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.
 

By: Shashi Kei

Vor 25 Jahren begann die religiöse Verfolgung von Dorje Shugden-Gläubigen, angeführt von der Zentralen Tibetischen Verwaltung (CTA). Die Folgen dieses religiösen Verbotes des Dalai Lamas und der CTA haben das tibetische Leben maßgeblich geprägt und das tibetisch-buddhistische Terrain im letzten Vierteljahrhundert weltweit gewaltsam verändert. Millionen von Leben wurden in Gefahr gebracht, die Heiligkeit der Linie von Lama Tsongkhapa geriet in Verwirrung und unzählige spirituelle Pfade wurden entgleist. Und das beinhaltet noch nicht die Auswirkungen, die diese Spaltung auf die kollektive tibetische Sache hatte.

Jetzt hat aber Seine Heiligkeit der 14. Dalai Lama zugegeben, dass er sich geirrt hat und er hat klar gemacht, dass diese Misshandlung von Shugden-Buddhisten aufhören soll.

Nach dem Flop, jetzt die Wende

Die religiöse Verfolgung der Shugden-Buddhisten durch den CTA begann 1996 und verschärfte sich 2008. Dorje Shugden-Praktizierende wurden als „Staatsfeinde“; „Anti-Dalai Lama“; „Anti-Dharma“; „Chinesische Spione/Sympathisanten; „Dämonenanbeter“ und andere ähnliche Beschreibungen eingestuft.

Doch die Propaganda und die Verfolgungen des CTAs konnten die Praxis von Dorje Shugden nicht vollständig ausmerzen. Es war immerhin eine angesehene Praxis, die von zentraler Bedeutung für die Gelug-Linie war. Sogar der 14. Dalai Lama hatte diese Gottheit verehrt, ebenso wie seine früheren Inkarnationen, der Große Fünfte Dalai Lama, der 11. Dalai Lama und die angesehensten Lehrer des 20. Jahrhunderts.

Es folgte eine Zeit vergleichsweiser Stille, als Shugden-Buddhisten in den Untergrund und ausserhalb der Reichweite des CTAs vertrieben wurden. Und dann machte der Dalai Lama eine Kehrtwende.

Der Dalai Lama sprach in seiner Live-Unterweisung Zehntausende Menschen an und kündigte an, dass die Misshandlungen von Shugden-Buddhisten beendet werden sollen.

Während der Saka Dawa-Lehre des Dalai Lamas am 26. Mai dieses Jahres machte er unerwartet auf das Thema Dorje Shugden aufmerksam, ein hochsensibles Thema, das ein wichtiges Zerwürfnis für gewaltsame Konflikte darstellt. Aber dieses Mal war die Botschaft des Dalai Lamas ein Widerspruch zu einer Haltung, die er und die CTA vorgeschrieben hatten.

Der Dalai Lama zitierte Passagen aus dem Bodhisattvacharyavatara (Die Lebensweise eines Bodhisattvas) und sagte, dass jede Feindseligkeit gegenüber der Gottheit offenkundig falsch sei, egal wie jemand über Dorje Shugden und seine Praxis denkt. Der tibetische Gottkönig folgerte, dass es gegen den Kodex eines Bodhisattva verstoße, Ärger gegenüber dem Beschützer zu empfinden. Außerdem sagte er, es seien unsere eigene Wut und unsere geistigen Verunreinigungen, die wir untersuchen sollten, anstatt unseren Ärger auf andere zu richten.

VIDEO:Dalai Lama sagt, Dorje Shugden ist ein Gegenstand des Mitgefühls (26. Mai 2021)

Doch das war noch nicht alles.

Eine Woche später, am 2. Juni 2021, gab der Dalai Lama während einer weiteren Belehrung über Je Tsongkhapas Erfülltes Schicksal (Tog jö dün leg ma) zum ersten Mal seit er ein Verbot der Praxis von Dorje Shugden verhängt hatte, zu, dass es ein Fehler war, Dorje Shugden diskriminiert zu haben.

Dies ist eine ganz andere Sprache und Tonlage als die der tibetische Führung, die vorsätzlich Hass gegen Dorje Shugden und Anhänger seiner Praxis schürten. Infolgedessen wurde es als „untibetisch“ und „unbuddhistisch“ angesehen, wenn Sie Shugden-Buddhisten nicht feindselig gegenüberstanden. Daher legten Regierungsbeamte und ehrgeizige Mönche Wert darauf, ihre Verachtung für diese heilige Praxis zum Ausdruck zu bringen, da der Hass auf Dorje Shugden zu einem schnellen Aufstieg in den tibetischen politischen sowie klösterlichen Vierteln verhalf.

VIDEO: Dalai Lama sagt, es ist falsch, Dorje Shugden abzulehnen (2. Juni 2021)

Fehler geschickt rückgängig machen

Das Wandel in der Haltung des Dalai Lama gegenüber Dorje Shugden ist nicht ganz neu. Im Januar 2020, nachdem er Dorje Shugden fast 24 Jahre lang als Feind des tibetischen Volkes bezeichnet hatte, deutete der Dalai Lama eine Umstimmung des Herzens gegenüber dem Beschützer an. Während der Dalai Lama in der Vergangenheit die Praxis von Dorje Shugden unter allen Umständen kategorisch verboten hatte, befürwortete er bei dieser Gelegenheit tatsächlich die Verehrung von Dorje Shugden, aber nur als Geburtsgottheit oder Landgottheit.

Es war ein Fachausdruck, aber in Wirklichkeit zerstörte das, was der Dalai Lama sagte, die Rechtfertigung des CTAs, Shugden-Buddhisten ihr verfassungsmäßiges Recht auf Religionsfreiheit zu verweigern. Die alte Rechtfertigung war, dass die Praxis von Dorje Shugden [in jeglicher Form] das Leben des Dalai Lamas bedroht sowie das Scheitern der tibetischen Bemühungen, ihr Land zurückzugewinnen, verursacht habe.

Dorje Shugden Lamas und Mönche wurden wie Kriminelle behandelt, wurden gejagt und tyrannisiert.

Dennoch dauerte das Verbot der Praxis von Dorje Shugden auf seinem sehr gefährlichen und schädlichen Verlauf weiter an.

Schädlich, weil sie die tibetische Verfassung untergrub, die unter anderem Religionsfreiheit garantierte. Schädlich, weil es die Heiligkeit des tibetischen Buddhismus untergräbt, indem es vier Jahrhunderte von alten Meistern und Weisen verspottet, die die Dorje Shugden-Praxis aufrechterhalten haben, darunter S. H. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo und S. H. Trijang Dorje Chang. Schädlich, weil es eine ohnehin kleine und schwache Gemeinschaft von Menschen zu einer Zeit zersplitterte, in der sie in Eintracht mit gezielten Bemühungen um die Wiedererlangung ihres Landes zusammenarbeiten sollten. Schädlich, weil es eine irreparable Spaltung innerhalb der tibetischen Klostergemeinschaft geschaffen hat, eine Spaltung, die sich weltweit überall dort auswirkte, wo es Anhänger des tibetischen Buddhismus gab. Schädlich, weil es gegen die grundlegendsten buddhistischen Prinzipien verstößt.

Buddha oder Dämon?

In den letzten 25 Jahren tobten Debatten zwischen Shugden-Buddhisten, die Dorje Shugden als eine Emanation des Weisheits-Buddhas Manjushri betrachten, und denen, die sich dieser Praxis widersetzen. Kritiker argumentierten, dass die Gottheit ein Dämon war, der aus dem Tod eines Mönchs mit gebrochenen Gelübden entstand.

Viele waren gefangen in einem erstaunlichen Netz von Argumenten, die willkürlich von Pseudo-Intellektuellen, selbsternannten Experten des tibetischen Buddhismus und Schmeichlern gesponnen wurden, die das wirkliche oder vollständige Bild nicht sehen konnten.

Tatsächlich ist es ein einfaches Thema.

Aus der Perspektive einer konstitutionellen Demokratie, die der CTA vorgibt zu sein, ist die Verfolgung der Shugden-Buddhisten rechtswidrig und eine Verletzung der Menschenrechte. Einfach ausgedrückt ist es nicht die Aufgabe einer demokratischen Regierung zu entscheiden, welche Religion legitim ist und welche nicht. Es ist die Aufgabe der Regierung, die Religionsfreiheit zu garantieren, was der CTA unterlassen hat.

Allen Shugden-Anbetern wurde der Lebensunterhalt verweigert. Sogar die Mönche wurden nicht verschont. Hier wird der berüchtigte Vorfall mit dem „gelben Stock“ gezeigt, bei dem Mönche gezwungen wurden, ihre Praxis von Dorje Shugden aufzugeben oder aus dem Kloster ausgewiesen zu werden.

Und nun hat der Dalai Lama aus der Perspektive der buddhistischen Religion klargestellt, dass wer auch immer Dorje Shugden ist, nicht von Belang sein sollte, wenn Sie ein wahrer Praktizierender des Buddhadharma sind. Tatsächlich betonte der Dalai Lama dass es in der Bodhicitta-Praxis sogar die Verpflichtung gibt, alle Wesen als “wichtige Gäste” zu betrachten.

Das Argument ist noch einfacher, wenn man es aus der Perspektive des gesunden Menschenverstandes betrachtet. Wenn man nicht an die Heiligkeit von Dorje Shugden glaubt, kann man sich einfach dafür entscheiden, nicht zu dieser Gottheit zu beten. Mit dieser einfachen Logik ist die Welt mit ihren unzähligen Religionen und Glaubensrichtungen in einem relativ friedlichen Zustand geblieben.

Es gab nie eine angemessene Rechtfertigung Shugden-Buddhisten überhaupt zu verfolgen. Diejenigen, die auf der Grundlage von „weil der Dalai Lama es gesagt hat“ gegen Dorje Shugden zu den Waffen gegriffen haben, sollten jetzt damit aufhören, Shugden-Buddhisten zu tyrannisieren, weil der Dalai Lama dies tatsächlich gesagt hat.

Ist das das Ende des Shugden-Verbots?

Leider ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass dies der Fall ist.

Selbst heute, nachdem der Dalai Lama ganz klar gesagt hat, dass es falsch ist, Dorje Shugden zu diskriminieren, gibt es auf der offiziellen Webseite des CTAs immer noch einen Bereich, der Hass gegen die Dorje Shugden Menschen schürt. Klicken um zu vergrößern.

Die absurde Argumentation und das Verhalten des CTAs zur Unterstützung eines rechtswidrigen religiösen Verbots haben den CTA unter gebildeten Tibetern und globalen politischen Beobachtern zum Gespött gemacht. Sie sehen, dass sich hinter der demokratischen und progressiven Fassade des CTAs eine veraltete Verwaltung verbirgt, die immer noch auf Fabeln und Aberglauben zurückgreift, anstatt bei der Regierungsführung gesunden Menschenverstand anzuwenden.

Während es der Dalai Lama war, der das Verbot der Praxis von Dorje Shugden initiierte, dienten die Unruhen den CTA-Beamten gut. Es war viel einfacher, weiterhin Hass gegen Dorje Shugden zu schüren, als sich um dringende Angelegenheiten zu kümmern, wie etwa die adäquate Versorgung einer schwindenden tibetischen Exilbevölkerung oder den Versuch, China in einen sinnvollen Dialog zu verwickeln. Das wäre eine klügere Strategie gewesen, als sich die CTA als Schachfiguren zu missbrauchen, um Chinas Aufstieg einzudämmen. Leider waren es Lobsang Sangays vorherrschende Aufgaben während seiner Amtszeit als Präsident der CTA, Anti-Shugden-Stimmung zu provozieren, China zu verärgern und sich mit Penpa Tsering an politischer Hinterlist zu beteiligen.

Die CTA machte es zu einer Strategie, Feindseligkeit gegenüber Dorje Shugden zu fördern, und ihr wurde das gleiche, wenn nicht sogar mehr Gewicht beigemessen als der tibetischen Sache. Als jedoch der Dalai Lama die Praxis von Dorje Shugden als Geburts-Gottheit oder Land-Gottheit befürwortete, fühlte sich die CTA unter Druck gesetzt, diesen bedeutenden Zusammenhang zu entfernen. Klicken um zu vergrößern.

Als jedoch der Dalai Lama die Praxis von Dorje Shugden als eine Geburts-Gottheit oder Land-Gottheit befürwortete, geriet die CTA unter Druck ein prominentes Banner von ihrer offiziellen Webseite zu entfernen. Dieses Banner führte zu einer Seite, die das tibetische Volk, Regierungsbüros, lokale Unternehmen und Unterstützer der tibetischen Sache ermutigen sollte, die Hexenjagd gegen Shugden-Buddhisten fortzusetzen. Diese Seite ist heute noch vorhanden, wenn auch nicht mehr so auffällig. Und das Mobbing von Shugden-Buddhisten hält weltweit an, wobei die Unterstützer denken, dass ein solches Verhalten vom Dalai Lama sanktioniert wird.

Ob die CTA diese giftige Anti-Shugden-Seite insgesamt entfernt, ist jetzt ein wichtiges Barometer dafür, wie sehr sie den Dalai Lama wirklich verehren. Es wäre ein Widerspruch für den Dalai Lama, Mitgefühl für die Dorje Shugden Anhänger zu empfehlen, während die CTA heimlich weiterhin die anhaltende Verfolgung fördert.

Wie gut werden die CTA und das tibetische Volk diese neue Richtlinie des Dalai Lamas zu Dorje Shugden aufnehmen? Es ist schwer zu sagen. Ein besorgniserregender Hinweis liegt in der Art und Weise, wie der tibetische Übersetzer den Teil der Lehre des Dalai Lama komplett weggelassen hat, als er sagte:

„Ich habe ein Shugden-Verbot durchgesetzt. Aber wenn ich jetzt über [Shantidevas erste Strophe] nachdenke, ist er einfach jemand, den wir lieben müssen, jemand, mit dem wir bedingungslos liebevolle Güte und Mitgefühl praktizieren sollten. Wenn ich mich von ihm distanziere und einige winzige Gründe anführe wie „er ist jemand, der die Lehren verletzt“; dies ist höchstwahrscheinlich ein Fehler.

Es ist ein schwerwiegendes Versäumnis, weil nicht-tibetisch sprechende Personen haben den Teil übersehen, in dem der Dalai Lama klar anspielte, dass das Verbot von Dorje Shugden ein Fehler war. Die Frage ist, war es eine bewusste Unterlassung?

VIDEO: Der englische Übersetzer hat den Rat des Dalai Lamas zu Dorje Shugden ausgelassen (2. Juni 2021)

Mit der tibetischen Führung und ihrer Clique ist alles möglich und wir haben immer wieder gesehen, wie geschickt und manipulativ sie sein können. Ein treffendes Beispiel dafür findet gerade statt.

Während der Dalai Lama Mitgefühl für alle fühlenden Wesen, einschließlich der Dorje Shugden-Anhänger, predigt, hat die CTA den Shugden-Klöstern die Unterstützung bei der Beschaffung dringend benötigter COVID-Impfstoffe für die Mönche verweigert. Hinter all der Mitgefühlsrhetorik hat sich also nicht viel geändert. Die CTA ist in ihrer Verfolgung derer, die sie als Feinde bezeichnen, nur noch besser und subtiler geworden. Und dies geschieht zu einer Zeit, in der die Regierungen der Welt die Notwendigkeit erkannt haben, alle Differenzen beiseite zu legen, um eine Pandemie zu bekämpfen, die die gesamte Menschheit bedroht. Aber nicht die CTA.

