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

It is now 25 years since religious persecution of Dorje Shugden believers began, spearheaded by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). The fallout of the Dalai Lama and CTA’s religious ban significantly shaped Tibetan lives and forcibly altered the Tibetan Buddhist terrain globally over the last quarter of a century. Millions of lives were placed in jeopardy, the sanctity of Lama Tsongkhapa’s lineage was hurled into confusion and countless spiritual paths were derailed. And that is not counting the impact this rift has made on the collective Tibetan cause.

But now His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama has admitted that he was wrong and made it clear that this mistreatment of Shugden Buddhists is to stop.

After the flop, now the flip

The CTA’s religious persecution of Shugden Buddhists started in 1996 and intensified in 2008. Dorje Shugden practitioners were classified as “enemies of the State”; “anti-Dalai Lama”; “anti-Dharma”; “Chinese spies/sympathizers; “demon worshippers” and other similar characterizations.

Yet, the CTA’s propaganda and persecutions failed to completely root out the practice of Dorje Shugden. It was after all, a well-regarded practice, central to the Gelug lineage. Even the 14^th Dalai Lama had revered this deity, as did his past incarnations, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, the 11^th Dalai Lama and the most respected teachers of the 20^th century.

A period of relative quiet followed as Shugden Buddhists were driven underground and out of the CTA’s reach. And then the Dalai Lama did a turnaround.

The Dalai Lama addressed tens of thousands in his live teaching, during which he announced that mistreatment of Shugden Buddhists is to stop.

During the Dalai Lama’s Saka Dawa teaching on May 26 this year, he unexpectedly drew attention to the Dorje Shugden issue, a highly sensitive subject that has been a major fault line for violent conflicts. But this time, the Dalai Lama’s message was a contradiction of a stance that he and the CTA had mandated.

Quoting passages from the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life) the Dalai Lama said that regardless of how anyone felt about Dorje Shugden and his practice, any animosity towards the deity was patently wrong. The Tibetan god-king inferred that it is against the code of a Bodhisattva to feel any anger towards the Protector. And in addition, he said it is our own anger and mental defilements that we should examine instead of directing our resentment towards others.

VIDEO: Dalai Lama says Dorje Shugden is an object of compassion (May 26, 2021)

But that wasn’t all.

One week later on June 2, 2021, during another teaching on Je Tsongkhapa’s Destiny Fulfilled (Tog jö dün leg ma), the Dalai Lama, for the first time since he imposed a ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden, admitted that it was a mistake to have discriminated against Dorje Shugden.

This is a very different language and tone to that which the Tibetan leadership employed when they wilfully acted to incite hatred against Dorje Shugden and adherents of his practice. As a result, it was regarded as ‘un-Tibetan’ and ‘un-Buddhist’ if you were not hostile to Shugden Buddhists. So government officials and ambitious monks made it a point to grandstand their contempt of this sacred practice as hating Dorje Shugden became a rapid career path in Tibetan political and monastic quarters.

VIDEO: Dalai Lama says its wrong to reject Dorje Shugden (June 2, 2021)

Skilfully undoing a mistake

The Dalai Lama’s reversal of attitude towards Dorje Shugden is not entirely new. In January 2020, after almost 24 years of labelling Dorje Shugden as an enemy of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama signalled a softening of heart towards the Protector. While in the past the Dalai Lama had categorically forbidden the practice of Dorje Shugden under any circumstances, on that occasion, he actually endorsed the worship of Dorje Shugden but only as a birth deity or a land deity.

It was terminology but in effect, what the Dalai Lama said destroyed the CTA’s justification for denying Shugden Buddhists their constitutional right to freedom of religion. The old justification was that the practice of Dorje Shugden [in any form] threatened the Dalai Lama’s life and caused the failure of Tibetan efforts to regain their country.

Dorje Shugden lamas and monks were treated as criminals to be hunted down and harassed.

Still, the ban on Dorje Shugden practice persisted on its very dangerous and damaging course.

Damaging because it undermined the Tibetan Constitution that guaranteed, amongst other things, religious freedom. Damaging because it undermined the sanctity of Tibetan Buddhism by making a mockery of four centuries of old masters and sages who had upheld the Dorje Shugden practice, including H.H. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo and H.H. Trijang Dorje Chang. Damaging because it splintered an already small and weak community of people at a time when they should be harmonized in focused efforts to regain their country. Damaging because it created an irreparable schism within the Tibetan monastic community, a split which played out globally wherever there were Tibetan Buddhist adherents. Damaging because it went against the most basic Buddhist principles.

Buddha or demon?

For the last 25 years, debates raged between Shugden Buddhists who regard Dorje Shugden as an emanation of the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri and those who oppose the practice. Detractors argued that the deity was a demon who arose from the death of a monk with broken vows.

Many were caught up in an intriguing web of arguments haphazardly weaved by pseudo-intellectuals, self-proclaimed Tibetan Buddhist experts and sycophants failing to see a real or complete picture.

In fact, it is simple enough a subject.

From the perspective of a constitutional democracy which the CTA claims to be, its persecution of Shugden Buddhists is unlawful and a breach of human rights. Simply put, it is not the business of a democratic government to decide which religion is legitimate and which is not. It is the business of the government to guarantee the freedom of religion which the CTA failed to do.

All Shugden worshippers were denied livelihood. Even the monks were not spared. Pictured here is the infamous ‘yellow stick’ incident where monks were forced to break with their practice of Dorje Shugden or be expelled.

And now, from the perspective of the Buddhist religion, the Dalai Lama has made it clear that whoever Dorje Shugden is, should not be of concern if you are a true practitioner of the Buddhadharma. In fact as the Dalai Lama pointed out, in the practice of Bodhicitta, there is even an obligation to regard all beings as ‘important guests’.

The argument is even simpler when approached from the perspective of common sense. If one does not believe in the sacredness of Dorje Shugden, then one can simply choose not to pray to the deity. It is this simple logic that has kept the world with its myriad religions and beliefs in a relatively peaceful state.

There has never been any proper justification to persecute Shugden Buddhists at all. So, those who took up arms against Dorje Shugden on the basis of ‘because the Dalai Lama said so’, should now stop their bullying of Shugden Buddhists, because the Dalai Lama has indeed said so.

Is this the end of the Shugden ban?

Sadly, it is unlikely to be the case.

Even today after the Dalai Lama has clearly said that it is wrong to discriminate against Dorje Shugden, the CTA’s official website still carries a section dedicated to stoking hatred against Dorje Shugden people. Click to enlarge.

The CTA’s absurd reasoning and conduct in support of an unlawful religious ban has made it a laughing stock amongst educated Tibetans and global political observers. They see that behind the CTA’s democratic and progressive facade is an out-of-date administration that still resorts to fables and superstitions instead of applying common sense when it comes to governance.

While it was the Dalai Lama who initiated the ban on the Dorje Shugden practice, the unrest served the CTA officials well. It has been far easier to keep fanning hatred against Dorje Shugden than to attend to urgent business such as providing adequately for a depleting Tibetan exile population or seeking to engage China in meaningful dialogue. That would have been a wiser strategy than for the CTA to avail themselves as pawns in attempts to curb China’s rise. Unfortunately, provoking anti-Shugden sentiment, antagonizing China and engaging in political skulduggery with Penpa Tsering were Lobsang Sangay’s predominant duties during his tenure as President of the CTA.

The CTA made it a policy to promote animosity towards Dorje Shugden and it was given equal if not more weight than the Tibetan Cause. However, when the Dalai Lama endorsed the practice of Dorje Shugden as a birth deity or land deity, the CTA felt pressured to remove this prominent link. Click to enlarge.

However, when the Dalai Lama endorsed the practice of Dorje Shugden as a birth deity or land deity, the CTA came under pressure to remove a prominent banner on their official website. That banner led to a page dedicated to encouraging the Tibetan people, government offices, local businesses and supporters of the Tibetan cause to keep up the witch hunt against Shugden Buddhists. That page is still present today although not as conspicuous now. And bullying of Shugden Buddhists continues to persist globally with supporters thinking that such behavior is sanctioned by the Dalai Lama.

Whether the CTA removes that toxic anti-Shugden page altogether is now an important barometer of how much they truly revere the Dalai Lama. It would be a contradiction for the Dalai Lama to counsel compassion towards Dorje Shugden followers while the CTA surreptitiously continues to encourage ongoing persecution.

How well will the CTA and the Tibetan people take to this new directive on Dorje Shugden by the Dalai Lama? It’s difficult to tell. A worrying hint is in the way the Tibetan translator completely omitted the part of the Dalai Lama’s teaching when he said:

I have enforced a ban concerning Shugden. But when I reflect on [Shantideva's first verse] now, he is simply someone to be loved, someone with whom we should unconditionally practice loving kindness and compassion. If I distance myself from him giving some tiny reasons like “he is someone who harms the teachings”; most likely this is a mistake.

It is a serious omission because non-Tibetan speakers would have missed the part where the Dalai Lama clearly alluded that the ban on Dorje Shugden was a mistake. 
The question is, was it a wilful omission?



VIDEO: The English translator omitted the Dalai Lama’s advice on Dorje Shugden (June 2, 2021)

With the Tibetan leadership and their coterie, anything is possible and we have seen time and time again how crafty and manipulative they can be. One apt example of this is taking place right now.

Even as the Dalai Lama preaches compassion for all sentient beings including Dorje Shugden followers, the CTA has refused assistance to Shugden monasteries to procure badly-needed COVID vaccines for the monks. So, behind all the compassion rhetoric, nothing much has changed at all. The CTA just got better and more subtle in their persecution of those they label to be enemies. And this is happening at a time when world governments have seen the necessity to put all differences aside to tackle a pandemic that threatens all humanity. But not the CTA.

So what now?

The Dalai Lama’s intention to end the Shugden conflict is clear. He chose Saka Dawa to state his new stance on the Shugden issue. It was an occasion where the Dalai Lama knew he would be speaking to the very people who could put into effect an end to this poisoned chapter of modern Tibetan Buddhist history — the Gaden Tripa, the Sharpa Choje and other senior monks and government officials. And to be sure his message was clearly received, the Dalai Lama repeated his intention to end Shugden persecutions in his June 2, 2021 teachings, this time acknowledging that it was wrong to have discriminated against Dorje Shugden.

During the teachings, the Dalai Lama addressed eminent masters including (from top left, clockwise): His Holiness Gaden Tri Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin, H.E. Sharpa Choje Rinpoche Lobsang Dorje, H.E. Gyuto Khenpo Gangkar Rinpoche and H.E. Jampa Choje Gosog Rinpoche Ngawang Sungrab Gelek

Understandably it is difficult for the Tibetan leadership to abruptly reverse a religious ban that they cannot afford to openly acknowledge. And it would require some time to turn a collective psyche that has been cultivated over a quarter of a century. But clearly the Dalai Lama’s advice is exactly to do just that. And all Tibetans, Shugden and non-Shugden people alike, have always held the Dalai Lama close to their hearts.

So perhaps the wisest thing for everyone to do, regardless of which side of the now-defunct divide they stand on, is to move forward. Those who have been victims of this dark period in Tibetan exile history need not keep reliving the past, and those who have felt obliged to carry the heavy burden of hating fellow Tibetan Buddhists because of “tiny reasons” (as the Dalai Lama put it) can finally drop this taxing load.

The new CTA President Penpa Tsering now has a golden opportunity to formally wipe out an ugly mistake and bring the people together again. It would be a serious misstep for Penpa Tsering to follow his predecessor’s fatal legacy of human rights breaches. After all, the dark period of CTA politics when one’s political survival necessitated toeing the line on the Shugden issue is now over.

We hope, for the sake of all Tibetan people and all Tibetan Buddhists, that the Dalai Lama’s words are heeded. In remembering the Dalai Lama’s recent teachings, may all beings be invited as precious guests to Sugatahood and may we act to ensure temporal happiness for all sentient beings.

Videos in Chinese [中文视频]

达赖喇嘛《三主要道》的开示

达赖喇嘛《证道歌》的开示

Video with Mongolian subtitle

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

During a teaching in January this year, the Dalai Lama very casually overturned the ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden which he had instigated over twenty-three years ago. It was easy to miss the significance of what he said because of the incidental manner in which the Dalai Lama addressed the subject. However, to those attuned to the subtleties of the Dalai Lama’s manner of speaking, it was clear that the campaign which the Tibetan leadership had unleashed against Shugden Buddhists was at an end.

When the Dalai Lama decided to smother the practice of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden, he was well aware of the power of his words over the Tibetan people. They regard him as a Buddha and every word he utters, even mere suggestions, are taken as decrees. And so, in 1996 when the Dalai Lama gave what he termed an ‘advice’ against the practice of the Dharmapala Dorje Shugden, the Tibetan exile government known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) immediately took aggressive measures that culminated in laws condemning the religious practice as a “crime against humanity”.

Dorje Shugden on Tibet.net: The Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies’ Resolutions (June 1996). Click to enlarge.

A prominent section of the CTA’s official website was dedicated to condemning Shugden Buddhists, indicating that it was official policy to oppose the belief. Within that section, the CTA posted anti-Dorje Shugden Parliamentary Resolutions, government notices and a slew of articles that demonized the deity. Even the failure of the Tibetan people to regain their homeland was attributed to the practice of Dorje Shugden. To further spur the Tibetan people to turn against the ancient practice, the Dalai Lama claimed that worshipping Dorje Shugden would shorten his life. Ironically, the same website boasted of the CTA’s democratic values and its guarantee of religious freedom for all Tibetan people.

The Dalai Lama’s global influence meant that the campaign against Shugden believers extended well beyond the Tibetan exile community in India. Non-Tibetan Dalai Lama supporters joined in the anti-Shugden sentiment in the mistaken belief that the Dalai Lama was the most competent Buddhist monk in the world and, therefore, uniquely qualified to endorse or discredit the validity of any Buddhist practice. Others fell for the CTA’s ruse that framed the Shugden practice as a political ploy of the Chinese government aimed at undermining the Dalai Lama. It was a sly but extremely effective scheme.

In short, the Dalai Lama and the CTA painted the Dorje Shugden practice as categorically evil and to be avoided at all costs. There was no misunderstanding about this – the Dalai Lama repeatedly reminded the Tibetan people of how the practice would harm him and ruin their chances of regaining their country. Scores of sycophantic pro-Dalai Lama writers and monks ranted about how evil Dorje Shugden was. Some, like the FPMT’s Dagri Rinpoche (who has been arrested by Indian police and is now under investigation for decades of sexual harassment against nuns and female practitioners), made a grandstanding show of support for the Dalai Lama by leading powerful rituals to supposedly kill this ‘demon’. Under the directive of the Dalai Lama, Shugden-worshipping monks were expelled from their monasteries. This sentiment dominated the Tibetan socio-political landscape from the mid-1990s when the Dalai Lama’s campaign against Dorje Shugden started.

So, it came as a complete surprise when the Dalai Lama casually remarked in his January 2020 teaching that it was fine to worship Dorje Shugden as a birth deity (kye lha) or a land god (yul lha). Although the Dalai Lama persisted in questioning the historic status of Dorje Shugden as the Protector of Lama Tsongkapa’s lineage, his consent for the worship of the deity was a drastic reversal of official Tibetan policy that had stood for over two decades. The Dalai Lama had just ended a ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden that the Tibetan leadership had pursued aggressively since 1996.

