(Read Part 1 and Part 2)

Q: What prevents anyone from practising it anyway in his/her privacy?

A: In theory there is nothing to stop people practising ‘in secret’, but as part of his campaign to remove the practice from Tibetan society, each person either has been forced to swear an oath to Palden Lhamo (another powerful Dharma protector) or be ostracised from Tibetan society and be denied travel, food, family relationships and basic human conditions. In effect the Dalai Lama is forcing Tibetans to make a vow to break their previous commitment to their Spiritual Guides to practise Dorje Shugden, or to suffer ostracism if they refuse. The oath is as follows:

I swear on the name of the Dalai Lama and glorious Maxor Gyalmo (Protectress Palden Lhamo) to never venerate and worship Dorje Shugden and to never have any relation on material and other levels with those who worship Dorje Shugden.

The Dalai Lama is seeking to publicly denounce the practice of Dorje Shugden with a view to removing the practice and its adherents from Buddhism; and to oppose this requires public action such as demonstrations. He has already banned the practice in the Tibetan Community in India and moves are afoot to try to force Tibetans living in the West to sign a similar oath to abandon the practice. For example, The Dalai Lama’s sister Pema was recently in Paris starting the forced signature campaign of Tibetans in France, Tibetans in Australia told the demonstrators that they had already signed the oath, and the forced signature campaign is being arranged for Madison, US, next month (July 2008).
The discrimination against Dorje Shugden is already affecting Buddhist traditions in the West. For example, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, which was founded by Lama Yeshe (a very devout Dorje Shugden practitioner, now perhaps turning in his grave), no longer allows any officer, Teacher or Administrator of the organization to be a Shugden practitioner. Also, one of the pre-requisites for requesting ordination in the FPMT is not to be a Shugden practitioner. The irrational ban is spreading like poison through the bloodstream of all Tibetan Buddhist institutions loyal to the Dalai Lama, even Western ones. The aim is the complete eradication of Dorje Shugden practice and the authentic Gelugpa lineage.
The Dalai Lama travels throughout the world talking about tolerance, religious harmony and the need for dialogue with one’s enemies. He speaks sweet words taken from his Teachers, but at the same time he is seeking to humiliate and destroy the reputation of Dorje Shugden practitioners throughout the world such that they will no longer be regarded as Buddhists but as sectarian spirit worshippers. He is destroying the very lineage he is teaching from!
A lot of people think that religion and religious figures are hypocritical. Sadly, the Dalai Lama is busy proving them right. If the Dalai Lama cared anything for Buddhism and its reputation he would not act in such a hypocritical way because in the long term it will destroy the reputation of a religion that many people are increasingly turning to for solving their problems. For the sake of power and influence he is showing a callous disregard for the spiritual lives of others.

Q: What do protesters hope to achieve by going public, and by all accounts, sow, what appears gratuitous discord, amongst the Tibetan community? And apparently undermine the moral and representative authority of the Dalai Lama at a very, very crucial time for him and Tibetans. To the public at large it has all the appearance of a rather self-centred opportunity for these practitioners to embarrass the Dalai Lama, and to gain maximum leverage for their cause, whatever the merits of it may be.

