someone to actually go do some compassionate fishing? My gosh, wonder what kind of Buddhism they are teaching there!

    The message was deleted from google but nothing ever gets lost.

    IndyHackCommentOnGoogle

    • Whether Mr/Ms Indy Hack works for a ‘anti-Dalai Lama’ Shugden cult or not makes what difference? The opinion expressed is free from any association with any religion or groups. Why is his affiliation to ‘Shugden’ mentioned at all? Do you all bash his religion? Do you all bash Shugden?

      Why are you basing people’s opinion about your spa on their religion or religious affiliations? Is your spa against their religion? If you are that is against the US constitution and thereby your spa should be reported for discrimination against someone’s religion.

      The way you respond shows how silly, unprofessional and biased your spa is. No wonder your Menlha spa is not doing well and there are so many bad reviews on you.

      Your Menlha spa is the one who started all the trouble by advertising fishing. You are the one who are trying to get more traffic to your dying spa by enticing people to fish in your area. What kind of Buddhist spa owned by a Buddhist professor Bob Thurman are you? How can you teach about love, compassion for all sentient beings when you want others to fish? Didn’t Buddha include fishes as sentient beings and therefore we should not harm them? Why are you all so twisted and desperate for profits? Don’t you regard anything about karma?

      fish

      fish1

      2DFCCF84-ACBC-4D1A-9097-379F5FAA1093

      • Your replies to the public are disgusting and religious discrimination based. You will be reported.

        Indy Hack 1

        Indy Hack

  7. I am so shocked! Why would anyone who is calling himself Buddhist make money from killing?

    This Robert Thurman seems to take advantage of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans for his selfgain motives. Isn’t he a professor? He should be educated enough to understand the law of karma and the evil behaviour he promotes and shares with the world, yet calling himself an expert and writing books on Buddhism.

    A very dangerous person!

  8. Sad Bob Thurman is in his 70′s already. From a life of excess contrary to what he preaches to others about Buddhist living life simplistically, he looks like he is in his 80′s actually.

    He cannot sell Buddhism to his kids. You don’t see them as Buddhist practitioners and rarely are they involved with Buddhist teachers. That speaks volumes.

    He has lost many friends, Buddhist associates and even teachers because of his self-righteous hell-bent need for acquiring money. I think he thinks he can take it with him when he goes. He is only going to land himself in the realm of the pretas.

    Bob is so old and worn, you think he would start practicing Buddhism sincerely instead of thinking of making more money. Prepare for his Buddhist after life, reincarnation and all that. He is only concerned about money. Yes, even now at this stage of his old life.

    I’ve known him in the past during his Geshe Wangyal in Washington, New Jersey days and he was arrogant and thought highly of himself. But nobody thought highly of him. He never stuck to one teacher but flitted here and there as to wherever the attention was. He has latched himself onto the Dalai Lama because of Dalai Lama’s fame. If Bob Thurman is associated with the Dalai Lama, he can make more money with his books, lectures, podcast and all of that. Forget about his Menlha spa which is a sham. It is doing badly and not churning the money he is lusting after.

    Sadly Bob is only interested in money and more money. He is very rude on social media to people. He does illegal things such as look for hackers openly online and expects to pay them to hack into people’s twitter accounts he does not like. Illegal but true. He will shout and tell people off and shut others up by saying he is the Buddhist professor and they don’t know as much as him. Arrogant as usual. The other Buddhist translators who are much better than him all stay far away from Thurman.

    In his grotesque and obvious seeking of money he is even using his Menlha spa to advertise fly fishing!! Can you imagine? What irony! Menlha means Medicine Buddha in Tibetan. Medicine Buddha spa to rejuvenate and detox?? What a joke. What kind of Medicine Buddha condones or markets fishing? Since when in Buddha’s teaching did he say love, save and protect all sentient beings except fishes? For Robert Thurman the ‘Buddhist’ Professor, sadly he has degenerated further.

    I know what I am writing is scathing, but it is not meant to be and it’s a wake up call for old Bob. Wake up Bob, how much time do you have left on this earth? You should intensify your Buddhist practice and become genuine already. Remember what Geshe Wangyal and Dromo Geshe Rinpoche taught you and us? Or did you forget the kindness and advice of these genuine old masters which you will never become?

    old thurman

  9. For God sakes, I hate Bob Thurman’s books!! They are just plain bad. He makes up stuff in his books. His podcasts are so contrived as he is full of himself. I listened in once and had to leave after ten minutes. Waste of time.
    His books are commercially motivated and Bob does not know his stuff. This is well known among the Buddhist circuit in the US.

    Try reading Glenn Mullin or Jeffrey Hopkins’ Buddhist books. Now those are genuine practicing Buddhist scholars. They really know their stuff and humble too. They are very learned. They brought Buddhism to the west accurately.

    mullin

    hopkins

  10. Robert Thurman maybe a professor in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and is clearly just that. His close association with HH Dalai Lama has not rubbed off much Buddhist values given what he is today:

    1) It’s a known fact that his Menla Dewa Spa is a huge scam. It is supposed to be all about Buddhism and spirituality BUT look at what it promotes – FLY FISHING. Fishing is killing and is SO un-Buddhist.

    2) He also heads an army of online trolls that flames Shugden practitioners with defamatory tweets and racist hate speech. Check out him retweeting his own troll!

    3) He has openly solicited on Twitter for hackers.

    4) He has personally attacked monks and other Buddhists for their believes on Twitter. (Religious freedom and acceptance are not part of what he believes in)

    Thurman is such an embarrassment to Buddhists!

    Bob hacker

    Bob RT Tibetan Zone

  11. Such a hypocrite. It’s clearly shows that academic status and publications in Buddhism, or establishing a healing or retreat centre of Menla, is actually merely a business to make money and gain fame. There’s no real passion involved in spreading the teachings of Lord Buddha or sharing the kindness or compassion values with others from Robert Thurman. All these showned Robert Thurman might be using HH Dalai Lama to gain his fame and become famous, what do you think?🤔🤔

    If not, you woulnd’t see someone who is real in spreading love and compassion encouraging fishing/killing as pass time activity. 😖😖

  12. Shocking seeing a Buddhist teacher encourage killing. Instead of practicing compassion Bob Thurman promote fishing next to his spa. Isn’t this going against his Guru His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaching on compassion? Why he go against His Holiness and also Buddha’s teaching? Encouraging killing still can teach Buddhism?

  13. I found out that robert use to be a monk.I am very sure that he learn the basic buddhist principles or vow of no killing.How come he can promote buddhism & killing at the same time.Such hypocrite.I have heard a lot about him always only thinking highly of himself & in actuality he has not much knowledge on buddhism.I think he only want to be famous & with hhdl as friend I am sure it is.If not why so many ppl say he is not good.I don’t care whether he is prof or not coz actions speak louder than words in this case the words are louder.Why he always harass DS ppl & find ways to destroy them where is the kindness & wisdom that he shd have at his age.For goodness sake he is 76 yrs old but still have none of them.What is the difference of a cyber bully & physical bully they are the same.Extremely unbelievable.

  14. Why would someone wanting to do a retreat at Menla destroy his peace of mind by killing animals?

    I really cannot understand why these people call themselves Buddhists. Just go and create your evil karma but don’t promote it all over the world on Twitter. Shame on Robert Thurman and his associates!

  15. I don’t know about Robert Thurman but by reading this, i don’t think he represented DL very well. From his profile, he looked a very well learned man riding on the fame of his teacher in HHDL. His actions doesn’t seem to match what his personality really is. One hand he is the ever compassionate (theoretically wise) but on the other hand he encourages harm onto others. Misleading figure really.

