TRANSLATION

LE DALAI LAMA IMPOSE L’INTERDICTION SUR SHUGDEN (SHOUGDEN)

THE DALAI LAMA IMPOSES A BAN ON SHUGDEN

Extracts of speeches on the ban of the Gelugpa Protector Dorje Shugden by Tibetan leaders. This film contains remarks from the Dalai Lama and the now ex-Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile, Samdong Rinpoche. Their words are proof of what the ban on Dorje Shugden’s practice really is.

They reveal the importance given to the segregation, as well as to the division in the monasteries of the Tibetan community in exile. They also demonstrate how the Dalai Lama disrupts the harmony of the Tibetans in exile.

These words show that the ban was created by the Dalai Lama himself and not by the monasteries. They prove that it is the Dalai Lama and his Government who impose this ban and control the decisions made by the monasteries in India… which has also a negative effect on other communities in Tibet and elsewhere in the world.

Speech 1

Today, in the presence of the Government employees and our people, I will talk about the Protector. This is not a meeting about our political struggle for freedom.

I think we are the only ones gathered here to talk about this subject. I think that in the world, other people do not meet to talk about this subject. I have already talked about this, when we met during the last Kalachakra festival.

We are gathered here: Lamas, Geshes and friends in the Dharma. I repeat that this subject is very important and you should respect what I say. If however you think “something like this is the responsibility of the Dalai Lama, not mine”, your way of thinking is therefore wrong. Do you understand? And in the same way, you can explain this situation to those who live in Tibet, if you still have relatives there.

For example, in regions like Dakyap, Markham, Tchamdo and Denma-Khampa……in all these regions, you should inform them well. It is your responsibility to explain to those who live in Tibet. Do you understand?

If not, I’m telling you this here. You display a very respectful attitude but in reality you do not make any effort to explain this ban to others. This is very disappointing for me, understand?

Speech 2

Most of you have understood the reasons for abandoning the practice, and you have done so, but some of you seem not to have listened to my advice and pretend not to know about the subject.

And you think perhaps that it is not a serious subject and that later, things will be fine. You can also think that, in exile The Dalai Lama cannot do much about the matter. Some of you think like that.

Speech 3

I started this ban in memory of the Fifth Dalai Lama. I started it myself and I will finish it. Do you understand?

Some of you do not take this seriously. But they are wrong. You, members of staff, you pretend not to have heard and you let the time pass.

You think that it is better if we do not take any action against the population. When we met each other, you displayed a nice attitude and you said to me, “I’m clean and I’m not practicing.” But in fact these words are deceitful. This will probably continue to happen.

In the Monastery of Sera Jey, some students voluntarily assumed the responsibility and they strove to impose the ban. You should follow this example and support each other. It is very important.

Speech 4

I’ve talked about the ban at Drepung, when I was giving a teaching on the Lamrim of the Great Scope. At that time, many abbots from all the monasteries attended the teachings. Kelsang Yeshi, you were there, do you remember?

The abbots of the monasteries of Sera, Drepung, Gaden and also the monastic colleges of Gyuto and Gyume were there. Altogether, there were about 15 heads present. They came to see me, crying and promising vigorously to act according to my request. But in reality, they have done nothing, and now the final result is not very good.

Speech 5

The position of Dholgyal (Dorje Shugden) has become very special in the Gelug school. This is why the Gelugpas must pay a lot of attention to it. Even if His Holiness was not very clear in his speech. He has already spoken about the subject many times with great clarity, recently and in previous years, in the manner of a father advising his son.

On this point, we must thus make a clear decision. If not, we will not act because we think that this ban will create a lot of different problems in our society, and we are afraid of the segregation within our society.

I think this is bad. Here, what is important is that if we do not put this ban in place as we have been advised and we let ourselves be invaded by doubts about our ability and our judgments, then we will not be able to fulfil and sustain our wishes.

So I think that it will be very sad for us. Therefore, I don’t have any doubts, you will not forget this request, but will keep it in mind.