A: What the Western Shugden Society hopes to achieve is dialogue with the Dalai Lama so that the destruction of a pure lineage of Buddhism can be averted. Our wish is for the pure spiritual practice of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition to remain for many aeons for the benefit of all living beings. We want to persuade the Dalai Lama to reconsider, give religious freedom to Dorje Shugden practitioners in his own community and to stop slandering the practice and practitioners throughout the world.
In short, we want him to stop causing disharmony and gratuitous discord in the Buddhist community by lying about the practice, and for him to give religious freedom. When something as precious as the Buddhist teachings is threatened, something has to be done, which is why the Western Shugden Society is organizing demonstrations against the Dalai Lama. As soon as he agrees to listen, the demonstrations will stop.
Some people have said “why are Westerners protesting when it’s only a problem for Tibetans in India? You’re free to practice, the Dalai Lama isn’t stopping you” Firstly, it’s not just Westerners who are protesting. If you look at the videos and pictures of the protest at Colgate University in New York State, for example, you will see many Tibetans, and many more will be at future demonstrations. Secondly, this is a problem for ALL Shugden practitioners worldwide and is increasingly coming to affect Western practitioners in terms of unchecked slander against Dorje Shugden practitioners. Just as a forest fire may begin in one part of the forest but will eventually spread and destroy everything if it is unchecked, the Dalai Lama is trying to stop all of us from practising Dorje Shugden by using his charisma and good reputation, first in his own community but later worldwide. We must oppose this.
Those of us who are in the New Kadampa Tradition have already suffered from ten years of the Dalai Lama labelling us as a ‘cult’, even mainstream news magazines like Newsweek in April 1997 repeated the misinformation spread by the Dalai Lama: “Nobody would pray to Buddha for better business, but they go to Shugden for such favours – and this is where it has become like spirit worship,” the Dalai Lama told NEWSWEEK. “This is a great pity-a tragedy.”
There are now hundreds of stories throughout the world of people strongly deterred by Tibetan Buddhist groups from coming to or returning to NKT Centers because they are cultists and evil spirit worshippers, and all other sorts of hurtful nonsense. NKT publicity is torn down or defaced, teachers are heckled during their teachings, NKT people have been shouted and spat at in the street, some other Tibetan practitioners wear protective ribbons and make mudras (hand gestures) upon encountering any Kadampas, there is a lot of negative talk about us on the internet, and faith is destroyed.
Yet what has the NKT done wrong except for trying to keep the Gelugpa tradition intact and give Dharma teachings unmixed with politics? What have they done wrong except to stand up to the Dalai Lama for their own and others’ spiritual lives? And it is clear that the source of this bias, disinformation and hostility is none other than the Dalai Lama himself. Tibetan Buddhists who are following the Dalai Lama’s view are practising sectarian discrimination against the NKT in particular and against Dorje Shugden practitioners in general, just as their teacher is.
For example, on the popular E-sangha Buddhist discussion forum it is not permissible to post about Shugden practice or the NKT except to criticise. We are all ‘banned’ from this supposedly Buddhist forum, just as the Dalai Lama would like to ostracise all Shugden practitioners from Buddhism. The Dalai Lama has created all these problems through his sectarianism. This kind of discrimination is not Buddhist and is against the Bodhisattva vows. Therefore, it’s incorrect to say that Western Shugden practitioners are unaffected by the Dalai Lama’s slander of our tradition.
It is not our wish to sow discord amongst the Tibetan community but to heal it by allowing everyone to practice freely. The Dalai Lama is the one sowing discord with his campaign against Dorje Shugden. He is driving a wedge between practitioners and their families and denying basic human conditions unless you renounce the practice. The Dalai Lama is abusing human rights and breaking Indian Law by engaging in Deity discrimination. His actions are clearly uncompassionate and unlawful.
In February 2008, 900 monks were expelled from their monasteries for bravely refusing to give up their practice.
As Geshe Sopa said recently when he travelled from America to join the demonstration in Oxford, what the Dalai Lama is doing is worse than what the Chinese did – the Chinese destroyed the monasteries but they could not divide the monks. The Dalai Lama has succeeded in creating a schism in the monastic community by enforcing a ban that has stirred up disharmony and bitterness.
The protest against the Dalai Lama is not self-centered but is an attempt to draw media attention to this problem. The Western Shugden Society has no choice because the Dalai Lama refuses to discuss this issue even though many attempts have been made to have a meaningful dialogue with him. The WSS is trying to prevent the destruction of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition and to re-establish the rights of Tibetan practitioners of this Deity who are being oppressed, to allow them to carry out their practice without political interference. Is that really so much to ask?
Posted courtesy of Lineageholder.
(Read Part 1 and Part 2)
(Source: http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/2008/06/frequently-asked-questions-about-dorje_9205.html)

(Click here to read the content of the original Newsweek article)

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Since July of last year NKT people, including myself, have remained peacefully without any further involvement in the Dorje Shugden controversy. We received messages from many people, including some Tibetans in London, thanking us for leaving the controversy in peace and indicating their appreciation. Now we are very surprised by this article in Newsweek, which includes very unpleasant quotations from Robert Thurman and HH the Dalai Lama, and which causes new problems to arise.

