Nyentog Tashi Dargyeling Monastery in Tibet.

Despite the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) eagerness to engage in talks with China for greater autonomy of the Tibetan region, the CTA’s ridiculous policies and enforcement of the Dorje Shugden ban has once again caused a stir and generated unrest in their homeland.

On 18 September 2016, Tashi Dargyeling Monastery in the Nyentog region of Tibet released an official letter warning of the monastery’s boycott of all Shugden practitioners and those who have connections with these practitioners. A rough translation of the letter issued by the sangha of the monastery is as follows:

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Letter from Nyentog Tashi Dargyeling Monastery

Generally, the Buddha’s Dharma and especially H.H. the 14^th Dalai Lama’s life is harmed by Dorje Shugden. Recently, some people within our community have been making thangkas of this deity and supporting this practice. We would like to inform that the monks of Nyentog Monastery firmly protest against these works and urge them to stop. If these individuals do not conform to the monastery’s requests and continue to worship Dorje Shugden or remain connected to the deity’s practitioners, we will cut connections with these said individuals completely. For those who refuse to distance themselves from the practice, the monks of the monastery will not go to the homes of these individuals to perform pujas (prayers). If there is anyone who passes away in these households, the monastery will not be open to them . These are the three conditions that our monastery is firm with, and this promise is witnessed by our Protectors Kalarupa and Chechog Sheltred.

Signed by all Sangha members of Nyentog Monastery

Looking at this letter, let us first examine the spiritual implications it has on the community.

1. Setting A Bad Example

As human beings, there are three crucial moments that are most important in our lives, which are birth, illness and death. These are three occasions when many seek comfort and blessings from their religious order.

However, with the recent letter from Nyentog Monastery, it will no longer be possible for Shugden practitioners in that area to receive these basic religious rites in times of need. Even though the families of these practitioners have supported the monastery for many generations, they will now be deprived of even funeral services, which are much needed during one of life’s most trying times.

This letter is nothing more than blackmail to force Shugden practitioners in Nyentog into abandoning their religious beliefs, and is particularly unacceptable because it comes from an institution that people have put their faith and trust in.

2. The Real Harm to Buddha’s Dharma is Segregation

The Buddha himself predicted that the Dharma would not be destroyed by external sources but by Buddhists themselves. By subscribing to the ostracism and segregation of Shugden practitioners, the sangha of this monastic community have successfully broken one of their root vows, the Bodhisattva Vows.

Even when faced with an individual who has committed heinous crimes, as a religious order the monastery should provide solace, blessings and ensure that the person goes to the afterlife peacefully. Instead, the sangha of Nyentog Monastery are doing the exact opposite.

The question everyone should ask here is, how can following the Dalai Lama’s advice cause the monks of Nyentog Monastery to become less compassionate, more discriminatory and even break their Bodhisattva Vows? If proving one’s loyalty and absolute obedience to the Dalai Lama comes at the price of harming others in the process, then clearly something is very wrong.

3. What is the True Purpose of the Monastery?

Monasteries are formed to help relieve the sufferings of sentient beings, whether on a basic level or to the ultimate level of Enlightenment. However, with the recent actions by Nyentog Monastery, the results are the exact opposite. The effect of their letter on the small community of Nyentog will, without a doubt, be discrimination against Shugden practitioners. The ‘condemned’ community will soon be treated as social pariahs by their own people.

The experiences of the exiled Tibetan community in India when the ban on Dorje Shugden was enforced some 20 years ago will be replicated in Nyentog. Families will get into arguments over the issue and break apart; people such as the thangka painter in the news will shortly find themselves unemployed; innocent people who have done no wrong except practice Dorje Shugden will soon find themselves ostracized by their own neighbors.

All these unfortunate events will take place just because the monks of Nyentog Monastery want to ‘prove’ their loyalty to the Dalai Lama. Great Buddhist masters of the past have been known to take on the sufferings of others quietly, and the sangha have historically been placed on a pedestal by the lay community for their selfless acts. However, the monks of Nyentog Monastery have displayed nothing but their concerns of self preservation, succumbing to the pressure created by the CTA’s cronies and throwing Shugden practitioners to the wolves. They have absolutely no regard for the chaos and harm resulting from their actions as long as they themselves are safe.