  16. Surprisingly, such a pro and educated as he praising himself could have such poor quality of wisdom. In Buddhism, killing is the first and most important action that should be stop. As an expert like Robert Thurman should have known of this basic knowledge long time before he converted. What really shameful, embarrassed was his promotion of his spa retreats centre indulging with sacrifices of wildlife. Obviously, such actions focus more on fame, money and material. With this motivation will make him a successor? As what words had said, what you throw will bounce back to you. Wait and see. 😏

  17. Bob Thurman should go back and study his Dharma properly. Which part of the Lamrim allows killing of any sentient beings? The answer is NO. If we kill then we have to bear the consequences for killing any sentient beings. Bob Thurman is not fit to teach as he is not showing to others a good example of what Tibetan Buddhism is about.

  18. Robert Thurman is well publicised with his “close” association with the Dalai Lama. Reading about him here, I am surprised that he was or had been a monk. So he disrobed? Bad impression for me to note.

    With all the publicity on the Dalai Lama, Thurman did well in leeching on HH to gain fortune and fame.

    The least he can do is to abide by some commonly known Buddhist virtuous tenets such as “do not Kill”.

    How could such opposite action of killing sentient beings as a recreation to assist in mental healing be acceptable to any normal thinking person. That is the reason why Menla is not successful.

    By the way, as a buddhist isn’t promoting killing for financial gain a wrongful livelihood. Another non virtuous act.

  19. Hello Robert Thurman, I am not an “expert” in Buddhism yet I know that killing is wrong. What more to say killing for recreation or pleasure? You, who has been promoting Buddhism, telling the whole world that Dalai Lama is your teacher, open a business called Menla Dewa Spa to spread Buddhism, instead of promoting charity work, helping the wild life, helping the fishes, you promoted flyfishing for recreation. Where is your Dharma knowledge? Did Dalai Lama teach you that? Or did the CTA teach you that? That’s not a way to promote your Dharma center, Bob.

  20. Why he is different form other Buddhist? Robert who previous is a monk and he likes to talk about compassionate to the public. And yet in the other hand he promote fly fishing, he would disturb Buddhist practitioners’ mind about “compassionate”. Is not only the meaning of compassionate but also the basic vows about “not killing”. In his talk he mentioned compassionate is “Sensitivities to another suffering”, so obviously he already against what he said. He is not fit to teach compassionate.

  21. Using the name of Buddhism to gain fame, wealth & power, at the same time, putting down the name of Buddhism by introducing a wrong method a wrong method of recreation. That’s a lot of negative karma.

    quote-to-stop-suffering-stop-greediness-greediness-is-a-source-of-suffering-gautama-buddha-66-95-50

  22. I am not shocked with what Robert Thurman says and does anymore. I can see who and what he is from his hateful speeches and inappropriate actions. All for the sake of politics and money. The Dalai Lama surely would know of what Thurman is doing, and it is perplexing why the Dalai Lama is condoning such actions. Not only that, why does the Dalai Lama keeps mum about lamas accused of sexual exploits but is very outspoken against Dorje Shugden?

    http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/crime-is-fine-as-long-as-you-are-endorsed-by-the-dalai-lama/

  23. Reading through this article immediatly raise up many question Robert Thurman qualification as Buddhism professor. Did he know in Buddhism, killing is first vows to be hold. Many buddhists practice compassion realising million and million of life to be free and not get kill. Here we see Robert Thurman is promoting fly fishsing at Menla Dawa Spa.How can Buddhism Professor make such mistake. This show how uncare and no messy to others sentient being. Such acting should stop killing activity just for fun.

  24. This is the case of Mr Robert Thurman a Professor of Buddhist study, was ordained by HH 14th Dalai Lama in 1965, the first American Buddhist monk of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition (in 1967, renounced his monk status) and a close friend of HH 14th Dalai Lama.

    Robert Thurman is the business co-owner of Menla Dewa Spa in USA, built on an image of wellness and healing based on Tibetan Buddhist principles.
    Here is the interesting part of his business, Menla Dewa Spa offered the activities such as Flyfishing, Horseback Riding and an alternative meal with organic chicken and fish.This clearly contradicted with what he is writing and practicing in Buddhism.

    Let me reiterate what Buddhism teach us to:-
    a) No Killing animals
    b) Do no harms / cause animal suffering

    Buddhists believe that every sentient beings have Buddha nature and they don’t deserve to be harmed or killed.

    My sincere request to Mr Robert Thurman, please practice Buddhism correctly and as a Buddhist author, please do not make your reader or friends confused on what you are doing. Seriuosly, is unethical.

  25. If one cannot help at least do not do harm. Under the goodie goodie image of a meditation center and encourage people to do harm in behind. This is very confusing and disturbed to see and to know.

    I would like to urge Menla Dewa Spa and Professor Robert Thurman please stop this cruel act.🙏🙏

  26. I really don’t understand why Robert Thurman would use his name for killing animals. I mean he has written books, is a professor and so on. He is friend with the Dalai Lama but he is promoting killing animals.

    I don’t get this. Of course the CTA, who should protect HH the Dalai Lama has no comment and is in no way concerned for the Dalai Lama’s reputation. I mean, how can the Dalai Lama be associated with someone who promoted and makes his living with killing animals?

    When is the CTA going to do its job?

  27. How compassionate is Robert Thurman. First, he invited people to go to his spa to look for peace, to generate love and compassion. Then he offers another extended activity to the participants to go kill some fish!

    I find it rather disturbing. When I was first introduced to Buddhism, I bought several Robert Thurman’s books. I thought he is very reputable because he is very close to Dalai Lama and he is a professor in Tibetan Buddhism.

    Now I have lost my faith in him. He does the opposite to what he preaches. Is he after money or truly concerned others spiritual path? I am going to give away his books to the second-hand book store, not going to read them anymore. There are many good Buddhist teachers out there, Robert Thurman for sure is not one of them.

  28. Tai Situpa’s Karmapa candidate’s escape to USA and continued stay in USA is a huge embarrassment to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government in exile. The Karmapa said he is very sad with his situation in his recent video (youtu.be/AdI4DMRFkm4?hid).