We find that most of the information in this article is false. Amongst other things, for example, it says that the First Dalai Lama was Je Tsongkhapa’s nephew. We believe that Je Gendundrub became the First Dalai Lama. Are you saying that Je Gendundrub was Je Tsongkhapa’s nephew? If so, this is incorrect.

Robert Thurman is quoted as saying: “I think there’s no doubt that Shugden was behind the killings.” Of course, killing people is very bad, and I utterly condemn these appalling murders, but by reading the letter addressed to HH the Dalai Lama known as the ‘Mongoose Canine Letter’, we can clearly understand that HH the Dalai Lama has many enemies, so why are only Shugden supporters suspected? It is a great pity that Lobsang Gyatso who was a 70-year old Geshe died in the most horrible of circumstances, seemingly because HH the Dalai Lama has many enemies.

Thurman continues: “It would not be unfair to call Shugdens the Taliban of Tibetan Buddhism.” This really is a false accusation against innocent people. We have never done anything wrong. We simply practise our own religion, as passed down through many generations. But since HH the Dalai Lama encouraged people to stop worshipping Dorje Shugden, claiming that this practice is bad, we have been insulted as ‘sectarian’ and ‘fanatic’, and have received constant criticism, humiliation, and threats from many people. In this way, we are indeed becoming as Geshe Dragpa Gyaltsen says, like the Jews of Tibetan Buddhism – victims of irrational persecution.

Many thousands of disciples of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, the Spiritual Guide of the present Dalai Lama, have suffered under this treatment but we do not wish to give up this practice because it is a commitment received from our root Gurus, and because we know from our own experience that it is a very meaningful practice for the development of spiritual realizations. So now we are in a very sad and difficult situation.

Thurman also says: “Once you get involved (in the NKT), you’re told you have to devote your lives to the cult, because the god gets very angry if you don’t attend to him every day. It’s really bad stuff, the way they’re draining money out of people.” This is completely untrue: can Thurman please give the name of even one person within the NKT who says this nonsense, and can he provide proof of a single instance of the NKT pressuring anyone to give money?

HH the Dalai Lama says: “That cult is actually destroying the freedom of religious thought. Say I want to practise Nyingma. They say this Protector will harm me.” This is also completely untrue. We would like to ask HH the Dalai Lama: who are these Shugden practitioners saying these meaningless things? His words are causing disharmony between Shugden practitioners and Nyingma practitioners. Why is HH the Dalai Lama creating this new problem? Until now there have been no problems between Gelugpas and Nyingmapas, and there has been no arguing or criticism. Some scholars debate with each other, such as the well-known Gelugpa scholar Yonten Gyatso and Dongthog Tulku, a scholar from another tradition, who conducted a debate by letter over a number of years. They have written many books replying to each other’s assertions, but this does not mean they are criticising each other. They are simply clarifying the doctrines of their own traditions, with good motivation. There is nothing wrong with this. I would like to ask: what is the problem between the Nyingma and Gelug traditions? There is none. The majority of people from both traditions naturally live in harmony, so why is HH the Dalai Lama destroying this harmony by saying things like “Shugdens say you should not even touch a Nyingma document”? Although we concentrate on our own tradition we respect all other Buddhist traditions, including the Nyingma, and we rejoice very much in their sincere practice.

The article says: “The Yellow Hats were far more grand than the austere Red Hats in their clothes and magnificent palaces, but the Dorje Shugden sect would become grander still.” Again, this is untrue. The majority of Gelugpa practitioners, including Shugden practitioners, live simply and practise sincerely and are not interested in politics. Within the exile Tibetan community, it is HH the Dalai Lama alone who has power. He controls every aspect of Tibetan society.