Und was nun?

Die Absicht des Dalai Lamas, den Shugden-Konflikt zu beenden, ist deutlich. Er wählte Saka Dawa aus, um seine neue Haltung zum Thema Shugden zu erörtern. Es war eine Gelegenheit, bei der der Dalai Lama wusste, dass er zu genau den Leuten sprechen würde, die diesem vergifteten Kapitel der modernen tibetisch-buddhistischen Geschichte ein Ende setzen könnten – dem Gaden Tripa, dem Sharpa Choje und anderen hochrangigen Mönchen und Regierungsbeamten. Und um sicherzugehen, dass seine Botschaft eindeutig ankam, wiederholte der Dalai Lama in seinen Lehren vom 2. Juni 2021 seine Absicht, die Shugden-Verfolgung zu beenden, und er räumte diesmal ein, dass es falsch war, Dorje Shugden diskriminiert zu haben.

Während der Belehrungen wandte sich der Dalai Lama an bedeutende Meister, darunter (von links oben im Uhrzeigersinn): Seine Heiligkeit Gaden Tri Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin, S.E. Sharpa Choje Rinpoche Lobsang Dorje, S.E. Gyuto Khenpo Gangkar Rinpoche und S.E. Jampa Choje Gosog Rinpoche Ngawang Sungrab Gelek.

Verständlicherweise ist es für die tibetische Führung schwierig, ein religiöses Verbot, das sie nicht offen anerkennen können, abrupt aufzuheben. Und es würde einige Zeit dauern, um eine über ein Viertel-Jahrhundert kultivierte kollektive Psyche zu ändern. Aber der Rat des Dalai Lamas lautet eindeutig, genau das zu tun. Und alle Tibeter, Shugden- und Nicht-Shugden-Leute, haben den Dalai Lama immer in ihrem Herzen getragen.

Daher ist es vielleicht für jedermann das klügste, unabhängig davon, auf welcher Seite der jetzt nicht mehr existierenden Kluft sie stehen, vorwärts zu gehen. Diejenigen, die Opfer dieser dunklen Zeit in der tibetischen Exilgeschichte wurden, müssen die Vergangenheit nicht noch einmal durchleben, und diejenigen, die sich aus „winzigen Gründen“ (wie der Dalai Lama es ausdrückte) gezwungen sahen, die schwere Last zu tragen andere tibetische Buddhisten zu hassen, können diese bedrückende Last endlich fallen lassen.

Der neue CTA-Präsident Penpa Tsering hat nun die einmalige Gelegenheit, einen hässlichen Fehler formell auszulöschen und die Menschen wieder zusammenzubringen. Es wäre ein schwerer Fehltritt für Penpa Tsering, dem fatalen Vermächtnis seines Vorgängers von Menschenrechtsverletzungen zu folgen. Schließlich ist die dunkle Phase der CTA-Politik, in der das politische Überleben es erforderte, in der Shugden-Frage zu spuren, jetzt vorbei.

Wir hoffen im Interesse aller Tibeter und aller tibetischen Buddhisten, dass die Worte des Dalai Lamas beachtet werden. In Erinnerung an die jüngsten Lehren des Dalai Lamas, mögen alle Wesen als kostbare Gäste zur Sugataschaft eingeladen werden und mögen wir für das Glück aller Lebewesen handeln.

Videos in Chinesischer Sprache [中文视频]

达赖喇嘛《三主要道》的开示

达赖喇嘛《证道歌》的开示

Video mit Mongolischen Untertiteln

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.
 

By: Shashi Kei

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

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

After the flop, now the flip

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But that wasn’t all.

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

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

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

Skilfully undoing a mistake

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

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

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

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

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

Buddha or demon?

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

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

In fact, it is simple enough a subject.

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

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

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

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

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

Is this the end of the Shugden ban?

Sadly, it is unlikely to be the case.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

So what now?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Videos in Chinese [中文视频]

达赖喇嘛《三主要道》的开示

达赖喇嘛《证道歌》的开示

Video with Mongolian subtitle

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

By: Shashi Kei

The Dorje Shugden conflict remains one of the most polarizing issues in Tibetan Buddhism today. The Tibetan leadership has claimed that Shugden practice is an instrument of the Communist government of China, that the Dorje Shugden lineage is devoid of spiritual legitimacy, and indeed nothing more than the work of extreme and exclusivist quarters within the Gelugpa sect.

Throughout the world, Tibetan Buddhist communities have been coerced to pick a side in the Shugden divide. But a fair and educated choice is rarely possible. To disagree with the 14^th Dalai Lama is to be regarded instantly as being anti-Dalai Lama, anti-Buddhism, anti-democracy and therefore pro-Communist China.

As has become standard operating procedure, the Tibetan leadership relies on Dalai Lama sycophants who operate within targeted Buddhist communities to push the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) political agenda. These agendas are often disguised as examination of certain Buddhist beliefs and doctrines.

Within Mongolian communities today, there is again renewed agitations to support the Dalai Lama’s narrative on the Shugden issue. This time, the provocations come from a Mongolian man by the name of Tsend-Ayush Batmunkh who runs a Facebook account under the nickname ‘Hunnu Mongol’. There is in fact nothing fresh in Hunnu Mongol’s charges against Dorje Shugden except to regurgitate the Tibetan leadership’s vitriol, aimed at dislodging the people from their faith in Dorje Shugden, and incite hatred against Shugden followers and China.

The Hunnu Mongol Facebook account is run by a Mongolian man named Tsend-Ayush Batmunkh. Click to enlarge

For the Mongolian people, the stakes are high. To begin with, it is vital for the Mongolian nation to maintain good relations with a powerful China. The last time Mongolia fell into Dharamsala’s trap, it took some repairing to normalize ties with a powerful ally. But looking beyond political common sense, the Mongolian people also have established historic ties with the lineage of Dorje Shugden that if ruptured, would undermine Mongolia’s Buddhist heritage.

Simply put, Hunnu Mongol wants the Mongolian people to believe that there is no legitimacy to the Dorje Shugden lineage. In this, Hunnu Mongol is being mischievous because Mongolian archives brim with evidence of the close relationship between the Dorje Shugden lineage, the spread of Buddhism in Mongolia and the social development of the people.

One doesn’t have to be a Buddhist scholar to recognize this close relationship.

Letter from the International Tibetan Shugden Community (English)

The incendiary antics of Hunnu Mongol has caught the attention of Shugden Buddhists who continue to suffer this CTA-sponsored religious persecution. The irony is that the Tibetan exile government that claims to be fighting for democracy should be stifling religious freedom. Click to enlarge.

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Letter from the International Tibetan Shugden Community (Mongolian)

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The Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Khutuktus

The Jetsun Dhampa Khutuktus are the highest and most esteemed lamas in Mongolia. They are regarded as Bogd Gegeen or supreme spiritual authorities. There is no question of the Jetsun Dhampas’ enlightened nature which is no less than that of the Dalai Lamas.

The first Jetsun Dhampa Khutuktu, Zanabazar who was the spiritual mentor of Emperor Kangxi, a reincarnation of Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen, based on an old prophesy by Panchen Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen.

1. The 1^st Jetsun Dhampa, Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar, was recognized as the reincarnation of the great Jonang Jetsun Taranatha. Zanabazar advanced Gelug Buddhism within Mongolia for over 60 years and was well known to have sought close ties with the Qing Emperor Kangxi. So close was the relationship between the first Jetsun Dhampa with Emperor Kangxi that when he heard of the passing of Kangxi, he immediately travelled to Beijing to conduct the customary Buddhist rites for the great emperor.
    
   According to an old prophecy by Panchen Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen, Emperor Kangxi was the reincarnation of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen who arose as Dorje Shugden. This record is contained in the works of the Mongolian scholar, the most esteemed master, Lobsang Tamdin who gained the reputation of being extremely fastidious in tracing transmissions of Buddhist lineages in order to validate their authenticity.
    
   It was with Kangxi’s support that the first Jetsun Dhampa brought an end to vicious fighting between Dzungar-Qirat Mongols and Khalkha Mongols. The tension between the Dzungar-Qirat and the Khalkha Mongols started because the Qirat warlord Galdan Khan was offended that Zanabazar’s throne was placed at the same height as the throne of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s representative during a religious ceremony. (Mongolia and the Mongols, A M Pozdneev, 1971)
Even then, there were already attempts to reduce Mongolian spiritual authority and render it lesser than that of the Dalai Lamas.
2. The 4^th Jetsun Dhampa Luvsantüvdenvanchug’s era coincided with the spread of Dorje Shugden practice amongst Mongolian Gelugpas. He was recorded as being the first Mongolian to compose propitiation texts to Dorje Shugden. These include a torma offering prayer which supplicates the Dharma Protector to assist in the spread of the Dharma.
   

   OM! Magnificent Buddha of Shambhala,
   Ruler of the three worlds with a brilliant red face,
   Protectors of the most scholarly beings of Loseling,
   Including Dorje Shugden, please come here!

   I offer to you pleasing samaya substances which create harmony,
   Huge palaces, red tormas and white tormas,
   A mountain of flesh and an ocean-wide pile of bones
   And all the objects of desires.


   As you pleasingly and happily partake in these offerings,
   May it cause the increase of study, listening, contemplation and all virtues of theory and practice.
   I request you: Please increase conducive conditions and remove hostile circumstances,
   Guide us as we walk this path of wisdom and compassion.
   Please grant auspiciousness for all Sangha who uphold the three trainings!

   The 4^th Jetsun Dhampa was also a great master of the Kalachakra Tantra and it was he who first alluded to Shambhala being an abode of Dorje Shugden. Shambhala of course is central to the Kalachakra Tantra. It would be absurd to suggest that the Chakravartins or Enlightened Kings of Shambhala would share their abode with a minor demon. And yet that would be the only conclusion to arrive at if one were to believe the accounts served by anti-Dorje Shugden agitators such as Hunnu Mongol.

   Like the 1^st Jetsun Dhampa Zanabazar, the 4^th Jetsun Dhampa’s holy body was enshrined in an important Mongolian monastery, Amarbayasgalant, after his parinirvana. It is not surprising given Dorje Shugden’s historic stature that this deity is also one of the Dharma Protectors of this important Mongolian monastery.

3. The relationship between the Jetsun Dhampa Khutuktus and Dorje Shugden continued with the 8th Jetsun Dhampa Agvaanluvsanchoyjindanzanvaanchigbalsambuu. He would frequently consult the State Oracle, Choijin Lama Luvsankhaidav, who was also his brother. For divine proclamations and guidance, Choijin Lama would take trance of either Nechung, Tsiu Marpo or Dorje Shugden. This itself is evidence that Dorje Shugden was worshipped and well trusted by Mongolian Buddhist authorities. Furthermore, the 9^th Jetsun Dhampa Jambalnamdolchoyjijantsan was a devout student of H.H the 10^th Panchen Lama, H.H. Trijang Dorje Chang and H.H. Ling Dorje Chang, all of whom were the greatest masters of their time who worshipped Dorje Shugden.

Amarbayasgalant, one of Mongolia’s most important temples. Dorje Shugden is the main Dharma Protectors of this temple together with Setew, and Lkham.

Zaya Pandita

Zaya (Jaya) Pandita, who is without question a foundation of Mongolian Buddhism. Zaya Pandita saw the importance of preserving the legacy of his teacher, Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and his arisal as Dorje Shugden.

It is through the eyes of the renowned Mongolian scholar Zaya Pandita Luvsanprinlei that we see how the Mongolian people historically regarded Dorje Shugden before Dharamsala poisoned the well. Zaya Pandita was a descendant of the great Genghis Khan and commanded a well-respected position amongst Mongolians.

A contemporary of the 1^st Jetsun Dhampa Khutuktu, Zaya Pandita was a disciple of the most prominent Tibetan Buddhist lamas of the time — the 4^th Panchen lama, the 5^th Dalai Lama and Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. This accorded Zaya Pandita with first-hand opportunity to personally witness the events surrounding the murder of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and the fierce efforts to strike his name from the annals of Tibetan Buddhist history.

Zaya Pandita recognized the great importance of preserving the life story and spiritual heritage of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen whom he regarded to be the holiest of beings. And towards that end, he composed Clear Mirror: A Records of Teachings Received (thob yig gsal ba’i me long).

Zaya Pandita’s writings are key to a recent dissertation by Dr Matthew W. King, Associate Professor of Transnational Buddhism and Chair of Asian Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, UCal. In his paper, Binding Buddhas and Demons to Text: The Mongol Invention of the Dorjé Shukden and Trülku Drakpa Gyeltsen Literary Corpus (1913 – 1919), Dr. King concludes that Mongolian spiritual history does not in fact support anti-Dorje Shugden narratives.

Excerpt from the paper “Binding Buddhas and Demons to Text: The Mongol Invention of the Dorjé Shukden and Trülku Drakpa Gyeltsen Literary Corpus (1913 – 1919)” by Dr Matthew W. King, Associate Professor of Transnational Buddhism and Chair of Asian Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, UCal. Click to enlarge or click here to download the complete PDF.

On the contrary, the Dorje Shugden practice was thriving in Mongolia about a hundred years before H.H. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo was accused of roguishly sparking the propagation of the Shugden practice, which Dharamsala today views to be fundamentalist and violent.

Dr. King observed that Dorje Shugden was regarded as:
…the wellspring of abundances of [Mongolian] scholastic and political life.

And in addition, that Shugden was:
…very much included within [the] ranks of enlightened beings who helped fashion the Qing-Geluk world.

Other Great Mongolian Masters

Besides Zaya Pandita, the same paper by Dr King evinces historic Mongolian worship of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen as an enlightened monk and later in his form as the Protector Dorje Shugden. This worship was not of a casual kind by ordinary Mongolian Buddhists but by the spiritual heavyweights of the time.

Dr King cites the great Mongolian mahasiddha Zava Lam Damdin, who compiled Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s collected works and assembled the Dorje Shugden be-bum. Zava Lam Damdin was a master of such high caliber that he had very close ties with the 13^th Dalai Lama, and his writings including the Ninj Chimbiin Dodv and Khorchoenjun are regarded by the 14^th Dalai Lama to be important reference texts.

Zava Lam Damdin, a Mongolian Mahasiddha whose birthday is celebrated annually as an Mongolian Buddhist event, and was a key proponent of the Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and Dorje Shugden lineage.

In the Collected Writings of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen, Discovered in the Innermost Recesses of Dzaya Pandita’s Library and Newly Complied Under the Title Flower Earrings, Zava Lam Damdin composed a praise to Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen beseeching him to act on behalf of the Buddha’s teachings and sentient beings in his current form as Dorje Shugden.

Zava Lam Damdin was not alone in his zest to preserve Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s legacy.

Another Lama, Darva Pandita Agwangchoijurdondubbalsang facilitated Zava Lam Damdin’s Dorje Shugden related works by financing it, urged on by Zava Lam Damdin’s lama, Minjüürdorj.

In the meantime, Zava Lam Damdin sought transmission of Dorje Shugden rituals from Nyongne Tulku as a Khalkha narrative of Dorje Shugden as an enlightened being evolved beyond Tibetan control.