    The flight of a monk
    P Stobdan
    Intelligence concerns over Karmapa’s refuge in the US and the fear he may never return
    AS the Dalai Lama turned 83 this year, the main plot-line of Tibet is noticeably shifting to the 17th Karmapa — Ogyen Trinley Dorje — who suddenly disappeared from the radar screens of Indian intelligence in May 2017. Amidst rumours, the Karmapa was finally traced in Europe and later in the US where he has been staying on the pretext of poor health. He is staying in New Jersey’s Wharton State Forest area, on a 150-acre farm estate gifted to him by a Chinese/Taiwanese couple.
    Recent media reports suggest that he may not return to India where he spent his last 18 years. Earlier, he promised to return by June 2018, but the dateline is already over. Sources say there are signs of tension among intelligence circles after his disappearance.
    The Karmapa also made a daring escape from Tibet in 1999, which had caused huge embarrassment to the Chinese government. The jostling for control over the 17th Karmapa has heightened among the Chinese government, Dalai Lama’s administration and the Indian establishment after his flight.
    His sudden arrival in 2000 had raised many eyebrows in India. Many believed his escape was facilitated by the Chinese. Indian media was quick to label him as a Chinese spy. Others believed it was ostensibly masterminded by none other than Dharamsala itself. In 2001, the Karmapa feared the Chinese may use him for political purpose to separate Tibetans from the Dalai Lama and promised not to return to Tibet until the Dalai Lama returned. In India, he was confined to the Gyuto Tantric monastery near Dharamsala under the surveillance of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and Indian intelligence agencies. The government had imposed travel restrictions on him, banning him from visiting the Rumtek monastery built by his predecessor.
    In 2011, he was implicated in a controversy over the illegal recovery of a large stash of cash, including Chinese currency, fuelling suspicion whether he was a monk or a Chinese plant. And yet, considering his importance, the Tibetans in exile propped up the Karmapa’s stature to make him the next powerhouse to play a pivotal role in the post-Dalai Lama scenario.
    Clearly, the Karmapa’s escape has caused embarrassment to the CTA, especially the Dalai Lama, for he has been vehemently defending the Karmapa’s authenticity and credentials. It is an embarrassment for the government as well, because the decision to revoke travel restrictions on him by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in 2000 was taken only recently — possibly in spite of intelligence agencies cautioning against it.
    Not surprisingly, both New Delhi and Dharamsala tried their best to get him back. They sent a number of special emissaries to convince him to return.
    As regards what may have triggered the escape, the Karmapa made some stunning revelation in a message through video telecast from the US in March, wherein he said his childhood was manipulated by others; he was denied proper education both in Tibet and India; he virtually lived a prisoner’s life in the Gyuto monastery. He claimed that his own Karmapa sect was torn into rival factions and internal strife. In addition, pressures were brought to bear on him to play a political role against his wish. He confessed to his inability to meet the obligation of the Karmapa title as he never had any high “qualities and realisations” of being the 17th Karmapa, and hence, he desired to “give up” and live an “ordinary life”.
    The fact that he had to webcast on his “troubled life” from the US set the alarm bells ringing. Initially, the Karmapa cited his concurrent medical problem as reason for his prolonged stay and denied any “insidious plans”.
    The Karmapa’s escape and confession comes at a critical juncture, on the heels of Xi Jinping becoming the lifetime President; the declining interest on the Tibetan issue in the Western world, as well as in India; and the ageing of the Dalai Lama.
    The Karmapa shared his feelings with humility and honesty. Yet, he wasn’t clear about what he intended to do in the future except for subtle hints. First, he fears he may not get a fair deal if he returns to India in terms of movement. Second, he will have to confront stiff competition from a rival Karmapa. Third, sources say he was disappointed over multiple hindrances to get suitable land for his Tsurphu headquarters in India. In fact, this, besides the ban on Rumtek, may have been the key sticking point. In a belated attempt to woo him back, the top security panel — CCS — in March this year allowed him to visit Sikkim, except the Rumtek monastery. Sources say he was finally offered a plot in Dwarka, New Delhi, at the cost of Rs 22 crore an acre.
    Against all these odds, the Karmapa might be weighing the option of seeking asylum in the US, so he could travel freely to China and elsewhere.
    Anyhow, he would rather play the waiting game from outside where he has a larger audience with a huge network of followers. Possibly, he may be trying to buy land in the US to set up the Karmapa seat in exile.
    To be sure, his escape provides propaganda fodder to China — look, what India does to Tibetan lamas!
    If the rumours are to be believed, the Karmapa may also opt for returning to Tsurphu monastery. Last year he talked about his desire to visit Tibet to meet his parents.
    All in all, there is little possibility of Karmapa returning to India. The assumption that high Tibetan lamas offer a degree of strategic depth to India in the Tibetan plateau vis-à-vis China is misplaced. On the contrary, the Chinese may already be acquiring a reverse strategic depth in India.
    The argument that various sects of Tibetan Buddhism and their lamas of Kagyu, Geyluk, Sakya, Nyingma, etc., control the Indian Himalayan borderland is only a myth. Sectarian affiliations across India’s borderland with Tibet have nothing to do their historical and political loyalties towards India. As such, any undue keenness for India to seek high-stake bidding for the Tibetan lamas will remain an exercise in futility.
    A former envoy and expert on Trans-Himalayan affairs
    https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/the-flight-of-a-monk/625891.html

    The-flight-of-a-monk

  29. It’ shocking. One might argues that during Buddha’s time, there’s no vegetarian vows, Lord Buddha and many great and attained masters even eat meats! But too bad, we are not attained, we are not Buddha, we do not done any great deeds, why compare with Lord Buddha?

    Even you are not a Buddhist, encouraging killing is totally wrong. Encouraging someone to kill to make profit even more wrong😔😢

  30. Menla Dewa Spa is a spiritual place for people to seek for healing and wellness. Unfortunately, this place is having an animal activity i.e. fly fishing.
    As we all know that Buddha teachings emphasized not to kill other lives but to cherish all life. Robert Thurman allowing this activity held in Menla Dewa Spa shows very clearly that Robert Thurman wants the business / profits is higher priority than not to kill other beings. Furthermore, Robert Thurman intentionally influence people to kill the fish for excitement is totally contradicted the purpose to setup this Menla for the wellness of others.

    Thank you for sharing this important post so that we can make the right choice for the vacation without harming others.

  31. If Ol’ Bob has any shred of Buddhism in his mindstream, he would have not even endorsed and promoted fishing. Fishing = Killing. One of the basics of Buddhism. Clearly, it’s all about the money!

    And I do agree with Shashi – Thurman feels immune from karma through his association with the Dalai Lama. Have you seen any of his videos? I have not seen any Buddhist teacher as arrogant as him. Check out his body language in his teachings. You’ll see why.

  32. While the government of Nepal has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, they have welcomed 30 Chinese NGOs to enter the country. These NGOs will penetrate the country’s social sector at the grassroots level. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal at one time. Nepal is increasingly open to Chinese influence, a sign that ties between both countries are strengthening, while India’s influence is being reduced. The time has passed for India’s monopoly to remain uninterrupted in Nepal as opportunities to engage with China are being welcomed.

    30 Chinese NGOs all set to work in Nepal
    REWATI SAPKOTA
    Kathmandu, July 30
    At a time when the government has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, 30 Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal to penetrate the country’s social sector and the grassroots.
    The Social Welfare Council Nepal and China NGO Network for International Exchanges, an umbrella body of Chinese NGOs, have signed a memorandum of understanding to enable Chinese NGOs to work in Nepal. The agreement was signed yesterday between SWCN Member Secretary Dilli Prasad Bhatt and CNIE General Secretary Zhu Rui in the presence of Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizen Tham Maya Thapa and Chinese Deputy Minister of External Affairs Wang Yajun.
    The agreement has paved the way for the first batch of 30 Chinese NGOs to work in Nepal for a period of three years. Their contract will be extended based on the consent of SWCN and CNIE. Representatives of these 30 Chinese NGOs were also present during yesterday’s signing ceremony. They have agreed to work in partnership with local NGOs to implement their programmes and projects.
    The Chinese NGOs are eyeing areas such as livelihood, healthcare, education, skill-based training, community development and disaster management. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs has entered Nepal at one time. The Chinese assistance so far in Nepal has largely been limited to development of infrastructure projects. But the entry of these NGOs indicates China is keen on making its presence felt in Nepal’s social sector and the grassroots, which, till date, have remained domains of the West and countries such as Japan and India.
    The MoU signed between SWCN and CNIE states that Chinese NGOs will be mobilised for ‘the benefit of needy Nepalis and to enhance ties between China and Nepal through people-to-people support programmes’.
    “The Chinese NGOs will abide by the law of Nepal in its entirety while carrying out development cooperation in Nepal,” says the MoU, adding, “Chinese NGOs will submit programmes to the SWCN to carry out development activities in partnership with Nepali NGOs and SWCN in line with plans and policies of the government of Nepal.”
    The MoU was signed at a time when the government has drafted the National Integrity Policy to limit activities of NGOs and INGOs, as some of them were found ‘trying to break communal harmony and proselytising Nepalis’. There were also concerns that high administrative cost of many NGOs and INGOs was preventing money from reaching the real beneficiaries. The policy clearly states that NGOs and INGOs cannot spend more than specified amount under administrative and consultant headings. They will also be barred from working against Nepal’s interests, culture and communal harmony and conducting activities to promote their religious, social or other agenda, adds the policy.
    Around 48,000 NGOs are currently registered in Nepal, of which only 1,600 have been receiving funds from INGOs, as per SWCN. The SWCN has directed INGOs and NGOs to spend 60 per cent of the budget to generate tangible results, while the remaining can be used to cover administrative costs and organise training, meetings and seminars.
    https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/30-chinese-ngos-all-set-to-work-in-nepal/

    DS.com China NGOs enter Nepal

  33. Why doesn’t the United States and its allies end Refugee Status for the useless Tibetans? They have been refugees for 60 years now and don’t tell me they still cannot get their lives back in order?

