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

There is one prominent characteristic of genuine spirituality, which is ‘consistency’ and this is especially true in Tibetan Buddhism with its focus on lineage. All authentic masters of Tibetan Buddhism and indeed all religions and spiritual paths will tell you that at the very minimum, a person must be kind, compassionate, honest and practice right livelihood which is not to make a living based on deception and dishonesty. And it is precisely this that makes Professor Robert (Bob) Thurman and his Menla Dewa Spa business very disturbing.

Bob Thurman is regarded as somewhat of an expert in the knowledge and practice of Tibetan Buddhism and regards the Dalai Lama as his teacher. The Dalai Lama on his part is supposed to be the embodiment and personification of compassion. Bob Thurman has written quite a few books on Buddhism, all of which ultimately advocate kindness and the generation of an inner wisdom that regards all phenomena and life in a fair and non-dualistic way.

Menla Dewa Spa is Bob Thurman’s business built on an image of wellness and healing based on Tibetan Buddhist principles. Menla itself refers to the Medicine Buddha and Bob Thurman presents Menla Dewa Spa as “Tibet in the Catskills” which is how Thurman takes advantage of the Hollywood image of Tibet as Shangrila, or heaven. According to Bob, at Menla you heal your mind and body, you become one with your environment, you sharpen your awareness and you study under ‘world class teachers’ (namely Thurman himself as his picture accompanies the caption on Menla’s promotional materials).

Great taglines and buzzwords, but are any of these real? The problem with fake spirituality is eventually you slip and expose yourself and this is precisely Bob Thurman’s problem – he cannot keep up with his own rhetoric.

The tweet sent out by Menla Dewa Spa.
Click to enlarge.

While Bob Thurman preaches great kindness and tolerance in his classes, his Menla spa has been inviting Menla participants to extend their search for healing into activities such as killing other sentient beings for pleasure. Menla promotes fly fishing in the Catskills which involves luring fishes, a form of sentient being according to Tibetan Buddhist teachings, to a painful death by teasing their hunger. How can a ‘wellness and spiritual healing’ retreat center based on Buddhism promote the killing of animals for pleasure unless its Buddhist values are fake and its spirituality is just a scam to draw people into spending money on Thurman’s business.

Killing cannot lead to wellness and healing, and Thurman should already know this. In fact, any beginner to Tibetan Buddhism would already know this, what more the ‘Je Tsongkhapa Professor’ of Buddhism. So, the question is why Bob Thurman condones this. Is his belief in Buddhist principles fake? Is Menla’s foundation of spirituality fake? The killing that Menla promotes is like placing cigarette vending machines within cancer treatment centers. It is absurdly contradictory and utterly shameful.

Thurman cannot say he didn’t know that Menla was promoting killing because Thurman personally operates Menla’s Twitter and social media accounts jointly with his henchman, Justin Stone-Diaz, who is rumored to be Thurman’s propagandist and manager of Thurman’s Twitter army. Together, they spread the Dalai Lama’s political agenda and along the way, promote Bob Thurman’s image and business. Bob Thurman needs to explain in what Buddhist tradition does the study and practice of Buddhism involve killing wildlife for sport and recreation?

By encouraging Menla participants to inflict suffering on other sentient beings, Bob Thurman is knowingly allowing them to accumulate even more bad karma, all for the sake of business and the bottom line – money. 

What is even more harmful is the way Thurman creates opportunities for people seeking healing and wellness to become even more unwell by creating more bad karma. If Thurman is a true Buddhist, he will know that there is bad karma that arises from harming and killing other sentient beings. This is a fact even if Menla participants are not aware of it because the law of karma, like the law of gravity applies regardless of whether one agrees with it or not. Instead of showing innocent participants the methods to clear their bad karmic energy through proven purification techniques, Thurman encourages them to create even more bad energy. This makes Thurman and Menla not only hypocritical but also highly damaging.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the illnesses of the body and mind are often related to karma. Even if Menla participants do not subscribe to Buddhism, Thurman as a Buddhist expert and a supposed firm believer must surely know better and should assume the responsibility of subtly leading participants to meritorious activities instead of harmful ones. Why Thurman does not do that and instead allows Menla to promote fishing and killing, can only be due to a few reasons. Either

1. Thurman is not truly knowledgeable about even basic Buddhist principles; or
2. Thurman is aware but does not truly practice Buddhism or does not believe in Buddhism; or
3. Thurman is aware and he personally believes in Buddhism but does not care about the wellness of Menla’s clientele; or
4. Menla is doing so poorly as a business that it has to cross-sell wildlife adventures to prop up its flagging business.

Whatever the reason may be, as a result, many are led astray by Menla.

Did the Dalai Lama tell Bob Thurman that he is exempt from the karma of killing? Why else would Thurman, a so-called Tibetan Buddhist “expert”, encouraging the sport of fly fishing?