Dharamsala has claimed that the Dorje Shugden practice is the invention of an extreme and fanatical faction of the Gelug lineage. However, based on historical facts, it is clear that if there had been any invention, then that invention lies with the Tibetan leadership who has usurped a holy and legitimate Mongolian practice and turned it into an ideological weapon to serve a political objective.

Will Mongolians deny their own spiritual heritage?

While incitements such as that by Hunnu Mongol are based on absurdities, they nevertheless have the potential to undermine the foundations of Mongolian Buddhism. To believe Hunnu Mongol, the Mongolian people would essentially have to disown their own rich history.

1. The Mongolian people would have to denounce both the great saint Sakya Pandita and their own Godan Khan. Mongolian texts speak of how Godan Khan invited the founder of the Sakya lineage, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo to spread the Dharma in Mongolia but he was unable to fulfil that request.
    
   It was Sachen’s nephew, Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen who agreed to journey to Mongolia. There, he created the first Mongolian alphabet which allowed many precious Buddhist texts to be translated into Mongolian and paved the way for Buddhism to spread in the Mongolian steppes.
    
   Sakya Pandita was of course one of the past incarnations of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden.
2. The Mongolian people would have to denounce Panchen Sonam Drakpa, another past incarnation of Dorje Shugden. It was the great Panchen Sonam Drakpa who recognized the first Mongolian, the great grandson of Altan Khan, to be the rightful 4^th Dalai Lama. That, without doubt bestowed tremendous prestige upon the institution of Mongolian Buddhism.
3. The Mongolian people would have to denounce the Jetsun Dhampa Khutuktu line of incarnations because the first, fourth and eighth Jetsun Dhampas were so closely connected with Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s lineage.
4. The Mongolian people would have to wipe out the legacy of Zaya Pandita, an undoubted fountainhead of Mongolian Buddhist scholasticism. It was Zaya Pandita after all who kept Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s legacy from disappearing from the face of the earth.
5. The Mongolian people would have to turn their backs on the Zava Lam Damdin line, both the past incarnation and the present Zava Damdin Rinpoche who are pillars of Mongolian Buddhism in the past and today.

Sogphu Rinpoche who is also known as Guru Deva Rinpoche, was vital in the reconstruction of the institution Tibetan Buddhism in India and Mongolia. He was a devout practitioner of Dorje Shugden.

6. The Mongolian people would have to deny Lama Lobsang Tamdin’s great works and his tremendous contribution to Mongolian Buddhism. Lobsang Tamdin authored key texts for the propitiation of Dorje Shugden and perpetuated the belief that Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen’s line of incarnations are emanations of Manjushri.
7. Lastly, the Mongolian people would have to turn their backs on Guru Deva Rinpoche, also known as Sogpu Rinpoche. Sogpu Rinpoche was recognized as an incarnation of one of the 84 Mahasiddhas and was extremely significant in the rebuilding of the Dalai Lama’s palace in India, the reconstruction of the three great Gelugpa monasteries of Ganden, Sera and Drepung in India, and also the restoration of temples and monk quarters in Mongolia after Buddhism was revived in the early 1990s.

All these great saints, enlightened beings and living pillars of Buddhism are precisely what the Mongolian people will need to rely on as they rebuild their nation and place it on strong grounds. And yet these pillars are precisely what Hunnu Mongol is indirectly asking the people to disown. Hunnu Mongol has very little at stake. He lives in Chicago, a very safe distance from the hostilities and tensions he is inciting. Therefore the Mongolian people owe it to themselves and to future generations to look beyond rhetoric and propaganda, and see the truth with clear eyes.

The ageing 14th Dalai Lama’s popularity is waning, internationally and within his own community.

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.
 

By: Shashi Kei

In Tibetan folklore, Chenrezig the Buddha of Compassion (Skt.: Avalokiteshvara), is regarded as the main progenitor of the Tibetan people. Naturally, that places the deity, Chenrezig, in a very special position in the Tibetan psyche. And so, when the Dalai Lamas were presented to the Tibetan people to be earthly manifestations of Chenrezig, they instantly commanded unparalleled reverence. It was considered ungodly and a serious spiritual violation not to live in complete worship of the Dalai Lama. It was also treasonous not to comply fully with his proclamations, official or unofficial, which were taken to be the highest laws governing the lives of the Tibetan people.

Of all the Dalai Lamas, the 14^th is considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest. Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (which means ‘Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Supreme Compassion, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom’) assumed complete control over the Tibetan nation in November 1950. For the last 60 years the 14^th Dalai Lama has been the singular embodiment of the Tibetan people’s presence in the world. He is a living representation of the Tibetan people’s culture, language, customs, and religion. In exile, the Dalai Lama has been the most significant emblem of the people’s hope for freedom and indeed the very pulse and breath of all things Tibetan.


Reverence for the Dalai Lama was not an exclusively Tibetan affair. The Dalai Lama commanded the world stage after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, becoming the global symbol for peace and love. That fame and rising popularity meant that the Tibetan leader also became useful to Western nations, in their efforts to curb China’s rise to power.

Sadly there are clear signs that the preeminence of the 14^th Dalai Lama has outlived its day.

China’s importance to global trade and individual economies of nations mean that ultimately, the world’s governments are better off fostering good relations with China. After all as William Clay, an American politician observed, in politics there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interests. As China’s economic rise commanded interest, it is not surprising that the Dalai Lama’s position on the world stage has diminished. In recent years meeting with the Dalai Lama has become the kiss of death insofar as maintaining good relations with China is concerned.



But it is the Dalai Lama’s declining esteem amongst his own people, the Tibetans, that is most indicative of his waning appeal. On the face of it, the Tibetan people’s adoration of the Dalai Lama has not lost any of its shine. However, a recent incident tells a different story.

Fake statement purportedly issued by the Dalai Lama’s Office. Click to enlarge.

This incident refers to a September 22, 2020 statement, purportedly made by the Dalai Lama on his letterhead and bearing his official seal. In brief it directed the Tibetan people to support a Sikyong candidate in the upcoming Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) elections, who is aligned with the agenda of the current President (Sikyong), Lobsang Sangay.

The Office of the Dalai Lama promptly declared the statement to be fake. Interestingly, this is not the first time the Office of the Dalai Lama has had to dispel fake statements supposedly made by the Dalai Lama. Earlier in March 2020, the Dalai Lama’s Office dismissed a social media post allegedly made by the spiritual leader, claiming to have an effective treatment for COVID-19. The ‘treatment’ being to recite a certain mantra and drinking black tea. It is mockery of the Dalai Lama, of course.

The September fake statement which went viral on social media had a clear objective — to use the Dalai Lama as leverage for certain parties to gain an upper hand in Tibetan politics. What is surprising is the brazenness with which the Dalai Lama’s name was used, which signals that the institution of the Dalai Lama is no longer held sacred as before. Instead, it has become fair game to be deployed as a tool in statecraft and political machinations.

This situation would have been unheard of in the recent past. By spiritual tradition, the Tibetans believe the mere utterance of a high lama’s name to be an act of deification. It would have been unacceptable to even consider using Chenrezig’s emanation in this mundane manner.

As unfortunate as the situation may seem, the Tibetan leadership, and in fact, the Dalai Lama himself, have played significant contributory roles in the disintegration of his stature.

Shanty towns in India that the Tibetans call home. There has been negligible meaningful support given by the CTA to the Tibetans in exile to build a proper future.

To begin with, the architect(s) of the fake letter worked on the presumption that such a ploy might actually work, that the Tibetan people might actually believe that the Dalai Lama would instruct them to forego their democratic right to choose a candidate they trust in, and instead do as they are told.

There is in fact, basis for such presumption because the Dalai Lama has habitually involved himself in both domestic and worldly political affairs, despite declaring that he had relinquished all secular powers and ‘retired’ from politics in 2011. History has recorded occasions when the Dalai Lama overtly flouted the Tibetan Constitution which he himself promulgated, when it suited his agenda. In addition, at various points throughout the Tibetan people’s 60 years in exile, the Dalai Lama who belongs to the Gelug school, has not been shy to exert himself on the spiritual affairs of the other Tibetan Buddhist schools where he has no authority, apart from being the most famous Tibetan monk. The Dalai Lama has also been known to have bullied (even to the extent of imprisoning) religious leaders of other Tibetan schools only to release them after they have bowed to his will. He has even gone on record to instruct the Tibetan people to regard followers of a certain religion to be enemies of the state.

In other words, it would not be out of character for the Dalai Lama to seek to influence the outcome of a supposedly democratic election. It has become common knowledge that behind the media-savvy appearance of “a simple Buddhist monk” the 14^th Dalai Lama is interventionist by character, highly divisive and extremely political.

However, being political does not on its own necessarily diminish one’s status in the eyes of the people. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were impassioned political agitators. Both had their fair share of critics and even enemies. Yet, both were able to command overwhelming devotion and the respect of their respective communities and the world populace.

The difference between Gandhi, Mandela and the Dalai Lama is that Gandhi and Mandela delivered on their promises to the people whereas the Dalai Lama failed. Gandhi and Mandela were able to demonstrate their care and devotion for the people who formed their power bases. And again, this is where the Dalai Lama and his government failed. This failure can in large part be attributed to the Tibetan government-in-exile’s ineptitude and self-serving culture.

Generations of Tibetans have aged and passed on while waiting for the Dalai Lama’s government to deliver on their countless promises.

From its formation, the Tibetan government-in-exile enjoyed global moral and political support. Untold millions of financial aid poured in as the world rallied to its cause. This went on for decades but the Dalai Lama’s government squandered it all away. It wasted countless opportunities to engage China in meaningful dialogue and watched as a weak China pulled herself out of a disastrous post-Mao era to become an economic juggernaut. It is also unknown where all the money that poured in under various vague auspices of ‘Tibetan aid’ actually ended up.

The Tibetan leadership’s lackadaisical attitude towards the Tibetan people can be seen in the way they have casually reneged on their many promises to return them to the homeland. It is a given that the CTA is up against a very powerful nemesis. But the unkindest blow to the Tibetan people was not inflicted by their common enemy but by their own government. And that blow was to neglect to provide for those who followed their beloved god-king into exile, despite having received hundreds of millions of dollars over the decades.

From 1959 up until 2008, waves of Tibetans made their way out of the Tibetan plateau to be with the Dalai Lama. These Tibetans lived predominantly in squalid settlement camps believing that the Dalai Lama would soon return them as rightful citizens of Tibet. At its peak, it is estimated that up to 128,000 Tibetans readily gave up their homes in Tibet choosing instead to be near the Dalai Lama. However, it soon became obvious that not only was the Tibetan Cause a pipe dream but the Tibetan leadership had not even planned adequately to provide for those who had followed the Dalai Lama into statelessness.

Dhardhon Sharling, the ex-Head of the CTA’s Department of Information and International Relations, who abandoned the Tibetan Cause, choosing instead to move to the United States to start a new life.

Today, while the CTA claims that over 150,000 Tibetans remain with the Dalai Lama in exile, the reality is, only an estimate of 85,000 still live in various Tibetan settlements in India. Most remain there because they are trapped in a state of flux, neither equipped by the Tibetan leadership to build a proper future in exile, nor able to secure the necessary papers to travel abroad to greener pastures.

The successful Tibetans in the diaspora are those from the aristocratic stock who were somehow able to move their wealth out of Tibet. Otherwise they are the Tibetans who were wise enough to realize that they could not depend on their government, and left the settlements to seek citizenship and a new life in other parts of the world. A number have even opted to return to the Tibet Autonomous Region under China’s governance.

Simply put, the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile failed its people miserably. As a result, loyalty to the Tibetan Cause is no longer deemed by the Tibetan people to be acceptable currency to get by with. Nor are the CTA’s ongoing promises acceptable as collateral. And as we have seen, neither is adoration of the Dalai Lama suitable prize for the Tibetan people to stake their livelihood and future against.

The Tibetan leaders assumed that centuries of serfdom would have imbued the Tibetan psyche sufficiently to enable them to command endless servitude. It did for a long time until the Tibetan people saw and experienced for themselves what it meant to live as free people. They realized very quickly once they were exposed to the world, that they could sooner achieve this freedom without the traditional shackles and without having to subject themselves to the archaic ways of the Tibetan leadership.

The Tibetan people pay lip service to the struggle for freedom but most have abandoned the cause in reality, relegating the sentiment to an annual show of patriotism, whilst moving on with their new lives overseas.

For all intents and purposes, the Tibetan cause is past its ‘use by’ date. Today, which Tibetan in his or her right mind would give up a free, stable, prosperous and self-sufficient life in Canada, or Australia, or Switzerland or France, or the United States to return to Tibet with the Dalai Lama, assuming the Tibetan leadership somehow regains the country? Which Tibetan parent would yank their third-generation-in-exile children from good education and a promising future and repatriate them to what is essentially a foreign country in the Himalayan plateau? Which parent would deny their children freedom under real democratic governments, choosing instead to subject them to life under an ageing theocrat, supported by a corrupt and inept ‘government’ that has proven incapable of providing for 68,000 people?

Today as the world grapples with the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, and refugee crises triggered by conflicts in Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia dominate headlines, and nations of the world enter a period of great uncertainty, the Tibetan Cause has become irrelevant. Similarly the Dalai Lama is fast losing relevance even to the Tibetan people.

What dominates the Tibetan-in-exile landscape today is internal politics and bickering, corruption and scandals. No official of the CTA seems to sincerely believe in the possibility of regaining the country. And hence there have been no concerted efforts to re-engage China in dialogue. China’s reluctance to come to the table has provided a convenient alibi for the Tibetan politicians to do absolutely nothing.

But the business of running a government-in-exile is still a lucrative one. It is the only ‘government’ in the world that enjoys a constant stream of income from donations, grants and subsidies from the West, without having to produce anything apart from rhetoric and being a thorn in China’s side. It is a ‘government’ that is not required to establish a vibrant economy, provide public service, build infrastructure, protect its borders, maintain law and order, or administer a platform for its people to thrive on. It is the only ‘government’ that has zero accountability to its people, and the only ‘government’ that has willingly commodified its god-king, the Dalai Lama. Nothing spells the commodification of the Dalai Lama more than the fake statement. And so, the Tibetan leadership is ultimately their own worst enemy.

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.
 

By: Shashi Kei

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click to enlarge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Hate Crimes

When we consider how the earth’s resources are dwindling quickly, how wars have plagued mankind for centuries, how incurable diseases have become more virulent and how melting Arctic ice threatens to destroy vast habitable lands, we may begin to understand that there is more that binds human beings together than separates them. Humankind is fragile and increasingly so in such a dangerous climate, and there is now a desperate need for the people of the world to come together and try to turn things around. However, before we can even hope to fix the problems looming before us, there is one thing we must get command of – our mentality.

Everything we do is determined by our minds and thoughts, and therefore what shapes our thinking is something we must all watch, to ensure that it is the kind of thinking that leads to solving problems not creating new ones. There has never been a more important time in history to foster thoughts that promote solidarity and peace and the creation of an environment where reasoning, logic and rationality pervades. And the bedrock for this culture of reasoning and logic leading to peaceful coexistence, is ‘tolerance’.