    Tibetans really know how to put on a good show and use people, take their money and do nothing in return.

    Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians
    In internal emails, Jared Kushner advocated a “sincere effort to disrupt” the U.N.’s relief agency for Palestinians.
    BY COLUM LYNCH, ROBBIE GRAMER | AUGUST 3, 2018, 2:12 PM
    Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, has quietly been trying to do away with the U.N. relief agency that has provided food and essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees for decades, according to internal emails obtained by Foreign Policy.
    His initiative is part of a broader push by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress to strip these Palestinians of their refugee status in the region and take their issue off the table in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to both American and Palestinian officials. At least two bills now making their way through Congress address the issue.
    Kushner, whom Trump has charged with solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been reluctant to speak publicly about any aspect of his Middle East diplomacy. A peace plan he’s been working on with other U.S. officials for some 18 months has been one of Washington’s most closely held documents.
    But his position on the refugee issue and his animus toward the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is evident in internal emails written by Kushner and others earlier this year.
    “It is important to have an honest and sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA,” Kushner wrote about the agency in one of those emails, dated Jan. 11 and addressed to several other senior officials, including Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt.
    “This [agency] perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn’t help peace,” he wrote.
    The United States has helped fund UNRWA since it was formed in 1949 to provide relief for Palestinians displaced from their homes following the establishment of the State of Israel and ensuing international war. Previous administrations have viewed the agency as a critical contributor to stability in the region.
    But many Israel supporters in the United States today see UNRWA as part of an international infrastructure that has artificially kept the refugee issue alive and kindled hopes among the exiled Palestinians that they might someday return home—a possibility Israel flatly rules out.
    Critics of the agency point in particular to its policy of granting refugee status not just to those who fled Mandatory Palestine 70 years ago but to their descendants as well—accounting that puts the refugee population at around 5 million, nearly one-third of whom live in camps across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza.
    By trying to unwind UNRWA, the Trump administration appears ready to reset the terms of the Palestinian refugee issue in Israel’s favor—as it did on another key issue in December, when Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
    In the same January email, Kushner wrote: “Our goal can’t be to keep things stable and as they are. … Sometimes you have to strategically risk breaking things in order to get there.”
    Kushner raised the refugee issue with officials in Jordan during a visit to the region in June, along with Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt. According to Palestinian officials, he pressed the Jordan to strip its more than 2 million registered Palestinians of their refugee status so that UNRWA would no longer need to operate there.
    “[Kushner said] the resettlement has to take place in the host countries and these governments can do the job that UNRWA was doing,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
    She said the Trump administration wanted rich Arab Gulf states to cover the costs Jordan might incur in the process.
    “They want to take a really irresponsible, dangerous decision and the whole region will suffer,” Ashrawi said.
    Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, told reporters in June that Kushner’s delegation had said it was ready to stop funding UNRWA altogether and instead direct the money—$300 million annually—to Jordan and other countries that host Palestinian refugees.
    “All this is actually aimed at liquidating the issue of the Palestinian refugees,” hesaid.
    The White House declined to comment on the record for this story. A senior executive branch official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. policy regarding the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee program “has been under frequent evaluation and internal discussion. The administration will announce its policy in due course.”
    Jordanian officials in New York and Washington did not respond to queries about the initiative.
    Kushner and Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, both proposed ending funding for UNRWA back in January. But the State Department, the Pentagon, and the U.S. intelligence community all opposed the idea, fearing in part that it could fuel violence in the region.
    The following week, the State Department announced that that United States would cut the first $125 million installment of its annual payment to UNRWA by more than half, to $60 million.
    “UNRWA has been threatening us for six months that if they don’t get a check they will close schools. Nothing has happened,” Kushner wrote in the same email.
    State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said at the time that the U.S. had no intention of eliminating funding for Palestinian refugees, and that it was taking time to explore ways to reform UNRWA and to convince other countries to help Washington shoulder the financial burden of aiding the Palestinians.
    But the following day, Victoria Coates, a senior advisor to Greenblatt, sent an email to the White House’s national security staff indicating that the White House was mulling a way to eliminate the U.N.’s agency for Palestinian refugees.
    “UNRWA should come up with a plan to unwind itself and become part of the UNHCR by the time its charter comes up again in 2019,” Coates wrote.
    She noted that the proposal was one of a number of “spitball ideas that I’ve had that are also informed by some thoughts I’ve picked up from Jared, Jason and Nikki.”
    Other ideas included a suggestion that the U.N. relief agency be asked to operate on a month-to-month budget and devise “a plan to remove all anti-Semitism from educational materials.”
    The ideas seemed to track closely with proposals Israel has been making for some time.
    “We believe that UNRWA needs to pass from the world as it is an organization that advocates politically against Israel and perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem,” said Elad Strohmayer, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
    Strohmayer said that Palestinians are the only population that is able to transfer its refugee status down through generations.
    The claim, though long advanced by Israel, is not entirely true.
    In an internal report from 2015, the State Department noted that the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees “recognizes descendants of refugees as refugees for purposes of their operations.” The report, which was recently declassified, said the descendants of Afghan, Bhutanese, Burmese, Somali, and Tibetan refugees are all recognized by the U.N. as refugees themselves.
    Of the roughly 700,000 original Palestinian refugees, only a few tens of thousands are still alive, according to estimates.
    The push to deny the status to most Palestinians refugees is also gaining traction in Congress.
    Last week, Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, introduced a bill that would limit the United States to assisting only the original refugees. Most savings in U.N. contributions would be directed to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United States’ principal international development agency. But USAID is currently constrained by the Taylor Force Act, which restricts the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends a policy of providing aid to families of fallen terrorists.
    “Instead of resettling Palestinian refugees displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948, UNRWA provides aid to those they define as Palestinian refugees until there is a solution they deem acceptable to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Lamborn’s bill states.
    “This policy does not help resettle the refugees from 1948 but instead maintains a refugee population in perpetuity.”
    A congressional aide familiar with the legislation said its intent isn’t to gut UNRWA funding, but redirect assistance to descendants through USAID.
    “The people that are suffering should still get assistance, but through appropriately defined humanitarian channels and aid programs,” the aide said.
    Similarly, Sen. James Lankford, (R-Okla.), has drafted legislation that would redirect U.S. funding away from UNRWA and to other local and international agencies.
    The bill, which has not yet officially been introduced, would require the U.S. secretary of state certify by 2020 that the United Nations has ended its recognition of Palestinian descendants as refugees.
    “The United Nations should provide assistance to the Palestinians in a way that makes clear that the United Nations does not recognize the vast majority of Palestinians currently registered by UNRWA as refugees deserving refugee status,” reads a draft obtained by Foreign Policy.
    Previous U.S. administrations have maintained that the vast majority of Palestinian refugees will ultimately have to be absorbed in a new Palestinian state or naturalized in the countries that have hosted them for generations.
    But the fate of the refugee issue was expected to be agreed to as part of a comprehensive peace pact that resulted in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
    “It’s very clear that the overarching goal here is to eliminate the Palestinian refugees as an issue by defining them out of existence,” said Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
    “This isn’t going to make peace any easier. It’s going to make it harder.”
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/03/trump-palestinians-israel-refugees-unrwaand-allies-seek-end-to-refugee-status-for-millions-of-palestinians-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-unrwa-israel-palestine-peace-plan-jared-kushner-greenb/

    DS.com Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians

  34. Dalai Lama says returning to China is better for Tibetans-What do rangzen (Tibet Independence fighters) people fighting for Tibet’s freedom do now??? Have we wasted our time?