Speech 6

The abbots, the chief disciplinarians and the administrators of the monasteries, they have continued patiently to impose the ban and I know that each one of us work hard to enforce the ban and I appreciate it very much.

I am pleased with your voluntary support and your actions. It is very good. Some of you try to be tactful on the subject of putting this ban into operation and you may think that these actions will disrupt the harmony of the society.

Some of you may have reasons to remain quiet and discreet. On my part, I have no comment. But we always rejoice in the actions of those who act seriously and clearly. Whatever it may be that you need from our Government in Exile, we are ready to provide all types of support.

This is what I wanted to explain to you.

Today we would like to bring to the attention of all those who believe in peaceful co-existence of all faiths and beliefs in this world, and particularly the attention of the people who believe in freedom of religion and human rights.

2nd September is The Tibetan Democracy Day, but the irony is that the Tibetan people do not have true democracy due to the policies of the Tibetan government in exile, under the powerful guidance of the Dalai Lama, that undermines Religious Freedom as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and other international conclaves. Hence, we, the proponents of equal human rights, are commemorating 2nd September in order to create a global awareness of the plight of Dorje Shugden believers as they continue to struggle against the religious persecution and segregation that has been imposed in the Tibetan community throughout the world by the Dalai Lama.

The video by Al-jazeera, which accounts the atrocities committed by Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile is at http://english.aljazeera.net

On 9 January 2008, the Dalai Lama declared that “Dorje Shugden devotees are supported by the Chinese and therefore, there is no need for them to be in exile, they can go back to Tibet (under Chinese rule)”. On the same day, he also called for “holding an open referendum, to decide if the majority of the Tibetans want to coexist with the devotees of the deity”. This is an invitation for open segregation of Tibetan society, under the disguise of practicing democracy. Furthermore, because of Dalai Lama’s position and influence, his statements become government policies, and therefore have great consequences. These statements from Dalai Lama’s position, undermine the fundamental rights: the right to exercise freedom of religion, right to peaceful living, and right to equal opportunity for the people. These statements have great potential to cause communal violence and mislead Tibetan people into believing that Dorjee Shugden practitioners are the enemy. As a result, the followers of this deity and their family members have been victims of ostracism and violence.

In 2008, we gave a deadline to a Tibetan Government in Exile and Dalai Lama to stop the religious persecution and segregation of the Shugden practitioners and their families, including children at schools. However, the situation is worsening every day, and now in 2011, the situation have not improved. The Dalai Lama has declared war against the Shugden people, demonizing and segregating Shugden worshippers since 1996. This “war” has been fueled by outrageous rumors that the Dalai Lama and his supporters allegedly promoted a view that if a non-Dorje Shugden follower kill a believer, it is not considered a sin! Furthermore, the killing would provide cumulative merit towards the Dalai Lama’s long life! Other such non-sins include destroying Shugden Monastaries, Stupas and Religious documents.

The following are a few of the recent incidents of violence inflicted upon Shugden devotees (more details of the atrocities are attached at the back):

The most recent developments occurred this Summer (July 2011) when the Dalai Lama was in Washington DC performing the Kalachara Initiation, which he barred Dorje Shugden followers from attending. However his tone seemed edited for the Western audience.

Following this meeting on August 23rd 2011, the Abbot of the Namgyal Monastery (the Dalai Lama’s private monastery) in Dharmasala who travelled with him to the USA and called an emergency meeting with the Lithang Organization of NY, as a result of this meeting, anyone who is caught associating with a Shugden follower is automatically expelled from the organization and subject to persecution. This is religious persecution happening right here in the USA and right now in 2011!

Also in January of this year, the Dalai Lama speaking at a Tibetan Monastery in South India angrily said that “Dorje Shudgen harms the Tibetan Government of Tibet” and expeled several High Lamas including the ex-Abbot of Gyume Monastery, who wrote to the Dalai Lama and the Prime minister Samdong Rinpoche saying it is illegal as well as morally wrong to segregate and inflict religious persecution although he is not a practitioner of Shugden. It is because he spoke against the segregation and ostracizing of the Tibetan people, he was immediately expelled.