Unfortunately, as progressive nations of the world gather to take steps that foster peaceful, inclusive societies, there are those who have chosen instead to cultivate extremism. One example of this is how the Russian people seem to have become more intolerant towards gays and lesbians. A recent news piece published by an online site for the LBGTI community reported that nearly half of Russians polled said that the Russian authorities should take steps to ‘exterminate the phenomenon’ of gay people in the community, meaning to say that the Russian authorities should persecute people with ‘untraditional’ sexual orientations. The same news report revealed that the percentage of people who did not care about other people’s sexual orientation has dropped from 10 years ago; and at the same time there is an increase in the percentage of those who regard members of the LBGTI community dangerous and should be isolated and dealt with.

An anti-gay activist disrupts a gay event in St. Petersburg

Corresponding to this report, there has been an increase in incidences of gay people being assaulted, beaten and even murdered at record rates. If anyone wonders how this ill-will towards the gay community has come about, the answer is very simple – it is state-sponsored. In 2013, Russian lawmakers proposed an anti-gay law that essentially strips same-sex couples of their parental rights in conjunction with a myriad of other draconian laws that essentially rob a gay person of his legal rights.

This is essentially a reversal of the decriminalization of homosexual relationships in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union, which saw Russia taking small but assured steps towards liberalization. That is, until the openly homophobic Vladimir Putin assumed the Russian presidency in 2000. It is no coincidence that in the 15 years that Putin has been in power, negative sentiments and hate-crimes against the LBGTI community have risen. Clearly a government does effectively shape the mentality of the community and can effectively influence it towards a culture of tolerance or intolerance.

But Putin is not the only perpetrator of hate crimes against people based on their sexual orientation, race, color, nationality or religion. We see the same vicious intolerance being practiced, ironically, by the government of a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the 14th Dalai Lama.

In 1996, for reasons that have never been adequately explained, the Dalai Lama all but outlawed the practice of Dorje Shugden, a Tibetan Buddhist deity held sacred by the majority of the Yellow Hat sect, the Gelugpas, to which the Dalai Lama is also an adherent. Following the Dalai Lama’s pronouncement, monks and laypeople who had kept up the monastic and familial tradition of propitiating Dorje Shugden for over three centuries, were forced to make the unenviable choice of either denouncing the deity as a demon or face expulsion from the monasteries and ostracization from the community. Neither was a palatable choice. To denounce a deity and abandon the practice bestowed onto the practitioner by his spiritual teacher is to commit karmic suicide. Neither can they as refugees live away from the settlements allocated them.

Soon after the Dalai Lama’s diktat, his ‘government’ the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) declared a jihad against Shugden Buddhists, stating amongst other things:

“…that the departments, their branches and subsidiaries, monasteries and their branches that are functioning under the administrative control of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile should be strictly instructed, in accordance with the rules and regulations, not to indulge in the propitiation of Shugden. We would like to clarify that if individual citizens propitiate Shugden, it will harm the common interest of Tibet, the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and strengthen the spirits that are against the religion.”

At the same time, the Cabinet of the CTA declared,

“…The inclination of this spirit is to harm, rather than benefit, the cause of Tibet. However, some people have continued to propitiate Dolgyal [derogatory name given to Dorje Shugden, meaning spirit], 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…”

In essence, the CTA had declared practitioners of a benign and compassionate deity to be enemies of the Tibetan people wishing their beloved Dalai Lama an early death. Both Putin and the Dalai Lama have clearly imposed their personal prejudices onto the people and forced their compliance. The difference is, the Dalai Lama’s CTA, as a beneficiary of asylum, is not regarded as a proper government and therefore does not possess the legal and administrative tools that it can bend to serve its will. The CTA does not have law enforcement forces nor penal facilities that it could use against Shugden worshipers. And so, it leveraged instead on the unquestioned authority of the Dalai Lama as the Tibetan people’s God-King to turn the people against the population of Shugden Buddhists that it had declared to be the enemy.

While Vladimir Putin persecutes Russians based on their sexual orientation, the 14th Dalai Lama attacks Shugden Buddhists for their beliefs

This strategy proved more effective than Putin’s in a few ways:

• First, it turned the populace of the Tibetan settlements into mobs that are free to do as they wish without having to remain within the confines of legality.
• Second, the CTA, by not having and therefore not using state-owned facilities to violently punish its victims, found itself outside the ambit of Amnesty International and other international human rights bodies who, by their governing charter, could only act on governments and regimes.

Hence, eventually when the Shugden community organized itself and filed a complaint to Amnesty International, AI responded by stating that whilst it had received large amounts of complaints, it could not act as the material it received did not “fall within AI’s mandate for action — such as grave violations of fundamental human rights including torture, the death penalty, extra-judicial executions, arbitrary detention or imprisonment, or unfair trials”. Clearly, for AI to intervene, state vehicles and systems need to have been involved but in the case of Shugden practitioners, the violence and persecutions took place in the streets and in homes, inflicted by Tibetans against their own, spurred on by their government. However, there is no question that it is the Dalai Lama’s war executed by his government declared on a segment of the Tibetan people because he dislikes of their choice of deity.

The sufferings of these victims cannot be underestimated as vigilante groups formed to conduct door-to-door searches for Shugden practitioners, smashing statues of the deity as they found them and punishing his worshippers. During the early days of the ban, a Tibetan parliamentarian who questioned the credibility of the reasons given for the ban was stabbed outside his home. Homes belonging to worshippers of this deity were padlocked from the outside, stoned and then set on fire. An octogenarian monk who served in the household of a prominent Dorje Shugden lama was attacked.

More recently, it was reported that a Tibetan man was attacked just for wearing a pendant with the image of Dorje Shugden. Private businesses denied service to those suspected to be Shugden worshippers and government hospitals forbade Shugden practitioners from entering to receive medical treatment. The CTA casually amended its constitution to block the appointment of Shugden practitioners into governmental positions. Anyone with Shugden practitioners in the family would similarly be denied employment in anything the CTA controlled.

This 84 year old monk was attacked for being a Dorje Shugden practitioner. These hate crimes follow the anti-Shugden sentiments promoted by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)

Just as Putin’s government likened homosexuality to alcoholism and drug addiction, CTA officials compared being a Shugden worshipper to disease.

When privately owned restaurants and stores carry signs that say the Dholgyal worshippers are not welcome, then that is the freedom of the owners. That is their Fundamental Human Rights. […] Let alone that, in the hospitals, people infected with contagious diseases are quarantined and not allowed to meet with other people.- Samdhong Rinpoche, former Prime Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration, 26 July 2014, India.

Soon, it was a crime even to have Shugden practitioners as friends. Later on, fearing that anti-Shugden hatred might lose traction, especially after the Dalai Lama was seen to be celebrating one birthday after another despite the “Dalai Lama-killing-Shugden-practice” prevailing, the CTA changed tack and claimed that Shugden practitioners were in fact paid ‘agents’ of the enemy Chinese government. That riled the Tibetan people even more and enrolled all those who had sympathized with the Tibetan people’s loss into anti-Shugden campaigns. How exactly a religious practice that preceded the Sino-Tibetan conflict by some three centuries can be equated to political activism has never been explained.

There are many similarities between Putin’s scorn of homosexuals and the Dalai Lama’s despise of Dorje Shugden practitioners. However, in many ways, the Dalai Lama’s campaign is far more sinister. Whilst it cannot be said that Putin introduced hatred against gay people into the Russian people’s minds, it CAN be said that the CTA planted the seeds of malignance towards Dorje Shugden worshippers in the minds of the Tibetan people, when there was none to begin with. This is, after all, a religion that had been practiced peacefully for 360 years without incident until the Dalai Lama decided that Dorje Shugden was a viable target for persecution. And worst of all, whilst it is clear that there are willful acts of violence and discrimination against worshippers of this deity, the language of the CTA’s official resolutions justify such criminality as acts of loyalty in defense of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause.

Both the Dalai Lama and CTA attempt to deny that Dorje Shugden practitioners are being systemically persecuted. Although the CTA has acknowledged that Shugden people are being harassed and discriminated against, the CTA contends that these are acts of individuals and not the policy of the government. If this is true, then it is surprising that the Dalai Lama, who has cultivated an image of peace and tolerance and has travelled the world advocating dialogue and acceptance of different religions, has not once spoken against the abuse and aggression directed at Shugden practitioners as a result of his government’s proclamations. On the contrary, he was heard congratulating monasteries that had wrongfully expelled monks simply because they were practitioners of the deity.

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Neither has the CTA intervened to mollify anti-Dorje Shugden sentiments. Instead they remain the only government in the world that has purposefully allocated space on their official website to publish anti-Dorje Shugden propaganda material.

There is yet another aspect to the Shugden persecutions. The Dalai Lama represents a valuable asset to both India and Western nations who are eager to curb the rising influence of China as a world economic power. So, whilst global human rights groups have voiced their concerns over the plight of the gay population in Russia, those who could have intervened to alleviate the suffering of Tibetan Shugden people have stayed mum over the tragedy. As the old adage goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The interests of these nations in such a high-stakes geopolitical play demands their complicity, and the misery of Dorje Shugden practitioners is dismissed as acceptable attrition. So it looks like we have to wait a while yet before we can (to paraphrase Martin Luther King) judge a person not by the color of his skin, or his race, nationality, sexual orientation or religion, but by the content of his character.

Meanwhile we continue to live in a world suffocated with farcicality, prejudice, bias, distortions, lies, deceptions, manipulations, short-sightedness, close-mindedness, righteousness and superficiality. So, what is it like to be a gay person living in Russia? Well, just like a Shugden Buddhist living under the Dalai Lama, it means to be silent, to be afraid, and to not expect the same rights that world wars have been fought to protect.

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.

Although the Tibetan President Lobsang Sangay proclaims democracy, in reality his actions are very much the contrary, as he upholds segregation and discrimination against a segment of the Tibetan populace based purely on their religious faith.

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.

By: Shashi Kei

How can you tell if a government is a good one?

Common sense would say that a good government carefully deliberates on issues that affect the people it represents and behaves responsibly to safeguard their rights and interests. It obeys its own laws and works to ensure that the state apparatus is free of prejudice and discrimination. A good government acts morally and is prepared to be held accountable for its actions and decisions.

Perhaps most importantly, the fruits of its actions are positive and beneficial. By the same logic, a government that does the opposite and brings harm to the community is not a good government.

The Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) based in Dharamsala, claims to be a good government that is guided by Buddhist principles. It insists that it is a far better alternative for the people of Tibet (today called the Tibet Autonomous Region or TAR) than the Chinese Communist Party and has asked the world to support its struggle for independence.

For decades, publicity campaigns commissioned by CTA-related organisations like the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and Tibet House, which has branches around the world, have extolled the virtues of the CTA. And yet, evidence points strongly to the contrary.

In 1996, the CTA’s Department of Health issued this chilling memo to all doctors and staff associated with them. The memo states that all Dorje Shugden practitioners should immediately resign from their positions. Click to enlarge

One chilling example is a 1996 memorandum issued by the CTA’s Department of Health (their equivalent of a Ministry) to all doctors and staff of organizations associated with them. In a few short passages, the memo manages to reveal the CTA’s true colors and expose how far removed the Tibetan government-in-exile actually is from even the most basic principles of democracy.

The document was, in fact, a ministerial order to discriminate against a segment of the Tibetan community purely because of their religious beliefs. Since 1996, Tibetan Buddhists who worship the ancient Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden have had to bear the brunt of the CTA’s persecution and this memo, calling for the resignation of all Dorje Shugden practitioners, was no different.

In truth, Shugden Buddhists have not been the only victims of the authoritarian Tibetan leadership. While it is unheard of in progressive societies, especially those that claim to be liberal and democratic, the alienation, subjugation and destruction of segments of the population were common in old feudal Tibet.

Gaden Phodrang, the political base of the Dalai Lamas, frequently used religious pretexts to excommunicate those they perceived as threats or political rivals. For example, the spiritual lifelines of Tibetan Buddhist luminaries would be unilaterally banished, effectively extinguishing their existence and, hence, the supposed threat to the Dalai Lamas. Such was the case with the 10^th Shamarpa, one of the highest incarnations in the Karma Kagyu lineage. Similarly, in the 17^th Century, the 5^th Dalai Lama’s response to a territorial dispute with the Jonang lineage was to ban the Jonangpa’s religious tradition and force its practitioners to embrace the Gelug school of Buddhism.

Jonang monks protesting in front of the Tibetan Parliament (Dharamsala) on 15th September 2015 for their right to parliamentary representation. In the end, the Jonangpas were forced to go on a hunger strike. Click here to find out more.

Most people are unaware of this dark history and fewer still know that the culture of oppression and bullying continues today in exile. The same ruling class that has bullied and discriminated against so-called ‘threats’ to the historical Dalai Lamas, today dominates the present Dalai Lama’s exile government; the CTA’s 1996 ban on Dorje Shugden worship is simply a modern manifestation of the Tibetan leadership’s old feudalistic ways.

The only difference is that this oppression is now practiced under the cloak of democracy. According to the Dalai Lama and the heads of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the CTA is a democratic government with a Charter that guarantees religious freedom. However, the memo from the CTA Department of Health proves that this is not the case.

Who Is Calling the Shots?

The very first line of the memo itself reveals that the CTA is neither a progressive nor a responsible government. Its entire premise is a decision given by State Oracles who are unseen, unelected and unaccountable individuals that reveal information under possession by spirits.

The simple fact is that the CTA’s elected representatives do not actually want to take responsibility for their decisions. By consulting Oracles, if things go awry, it is easier for the CTA to direct their people’s ire towards unseen spirits who cannot be held accountable.

Why else would the CTA take its cues from oracles? Why would it not instead carefully deliberate the pros and cons of key government decisions that impact lives, livelihoods and social harmony?

Nechung oracle in trance

It is well known in Tibetan circles that the Dalai Lama and the CTA habitually consult oracles for answers. The Dalai Lama even regards the State Oracle that takes trance of a fierce spirit, Nechung (also known as Pehar or Dorje Drakden) as his closest and most trusted adviser.

In his memoirs, the Dalai Lama wrote,

“I seek his (Nechung’s) opinion in the same way as I seek the opinion of my Cabinet.”

In fact, the Nechung Oracle is given the standing of a deputy Cabinet Minister although, as we can see, his sway over Tibetan affairs is far more potent. This would explain why CTA officials tend to take the Oracle’s proclamations as equivalent to, if not higher than, Acts of Parliament.

It is alarming that an elected government would take instructions from a spirit. This is especially so when the instructions are not only brazenly unlawful but also excessively punitive to a large segment of the Tibetan populace, serving to undermine the unity and fellowship of an already disenfranchised community.

To put the Department of Health’s directive into perspective, Dorje Shugden Buddhists were denied employment and livelihood not because they were unqualified or incompetent, nor for breaking any laws or breaching conditions of their employment. It was solely because the CTA’s Oracles said so.

A certificate that CTA requires attendees to sign, to the effect that the holder does not share anything with Shugden devotees. Those who do not have this certificate are denied participation in important religious events central to the Tibetan community.

This raises many questions. Who really controls the Tibetan government? Can Tibetans trust a government that is steered by invisible forces with an unknown agenda?