    Suddenly the Dalai Lama keeps insisting he wants to be a part of China. How about all the tens of millions of dollars in money and so much time and resource poured into the Free Tibet movement for 57 years in exile. Is that all wasted? Is that all down the drain? How can the Dalai Lama turn around on us like that?

    If Dalai Lama returns to Tibet/China, then he is telling the world China is good for Tibetans and we Tibetans want to be a part of China. Is that correct? So Dalai Lama is telling the world that Tibet is a part of China? After so many years of saying we want independence and our country was eaten and now Dalai Lama is sending what message to the world?

    How will India feel after hosting the Dalai Lama for so many years? – This one minute video shows the Dalai Lama August 2018 saying he feels Tibet should be a part of China! -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xLKINuIrtE

  35. Dalai Lama says returning to China is better for Tibetans-What do rangzen (Tibet Independence fighters) people fighting for Tibet’s freedom do now??? Have we wasted our time?

    Suddenly the Dalai Lama keeps insisting he wants to be a part of China. How about all the tens of millions of dollars in money and so much time and resource poured into the Free Tibet movement for 57 years in exile. Is that all wasted? Is that all down the drain? How can the Dalai Lama turn around on us like that?

    If Dalai Lama returns to Tibet/China, then he is telling the world China is good for Tibetans and we Tibetans want to be a part of China. Is that correct? So Dalai Lama is telling the world that Tibet is a part of China? After so many years of saying we want independence and our country was eaten and now Dalai Lama is sending what message to the world?

    How will India feel after hosting the Dalai Lama for so many years? – This one minute video shows the Dalai Lama August 2018 saying he feels Tibet should be a part of China!

    http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1533732491.mp4


  36. The Nikkei Asian Review is a highly reputable news platform. They are not tabloid in any sense of the word. What they publish is reputable and thoroughly reliable. They mention clearly in an article published August 7, 2018 that the Dalai Lama has a terminal illness. The Prime Minister of India knowing this is now conciliatory towards China. He understands that the Dalai Lama cannot be used as a pawn in irritating China any further. Negotiations are progressing that after the passing of Dalai Lama, his government in-exile will close. The end.

    India uses rumor of Dalai Lama’s ill health to mend China ties
    If Tibetan exile flow is stemmed, Beijing might compromise on territorial claim
    YUJI KURONUMA, Nikkei staff writer
    August 07, 2018 17:02 JST
    DHARAMSALA — Rumors are flying around in this northern Indian city, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile, that the 14th Dalai Lama is suffering from terminal cancer.
    With Tibetan exiles deeply worried about the 83-year-old religious leader, the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been using the situation to take a more conciliatory approach to China. Modi also seems to be lowering the standing of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
    Word that the Dalai Lama may be in serious condition has quietly spread. “I have heard that His Holiness is not well,” said Migmar Chodon, a 49-year-old housewife in Dharamsala. “Though I don’t know well about it, I am worried.”
    A 27-year-old restaurant employee in the city said, “I have read somewhere that His Holiness is unwell.”
    In 1959, Tibetan people rose in revolt in Lhasa, Tibet, which had been occupied by China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, and the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India. At least 130,000 Tibetans later left their homeland. At present, 85,000 Tibetans live in India, about 8,000 of them in Dharamsala, which hosts the Tibetan government-in-exile and a temple where the 14th Dalai Lama lives.
    Rumors about the Dalai Lama suffering from poor health come frequently. The latest one arose in June, when an Indian media company reported that the Dalai Lama was in the “last stage of prostate cancer.” The Dalai Lama’s doctor and the government-in-exile immediately denied the news, and people have tried to remain calm. “I want to believe the words of the doctor,” the restaurant worker said.
    The Indian government thinks the terminal cancer report is credible. A government source said “the prostate cancer has spread to his lymph nodes” and that “his life would not be so long” now.
    In the past two years, the Dalai Lama has received treatment at a hospital in the U.S. People close to the Dalai Lama worry that word of this was leaked by U.S. authorities. Now the Dalai Lama “will be going to Switzerland for radiotherapy in the month of August,” the source said.
    India is using rumors that the Dalai Lama is in poor health to build a more conciliatory relationship with China. In April, during an informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, China, Modi tried to portray the India-China relationship as improved.
    During the meeting, “Modi apprised President Xi of the Dalai Lama’s health and the Indian position on Tibet after his death,” a government source said. “This information from Modi took Xi by surprise, and the two discussed the issue for a long time at the Wuhan summit.”
    When the leaders met in 2015 and 2016, they informally discussed a proposal for India to stop accepting new Tibetan exiles after the death of the Dalai Lama in return for China withdrawing its territorial claim on some parts of northern India.
    For humanitarian, strategic and other reasons, India has been accepting Tibetan exiles for nearly 60 years. Tibet has been something of a buffer zone between the world’s two most populous countries since shortly after India’s independence in 1947. However, China has strengthened its grip on the Tibet Autonomous Region, and in 2017 new exiles numbered 57, a sharp drop from over 2,000 a decade earlier.
    With Tibet’s strategic value waning, India has moderated its stance.
    At the behest of the Indian government, the Tibetan government-in-exile last year changed the English name for its sikyong from “prime minister” to “president.” Geshe Lhakdor, director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and for years an interpreter for the 14th Dalai Lama, said the new term denotes the leader of an organization, rather than the leader of a country.
    The Indian government is also encouraging Tibetan exiles to acquire Indian citizenship.
    A successor to the 14th Dalai Lama will be installed when a person believed to be his reincarnation is found, or will be appointed under a new system, like nomination.
    The 15th Dalai Lama will then lead the Tibetan Buddhist world. However, it will be difficult for the successor to take the place of the 14th Dalai Lama, who has international influence as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and is the protector of Tibetan exiles.
    The buildings that house the government-in-exile and the temple which is home to the 14th Dalai Lama sit atop a mountain. At the foot of this mountain is the Tibetan Reception Center that Tibetan exiles first visit for registration. It is quiet these days, and very much unoccupied.
    https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-Relations/India-uses-rumor-of-Dalai-Lama-s-ill-health-to-mend-China-ties

    India-uses-rumor-of-Dalai-Lama's-ill-health

  37. For people who are not familiar with the Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism, they will be fooled by Robert Thurman. Robert Thurman markets himself as the Dalai Lama’s man in the US, when people see he is so close to the Dalai Lama, and the Dalai Lama endorses him, naturally, they will think very highly of him. This is how he makes himself a professor and an expert in Tibetan Buddhism.

    But for people who know about Tibetan Buddhism and his history, they will not think so highly of him. He was the first westerner to be ordained as a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and he was also the first westerner monk to disrobe and got married. How much attainment or realisation does he have if he cannot even keep his monk vows?

    It is not hard to see everything he does is motivated by money. Look at how his Menla Dewa Spa promotes fly fishing to the participants of his program. Killing is never advocated in Buddhist doctrine, he should know that, why is he even promoting and encouraging it? He should promote vegetarianism, tolerance, and respect, not trying to attack Dorje Shugden followers all the time. If you want to be a hypocrite, he is the best teacher you can ever find.

  38. What will the all the people around the world and in Tibet do now? Dalai Lama says he is happy that Tibet is a part of China and should remain a part of China. So many Tibetans self-immolated for Tibet to be independent and now Dalai Lama did a 360 degree turn and says he wants to go back to Tibet and China and Tibet should be a part of China. So unbelievable. So many are angry and disappointed.