On March 10th, the Dalai Lama dissolved the “Tibetan Government in Exile” and created the Tibetan Organization while maintaining himself as the head. While the rest of the world thinks that he is retiring from political power but he is still making decisions and ruling behind the facade of the Tibetan Organization.

Another example occurred when the Chushi Gangdruk Organisation (which is a political association) met with the Dalai Lama on May 2010, and informed him that they had removed the members who believed in Dorje Shugden and vowed to disassociate and remove any Shugden believers in the future for the happiness of His Holiness’.

In 26th February 2010, Central Chushi Gangdruk Organisation’s head quarter in New Delhi gave a letter to Dalai Lama which stated that they hadn’t associated with the Shugden believers since 1996 and vowed to continue disassociating with Shugden people in the future too.

On February 20, 2010, when 68 of the 100 invited guests as well as performers left the wedding party in New York City because a few Dorje Shugden devotees were invited. Those who left apologized and explained that they did not want to break the oath that they had taken to segregate from the followers of Dorje Shugden.

In July 29 2009, the Tibetan section of Radio Free Asia, with intention to turn the general Tibetan people against the Shugden devotees, demonized the Shugden devotees of being responsible for the abductions of Tenzing Thakpa, Woeser rinpoche’s father and a 13-year-old boy along with few goats and sheep in Markham, Tibet. In reality, Woeser rinpoche’s father and the boy were victims of flood and Tenzing Thakpa was seen alive and well, traveling in Lhasa and India.

In 2008, the oath and signature campaign of breaking off religious and material relationship with Shugden devotees were introduced in the monasteries and Tibetan settlements.

Another example of persecution was the shutting down of Tibetan Association of Western Massachusetts, in US on October of 2008 because it had some Shugden believers as its members.

In July 2008, wanted posters of several monks involved in the Western Shugden Society protests appeared in Queens, New York. Al-Jazeera reported about the wanted posters saying, “No Shugden worshipper has ever been charged or investigated for terrorism and yet the monks that continue to worship Shugden remain victims of name and shame.”

On 2006, the burning of thousands of autobiography written by Lamrim Rinpoche (from Drepung Monastery, Tibet).

In 1997, a nun in Tibet was beaten up and left naked in the street to die. Fortunately, she survived.

On April 5, 1996, after Dalai Lama’s teaching, Gaden Choeling nunnery in Dharamsala dragged the Dorje Shugden statue out, trod on, and flung it into a garbage pit.

Throughout India and Nepal, tens of thousands of Dorjee Shugden statues, literature and scriptures were desecrated. Threatening the lives of the people who believed in Shugden and ostracizing them from the Tibetan community throughout the world. An attack on Gaden Shartse monastery in South India by over three thousand Tibetans settlers resulted in 40 people wounded and damaged property. In Clement town, there was also an arson attempt on a Shugden devotees family’s house.

These are just a few cases from countless incidents of atrocities involving violence and discrimination towards Shugden followers. Some Westerners are beginning to understand the issues and the plight of the Tibetans people and editorials such as this one – “Darkness behind the Guru-bubble” by Mike Carlton for the Sydney Morning Herald are gaining more and more coverage in the international media but these articles that highlight truth is still few and far in between.

“Silliness is one thing. Nastiness is another. The so-called apostle of kindness has been ruthless in crushing a rival Tibetan Buddhist sect known as Dorje Shugden, expelling its monks from monasteries and ostracising or exiling its adherents.” You can read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/darkness-behind-the-gurububble-20110617-1g7si.html#ixzz1WiMO9qzN

In reference to the letter to the prime minister of the Tibetan Government in exile, Samdong Rinpoche and The Dalai Lama, dated April 25, 2008, we had appealed to the Tibetan government to enforce our demands within the deadline of September 2, 2008.

Our Demands were:

1. To entitle us to the fundamental rights of freedom to speech, beliefs, and the rights to live peacefully as guaranteed in the Constitution of Tibetan Government-in-Exile and Democratic countries.
2. To lift the ban on Shugden practice and the religious persecution of its practitioners.
3. To stop the systematic process of segregation in the Tibetan communities in exile, that has led to the social, psychological and physical torture of Shugden practitioners.

