Whenever people raise questions about the ban on Dorje Shugden, the Dalai Lama and CTA deny that there is a ban. The Dalai Lama and his people claim that people have the ‘freedom’ to make their own religious decisions and to practice Dorje Shugden or not.

In almost every country in the modern world, people are still entitled to the benefits, rights and welfare of all citizens, no matter what religious practice they choose. Whatever someone’s religion is, they can still receive education, medical aid, hold jobs within the government, receive identification and travel documents, and have voting rights. They are still allowed to participate in all activities of the country, as equal citizens.

However, it is clear that this is not the case in the Tibetan community. This so-called ‘religious choice’ IS NOT democratic. Anyone who chooses to practice Dorje Shugden is automatically excluded from Tibetan society and cut off from receiving all state benefits. Shugden practitioners cannot receive medical welfare. They cannot keep their jobs in the government or state-related organisations. They are excluded from all political and social activities. Their children cannot attend Tibetan schools. They are denied any identification and travel documents. They are not even allowed to go to certain shops to buy groceries! How can this be a free religious ‘choice?’

This is not a choice. It is forced induction and a dictatorial imposition. People are ‘making their choices’ because they are forced into a corner. In many cases, they have no other option but to give up their practice. If they do not give up, they become completely abandoned by their own government and people; they will have nothing. If Tibetans choose to side with the Dalai Lama and give up their Shugden practice, then they are included as a part of the mainstream Tibetan community. If they do not follow the Dalai Lama’s ban and choose to keep the Shugden practice, they are excluded from everything. In the case of the monks and nuns, they are kicked out of their monasteries, the only home they have. What kind of government makes their people make life-destroying choices like this?

The situation in the Tibetan community now is like what happened in South Africa in the past. In South Africa, there was discrimination against the black people. Among Tibetans, there is the same kind of bias against Dorje Shugden practitioners. The strong difference is the fact that the South Africans have progressed and no longer have this separation. However, it is still happening among Tibetans. The Tibetan community has not progressed and is not keeping up with the democratic standards of the world. They are still living in the past with archaic, outdated policies that everyone else in the world has given up long ago.

I urge you to reconsider the ban on Dorje Shugden. It is so damaging to your own Tibetan people. More importantly, it gives your own Tibetan governing bodies an extremely bad and backwards image.

With concern and respect,
[YOUR NAME]

Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay
Kashag
Central Tibetan Administration
Dharamshala – 176215
H.P.,
India
September 10, 2011

Dear Katri,

First, Congratulations to you for becoming new Kalon Tripa. I wish you good luck and hope you can do a lot of good things for the Tibetan people. I pray His Holiness Dalai Lama bless you and all of us for success.

Many Tibetans living in exile in India and also all around the world have a lot of hopes with you. For so many years since we left Tibet, there is still so much difficulty for Tibetans. For example travel is so difficult. Nobody recognize or accept Tibetan travel papers like the way they respect other country. Nobody respect us because nobody respect where we are coming from. How come no one respect us? How come Tibetan government doesn’t work on infrastructure or methods to make us respected so people don’t put us down in every place we go. Why Tibetan government doesn’t do more things on a world level to bring up reputation.

Now in modern world, there is no really famous Tibetan. Apart from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, no Tibetan has become world famous for anything like science, writing, music, art, business, medicine etc. Why? Why Tibetan have nobody famous except religious people. For last 50 years, Tibetan government in Dharmasala focus too much on religion issue, lamas, practice, protectors and sects. This focus on religion does not help us to get our country back, also does not help Tibetan cause in the world. You must stop talking so much religion things. Actually, whatever religion, practice, lama, sect, Buddha or protector that Tibetans choose, the government must give freedom. Government must not interfere in this kind of private things. Tibetan government should never talk about religion like all other government in the world don’t talk about religion and have focus on religion all the time.