    Tibetans ready to be part of China: Dalai Lama
    Organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the event was a part of “Thank You India – 2018″ held by the Tibetan community across India to mark 60 years of its exile in the country.
    Indo-Asian News Service
    Bengaluru
    Tibetans are ready to be a part of China if guaranteed full rights to preserve their culture, the Dalai Lama said on Friday.
    “Tibetans are not asking for independence. We are okay with remaining with the People’s Republic of China, provided we have full rights to preserve our culture,” the 83-year-old spiritual leader said at “Thank You Karnataka” event here in the city.
    Organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the event was a part of “Thank You India – 2018″ held by the Tibetan community across India to mark 60 years of its exile in the country.
    “Several of Chinese citizens practicing Buddhism are keen on Tibetan Buddhism as it is considered scientific,” the Nobel laureate said.
    Born in Taktser hamlet in northeastern Tibet, the Dalai Lama was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. He fled to India from Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959.
    China annexed Tibet in 1950, forcing thousands of Tibetans, including monks, to flee the mountain country and settle in India as refugees.
    Since then, India has been home to over 100,000 Tibetans majorly settled in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh among other states.
    https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/india/tibetans-ready-to-be-part-of-china-dalai-lama/293109.html

    d

  39. Dear Dalai Lama,

    Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.

    By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.

    It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.

    Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.

    You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.

    No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.

    You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.

    You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.

    After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.

    Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.

    The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.

    Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.

  40. The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.

    Tibetan disunity not in India’s interest

    John S. Shilshi

    Updated: August 7, 2018, 11:00 AM

    India is home to the Dalai Lama and an estimated 120,000 Tibetan refugees. Though this humanitarian gesture on India’s part comes at the cost of risking New Delhi’s relations with China, India has never wavered in ensuring that Tibetans live with dignity and respect. Notified settlements across the country were made available so that they can live as independently as possible and practice Tibetan religion and culture. They are also allowed to establish centres of higher learning in Tibetan Buddhism. As a result, several reputed Buddhist institutes came up in Karnataka, and in the Indian Himalayan belt. In what may be termed as a gesture well reciprocated, and because of the respect and influence His Holiness the Dalai Lama commands, the Tibetan diaspora also lived as a peaceful community, rarely creating problems for India’s law enforcement agencies.

    The situation, however, changed from 2000 onwards when unity amongst Tibetans suffered some setback due to developments like the Karmapa succession controversy and the controversy over worshiping of Dorje Shugden. In a unique case of politics getting the better of religion, two senior monks of the Karma kargyue sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Tai Situ Rinpoche and late Shamar Rinpoche, developed serious differences after the demise of Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa, in 1981. This animosity ultimately led to emergence of two 17th Karmapa candidates in the early nineties. While Tai Situ Rinpoche identified and recognised UghyanThinley Dorje, late Shamar Rinpoche anointed Thinley Thaye Dorje as his Karmapa candidate. Enthronement of their respective protégés at the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the supreme seat of the Karma Kargue linage, being their primary objective, both started indulging in activities monks normally are expected to, and bitterness spewed against each other.

    The bitter rivalry assumed a new dimension when UghyenThinley Dorje suddenly appeared in India in January 2000. The competition became fiercer and hectic political lobbying, never known in the history of Tibetan Buddhism on Indian soil, became common place. Apart from pulling strings at their disposal in Sikkim as well as in the power corridors of New Delhi, these senior monks spat against each other with allegations and counter allegations, widening the gaps between their supporters. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, choosing to favour one of the candidates—a decision many Tibet watchers felt was ill-timed—had also limited possible scope of rapprochement. Hence, the Karma Kargyue followers are now vertically divided, while the camps are dragged into a long drawn legal battle.

    Another development that unfortunately split the Tibetans is the controversy over Shugden worshipping, which again is an internal matter of the Gelugpa sect, to which the Dalai Lama belongs. It erupted as a result of the Dalai Lama urging Tibetans to refrain from worshiping Dorje Shugden, a deity believed to be a protector, according to Tibetan legend. Shugden practitioners, who felt offended by the call, describe it as an attack on freedom of religion, a right, which Dalai Lama himself tirelessly fought for. On the other hand, die hard Dalai Lama followers perceived the questioning of the decision as one challenging the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and mounted massive pressure on Dorje Shugden practitioners to relent, with some even demolishing the statues of the deity. The rivalry ultimately led to split in two Gelug monasteries in Karnataka, and Serpom and Shar Garden monasteries in Bylakupe and Mundgod respectively came under the control of Shugden followers. The bitterness associated with the split is exemplified by the fact that till today, members of these monasteries are treated as some sort of outcasts by the others. Thus, for the first time, the Tibetan diaspora in India gave birth to sections opposed to the Dalai Lama, with spillover effects in Tibet and elsewhere.

    For India, with a fragile internal security profile, a divided Tibetan population on its soil is not good news. It has several long-term implications. It is common knowledge that China considers Dalai Lama as a secessionist, one plotting to divide their country. The latter’s claim of “all that Tibetans were asking for, was a status of genuine autonomy within the Constitution of the Peoples’ Republic of China”, had fallen into deaf ears. China also considers him as someone who plays to the Indian tune to tickle China. Therefore, at a time when China has successfully shrunk the Dalai Lama’s space internationally, India continuing to extend the usual space for him is viewed as complicity. Sharp reaction from China when he was allowed to visit Arunachal Pradesh in April 2017, is a recent example. Such being the delicate nature of India-China relations on matters and issues concerning Tibetans, India can hardly afford to ignore the division within the diaspora. Past experience of dubious elements from Tibet having succeeded in infiltrating the Central Tibetan Administration, including the security wing, should be a warning.

    It is also time India understands the reason behind Tibetans seeking Indian passports, despite an existing arrangement for issue of Identity Certificates, which is passport equivalent. Some had even successfully taken recourse to legal remedy on the issue, and left the government of India red-faced. These changing moods should not be viewed as desires by Tibetans to become Indian citizens. They are triggered by the pathetic state of affairs associated with issuing of Identity Certificates, where delays in most cases are anything between six months to one year. Early streamlining of the process will drastically reduce their desire to hold Indian passport. It will also remove the wrongly perceived notion among some educated Tibetan youth, that the cumbersome process was a ploy by India to confine them in this country. While India should not shy from requesting the Dalai Lama to use his good offices to end all differences within the community in the interest of India’s internal security, it will also be necessary to ensure that young Tibetans do not nurse a silent grudge against the very country they called their second home.

    https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/tibetan-disunity-not-indias-interest

  41. Supreme Court of India JUSTICE Mr. MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) writes that Tibet is much better under the Chinese than it was under the lamas who only wanted to make the populace slaves. It was feudal and it will never return to the backwardness again.

    Time has come to acknowledge that Tibet has vastly improved under Chinese rule
    JUSTICE MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) | 12 August, 2018
    From a terribly poor state hinged on a feudal system, Tibet has modernised and grows faster than the rest of China
    This article has been prompted by Jyoti Malhotra’s article in ThePrint ‘Tibetan government quietly changed its PM’s designation. India won’t be unhappy about it‘.
    China’s annexation of Tibet in 1959, ousting the Dalai Lama, had attracted it worldwide criticism. The Dalai Lama fled and was granted asylum in India, where he set up a government-in-exile with its headquarters in Dharamshala.
    The Chinese claim Tibet on the grounds that it has been part of the country since the Yuan dynasty of the 13th century, which is disputed by the government-in-exile. But let us leave this that matter aside.
    The more important question is whether Chinese rule has benefited Tibet.
    The answer is that it undoubtedly has. As the Reuters’ Ben Blanchard writes: “Today Tibet is richer and more developed than it has ever been, its people healthier, more literate, better dressed and fed”.
    Although Ben goes on to argue that this development masks “a deep sense of unhappiness among many Tibetans”, I will disagree. How can anyone be unhappy if s/he is healthier, better fed and better clothed?
    Under the rule of the Dalai Lamas (Buddhist priests), the people of Tibet were terribly poor, almost entirely illiterate, and lived like feudal serfs.
    Today, Tibet presents a totally different picture. The illiteracy rate in Tibet has gone down from 95 per cent in the 1950s to 42 per cent in 2000. It has modern schools, universities, engineering and medical colleges, modern hospitals, freeways, supermarkets, fast food restaurants, mobile stores and apartment buildings. The capital Lhasa is like any other modern city.
    While the economic growth in the rest of China has slowed down to about 7 per cent, Tibet has had a 10 per cent growth rate in the last two decades.
    Tibet has huge mineral wealth, which was only awaiting Chinese technology to be tapped. Nowadays, it has numerous hydro and solar power plants and industries running with Chinese help.
    Tibetan literature is flourishing, contrary to claims that the Chinese want to crush Tibetan culture.
    Of course, now the lamas cannot treat their people as slaves.
    The so-called ‘government-in-exile’, of which Lobsang Sangay claims to be the President, is a fake organisation, funded by foreign countries. They only want to restore the feudal Tibet, ruled by the reactionary lamas, something which will never happen.
    The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India
    https://theprint.in/opinion/time-has-come-to-acknowledge-that-tibet-has-vastly-improved-under-chinese-rule/97172/

