This short video sums up 20 years worth of information about the unethical Shugden ban and the discrimination, fear and coercion faced by Shugden Buddhists on a daily basis, especially those who are brave enough to stand up, speak and fight for their Religious Freedom.

Through sharing this video, you are helping millions of Shugden Buddhists worldwide by creating awareness of their sufferings and helping them regain their rights to freedom of religion and freedom of choice. On their behalf, we at DorjeShugden.com thank you.

For more evidence of the ban and the suffering it has caused: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/press/proof-of-discrimination/

An Exclusive Interview with Geshe Sopa Part 2

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Venerable Geshe Lobsang Sopa is an incredible monk with a reputation of being sincere, fiercely devoted to his Gurus and extremely principled. All who come into contact with him describe Geshe-la as being direct, even brutally honest, but tremendously kind. And it is this kindness and loyalty to the Gelugpa lineage that drives Geshe Sopa to get involved in the efforts to end the Dorje Shugden conflict.

Geshe Sopa is no stranger to the persecution that so many Shugden practitioners have suffered. He has not been able to see his family for over 18 years since the onset of the Shugden ban, one that caused many other families to separate due to the split loyalties that were forced onto the entire Tibetan community; and has suffered discrimination and threats of violence for his efforts to create awareness of the suffering that Shugden practitioners have to endure. Recently, Geshe Sopa’s name and likeness were even listed in a hit list of Dorje Shugden practitioners published by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

Today, Geshe Sopa is a Resident Teacher of Trijang Buddhist Institute (TBI) where he has been based since 2004, the advisor to the North America Gelug Buddhist Association (NAGBA) and an outspoken advocate of Tibetan Public Talk (TPT), a NAGBA initative. Geshe Sopa was also one of the monks who tirelessly rebuilt Ganden Shartse Monastery in South India after the Tibetan exodus of 1959.

It is when you hear Geshe Sopa speak about Ganden Shartse Monastery that you again see the ugliness and damage the Dorje Shugden ban has caused. Till this day, Geshe-la expresses his wish to return to Ganden Shartse – the home which he built, grew up in and where he received his education – and to be reunited with his Dharma brothers and friends. He hopes to see the reunification of Ganden Shartse and Shar Ganden monasteries before the end of his life.

Very rarely can one find a monk who is so humble and yet has quietly accomplished such virtuous works from building monasteries to serving the highest of lamas. Thus, it was a great privilege for DorjeShugden.com to speak with Geshe-la to get his views about the Dorje Shugden conflict.

When it comes to the Dorje Shugden conflict, few names have become more synonymous with the struggle for the Tibetan people to regain their rights to practice their beliefs than Adar Tsering. A familiar Tibetan face at the protests organized by the International Shugden Community, he has done much to bring world attention to the woes of Shugden worshippers and the fight against an unjust religious ban.

Adar Tsering is the General Secretary of the North America Gelug Buddhist Association (NAGBA), which consists of Tibetan monks and laypersons who are concerned about the erosion of the purity of Je Tsongkapa’s lineage which the Dorje Shugden practice became a casualty of. It is a position that Adar Tsering has had considerable experience in, having held similar positions in Dorje Shugden Societies in North India and Nepal, where persecution of Shugden followers is rife.

In his post as General Secretary of NAGBA, Adar Tsering has labored for the cause, not only through participation in the peaceful demonstrations against the Dalai Lama’s ban on Dorje Shugden, but also via NAGBA initiatives such as Tibetan Public Talk (TPT) which aims to educate Americans, Tibetans as well as the world public about the gross breach of human rights that the Central Tibetan Administration has hidden from the world.

The Dorje Shugden ban has created much suffering and perhaps Adar Tsering’s tireless drive is borne out of a desire to relieve others of adversities that the CTA-sponsored conflict has inflicted upon him personally. Previously a monk of Sera Mey’s Pomra Khangtsen, which was forced to become what is now Serpom Monastery, Adar Tsering is familiar with what Dorje Shugden monks have to endure.