The article also says that the NKT has been “denounced by the London press and HH the Dalai Lama as a cult that fleeces its own followers”. One or two English newspapers in 1996 made claims of financial wrong-doing by the NKT. These claims were unsubstantiated and we deny them entirely. What proof does HH the Dalai Lama have for saying this?

HH the Dalai Lama claims: “Nobody would pray to Buddha for better business, but they go to Shugden for such favours – and this is where it has become like spirit worship.” This is not true. Many Tibetans pray to other Buddhas such as Tara and make prayers to other Dharma Protectors for success in business and for the removal of obstacles. Why are Shugden practitioners singled out? Particularly, in the Kadampa tradition we do not pray for worldly attainments such as wealth, reputation, success in business, etc., we pray for the welfare of all beings and the attainment of spiritual realizations.

HH the Dalai Lama is also contradicting himself. He previously regarded Dorje Shugden as a Buddha, and composed verses of praise to him that can still be seen today. It is his responsibility to resolve this contradiction.

Now, my main point is that people should know that all the present problems regarding Dorje Shugden within the Mahayana Buddhist world have no creator other than HH the Dalai Lama. He is the source of all these problems because it was he who first publicly claimed that Dorje Shugden is an evil spirit who harms both himself and Tibetan independence, and many Tibetans believe what he said. It is HH the Dalai Lama’s wish to destroy the practice of Dorje Shugden, and to fulfil his wish Tibetan people within the exile community have removed statues and destroyed them, coercing other Tibetans to abandon this practice. If HH the Dalai Lama had not engaged in this policy of religious discrimination there would have been no basis for these problems. I clearly understand that the responsibility for this lies with HH the Dalai Lama.

If the practice of Dorje Shugden is harmful then it follows that Je Phabongkhapa was not an authentic Buddhist master, and if he was not then there is no doubt that his heart disciples, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche (the Senior and Junior Tutors of HH the Dalai Lama) were also not authentic. These three Lamas are the most important Gelugpa Lamas of recent times. If these three are not pure Teachers then there is no doubt that the entire practice of the Gelug Tradition is invalid. This is the main issue that needs clarification.

HH the Dalai Lama alone has the power to solve all these problems. If he stops completely his policy of religious discrimination and gives religious freedom, these problems will be solved automatically. I believe that he will do this soon because I believe that he has compassion for his people.

Please do not think I am criticising HH the Dalai Lama in a negative way; I am writing this simply to clarify the situation.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Spiritual Director of the New Kadampa Tradition

[Although in the Newsweek article you do not refer to me as a Geshe, I am a Geshe. If you wish to understand how I became a Geshe I will be happy to provide you with details.]

Click here to read the content of the original Newsweek article)

Source:
Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden website
http://www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.org/article.php

Your Holiness,

For over eighteen years you have been continually speaking out against the practice of Dorje Shugden, saying that this practice is bad. Due to your high position, many people believe what you say. If Dorje Shugden practice is really harmful, then this implies that both Je Phabongkhapa and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche made a big mistake and misled their disciples. If they were wrong then the entire Gelug tradition is incorrect.

As you know, all practitioners of the Gelug tradition, including yourself, are directly or indirectly the disciples of these two Lamas. Your assertion that the practice of Dorje Shugden is harmful has already destroyed the reputation of these two Lamas and of the Gelug tradition.

In particular, beginning in 1996 you have been speaking out publicly against the practice of Dorje Shugden, saying that he is a harmful spirit and harms both the cause of Tibetan independence as well as your health. Your speech has caused the Tibetan people much anxiety, and they have become angry, blaming Dorje Shugden practitioners for their problems, difficulties, and lack of freedom. So, in order to fulfil your wish, which is to destroy the practice of Dorje Shugden, the government-in-exile and many individual Tibetans are engaged in an organized campaign to destroy this practice by whatever means they can:

1. Removing statues and images from Temples, and destroying them;

2. Organizing forced-signature campaigns to make people promise to stop this practice;

3. People who refuse to sign and give up their practice receive abuse and threats, lose their jobs, lose their allowances, are expelled from their monastery, are beaten, etc.;

4. Those who continue with their practice are treated like outcasts in their own community, like the Jewish people in Germany under Hitler’s rule.