As our demands were repeatedly and blatantly ignored, the Tibetan government in exile continues to ostracize and segregate the Shugden practitioners from the rest of the Tibetan society. Hundreds of monks, who worshipped Dorjee Shugden, were ostracized and expelled from the monasteries. As a result, a new wall at Ganden monastery in Southern India was built in March 2008 to segregate the Shugden worshippers.

Monks who worshipped Shugden were denied medical services from the health clinics in the Tibetan communities in exile.

Students, whose parents practiced in Dorje Shugden, were ostracized in schools. Until the Dalai Lama stops religious segregation and admit his horrific mistakes, We will continue to fight for the peaceful coexistence of all faiths and beliefs in this world, and particularly the attention of the people who believe in freedom of religion and human rights.

Shugden Society USA
shugdenusa.2009@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/notes/lozang-gyaltsan/revisiting-my-position-on-dorje-shugden-earlier-this-year-i-posted-an-article-it/10150355294735955

That this oath swearing campaign initiated by the Dalai Lama has bypassed our conscience and our concept of religious freedom as an unalienable human right is a sign of a deeper crisis that has emerged in the Tibetan and Buddhist Community.

It is a crisis that has arisen in part because the Dalai Lama is appealing to something quite unrelated to reason.

In video footage aired by Al Jazeera on Sept 30th the Dalai Lama says:

“I used to worship Shugden. The spirit was very fond of me. However, I realised it was a mistake. So I stopped. Recently monasteries have fearlessly expelled Shugden monks where needed. I fully support their actions. I praise them. If monasteries find taking action hard, tell them the Dalai Lama is responsible for this. Shugden followers have resorted to killing and beating people. They start fires. And tell endless lies. This is how the Shugden behave. It is no good.” (Click here to view source footage)

In the same video Samdong Rinpoche the Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile says:

A lot of Shugden perpetrators are becoming terrorists and that they are willing to kill anybody. They are willing to beat up anybody. It is very clear that now people who are propitiating Shugden are very close to the PRC (People’s Republic of China) leadership. That is clear.

So by characterizing Dorje Shugden practitioners as killers and thugs with links to the People’s Republic of China, the Dalai Lama and Samdong Rinpoche are appealing to some of the deepest fears that Tibetan people have. This is quite dangerous because by appealing to these fears allows the Dalai Lama to dismiss any evidence of wrongdoing in the name of protecting the Tibetan people. This is very similar to what is happening in American society. In the wake of September 11th, the Bush Administration has used the politics of fear to wage war on an enemy that didn’t pose any threat to us (as we now know Iraq had no connection to Al Qaeda and no WMD). By subscribing to fear based politics we are eliminating the role of fact-based reasoning in the proceedings.

This phenomena is described so eloquently by Thomas Jefferson:

“Throughout history, our innate fear of others-who-are-different-from-us has combined all too frequently with some malignant dogma, masquerading as a message from God, to unleash the most horrific violence and oppression in the repertoire of hell. Moreover this deadly form of exclusivist group passion can be virtually invulnerable to reason. So it is especially useful to demagogues who learn how to fan it and exploit it to gain and consolidate power…

…Having replaced the divine right of kings with the divine rights of individuals, our Founders overthrew the monarchy and designed a self-government according to the structures of reason. And they took special care to insulate the ongoing deliberations of democracy against the recombination of fear and dogma, by guarding against any effort by government to establish in law any trace of divine justification for the exercise of power.” (The Assault on Reason, p48)

So what we have here is the divine right of the Dalai Lama versus the rights of individuals to practice the prayer of their choosing.