For certain, the CTA is the only ‘democratic’ government today that carries out the instructions of a supernatural entity. If there was ever any doubt that this is a recipe for disaster, then the invasion of Tibet, the plight of Tibetan refugees that is now in its 60^th year, and the many false and unfulfilled promises made by the CTA should provide the answer.

An alternative explanation is that the CTA is a counterfeit democracy that uses superstition to bypass its own laws when this suits its purpose. If so, then there is merit to allegations that the CTA is neither an authentic democratic government nor a genuine keeper of the Buddhist faith.

Instead, both religion and politics are merely tools the Tibetan leadership employs interchangeably and inseparably to accomplish its objectives, unlike any other government or spiritual body in the world. The Dalai Lama’s CTA does not operate as a democracy should, and certainly not as the democracy the Dalai Lama appears to have attempted to set up in the 1960s.

The Democracy Charade

In 1963, the Dalai Lama pushed for a draft democratic Constitution to provide governing principles for his people. On its official website, the CTA declares that the Tibetan Parliament adopted the Tibetan Charter (democratic Constitution) in 1991 and that it is “the supreme law governing the functions of the CTA”.

However, it appears that this outward embrace of libertarian principles is merely a charade to persuade the global community to support the Tibetan leadership’s political ambitions. In reality, the Dalai Lama continues to wield unfettered power.

During a religious event in 1996, the Dalai Lama expressed how he “personally feels strongly about how negative this (Dorje Shugden) practice is”. The Dalai Lama went on to strongly discourage Tibetan Buddhists from propitiating ‘Dolgyal’ (a derogatory term that disparages Dorje Shugden).

The ban has even come to the extent of expelling monks who practice Dorje Shugden. Click here to watch the video.

Not only was it improper for the head of a democratic government to attack a religious practice, but it was also disingenuous for him to have done so after proclaiming to uphold religious freedom.

The CTA took the statements of the Dalai Lama, who is regarded as both a god and a king, and turned them into an absolute law with no room for negotiation. The Tibetan Parliament, an institution whose role it is to uphold democratic principles, passed official resolutions which effectively turned Shugden Buddhists into outcasts and outlaws.

Similarly, the Tibetan Cabinet-in-exile issued official statements declaring that:

…rejecting Dolgyal has become a matter of the highest importance to the cause of Tibet… It is the duty of the Tibetan Government-in-exile to encourage compliance with any advice given out of concern for the cause of Tibet, the security of its head of state and the honor of all Tibetan Buddhist traditions including the Geluk tradition. Consequently, it has initiated a programme to be prevailing upon those still following Dolgyal to make a break with it.

In effect, the Tibetan Parliament and Cabinet made it a crime to worship Dorje Shugden and sanctioned what has become a witch-hunt. The Department of Health memo was simply one of many expressions of this religious persecution. Similar directives were issued by all CTA Departments, monasteries under the Dalai Lama’s control and community bodies eager not to be seen to be disagreeing with the Dalai Lama for fear of being accused of colluding with the enemy.

After all, if a segment of society can be summarily branded as traitors and criminals purely on the basis of their religious faith, what safeguards are there to prevent the CTA from falsely accusing other groups as being enemies of the state?

These actions are reminiscent of a feudal theocracy, not a democracy.

The great Democracy Charade. The CTA celebrates ‘Democracy Day’ annually and at the same time behaves more like a totalitarian state.

In a barefaced attempt to escape any kind of backlash or financial repercussion, the CTA has made many attempts to explain away this abuse of power and unabashed breach of the human rights of Dorje Shugden Buddhists.

For example, it has claimed that there is no ban on the Dorje Shugden practice itself and that the Dalai Lama was merely giving advice. However, the CTA has thus far failed to explain why there was a need for the Tibetan Parliament and Cabinet to pass laws against the practice of Dorje Shugden on the back of the Dalai Lama’s “advice”. It has also failed to explain why they had to “initiate a programme” (as per their statement) against the practice, if the Dalai Lama was only giving advice.

Neither has the CTA explained why its elected representatives breached its own Charter on the orders of an unelected spirit in trance. If it is so easy to breach the Charter, it is questionable how dedicated the CTA really is to the principles of democracy. Where the American government and people, for example, holds their Constitution sacrosanct, the same cannot be said of the CTA’s attitude towards their own Charter.

At the time of this writing, the CTA’s official website still proclaims the Tibetan Charter as the supreme law. And yet the same official website carries material that encourages the persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners.

This should serve as a constant reminder of the CTA’s faux democracy. It is a testimony to how closely the CTA resembles the Chinese regime it accuses of breaching human rights.

There is no other democracy in the world where worshipping the right god is a condition for keeping one’s job and where one is required to denounce one’s faith to remain in the community. Nowhere else is it a “stringent responsibility” for government staff to “urge relatives” to abandon their religion.

23 years after it implemented this disastrous campaign that has wreaked havoc on Tibetan unity and undermined the Tibetan Cause, the CTA still refuses to desist. Perhaps it is a means of distraction from the CTA’s failures.

The CTA argues that the Chinese Government is oppressive and unfair. They point to the Chinese government making it an offence for anyone in the TAR to be in possession of the Dalai Lama’s picture. But the Chinese have never claimed to be democratic. It is the CTA which is the pretender as it makes it a crime to merely exercise one’s basic human rights because the Dalai Lama said so.

The inevitable change in the Tibetan political scene has pushed the Dalai Lama’s secretary Lobsang Jinpa to remove his video that advocates hatred towards Dorje Shugden people. This shows the Tibetan leadership knows it is wrong to segregate its own people based on religion.

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.

By: Cyrilo Silva

To many, especially people in the West, Tibet is a land of mystery – a peaceful, happy land of snow-capped mountains with Buddhist monasteries scattered across its vast landscape, the sound of holy prayers and mantras pervading all directions, full of people living in simplicity and contentment. However, this land that was isolated for centuries also has a dark side that has been kept away from the world, or rather people choose to only believe what is portrayed to them through the media – the non-existent utopian Shangri-la that Tibet has been painted to be.

As Tibet’s so-called God-King, no one is allowed to have an opinion that differs from the Dalai Lama who is viewed and deified by the Tibetans as an emanation of Chenrezig. The penalties for disagreeing with the Dalai Lama are swift and violent.

Leading this community is His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama who is not only the religious leader of Tibetans around the world, but also their temporal leader. The Dalai Lamas have been the supreme rulers of Tibet for centuries and although the 14th Dalai Lama today claims he has retired from the political scene, it is fairly impossible because the Tibetans see him as a God, more specifically Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Hence even today within the exiled Tibetan community in India, the 14th Dalai Lama’s word is the law and no one is allowed to challenge or question him.

Many problems have arisen from this theocratic ruling system, which the younger generation of Tibetans are beginning to wake up to. They can see that this method of ruling has eroded both religion and politics in their community, bringing about more destruction than benefits. People like Mr. Lukar Jam Atsok and Member of the Tibetan Parliament Tenpa Yarphel have openly voiced their disagreement with the policies of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), who are the Tibetan leadership based in Dharamsala. They have questioned many of the government’s policies, including their undemocratic reliance on the Nechung Oracle to make state decisions as well as the unjust ban on the protector deity Dorje Shugden which was implemented by the Tibetan leadership in 1996 and has divided and created conflicts within the community.

Is Spring Coming to Tibetans in India?

It seems like the Tibetan exiled community in recent years is moving towards democratization and a new “Tibetan Spring” is on the horizon, where the younger generation stands up to the old feudal guard whose authoritarian rule has only segregated and created inequality among their people.

The younger generation of Tibetans appear to strongly believe in real democratic practice, for example that everyone is deserving of religious freedom to practice whatever they want, or that all state affairs should be decided by elected members of parliament, not deities and gods. This is unsurprising given they were raised in exile and exposed to other ways of leadership and governance. This younger generation want democracy, freedom, unity and equality.

In stark contrast is the older generation, who have prospered by dividing, conquering and exploiting their own community. The older generation are therefore being forced to adapt to a modern way of thinking and give up their authoritarian rule. The ‘Tibetan Spring’ is pushing them to change because they realize Tibetans are tired with their lack of political progress, the poor governance of their people in exile, as well as the plethora of conflicts caused by their leadership all in the name of religion.

For instance, Arjia Rinpoche, a close confidante to the Dalai Lama who in the past strongly spoke against Dorje Shugden practice, has recently made a statement urging people to stop the segregation and hatred against Dorje Shugden practitioners because it destroys Tibetan unity. Another example is Lobsang Jinpa, one of the Dalai Lama’s right-hand men who is now attempting to retract a video of himself speaking against other people’s religious beliefs at a press conference in June 2014.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

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Lobsang Jinpa served as the Dalai Lama’s secretary for 12 years, between 1993 and 2005. As the Dalai Lama’s secretary, his words carry the weight of the Dalai Lama’s influence so it looks bad for him and by default, the Dalai Lama as it implies that the Dalai Lama encourages sectarianism. This short clip above shows Lobsang Jinpa speaking against the Dorje Shugden practice at a press conference.

Given the current political climate calling for acceptance of everyone regardless of their differences, and for the unity of all Tibetan people, it is therefore no surprise that Lobsang Jinpa is attempting to remove all traces of the video from the Internet.

Click to read the image in full (Source: http://www.dalailamaprotesters.info/?p=1370)

Click to read the image in full (Source: https://www.facebook.com/office.of.tibet/posts/the-secretary-of-the-gaden-phodranghis-holiness-the-dalailama-lobsang-jinpa-gave/653358334748212/)

Above are screenshots of two pro-Dalai Lama platforms online. The missing video on both websites shows clearly that on platforms he has control of, Lobsang Jinpa is removing old videos of himself speaking against Dorje Shugden. However, the same video is still available on the TibetTV YouTube channel, which is the CTA’s WebTV station that Lobsang Jinpa has no control over.

Advocate of Sectarianism

As someone who “has a thorough understanding of the approach of H.H. the Dalai Lama” (Source: Tibetan Who’s Who) and has represented the Dalai Lama in the past, Lobsang Jinpa must feel totally embarrassed for his past actions of discriminating, condemning, and persecuting Dorje Shugden practitioners, abusing his power as the Dalai Lama’s secretary.

After all, he was not the secretary of someone ordinary, but of someone who won the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating compassion, love and acceptance. Yet Lobsang Jinpa’s speech and actions were the exact opposite of what the Dalai Lama preaches. Besides speaking against Dorje Shugden as shown in the video above, Lobsang Jinpa was also actively involved in anti-Shugden movements and witch-hunting Dorje Shugden practitioners. His involvement is briefly summarized below:

1. He has previously bribed people to speak against Dorje Shugden. On 25th June 1997, Lobsang Jinpa wrote to monk Jampa Wangyal: “…on this visit (to Tibet), do your best to advise your acquaintances on the issue of Protector worship (here refers to the protector Dorje Shugden). A sum of Rupees 300,000 (US $ 7142.85) is being provided for construction of the new monastery (Saluga, India).” The message is clear – the Tibetan government will give you money and financially support your projects if you do their bidding to talk against Dorje Shugden.
2. He has prevented monks from receiving their Geshe degrees. On 30th – 31st December 1997, a year after the unjust ban was implemented, Lobsang Jinpa sent a message to the abbot of Sera Mey Monastery, instructing that students who have successfully attained their Geshe degree but who engage in the worship of Dorje Shugden will not receive any certificates for their examination.
3. He was directly involved in prolonging the suffering of Tibetans who refused to give up their practice of Dorje Shugden, and who were persecuted as a result. On 19th – 21st November 1996, a delegation from the Dorje Shugden Society in New Delhi requested an audience with the Dalai Lama in the hopes of reconciliation. Lobsang Jinpa however, rejected them and said there was no point if they did not want to give up their practice of Dorje Shugden.

Especially in the late 1990s, when the ban had just been implemented, witch-hunting and persecuting Dorje Shugden practitioners was politically correct and people were applauded and praised for doing so. But things are changing now.

The younger generation of Tibetans and Tibetan political leaders have witnessed how undemocratic the ban is and how it destroys much-needed unity among the Tibetan diaspora. In this day and age, it has become politically incorrect to discriminate against anyone based on their religious choices. Young Tibetans want real progress, real democracy and real freedom, and most importantly unity because it is essential to successfully managing Tibetans living in various countries all around the world within diverse cultures.

Hence in the Tibetan government in exile today, anyone who discriminates against a person based on any mundane factors will no longer be seen as a hero because any action that brings disunity and conflict is simply wrong. As a result, Lobsang Jinpa has no choice but to pull his anti-Shugden video to try and save his face and stay relevant.

Why Remove the Video Now?

Unfortunately, Lobsang Jinpa’s reasons are more than likely to be prosaic than spiritual:

1. He finally realizes he has no basis to attack Dorje Shugden. Lobsang Jinpa is not from a monastic background so he has no basis to show he understands Dorje Shugden’s practice and lineage, that he can even say that Dorje Shugden is bad and evil.

Dorje Shugden is a protector deity with 400 years of history and he is practiced across the various sects of Tibetan Buddhism, for example the Sakya and Drukpa Kagyu. Moreover, both the Dalai Lama’s root gurus – Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche – from whom the Dalai Lama’s pure lineage and knowledge come from, were both Dorje Shugden practitioners. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche especially, was not only a staunch practitioner of Dorje Shugden but also the one who promoted the practice far and wide and wrote the seminal work on the deity, Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama (centre) with his two tutors, His Holiness Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (left) and His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche (right). Both of them practiced Dorje Shugden, and it is from both of them whom the Dalai Lama’s pure lineage and knowledge come from.

Compare that to someone like Lobsang Jinpa who is not a monk and has no background in rigorous religious studies. It is obvious he is not a credible person to discuss at length anything about the Dorje Shugden practice as he knows nothing about the importance of a Guru-disciple relationship and the passing down of a lineage.

Therefore, his speech against Dorje Shugden had no scriptural basis and was based on nothing more than hearsay. Lobsang Jinpa basically parroted what people have said, with no knowledge of Dorje Shugden practice and the history of the lineage. Many Tibetans, even those who support the Dalai Lama have criticized and made fun of him because his anti-Shugden comments made it clear he was just repeating what he heard, without researching and examining the issue further. To make the matter worse, since he is the private secretary to the Dalai Lama, he is expected to be knowledgeable in Buddhism, but his speech showed the opposite. Realizing this, Lobsang Jinpa had no choice but to pull the video to avoid further disgrace.

2. Next to more moderate, tolerant attitudes, Lobsang Jinpa looks archaic, intolerant and discriminatory and it embarrasses him and those he represents (i.e. the Dalai Lama). In recent months, we have heard from Arjia Rinpoche as well as Tenpa Yarphel, a member of the Tibetan parliament, who verbalised the opinions of the Tibetan people – the Dorje Shugden ban creates disunity and Tibetans should stop segregating the practitioners because it separates the people, and creates doubts and conflicts. Although they do not personally practice Dorje Shugden, Arjia Rinpoche and Tenpa Yarphel spoke out because they have seen how the ban destroys Tibet’s religion and culture. Their speeches were extremely well-received amongst the Tibetans, especially the younger generation.