Some have suggested that the Dalai Lama made an error and did not, in fact, intend to lift the prohibition on Dorje Shugden. However, there were three other hints to indicate that the Tibetan leader’s attitude towards Dorje Shugden has actually changed:

1. The Dalai Lama raised the subject on his own. There were no new developments on the Dorje Shugden front that made it necessary for him to address this very sensitive issue. Nor was his mention of Dorje Shugden in response to questions about the subject. So, it is clear that the Dalai Lama intended to convey a point specifically with regard to the Shugden issue.
2. The Dalai Lama referred to the deity by the proper name, ‘Dorje Shugden’, which means ‘the adamantine force that protects the Gelug’. For over twenty-three years, the Dalai Lama had called the deity by the derogatory name ‘Dolgyal’, which translates to ‘angry spirit of the river Dol’. By addressing the deity respectfully on this occasion, the Dalai Lama signaled that it is time to stop disparaging Dorje Shugden.
3. The Dalai Lama’s tone was amiable and gentle when he spoke about Dorje Shugden. This, too, was a departure from the scathing, derisive manner which the Dalai Lama had previously employed to refer to ‘Dolgyal’ whenever he wanted to perpetuate public animosity against Dorje Shugden.

The prominent ‘Dolgyal’ banner on the Tibetan government’s official website has been removed since the Dalai Lama announced that it is acceptable for Dorje Shugden to be worshiped. Whilst the section that condemns Dorje Shugden still exists, it has been discreetly moved to an inconspicuous section. Click to enlarge.

We must remember that the Dalai Lama is a master politician and an eloquent orator. He is deliberate in his actions and extremely masterful in his ability to move an audience with mere words. Without any military or economic might to speak of, the Dalai Lama has been able to keep world leaders and citizens focused on the Tibetan issue for over sixty years and tip the balance against China, an extremely powerful rising force. A grandmaster such as the Dalai Lama would not carelessly and accidentally revoke a ban on a supposedly evil activity that harms the Tibetan cause, puts his own life at peril and jeopardizes the sanctity of the Buddhist religion.

Perhaps the best evidence that the Dalai Lama intended to end the persecution of Shugden believers is the sudden disappearance of the prominent ‘Dolgyal’ banner on the CTA’s website. That banner served as an ongoing official warning for Tibetans to not practice Dorje Shugden and to not associate with Shugden Buddhists. The simultaneous disappearance of the banner indicates that the Dalai Lama’s words were no mistake.

Given the seriousness of the Dorje Shugden ban, the large number of lives it affected, and the seismic consequences it had on the Tibetan Buddhist community worldwide, one would have expected the Tibetan leadership to make a very public announcement about this drastic change of stance on such an important issue. However, this is not the Tibetan way, especially when it comes to the 14^th Dalai Lama.

It is not in the 14^th Dalai Lama’s nature to admit that he has made a mistake. There have been many instances that attest to this. One clear case was the Dalai Lama’s overreach of his authority to endorse Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the 17^th Karmapa, overriding the protocol of the Karma Kagyu sect. It was not the Dalai Lama’s right to interfere in the spiritual affairs of the Karma Kagyu, whose tradition precedes the Dalai Lama line.

His Holiness the 14^th Shamarpa who pointed out the Dalai Lama’s error in meddling with the recognition of the 17^th Karmapa. Click to enlarge.

The 14^th Shamarpa Mipham Chokyi Lodro, the second-highest ranking lama of the Karma Kagyu sect pointed out the Dalai Lama’s error, which had turned the Karma Kagyu on its head. The Dalai Lama should have acted immediately to correct his mistake after the Shamarpa pointed it out. It would have saved the Karma Kagyu from the carnage that it suffered for twenty-seven years as the result of the Dalai Lama’s unwarranted meddling. But the Dalai Lama did not. Instead, the Dalai Lama reportedly replied that he had already made the decision and could not withdraw his endorsement.

This episode indicates that it would be completely out of character for the Dalai Lama to publicly announce that he made a mistake with regards to Dorje Shugden. So, instead of officially overturning the Tibetan leadership’s ruling on the Shugden practice, the Dalai Lama suggested an exception to the ban on the worship of Dorje Shugden that renders the prohibition against the practice practically meaningless.

The classification of Dorje Shugden as kye lha or yul lha is a relatively insignificant detail. The list of gods and Buddhas in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon is inexhaustible and covers lhas or gods who are often accepted as emanations of enlightened beings. The Great 5^th Dalai Lama wrote rituals popularizing the inclusion of worldly gods, including yul lhas in formal prayers. Lamas of all Tibetan Buddhist sects over the centuries did the same. So, to regard Dorje Shugden as a kye lha or yul lha is to restore the practice as an acceptable part of mainstream Tibetan Buddhism.

What could have led to this sudden, albeit rather coy, reversal? No one can say for sure. To do so would require insight into why the Dalai Lama implemented the ban to begin with. This is problematic because the Tibetan leadership has never actually presented any real evidence or sound reasons to justify its infringement on the religious freedom of Shugden Buddhists.

Over the decades, a number of postulations have emerged. The Dorje Shugden conflict has been said to be:

• A scheme of the Dalai Lama’s clique to consolidate power by forcing all the different Tibetan Buddhist schools to merge into a single one under the Dalai Lama, achieved by weakening opponents to the design;
• A strategy to distract the restless Tibetan refugee populace from focusing on the Tibetan leadership’s failure to deliver on decades of promises;
• A ploy to create chaos within the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to gain bargaining power with the Chinese government;
• The machinations of rival sects jealous of Gelug supremacy and who had the ear of the Dalai Lama.

Click to enlarge

Whatever the Dalai Lama’s reasons were to suppress the Dorje Shugden practice, it appeared on the surface to be a success when it was actually a complete disaster. Outwardly, some Tibetans obeyed the Dalai Lama’s persecution of Shugden Buddhists because they believed in the absurd accusations. Most did so to avoid being accused of going against the Dalai Lama, which is typically hazardous. Then, there were those who seized the opportunity to curry favor with the Dalai Lama establishment by supporting the Shugden oppression. But behind closed doors, many Tibetans and confused supporters of the Tibetan cause were beginning to lose faith in him.

Gyalchen Dorje Shugden was, after all, a four-hundred-year-old practice advocated by the greatest luminaries and pandits of the Gelug and Sakya schools, including the Dalai Lama’s tutors. Also, regardless of how the Dalai Lama personally felt about the practice, isn’t the Tibetan leadership a democracy that upholds the basic principles of human rights, including the right to worship? If so, then the oppression of Shugden Buddhists’ rights go against the very essence of freedom and democracy.

Time became the most proficient interlocutor for the case against the Tibetan leadership’s campaign to eliminate the Dorje Shugden practice. The unpopular religious ban was tolerated because it was believed that doing away with Dorje Shugden would strengthen the Tibetan people’s efforts to regain their country. Instead, the Tibetan cause deteriorated even further as the Tibetan leadership became embroiled in a series of internal rivalries, corruption charges and sex scandals.

The Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje (left) whom the Tibetan leadership did not endorse and the Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje (right) who is the Dalai Lama’s choice of Karmapa, in a show of unity, a subtle but firm message to the Tibetan government.

In the meantime, the Tibetan exile populace languished. Dwindling numbers in the refugee settlements indicate that most no longer believe in the Tibetan leadership’s ability to adequately provide for them, let alone take on the powerful Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama’s subtle reversal of the ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden may well be a silent acknowledgment that he made a mistake. Or, it could be the Dalai Lama’s attempt to curb the speed with which his power is diminishing. Besides countless failed promises to return the Tibetan people to their homeland and failure to provide the necessary economic infrastructure for exiled Tibetans to sustain meaningful livelihoods, the Dalai Lama also miscalculated the strength of his dominance, not only over his own Gelug sect but also over the other Tibetan Buddhist schools.

The 17^th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who was endorsed by the Dalai Lama, absconded and closed ranks with the rival Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje, who was never acknowledged by the Dalai Lama and CTA. The coming together of the two Karma Kagyu leaders delivered a very firm message to Dharamsala – that the Karma Kagyu no longer accepts the Dalai Lama’s self-proclaimed authority over them. This is confirmed by their snub of the Dalai Lama in subsequent major religious ceremonies such as the recognition of Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje’s newborn son as the reincarnation of Shamarpa Mipham Chokyi Lodro, who had passed into clear light not long after his confrontation with the Dalai Lama. In the past sixty years, such an important event would only be regarded as having legitimacy if it carried the Dalai Lama’s seal of approval. This time, the Dalai Lama was not consulted and, in fact, not even invited to attend the ceremony.

Going against Nyingma tradition, Dudjom Rinpoche was appointed as the supreme head of the Nyingma sect. He was previously imprisoned by the Tibetan government for not toeing the Tibetan Government’s line.

Other Tibetan Buddhist schools appear to have also taken drastic steps to insulate themselves from any machinations of the Tibetan leadership. The Sakya sect made changes to its succession system. The Nyingmas announced that they would do away with the selection and appointment of a single spiritual leader to preside over the Nyingma sect. That, too, was a subtle but clear rejection of the Dalai Lama’s interference in Nyingma affairs. It was never a Nyingma tradition to have a single spiritual leader until the Dalai Lama appointed one during the period of exile.

The Dalai Lama’s new proclamation on the worship of Dorje Shugden may be lamentably late. Still, it is a welcome step and one that is necessary to heal the deep fracture that has afflicted the holy lineage of Je Tsongkapa. Today, the Gelug sect is still divided into two groups – one that embraces the worship of Dorje Shugden, and another group that condemns the deity as an anti-dharma entity. This division has severely damaged the credibility of the Gelug and confused countless spiritual seekers. Perhaps, it is now time for the Gelug to reconcile.

Click to enlarge. (Source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=Defendant+seeks+extension+at+the+first+hearing+of+Case+No.+20&id=41495)

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2019/06/05/penpa-tserings-case-against-cta-president-defendant-asks-more-time)

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]
Penpa Tsering Vs Lobsang Sangay Case in Tibetan Court (Breaking News)

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/sunday-edition/dalai-vs-sangay–case-hearing-from-june-5.html)

31 July 2018

Wherever Lobsang Sangay has turned up for public engagements, he has been greeted with protestors who are unhappy with the corruption exhibited by the Tibetan leadership.

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 Solaray Kusco

It has been a trying few months for the President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Sikyong Lobsang Sangay. Since he trounced political rival Penpa Tsering in the 2016 Sikyong elections, nothing has gone right for him. Post-election tensions ran high between the former candidates so to pacify him, Penpa Tsering was given the consolation post of North America’ donjo (the Dalai Lama’s representative). This position is highly coveted amongst the upper echelons of the Tibetan leadership because it comes with wealth and privilege, thanks to plentiful opportunities to meet liberal American sponsors and donors.

However, in November 2017, after Sangay’s sudden and unexplained dismissal of Penpa Tsering from the donjo post, his ratings took a real nosedive and have not recovered since. Things continued to go from bad to worse as nearly one hundred Tibetans, calling themselves the “Truth Seeking Volunteers”, have been protesting Sangay wherever in the world he has travelled to.

Most recently, they camped outside the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile for ten days (March 14^th to 24^th), protesting against Sangay while the Parliament inside debated about the Penpa Tsering issue, although they were supposed to be discussing budgetary concerns. The protestors’ demands include greater clarification regarding Penpa Tsering’s dismissal, as well as an explanation for the US$1.5mil which went missing from the Tibet Fund and appears to have been mis-accounted for at best, and embezzled at worst.

It was not until the tenth day that 14 members of parliament met with representatives of the protestors, appearing in their personal capacity to listen to the concerns of their constituents. The fact that the target of the protests, Sangay himself, refused to meet with anyone is a clear indication that he would rather attend to more financially lucrative endeavors, and he has no interest in resolving issues that actually concern those who voted him into power. Not only did Sangay snub his constituents but he added salt to the wound when he haughtily challenged them to take him to court if they were unsatisfied with the Cabinet’s decisions.

Sangay’s behavior confirms the opposition’s claims that he does not behave like a democratically-elected leader of the people, but is more akin to an arrogant, self-serving dictator who sees no need to be answerable to the electorate. Hence, due to Sangay’s ego, he is willing to waste even more Tibetan taxpayers’ money and time in fighting his own Tibetan people in court. Has he not done enough damage already with his other divisive policies like the ban on Dorje Shugden, and his refusal to given equal parliamentary representation to the Jonangpas?

One of the nine hunger strikers of the followers of the Jonang sect. They are outside the CTA’s (Tibetan Parliament) office in Dharamsala demanding for the discrimination against their sect to end. The CTA or Central Tibetan Administration are well known for their corrupt and unjust ways of handling their people. The Jonang sect was banned in Tibet by the 5th Dalai Lama for over 400 years until recently. Now they want representatives in the Tibetan Parliament which is not allowed to them. The same discrimination and much more is also targeted against Dorje Shugden followers.

Would it not just cost less for Sangay to answer his people’s questions face-to-face, or is honesty really that difficult for him? This kind of typical behavior from the Tibetan leadership shows Sangay’s lack of foresight and care for the CTA’s image as a whole. As it is, the Tibetans in exile are facing more challenges than ever before, with their main sponsor and host country India dumping them in favor of relations with China. Yet, instead of uniting the Tibetan people, Sangay chooses to divide them further by challenging his own people to sue him. Does he not think something like this will reflect badly on the Tibetans, not to mention the Dalai Lama, when everyone sees Tibetans fighting one another so publicly, forever airing their dirty laundry?

Now we see the truth about the Tibetan leadership’s undemocratic ways. Real democracy allows the people’s voices to be heard and good leadership means facing these voices and answering them. Unfortunately, the Tibetan leadership has no experience at being held accountable for anything since no one has ever dared to speak up against the injustices they commit. But that was in the past, at a time when it was unthinkable for Tibetans to protest against their leaders.

The world nowadays is a very different place and protests have become commonplace. If the once-unthinkable protests show no signs of abating, then Sangay would do well to realize it is only a matter of time before he will be forced to make good on his fighting words. There are plenty of Tibetans who are angry with him, and who possess the resources to take him up on his challenge. And let’s not forget the ever-watchful eye of the Dalai Lama, who may just step in and oust Sangay if the protests grow too large, and the protestors grow too vocal.

It is time for Sangay to step up to the plate and start making real amends or step down as leader, because his behavior is, to put it simply, bad for business. Yes, the world and the Dalai Lama are watching so Sangay, it is your move.

Tibet Sun: What if the protesters bring Lobsang Sangay to court?

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2018/04/02/what-if-the-protesters-bring-lobsang-sangay-to-court)

Phayul: Protestors demand impeachment of President Sangay, MP Yarphel

Click to enlarge. (Source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=40270)

The Siasat Daily: Tibetans protests against government amidst strained relations with India

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.siasat.com/news/tibetans-protests-against-cta-president-amidst-strained-relations-india-1330963/)

His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, known as the ‘teacher of teachers’, was the junior tutor of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. At the Dalai Lama’s request, Trijang Rinpoche composed his autobiography which invariably demonstrates the deep impact that Dorje Shugden had on his life.

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

A Force of Nature

His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche is without question a phenomenal force in Tibetan Buddhism and his name has become synonymous not only with the stainless tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa but also the highest standards of scholarship and monastic excellence. Trijang Rinpoche is hailed as one of the greatest, if not the greatest master of Tibetan Buddhism in the modern era, continuing a legacy of enlightened deeds that began many lifetimes ago. His recognised reincarnation lineage began as Chandra (Chandaka), the chariot driver who took Prince Siddhartha into the forest to begin his journey to become the Buddha. In addition, in his past incarnations, Trijang Rinpoche had been the Great Atisha, the illustrious scholar Santaraksita, and the exemplary debater and logician Candrakirti. Trijang Rinpoche, who had a close relationship with the 16^th Karmapa, even took reincarnation in the Karma Kagyu lineage as the 8^th Karmapa Mikyo Dorje and he was also the Bodhisattva Dharmamitra.

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From the time Trijang Rinpoche was born to when he passed into clear light, he lived a faultless life. So immense was Trijang Rinpoche’s contribution to the Tibetan people and to the Buddhadharma that until this day, there is not one shred of accusation or charge against him. This is why when Trijang Rinpoche’s flawlessness was called into question, it raised eyebrows. That was the occasion when the Dalai Lama said that the old masters who worshipped the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden were all ‘wrong’. Trijang Rinpoche was one of the old masters the Dalai Lama referred to and he was well known for his trust in Dorje Shugden.

