While they use the symbology of these deities as representations of the mind, elements, and influences of the manifest, the only animal worship I have ever heard anything remotely close to what you are talking about was the Garuda which is actually only part man and bird and is a myth that permeates many Buddhist systems around the world. Garuda has its place in Buddhism as a tantric vehicle and that is exactly what it is in the YD Bon and nothing more. Ultimately the Bon acknowledge their own deities as being the same embodiments as other traditions, because they are. For instance Bon’s Sherab Chamma is just another form of Tara, or Quan Yin. If you refer to their age old traditional dances they are mostly of a celebratory nature. Never have I seen a ritual using animals, or deities that were seen as actual elemental spirits etc. some rituals used in Bon for healing or benefitting the elements or the spiritual balance of ones life force can be found and again, there is a profound realization that these things all occur from the mind.

Indigenous peoples from all over the globe have always had awareness of the local spirits and elementals, and this includes Buddhist schools. To say that Nyingma tradition of Buddhism is not aware of such things would be ludicrous.

I spent time with the world leader of the Bon the 33rd Menri Trizin and I believe he was a realized Master. While I don’t claim to know his level of pure enlightenment, he offered nothing but compassionate wisdom and benefit to my own life. I have also sat with the Ponlob, and the 34th Menri Trizin. Our eldest Dzogchen Master is also a wonderful practitioner benefitting all sentient beings and teaching others these precious teachings. I have studied the A-khrid cycle, and more with Rime master Namkhai Norbu and others as well. These teachers are human beings and some have faults. To try and lower Bon to a place of “keeping up” with the times is not substantiated fact but arguable and refuted by many historians. Bon have their own lineages and their own enlightened Buddha. This is just simply beneficial to everyone and not causing harm in any way. To distort the story like this repeatedly is actually a sure sign of underdeveloped Dharma practice and awareness. To lower a beneficial system that pre-dates Buddhism because of its complex history – is an unconscious use of words and also a little manipulative considering the problems we have seen in the Tibetan Buddhist schools of sexism, sexual assault, and other controversies, because the Buddhist schools are in no way more pure or able to become enlightened. That is completely misunderstanding what the path is and distorts it dangerously. No path is better than any other if it works for a person to become free from Samsara. All paths are equal when it comes to the nature of the truth. Purity depends only on our devotion to the truth and karma. Our actions are where purity is apparent.

I suggest doing a little more research from an open hearted point of view instead of continuing to spread this kind of confusion and negativity about a wonderful school of Tibetan Culture and Dharma. This kind of argument is for people who have lost the point of Dharma, that is to free ourselves from the suffering mind of Samsara. Your article seems steeped in judgments though it states it is not. The scholars have long argued these facts and some say the source of Bon lineages come from a far more ancient time. Let the scholars argue. It’s a waste of time. Pure enlightened nature is not able to be perverted. True Dharma cannot be damaged. That would mean you have the personal power to overcome Buddha nature. No one has that power. If you ah e any kind of practice one knows that our true nature is indestructible and dharma arises from that ground. Any distortions are purely in the real of the conditioned, conceptual mind. Maybe we could this debate there where it belongs?

All the best in your practice.

Namaste.

Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.

By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.

It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.

Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.

You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.

No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.

You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.

You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.

After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.

Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.

The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.

Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.

If this is true, then the Dalai Lama should forbade discrimination against practitioners of Dorje Shugden as it is both undemocratic and self-defeating too. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander too.

The questions raised in this article is very pertinent and valid. But, how can we understand what the Dalai Lama is doing as all his actions have been contradictory and makes no sense?

How can recognizing the Bon be politically advantageous and discriminating against the Shugdenpas be advantageous? Guess, only the Dalai Lama can answer that.

Please please please Dalai Lama, manifest your true nature and stop grasping for political control which is destroying the very foundation of your own school, the Gelug, Lama Tsongkapa’s teachings and the blessings from your teachings.

His Holiness action is inconsistent from one moment to the next, with one person to the next and from one place to the other. How can the Dalai Lama endorse one spirit and oust another (assuming that Dorje Shugden is a spirit as he claims)? How can His Holiness give rights to the Bonpo practitioners while he ostracize Dorje Shugden practitioners to the extent that they are deprived of basic resources like medical services and entry into sundry stores. This gives a poor portray of this icon that does not only jeopardize the Gelugpa lineage but the spiritual world as a whole.

His Holiness is the leader of the Tibetan spiritual world. However, his action contradicts the fundamentals of Lord Buddha’s teachings such as equanimity. It is also the duty of a spiritual leader to redirect his people from actions that will lead to lower rebirth: by endorsing the Bon worship, the Dalai Lama is literally leading his people to the 3 lower realms.

Contradiction also manifests in the Dalai Lama’s meddling with the Karma Kagyu lineage where he enthroned his own Karmapa. This goes against the tradition of the lineagage where the Sharmapa is the assigned authority to enthrone the Karmapa.

This damaging action is spreading onto his followers who are behave vulgarly in public. What else could one expect, people look to their leader for guidance and if His Holiness’ speech and actions are laced with hypocrisy and his non-action is one that endorses violence, then the followers can only be expected to be the same.

Are there hidden meanings within Dalai Lama’s actions to recognise Bon and to ban Dorje Shugden?

But does it mean we simply accept all religions, even some preach to kill others? IMHO, we should accept religions which do not hurt others and do no preach to heart others.

As such, Bon may be worshiping spirit, but they didn’t hurt others, and I don’t see any issue with HH Dalai Lama accepting Bon. Actually, I feel it is necessary to accept Bon.

However, just because HH Dalai Lama conveniently claim that Dorje Shugden practitioners are related to China and causes division/disunity within Tibetan community, Dorje Shugden is suppressed. Furthermore, this false accusation is baseless.

Dorje Shugden practitioners focus on learning the Dharma and spread the teachings of Lama Tsongkapa, why Dorje Shugden practitioners receive such different treatment from Bon practitioners?

It is time to lift the ban already!!

I am here not tried to increase tension of this situation, while I just want to know what is going wronging about this group of people? Why they always be suppress by CTA? Why they cannot have their own space for their practice?I think not fair which just “serve them by special treatment”…

I wish HHDL can give the public a very clear explanation why the Dorje Shugden practitioner and supporter be treat badly all the time? Are they deserve it?If yes, why? If not, the reason?

Waiting for His Holiness response.

Thank you HHDL.
With folded hands.