In the Al Jazeera segment the interviewer asks Tsultrim Tenzin, MP in the Tibetan Government in Exile, if the Tibetan Parliament debated the Dorje Shugden issue

He replies:

“There was no argument. If there was some opposition, then there will be some argument, but there is no opposition. We do not have any doubt about the Dalai Lama’s decisions. We do not think he is a human being. He is a supreme human being, and he is god, he is Avalokiteshvara, he has no interest [in] himself, he always thinks of others. Everybody is happy. Our system is everybody is happy. There is democracy, full democracy. Everyone can experience whatever he likes”

Thomas Jefferson could not have scripted a better example as to why the divine right of kings and the divine right of individuals are incompatible governing principles. Surely Tsultrim’s nonsensical assessment that everyone is happy is callous and insensitive to those monks who are being expelled from their monasteries because of their practice of the Dorje Shugden prayer.

Surely it is lunatic reasoning for those people who have been forced to flee from their homes under threat of violence because of their practice of this prayer. But the lack of interest in these crimes by the TGIE is indicative of the Tibetan thought process. The Dalai Lama is god therefore his decisions must be correct. Unfortunately this holds even if in reality they are harming others.

This divine right of the Dalai Lama in the eyes of the TGIE is allowing a bending of the law that makes a mockery of any sense of truth and justice.

How can Tsultrim Tenzin say there is no opposition when on their own website, www.tibet.com it says:

“An organization, called Dorje Shugden Devotees Charitable and Religious Society, has been spreading a great deal of misinformation, alleging that the Tibetan Administration in exile is persecuting the devotees of a certain spirit, known as Dholgyal, otherwise known as Shugden.”

But this is politics Tibetan style. So instead of granting the opposition a voice in the government what it does is re-categorize the opposition as a fringe and fanatical element of society and then turn around and say that there is no political opposition. Guess again. In fact the Dorje Shugden Devotees Charitable and Religious Society have filed a lawsuit against the Dalai Lama and the TGIE for violations of basic human rights in the Delhi High Court of India having no other political recourse with their own government.

As their lawyer Shree Sanjay Jain says:

It is certainly a case of religious discrimination in the sense that if within your sect of religion you say that this particular deity ought not to be worshipped, and those persons who are willing to worship him you are trying to excommunicate them from the main stream of Buddhism, then it is discrimination of the worst kind.

In analyzing the recent catastrophic failures in the American political system Al Gore analyzes the importance of separation of church and state in warding off abuses of power. I find some of his analysis is particularly relevant to the Dalai Lama’s recent actions in banning the prayer to DorjeShugden and the abuses of power that have accompanied that ban.

“[Our Founders] were also keenly aware of the thin and permeable boundary between religious fervor and power-seeking political agendas. “A religious sect may degenerate into a political faction,” wrote James Madison, but the new American nation would nevertheless be protected against the ungovernable combination of religious fervor and political power as long as the Constitution prohibited the federal government from establishing any particular creed as preeminent.

The separation of church and state was thus based not only on the Founders’ insights into fear, faith, and reason, but also on their new awareness of the nature of power. They understood that the love of power can become so intoxicating that it overwhelms reason. It was actually this distrust of concentrated power that led them not only to separate organized religion from the exercise of governmental authority, but also to separate the powers of the national government into three coequal branches and embed each in a complex web of checks and balances designed to further prevent the aggregation of too much power in any one branch. (The Assault on Reason, p49-50)”

Now those in the west who have fallen in love with the Dalai Lama’s ecumenical philosophy have been lulled into thinking that it is okay to impose this ecumenical philosophy on others; and have become incompetent to discern what might motivate someone to force a religious view on others. Now if you haven’t been following this blog you might counter that the Dalai Lama isn’t forcing his view on anyone. Please read the first few installments of this blog for hard evidence in video format of the Dalai Lama praising the ban on Dorje Shugden prayer and promoting it as his own.

In this article I will be looking at how the Dalai Lama’s actions (as well as those of the Tibetan Government in Exile) in banning Dorje Shugden are political in nature and are functioning to degenerate Tibetan Buddhism into a pro-Tibet political faction.