In saying that these old lamas were wrong, the Dalai Lama based his statement purely on their practice of Dorje Shugden and nothing else. Whilst shocking, it is not entirely surprising because at the time, the Dalai Lama was imposing a ban on Dorje Shugden’s practice for reasons that have never been proven or shown to have logical basis in the greater context of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. For example, it is contradictory for the Dalai Lama to declare that old masters such as Trijang Rinpoche are infallible Buddhist masters of sutra and tantra, and at the same time accuse them of being worshippers of a “spirit of the dark forces” which the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership based in Dharamsala) say all Dorje Shugden worshippers are.

The Magical Play of Illusion: A Validation of Dorje Shugden

The Magical Play of Illusion. Click on the image to download the English biography (in PDF format). To download the text in Tibetan, please scroll to the bottom of the article.

Trijang Rinpoche entered clear light in 1982 but before he passed away, he wrote his autobiography, The Magical Play of Illusion, at the request of the Dalai Lama. As much as Trijang Rinpoche’s book is a chronicle of the deeds of a Bodhisattva, it is at the same time a firm validation of Dorje Shugden and a narrative of how much the Dharma Protector assisted Trijang Rinpoche in performing his great deeds that continue to benefit people even today. In that sense, the autobiography of this great lama exemplifies the awkwardness of the case against Dorje Shugden; that is, in chronicling the life and activities of Trijang Rinpoche, the book makes it impossible to condemn Dorje Shugden and his practitioners without simultaneously making a fool out of the Gelug lineage and the foundations of Tibetan Buddhism.

The clumsiness is clear right from the beginning. For example, the translator of Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography, Sharpa Tulku wrote in his Preface that,

“My family sought his [Trijang Rinpoche's] guidance and his divination for every major event in our lives, and the advice he gave never failed to be beneficial.”

Over the next few hundred pages of the book, Trijang Rinpoche would articulate repeatedly his deep and unequivocal reliance on Gyalchen Dorje Shugden for advice, divination and prediction. No other Dharma Protector is mentioned with such significance and frequency as Dorje Shugden. Therefore the divinations and advice that Sharpa Tulku’s family benefited from would have come from Gyalchen Dorje Shugden whom Trijang Rinpoche relied on.

This is just but one of many other instances. To point out each and every occasion in Trijang Rinpoche’s life and provide examples where he invoked Dorje Shugden to perform a beneficial act, or turned to the Protector for divination and advice or gave initiations and permissions to Tibetan lamas and personages to practice Dorje Shugden, would yield an essay almost as voluminous as Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography itself. Suffice to say that Trijang Rinpoche’s life is without a doubt an attestation to Dorje Shugden’s divine qualities and the high regard the Protector commanded in Tibet’s lay and monastic community until the Tibetan leadership forcibly changed all that.

The CTA’s Persecution of Shugden Buddhists

On their official website (tibet.net), there is a list of what they call “Dolgyal” followers which the CTA use to defame Dorje Shugden practitioners and direct violence towards them. Is this what a “democratic” government body should be doing? Click to enlarge.

Within the framework of the Tibetan leadership’s ban on Dorje Shugden, the publication of Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography in English in October 2018 is interesting. Trijang Rinpoche wrote his autobiography in 1975, a few years before any murmurings against the Dorje Shugden practice began. Those murmurings became a formal restriction on the practice in 1996, when resolutions were passed to condemn Dorje Shugden practice and vilify Shugden practitioners. The ban however, was disguised as merely a strong advice, an act that was necessary given the Tibetan leadership’s claims to be a democracy. It would undermine the CTA’s purported democracy if it was seen to be preventing its own Tibetan people from exercising their religious freedom although this was precisely what the CTA’s ban was tantamount to.

Sikyong Lobsang Sangay launches anti-Shugden book

That thinly-veiled ban became an outright commandment by the Dalai Lama in 2008 by which time to practice Dorje Shugden was not only socially taboo but also (according to the Tibetan leadership] somehow against the Buddhadharma. In 2014, the CTA’s Parliament formally passed a resolution declaring all practitioners of Dorje Shugden to be “criminals in history“. The CTA’s propaganda machinery went into overdrive and by 2017, the CTA’s religious ban had successfully driven the worship of this deity underground, much like Nero’s persecutions of Christians drove Christianity underground in 64AD.

In this systematic manner, an ancient and hallowed Protector practice became labelled a cult practice and its followers portrayed as violent extremists bent on destroying Buddhism and harming the Dalai Lama. It became common for Tibetans and supporters of the Dalai Lama to demonstrate their loyalty by harboring enmity against Dorje Shugden practitioners and anyone even remotely associated with the practice. For all intents and purposes, the Tibetan leadership’s efforts to eradicate the practice of Dorje Shugden had worked. Which is why the October 2018 publication of Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography in English where it can reach the widest audience was an unexpected surprise.

The Paradox and Explanations

Trijang Rinpoche was regarded as the embodiment of the practice of the pure Dharma and when he was alive, his word was taken as the ultimate spiritual authority. Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography and other writings bear witness to the fact that he propagated the practice of Dorje Shugden widely, teaching all who received the practice that Dorje Shugden is in fact wrathful Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. This was the prevailing view of Dorje Shugden for centuries. The Dalai Lama was aware of that and it has been said that he waited until the last of the old great lamas had passed into clear light before enacting the Dorje Shugden ban.

H.H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche

For example, the Dalai Lama knew that it would have been impossible to denounce Dorje Shugden whilst living Buddhas such as Trijang Rinpoche were still alive. Trijang Rinpoche would never have given up the practice and in retaining it, his influence alone would have emboldened thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, to join him in maintaining their practice too. In this way, imposing the ban on Dorje Shugden while Trijang Rinpoche was alive would have drastically reduced its efficacy.

Dorje Shugden was after all the main Dharma Protector of Pabongka Rinpoche, Trijang Rinpoche and Zong Rinpoche, and virtually every lama, scholar and practitioner of the Gelug lineage. Despite being the spiritual and secular head of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama was still a student of Trijang Rinpoche. Given the tremendous significance of Trijang Rinpoche and his unmatched standing within the Tibetan lay and monastic community, it would not have been difficult for the weight of his word or the significance of his own practice of Dorje Shugden to overshadow the Tibetan leadership’s attempts to demonize the deity.

What some might find unusual is that the Dalai Lama, knowing very well Trijang Rinpoche’s relationship with Dorje Shugden, still allowed the publication of this translated autobiography. The Dalai Lama would have known that its publication would revive the memory of this spiritual giant and with it, a restoration of the name of Dorje Shugden, the deity the Tibetan leadership wanted the world to forget. And yet he allowed it.

Could it be that the Dalai Lama had no influence over the matter? Not so. Those familiar with the ways of the Tibetan leadership know that the CTA can easily shut down the publication of any material or literature that does not support their stance on any issue, for example:

1. The Tibetan magazine Mangtso (meaning ‘democracy’) was shuttered for publishing views deemed critical of the Dalai Lama’s administration;
2. Guru Deva Rinpoche had his printing press shut down after publishing a letter by a Tibetan layperson who questioned the Dalai Lama’s Dorje Shugden ban. Guru Deva Rinpoche, a great benefactor of the Tibetan people in exile, was himself chased out of town and back to Mongolia.

So it is without question that the Dalai Lama could have easily prevented the publication of Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography. The publisher, Wisdom Publications, is owned by the same interests as the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) that is not only opposed to the practice of Dorje Shugden but also comes under the control of Lama Zopa who is a staunch Dalai Lama supporter.

Not only did the Dalai Lama allow the publication of the book, but he also endorsed its contents by writing the Foreword to the autobiography of the greatest Dorje Shugden lama of the modern era.

Foreword written by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama. Click to enlarge.

Dorje Shugden detractors will insist that the Dalai Lama’s Foreword is yet more affirmation of his opposition to the Dorje Shugden practice, but the Dalai Lama’s own words prove them to be wrong. To begin with, the Dalai Lama excuses Trijang Rinpoche’s Dorje Shugden practice by saying,

“Since his predecessors had close ties to the practice, as did his root lama Phabongkha Rinpoche, it is understandable that my late tutor followed them in propitiating Dölgyal (Dorje Shukden).”

In this sentence alone, the Dalai Lama disqualifies the reasons for imposing the Shugden ban because the Dalai Lama confirms:

1. That past Gaden Tripas relied on Dorje Shugden. The Gaden Tripa is the head of the Gelug lineage and in Trijang Rinpoche’s case, he had two predecessors who were the 69^th and the 85^th Gaden Tripas. The fact Trijang Rinpoche’s erudite predecessors, who occupied the highest seat in the Gelug lineage twice-over, became closely associated with Dorje Shugden practice indicates that it was not a fringe and unauthorized practice after all.
2. That worshippers of this supposed “dark force” experience no ill-effects. In fact, Dorje Shugden worshippers can even reincarnate as enlightened masters like Trijang Rinpoche who is deemed holy, attained and qualified even to become the tutor of the Dalai Lama, an emanation of Avalokiteshvara.
3. That it is natural and understandable for a practitioner to follow his teacher’s worship of Dorje Shugden. The Dalai Lama even confirms that there is a lineage of practice, since Trijang Rinpoche’s own root lama relied on Dorje Shugden. However, this understanding is somehow suspended when the Dalai Lama and CTA forced Dorje Shugden practitioners to break oaths made to their teachers to uphold the Protector practice, and the Dalai Lama even allowed Penpa Tsering to criticize and denigrate his tutor Trijang Rinpoche’s root lama.

Dorje Shugden statue at Nyanang Pelgyeling Monastery in Nepal, made by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Click to enlarge.

Nevertheless, detractors will be keen to point out the Dalai Lama’s reference to the 5^th Dalai Lama. In their indictment of the deity, those opposed to Dorje Shugden often misquote the 5^th Dalai Lama as having said that Dorje Shugden was “an oath-breaking spirit born from perverse prayers …harming the teachings [the Buddhadharma] and all living beings”.

However, not only is this incorrect but the opposite is true. The 5^th Dalai Lama composed the very first prayer to Dorje Shugden, beseeching him to protect Dharma practitioners. He also constructed the very first Dorje Shugden chapel (Trode Khangsar) in Lhasa, and created with his own hands a Dorje Shugden statue for the purposes of worship. All of these are historical facts which have not been disputed.

And notwithstanding his earlier negation of false claims against Dorje Shugden, the Dalai Lama further invalidated that wrong view, albeit subtly, in the very next paragraph where he wrote,

“…and I composed a prayer for the swift return of his reincarnation.”

Even those with the most rudimentary Dharma knowledge will be able to see the contradiction here. If Dorje Shugden is truly a malevolent entity, then Trijang Rinpoche in his previous life as the Gaden Throne-holder and then as the Dalai Lama’s Junior Tutor would have broken his refuge vows and along with it, his monastic, tantric and all other vows.

Why then even spare the effort of composing a prayer for such a person’s swift return? Surely a prolific worshipper of such a destructive demonic force and who had actively facilitated the spread of this ‘evil’ would be heading for the lower realms and remain there for countless aeons according to the laws of karma. And yet the Dalai Lama gave no indication whatsoever that this was to be the result of Trijang Rinpoche’s lifelong worship of Dorje Shugden. Instead with the prayer, the Dalai Lama indicated that he fully expected the swift return of his teacher’s incarnation.

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama with the current incarnation of H.H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. If Dorje Shugden lamas worship a demon and are supposed to take rebirth in the three lower realms, why then did the Dalai Lama recognize the reincarnation of his guru?

The Epilogue of Trijang Rinpoche’s book narrates how the Dalai Lama actively searched for Trijang Rinpoche’s new incarnation and confirmed through divination the identity of the boy who would eventually be enthroned as the new embodiment of Trijang Rinpoche’s mind stream:

“His Holiness felt certain that Trijang Rinpoche’s reincarnation had been reborn in northwestern India, Kungo Palden, full of hope, went with Jamyang Tashi to Dalhousie on May 8, 1983, and stayed with Losang Thupten…” (page 380)

and,

“There, His Holiness gave the verdict that Sönam Topgyal’s child was the true reincarnation of Kyabje Trijang Vajradhara. With a beaming expression on his face, His Holiness then charged Lati Rinpoche and Kungo Palden with responsibility of caring for the child.” (page 381)

Finally, the Dalai Lama performed a hair-cutting ceremony on Trijang Rinpoche’s incarnation and named the boy Tenzin Losang Yeshe Gyatso.

Page 243, click to enlarge.

Allowing the publication of Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography, endorsing the book by writing a Foreword for it, and then skillfully negating very serious charges against Dorje Shugden, all go against the ban on Dorje Shugden that the Dalai Lama himself had imposed over two decades ago. Many examples of this can be found but an especially glaring example is on page 243 where Trijang Rinpoche wrote that it was the Dalai Lama who personally instructed Trijang Rinpoche to seek the advice of Dorje Shugden at the most crucial time. The Protectors Palden Lhamo, Nechung and Gadong had all given their respective advice but the Dalai Lama needed to be sure and so he sought the final confirmation from Dorje Shugden.

In the final analysis, it was upon Dorje Shugden’s instruction that the Dalai Lama and his party fled Tibet following the route prescribed by the deity Trijang Rinpoche regarded as the “chief protector”. Why would a supposedly perfidious spirit save the Dalai Lama if it is true that his intent is to harm the Buddhadharma?

Note that while the Dalai Lama spent most of his Foreword criticizing the practice of his guru, he did not dispute any information or specific events in the book that soundly mitigate the case against Dorje Shugden. There are only a few ways to look at this incongruity:

1. It was an oversight on the part of the Dalai Lama. This is highly implausible because the Dalai Lama is well known to be sharp-witted and still in possession of very finely-tuned mental faculties despite his advanced age. In addition, the Dalai Lama has access to a string of aides-de-camp, assistants and secretaries, and not to mention scholars like Sharpa Tulku and his regular translator Thupten Jinpa who would have vetted the book and advised the Dalai Lama accordingly, assuming the Dalai Lama had not read his teacher’s autobiography himself. So this explanation cannot stand on its own merits.
2. The publication of the book was out of the Dalai Lama’s control. Again, as we examined earlier, the opposite is true. Wisdom Publications comes well under the Dalai Lama’s influence. In any case, even if the publisher was a company outside the Dalai Lama’s clout, his willingness to write the Foreword negates this argument.
3. The only other explanation is that the Dalai Lama intended for the book to be published and widely read. A critical Foreword would pique interest in the matter, and lead people to look out for mentions of Dorje Shugden. As inconsistent as this may appear, it makes sense when seen from the perspective of recent developments in two other controversies that have dominated the Tibetan Buddhist landscape, besides the Dorje Shugden conflict – the 11^th Panchen Lama controversy and the Two Karmapa dispute.

Reconciliation

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the Dalai Lama’s candidate for the 11th Panchen Lama, disappeared shortly after he was recognized. A few months later, the Chinese government recognized their own candidate and since 1995, the Dalai Lama has persisted in his claim that the Chinese candidate is a fake and merely a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Then suddenly in April 2018, the Dalai Lama changed his mind and endorsed the Chinese Panchen Lama.

In 1995, the Dalai Lama accused the Chinese government of abducting a child that the Dalai Lama had recognised to be the 11^th Panchen Lama. In addition, the Dalai Lama declared that the China-enthroned 11^th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu was a fraud, which is a stance the Tibetan leadership have vehemently stood by for the past 23 years. Then suddenly, on 25^th April 2018, the Dalai Lama made a statement that Gyaincain Norbu is in fact the official and therefore the real Panchen Lama. This sudden reversal of the Dalai Lama’s stance on the Panchen Lama controversy was a harbinger of changes to come.