4. The Claim that Dorje Shugden Harms the Dalai Lama’s Life is a Lie

Apart from the government, religious institutions such as monasteries or temples have great influence over the community in most small villages. In some cases, they have even greater influence than the government officials. As such, the monasteries have a great responsibility and it would behoove them to uphold and educate the public of the truth. To most Tibetan Buddhists, the 14^th Dalai Lama is considered to be the emanation of the Buddha of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. Thus, claiming that the Buddha can be harmed by any worldly being is contradictory to Buddhist principals, beliefs and philosophy. On top of that, in recent times, the Dalai Lama himself has declared that Dorje Shugden does no harm to his life. Thus, the monks’ actions to spread this lie by capitalizing on the lay community’s lack of knowledge is unbecoming.

Another Perspective

These spiritual implications may not be of significance to everyone. However, we should also examine the situation from a more practical point of view on how the actions of this monastery (and all communities who shun Dorje Shugden practitioners) have deprived innocent people of their basic human rights.

With 5000 years of history and a melting pot of 1.3 billion citizens, China has seen its fair share of civil wars and the effects of disunity within its borders. If China is ever to fall, the fault would most certainly lie in the destabilization of its internal security. It is a known fact that the authorities in China have clamped down on individuals who have caused unrest in Tibet in relations to the Shugden issue, and have also released statements indicating they are aware that the Dorje Shugden issue is being used as a tool by the CTA to create disunity within China.

As such, monasteries such as Nyentog Monastery do not help the Dalai Lama’s vision of Umaylam. With each incident such as this one, China’s distrust of the Dalai Lama grows and the Dalai Lama’s wish for a peaceful return to Tibet becomes more unlikely. If the Dalai Lama being in exile can create such disharmony within Tibet leaving the Chinese authorities to clear up the mess, what would be the effect of the Dalai Lama and the CTA once they return to Tibet? Thus, if Tibetans really want the Dalai Lama to have an opportunity to return to Tibet, they should avoid creating further unrest through the Dorje Shugden issue lest China clamps down even harder on the Tibetan leader in exile. After all, any country/government can implement new laws as and when necessary especially when internal security is at stake; we can see this most recently in the news about France’s unpopular ban on the burkini.

While some people claim that China lacks religious freedom, we should also question why a supposedly “suppressed” Tibetan religious group would further suppress the religious rights of their fellow Tibetans? Why cherry pick on China but allow people like the monks of Nyentog Monastery to get away scot-free with their religious suppression of Shugden practitioners? When a religious group encourages discrimination and causes disharmony and riots, it is no longer a religious issue but a matter of security and social harmony.

Radio Free Asia Article

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English Translation

Recently, a big Shugden thangka appeared at Nianduhu Village in Tongren County, Qinghai. The local sangha community protested against the thangka and a statement has been released to urge the people to boycott this deity.

The spreading of a photo of the large Shugden thangka appearing in Nianduhu Village at Tongren County of Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture led to strong criticism amongst netizens, denouncing the local people for practicing Shugden and going against His Holiness’ instructions as well as destroying the uncontaminated relationship of lineage Gurus and students.

On Friday, a source informed RFA that it is true that the Shugden thangka appeared in Nianduhu Village of Tongren County. However, that thangka had nothing to do with Nianduhu Monastery and in contrast, the sangha community of Nianduhu Monastery released a joint statement protesting against the thangka. They hope to make their stance clear in the media.

The source told RFA: “Since the photo of the Shugden thangka was widely spread, Nianduhu Village and its monastery are under constant criticism, thus some of the elderly people in Nianduhu Village and the administration of Nianduhu Monastery gathered for a meeting and concluded the following: In the future regardless of which village they are from, those who have Shugden’s picture, statue or thangka found in their houses should be totally cut off from us. If their family members are sick or pass away, Nianduhu Monastery’s sangha will no longer perform rituals for them.”

The source also said: “Nianduhu Monastery’s sangha community also released a joint statement on 18^th September 2016 urging the villagers to boycott Shugden.”

“None of the monks in Nianduhu Monastery practice Shugden. In the joint statement released by the sangha community of Nianduhu Monastery, it says clearly that practicing Shugden not only brings harm to Buddhism, it also is harming the Dalai Lama’s long life. That statement is protesting against the actions of some villagers who are producing Shugden thangkas, and stressed that if the people producing these Shugden thangkas insist on continuing their works, Nianduhu Monastery will cut them off from the monastery, no puja will be performed for them and they will be banned from entering Nianduhu Monastery.”

Another source also told RFA about the origin of the “Shugden thangka” incident.

