Star of Mysore
Gurupur, Oct 8, 1999
Tibetan leader and Nobel laureate Dalai Lama, coming down heavily on the followers of the Dorje Shugden deity, said that the Shugden spirit was very sectarian and more importantly, the spirit was assuming greater significance than the Buddha himself, which was regrettable. Reacting to a question from Star of Mysore regarding the Dorje Shugden controversy and its practice, the Dalai Lama who was addressing the press here yesterday at the Rabgeyling Tibetan Settlement said that though this issue had become a controversy about 300 years back, it had not assumed the level that it had in the last 60 years.
Explaining about the Shugden spirit, he said that the basic reason for putting a restriction on the worship was that this spirit had cast an evil influence on 5th and 13th Dalai Lama, and it was very bad for the Tibetan Government led by Dalai Lama. Further, he said that the spirit had made a prediction of the death of the 13th Dalai and when it occurred, the spirit was overjoyed with its prediction coming true. Hence, he said that the worship of the spirit was not proper. “After I explained to the Tibetan people what the reality was the majority of the followers listened to me.”
He also revealed that there were three murders in the Tibetan settlement in Dharamsala perpetuated by the Shugden followers, and anybody was free to investigate this further. He also feared that Tibetan Buddhism, which was a complete progressive tradition, would gradually degenerate into spirit worship. Asked how many followers there were of Dorje Shugden, the Dalai Lama said that earlier there were a few thousands and after he explained the reality, there were now a few hundred worshippers.
Commentary:
The Dalai Lama is insisting with harsh words in upkeeping his ban against a Buddhist protector deity, which is clearly documented through recent interviews he gave to different newspapers, like the “Star of Mysore” (see above) or American newspapers. His insisting has already caused his so-called followers to undertake aggressive and violent activities against those Tibetans who are not willing to give up their beliefs (See also Cholsum Reports and Articles). On October 7th 1999 Tibetans blasted a newly-built hospital in the village of Rongpatsa in Eastern Tibet. The head of the hospital was known to be a worshipper of the banned deity. This continues a series of bomb attacks against houses of different Rinpoches who refused to follow the order of the Dalai Lama in this question. All of these attacks took place since the Dalai Lama started to publicly ban the deity in 1996. He himself denies any violent activities from the side of his followers, and claims that his sharp words against the deity would not provoke any violence on the side of his own followers (See also Swiss TV report). But already in 1996, in a private meeting with Tibetans in Caux near Montreux (Switzerland), the Dalai Lama urged his representatives to “continue these efforts in a clever way. We should ensure that future generations will not even know the name Dholgyal”.
In public the Dalai Lama is preaching harmony and tolerance, but among Tibetans he is urging an incomparable witch-hunt against the followers of the protector deity, amongst whom was his own root Lama…
Arisa
February 19, 2011
Must be something wrong somewhere why Dalai Lama is creating chaos on the worshipping on Deity worsipping by Dalai Lama Government and the Dorje Shugden worshippers. The more I read about this the more I get confused. I thought Dalai Lama is supposed to be Avalokestevra who is supposed to feel Compassion for people but instead has churned up a whole lot of sufferings for Dorje Shugden practitioners through his Government and his followers. From what I understand and see Dorje Shugden practitioners suffer so much and those who follow the Dalai Lama benefits. This is not fair.