The two Karmapa candidates Thaye Dorje (left) and Ogyen Trinley (right) during their recent October 2018 meeting in France. Although the Dalai Lama has never traditionally been involved in the search and recognition of the Karmapas, Ogyen Trinley was endorsed by the 14th Dalai Lama, setting off a conflict that has plagued the Karma Kagyu tradition for over 20 years.

Just as mysteriously, on 11^th October 2018, the two Karmapa candidates Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje met in secret in France before issuing a joint statement declaring their mutual interest in healing the division in the Karma Kagyu lineage. The said division had been caused by a disagreement amongst the four regents of the Karma Kagyu, triggered when Tai Situ Rinpoche declared that Ogyen Trinley was the rightful heir to the Karmapa throne. The Shamarpa, the most senior of the four regents, disagreed with him and insisted that another candidate, Thaye Dorje was the correct reincarnation of the 16^th Karmapa and therefore the rightful claimant to the Karmapa seat. Traditionally it has been the role and duty of the Shamarpa to recognize and enthrone the Karmapa but the Dalai Lama acted outside his authority and scuttled the process. In officially endorsing Ogyen Trinley as the Karmapa, the Dalai Lama crystallized the problem and rendered it intractable even though the Shamarpa presented information to indicate that the Dalai Lama was in error.

The Dalai Lama’s interference divided the Karma Kagyu from 1995 onwards. Given the Dalai Lama’s absolute dominance of all matters relating to Tibetan Buddhism, it has been widely speculated that the Dalai Lama secretly engineered the recent France meeting of the two Karmapas to pave the way for reunification in the Karma Kagyu lineage. This is plausible because it would be highly unlikely for the young Karmapas to openly oppose the Dalai Lama and undo what the Dalai Lama had set in stone. And so there appears to be a change in the Dalai Lama’s stance on the Karmapa issue as well.

The developments in the Panchen Lama and Karmapa issues have one thing in common in that they are both reconciliatory in nature and if the Dalai Lama is seeking to harmonize the Tibetan Buddhist community, then it makes sense to also unravel the Dorje Shugden ban. And what better way to do this than to publicize his teacher, Trijang Rinpoche’s close relationship with Dorje Shugden by writing the Foreword to his autobiography. Given Trijang Rinpoche’s stature, the high regard he commanded at all levels of Tibetan society and seeing how the people still regard him indisputably as an enlightened being, his autobiography is a potent antidote against Dorje Shugden disinformation, and a robust counter-argument against detractors’ demonization of the deity.

It is well within reason to ask why the Dalai Lama does not just announce the abolition of the Dorje Shugden ban if that was indeed his intention.

1. The answer may be as simple as the suggestion that the Dalai Lama does not like to admit that he is wrong. We get a hint of this in a video of the late Shamarpa speaking about his meeting with the Dalai Lama. The Shamarpa recounted how he presented his findings about why the Dalai Lama was in error for endorsing Ogyen Trinley as the 17^th Karmapa. According to the Shamarpa’s narrative, the Dalai Lama did not disagree with his findings but instead replied that he had already endorsed Ogyen Trinley and so he could not withdraw it. We may surmise from this that the Dalai Lama may have a habit of refusing to acknowledge his mistakes regardless of the repercussions.

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The Shamarpa explained that he went to the Dalai Lama to present evidence countering his endorsement of Ogyen Trinley as the 17^th Karmapa. The Dalai Lama refused to retract his endorsement, saying once it had been issued there was no way to withdraw it.

2. Perhaps the Dalai Lama cannot afford to admit he is wrong because in doing so, it would open the floodgates for him to be questioned on a string of other matters. He would no longer be deemed to be faultless and omniscient. As far as the Dorje Shugden conflict is concerned, decades of discrimination against Dorje Shugden worshippers happened based only on the Dalai Lama’s word that the practice is demonic. For the Dalai Lama to openly say that Dorje Shugden is not evil after all would not only discredit him, it would also lay liability on him, for inflicting such a grievous injury on the Tibetan community inside Tibet as well as the Tibetan diaspora around the world.
3. There are quieter ways of bringing about reconciliation. The Gelug tradition is the predominant Tibetan Buddhist sect and accounts for the largest percentage of the Tibetan population around the world. Within the Gelug school, the practice of Dorje Shugden has always been pervasive especially from the time of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. Therefore the harm done by the Dalai Lama’s Dorje Shugden ban has been widespread, damaging the unity of the Tibetan nation, the integrity of the Tibetan Buddhist monastic structure, as well as the good name of Tibetan Buddhism. So it may have been deemed wiser to just quietly take effective measures for the damage to heal, just like how the Dalai Lama secretly set up the meeting of the two Karmapas.

Whatever the reasons may be, the Dalai Lama’s allowance for the publication of Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography and then writing a Foreword for it, is a welcome move not only for Dorje Shugden Buddhists but also for Buddhism in general. It is the Dalai Lama’s way of inviting the world and everyone engaged in the Shugden divide to finally discover the truth and then close a very unfortunate chapter in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Trijang Rinpoche was and still is the embodiment of a life lived perfectly in accordance to the Buddha’s teachings and as such his name itself is holy and his life story is both an inspiration as well as a lamp that guides all beings out of samsara. The Dalai Lama demonstrated great mastery and wisdom in allowing for the words of his holy teacher to permeate the earth to correct gross misunderstandings about a deity that Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, Heruka himself, had said we needed to depend on.

And to be sure that what Trijang Rinpoche wrote about Dorje Shugden was accurate and dependable, the translator Sharpa Tulku affirmed (on page 21, Preface) that Trijang Rinpoche wrote his story “without fabrication or omission”. If that is indeed the case, and Sharpa Tulku did not conjure up this statement without basis, then to vilify Dorje Shugden is to negate the choices, practices and existence of Trijang Rinpoche, one of the greatest living Buddhas of our time.

Dorje Shugden
in Magical Play of Illusion

Few lamas have as intimate a connection with Dorje Shugden as Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche does. Trijang Rinpoche writes about Dorje Shugden with great affection, as a close friend who protected him from scolding tutors, who helped him to choose the reincarnation of his guru Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, who helped him to save the Dalai Lama’s life. Indeed, Trijang Rinpoche relied on Dorje Shugden throughout his life, to assist him in activities that would affect thousands of people. All of this is clearly documented in Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography…that is, if you know where to look because in this translation of the autobiography, the Dharma Protector’s role in this great master’s life has been severely downplayed.

Instead of referring to Dorje Shugden by name, the translator refers to him using obscure, vague terms that would be unfamiliar to the majority of non-Tibetans who pick up this book. Why? Because to translate it clearly and honestly would be to recognize and properly record Dorje Shugden’s involvement in Trijang Rinpoche’s life, thereby invalidating the Tibetan leadership’s narrative of Dorje Shugden as a minor practice of spirit worship.

After all, why would a lama of Trijang Rinpoche’s calibre, who accomplished so much (as evidenced by his autobiography), choose to rely on a so-called ‘spirit’?

For realists, it is a foregone conclusion that Dorje Shugden’s involvement was downplayed purely for commercial reasons. The sad truth is that the Dalai Lama’s endorsement by means of a Foreword is necessary for the book to be a commercial success. In order to obtain such a Foreword, the translator would have had to allow the Dalai Lama to write something that criticizes Dorje Shugden, as well as obscure Dorje Shugden’s role in Trijang Rinpoche’s life.

Hence to clarify things, the team at DorjeShugden.com has compiled this list of the 56 times that Dorje Shugden is referred to in Trijang Rinpoche’s autobiography. You can refer to the images below, or click here to download a handy PDF document which you can print out to refer to as you read the book.

Page 1. Click to enlarge.

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Page 6. Click to enlarge.

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Trijang Rinpoche’s Autobiography

The biographies of holy beings such as Trijang Rinpoche serve to inspire and remind us about what is possible if we devote ourselves to our practice. Trijang Rinpoche spent his life tirelessly teaching the Dharma and benefiting sentient beings; his autobiography, which chronicles his deeds, paints the picture of a deeply devoted, kind, humble yet vastly accomplished spiritual practitioner.

Please keep this sacred text on your computers to read at your leisure, or print it to be inserted into statues or keep on your altar. As a Dharma text, please remember to store in a proper and respectful manner.

• English (PDF; 7.6MB)
• Tibetan Part 1 (PDF; 111.2MB)
• Tibetan Part 2 (PDF; 169.2MB)
• References to Dorje Shugden in the biography (PDF; 56kb)

Sikyong Lobsang Sangay launched a CTA-sponsored book that glorifies Tibetan suicide by self-immolation.

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

It has been 60 years since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet to set up an exile government in Dharamsala, North India. As a third generation of Tibetan refugees drift with uncertain futures in exile, most of them today have not seen, let alone lived in, their homeland. And yet a deep ultranationalism accompanied by animosity towards China persists due to very effective indoctrination that has been championed by the Dalai Lama’s exile Tibetan leadership, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

Faced with a powerful nemesis and finding itself with no military or economic might, the CTA has instead co-opted two very powerful weapons in its assault against China – the Dalai Lama and the Buddhist religion. In the name of the Dalai Lama, the CTA commandeered Buddhism as a political tool and with that, created pockets of anti-China agitators in every place in the world where the Tibetan Buddhist faith is being practiced.

According to the CTA’s narrative, the proper practice of the Buddha’s teachings compels unquestioning compliance with all of the Dalai Lama’s thoughts, which by extension, translates into the CTA’s policies and its political aspirations. The Dalai Lama is presented as a Buddha and hence all Buddhist adherents owe him a duty of obedience. In doing this, the CTA places the Dalai Lama at risk of being compared to the infamous Pope Boniface VIII, the megalomaniacal pontiff who decreed that salvation was not possible unless the people subjected themselves to him completely. Similarly, one is not a proper Buddhist unless one supports the Dalai Lama ergo, the CTA. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Dalai Lama is not even the absolute spiritual head of his own lineage, the Gelug school, let alone of Buddhism overall.

The CTA has subtly encouraged Tibetan self-immolation as a means to create sympathy for its political agenda. Over 150 Tibetans have perished unnecessarily over the years. When will the CTA finally speak up strongly to discourage the Tibetans from self-harm?

Being in exile accorded the Dalai Lama more power than any of his predecessors or any other Tibetan Buddhist figure, as the world became intoxicated with the Shangrila myth. It is upon this privilege and power that the CTA draws its legitimacy. In the decades since the Dalai Lama escaped Tibet, the Tibetan leader has commanded immense vogue and created a significant global space within which the CTA has increasingly worked its mischief, often undermining the Dalai Lama’s efforts.

The Sabotage

A number of incidences bear testimony to this. For instance, in July 2017 amid a tense standoff between India and China, the President of the CTA Lobsang Sangay decided it was an opportune time to assert Tibetan independence, and to raise the Tibetan flag at Pangong Tso (Pangong Lake), which lies between India and China. Sangay’s taunt of China was all the more provocative given it was done within eyeshot of Tibet. That injudicious act infuriated China, a result at odds with India’s seeking of a peaceful solution to its border woes. To redress the injury, the Indian Foreign Secretary subsequently instructed all Indian government officials to refrain from participating in Tibetan events organized to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile in India. In essence, the CTA significantly diminished almost 60 years of goodwill the Dalai Lama had built with the CTA’s generous host.

More recently, the Dalai Lama’s efforts to close the gap between Dharamsala and Beijing with accord on spiritual matters has been brazenly thwarted by his own Tibetan government-in-exile. In April 2018, the Dalai Lama acknowledged that the China-enthroned Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu is in fact the “official Panchen Lama”, a statement that effectively endorses China’s legitimacy in recognizing and enthroning high lamas. This represents a complete reversal of the Tibetan leadership’s past stance, which asserted that Gyancain Norbu is merely a political stooge and a false incarnation of the popular 10^th Panchen Lama. Given the importance of the Panchen Lama, deemed to be the highest-ranking Tibetan lama in China, the Dalai Lama’s acceptance of the Chinese Panchen Lama was clearly designed to thaw relations with Beijing and draw parties back to the negotiation table. The head of the CTA, Lobsang Sangay was with the Dalai Lama when his proclamation on Gyancain Norbu was made and so there cannot have been a miscommunication.

His Holiness the 11th Panchen Lama, Gyaincain Norbu.

Nevertheless, just two days later, the CTA saw it fit to publish on its official website an article critical of the Chinese Panchen Lama and demanded the release of their authorized Panchen Lama candidate, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima whom they claim had been kidnapped by China in 1995. To ensure that their point was not lost, another two stories were published on the CTA website in May 2018, both critical of the Chinese Panchen Lama. In essence, these stories demolished whatever foundations of friendship the Dalai Lama was constructing with Beijing.

Co-opting Buddhism

Not content with undermining the Dalai Lama’s diplomacy on the domestic front, the CTA has gone international with its attempts. In his recent speeches made during world tours, Lobsang Sangay has framed the Sino-Tibetan conflict as the struggle between Communism and Buddhism, masquerading the fact that it is more accurately a quarrel over who has dominion over the Tibetan nation – a communist regime or a feudal theocracy to whom the Tibetan people were regarded as mere chattel prior to 1959.

The CTA’s misuse of Buddhism is subtle but delivers devastating effect. An example is the Tibetan leadership’s 1996 ban on the worship of a popular Tibetan Buddhist deity, Dorje Shugden. The 2004 Human Rights Watch Report on Tibet dedicates an entire section to Dorje Shugden, articulating how the CTA’s diktat on the Shugden practice created deep divisions amongst Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and worldwide. Banning the worship of Dorje Shugden was a calculated and deft strategy. Dorje Shugden, an ancient deity worshipped by many Tibetan Buddhist schools, was carefully chosen from amongst the thousands of deities in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon due to the popularity of his practice.

The International Shugden Community, whose members comprise of Shugden practitioners from all over the world, have suffered discrimination

The CTA conceived the idea of Dorje Shugden being an instrument of the Chinese, constructed with the aim of destabilizing the reign of the Dalai Lama. In this way, Tibetans were pitted against one another. Dorje Shugden practitioners on the one hand were summarily painted as anti-Tibet, anti-Dalai Lama and pro-Chinese traitors while non-Dorje Shugden practitioners were pro-Tibet and pro-Dalai Lama. The result of all this was unrest within the TAR, precisely what the Chinese government fears most due to the tendency for unrest to escalate into uprisings in China’s frontier regions. It was a clever ruse on the part of the CTA, turning Tibetan Buddhists worldwide into de facto Tibet activists, intent on suppressing Dorje Shugden practitioners with the TAR and across the globe, all for the sake of the so-called ‘Tibet cause’.

A Noxious Assault on Freedom

Whilst effective, this strategy exacts a very high attrition on communities dragged into supporting the CTA’s agenda, namely discord and disharmony in erstwhile peaceful societies not involved in Sino-Tibetan aggressions. Still, it is a cost the CTA seems prepared to inflict as we see in its recent interference in Taiwanese spiritual affairs. Since 1949 Taiwan and China have had fraught relations. As tensions renewed between the two nations under Taiwan’s new President, Tsai Ing-wen, the CTA waded in to introduce further enmity and mistrust between the small island nation and the juggernaut China.

In August 2018, CTA representative Dawa Tsering proudly launched a new anti-Shugden book in Taiwan, titled “Tibetan Dharma Protectors, Deities and Demons”

In August 2018, the CTA via its agency Snowland Publications in Taiwan published Tibetan Dharma Protectors, Deities and Demons. The book was written in Chinese with a foreword by Dawa Tsering, the CTA’s representative in Taiwan. At first glance, the publication of an educational book on Tibetan Buddhism seems benign enough. However, on closer inspection, it bears all the hallmarks of good propaganda material created with one intention – to use the Dorje Shugden issue to divide the community and blame China.

With chapter titles like “How did Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen [who arose as the said divinity Dorje Shugden] become an evil spirit”; and “The Poison of Dolgyal [a derogatory name for the deity]” and “The Consequences of Propitiating Shugden” there is no doubt what the objective of the book is. Not a single page acknowledges the fact that the highest lamas of the Gelug and the Sakya, including the 14^th Dalai Lama, had worshipped the deity.