The Tibetan government never provide any good opportunity for after education. There is no help for Tibetans to have good career and good work life and chances for growing. The government never help to produce any world-class Tibetans. If you can promote us to be successful in different area, then we will be more famous in the world and have more respect. Then if Tibetans talk about Tibetan cause, it will be more powerful and more people will listen to help us. But Tibetan government never help Tibetans to be successful. We cannot even travel so how we can achieve more bigger things?

Instead of trying to do more bigger things for your people, the CTA spend so much time talking about small, religion things. This issue about the Dorje Shugden, I am not interested in this. Most people in the world is not interested. Even my friends asking me why Tibetan government always talking about this things and put down people because of religion. I heard these people cannot get medicine help or education. It looks very behind and for Tibetans, it is embarrassing. There is not progression or democratic action. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is so big and famous and good but why on his website, there is these things on Dholgyal and Dorje Shugden? (dalailama.com/messages/dolgyal-shugden). This thing make Dalai Lama image go down. No big famous religion leader or nobel prize people putting things on their website talking bad about religion. This things makes Dalai Lama and Tibetans look like very not compassion and very small mind. Writing this thing does not look like give advice but make His Holiness look like suppressing religion freedom and religious practice. You must remove this section on Dalai Lama website please!

The Dalai Lama always say that everybody is welcome to go to his dharma talks. Anybody from every religion can go, except Dorje Shugden people. This is not fair. Why Dalai Lama have no compassion and love for Dorje Shugden people? If Dorje Shugden people so bad, Dalai Lama must accept them for his talk and help them to change to be good. If he don’t let them come in, how to help them? How can religious teachers stop anybody to join them for prayers and good religion talks? No religion leader today stop people to come and see them and help them. This kind of message make Dalai Lama look very small mind and not kind and have bias. We all know Dalai Lama is very kind and have a lot of love. But this things on website make him look opposite and make him look like bad although it is not true. The Dalai Lama is the doctor, dharma is medicine. Samsara people is all sick. Even Dorje Shugden people is sick and all need help like all of us. So why Dalai Lama don’t let them come to his talk to help them and give them healing? All people deserve to have this medicine and dharma. How can the Tibetan government support something like this? It makes Tibetans very old-fashioned. It is not modern and no democracy. There is no human rights and it will make the world have no more respect for Tibetan policy and ideas. Please do not mix up religion things and politics anymore.

Now it is so difficult for Tibetans. Later, when His Holiness Dalai Lama pass away, what will be the future for the rest of Tibetans? The rest of the world will respect us less when there is no more Dalai Lama. Until now, the Tibetan government did not create any respect for itself or its people. Without Dalai Lama, it will be even more difficult to make other people to listen to us.

Dr Lobsang Sangay, I really hope that you can improve condition for the Tibetan people. Many of us still having so many problems now because the government did not fight enough for Tibetans, always focus on small things and religion things instead of development. Now the world is getting smaller but Tibetan people still have so much trouble to be respected because we don’t have good opportunities for working life or for politics. Actually, it is very sad Tibetan government name already change to CTA. It shows that government reputation and name and honour already go down in the world. The CTA need to catch up to rest of the world and have progress. I hope very much you can achieve this progress.

I wish you many Tashi Deleks and I am sorry maybe my words hurt you. Also, I am sorry have to writing to you in English. My Tibetan writing is not so good, so I ask my friend to help me with writing this letter. I hope it is okay.

YOUR NAME

This is a Tibetan talk show. It is very inspiring to see Dorje Shugden Lamas like Legthang Tenzin Gyatso getting more publicity.

Legthang Tenzin Gyatso is the Chief Director of the Dharma Bridge Foundation. The Foundation provides English language education at Shar Gaden and other Buddhist Monasteries in Nepal and India.

Their goal is to work hand in hand with the already existing educational programs at the monasteries, providing valuable assistance to meet the educational needs of the monks in their studies. The monks in these monasteries are the future of our lineage. It is these monks who will carry the pure Gelug lineage into the future.

Using English as a tool, they will be able to spread our lineage into every corner of the globe so that the spiritual needs of countless beings would be met.