  42. It is all over the Indian media how the Dalai Lama insulted Prime Minister Pandit Nehru. How dare the Dalai Lama insult the very person who allowed him and his people to come to India in 1959 and grow fat and build their golden temples TAX FREE.http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1534332541.mp4


  43. The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.
    Tibetan disunity not in India’s interest
    John S. Shilshi
    Updated: August 7, 2018, 11:00 AM
    India is home to the Dalai Lama and an estimated 120,000 Tibetan refugees. Though this humanitarian gesture on India’s part comes at the cost of risking New Delhi’s relations with China, India has never wavered in ensuring that Tibetans live with dignity and respect. Notified settlements across the country were made available so that they can live as independently as possible and practice Tibetan religion and culture. They are also allowed to establish centres of higher learning in Tibetan Buddhism. As a result, several reputed Buddhist institutes came up in Karnataka, and in the Indian Himalayan belt. In what may be termed as a gesture well reciprocated, and because of the respect and influence His Holiness the Dalai Lama commands, the Tibetan diaspora also lived as a peaceful community, rarely creating problems for India’s law enforcement agencies.
    The situation, however, changed from 2000 onwards when unity amongst Tibetans suffered some setback due to developments like the Karmapa succession controversy and the controversy over worshiping of Dorje Shugden. In a unique case of politics getting the better of religion, two senior monks of the Karma kargyue sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Tai Situ Rinpoche and late Shamar Rinpoche, developed serious differences after the demise of Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa, in 1981. This animosity ultimately led to emergence of two 17th Karmapa candidates in the early nineties. While Tai Situ Rinpoche identified and recognised UghyanThinley Dorje, late Shamar Rinpoche anointed Thinley Thaye Dorje as his Karmapa candidate. Enthronement of their respective protégés at the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the supreme seat of the Karma Kargue linage, being their primary objective, both started indulging in activities monks normally are expected to, and bitterness spewed against each other.
    The bitter rivalry assumed a new dimension when UghyenThinley Dorje suddenly appeared in India in January 2000. The competition became fiercer and hectic political lobbying, never known in the history of Tibetan Buddhism on Indian soil, became common place. Apart from pulling strings at their disposal in Sikkim as well as in the power corridors of New Delhi, these senior monks spat against each other with allegations and counter allegations, widening the gaps between their supporters. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, choosing to favour one of the candidates—a decision many Tibet watchers felt was ill-timed—had also limited possible scope of rapprochement. Hence, the Karma Kargyue followers are now vertically divided, while the camps are dragged into a long drawn legal battle.
    Another development that unfortunately split the Tibetans is the controversy over Shugden worshipping, which again is an internal matter of the Gelugpa sect, to which the Dalai Lama belongs. It erupted as a result of the Dalai Lama urging Tibetans to refrain from worshiping Dorje Shugden, a deity believed to be a protector, according to Tibetan legend. Shugden practitioners, who felt offended by the call, describe it as an attack on freedom of religion, a right, which Dalai Lama himself tirelessly fought for. On the other hand, die hard Dalai Lama followers perceived the questioning of the decision as one challenging the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and mounted massive pressure on Dorje Shugden practitioners to relent, with some even demolishing the statues of the deity. The rivalry ultimately led to split in two Gelug monasteries in Karnataka, and Serpom and Shar Garden monasteries in Bylakupe and Mundgod respectively came under the control of Shugden followers. The bitterness associated with the split is exemplified by the fact that till today, members of these monasteries are treated as some sort of outcasts by the others. Thus, for the first time, the Tibetan diaspora in India gave birth to sections opposed to the Dalai Lama, with spillover effects in Tibet and elsewhere.
    For India, with a fragile internal security profile, a divided Tibetan population on its soil is not good news. It has several long-term implications. It is common knowledge that China considers Dalai Lama as a secessionist, one plotting to divide their country. The latter’s claim of “all that Tibetans were asking for, was a status of genuine autonomy within the Constitution of the Peoples’ Republic of China”, had fallen into deaf ears. China also considers him as someone who plays to the Indian tune to tickle China. Therefore, at a time when China has successfully shrunk the Dalai Lama’s space internationally, India continuing to extend the usual space for him is viewed as complicity. Sharp reaction from China when he was allowed to visit Arunachal Pradesh in April 2017, is a recent example. Such being the delicate nature of India-China relations on matters and issues concerning Tibetans, India can hardly afford to ignore the division within the diaspora. Past experience of dubious elements from Tibet having succeeded in infiltrating the Central Tibetan Administration, including the security wing, should be a warning.
    It is also time India understands the reason behind Tibetans seeking Indian passports, despite an existing arrangement for issue of Identity Certificates, which is passport equivalent. Some had even successfully taken recourse to legal remedy on the issue, and left the government of India red-faced. These changing moods should not be viewed as desires by Tibetans to become Indian citizens. They are triggered by the pathetic state of affairs associated with issuing of Identity Certificates, where delays in most cases are anything between six months to one year. Early streamlining of the process will drastically reduce their desire to hold Indian passport. It will also remove the wrongly perceived notion among some educated Tibetan youth, that the cumbersome process was a ploy by India to confine them in this country. While India should not shy from requesting the Dalai Lama to use his good offices to end all differences within the community in the interest of India’s internal security, it will also be necessary to ensure that young Tibetans do not nurse a silent grudge against the very country they called their second home.
    https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/tibetan-disunity-not-indias-interest

  44. I am so surprised to know Robert Thurman encourages people to kill for leisure after a meditation program. Doesn’t he think it is ironic? Someone is full of anger so they enroll in the meditation program trying to find peace and calm their mind. Immediately they have calmed their mind, they go to kill for leisure? It doesn’t make sense at all.

    So what do they meditate in the program? To generate love, care, and compassion for all sentient beings? If that is the case, fly fishing activity is not aligned with the program objective, why do they even bother to promote it? Or the meditation program is to generate hatred and anger so the participant can go and kill after the program?

    Robert Thurman has learned Buddhism for so many years, he should know that. I could probably conclude that academically he knows a lot about Buddhism but he is not a practitioner. Because if he is, he will not encourage killing.

  45. The true face of Dalai Lama’s man in the west is exposed now. It all makes sense now. He supposedly to be very learned and wise old Buddhist professor but his actions do not reflect that.

    He is famous on the twitter on tweeting nasty and suppressive tweets against those who practiced Shugden ( a Buddhist protector ) which His Holiness had banned his practice 20years ago. I also understand that we practice religious freedom here in the US and nobody can tell us off for practicing a religion that we choose even if the majority of the society does not agree to it. Satanism and Wicca are just perfect examples of this. However, we still respect them. We give them the space to practice what they want and we do not go and tweet nasty things and say bad things to them to discourage them. What Robert Thurman is doing is very un-Buddhist like and very barbaric. No human rights or whatsoever.

    I’m not surprised when he pulls off something like this. Promoting fishing at his spa for profits is just one of this way to get more money. His focus in life is to get fame and money. That’s all. That’s all he cared about. He does not care about Tibet or His Holiness Dalai Lama. He pretends to care because he needs the publicity and support to get his fame up and his books selling fast. It’s all a money game. It is impossible for him to not know that not killing is one of the vows in Buddhism 101. There is no excuse for him to even allow this on his property.