We can observe this phenomenon in the language used by the Tibetan Government in Exile in promoting the ban on Dorje Shugden prayer:

“After 20 years of painstaking research and investigation, His Holiness the Dalai Lama found that the propitiation of this spirit by the Tibetan people harms the Tibetan national cause and endangers his own personal security. Therefore, he has urged the Tibetan people to stop propitiating this spirit.” (http://www.tibet.com/dholgyal/dholgyal5.html)

(Editor’s Note: This link appears to have been removed from the mentioned website)

“However, some people have continued to propitiate Dolgyal, either because they failed to appreciate the threat it poses to the Tibetan cause or because they have decided to disregard it. There are yet others who not only propitiate Dolgyal themselves, but also actively encouraged others to follow suit. This has impaired the sacred relationship between the people of Tibet and their protector-deities. Today, this is one of the greatest dangers to the cause of Tibet and the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

There is something deeply problematic about this simplistic reduction of a profoundly religious subject into terms of “harming the national cause of Tibet” because it is a politically loaded statement given all the pro-Tibet and anti-China rhetoric pervading the Tibetan community and Western media.

It is saying quite explicitly that the prayer to Dorje Shugden harms the Tibetan nation which pits the pro-Tibet political movement against the people who pray to Dorje Shugden. The implication here is that the people who pray to Dorje Shugden are a member of a political faction — the anti-Tibet faction. Evidence that this is the message being taken to heart is clearly demonstrated by what happened after the Dalai Lama’s talk at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on July 17th

The New York Times reported:

“About 200 members of a Buddhist sect, the Western Shugden Society, were outside the hall protesting the Dalai Lama, who they said had persecuted monks who supported the sect. Some among the thousands coming out of the lecture began shouting at the protesters. The crowd began to swell, and eventually thousands were shouting “Long Live Dalai Lama” and waving dollar bills at the protesters, asserting that they had been paid by the Chinese government.” ( Read source article )

So if you disagree with the Dalai Lama’s views on the Dorje Shugden practice, which I should highlight is a prayer — the implication being drawn here is that you are against the Tibetan national cause and must be on the Chinese Government payroll. Why should one’s religious beliefs necessarily determine one’s political allegiances? If you disagree with the Dalai Lama on the subject of a prayer why does that make you against the Tibetan cause?

Editor’s Note- The author cleverly points out that if Tibet’s cause which is undoubtedly political, how can a prayer and deity harms Tibet’s cause. Most of the teaching lamas are all over the world, I mean if one is an all powerful negative deity and wants to corrupt Buddhism why focus on Tibet anymore?

We can see from this example why the Tibetan Government is characterizing the Dalai Lama’s religious views as a political ideology — because it incites a nationalistic response in the masses which is functioning to exclude all those who do not share the Dalai Lama’s religious views.

Editor’s Note- Another good point from the author, that Dalai Lama’s spiritual views are political ideology as the response to his views are nationalistic in nature.

The marriage of political and spiritual agendas is something that the Dalai Lama is invested in and is central to his political ideology. He is invested in it of course because it is the very basis for his qualification as leader of the Tibetan people.

Quoting the Dalai Lama’s older brother Thubten Jigme Norbu (Tibet, p323):

“I also believe that our system’s greatest strength comes from the undisputed leadership of the Gyalwa Rinpoche (the Dalai Lama); but this is an act of faith that must be difficult to understand. Others in our government can be weak, but never our highest authority, for he is the reincarnation of Chenresig, the embodiment of perfection and enlightenment. It is pointless to criticize the Tibetan system without considering and allowing this faith, for without it the whole system becomes a mockery.”

Now I am a Buddhist and so I am a student of faith, but I disagree with Norbu’s usage of the word faith. Buddha discriminated between blind faith and faith that is based on reason; the difference being that the latter would not ignore contradictions with observable facts and manifest evidence. So in my understanding a Buddhist interpretation of faith does not try to hide contradictions with the truth, in fact due to actually having some degree of faith one would be courageous enough to challenge the assumptions upon which that faith is founded knowing that if the faith was well placed it would hold water.