Dawa Tsering said in an interview with Radio Free Asia that Dorje Shugden “violates Buddhism” while sidestepping the fact that the very idea of a book that disparages a religion and seeks to create disharmony in a foreign state violates the simplest concept of freedom and decency. This is the CTA once again undermining the Dalai Lama’s work to portray the Tibetans as harmless and soulful citizens of a heavenly Himalayan nation.

Not only is it suspicious that an official of the supposedly democratic CTA is again conflating religion and politics, but now the CTA is stirring trouble in another country whose religious affairs are of no concern to any foreign government, let alone an exiled and stateless administration whose primary preoccupation should be the welfare of its refugee populace and the fulfilment of the Dalai Lama’s wish to return to Tibet.

Prior to the new Taiwanese publication, Lobsang Sangay had launched yet another anti-Shugden book in 2016, written with the purpose of segregating and creating further divisions within the Tibetan community.

The CTA’s latest anti-Shugden book purports to expose Taiwanese Buddhist groups that it claims have been infiltrated by the Chinese government. The basis of this allegation is purely on account of the groups’ worship of Dorje Shugden, the deity that the CTA had pre-emptively outlawed despite claiming to be a democracy. According to the book’s line of thought, the evil government of China has corrupted Buddhism in Taiwan and therefore, even if a Buddhist practitioner has no interest in Sino-Tibetan politics, he should still oppose China as a means of defending the integrity of his faith. That makes him a supporter of the Dalai Lama and CTA by default.

The CTA’s act has far-reaching consequences:

• To begin with, it trespasses on Taiwan’s spiritual affairs, rightly an internal issue that the CTA should have no say over.
• It specifically targets certain Taiwanese Buddhist groups. Thus, the CTA is implying that all good Taiwanese Buddhists should disregard Taiwan’s laws that provide for freedom of religion, and instead obey the CTA’s decrees.
• It attempts to criminalize Taiwanese citizens who choose not to abide by the CTA’s diktats regarding Dorje Shugden.
• It conflates spirituality with politics, implying that a Taiwanese citizen’s personal choice of worship is somehow a reflection of their private political beliefs.
• It brings to Taiwan the same unrest it created within the TAR and in other Tibetan Buddhist communities worldwide.
• It is an external administration passing judgement on Taiwanese citizens, thereby disregarding the sovereignty that Taiwan claims for itself and its people. How is that any different from, say, Germany passing a decree about Greek citizens? Or from China making decisions on Taiwan’s behalf, to put it into a context a Taiwanese citizen can relate to?

The CTA’s own treatment of Shugden Buddhists is nothing short of draconian. For instance, it publishes on its official website a series of notices and parliamentary resolutions that criminalizes Shugden worship and compels the Tibetan populace to apply pressure on Shugden Buddhists to give up their faith. Now the CTA wants the people of Taiwan to similarly turn on their own countrymen and splinter the Taiwanese Buddhist community. The deeply divided Tibetan community worldwide and the unrest in the TAR such as that reported by the Human Rights Watch in 2004 bear witness to the damage suffered by those who have listened to the CTA.

The official website of the Central Tibetan Administration carries material that undemocratically accuses Dorje Shugden practitioners worldwide to be “Chinese spies” and “criminals in history”. Click to enlarge.

What the CTA aims to do – constrain the people’s choice of belief while planting dissension and bringing strife upon Taiwan’s Buddhist community – contravenes the most fundamental international laws that prohibit a State from interfering with the internal affairs of another State thereby compromising its sovereignty. This is notwithstanding the fact that the CTA is not legally a State by the definition of established International Law, although it behaves and demands to be accorded the privileges and status of one. In fact, for 60 years, the CTA has acted outside the ambit of every global regulatory body and the reach of international law, a convenience they have exploited fully. Next, and given prevailing tensions between Taiwan and China, the CTA’s book that accuses Shugden Buddhists of being Chinese agents serves to induce further sentiments detrimental to the development of peaceful reunification between Taiwan and China. Stirring anti-China sentiments can only damage cross-strait ties at a time when they are already frail.

A Simple Business Decision

It may perplex some to see how a government that claims to base its policies on Buddhist values such as ahimsa (non-violence or non-injury) engage in such treachery to serve its political agenda. This is especially so when the Dalai Lama became famous off the back of touting messages of peace all over the world, even being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. But there is a simple explanation – the CTA is after all an exile government and as such, its reason for existing holds only as long as the 150,000 or so Tibetans who followed the Dalai Lama into exile continue to be refugees.

The CTA’s locus standi ends the moment the Dalai Lama’s spiritual and political plans are accomplished, symbolized by his return to China-controlled Tibet. The success of the Dalai Lama’s work comes at the demise of the CTA, which will simply have no role in the TAR. It is highly unlikely China will consider, let alone allow, for a separate administration to operate autonomously with its own set of rules, especially one that has spent six decades actively seizing every opportunity to destabilize the region.

The CTA will have to dissolve its core and supporting structures including the countless Office of Tibet premises around the world that have drawn, according to conservative estimates, an annual average of USD50 million into the CTA’s coffers for the past 60 years. This money is supposed to be applied towards improving the standard of living of the Tibetan refugees but, given the string of global propaganda campaigns that keep resentment towards China at a peak, critics cannot help but wonder if the donations and grants have been used to bankroll the CTA’s schemes instead.

Should the Dalai Lama manage to draw the Chinese government into a settlement, this gravy train would come to an abrupt halt and career politicians like Lobsang Sangay would lose all prestige accorded him. He will instead have to return to his position as an assistant lecturer, given the lack of demand in the otherwise lucrative lecture circuit for a failed President who has no achievements to call his own. Which politician-businessman would seek such an end? There are such incongruities between what the CTA portrays and its actions that lend credence to China’s labelling of the CTA as a “separatist government”. The Dalai Lama has called for a cessation of CTA hostilities towards China saying that it is foolish to regard China as the enemy and that the past is past. Clearly, the CTA disagrees. It cannot afford not to.

中国染指“凶天”渗透分化海外藏人

Source: https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/hx1-08202018101135.html. Click to enlarge.

In 2017, approximately 100 Tibetans gathered in Dharamsala to protest against the Tibetan leadership and to call for integrity in the Tibetan leadership. Scenes like this are becoming increasingly common; even the idea that the Dalai Lama might be disturbed to hear about their protest no longer makes these frustrated Tibetans hesitate. However, because they called for greater accountability in their government, these Tibetans were denounced as traitors. But will this soon be a thing of the past? When will Tibetans brave enough to protest against the leadership no longer be harassed and called “anti-Tibetan” or “anti-Dalai Lama”?

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: Sil Klose

As His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s reputation is increasingly lying in tatters, Tibetans are growing emboldened when it comes to voicing their opinions against him.

Contextually-speaking, it is not easy for Tibetans to speak up against the Dalai Lama. Centuries of indoctrination to worship the Dalai Lama as a god-king has developed a culture of unquestioned obedience to everything he says. Backing this up is the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala) who enforce his diktats, under the guise of supporting his work but usually using his instructions as a cover to settle personal scores and vendettas, and fulfill private agendas.

So while to Westerners the Dalai Lama appears to be a smiling, giggly, charming old monk (and by nature, he truly is), Tibetans know differently. They know that the Dalai Lama should be obeyed without question, and that to displease him or to displease those who claim to represent him, can invite swift and oftentimes violent retribution in the name of “protecting the Dalai Lama”. They know that to hint, let alone speak, against the Dalai Lama’s policies can result in segregation and discrimination, as has been the experience of Dorje Shugden practitioners who have refused to abide by his ban against this centuries-old Buddhist deity.

Dorje Shugden practitioners have been kicked out of their homes and monasteries and rendered homeless, and refused service in shops, restaurants and even hospitals. The children are bullied in school, the parents are refused employment and the lamas are detained and questioned without basis, to prevent them from being able to teach. In the worst of cases, they are attacked and stabbed, or murdered whether it is by poison or being driven off the road. So to speak up against the Dalai Lama, Tibetan leadership and their policies can be fatal and the fact Tibetans are overcoming centuries of Dalai Lama-worship to join the chorus speaking up against him is a surprise indeed.

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It started with a Tibetan teenager, Tenzin Sherab, making fun of Samdhong Rinpoche, the ex-Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) and current personal emissary of the Dalai Lama. At a public celebration in New York, the young man bravely took to the stage and mocked Samdhong Rinpoche’s manner of speaking, mimicking the inflections and cadence of his voice. The only reason he probably felt brave enough to do so is because he was in America and not India, and therefore away from the oppressive hand of the CTA.

Nevertheless, it was unprecedented that anyone might conceive of publicly mocking a monk who is the Dalai Lama’s right-hand man in this manner. Even more damning for the CTA’s reputation is that the audience laughed uproariously and gleefully circulated the video on social media. In years gone past, Samdhong Rinpoche would have been untouchable and beyond reproach; as the Kalon Tripa and the Dalai Lama’s emissary, the same courtesy extended to the Dalai Lama would have been extended to him. It now seems to be no longer the case, thanks to the CTA’s actions and how they have destroyed people’s faith in and respect for the monastic community.

The public mocking of Samdhong Rinpoche was followed by Tibetan students questioning Lobsang Sangay when he visited the Tibetan Children’s Village school in Dharamsala. The youths asked about the CTA’s role in the Dorje Shugden controversy and the “President” of the CTA reacted by showing his displeasure, his face instantly darkening and a snarl forming on his lips. Instead of answering their questions, he skirted around the subject and attempted to change topic. There are a few issues with this:

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1. Why even hold a public forum if some questions cannot be asked? And how can the CTA’s top leader, albeit a mere figurehead, be so uncouth as to refuse to answer the electorate’s questions? As future voters of the Tibetan community, the students had every right to ask their leader whatever they want. Is the CTA really a democracy when its leader tries to dictate what topics are appropriate for discussion and what are not?
2. Is this Harvard-educated lawyer so easily shaken? If the equilibrium of the CTA’s top leader can be thrown off balance due to a couple of questions from a few youths far younger than him, is he really fit to be the President of an entire diaspora of Tibetan people? Is he qualified to lead the people in the Dalai Lama’s absence?
3. True to form, the teenagers were summarily detained and questioned, and asked about their affiliations, allegiances and personal beliefs. It is worrisome that a few simple questions can result in the draconian treatment of children and it is insulting that the CTA thinks their own people are not smart enough to think and form their own opinions, but need to be fed the questions and put up to asking them.

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Unfortunately for the CTA, the difficult questions are not going away. In more recent times, members of Parliament have been questioning the accuracy of the Nechung Oracle in official parliamentary sessions which are recorded and broadcasted. It is well-known that the Dalai Lama heavily relies on the Nechung Oracle and the forthcoming proclamations during the trance. His predictions however, have been shown to be unreliable and because people cannot question the Dalai Lama without being attacked for it, they are instead choosing to question the people he relies on. The logic is as such – if you cannot question the man who is making the decisions, then question the decisions he is making and the people who are helping him to make them.

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That is to say, why does the Dalai Lama rely on Nechung if he has been proven over decades to be unreliable? Surely that is a reflection of other potentially-poor choices and decisions the Dalai Lama has made, including the ban on Dorje Shugden and his involvement in the recognition of the Karmapas. As seen in this video below, these members of Parliament (MPs) have even been trying to dissociate themselves from the Nechung Oracle, ashamed and embarrassed that a so-called democracy is relying on spirits and gods for their policy-making.

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After MP Tenpa Yarphel questioned Nechung, it opened a floodgate of uncomfortable questions to be raised in the Tibetan Parliament. This latest series of videos contains the most overt criticism of the Dalai Lama yet to be made public. Some MPs are now openly saying there is no need to listen to everything the Dalai Lama says. Others are now saying that people who question or criticize the Dalai Lama should be left alone and not be harassed for their opinions, nor labelled a “Dalai Lama hater” just because they do not share the same views as him.

This is big, big news as the people now protecting critics of the Dalai Lama are not ordinary Tibetans, but those who are supposed to be the leaders of their community. First, MP Khenpo Kada Ngedup Sonam is actively discouraging Tibetans from following the Dalai Lama’s advice on universal ethics, saying that the advice applies only to the Dalai Lama’s Western audiences. Then the MP Andruk Tseten tells the listening MPs that people who dislike the Dalai Lama, like Dorje Shugden practitioners, do not affect the Dalai Lama’s life. That in fact, it is people who claim to be devoted to the Dalai Lama but disregard his instructions who actually harm the Dalai Lama’s life. In saying this, he backtracks on what the Dalai Lama has claimed all along (that China and Dorje Shugden practitioners are anti-Dalai Lama and anti-Tibetan).

What all of this does is allow Tibetans to feel it is possible to speak up against the Dalai Lama, because now they know their words will not have an effect on his life. In the past, it was always claimed that people who criticize the Dalai Lama will harm his life; now, Andruk Tseten says that this is not the case. On the one hand, cynics might think Khenpo Kada Ngedup Sonam and Andruk Tseten are posturing, saying things that will never happen just to look democratic and open-minded to the outside world. But even if it is posturing, there is always the risk that their posturing will backfire and Tibetans will take their words as encouragement, and it will embolden them to talk.

Instead of things improving for the CTA, they are becoming decidedly worse. The Dalai Lama’s reputation in the Western world is on the decline, amongst both governments who refuse to meet with him as well as the general public, given the exposé of his refusal to act on the sexual abuse cases. When the Dalai Lama is no longer the unquestioned leader he used to be, the CTA will need all the friends they can get for on their own, the CTA has not achieved much and without the reputation of the Dalai Lama backing them, they have no standing of their own.

So rather than continuing down this path, before they reach the point of no return, it would be prudent for them to extend a hand of reconciliation and create as many alliances as possible, even with those whose friendship they have previously rejected such as Dorje Shugden practitioners. Loyalty takes a long time to build up, but is easily destroyed overnight. Case in point – 60 years of goodwill is now in danger due to the Tibetan leadership’s silence over the abuse of women. If the CTA has any hope of enjoying the fruits of loyalty in the future, they had best start protecting and forming it now before it is too late.

Members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile
speak against the Dalai Lama

“Don’t act on everything just because Dalai Lama says so,” says Khenpo Kada Ngedup Sonam

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Khenpo Kada Ngedup Sonam, a member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile (MP), reminds his fellow MPs that it is not necessary for them to listen to the Dalai Lama’s instructions.

He announces to all of them that whenever the Dalai Lama speaks about universal ethics, that is for his Western audience and the instructions are not for them (the Tibetans). As such, they do not need to follow it.

If people want to follow the Dalai Lama’s teachings on universal ethics, Khenpo Sonam says that it is enough for them to follow the 16 Pure Human Laws (མི་ཆོས་གཙང་མ་བཅུ་དྲུག).

Khenpo Sonam then reminds the listening MPs that the Dalai Lama recently gave the same instruction, saying that, “We Tibetans do not need to follow, I have already said that the universal ethics are not for us.”

How come Tibetans are exempt from practicing universal ethics?

Why is the Dalai Lama telling Western audiences one thing, and Tibetan audiences another?

“Leave Dalai Lama’s critics alone,”
says Tibetan MP Andruk Tseten

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Member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Andruk Tseten, reminds Tibetans of the importance of following the Dalai Lama’s instructions and not disappointing him.

He said that considering the Dalai Lama’s advancing age (84 years old), it will be good for him to lessen his public programs if they are not important. Andruk Tseten says that it is important to make the Dalai Lama’s body and mind be relaxed and at peace, and the way to do this is by not disappointing the Dalai Lama.

Andruk Tseten says that if people like Dorje Shugden practitioners dislike the Dalai Lama, that is due to their ignorance. And if those ignorant people choose to disregard the Dalai Lama’s instructions, it is not a big deal. Andruk Tseten says that their choice will not affect the Dalai Lama’s life and activities. That is good Andruk Tseten says that because in a democratic society, people do not have to agree with everything the leader says and this does not make them ignorant. They do not need to be penalized for thinking different from their leaders. It just shows they have their own way which might be just as good. 