    Karma will definitely catch up.

    images-18

  46. I just find it amazing and disgusting how Robert Thurman exploits his position and closeness with the Dalai Lama for personal gain. Instead of practicing the great compassionate teachings of the Dalai Lama, Robert Thurman chose to be a hypocrite, fly fishing is promoted as a “must do” sport. Riding on his fame from close association with the Dalai Lama and a leading Professor on Tibetan Buddhism, Robert Thurman beguiles innocent visitors into committing killing. Robert Thurman should know the karma of harming another being even if it was a fish. Still a life taken or harmed. It shows strongly he thinks he is above the law of Karma. No wonder Robert Thurman has no qualms about advocating wrongness as long as he benefits! Such a disappointment as I had such admiration for him and his name held such respect. Well! NOT ANYMORE!!!! Imagine what he says are all just B.S.

  47. It is really incredible how such a close person to the Dalai Lama and author of Dharma books gets involved with killing and praises it publicly.

    This Robert Thurman has really no shame and obviously is not interested in the Buddhist philosophy and therefore exploits it through his centre for his personal gain.

    This shows who the CTA has as ‘friend’ and is it that they also are interested in money only!? So why are they banning a religious practice? Why are they banning and harming Dorje Shugden practitioners? And they protect someone who engaged in killing fishes and encourages others to kill them?????!!!!!

    It is really shocking what the CTA does and who they associate with even back in the US.

  48. Oh wow! Robert Thurman is a professor of Tibetan Buddhism and leading expert in the West?? Really?? How many had he mislead in his life of teaching? So dangerous. Imagine the tremendous karma created not only for him but for those he misguided as they will have wrong views which may lead to wrong actions. Where does Buddhism connect with killing other than “NO KILLING”? Maybe Bob don’t understand and needs more explanation from the Dalai Lama. Generating income from his association with the Dalai Lama or supposedly “expertise” in Tibetan Buddhism is so, so wrong. I heard that he could give up his Guru (the Jewel of Jewels in his compassion to teach the precious Dharma) for another as he pleases. Totally no loyalty. For all his propaganda against Dorje Shugden, I heard that he begged his Guru for this practice? How fickle is that? One minute this and one minute that. Nothing than a self-serving degenerate. Probably will turn-coat on the Dalai Lama the minute he finds the Dalai Lama no longer useful for his advancement of money schemes or “prestige”. Utter Shame!

  49. It is bewildering that His Holiness the Dalai Lama mentioned that he had known of sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers since the 1990s, yet nothing was done to reprimand these Buddhist teachers. After all, such abuses inflict substantial damage to the reputation of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole as compared to smaller issues like Dorje Shugden.

    The Central Tibetan Administration was fervent in executing the Dorje Shugden ban, launching a documentary film, books, expelling monks, splitting monasteries and denying access to hospitals, clinics, schools, retail shops and so forth down to even publishing a hit list of Shugden activists in order to encourage violence and lynch mob. Yet, the damage done to Tibetan Buddhism by these lamas seems to be ignored and hushed. Why is the Central Tibetan Administration not doing more to warn the public about these sex offenders like posting a warning list on their website?

    Dalai Lama knew sex abuse by Buddhist teachers; it’s ‘nothing new’
    Agence France-Presse
    THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Dalai Lama said Saturday that he had known of sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers since the 1990s and that such allegations were “nothing new.”
    The Tibetan spiritual leader, revered by millions of Buddhists around the world, made the admission during a four-day visit to the Netherlands, where he met on Friday with victims of sexual abuse allegedly committed by Buddhist teachers.
    He was responding to a call from a dozen of the victims who had launched a petition asking to meet him during his trip, part of a tour of Europe.
    “We found refuge in Buddhism with an open mind and heart, until we were raped in its name,” the victims said in their petition.
    “I already did know these things, nothing new,” the Dalai Lama said in response on Dutch public television NOS late Saturday.
    “Twenty-five years ago… someone mentioned about a problem of sexual allegations” at a conference for western Buddhist teachers in Dharamshala, a hill town in northern India, he added.
    The Dalai Lama, 83, lives in exile in Dharamshala.
    People who commit sexual abuse “don’t care about the Buddha’s teaching. So now that everything has been made public, people may concern about their shame,” he said, speaking in English.
    Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, a representative of the Tibetan spiritual leader in Europe, said Friday that the Dalai Lama “has consistently denounced such irresponsible and unethical behavior”.
    Tibetan spiritual leaders are due to meet in Dharamshala in November.
    “At that time they should talk about it,” the Dalai Lama said in his televised comments Saturday. “I think the religious leaders should pay more attention.”
    https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1032920/dalai-lama-knew-sex-abuse-by-buddhist-teachers-its-nothing-new/amp

  50. His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the Tibetan spiritual leader revered by millions of Buddhists around the world should ensure that the Tibetan spiritual leaders do more to denounce sexual misconduct and abuse of Buddhist teachers as there are far-reaching repercussions and negative impact on Tibetan Buddhism.

    While His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been consistent in reminding practitioners about not practising Dorje Shugden in lieu of the social and religious problems associated with it, despite the unsubstantiated claims or justifications, the indolence of the Central Tibetan Administration in taking action to pacify the public disgust against the misconduct of these Buddhist teachers is severely lacking and appalling. The bias in dealing with these issues related to religious matter has again proven the political nature and conspiracy behind the ban on Dorje Shugden.

    ‘Nothing new’: Dalai Lama says he knew about sex abuse by Buddhist teachers
    The Dalai Lama said Sunday he has known about sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers since the 1990s and that such allegations are “nothing new”.
    Agence France-Presse
    The Dalai Lama said Sunday he has known about sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers since the 1990s and that such allegations are “nothing new”.
    The Tibetan spiritual leader, revered by millions of Buddhists around the world, made the admission during a four-day visit to the Netherlands, where he met on Friday with victims of sexual abuse allegedly committed by Buddhist teachers.
    He was responding to a call from a dozen of the victims who had launched a petition asking to meet him during his trip, part of a tour of Europe.
    “We found refuge in Buddhism with an open mind and heart, until we were raped in its name,” the victims said in their petition.
    “I already did know these things, nothing new,” the Dalai Lama said in response on Dutch public television NOS late Saturday.
    “Twenty-five years ago… someone mentioned about a problem of sexual allegations” at a conference for western Buddhist teachers in Dharamshala, a hill town in Himachal Pradesh, he added.
    The Dalai Lama, 83, lives in exile in Dharamshala.
    People who commit sexual abuse “don’t care about the Buddha’s teaching. So now that everything has been made public, people may concern about their shame,” he said, speaking in English.
    Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, a representative of the Tibetan spiritual leader in Europe, said Friday that the Dalai Lama “has consistently denounced such irresponsible and unethical behaviour”.
    Tibetan spiritual leaders are due to meet in Dharamshala in November.
    “At that time they should talk about it,” the Dalai Lama said in his televised comments Saturday. “I think the religious leaders should pay more attention.”
    https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/dalai-lama-i-knew-of-sex-abuse-by-buddhist-teachers-since-1990s/story-238DdgDwzQYU5rDfTSgl8M.html

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.…Instead of turning away people who practise Dorje Shugden, we should be kind to them. Give them logic and wisdom without fear, then in time they give up the ‘wrong’ practice. Actually Shugden practitioners are not doing anything wrong. But hypothetically, if they are, wouldn’t it be more Buddhistic to be accepting? So those who have views against Dorje Shugden should contemplate this. Those practicing Dorje Shugden should forbear with extreme patience, fortitude and keep your commitments. The time will come as predicted that Dorje Shugden’s practice and it’s terrific quick benefits will be embraced by the world and it will be a practice of many beings.

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