Compare them to Lobsang Jinpa, whose video was used by the CTA to create further divide. In the current climate, it is no longer acceptable for someone like Lobsang Jinpa to create disunity using religion and as support for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan cause continues to wane day by day, anything that might jeopardize His Holiness’s popularity is dangerous. So Lobsang Jinpa quickly and quietly pulled his video to avoid adding salt to the wound, since his speech will have been seen as representing the Dalai Lama’s stance and whatever he does or says, will be seen as being endorsed or allowed by the Dalai Lama.

3. The ‘Tibetan Spring’ is happening and Lobsang Jinpa does not want to be caught on the wrong end of the stick. Signs of the Tibetan Spring began with popular Tibetan politician Lukar Jam Atsok, when he openly disagreed with the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way and said that the leadership should not segregate Dorje Shugden people because it creates disunity. Like Arjia Rinpoche and Tenpa Yarphel, he was speaking for a generation who are fed up with the old feudal and undemocratic way. In this old feudal society, everyone must follow the Dalai Lama and questioning him is not tolerated. No one is allowed to have a different view or stance and those who suggest anything different will be punished and attacked.

Lukar Jam Atsok (left) and Tenpa Yarphel (right) are the modern, rising political stars within the Tibetan community who are really working towards Tibetan unity and are fighting for real democracy so that all Tibetans will be treated equally, regardless of their background, class, economic status or religion.

As more of the younger generation are speaking up against the ways of the older generation, Lobsang Jinpa does not want to be associated with the old guard who uphold this feudalistic way of governing. Maintaining popularity with the masses is important for those who want to continue reaping the financial benefits of staying in power.

Lobsang Jinpa has woken up to a truth that few other Tibetan leaders seem willing to recognize and that is, political change within the Tibetan community is inevitable. The older generation of leaders encourage separation to “divide and rule“, and to control and manipulate their people, but the younger generation who have been exposed to democracies around the world want to rebuild themselves regardless of regional or spiritual differences, and this is how it should be.

It is obvious that the older generation of leaders paid more attention to taking care of their own welfare and to dominate the people while the younger generation of leaders like Tenpa Yarphel and Lukar Jam Atsok wish to focus on the preservation of the culture and religion of Tibet. They believe that no one should be singled out and all Tibetans are welcome to make their community strong again. Which camp will Lobsang Jinpa join? By removing his video, it tells you Lobsang Jinpa wants to stay relevant and stay in power and to do that, he has no choice but to follow the new direction set by the younger leaders.

It is never easy to make a change but if there’s a will, there’s a way. Let us hope more and more older generation leaders will follow the example set by the Dalai Lama’s private secretary, Lobsang Jinpa and retract their harmful words against Dorje Shugden practitioners that violates religious freedom and human rights, for the sake of unity to ultimately benefit the their own people. Let us pray that the old feudal way of thinking and ruling Tibet will come to an end, just like how winter ends. Only then will Tibet once again blossom like flowers blooming in spring.

Chushi Gangdruk means “Four Rivers and Six Ranges” and named after the geographical region of Kham, Tibet.

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.  

By: Heinrich Hauff

Origin and history of Chushi Gangdruk

Tibet’s most famous guerilla force, the Chushi Gangdruk (Four Rivers and Six Ranges) was founded in the mid-1950s to serve as a guerilla force to protect the Dalai Lama and Tibet from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who had entered the Tibetan plateau. In the years since they entered exile, the Chushi Gangdruk and their feats have taken their place amongst the legends of Tibetan history. Yet, the true story of their origins is one that the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala) has heavily manipulated and distorted for the purposes of propaganda.

The stage was set for Chushi Gangdruk’s establishment when in 1950, the Tibetan governor of Kham (a province in East Tibet) colluded with the Chinese forces and surrendered the entire region to the PLA. Disappointed by what they viewed as an act of betrayal, a successful and charismatic merchant named Andruk Gompo Tashi and some of his fellow Khampas sought to consult the most famous of oracles, the Panglung Oracle (kuten) who takes trance of enlightened Dharma Protectors such as Setrap Chen, Kache Marpo and also Gyalchen Dorje Shugden.

The Chushi Gangdruk was formed as a volunteer militia to protect the Dalai Lama and defend Tibet from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In 1959, it was the Chushi Gangdruk who cleared the way for the Dalai Lama’s safe passage into India with the assistance of the Dharma Protector Gyalchen Dorje Shugden.

While in trance, Dorje Shugden instructed the group to band together and establish a militia. Their encampment, which came to be known as Lokha-Chaksta Drikung Thang, was located at Pangong Tso, a lake bordering India in Southwest Tibet, that is in the shape of a ritual chopper (drigug). Dorje Shugden’s instructions came after he had previously given extensive advice and instructions to the Tibetan people on how to save their country from falling completely into the hands of the Chinese. That previous advice however, had fallen on deaf ears.

Fortunately, this time Andruk Gompo Tashi and his friends paid heed to Dorje Shugden’s counsel. The militia group named itself the Chushi Gangdruk after their geographical region of Eastern Tibet. They formed their iconic emblem from a pair of crossed swords, a ceremonial sword of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden that the Panglung Oracle had given to Andruk Gompo Tashi, and a sword resembling the Wisdom Sword of the Buddha Manjushri that was auspiciously found at the site of their camp at Pangong Tso.

Pangong Tso

The Chushi Gangdruk camp grew as new members were enlisted. Dorje Shugden, acting through the Panglung Oracle, personally instructed many able-bodied men to go to Pangong Tso and join the Chushi Gangdruk. As the numbers of Andruk Gompo Tashi’s small group of resistance fighters swelled, the group grew into a formidable militia and a force to be reckoned with. At their camp, the group trained and waited for instructions, readying themselves for the time they would be called on to play a vital role in the survival of the Tibetan nation, culture and religion.

In 1959 when the Dalai Lama made his famous escape from Tibet, it was members of the Chushi Gangdruk that escorted the Dalai Lama in his historic flight to India. The decision to flee Tibet was also made upon consulting with the Panglung Oracle who, when in trance of the Protector Dorje Shugden, gave precise instructions including the exact route to be taken by the Dalai Lama. This route would through the Pangong Tso area which the Chinese army had learned to avoid, thanks to reports they had received about a fierce guerilla resistance group which was based there. It was not a coincidence that the location Dorje Shugden had chosen for the Chushi Gangdruk to form their base became a strategic point a few years later when the Dalai Lama was forced to escape. A few years before 1959, the protector Dorje Shugden in his perfect clairvoyance already knew the fate that would befall the Tibetan people. Such flawless foresight is only found in Buddhas. Dorje Shugden would also go on to advise the Panglung Oracle to remain in Tibet and to delay his own departure until the Dalai Lama had safely escaped. In this way, Dorje Shugden assured that he would be able to continue assisting and advising people through the Panglung Oracle until the very last minute.

Picture of the Dalai Lama and his armed bodyguards from the Chushi Gangdruk taken in an unknown location in Tibet during the Dalai Lama’s great escape.

Clearing the way for the Dalai Lama

There is no denying the instrumental role that the Chushi Gangdruk played in the escape of the Dalai Lama. The truth of Dorje Shugden’s crucial role in the Dalai Lama’s daring escape has been recorded by many members of the escape party including the changtso of Sera Mey’s Abbot, Losang Yeshe who was present when Dorje Shugden issued the urgent advice for the Dalai Lama to leave Tibet.

In an interview with renowned French-born Tibetologist Claude Arpi, published on rediff.com, Dapon Ratuk Ngawang, one of the senior leaders of the Chushi Gangdruk as well as a close confidant of Andruk Gonpo Tashi, recalls how the group already knew prior to the events from the uprising on March 10, 1959 that the Dalai Lama would not be able to stay on in Lhasa and would have to leave Tibet.

1959 Tibetan Uprising Day

“[Our work was to] clear the escape route for His Holiness in Lhoka region [south of Lhasa] by making sure that not even a single Chinese soldier remained on that route. This, we did, by either killing or catching Chinese soldiers along the way. That was in March 1959. Before reaching Lhoka region, all the Chushi-Gangdruk volunteers were scattered in all the four directions. We sent many volunteers along the route from Lhoka to areas near Lhasa to clear the way for His Holiness and to make sure that the Chinese authorities could not capture His Holiness. [We already knew that] His Holiness might not be able to stay in Lhasa, but it was the responsibility of the Tibetan government to ensure that he was safe from the [actions] of the Chinese authorities. We were waiting and fighting in the meantime. On 17 March 1959, His Holiness left Lhasa by foot.”

Ratuk Ngawang, who played a key role in the Dalai Lama’s escape to India, later commanded the Tibetan secret regiment known as the Special Frontier Forces, which was based in Uttar Pradesh, India. The accounts in the interview were also written in his memoirs (published in Tibetan by Amnye Machen Insitute, Dharamsala) where he recounts his early life in the Kham province of Eastern Tibet and details of the famous escape to India with the Dalai Lama.

Ratuk Ngawang (middle)

Heroes of the Tibetan cause

It is precisely due to accounts like this that the Chushi Gangdruk is remembered for their acts of heroism and bravery in the face of impossible odds. Yet, the fact the Chushi Gangdruk even had the opportunity to protect the Dalai Lama is solely attributed to the timely and insistent advice Dorje Shugden gave for them to be established and to train. This advice was delivered through the famed Panglung Oracle who, until he received confirmation of the Dalai Lama’s safe arrival in India, delayed his own departure and remained in Tibet so that Dorje Shugden could continue to speak through him to all who required help. Through the oracle, many lamas and monks made their safe passage to India with support from the Chushi Gangdruk.

As the only organised resistance movement inside Tibet, the Chushi Gangdruk played an instrumental role in protecting Tibetans’ escape and leading insurgencies against PLA military forces. Even after the Dalai Lama had left Tibet, they continued with their resistance movement. Together with Indian military commandos, the Chushi Gangdruk established a new base in Mustang, Nepal. Called “Establishment 22”, the combined group of Chushi Gangdruk and Indian army commandos, trained by the CIA, waged a guerrilla war against the PLA for 13 years.

Chushi Gangdruk

When the US and China agreed to a reconciliation policy in 1969, all support and assistance for the Chushi Gangdruk and Establishment 22 was revoked. By 1974, the armed forces of the Chushi Gangdruk was entirely disbanded.

The fall of the Chushi Gangdruk

Members of the Chushi Gangdruk, now in retirement, continued to play an essential part in the Tibetan community-in-exile. The group took on a new role as representatives of the Khampas and Tibetans from the Eastern regions, and established headquarters in Majnu-Ka-Tilla, the Tibetan settlement in New Delhi, India. Chushi Gangdruk members took up key positions in the Tibetan government-in-exile, now known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

The unity they had fought with however, was not to last in exile and it was not long before disharmony and discord set in. In 1994, some heads of the Chushi Gangdruk signed an accord with the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) in Taiwan, agreeing to the Kuomintang Party’s One-China Principle, acknowledging that Taiwan and Tibet were part of the People’s Republic of China. This was perhaps due to frustration that had built up in members of the Chushi Gangdruk, having witnessed the stagnation of the Tibetan cause and their leadership fail the people with one broken promise after another.

The Chushi Gangdruk accord with the MTAC angered the Dalai Lama whose view was that the signing had challenged the CTA’s authority. The CTA responded by forbidding all Tibetans from contact with the MTAC and the dismissal of the Chushi Gangdruk heads who had signed the accord, replacing them with new executive members. It is well-known amongst the Tibetan people that to disagree with the Dalai Lama and the CTA is tantamount to suicide even though the CTA claims to be a democracy. No matter how badly the CTA fails their people, the Tibetans are not allowed to express disappointment and to take steps to improve their own future. To do so would imply the CTA is not doing their job, and therefore be regarded as treason and disloyalty.

Ironically, whilst the Chushi Gangdruk who signed the accord were labeled traitors, in essence, the Dalai Lama had already agreed to the One China Policy when he gave up the fight for independence in Strasbourg, France in 1988. It was noted in a Phayul.com article titled ‘Has MTAC turned over a new leaf?’ written by Luke Ward, who wrote that “whilst this accord bears obvious similarities to the Middle-Way Approach of the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration, many Tibetans were irked by the fact that MTAC believed itself within its rights to sign an accord, furthermore with an organization that is not a part of the government, and does not represent the Dalai Lama. The resulting controversy split Chushi Gangdruk.”

Having forsaken their illustrious legacy in exchange for political favours, members of Chushi Gangdruk are left in a lurch and at the mercy of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). Click to enlarge.

The actions of the CTA caused a rift and resulted in the split of the Chushi Gangdruk. That may have been the CTA’s intention all along, seeing that the Chushi Gangdruk was the brainchild of Dorje Shugden. By 1994, there were already murmurings that the Tibetan leadership was opposed to the worship of Dorje Shugden because it represented the supremacy of the old Gelug spiritual guard which the Tibetan leadership needed to break in order to assume full control over the Tibetan people. The new group, with its CTA-elected heads, formed the Dhotoe Cholka Welfare Society with its headquarters in McLeod Ganj, the town in Dharamsala, India where the Dalai Lama has his official residence and where the CTA is headquartered.

Meanwhile, the dejected members of the original Chushi Gangdruk in New Delhi reformed themselves to become the Dokham Chushi Gangdruk. Both the Chushi Gangdruk groups vie for the position as the Khampa representative in the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.

Following the CTA’s witch-hunts of Dorje Shugden practitioners that formally began in 1996, and Dalai Lama’s now infamous declaration to outlaw the Dorje Shugden practice in 2008, the heads of the Delhi-based Dokham Chushi Gangdruk removed members who chose to continue their Dorje Shugden practice. The group also vowed to disassociate with anyone who continued with the outlawed Protector practice “for the happiness of” the Dalai Lama.

In this way, the original group based in Delhi, once seen as traitors for signing the agreement to recognise the Kuomintang’s One-China policy, have once again became the darlings of the CTA for their vow to disassociate themselves with Dorje Shugden.

Meanwhile, the Dharamsala-based Chushi Gangdruk group created by the CTA has been sectioned by the very same people who established them. The CTA’s ploy to divide and conquer this fierce group of fighters whom they knew had the potential to oppose their misdeeds, had worked.

Chushi Gangdruk, another victim of the CTA’s divisive policies

In the muddled waters of Tibetan exile politics, the position of being either pro-Tibetan or anti-Tibetan is very loose and fluid in nature. Where it was once clear which group was the ‘official’ Chushi Gangdruk and representative of the Kham people, today, that position is an ambiguous mess as both the Delhi and Dharamsala groups compete for recognition and the entitlements for their members.

By disassociating with Gyalchen Dorje Shugden, the Chushi Gandruk today have forgotten their roots and the very reason for their founding. Image from ‘Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War’ written by Carole McGranahan, published by Duke University Press, 2010. Click to enlarge.

Putting the CTA aside, both Chushi Gangdruk groups are in essence, illegitimate and very far removed from their origins. Since both groups have uncoupled themselves with Dorje Shugden, whatever claims they have to be Chushi Gangdruk are rendered void. A Chushi Gangdruk group can only be regarded as legitimate by means of legacy, and if the present groups do not recognise their origins in Dorje Shugden, then those groups are without any official roots. So, how can they declare themselves to be the “official” Chushi Gangdruk?