But if people who call the Dalai Lama their precious lama do not follow his instructions, then it will harm his life and activities. Those people who follow the Dalai Lama, but disregard his instructions, are the ones who disappoint and harm him. They are the people who do not bring peace to the Dalai Lama.
 

Fit to be labelled the Most Famous Refugee in the World, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and has been living in India for almost 60 years.

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: Heinrich Hauff

When Sweden’s Democrats, an extreme right-wing political party with a white nationalist agenda gained a significant win to become the deal-maker who would form the next government of Sweden, the entire European community braced itself for an outpouring of extremist views.

Europe was already in the grip of a tense situation. Yet a very provocative statement was made from a totally unlikely source, His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama, who should have known better than to create even more problems for the Europeans. Only three days after Sweden’s election results, the Dalai Lama, at the start of his European tour in Malmo, Sweden, spoke publicly about how “Europe is for Europeans”. This has since ignited debates that have been raging for nearly two weeks with no signs of dissipation.

With the now infamous ultranationalistic and racist statement, the Dalai Lama revealed how far removed he is from current global affairs and how ignorant he is about the tragedies that have struck the Afghan people and other afflicted groups who have since become reluctant refugees. This is not to mention the disasters that have visited the people of Somalia, Eritrea and those under the Assad and other totalitarian regimes. If the Dalai Lama does not have his finger on the pulse of global affairs, it is only proper for him to refrain from speaking on inflammatory socio-political topics. Especially seeing how he had caused a furore with his remarks on Indian political issues just a month prior. This is especially so given the fact that he has utterly failed to solve the Tibetan refugee problem even after 60 years in exile. Shouldn’t the Dalai Lama focus on solving his own problems instead of creating new ones for the Europeans?

The need for the Dalai Lama to not be issuing political statements couldn’t be any more apparent especially when innocent lives are at stake. For these refugees fleeing their homeland, the conditions in their countries of origin are far from being resolved and are unlikely to be in the near future. To send refugees back to situations where they would face mortal peril is tantamount to signing their death sentence. In addition, what exactly does the Dalai Lama mean when he speaks of their eventual return? And when? In five years? Ten? How arbitrary and miscalculated all that is.

Syrian refugees make up a large percentage of the European Refugee Crisis

As a monk with neither formal education nor training in politics, the blunders the Dalai Lama has made have had wide-reaching consequences, especially when parties manipulate them with harmful agendas. The bottom line is this – for the Dalai Lama to be making statements that stoke Islamophobia, he is carelessly disregarding human lives.

Theo Horesh, the author of the article, “The Dalai Lama Owes An Apology” published in the Elephant Journal, could not help but note the irony:

“The Dalai Lama is himself a refugee who cannot return home without fearing for his life, but he doubled down when asked to clarify his remarks the next day. Perhaps he did not recognize the way his words were being used, or else he simply misspoke. But it is unlikely, given that he is the head of state to a nation in exile and a perceptive thinker who chooses his words carefully.”

Even though popular opinion may place the Dalai Lama as a veteran statesman who saved his people from genocide, it is time to ask what this Nobel Peace Prize winner has really achieved. To begin with, what has the Dalai Lama done to really help the people of Syria, for example, when they were torn apart by war and before they were forced to become refugees? What has the Dalai Lama done to help afflicted countries such as the African nations find peaceful resolutions to the violent disputes that have plagued them? Most relevantly, what has the Dalai Lama done to resolve the Tibetan refugee crisis? (if we can even call it a crisis in this day and age)

1. Tibet is still a part of the People’s Republic of China and there is no sign of the Dalai Lama ever regaining sovereignty over his own homeland.
2. The Dalai Lama himself is still a refugee.
3. The Dalai Lama’s subjects in exile are still refugees. What’s more, Tibetan refugees have also sought to make Europe their home. So it is not only those who fled from war-torn Syria that make up Europe’s refugee population but also Tibetan refugees who contribute to the concerns of the Europeans. Why the Dalai Lama did not address his own people and demand that they are repatriated from Europe is a mystery. After all, they have been there much longer than any other refugees.
4. There is no progress with the Middle Way Approach to seek autonomy within China. In fact, all dialogue with China came to a grinding halt many years ago.

Migrants being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea

Truth be told, the Tibetan people are more hopeless today than they were in 1959 and the Tibetan refugee population who continue to trust and rely on the Dalai Lama’s government is only about half the number in diaspora. The rest seem to have taken matters into their own hands. Shouldn’t the Dalai Lama demonstrate that he can ably solve the Tibetan people’s issues before meddling with Europe’s migrant problems?

For this former head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the past 60 years have presented countless opportunities to resolve the Tibetan refugee crisis. China’s rise as a global superpower could have meant a slew of benefits for the Tibetan people, but instead of placing emphasis on building relations with the Chinese government, the Dalai Lama directs his attention to everywhere else but China.

In his article, Horesh also displays extraordinary astuteness in his observation of why the Dalai Lama’s Islamophobic statement is ridiculous. He gives the hypothetical example of a Syrian immigrant who has carved a new life in an adoptive country for the past 10 years – his new wife is Turkish, his children are German, and his business is located in Berlin. How can you repatriate such a person back to a country that he and his wife and children have no cultural connection with? How can you ask them to unravel their lives all over again and agree to be alienated one more time just because the Dalai Lama said so?

If we were to go along with the Dalai Lama’s philosophy on refugees returning to develop their home countries, then the question that begs asking is, when will Tibetans-in-exile in Europe and North America be returning to Tibet? What about the Tibetans who have taken foreign partners and those in families with children of mixed race? Are they to reject their new found homes where they have lived for the majority of their lives to simply return to Tibet? After being in Europe for so many decades, many Tibetans are merely Tibetan in name, but culturally they are not. Will these Tibetans who have absorbed decades of foreign culture just transplant themselves and integrate instantly in Tibet, China? Or is the Dalai Lama’s philosophy only for Muslims? If not, why doesn’t it apply to Tibetans too?

Until today, the Dalai Lama has made little progress for the Tibetan cause with the Chinese Government but maintains close relationships with Western leaders

Whether knowingly, or as some allege, unknowingly, the Dalai Lama stoked racist and negative religious sentiments with his irrational statement. This is another sign that as a Buddhist monk, he should not involve himself with European politics as his lack of knowledge in political affairs can be used to hurt other people. It is a glaring revelation that the Tibetan leader lacks in education, exposure and history.

“Like all identities, Europeanness is a mental construction. There is no essence to it; rather, it is what we make it. And the more expansive our idea of it, the more inclusive it can be of the people actually living in it.”

Theo Horesh is brilliant in saying that identities such as ‘Europeanness’ are a mental construction. Of all people, the Dalai Lama who champions Buddhist teachings on subjects like the inherent emptiness of all phenomena, should already know this. Yet, the Dalai Lama conveniently forgets that Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia are three countries in Europe that are also Muslim states. Even Turkey is predominantly Muslim. All of these three Muslim countries are not recent inclusions in the European Union, and therefore the Dalai Lama’s statement on Muslims not being a part of Europe, and on how Europe is for Europeans is another shout out of his ignorance. But more to the point, shouldn’t a spiritual leader promote tolerance and pluralistic views? If our concept of personal and national identities can be broadened to be more inclusive, then clearly there is a better chance for people to live together in harmony.

Horesh summarizes it well when he says that the Dalai Lama’s half-hearted statement has caused hurt, immediately increased Islamophobia and played into the hands of extreme right-wing policies that could be damaging in the long-term. In the present day, these xenophobic extremists are attacking Muslims but who will be next? Will they target other refugees or migrants such as Indians, Asians, Pacific Islanders and so on?

Ultimately, the false identity of Europe for Europeans is a very negligent and damaging statement from someone such as the Dalai Lama who is regarded as a “seasoned politician”. Given that this statement has drastically decreased respect for the popular Tibetan leader worldwide, then perhaps the Dalai Lama who is the most famous refugee in the world, as Horesh says, should apologise.

The Dalai Lama Owes an Apology

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2018/09/the-dalai-lama-owes-an-apology/

Addressing the Goa Institute of Management, His Holiness the Dalai Lama criticized India’s legendary Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for being self-centered and the primary cause for the partition of India and Pakistan. At the same talk he called for peace between Muslim sects while ignoring the fact his own Tibetan community remains heavily divided due to religious differences.

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: Ashok Rao

In 1959, India generously and graciously opened their arms to the Dalai Lama and his Tibetan refugees as they fled China-occupied Tibet, now commonly known as the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. In India, the Dalai Lama was given the highest honor, respect and privilege as befitting the Indian customs of venerating high spiritual personages. The Indian leader at the time was Prime Minister Jawarhalal Nehru and it was his extremely kind leadership that allowed the displaced Tibetans in-exile a country to settle in.

Recently however, the Dalai Lama has begun forays into Indian politics by making outlandish comments regarding the very same Prime Minister Nehru that gave him and his people safe refuge. Not only that, his comments broached a highly sensitive subject, that of the Partition of British India into the two nation states of India and Pakistan that we know today. Awakening painful and bloody memories, his comments have angered the sentiments of Indians around the world, as the repercussions of Partition remain unresolved up until the present day and strained relations between India and Pakistan endure.

(L-R) Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. During the talk, the Dalai Lama said that Nehru opposed Gandhi’s wish to give the prime ministership to Jinnah.

The Dalai Lama surprisingly blamed Prime Minister Nehru for the split between the two countries during which untold millions suffered so much loss in terms of life, identity and property. It is something that has deeply damaged the psyche of the two nation states who have yet to mend their relations. It is shocking that the Dalai Lama would broach the subject almost insensitively. He basically claims that if not for Jawarhalal Nehru, who became Prime Minster against Mahatma Gandhi’s will, Pakistan would have remained a part of India. The Dalai Lama claims that Mahatma Gandhi wanted Muhammad Ali Jinnah to become Prime Minister instead. But if Jinnah, being a staunch Muslim, had become Prime Minister instead of Nehru, he most probably would not have entertained the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans at that time. The Dalai Lama should consider himself lucky that Nehru became Prime Minister.

Video: Dalai Lama criticizes Prime Minister Nehru

Or watch on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKy84l68eNk

 
But what he forgets to mention is that moved by the plight of the Tibetans, the compassionate Prime Minister Nehru generously gave the Tibetans in-exile 24 large tracts of land throughout India as thousands of Tibetans began pouring into the country, overjoyed that India had granted them refuge. These Tibetans were given assistance, protection, aid, support and political asylum, something that has continued to this day. It was due to the kindness of Prime Minister Nehru that Tibetans were even permitted to set up their own government in-exile in the hills of Dharamsala, northern India, now called the Central Tibetan Administration.

The Dalai Lama seems to have forgotten all that Prime Minister Nehru did for the Tibetans. Instead, he has labelled the Indian leader as ‘self-centred’ and the cause that India and Pakistan separated in the first place. His claim was completely uncalled for and has sparked fury among Indians, clearly evident on social media platforms. The Dalai Lama has definitely created a public relations nightmare, another mark against his already declining reputation all over the world.

However, Prime Minister Nehru was not the only subject that the Dalai Lama sought to interfere in. In his speech, he spoke of how Sunni and Shia Muslims are the same – they worship the same God, follow the same Quran and pray five times a day, yet they kill each other due to sectarian differences. The irony is the Dalai Lama’s own backyard is not as trimmed he would have you believe. The Tibetan community themselves are heavily divided along religious lines, especially with the segregation and ostricization hurled against Dorje Shugden practitioners.

If the Dalai Lama is happy to give practitioners of another religion advice, he should follow his own advice and free Dorje Shugden followers from the oppressive shackles that he and his very own Central Tibetan Administration have imposed. After all, if Muslims all believe in the same God; both Dorje Shugden followers and non-Dorje Shugden followers all believe in the Buddha, accept the spiritual theory of karma and have the conviction that everyone can become enlightened. The only difference between the two groups is that Shugden followers incorporate Dorje Shugden into their practice.

Contrary to the Dalai Lama’s own advice of religious harmony, Dorje Shugden followers remain segregated, their religious practice banned, they are not granted the same medical privileges as their counter-parts, cannot attend the same schools and they cannot hold official positions with their society. Even monks are kicked out from monasteries that they have called home for so long. Strange how on one hand the Dalai Lama advocates harmony but on the other is the cause for discrimination within his own community. Dorje Shugden followers are not even allowed to join the Dalai Lama’s talks, whether secular or spiritual, despite the fact the Dalai Lama is supposedly the leader of the Tibetan people. He has condemned them to be pariahs within Tibetan communities all over the world.

Video: Dalai Lama undemocratically condemns Dorje Shugden practice, intolerantly expels thousands of monks

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The Dalai Lama’s comments against Prime Minister Nehru has raised the ire of many Indians. He is not only seen as interfering in Indian politics but criticizing the very leader that began shaping India to what it has become. Since in his speech in the video he can easily propose that mistakes are a common occurrence, it means that anyone can make mistakes no matter who they are. But by the same token, this would mean the Dalai Lama himself can make mistakes too. In this case, he has done so on two major counts. The first, by calling Prime Minister Nehru “self-centered” and the other by creating disunity among his own Tibetan community by unethically banning the practice of Dorje Shugden. The Dalai Lama who claims to be a democratic leader, should act democratically and not ban any religious faith within his community. Banning the Tibetan Dorje Shugden devotees and segregating them from mainstream Tibetans was his instruction and it clearly shows you that he is not democratic. Dorje Shugden is a spiritual path whether he accepts it or not. As a leader, the Dalai Lama should be tolerant towards all spiritual paths as that is the democratic way. Only then can he be called a truly democratic leader.

So, when the Dalai Lama wants to suggest that people should be harmonious and espouses religious tolerance, he should very well walk the talk and start with his own people rather than interfering in the affairs of the very country that granted him so much. He should stop commenting on Indian politics and creating more disharmony, but concentrate on his own community and heal the huge rift that he himself created with Dorje Shugden followers.

The Dalai Lama (left) has forgotten about Prime Minister Nehru’s (right) kindness towards the Tibetan people and now maligns him calling him “self-centered”.

As a so-called spiritual leader and a monk who has vows based on renunciation, it is not befitting of the Dalai Lama to keep talking about politics. So why is the Dalai Lama poking his nose into other people’s political affairs and criticizing their leaders? He should deal with the inequality within his own community first and remember the kindness of those he now maligns.

The Dalai Lama has shocked his generous host country of India with his latest political interference into the internal affairs of the country. Indians have expressed tremendous shock that the Dalai Lama would have such audacity to criticize one of the Prime Ministers of India. At least the Prime Minister of India was able to hold on to and secure his country’s independence from Great Britain, unlike the Dalai Lama who lost his own country, Tibet, through bad leadership. It is ironic that a refugee leader who lost his country and has not regained it for the last 57 years criticizes the leader of a sovereign nation. What Nehru did or did not do is for Indians to decide and not a refugee Tibetan whose remarks have hurt the sentiment of his host country.

ZEENEWS
India, Pakistan would have remained united if Muhammad Ali Jinnah was made PM: Dalai Lama

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: http://zeenews.india.com/india/india-pakistan-would-have-remained-united-if-prime-ministership-was-given-to-jinnah-dalai-lama-2131525.html

NDTV
Partition Wouldn’t Happen If Nehru Had Not Been Self-Centered: Dalai Lama

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/dalai-lama-partition-wouldnt-happen-if-jawaharlal-nehru-had-not-been-self-centered-1897367

NORTH EAST LIVE
Dalai Lama stirs controversy

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://northeastlivetv.org/2018/08/09/dalai-lama-stirs-controversy/

NEWSBRED
Spare us your history lessons, Dalai Lama

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.newsbred.com/spare-us-your-history-lessons-dalai-lama

TV NEWS COVERAGE

Or watch on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kWRxi-m6Bg

The Dalai Lama’s criticism of Prime Minister Pandit Nehru has gone viral on the Indian media circuit. Indians across the world and across the board have taken great offense to what the Dalai Lama said about Prime Minister Nehru. The Dalai Lama has gone too far in interfering in Indian politics when he was not even invited to do so. Since so many have been offended by his comments, his actions will have many negative public relations implications in the future.