Despite having left the sangha community, he could not escape the long shadows of the CTA’s persecution and propaganda campaigns against Shugden practitioners, and became the victim of a broken family torn apart by split loyalties. Adar Tsering is also a constant target for death threats and abuse by anti-Dorje Shugden groups, even appearing on the CTA’s hit list, but remains unfazed in his mission to end the unholy conflict.

DorjeShugden.com recently had the pleasure of speaking with Adar Tsering to get his views.

In Tibetan Buddhism, names like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang, Geshe Rabten, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe are legendary, illustrious and almost illusive. Hence it would take a practitioner of exceptional merits to have met, and to have received teachings and empowerments from such high lamas. Claudio Cipullo is one such practitioner and deservedly so.

Claudio Cipullo began his practice of Buddhism during its renaissance in the West and he was amongst the fortunate first group of Westerners to have received teachings from lamas who were pioneers of Tibetan Buddhism outside Tibet’s borders. Others in the group include famous personalities such as Professor Robert Thurman and Stephen Batchelor.

He is one of the rare few people who have personally studied under His Holiness the Dalai Lama (for whom Claudio also did translation work), Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang (from whom Claudio received certain tantric empowerments and personal advice), Lama Yeshe (who was Claudio’s root guru), Kyabje Zong Rinpoche (who was Claudio’s preceptor and who ordained Claudio into the Tibetan Buddhist Sangha), Lama Zopa (whom Claudio translated for and assisted), Kyabje Gangchen Rinpoche and many others. Claudio was also one of the founders and directors of Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, and a founding member of Kopan Monastery.

In over 40 years of unbroken practice, Claudio has received many important empowerments and instructions, including the initiation of Dorje Shugden from Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang (which Claudio received alongside Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Piero Cerri). Behind a certain humility that Claudio wears with ease is a highly realized Vajrayana practitioner. Today, Claudio Cipullo is a close student of Kyabje Gangchen Rinpoche and also serves as a tutor in Gangchen Rinpoche’s Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre in Italy.

With over four decades of exposure to high lamas and key events in Tibetan Buddhism, Claudio’s experience provides important insights into the Dorje Shugden controversy. It is interesting and noteworthy that with the onset of the Dorje Shugden ban, a practitioner of Claudio Cipullo’s caliber chose to continue with his Dorje Shugden practice and was happy to forego the status and recognition he had earned with Lama Zopa and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). Had Claudio chosen to remain with the FPMT at the cost of his vows to Lama Yeshe, Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang and his Dorje Shugden practice, Claudio would no doubt be holding a lofty position within the FPMT network today. Therefore it was an honor and a pleasure for DorjeShugden.com to speak with Claudio Cipullo regarding his views on the Dorje Shugden conflict.

Ven. Kelsang Ananda is a devoted and loyal student of the Dharma in Je Tsongkapa’s tradition. After studying and practicing the Dharma for some years, he was ordained in the year 2000 by one of the most renowned Gelugpa Masters of the modern era.

By the strength of his sincere practice, Ven. Kelsang Ananda developed tremendous faith in Dorje Shugden and was aghast at how the Tibetan leadership was disparaging an enlightened deity and in the process tearing the unity of Gelugpa Buddhists apart. He decided that as a Dharma practitioner and as an individual who values the rights of all people, he had to personally lend his support to the on-going initiatives to alleviate the anguish of the people as the result of a grave injustice.

Recently, DorjeShugden.com had the opportunity to sit for a while with Ven. Kelsang Ananda and to hear his views about the Dorje Shugden ban and the sufferings of many as the result of this ban. Ven. Kelsang Ananda speaks passionately and yet with a calm logic, explaining why he thinks the ongoing protests against the Dalai Lama are crucial and effective and ultimately unavoidable. It is, to Ven. Kelsang Ananda, the only remaining way to appeal to the Tibetan leadership to listen.