The source said, “This is the whole story: There is an ex-monk in Nianduhu Village. Even though he is not a practitioner of Shugden, one time after he returned to Nianduhu Village, he received an order to produce a Shugden thangka. He then assigned some of his acquaintances to paint the thangka and he paid them upon completion of the work. After Nianduhu Monastery found out what was happening, some of the monks and the elderly people in the village not only had a meeting to address this issue, they also went to each family in the village to explain the harm of practicing Shugden and requested the villagers to distinguish between what is wrong and what is right. After releasing the joint statement, the sangha community also distributed their statement to the villagers, stressing that they would implement the contents of their statement and advising the people to conduct themselves well.”

The Shugden issue has lasted for almost 400 years since the 5^th Dalai Lama’s time. The origin of Shugden is in fact a local deity, but to its practitioners, Shugden is within the fundamentalism of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. However, after the investigation conducted by the 5^th and 13^th Dalai Lama, they explained in detail that Shugden is a demon and it is harming Buddhism, and Shugden is the cause of the disharmony between the different sects. Gelug lineage lamas from the past to this day also oppose the practice of Shugden. After closely observing the issue, in the mid-seventies, the 14^th Dalai Lama officially gave advice to all Tibetan Buddhists to stop the practice of Shugden and claimed that he has responsible for educating people about Shugden’s background, characteristics and the negative impact of this practice. However, it is up to the people’s personal choice to practice Shugden or not.

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

I wish the Dalai Lama would wake up one morning and say ‘I was wrong’.

T.D. is a Tibetan living in India and is a Gelug Buddhist by birth. She has felt first hand the effects of the Dalai Lama’s religious discrimination as her family of Gelug Buddhists is torn apart.

A Father’s Struggle to Protect His Children

Like many parents, T.D.’s tried to protect her from the harmful attitudes of others. In her case, her father’s attempt to protect her meant that she never realized the kinds of problems he faced over his Dorje Shugden practice.

“My family experienced a lot of problems in the village but never told us,” she said. “When my father died, I went down to my village. I was taken aback the whole settlement’s reaction. They denied to attend his funeral and even the offerings of the Puja performed for his peaceful soul.”

A Mother’s Isolation

In 2003 and 2004, her mother, living alone in the village, faced many difficulties. She was told to declare in public that she was not a Shugden Buddhist if she wanted a peaceful life in the settlement.

T.D. recounted what life was like for her mother after T.D.’s sister and brother-in-law left their village.

“She went through all the difficulties. I remember my cousin’s brother asking my mother to sign the sheet declaring that we are not Shugden followers. My mother stood strong and denied to do so.”

A Brother’s Difficult Choice

Chillingly, T.D.’s younger brother was ostracised from the community because of his mother’s refusal to abandon her Dorje Shugden practice.

As T.D. explained, “After few years, even my younger brother was not allowed to play in the village football team because he is presumed to be a child of Shugdenpa.”

In order to have a normal childhood and fit in with his peers, her brother secretly renounced his family’s religion.

‘Without our knowledge, he wrote a letter declaring he is not Shugdenpa and submitted it to the local Tibetan representative’s office,” T.D. said. “It is not that I would have ruled over his decision. But since we are staying in the land of secularism, I wonder why he needed to prove anybody of his beliefs.”

A Family Divided

In T.D.’s family, the ban has resulted in more than religious discrimination and ostracism from members of the community; the ban has ripped her family apart from within.

“My family is divided into two,” she told us. “The ones who stood by the parents and were labelled Shugdenpa and anothers who went against. The village started to horrify my mother. She said she was even threatened to leave the village. She informed the local Indian police, but they could not help her. Kundeling Rinpoche helped her and now she is staying in Shar Gaden [Monastery] at Mundgod.”

Unfortunately, the divisions within T.D.’s family are not unique among Shugden Buddhists. Families that used to be united and harmonious have split over this issue, with sisters refusing to speak, wives divorcing husbands, children denying their family’s heritage.

All this, simply because they wanted to practice the Gelug teachings they received from their Spiritual Guides.

Religious Discrimination Persists Even in Larger Tibetan Settlements

Some supporters of the Dalai Lama have claimed that the ostracism against Shugden practitioners is an isolated occurrence that only happens in a few of the smaller exile communities.

T.D.’s experiences suggest otherwise. Even though she has now left the village and feels safer living in a larger city, she still faces discrimination.