Addendum: Partition of British India

A map of the Partition of British India. Click to enlarge.

Partition, the division of British India into the two separate states of India and Pakistan on August 14 and 15, 1947 – was a “last-minute” mechanism implemented as Great Britain decided to accelerate the transfer of power into Indian hands. Although Pakistan celebrated its independence on August 14, and India on August 15, 1947, the border between the two new states was not announced until August 17. Based on the Radcliffe Line, the border was drawn up by Cyril Radcliffe, who had little knowledge of the situation in India at the time, using out-of-date maps and census materials.

The north-western flank of the country with its Muslim majority became Pakistan. The rest of the country, predominantly Hindu, became what we know as India today. This decision was made largely to limit violence and bloodshed between Hindus and Muslims. Around six million Muslims relocated from India to Pakistan, and more than four million Hindus and Sikhs moved from Pakistan to India, motivated by the their hope for safety at a time of religious partisanship.

The partition triggered a colossal wave of migration, bloody riots, as well as mass casualties. It is estimated that over 14 million people were displaced along ‘religious’ lines, burdening the newly formed countries with overwhelming refugee crises. The violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan that plagues their relationship to the present day.

Angry comments against the Dalai Lama on social media

The Dalai Lama’s comment labeling Prime Minister Nehru as self-centered has angered Indians who have taken to social media to express their indignation and horror at his remarks

Users on social media are questioning why the Dalai Lama made such statements when it was Prime Minister Nehru who gave Tibetans safe refuge in India

All of these monks and lamas have either been accused of or admitted to sexual impropriety, or taking advantage of their positions to have inappropriate relationships with their students and women. All of these lamas have not been sanctioned by the Tibetan leadership and, in many cases, have enjoyed the continued endorsement of the Tibetan leadership in spite of the allegations. All of these lamas also do not practice Dorje Shugden and hence whatever they do is excusable, as long as they remain financially lucrative for the Tibetan leadership. (Top row L-R: Sogyal Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham, Gangten Tulku. Bottom row L-R: Lama Norlha, Lama Choedak Rinpoche, Tenzin Dhonden)

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: Solaray Kusco

Under the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership based in Dharamsala), one might be forgiven for assuming that tales of financial mismanagement, embezzlement, murder and sex scandals have only recently become commonplace.

That could not be further from the truth; it would be a lie to say that before 1959 and the subsequent diaspora of Tibetans around the world, such events never occurred. The truth is that Tibetan society has always been plagued by intrigue, conflict, fighting, exploitation and abuse, with the murder of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen being just one of a myriad of examples. However, after 1959 and with Tibetan society becoming more accessible to the world, the perpetrators increasingly found themselves in communities where these abuses would not be tolerated, covered up, dismissed or justified as ‘crazy wisdom’.

The Tibetan diaspora brought its people in contact with Western nations where people are educated and where there is a growing awareness against the abuse and exploitation of women, for example the #MeToo movement. It also brought the lamas into an environment where people can easily access information to compare teachers, and judge for themselves if their methods are appropriate or not. This would not have been possible in feudalistic pre-1959 Tibet. When the abuses happened then, there was no infrastructure to spread the word as quickly, and there was a greater likelihood that disenfranchised Tibetan students would be hushed up by the all-powerful ruling lamas.

Sogyal Rinpoche was often pictured with beautiful women. In spite of decades of allegations of sexual abuse, he was able to continue unchecked because he knew he would not face any repercussions from anyone; it was the Tibetan leadership’s endorsement of him which allowed him to act with impunity. While the CTA and their supporters harass Dorje Shugden practitioners for peacefully upholding their religious freedom, they say nothing about lamas who are consistently and constantly accused of abusing their students.

Some sympathizers might attempt to excuse these lamas’ behaviors as a clash of cultures; that is, raised in the male-dominated environment of a monastery, these Tibetan lamas did not know any better and misinterpreted their Western students’ behavior as consent. But ignorantia juris non excusat or, in other words, ignorance of law excuses no one and it is not an adequate nor valid defense for the acts they have committed. Many of these lamas have already been in the West for decades, and some were educated or even born there. If none of this applies to them, then at the very least they have been surrounded by Western advisors and disciples for years. The point is that they have been exposed to Western culture for a long, long time and there is no justification for their behavior.

Therefore the following questions remain:

(1) How come the Tibetan leadership has, by and large, stayed silent?

While they are quick to condemn others who do not fall in line with their diktats, such as Dorje Shugden practitioners who refuse to abide by the ban, the Dalai Lama and the CTA are sluggish when it comes to condemning perpetrators of sexual abuse. One has to wonder why the Dalai Lama and the CTA does not when sexual abuse is universally reviled; it should not be an issue for the Dalai Lama and the CTA to condemn these behaviors. No one would fault them for doing so and in fact, they would be applauded.

The fact they are sluggish to do so suggests that either they approve of these behaviors or they are afraid to condemn the perpetrators, lest they lose their financial patronage and support. After all, many of these individuals are the heads of extremely wealthy organizations, with donors and sponsors at their beck and call.

(2) Why is the Tibetan leadership not doing their job?

Where is the condemnation of these acts from the Department of Religion, who is supposed to govern the religious activities of their lamas? If they do not speak up when disciples are being exploited and abused, when DO they speak up? What precisely is their function if not to protect the lineages from being exploited by people like this?

The Dalai Lama and the CTA receives US$17mil in annual funding from the American government, paid for by the American taxpayer. This money is supposed to go towards the operations of the Tibetan leadership but if the Department of Religion is not doing its job, then where is all of this money going to? And while the Dalai Lama and the CTA are happy to budget US$500,000 in generating online propaganda against Dorje Shugden, no such budget has been allocated to, for example, educating Tibetans on what constitutes sexual abuse and the meaning of consent. No such budget has been allocated to counseling and therapy for the victims of these teachers.

(3) Why is Hollywood staying silent?

Some of these perpetrators have chosen to settle out of court, surely an admission of guilt. After all, why pay to hush someone up if there is no evidence that can be construed, or indeed misconstrued by the justice system? Most of them have been abusing their students for decades and yet, in spite of their admissions of guilt, they continue to enjoy the endorsement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and even Hollywood stars. These are the same Hollywood stars who speak out against abuses by those from their industry such as Harvey Weinstein, but remain silent when news about lamas exploiting young female students is exposed. In their silence, and with no similar condemnations forthcoming, these stars are saying they believe the lamas’ behavior is acceptable.

(4) How come the criticism is not equal? How come sexual abuse is OK but Dorje Shugden is not?

While supporters of the Dalai Lama will harangue him to speak up against Dorje Shugden, they do not make requests with equal fury when it comes to these despicable acts against women. Where are the online groups calling for the Dalai Lama and the CTA to enforce consequences against anyone found to be sexually abusing their students? Where are the comments about how these lamas are ‘false’ or ‘liars’ or ‘agents of Chinese harm’ because they take advantage of their disciples? The truth is that as long as you are perceived to have a close relationship with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, everything you do, no matter how vile or abusive, is excusable and the Dalai Lama, the CTA and their supporters will turn a blind eye. But if you practice Dorje Shugden, you are a justifiable and open target for vulgarities and threats.

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Under the CTA, what is good becomes bad and what is bad becomes good, as long as it is financially lucrative in their favor. It is not the truth that the CTA are interested in, but the fastest way they can make a buck and for 60 years, that has meant selling the dream of Shangri-la to Western governments and private groups who have been approaching them with open wallets.

But as more and more victims are emboldened and empowered to come forward with their stories, wallets are snapping shut as people realize that the Shangri-la they were sold was no more than a mirage. This realization has been accompanied with an evaluation of their budgets, and a demonstrable reluctance by public and private institutions to continue funding and sponsoring this kind of behavior.

The people’s patience is running out and along with it, the CTA’s time to recuperate their reputational losses. In times of crisis, only the powerful have the luxury of remaining silent, and this is a luxury that the CTA clearly no longer enjoys.

Media Coverage

The various incidents of sex abuse have caught the attention of Western media who have written extensively about it. This has been going on as far back as 1989, when a teacher associated with one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist organizations in the world was caught intentionally transmitting AIDS to his partners. Since that time, the Tibetan leadership has remained silent whenever they have been faced with a sex scandal.

Yet, when someone refuses to give up Dorje Shugden practice, the CTA will tell all and sundry about the lama’s supposed ‘crime’ of refusing to abide by the Dorje Shugden ban. Their refusal to give up the practice is framed as an anti-Dalai Lama act of disloyalty, and therefore criminal. But what actual law does practicing Dorje Shugden break that makes it a crime? And how come the CTA is so vehement about condemning Shugden practitioners, but will say nothing when people abuse women and break actual laws?

The New York Times

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/21/us/buddhists-in-us-agonize-on-aids-issue.html

The Independent

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/abuse-alleged-at-monastery-for-tibet-exiles-698788.html

The Guardian

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/oct/08/tibetan-lamas-buddhism

The Guardian

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/jul/01/lama-sex-abuse-sogyal-rinpoche-buddhist

Sogyal Rinpoche

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has referred to Sogyal Rinpoche as “a good friend”.

These are perhaps the most well-known incidents of sexual abuse to hit the headlines and rock the Tibetan Buddhist community in recent times. Sogyal Rinpoche was the subject of a documentary in 2011 detailing his alleged crimes, and also the subject of a lawsuit that was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Despite all of this, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan leadership continued to associate with him and make public appearances with him, thereby endorsing his activities and behavior.

In more recent times, the exposé against Sogyal Rinpoche by his own senior students has been so thorough and public, that he was forced to resign. A few months later, he announced that he was diagnosed with cancer. He has not been seen publicly since. While his victims continue to suffer the trauma of his abuse, and while he remains in hiding, the CTA has not issued any statements against his behaviour or disassociated themselves from him. How come they are silent over these atrocities, but are so vocal against Dorje Shugden which is not illegal anywhere in the world? How come they force people to disassociate from Shugden practitioners, and enforce segregatory policies against them, but have not disassociated themselves from someone who has been accused of abusing women for decades?

Lion’s Roar

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.lionsroar.com/letter-to-sogyal-rinpoche-from-current-and-ex-rigpa-members-details-abuse-allegations/

The Telegraph

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/sexual-assaults-violent-rages-inside-dark-world-buddhist-teacher/

Medium (Part 1)

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://medium.com/@tahlianewland/harvey-weinstein-and-sogyal-rinpoche-a-study-of-responses-part-1-management-f7413d904c0b

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://medium.com/@tahlianewland/harvey-weinstein-sogyal-rinpoche-a-comparison-part-2-culture-1fcc5bfc7599

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Yet another leader of another large Tibetan Buddhist organization has been forced to step down after being accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with his students. In his statement, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche took responsibility for everything, basically all but admitting to the actual acts. Still, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has enjoyed the Dalai Lama’s and the Tibetan leadership’s endorsement for many years, again despite the fact that rumors about his impropriety have existed for years. The Tibetan leadership will endorse anything, no matter how illegal it may be, if it has the potential to be financially lucrative. But as long as someone practices Dorje Shugden, they are bad and evil, no matter how much benefit they bring to others, just because they refuse to abide by the Tibetan leadership’s ban on the practice.

Tricycle

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/sakyong-mipham-rinpoche-sexual-abuse/

Think Progress

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://thinkprogress.org/buddhist-leader-sexually-assaulted-students-report-finds-0d08e17cedd9/

Lion’s Roar

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.lionsroar.com/report-alleges-sexual-misconduct-by-leader-of-shambhala-community/

Tricycle

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/shambhala-leaders-resign/

The New York Times

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/nyregion/shambhala-sexual-misconduct.html

CBC.ca

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/new-allegations-surface-against-shambhala-leader-1.4743325

Tricycle

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/sakyong-mipham-rinpoche-sexual-assault/

Gangten Tulku

Hollywood actor Richard Gere with not one, but two lamas accused of sexual misconduct (Gangten Tulku and Sogyal Rinpoche).

As the head of 22 monasteries in Bhutan, Gangten Tulku is in a position of influence. He was even pictured with Hollywood actor Richard Gere, together with another sex offender, Sogyal Rinpoche. And while Gangten Tulku’s inappropriate activities are not as public as Sogyal Rinpoche’s, nevertheless within certain circles, his affairs have become very well-known. These are most notably recorded by Christine Chandler on her website extibetanbuddhist.com and in her book Enthralled: The Guru Cult of Tibetan Buddhism. Ms. Chandler is a trained social worker and psychologist, who specializes in the areas of sexual abuse and dysfunctional systems.

In an email to one of our sources, Ms. Chandler writes:

All of the residents who were Tibetan Buddhists, studied with all the lamas in Crestone. So I did about four or five 10 day retreats with Gangten. I was never close to him, but we all practiced and studied with all the Lamas there. During one of his drupdens, a really long mantra chanting experience, — he was very good at creating altered states of mind through mantra- a Bhutanese dance troupe that had been performing, was complaining about him groping the young Bhutanese women.

This information is mirrored in her book, in which she writes:

I also attended several retreats with a tulku from Bhutan, a master at creating altered states of mind through mantra chanting in his retreats. This high Bhutanese lama was the same married tulku, who was later called out by Tsultrim Allione for groping female Bhutanese dancers.

Source: Chandler, C. (2017). “Crestone, Colorado”, Chapter 22 of ‘Enthralled: The Guru Cult of Tibetan Buddhism’.

This paragraph in the book references some Bhutanese dancers being groped by a married tulku and although the married tulku’s name is not given, based on Ms. Chandler’s emailed reply, it can be safely concluded that the married tulku is Gangten Rinpoche. More importantly, this time the paragraph directly credits Lama Tsultrim Allione as the source of these claims about Gangten Rinpoche. Ms. Chandler writes that:

Allione had been raising women’s issues in the Tibetan sanghas quietly, before. But when she started complaining, openly, about a certain visiting tulku from Bhutan and his sexual gropings of young, Bhutanese women in a travelling dance group, after they came to her objecting, this Bhutanese high lama let her know that she had gone too far and she had better shape up, or be literally banished from the Tibetan Lamaist scene. She would no longer have the Tibetan lama ‘seal of approval,’ as a respected female Tibetan Buddhist teacher; helping the lamas spread Tantra in the West if she kept on complaining about their sexual abuses. This would destroy her niche in the Tibetan “Dzogchen” teacher circuit.

Source: Chandler, C. (2017). “The Dakinis and Their “Spiritualized Feminism”.”, Chapter 18 of ‘Enthralled: The Guru Cult of Tibetan Buddhism’.

Again, this references the groping of female Bhutanese dancers and again, it draws a connection to Lama Allione. Ms. Chandler says that Lama Allione was eventually browbeaten and threatened into silence. Given what we know about how the Tibetan leadership condones the abuse through their silence, and refuses to give their support to the victims, this conclusion is no surprise. It is merely another instance of power play at work, whereby the abuses surrounding Gangten Tulku are hushed up and brushed under the rug, while Lama Allione is silenced and forced to stop speaking up. An email from a close student of Lama Allione confirms this conclusion, saying:

Yes, unfortunately Gangten Tulku is one of the worst offenders. He has a history of abuse of female students, and I recently discovered that it’s a bit of an open secret that he’s also abused young monks in his monasteries. He’s been largely ousted from American dharma circles due to his impropriety, but still has a presence in Europe and Bhutan.