Formed especially by Dorje Shugden to protect the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, the Chushi Gangdruk have themselves fallen to the deceptive web of lies weaved by the CTA about Dorje Shugden being a demon spirit who harms the life of the Dalai Lama. They, of all people, should remember that it was Dorje Shugden who saved the Dalai Lama’s life. And they, of all people, are best positioned to legitimately and strongly refute the CTA’s false accusation that Dorje Shugden can harm the Dalai Lama. By their choice to forsake their patron deity for favor with the Dalai Lama and the CTA, both Chushi Gangdruk groups have in truth, chosen the material rewards of political alignment. The choice to disregard the purpose of their being is another reason why neither of the Chushi Gangdruk groups is legitimate.

Chushi Gangdruk commemorating its 60th Founding Anniversary at Lhagyalri in Dharamshala, India.

It is apparent that the dispute between the Chushi Gangdruk is another situation of Tibetan in-fighting thanks to the CTA’s divisive policies. Dividing brother against brother is a common CTA tactic that recurs regularly – the CTA’s ban of the Dorje Shugden practice and their interference the recognition of the 17^th Karmapa have caused two significant monastic orders in Tibetan Buddhism to fall into disarray, just so that the CTA can increase their hold on Tibetans-in-exile. Not content at dividing the community on religious lines, the CTA further divides the exile community along divergent political aspirations; that is to say, rangzen (total independence) versus umaylam (meaningful autonomy). Whilst officially the CTA advocates umaylam, in a more subtle fashion the CTA supports rangzen advocates, with members of the Tibetan leadership attending rangzen camps and conferences held to discuss and organize the movement for full independence. Their actions being so discordant with their official policies have, as a result, led two camps of the Tibetan diaspora into what has oftentimes been a violent clash of political ideology.

Using monetary entitlements such as pensions and allowances, the CTA’s money politics has found another victim in the Chushi Gangdruk. Instead of being the shield that defends the Tibetan people’s unity, by allowing itself to be intoxicated by the miasma that is exhaled from the CTA machinations, it has become part of the wedge the CTA drives into the Tibetan community. Today, the Chushi Gangdruk is no longer heroes of the Tibetan people and defenders of the Tibetan cause. It would not matter which Chushi Gangdruk is regarded as the official one, it is only a hollow tree barren of its ability to bear fruit. History will record that the Tibetans lost their country to China, but Tibet lost its soul at the altar of the CTA’s political agendas.

Acharya Zasep Tulku Rinpoche who book debunks CTA lies about Dorje Shugden

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.

By: Yad Hegadi

In 1996, the Central Tibetan Government (CTA; Tibetan exiled leadership in Dharamsala) issued a religious ban on the practice of the Dharma Protector Gyalchen Dorje Shugden. Since that time, the CTA’s Parliament and Cabinet have passed official Resolutions to incriminate this 400-year-old practice, making it taboo for anyone to associate with the practice and its practitioners. The CTA’s diktats against Dorje Shugden were readily accepted by many who, lacking a deeper understanding of Tibetan Buddhist principles and Tibetan societal norms, took the CTA’s word on face value. This was not surprising – Tibet had been isolated and inaccessible for centuries so it was easy for the world to become fascinated with them, thanks in large part to Hollywood’s mythical portrayal of the country and people. With this fascination, people around the world were easily spellbound by what the Dalai Lama and his government said and so when the ban on Dorje Shugden was implemented, outsiders easily believed it without necessarily grasping the hollowness of the CTA’s accusations of the Dorje Shugden practice.

However, initial efforts to ban Dorje Shugden did not take off within the Tibetan Buddhist community. This was principally due to the simple fact that many lamas, learned scholars and older monks knew better than to believe what the CTA claimed about Dorje Shugden. For hundreds of years, the highest and most illustrious lamas and geshes had practiced the deity and personally experienced its benefits, then passed on the practice to their disciples.

Zasep Rinpoche’s book titled “A Tulku’s Journey From Tibet To Canada”, chronicling his life and experiences.

Thus, 12 years after the ban was first implemented, the Dorje Shugden practice continued to be widespread. Realizing stronger enforcement was necessary if the CTA was going to achieve their goals, in 2008 the Dalai Lama personally and forcefully issued a decree that effectively demonized the Shugden practice. What was confusing was that the Dalai Lama was demonizing Dorje Shugden that he himself had written praises to, in worship of the deity. With the Dalai Lama’s decree it became dangerous to even speak about the Dorje Shugden controversy in a neutral way, since not to agree with the Dalai Lama is regarded as both treasonous and blasphemous. With all opposition voices silenced, it became easy for the CTA to persecute Dorje Shugden worshippers.

This is why when an illustrious lama such as Venerable Zasep Rinpoche, with a stainless reputation and known to be disinterested in worldly pursuits, writes honestly about Dorje Shugden, it easily dispels the CTA’s anti-Shugden distortions. This is precisely what Zasep Rinpoche’s book, A Tulku’s Journey from Tibet to Canada, did. Whilst the book is a fascinating, albeit abridged, chronicle of Zasep Rinpoche’s life, it also doubles as a powerful negation of the CTA’s lies about the Protector Dorje Shugden, Zasep Rinpoche simply writing honestly and factually by what he witnessed.

Is Dorje Shugden sectarian?

For example, the CTA claims that Dorje Shugden is a sectarian practice, inferring that those who practice Dorje Shugden are extremists and intolerant of other Tibetan Buddhist traditions. In 2014 the CTA even criminalized the practice of Dorje Shugden, using its Parliament to pass a Resolution proclaiming Shugden worshippers to be “criminals in history”. The then-Speaker of Parliament, Penpa Tsering went as far as going to the Upper TCV School with the purpose of poisoning young Tibetan minds against a religious practice. That the then-Speaker of Parliament, who is a political figure, would intervene on religious matters and make official statements on the validity of a religious practice indicates that the CTA is not a true democracy to begin with. In his speech to the students of the school, Penpa Tsering accused Pabongka Rinpoche, who advocated the practice of Dorje Shugden, of attempting to eliminate Nyingma teachings, even saying that he destroyed statues of Guru Rinpoche and burned down Nyingma monasteries.

Penpa Tsering’s grossly distorted portrayal of Pabongka Rinpoche is typical of how the CTA presents all Shugden practitioners. His speech was littered with inaccuracies, as reflected in Zasep Rinpoche’s Book. Zasep Rinpoche noted how Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo made every effort to keep the Dharma free of corruption and would speak fervently against the degeneration within the Tibetan monastic community. This, and his immense popularity, drew envy and resentment from people who felt that Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo was a threat to their standing, congregation and livelihoods. They began to spread rumors about Pabongka Rinpoche, claiming that he sought to eliminate the other Tibetan Buddhist traditions; this is the same accusation that Penpa Tsering repeated decades later in the school. Zasep Rinpoche personally witnessed how these rumors confused many people’s minds even though there was no truth in them, and Zasep Rinpoche also witnessed that those who knew Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo also saw through the efforts to defame him.

Various heads of Tibetan Buddhist lineages in Buxa Transit Camp. Until the CTA politicized the religion, all Tibetan Buddhist traditions lived and practiced in harmony. In Buxa, lamas of various traditions could be seen engaging in Dorje Shugden pujas together.

As further evidence that the CTA invented stories of Dorje Shugden’s ‘sectarianism’, Zasep Rinpoche wrote that all lamas of the various Tibetan Buddhist traditions lived and practiced in peace, and there was in fact no sectarianism by Shugden Buddhists or indeed anyone. Zasep Rinpoche’s account coincides with stories told by the first generation of Tibetans-in-exile, of the time when all Tibetan refugees lived harmoniously together in Buxa, a transit camp in India. In Buxa, Tibetan monks, nuns and laypeople were housed together regardless of the Buddhist school they were from. As Zasep Rinpoche wrote in his book, each Tibetan Buddhist lineage tended to their own affairs and went about practicing their own deities, and there were no quarrels about whose practice was wrong or right. In the Buxa transit camp, there were even those who practiced Bön, which was not even regarded as a Buddhist tradition until 1977 when the Dalai Lama proclaimed it to be one. Many believed this proclamation was done for political reasons since the Mahasiddha Milarepa, whose teachings became the basis of the Kagyu lineage, had at one time even proclaimed,

“Bön is not a refuge for Buddhists; it is not worthy of being a refuge … It is vital that you should know the sources of the Bön religion…The source of Bön is perverted Dharma. A creation of nagas and powerful elementals, it does not take one to the ultimate path.”

But despite different lamas of different traditions having opposing spiritual views, all of Tibetan Buddhism was in harmony until the CTA fostered rivalry and animosity amongst the sects and gave prominence to sectarianism.

In addition, Zasep Rinpoche’s account of the most famous Dorje Shugden lama, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, paints a very different picture of Dorje Shugden lamas compared to that which the CTA has been promoting since 1996. In his book, Zasep Rinpoche wrote that Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche commanded the respect of Gelug lamas, as well as lamas from the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya traditions. These lamas, such as

“The sixteenth Karmapa Ranjung Rigpe Dorje, Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche, Kongtrul Rinpoche, Zhamar Rinpoche, Katog Situ Rinpoche, Drungpa Gyaktsab Rinpoche, Sakya Dagchen Rinpoche and Nalanda Sakya Chogye Rinpoche would all visit Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche to have spiritual discussions and talk about Tibetan affairs.”

This would not have been possible if Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was known to have bigoted views; none of these lamas would have met with Trijang Rinpoche had he sought the destruction of their Tibetan Buddhist traditions, which the CTA has claimed of lamas who rely on Dorje Shugden. Similarly, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche’s students would have embraced their great teacher’s approach towards the other traditions and hence, until the CTA hatched and repeated their lie about Dorje Shugden lamas being sectarian, there are no records of Dorje Shugden lamas instigating violence against other traditions.

Is Dorje Shugden is a fringe cult practice?

The CTA has also claimed that Dorje Shugden is merely a small but dangerous breakaway cult. Again, what Zasep Rinpoche personally witnessed and wrote in his book counters the CTA’s misleading stories. Zasep Rinpoche wrote that when he and his grandfather visited the headquarters of the Sakya high lamas, he saw how prominent the deity was amongst the Sakyas; that is, it was prominent until the CTA made it illegal to practice this Protector. Zasep Rinpoche articulated in detail what he saw at Sakya Monastery, even down to the colors of the buildings within the Monastery’s compound. He also gave descriptions of some of the very special Sakya shrines, including a shrine at Sakya Mugchung dedicated to a Dharma Protector which is in fact the Sakya version of Dorje Shugden also known as Dorje Shugden Tanag (Dorje Shugden on a black horse).

Dorje Shugden Tanag (Dorje Shugden on black horse) which is the form of Dorje Shugden worshipped by the Sakyas

This should not come as a shock because as Zasep Rinpoche correctly pointed out, Dorje Shugden first manifested in the Sakya lineage after being recognized as a Dharma Protector by the Sakya lama Morchen Kunga Lhundrub. The word ‘Mugchung’ refers to a temple within the Sakya town very close to the Sakya lineage’s administrative building, where Dorje Shugden was worshipped. In the Sakya tradition, and even before Dorje Shugden was widely practiced by the Gelug, the Protector was already enthroned by the Sakya together with Setrap Chen and Tsiu Marpo; all three are collectively known as the Sakya Three Kings or Gyalpo Sum.

This history of Dorje Shugden is not Zasep Rinpoche’s invention. In fact, Jeff Watt, who is one of the leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhism, art and culture, also noted in his writings that it was the Sakya lineage, specifically the Khon family that the 41^st Sakya Trizin belongs to, who was responsible for developing the worship of Dorje Shugden. It is difficult to accuse Watt of being sectarian and biased because this scholar is a student of a number of teachers from different traditions, such as Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Sakya Jetsun Chimey, His Holiness the 16^th Karmapa, and even the 41^st Sakya Trizin himself. Jeff Watt wrote,

“Sakya Trizin Sachen Ngawang Kunga Lodro (1729-1790?) composed a new offering service for Shugden based on the ‘torma throwing’ ritual of the ‘Three Kings.’ Later, Sakya Trizin Trakshu Thinley Rinchen (1871-1936) in his personal diaries written on scraps of paper starting from the age of 8 years records all his thoughts, dreams and miscellaneous experiences. After his passing these were collected and added to his biography. In these diaries, amongst many other topics, he muses over the nature of Shugden and the relationship between Shugden, his father (S.T. Kunga Nyingpo) and his grand-father (S.T. Tashi Rinchen) of whom Trakshu Thinley Rinchen was the incarnation. These are regarded as an interesting curiosity within the Drolma Podrang of the Khon family as well as being their personal family business”.

Jeff Watt pointed out that as a matter of fact, Dorje Shugden also reincarnated into the Sakya bloodline as the 31^st and the 37^th Sakya Trizin. So, what Zasep Rinpoche witnessed regarding the Sakyas’ reliance on Dorje Shugden and the prominence of the practice within their lineage was accurate.

And yet, after the CTA imposed this illegal and unconstitutional religious ban on Dorje Shugden, many Tibetan Buddhist leaders including the head of the Sakya at the time were forced to deny and distance themselves from the Dorje Shugden practice. In his letter to the CTA, the 41^st Sakya Trizin claimed that, “some Sakyas worshipped Shugden as a lower deity, but Shugden was never part of the Sakya institution.” In 2011, the same Sakya Trizin went further and wrote letters urging others to give up the Dorje Shugden practice. And yet, as Zasep Rinpoche saw, Dorje Shugden Tanag was given prominence in the main Sakya Monastery. Why would a “lower deity” who “was never part of the Sakya institution” be given such prominence? The contrast between the actual history of the Sakyas’ worship of Dorje Shugden and their post-Shugden ban denial is a good indication of how the CTA forced everyone to ignore logic and fact, and forced people agree with them or face the consequences.

Likewise, the highest lamas of the Gelug trusted Dorje Shugden and from Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, the practice was passed on to His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo and Trijang Dorje Chang were, without doubt, the backbone and pillars of the Gelug tradition in the 20^th century and it would be difficult to find any lama or scholar in the present century that did not study from these two great lamas who were widely regarded as emanations of Buddhas.

Is Dorje Shugden a malicious spirit that harms the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause?

Various letters showing Dorje Shugden’s advice to the Tibetan people and to provide instructions ensuring the Dalai Lama’s safe passage out of Tibet. Click to enlarge.

Zasep Rinpoche’s relationship with Dorje Shugden began when he was very young. From very early on, he could already see that Dorje Shugden was not only a very powerful and omniscient deity but also one who was very beneficial, and had the wellbeing of the Tibetan people in his heart. His faith in Dorje Shugden is further enhanced by the fact that he received sogtae (life-entrustment ceremony) from not only Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche but also from Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, two of the greatest Tibetan lamas from whom Gelug practitioners receive the lineage practices.

Zasep Rinpoche’s grandfather was also a firm believer of Dorje Shugden, as was Zasep Rinpoche’s teacher, Lama Gelong Chojor Gyamtso who was an oracle of Dorje Shugden and Kache Marpo (Dorje Shugden’s chief minister and acolyte). Lama Gelong used to take spontaneous trance of Dorje Shugden and speaking through him, Dorje Shugden helped a lot of people and guided them on their spiritual path. A few years before 1959, Dorje Shugden already foresaw that Tibet would be lost to the Chinese and through Lama Gelong in trance, told Zasep Rinpoche’s grandfather of this. Zasep Rinpoche’s grandfather accepted Dorje Shugden’s prophecy without hesitation and immediately took preparatory steps. Hence when Tibet eventually fell a few years later, Zasep Rinpoche’s family did not land on hard times.