This is an insightful interview with a sincere Dharma practitioner and a teacher of the Buddhadharma who tells us why the protests go way beyond just the interests of Western Buddhists protecting their rights – they are also an act of compassion for those who have no voice against their oppressors.

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Adesso chiunque potrà viaggiare indietro nel tempo per capire come unincomparabile Lama sia nato allo scopo di diventare un Protettore straordinario.

Con grande dedizione, molti artisti di talento e produttori hanno lavorato giorno e notte per portare alla luce quest’opera.

Che tu sia un praticante esperto o alle prime armi, adulto o bambino, puoi scoprire la vera bellezza di questa epica storia, narrata perché tutti possano goderne sentendola.

Alza il volume e ascolta attentamente.

Qui comincia la tua esperienza illustrata con Dorje Shugden.

* Per una visione migliore, usa la modalità FullScreen

The validity and nature of Dharma Protectors is a very relevant topic in recent times, particularly in the wake of the Dorje Shugden affair as instigated by the 14th Dalai Lama. Is it possible to differentiate between enlightened and unenlightened deities, and how does one do that?

This video highlights nuances in Tibetan Buddhist culture and ritual to make a distinction between worldly and awakened beings, through the tradition of oracles in Tibetan culture.

June 14-15, 2010, The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, Vice president of The Buddhist Association of China, was having two days Dharma teaching at his home monastery, Tashi Lhunpo.

He was teaching on “The Three Principal Paths” to both sanghas and lay people, also giving blessing by touching their heads. This is the first public dharma teaching by 11th Panchen lama after his enthronement.

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Buddha Unfolding Festival

Each year, from the 15th to 16th day of the 5th Tibetan month, Tashi Lhunpo monastery will be celebrating their Buddha Unfolding Festival. Sanghas are getting ready for the festival one day before the festival.

During the festival, farmers and herdsmen of Tsang area will gather at Shigatse, as well as pilgrims from other places. They believe that even a glimpse of Buddha’s face will help them accumulate tremendous merit.

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The 11th Panchen Lama, or Panchen Erdeni (secular name: Gyaincain Norbu), has been recognized as the reincarnated child of the 10th Panchen Lama on November 29, 1995 after the “lot-drawing from the golden urn” in front of Buddha Shakyamuni Statue in Jokhang Monastery and the approval of the State Council.

Gyaincain Norbu was born on February 13, 1990 in an ordinary family in Lhari County in northern Tibet Autonomous Region. His father Soinam Chaghba and mother Sanggyai Zhoima have both completed their primary school education.

They gave birth to a beautiful boy with fair skin, bright shiny eyes with a mole on his right face. His face resembled a Buddha, thus Sanggyai Zhoima’s father named his grandson “Gyaincain Norbu”, which means “The holy victory banner”.

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The Life of Gyaincain Norbu at Shigatse

On the morning of 30th Nov 1995, The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu arrived at Shigatse, accompanied by leader of Tibet Autonomous Region and high lamas from inside and outside Tibet. This episode tells you life of Gyaincain Norbu at Shitgatse.

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Visiting Reting Monastery

The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu with a group of people went to Reting Monastery at Lhasa for pilgrimage. This was the first time the 11th Panchen Lama doing pilgrimage at this monastery after his enthronement in year 1995.

Visiting Reting Monastery is one of the Dharma activities the 11th Panchen Lama planned to do in his trip to Lhasa. According history, every incarnation of Panchen lama would pay pilgrimage to Reting Monastery including the 10th Panchen Lama when he was young.

When the 11th Panchen lama and the group of people reached Reting Monastery at 9.30am, more than one hundred monks from the monastery and over 100 local people, all lined up at both sides of the road to welcome the arrival of His Holiness the 11th Panchen Lama.

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The powerful ancient tradition of divine oracles is revealed in this intriguing and mystical cinematic experience.

But this is NOT just a historical phenomena – join us as we take you into the secret, sacred places of highly powerful monasteries in existence today, where oracles are still being used to channel the mighty energies of divine beings.

Chinese Version

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