In this way, internal harmony within the Tibetan settlements has been destroyed. But this problem is no longer just a Tibetan problem; it has become an international one. Many thousands of people are now experiencing suffering, confusion, and loss of faith. You travel throughout the world and everywhere you speak out against the practice of Dorje Shugden, destroying the reputation of Gelugpas everywhere.

This situation became increasingly difficult for us to bear, and so, for these reasons the NKT here in the west, and Tibetans in India, organized peaceful demonstrations last year. The demonstrations intended no disrespect to you, but rather were an indication that you had made a mistake in banning this practice, and a request to you to lift the ban. Immediately after the demonstrations the NKT stopped all activity related to this issue, in the hope that you would reconsider your actions and agree to lift the ban.

However, your organization has continued to spread false information in western countries, saying:

1. The NKT is working for the Peoples’ Republic of China;

2. The NKT is receiving large sums of money from the Chinese;

3. The NKT is sectarian;

4. The practice of Dorje Shugden is sectarian and disruptive of communal harmony;

5. The practice of Dorje Shugden leads to the degeneration of Buddha’s teachings;

6. ‘Research suggests’ that association with the practice of Dorje Shugden attracts misfortune;

7. H.H. Trijang Rinpoche changed his mind and rejected the practice of Dorje Shugden;

8. Worship of Dorje Shugden harms Tibetan independence and the Dalai Lama’s life;

9. The practice of Dorje Shugden is innately disruptive and divisive.

I clearly understand that the purpose behind all this negative publicity is to destroy the NKT and the practice of Dorje Shugden in the west. The reputation of the NKT and of Dorje Shugden practitioners in the west has been severely affected because people believe these statements, which are simply lies.

In April of this year, one article appeared in Newsweek magazine in which you made unpleasant and humiliating statements about the NKT and myself. As you know this magazine is published in almost every country in the world, in many languages. There can be no purpose for this other than to destroy the NKT.

At that time, I made the decision to clarify this religious issue in public. Nowadays, there is much debate and argument about you, myself and Dorje Shugden, which is causing the reputation of Buddhists world-wide to degenerate. This is shameful; this problem has not been created by the Deity Dorje Shugden but by human beings under the influence of delusion. No matter how much everyone debates and argues, it seems that there is no solution; instead the problem is getting worse.

I have written to you several times asking for valid proof of your statements that Dorje Shugden is harming the Tibetan cause and your life. I have not received a reply from you. I did receive one letter from your office in Dharamsala, trying to prove your assertions about Dorje Shugden by quoting from books written by other Lamas that say he is a worldly spirit. The quotes never mention that the practice of Dorje Shugden could harm either the Tibetan cause or your life. Since many other Lamas have said and written that Dorje Shugden is a manifestation of Buddha Manjushri, the above reason is clearly not valid.

Your ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden is a direct attack on religious freedom. This is against the UN ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, and also against the law in democratic countries such as the United States. You are also engaging in Deity discrimination, which breaks the constitutional law of India.

If the worship of Dorje Shugden is really harming the Tibetan cause, your people and your life, then you have good reasons for this ban, but I need clear evidence from you. Until now this has not been forthcoming. I do not want this situation to deteriorate any further, and would like to see this problem come to an end as soon as possible. This completely depends on you.

It seems that there are only two possibilities here: either you can give valid reasons proving that Dorje Shugden is harming the Tibetan cause, your people and your life; or you should accept that you have made a mistake and publicly retract your statements. If you are really a Bodhisattva and love your people and truly want Buddhadharma to flourish throughout the world then you must solve this problem.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Source: Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden website, Dec 9th1997
http://www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.org/dorjeshugden06.php