So for me I do not believe that having faith in the Dalai Lama means never questioning his actions, quite the opposite. If the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of Chenresig then surely we should be able to discuss his actions using the rule of reason to scrutinize his actions and his good qualities would shine through. If we start calling everyone who disagrees with the Dalai Lama a fundamentalist or a Chinese agent, we are doing the Dalai Lama and in truth all of Tibetan society a disservice. And of course in this instance because people are being denied access to monasteries, hospitals, and food there is good reason to bring the Dalai Lama’s ban on Dorje Shugden prayer into question.

As Michael Backman noted in the Age on June 5th:

“Why is the Dalai Lama so hell-bent on moving against Shugden supporters? A reason might be that he genuinely believes Shugden worship is wrong. Another seems to derive from his desire to unite the four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism – the Nyngma, Sakya,Kagyu and Gelugpa. This has always been one of the Dalai Lama’s problems. He is not the head of Buddhism; he is not even the head of Tibetan Buddhism. Traditionally, the DalaiLamas are from the Gelugpa sect. But since leaving Tibet, the current Dalai Lama has sought to speak for all Tibetans”

Because the Dalai Lama’s influence is based on his spiritual authority he is at a loss with respect to the Kagyus, Nyingmas, and Sakyas because he himself is a Gelugpa. As Norbu notes: “While not denying the validity of the other school, each believes that its own emphasis is the most important” (Tibet, p233). To forge new spiritual relationships with the other traditions, particularly certain Nyingma lamas, the Dalai Lama has had to denounce the practice of Dorje Shugden which is the Dharma protector practice meant to protect Je Tsongkhapa’s Oral Lineage from being mixed with other traditions. So what we have here is the Dalai Lama making religious policy for political purposes.

What is this political purpose?

It is the protection of an extremist ideology that views the Dalai Lama as the sole hope for Tibet’s future. It is the view that the Dalai Lama and the future of the Tibetan people are inextricably intertwined. Referring to Norbu’s quote from above, it can even mean that the Dalai Lama is the saving grace of the Tibetan people. I have observed this view in many of the people casting negative aspersions towards Dorje Shugden practitioners. It is a phenomenon also revealed in Robert Thurman’s latest book “Why the Dalai Lama Matters.” For this ideology to achieve dominance the Dalai Lama needs a coalition of support from all four Tibetan Buddhist traditions. To remove any barriers to this coalition the Dalai Lama banned the prayer of Dorje Shugden and is engaging in a systematic campaign to destroy it. This highlights the dangers of a unified church and state.

Thomas Jefferson had great insight into this as Al Gore notes:

“Jefferson wrote that throughout history, the state-sanctioned religious authority ‘has been hostile to liberty.’ He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection of his own.” (The Assault on Reason, p46)

(Source : Part 1 and Part 2)

(Transcript of Radio Free Asia (Tibetan Section) on December 24, 2010)

Kelsang Yugyal:

On the 23rd, the Tibetan Welfare Association and Majnu-ka-Tilla Tibetan office organized a program at the hall of the Tibetan children’s village where the Tibetan deputy Yeshi Phuntsok, Chochong Wangchug, directors of local bodies, members of NGOs and public were present. Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of Tibet, arrived.

Kelsang Yugyal:

He continued to say that Dholgyal (Shugden) followers are producers of incitement and disturbance within Tibet and the Tibetan community.

Samdhong:

In both Tibet and the exile community, Dholgyal (Shugden) followers are opponents of the Dalai Lama, and [they] are turned to be the easiest tool which is used to disturb and incite the Tibetans. Over the last few years, Samyeling (the Majnu-ka-tilla Tibetan camp) was [their] hub for a long period. As a result of a proper, sustained challenge, [their] strength and power are no more.

At present, with [its] little root remaining, the place here and there [referring to Majnukatilla] is being used by Dholgyal followers during their transit. There is leftover. The public and community should not be afraid or feel uncomfortable about them. Generally speaking, we do not blame you.

Shugden followers terrorize, kill, and beat [people]. However, if we don’t challenge their slayings and beatings, and if you are afraid, thinking you would be killed and beaten, they will get the benefit of that. If you have to receive beatings, if you have to die, it is very important to challenge for the Tibetan cause and Tibetan religion and politics.