“Here in Shillong, we are not allowed to enter the monastery which was build by all the Tibetans from the state including my father-in-law who was a Shugdenpa long ago,” she said.

“Now when the issue is raised, they lock the monastery every time we go there. So, we do the prayers outside the monastery. I even heard that few decided not sell the apparel to us.”

“The Dalai Lama’s One Word Could Break the Peace and Unity in His Community”

She believes the problem is caused by the Tibetan Government in Exile (now called the Central Tibetan Administration, or CTA) and the Dalai Lama, as well as the Indian Government for letting it happen.

“What deity you follow was not in question in my family and in our neighbourhood till the issue was raised. Then, slowly as the politicians started to play their game with the issue, I could feel my father was getting affected by the issue. I blame the entire scenario on poor governance by Tibetan Exile Government, Indian Government who never tried to solve the issue and yes of course Dalai Lama. I wish he knew his one word could break the peace and unity in his community.”

According to T.D., there were no problems before the Dalai Lama began his campaign against Shugden Buddhists.

“There is a small Buddhist temple which has all the deities in our village. Everyone in locality used to go there to pray. All the oldies do Kora there in the temple every morning and evening. But when the issue was raised, people stopped going over there. That’s wrong I felt. Even a few local people planned to demolish the temple. Monks were called from the Bylakuppe Sera Pompara Monastery to safeguard the temple. It was a pathetic time. How drastic and pathetic the situation they created for us.”

It is clear the Dalai Lama’s actions has caused many problems in the refugee Tibetan Communities in India, and it is a cause of great sorrow for T.D.

“I Want a Solution Instead of Crying and Arguing”

“I hate the issue which broke the Tibetans into two parts, which broke the peace in our community and which was legally a crime.”

Below is another account of the religious discrimination faced by Shugdenpas even once they have left Tibet and / or the Tibetan settlements and are living abroad. 18 year old Dendu was born in Tibet and came to the United States when he was 11. Although the American constitution guarantees freedom of religion, worship and practice, Dendu and his family continue to suffer discrimination and violence only because they practice Dorje Shugden.

Here Dendu bravely tells us about his and his family’s experiences as Tibetan Shugdenpas living in the United States.

Or watch on server | download video (right click & save file)

Disclaimer: This article was submitted by a third party author and does not necessarily reflect the official opinion of DorjeShugden.com. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to ds@dorjeshugden.com.

Reacting to a series of peaceful demonstrations staged by Western and Tibetan Dorje Shugden practitioners calling for His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to lift the ban on Dorje Shugden’s practice and give religious freedom, the Dalai Lama said:

The point I want to make here is that I haven’t banned the practice they are talking about. My duty is to make the situation clear, no more than that. Whether other people pay attention is up to them. I wave to them when I see them, and sometimes they wave back.
~ H.H. THE DALAI LAMA, Dharamshala, 25 August 2014

Source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=35226&article=Dalai+Lama+talks+about+secular+ethics+in+Hamburg&t=1&c=1

And, when questioned by Tibetan school children on what they perceived to be lies and discrimination against Dorje Shugden practitioners, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay said:

…they are accusing us for not giving religious freedom and committing discrimination … So, as I said earlier, politically, Tibetan association has never discriminated them, and besides, they have those ID cards … they live in Tibetan settlement camps, treat in settlement hospitals and attend schools; with RC, they travel around India, and with IC, they travel abroad. These are all supported by CTA, otherwise there is no way of achieving it. If we really want to discriminate then we have capacity or power to remove those rights but we have not done that.
~ SIKYONG LOBSANG SANGAY, Upper TCV School Dharamshala, 5 June 2014

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYXVNFhvOVk

The Dalai Lama has often spoken against the practice of Dorje Shugden on many public occasions. In the past, he has cited various reasons in support of his ban on Dorje Shugden, from saying that this practice shortens his life, that it encourages sectarianism, to linking the practice with the failure of the Tibetan administration to win independence for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama brings up the topic of Dorje Shugden at all available opportunities – during his teachings and empowerments, while making official visits to various Tibetan monasteries, even in meetings of the Tibetan Government in Exile. More often than not, any attempt to logically examine the topic of Dorje Shugden degenerates into cheap condemnation of the Buddhist deity and its followers; exhortations to enforce the ban on his practice follow as a matter of course.

In a twist of events, the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration now say that there is no ban at all on Dorje Shugden’s practice, while at the same time, insidiously claiming that Dorje Shugden practitioners are being funded by China, thus making them the de facto enemy of the Tibetan community.