(Part 2 of 11) Debate session between monks of Serpom Monastery and Shar Gaden Monastery

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(Part 3 of 11) Inauguration and Consecration of the Assemply Hall of Serpom Monastery by Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche, followed by Mangja Puja

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(Part 4 of 11) The Invocations of Dharmapalas Dorje Shugden, Jowo Chingarwa, Setrap and Kache Marpo in the Assembly Hall of Serpom Monastery

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(Part 5 of 11) The Opening Ceremony of Serpom Monastery

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It was presided by the chief guests:

His Eminence Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche

His Excellency Shri S.A. Ramdas (Honorable Minister for Medical Education from Health & Family Welfare Department and Mysore Distric Minister)

Shri Venkatesh (Member of Legislature Assembly) with participation by local authorities, chairmen of Indian organizations, venerable monks, and delegates and guests from 18 different countries

(Part 6 of 11) The Opening Ceremony of Serpom Monastery

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The ceremony was presided by the chief guests:
His Eminence Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche
His Excellency Shri S.A. Ramdas (Honorable Minister for Medical Education from Health & Family Welfare Department and Mysore Distric Minister)
Shri Venkatesh (Member of Legislature Assembly) with participation by local authorities, chairmen of Indian organizations, venerable monks, and delegates and guests from 18 different countries

(Part 7 of 11) Serpom monks engage in Buddhist studies in a systematic way, and therefore Buddhist education is making rapid progress.

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It goes without saying that it is a good example for Buddhism in general

(Part 8 of 11) On the occasion, Dungkar Samten Choeling Monastery from Darjeeling presented Buddhist traditional Cham dance.

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The Cultural Dance Department of Shar Gaden Monastery performed Tashi Shopa and Snow Lion dance

(Part 9 of 11) Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche has kindly given oral transmissions, commentaries and empowerments to thousands of devotees at Serpom Monastery

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(Part 10 of 11) Serpom Monastery and devotees offered Long Life Puja to Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche

(Part 11 of 11) Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche paid visit to debate session and various departments of Serpom Monastery

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Hello,
When I was younger, I was really really bad at Maths. No matter how hard I tried, I really couldn’t do it. No one knew why because I was good in all my other subjects. I was doing my mock examinations and I got 31% so I failed.

It was quite scary because I needed those results to go to college but my mother said no one would accept me because I didn’t even get a C. So I prayed to Dorje Shugden really hard and did his mantra every single day.

Then I had my Maths exam, and it was the real one. When I was waiting for my exam to start, I was sitting with my friend. She had her revision notes but she didn’t want to look at them anymore, I guess the stress of the exam was getting too much for her so she gave me her notes.

Normally when someone gives me their things, I don’t read it but this time I don’t know what happened. When she passed me her papers, I looked at it and saw it was on a topic I had not studied because I didn’t think it was going to come up in the exam.

I thought there was no harm in reading her papers. So in the next ten minutes, I read and memorised everything. When I got into the exam hall and saw my exam questions, almost 80% of the exam was on that topic!

When my results came out, I got 75% and got into an excellent college. I don’t think I would have done so well if Dorje Shugden hadn’t helped me. So many things happened in my favour that I couldn’t have predicted. Even my state of mind was receptive to receiving help. So I really think Dorje Shugden was there for me.

Education is extremely important and I am saddened to learn that the Tibetan children’s education may be compromised by the government’s focus on other issues. I humbly request you to give Tibet a stronger future by providing a good education to your youth, and exposing them to the ways of the world. The old Tibet is gone and can never be regained. I feel it is the government’s duty as Buddhists to educate the population on giving up their attachment for an old Tibet, and to educate the population so that Tibetans can become valued and contributing members of the world.

With concern,
~ Alice Werner ~

A short informative video about the Educational Program that takes place in Shar Gaden Monastery. Narrated by a volunteer English Teacher. This video gives an account of what is a typical day at Shar Gaden Monastery for the monks.

Starting from the moment they wake to how their day ends. There are currently over 700 monks in Shar Gaden.