Various letters showing Dorje Shugden’s advice to the Tibetan people and to provide instructions ensuring the Dalai Lama’s safe passage out of Tibet. Click to enlarge.

However, as Zasep Rinpoche confirmed in his book, Dorje Shugden did more than save his family. Through the famous Panglung Oracle, Dorje Shugden had prophesied the fall of Tibet a few years earlier and warned the Tibetan people to take pre-emptive steps. However, they failed to act on the Protector’s warning and lost the karmic window to avert the calamity.

Sera Monastery Pomra Khangtsen’s records independently corroborate Zasep Rinpoche’s personal account. According to Pomra Khangtsen’s records, the incident took place in 1956-1957, when the Panglung Oracle told the head of the Chushi Gangdruk what was about to happen. The Chushi Gangdruk, meaning “Four Rivers, Six Mountain Ranges”, were an organization of Tibetan guerrilla fighters formed to resist the Chinese Army. Pomra Khangtsen’s records confirm that a whole two years before the Dalai Lama’s eventual escape, Dorje Shugden already knew that Tibet would be lost and that one day, the Dalai Lama would have to flee. In preparation, the Protector directed the Chushi Gangdruk to establish a new training base south of Lhasa and directly helped to build up a regiment of soldiers who were on standby to help the Dalai Lama. This preparatory step would prove crucial in 1959 during the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet, when this guerrilla force provided the necessary protection on the journey. Dorje Shugden was famous for such clairvoyance and compassion towards the Tibetan people before the CTA twisted the truth to serve their own interest.

Various letters showing Dorje Shugden’s advice to the Tibetan people and to provide instructions ensuring the Dalai Lama’s safe passage out of Tibet. Click to enlarge.

Zasep Rinpoche also wrote that a few days before the Dalai Lama’s escape in 1959, the Tibetan people learned of a Chinese plan to harm the Dalai Lama. At this most critical point in his life, Zasep Rinpoche wrote that of all the Protector deities within the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon, the Dalai Lama chose to place his trust in Dorje Shugden and took Dorje Shugden’s very detailed instructions and advice and this was how the Dalai Lama, his mother and his senior and junior tutors, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche were saved.

There are other sources that back up Zasep Rinpoche’s account of who saved the Dalai Lama – Sera Monastery Pomra Khangtsen’s record of their consultation with Dorje Shugden in 1959, the personal testimonies of Sera monks who escorted the Dalai Lama to safety, the testimonies of the Chushi Gangdruk warriors (before they too were forced by the CTA to change their story) and also Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche’s own writing, as detailed in his biography. Interestingly, when the Dalai Lama wrote his “foreword” for the translation of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche’s biography, he did not deny that it was Dorje Shugden who gave the advice for the Dalai Lama to flee for his life and provided the route, and who also prescribed some supernatural procedures to ensure the Dalai Lama’s safety.

Venerable Lobsang Yeshe, the changtso of the Sera Abbot who witnessed that it was Dorje Shugden giving the advice for the Dalai Lama to escape safely out of Tibet.

Yet today, Dorje Shugden is said to wish harm upon the Dalai Lama. This point alone is sufficient proof that the CTA lied when it accused Dorje Shugden of being harmful to the Dalai Lama or said that his practice is against the Dharma. First of all, it is highly illogical for Dorje Shugden to go through such great lengths to save the Dalai Lama’s life, only to try and harm him later. The Dalai Lama is the face of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism and in saving his life, Dorje Shugden ensured Tibetan Buddhism had the means to survive and be reestablished in exile. Tibetan Buddhism spreading like wildfire after 1959 was due to Dorje Shugden’s direct intervention in rescuing the Dalai Lama. In fact, the lamas who brought Tibetan Buddhism to the West like Geshe Rabten, Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen, Lama Yeshe and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso all worshipped Dorje Shugden alongside other traditional Gelug deities and Buddhas. Much like Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, a Dorje Shugden lama who proliferated Dharma in Tibet, these lamas were prolific in their teachings and activities in the West. Thus, far from being anti-Dharma, the truth is that those who practice Dorje Shugden have preserved and spread the Dharma further than any other Tibetan in history.

Records of Sera Monastery Pomra Khangtsen’s consultation of Dorje Shugden, showing the role of the Protector in the formation of the guerrilla group which would eventually protect the Dalai Lama on his flight into exile in India. Such is the significance of Dorje Shugden to Tibetan history, contrary to the CTA’s claims about his existence being harmful to Tibet and Tibetans. Click to enlarge.

Records of Sera Monastery Pomra Khangtsen’s consultation of Dorje Shugden, showing the role of the Protector in the formation of the guerrilla group which would eventually protect the Dalai Lama on his flight into exile in India. Such is the significance of Dorje Shugden to Tibetan history, contrary to the CTA’s claims about his existence being harmful to Tibet and Tibetans. Click to enlarge.

Is Dorje Shugden’s practice ‘demon worshipping’?

Everything the CTA falsely accuses Dorje Shugden of is without proof or basis. Thus, when someone credible like Zasep Rinpoche simply shares his own story, in the process of doing so he easily and inadvertently overturns lies about Dorje Shugden.

For example, Zasep Rinpoche wrote a moving account of how his grandfather’s teacher, Lama Gelong Chojor Gyamtso ascended to Buddha Vajrayogini’s heaven. If the CTA is correct about Dorje Shugden being a demon, how can the oracle of a demon enter into a pure land such as Vajrayogini’s paradise? If Dorje Shugden were a malicious spirit as the CTA claims, then anyone who worships him and encourages others to worship him (let alone takes trance of him!) would surely end up in the lower realms, and not in Vajrayogini’s pure land.

The Dalai Lama recognized and enthroned Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche, the reincarnation of his tutor, Kyabje Trijang Dorjechang. It contradicts the CTA’s claims that all Shugden worshippers will take rebirth in hell.

In fact the Tibetan leadership undermines its own lies about Dorje Shugden. Although they claim that relying on Dorje Shugden leads to a rebirth in the three lower realms, the Tibetan leadership have recognized and enthroned the reincarnations of lamas who strongly practiced Dorje Shugden in their past lives. The Dalai Lama himself recognised the reincarnation of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche who were great champions of the Shugden practice. This is not to mention the reincarnation of the 10^th Panchen Lama who was an unshakeable believer of Dorje Shugden, and also Kyabje Ling Rinpoche who wrote prayers to invoke Dorje Shugden. Thus Zasep Rinpoche’s story of how Lama Gelong, a Dorje Shugden oracle ascended to Vajrayogini’s paradise, is just one of many on a long list of Dorje Shugden lamas and scholars who have been known to have achieved great attainments.

Why the CTA imposed the Shugden ban

A picture of the Dalai Lama taken during his escape to India. This escape was instructed and facilitated by Dorje Shugden, who even provided the escape route. Click to enlarge.

Zasep Rinpoche’s courage in speaking the truth is very clear and everything Zasep Rinpoche writes about Dorje Shugden in his biography can be cross-checked and verified by referring to other independent sources. This shows that Zasep Rinpoche only wrote what was factual; he is, after all, commonly viewed as a credible and authentic holder of Lama Tsongkhapa’s lineage. And so when Zasep Rinpoche wrote in passing that the CTA orchestrated the Dorje Shugden controversy to deflect attention away from their failures, then there must be substance to his statement.

And we see that in fact, there is; by 1996, the Tibetan leadership had already failed to fulfill many promises to the Tibetan people. They had promised that they would regain their country and the Tibetan people believed them. The State Oracle, Nechung, who holds the rank of a minister in the CTA (the only ‘democratic’ parliament with a spirit as a Minister) had, by 1996, wrongly prophesied that the CTA would achieve victory against the Chinese army on many occasions. In 1987, Nechung boasted, “I will send 100 million divine soldiers to China” but to this day, the Tibetans remain as refugees. Nechung made similar predictions in 1995, 1997 and in 2012 and along the way the CTA issued corresponding promises to the people. By 1996, the CTA ran out of excuses for these prophecies failing to come true, and they had to blame their lack of political accomplishments on something else. So in May 1996, the CTA Cabinet officially blamed Dorje Shugden, saying:

“However, we are yet to achieve the ultimate triumph. Obstructive factors of various kinds, emanating from beings of both the form and formless realms, continue to hinder our efforts. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has investigated these obstructions and their causes for many years. One of the findings of his investigations is that depending on the spirit, Dolgyal, otherwise known as Dorje Shugden or Gyalchen Shugden, conflicts with Tibet’s two protector-deities (Nechung and Palden Lhamo) as well as the protector-deity of the Gelugpa tradition, Pledge-holding Dharmaraja (Damchen Choegyal). The inclination of this spirit is to harm, rather than benefit, the cause of Tibet.”

The CTA remains the only government in the modern world who blames a deity for its political failures whilst simultaneously failing to explain why the Dalai Lama, who is regarded as a Buddha, and the entire pantheon of deities from the four Tibetan Buddhist traditions, as well as Bön, could not help the CTA regain their homeland and fulfill their promises to the people.

Is the Dalai Lama as the CTA says, which is an all-knowing and all-powerful Buddha? In which case, how could such an individual be bested by a “mere spirit”, which is what the CTA claims Dorje Shugden to be? In calling Dorje Shugden a spirit and subsequently blaming the Tibetans’ lack of political progress on him, the CTA are in fact inadvertently saying that the Dalai Lama lacks the power, ability and otherwise wherewithal to subdue something that they say is “just a spirit”. It is another illogical attempt from the CTA to once again demonize Shugden practitioners, without having the basis to do so.

Summarizing it all

The formidable Mongolian lama Guru Deva Rinpoche, who was one of the most prolific patrons of the Tibetan monasteries in exile. It was thanks in part to his sponsorship that the monasteries could be reestablished and while it was convenient to receive his funding, he was accepted by the community. After the ban however, the fact he relied on Dorje Shugden led to him being increasingly persecuted. This eventually drove him out of India and back to Mongolia.

In the CTA’s persecution of innocent Dorje Shugden worshippers, they have been ruthless and brutal. Many of these Tibetans trusted the Dalai Lama and the CTA and followed their leaders into exile. Many, especially the lamas, contributed greatly to the cause of Tibet and to Tibetan Buddhism. As Zasep Rinpoche noted, one such lama was the Mongolian Guru Deva Rinpoche who contributed significantly to the rebuilding of the Dalai Lama’s secular and spiritual empire in exile. Even such a high lama was not spared the CTA’s malice. Guru Deva Rinpoche had supported the publication of a book about Dorje Shugden written by Pisu Jola, a lay practitioner who was discouraged by the injustice he saw the CTA inflict on Dorje Shugden believers. The book contained many stories about Dorje Shugden that would shame the CTA and make it difficult for them to ban the sacred practice. And so, both Pisu Jola and Guru Deva Rinpoche were both severely punished to the point that Guru Deva Rinpoche was forced to move away.

Like Pisu Jola’s book, Zasep Rinpoche’s book serves to expose the CTA’s crimes and lies except this time, the CTA cannot do anything in retaliation because firstly, those who know Zasep Rinpoche, a lama of stainless reputation, cannot find any fault in him. They have never known him to lie, speak ill of others, engage in politicking or any other behavior that would be considered inappropriate and unbecoming of a lama. In addition, Zasep Rinpoche is a resident of Canada, a real democracy that protects one’s basic human rights to his religion, and his freedom of speech and his freedom of thought.

Zasep Rinpoche’s book was published in 2016 and jointly with other lamas who have been educating the world about the truth surrounding the Dorje Shugden ban, it has resulted in the CTA being forced to downplay its horrific persecution of Shugden Buddhists. These days the CTA denies that there is even any discrimination but both the Dalai Lama and CTA’s official websites still contain material that are published to demonize Dorje Shugden and incite hatred against its worshippers.

The fact is that the CTA’s assault on the truth today still persists because most lamas and scholars who know the truth about Dorje Shugden prefer to remain silent and enjoy the ill-gotten privileges of being in the CTA’s good books, rather than saving the holy lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa and the reputation of great Dorje Shugden lamas of old. Hence it is books and writings such as Zasep Rinpoche’s biography that will save Lama Tsongkhapa’s pure lineage whilst the CTA is trying to demolish established traditions and construct their own, to command unquestioning loyalty from the Tibetan Buddhists worldwide.

Zasep Rinpoche’s biography

Zasep Rinpoche is perhaps one of the few remaining tulkus that was recognized, enthroned and received his traditional monastic education within the old Tibetan setting. Within his gripping autobiography A Tulku’s Journey from Tibet to Canada, Zasep Rinpoche tells his story set in a life steeped in tradition of the old tulku system in Tibet. He relates his experience of receiving his monastic education set in the backdrop of life within the monastery as they once were in old Tibet. His story spans his entire experience during his formative years growing up in the setting of traditional Tibetan society as he makes his way out of Tibet. In addition, the book also contains old black and white pictures that are the perfect accompaniment to Zasep Rinpoche’s very interesting story. The book is a must-read for those interested in Tibet prior to 1959 especially monastic culture.

You can purchase the book on Amazon.com by clicking here.

“Zasep Tulku Rinpoche’s A Tulku’s Journey from Tibet to Canada is equal parts autobiography, spiritual epic journey, gripping adventure narrative, inspiring Buddhist life example, and a travelogue spanning nine countries. Of course, this is a must read for Zasep Rinpoche’s students, or anyone contemplating asking to become his student. It is also a “should read” for anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhism. It’s a good read for anyone who enjoys biographies since it contains all the elements of a great spiritual bio: adventure, a fascinating life, spiritual insights, and a glimpse into the lives of a once-hidden people in the land of snows. Rinpoche truly brings Tibet alive in an intimate and honest way. While his love of teachers, Buddhism, Tibet and his people is palpable and constant, he doesn’t portray Tibet as a “Shangri-La”, and he doesn’t hesitate to describe both the good and bad.“

– Buddha Weekly

Zasep Rinpoche’s book titled “A Tulku’s Journey From Tibet To Canada”, chronicling his life and experiences.

The back cover of Zasep Rinpoche’s autobiography

Zasep Rinpoche in his younger days together with his grandfather. It was his grandfather who took Zasep Rinpoche to Tashi Lhapug Gompa to study. Tashi Lhapug, with its 700 monks, was the largest Gelug monastery in the area. It was here where Zasep Rinpoche received his ordination vows.

Zasep Rinpoche’s grandfather in his younger days

After Trijang Rinpoche recognized Zasep Rinpoche as the reincarnation of Konchog Gyurme, Trijang Rinpoche suggested that Zasep Rinpoche enter Sera Monastery to further his studies. On his arrival at Sera, Zasep Tulku entered Sera Je Monastic Collage where he was enthroned as a lama.

Zasep Rinpoche arrived at the home of Geshe Thubten Wanggyel (pictured here) on the morning that Geshela was completing his six-month Heruka retreat with a fire puja. Zasep Rinpoche would end up studying under Geshela for the next 10 years. Geshe happily accepted Zasep Tulku as his disciple, saying, “I’m honored to accept you as my student because my root Guru Trijang Dorje Chang sent you to me. Trijang Dorje Chang knows that we will develop good teacher and student relationship.”