To better elucidate the truth, DorjeShugden.com has compiled a never-seen-before collection of official letters, documents, threats, and other forms of evidence that (despite the best efforts of the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration to deny its existence) proves that the ban on Dorje Shugden’s practice does exist, was enforced, and that Dorje Shugden practitioners are discriminated against and segregated as a result.

Browse through the collection of documents to see with your own eyes how the ban is affecting the lives of Dorje Shugden practitioners, especially those living in Tibetan communities. From schools to hospitals, from monasteries to convenience stores, each document serve as a constant reminder to the Tibetan exile community to toe the official party line against Dorje Shugden and his followers. Many are coerced into giving up Dorje Shugden’s practice on pain of expulsion from their homes and communities, others are forced to resign from their jobs for sticking with their faith, and yet others are threatened with violence, loss of reputation, death threats and the like.

Basic needs such as identity cards, medical care, and travel documents are denied to Dorje Shugden practitioners by the Tibetan government, its departments, officials, and cronies. No matter how the Central Tibetan Administration tries to justify and explain, this is nothing but a clear abuse of human rights and loss of religious freedom. Yet when Tibetan and Western Shugden practitioners take to the streets in desperation to peacefully protest against the Dalai Lama (because all requests for dialogue have been denied), they are crucified by the Tibetan administration and the media for daring to defy a holy being who is supposedly none other than the Saint of Compassion incarnate.

This information has been compiled to help speak for the downtrodden Dorje Shugden practitioners whose voices are not heard and who cannot fend for themselves in fear of retribution from the community at large.

We at dorjeshugden.com appeal to you, the reader, to look at these documents and have a glimpse of what it feels like to live as a Dorje Shugden practitioner amongst Tibetans who consider you to be a demon worshipper of the worst kind. With a clear mind, unclouded and unfettered by anything else you may have read in the past, judge for yourself whether Dorje Shugden’s practice is banned and his followers discriminated against, or whether, as the Dalai Lama says, there is no ban, and everything is just peachy.

And if you find that these documents are proof of a gross betrayal of a country’s citizens by its supposedly-democratic government and Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader, please share this with others. Please create awareness of one of the most overlooked crimes of human rights abuse in modern times. And most of all, please appeal to the Dalai Lama and his government to lift the ban on Dorje Shugden’s practice for good and give the Tibetans true freedom of religion at last.

Definitive Proof of the Ban and Discrimination against Dorje Shugden

These are just some of the collected documents showing the existence of a ban on Dorje Shugden’s practice, and discrimination against his practitioners. For the full collection of documents in both English and Tibetan, please click here.

An announcement from Ganden Jhangtse Monastery detailing the expulsion of eleven monks for their support of Dorje Shugden and participation in peaceful protests. Click here for English translation

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A letter from the Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association & Himalayan Committee For Action on Tibet to the various monasteries and associations, clearly articulating the ban on Dorje Shugden, pressuring the monks to swear against Dorje Shugden’s practice, and discrimination against firm Dorje Shugden practitioners. Click here for larger image

Click to View All Evidence of the Ban

A directive from the Tibetan Government’s Department of Religion and Culture barring the issuance of travel recommendation letters for Dorje Shugden practitioners. Click here for English translation

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The Department of Security of the Tibetan Government in Exile wrote this letter to Ganden Shartse Monastery, prohibiting its monks from attending Dorje Shugden events and directing the Abbot and administrators to expose the identity of monks who attended. Click here for English translation

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In 1996, the Tibetan Government in Exile’s Department of Health issued a directive to its employees to give up Dorje Shugden’s practice or resign from their jobs. Click here for English translation

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The Kashag Secretariat and the Tibetan Reception Center deny 16 Tibetan newcomers recommendation letters to join the Tibetan monasteries, on the basis of being Dorje Shugden practitioners. Click here for English translation

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An official letter from the Tibetan Youth Congress, condemning Dorje Shugden practitioners for their attempts to stand up for their rights to religious freedom. Click here for English translation

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The General Secretary of the Department of Religion and Culture personally decrees that recommendation letters for monastic entry are not to be issued to Dorje Shugden practitioners. Click here for English translation

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An official letter from the Tibetan Government in Exile’s Department of Religion and Culture, demanding the eradication of Shugden monks within Ganden Shartse monastery. Click here for English translation

Click to View All Evidence of the Ban