It would be logical that a close student of Lama Allione would be privy to the allegations about Gangten Tulku’s improper behavior, given their proximity to her. Once again, the Tibetan leadership shows that any behavior exhibited by a non-Shugden lama is acceptable, and they will not do anything to protect the victims (or even those trying to expose the abuses) as long as the lama does not practice Dorje Shugden. However, once a lama does practice Dorje Shugden, they become justified and open targets for vulgarities and abuse, simply because of their religious choices.

ExTibetanBuddhist.com

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://extibetanbuddhist.com/this-sexual-abuser-hollywood-doesnt-want-you-to-see/

ErikJampa.com

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.erikjampa.com/single-post/2017/11/11/Calling-Out-the-Guru-from-Afar-On-Dzongsar-Khyentses-Sex-Contract-and-Subsequent-Backlash-from-the-Buddhist-Community

Lama Norlha

Lama Norlha with the CTA-endorsed 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Here are even more allegations concerning yet another lama, regarding sexual impropriety and inappropriate relationships with students. Where is the Tibetan leadership’s voice in all of this? How come they are not funding and publishing statements, brochures, booklets and pamphlets that counsel and caution against this, but they will pay for videos, books, websites, etc. against Dorje Shugden?

If the CTA only speaks up against Dorje Shugden because they do not condone the practice, does it therefore mean that through their silence over these sexual allegations, the CTA condones this improper behavior?

Lion’s Roar

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.lionsroar.com/kagyu-thubten-choling-addresses-sangha-about-lama-norhla-rinpoches-sexual-misconduct-with-students/

Tricycle

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/kagyu-thubten-choling-monastery-working-sex-impropriety/

Lama Yeshe Nyingpo

In the comments section of this post, people are cautioned against attending this teacher’s events, saying that he has been expelled from his monastery and has been banned from teaching under the Karma Kagyu banner. How come the Tibetan leadership do not speak up against this?

Little Bangkok Sangha

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: http://www.littlebang.org/lama-yeshe-nyingpo/

Lama Choedak Rinpoche

Lama Choedak Rinpoche with the Dalai Lama

A married teacher admits to several affairs, then leaves for retreat instead of facing the consequences. A teacher is supposed to unite families, and not be the factor that breaks relationships and drives loved ones apart.

While the Tibetan leadership has no comments about the importance of remaining faithful to one’s spouse (i.e. a private choice), they have plenty to say about people who opt to retain their Dorje Shugden practice and refuse to give it up in accordance with the ban (i.e. another private choice). How come the CTA feels qualified to comment on and police one private choice, but do not apply the same level of interference when it comes to other choices which are actually harmful? The hypocrisy is staggering.

BuddhistChannel.tv

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=49,10104,0,0,1,0#.W2Zc-i2B19I

Tenzin Dhonden

Tenzin Dhonden (left) was the Dalai Lama’s personal emissary to the United States

This monk, the Dalai Lama’s former emissary to the United States, was found to be selling access to the Dalai Lama. In this way, he ended up associating the Dalai Lama with a cult organization, NXIVM. For a US$1 million “donation”, he orchestrated the Dalai Lama’s appearance at a NXIVM event, where the Dalai Lama gave a talk attended by the group’s leader Keith Raniere who has recently been arrested and indicted on several charges including sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor.

Tenzin Dhonden himself has also been accused of improper relationships and contact with women through his connection with NXIVM, although he is supposed to be a monk.

Someone who represents the Dalai Lama can sell access to His Holiness and have relations with women although he is a monk, and the Tibetan leadership will never say anything because it brings them money. But when a person protects their religious freedom and refuses to abide by the ban on Dorje Shugden, and refuses to give up the practice, the Tibetan leadership turns them into pariahs and paints them as deserving targets of violence and vulgarities.

FrankReport

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://frankreport.com/2016/02/13/should-lama-tenzin-be-defrocked-is-dalai-lama-to-blamed-for-endorsing-keith-while-tenzin-was-sleeping-with-sara-bronfman/

The Guardian

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/27/dalai-lama-tenzin-dhonden-tibet-monk-corruption-accusations

The Guardian

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/29/tenzin-dhonden-dalai-lama-corruption-celebrity-investigation

Others

There are many other allegations of improper and inappropriate sexual relationships by teachers exploiting their students. But as long as the relationship between the Tibetan leadership and the teacher is financially lucrative, the CTA will never speak up. That is not to say the CTA is incapable of speaking up.

In an example below concerning Geshe Michael Roach, the Office of the Dalai Lama wrote to him directly to speak out against his behavior and to reject a US$2000 offering. On the surface, their behavior appears to be driven by ethics but do not forget, US$2000 is pocket change compared to what they received through Tenzin Dhonden’s association with NXIVM and Keith Raniere. Being that they felt justified in refusing Michael Roach’s offering, does this mean they will now similarly reject and return the donation from Raniere’s group? Of course not.

One can only imagine that Michael Roach received this treatment from them not because the CTA wished to protect the Dalai Lama, or because they actually believe in preserving women’s rights, or because they actually disagreed with his actions but because he had outlived his utility to them. This is an easy conclusion to reach given that for all of the examples above, the CTA have not uttered a single similar word or issued a single statement in protest of or in condemnation of those acts.

The Michael Roach Files

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://michaelroachfiles.wordpress.com/2006/05/24/letters-from-the-office-of-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama/

OnFaith

Cropped for brevity. Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2013/06/28/bhtuans-buddhist-monks-accused-of-sexually-molesting-boys/22207

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

In October 2017 the Tibetan government-in-exile, known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), launched its latest initiative, the ‘Five Fifty Forum’ (5/50). From their headquarters in Dharamsala, North India, the CTA declared this was its strategy towards “resolving the issue of Tibet and Tibet’s political future” in five years or, in an unspoken ultimatum to Beijing, spending the next 50 years fighting what it regards as China’s occupation of Tibet.

The forum was intended as a show of stamina and resolution by the Tibetan leadership. However, whispers have abounded for some time now that things are not going well at all for the Dalai Lama’s administration. Indeed, to paraphrase a news article by Jayadeva Ranade published in the Sunday Guardian Live on 28^th July 2018, this 5/50 is nothing but a futile pantomime, an empty charade.

During the launch of 5/50, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay declared that the program aims to reinvigorate the Tibet movement for the next 50 years. But the Ranade article maps a worrying trend for the Tibet narrative, which brings into question its ability to survive with any significance even in the short term, let alone over another half a century.

The CTA’s Politics of Division

It did not escape Ranade’s notice that the feud between Penpa Tsering and Lobsang Sangay finally snapped what was an already chronically splintered community. Historically, the Tibetan people are already divided by region (Ü-Tsang, Amdo and Kham) and by religious tradition. This partitioning was a significant factor in the Tibetans losing their country to begin with. Indeed, few people are even aware that Tibet was never one united country, but rather an agglomeration of often-warring factions that in the end was carved up by a handful of aristocratic families and brutal feudal lords.

Into this volatile mix, the Tibetan leadership continually introduced highly discordant policies. Some of their attempts to dissolve all Tibetan Buddhist lineages into a single one under the Dalai Lama include:

1. The Gungthang Tsultrim murder;
2. Inducing a three-way split in the Karma Kagyu lineage over their highest spiritual leader, the Karmapa;
3. Illegally imposing the Dorje Shugden ban thereby splitting the Gelug tradition;
4. Politicizing Tibetan Buddhism, demonizing the religious rituals of those they perceive as challengers, and banning reincarnations;
5. Refusing to incorporate representatives of the Jonang tradition into the Tibetan parliament;
6. Confusing the objective of the ‘Tibetan cause’ by pitting independence (rangzen) activists against those standing for meaningful autonomy (umaylam), thereby creating a conflict which culminated in street brawls;
7. And not least, the continual infighting at the highest levels of the Tibetan leadership.

All these policies have damaged Tibetan unity tremendously and under such conditions, the Tibetan struggle has never really been a unified one.

The rivalry between Ex Speaker of Parliament Penpa Tsering and Sikyong Lobsang Sangay is expected to intensify over time.

Fending for Themselves

This jockeying for power and the Dalai Lama’s favor has dominated the minds of the Tibetan leadership. The ensuing neglect of the people’s welfare has thrust the task of preserving Tibetan Buddhism’s integrity into the hands of senior monks of individual Buddhists sects who, unable to gain an appropriate measure of support from their own leaders, have been engaging the Chinese government directly, as Ranade notes. In doing so, these monks risk being labelled traitorous Chinese sympathizers and anti-Dalai Lama operatives who allow their religion to be politicized.

Still, saving their lineage has been worth the risk. Because not only has the politicization of Tibetan Buddhism also been a policy tool of Dharamsala, but aligning oneself with Dharamsala also lacks the sorely-needed status and funding that China can provide to rebuild and protect the lineages. And while China has always been willing to separate religion from politics, it is in fact Dharamsala who has refused to give up their dangerous fusion of church and state. Thus, China today is merely engaging the Tibetan leadership in the game they set out to play, only now the CTA is losing in their own game and crying foul.

The Tibetan leadership’s inability to retain the loyalty of religious leaders in their community has extended to even the 17^th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje whom the Dalai Lama has endorsed as the official head of the Karma Kagyu tradition, the largest sub-sect of the Kagyu school. To some, Ogyen Trinley also represents a potentially suitable candidate to take over the spiritual leadership of Tibetan Buddhism outside China, in the absence of the Dalai Lama. For all intents and purposes, Ogyen Trinley had much to gain by remaining in India as part of the Tibetan establishment. Hence, his fleeing Dharamsala’s sphere of influence has not gone unnoticed.

The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje has thus far refused to return to India, citing reasons that allude to his being controlled by Dharamsala.

Ogyen Trinley’s escape from India might appear to be the result of his reluctance to be used as a political tool in Sino-Indian engagements, but as Ranade’s article points out, it was in fact to escape being used as a pawn by the CTA to the detriment of his own lineage. Karmapa Ogyen Trinley has even expressed interest in returning to China, having fled the country in December 1999. His is a statement which echoes the sentiments of other senior monks of various Tibetan Buddhist lineages, who are reported to be building bridges with Beijing – it is better to be a Tibetan under the Chinese than the CTA.

Against the backdrop of a China whose rising might corresponds with her determination to deny the fulfilment of the so-called ‘Tibetan cause’ and her interest (even if simply strategic) in Buddhism, it is only logical for these monks to conclude that their respective traditions have no future under the stewardship of the Tibetan exile leadership. To ensure the survival of their traditions, they have to make their peace with China, something the CTA has failed to grasp and therefore has continued to vilify anyone who even dares to suggest it.

For those who rely on sense rather than sentiment, it is clear that they will need to build bridges with Beijing as a means of securing the continuation of their religious traditions. Authentic lamas and tulkus (lama incarnates) are drawn to conditions that empower them to spread the Dharma and if those conditions are manifest in China, then it is there they will go in this life and in future rebirths. And many indeed have, either moving back to China or taking rebirth there. After all, labels such as country codes and border lines are worldly constructs, and the talk of politicians is beyond the interest of true practitioners of Buddhism who seek to escape the pull of ‘samsara’ (cyclical existence), rather than trading one aspect of it for another.

Hence, collectively, these senior lamas’ actions make a strong statement about the prevailing lack of faith in the Tibetan leadership’s abilities and intentions and, whether wittingly or not, bear significant social and political consequences. Not only has the CTA failed to keep alive the hopes and confidence of the Tibetan refugees, but it also speaks of the Dalai Lama’s waning power not only on the world stage but also within his exiled community. The urgency to protect the Dharma now supersedes the Tibetan leadership’s mandate to appear loyal to the Dalai Lama and the consequence is this – because the Tibetan people identify strongly with their spiritual tradition, they tend to follow the lead of their spiritual teachers. Thus, as more of them forge relationships with China, ultimately this means accepting China. In their focus on personal agendas and neglect of the people, the Tibetan leadership have all but delivered victory to the enemy.

China’s Checkmate: The Dalai Lama’s Final Move

It should surprise no one that the Dalai Lama might be harboring similar thoughts. His government-in-exile has largely failed. China continues to grow stronger even as the Tibetan struggle, singularly embodied in the Dalai Lama’s being, weakens as his health and influence subside. It would be unrealistic for the Dalai Lama to expect that China will suddenly cave in to his administration’s demands just because he is running out of time and options. Either the Dalai Lama allows the Tibetan cause to disintegrate when he passes on or he decides to use whatever time is left to secure a future for his people. The idea of entrusting the struggle to future leaders of the Tibetans in exile, the basis of Dr Lobsang Sangay’s 5/50, may be long in form but falls sadly short in substance and realism based on the CTA’s performance thus far.

The Buddhist Academy of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is located in Nyetang Township, Quxu County, Lhasa, TAR. As the first high-level comprehensive academy of Tibetan Buddhism, it has attracted eminent monks and students from all five sects of Tibetan Buddhism.

If the Dalai Lama cannot reacquire Tibet and continue to claim sole proprietorship over ‘Tibetan Buddhism’ then maybe he can mortgage his original schema of autonomy to secure the future of the Tibetan people, and lodge control and legitimate authority over Tibetan Buddhism with a new guardian. At the very least, China’s transnational trajectory will by default spread the sacred Buddhist practices from the Dalai Lama’s motherland and in that way, preserve the memory of the old Tibet. And the one move which will achieve both objectives and, more importantly, the only move China seems interested in, is for the Dalai Lama to return to China. This decision may explain why the personal emissary of the Dalai Lama, Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, made a secret trip to China in November 2017.

The Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet on China’s terms would put an official end to the Sino-Tibetan conflict and progressively ease tensions in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). This translates to a less turbulent life for Tibetans in TAR who live as suspects with each and every day that the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan struggle drags on. It would also fulfil what is, for millions of Tibetans, a lifelong wish to meet the Dalai Lama again. All these however are mere concessions as the clear winner is China.

The Final Analysis

The Dalai Lama’s return to China on China’s terms would mean that in the final analysis:

1. The Dalai Lama agrees Tibet has always been a region under China’s sovereignty and not an independent country;
2. It would affirm that it was rightful for Chinese troops to have marched into Tibet in 1959 to reclaim what they view as their territory; and
3. It would invalidate all criticisms of China as an oppressor that is trespassing in Tibet, thereby invalidating all work and campaigns by pro-Tibet organizations for the last 60 years.

But the biggest prize of all would be China’s formal installation as the sole authority to recognize the next and all future Dalai Lamas as well as high incarnate lamas. This itself is the key to controlling the Tibetan people as well as indirectly commanding the allegiance of countless millions of Tibetan Buddhist adherents around the world. This is a weapon that should not be discounted as China has seen how a monk with no country, no army, and no commercial and economic power has managed to sway sentiments against China, both inside and outside her own borders, for decades.

Is the Dalai Lama negotiating for his return to China via his emissary, Samdhong Rinpoche?

Jayadeva Ranade’s article does not spell it out but it seems to be a natural conclusion that the state of affairs in Dharamsala equates to a foreboding sense that the Tibetan cause is in its final stages. A writer with inside knowledge like Ranade should know that all the CTA and Dalai Lama can manage now is little more than posturing in the hope of gaining whatever concessions they can lay their hands on from China.

But all may not be lost for the Dalai Lama, for if it is to be believed that he is none other than Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion, then the biggest winner will be Buddhism itself. In the absence of a commandeering and disruptive conflict, life would swiftly normalize, allowing those who embody Tibetan religious life to ride the Asian Dragon to a new renaissance of Dharma. It may have taken the Tibetan leadership 60 years to fail or we can choose to view it from another perspective; that over 60 years, the Dalai Lama and his Buddhist government managed to incentivize a rising giant, China, to embrace Buddhism so wholeheartedly, even desperately, as to turn her into the world’s biggest addict of this opiate that Mao regarded as so toxic. However you regard it, what is certain is that the ‘Tibetan cause’ is done for.

Sunday Guardian Live: Exiled Tibetans are confused about future

Source: https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/exiled-tibetans-confused-future. Click to enlarge.