Or perhaps, Thurman feels immune from karma through his association with the Dalai Lama. It is well known that the ‘success’ of Bob Thurman as a Buddhist teacher is only due to his reputation as the “Dalai Lama’s man in America”. It is a confluence of agendas – the Dalai Lama needs a Westerner to sell the Tibetan leadership’s agenda for Tibet to the Western people, and Thurman needs a justification to be regarded as a Tibetan Buddhist expert.

Now however, we can see clearly that his only qualification is his sycophantic involvement with the Dalai Lama. No emanation of the Buddha of Compassion whom the Dalai Lama is supposed to be, will encourage the torture and killing of other beings for recreation. Indeed, no authentic student and practitioner of Buddhism would engage in such harmful acts. But here we have it – a ‘Buddhist teacher’ promoting killing for the sake of business and riding on the Dalai Lama’s continued endorsement because he is a useful spokesperson for the Dalai Lama’s agenda. A few factors are at play here but none of them are based on the principles of kindness, tolerance, oneness with the environment, gentle understanding of the important principle of live-and-let-live, concern for others and not least of all, awareness of the suffering of others regardless of the form they take.

Would you want to experience this? If not, why would you want to inflict this experience on others?

Robert Thurman allowing Menla to promote fly fishing and killing for recreation exposes who he truly is – a greedy businessman who is using Buddhism and his association with the Dalai Lama to make money and a name for himself. Buddhism is just a trade to Thurman, just like the plight of the Tibetan refugees whom Thurman leverages on for monetary gain. As Tibet burned and over 150 Tibetan people self-immolated, Thurman did not appeal for the Tibetan people not to waste their lives as Buddhism advocates. Neither did Thurman do anything to help the families of those who lost loved ones, nor did he visit these victims of self-immolation in hospital or offer to pay their medical bills. Instead he again took advantage of these personal traumas to promote his Menla lectures on suicide and end of life. What kind spiritual person would see business opportunities in the tragedies of others? Apparently, the Dalai Lama’s man in America.
 

Not content with promoting fly-fishing and killing at what’s supposed to be a spiritual retreat, Thurman is now trying to drive people to leave good reviews for his business. In truth, there is no correlation between good reviews for Menla and showing love and support for Tibetan culture. Menla is a for-profit, commercial entity that makes use of Tibetan spirituality and healing practices to boost Thurman’s bank balance. Promoting this commercial entity will not aid the Tibetan struggle in any way; why does Thurman ask for people to show their love for Tibet through Menla, when they can do it directly through so many other actual non-governmental organizations? Thus Thurman yet again demonstrates that he is willing to exploit his relationship with the Tibetan struggle in order to make a quick buck for himself. This is a clear reflection of his greed and his presumption that the paying public will be swindled and fooled into believing falsely-derived positive reviews. Once again, Thurman is caught behaving at odds with his standing as a so-called spiritual leader.

By now, the religious ban on the deity Dorje Shugden, as instructed by the Dalai Lama, has drawn worldwide attention. For the first time in Buddhist history, Buddhists are being excluded from Dharma teachings and social welfare, brutally attacked and discriminated against by their own Buddhist community, simply because of a spiritual choice they have made. Dorje Shugden practitioners everywhere are suffering from this unjust and illogical ban, which denies them the most basic human right of religious freedom.

It has come to our attention that the Tibetan-government-in-exile (now called the Central Tibetan Administration) has been sending letters to monasteries, institutions, organizations probing if certain monks or individuals are practicing Dorje Shugden. We find this act appalling and extremely despicable. No civilized government in the world would write letters to their religious institutions or organizations interrogating them about the private practices of individuals and which deities they choose to pray to. Only a witch-hunting government from the Middle Ages would abuse their power to do something like this to intimidate its own people.

One of the very few things that Tibet is famous for throughout the world is its religion – Tibetan Buddhism. However, instead of preserving and supporting the monks who dedicate their lives in the monasteries to study, practice and teach Buddhism, the CTA goes the opposite way to suppress and persecute the very Sangha that made Tibetans famous in the world. Instead of writing letters to encourage, congratulate and support these monks who have dedicated their whole lives to Dharma, excelled in their studies and made the Dharma grow in the world, the CTA writes letters to interrogate, instill fear, suppress and ostracize the good Sangha and Dharma practitioners who did nothing but practice Dharma sincerely and only have good thoughts always in their mind.

These monks teach Dharma, conduct pujas, raise sponsorship and gather support to bring huge benefits to the monasteries. These monks build new monasteries, establish spiritual monastic communities, renovate chapels, erect new statues, feed monks, build hostels and help the lay community. When the Tibetans first fled Tibet in the 1950s to seek refuge in India, these monks did everything they could to reestablish their religious practice and community in this foreign land. Despite the many obstacles of language, unfamiliar territory, climate and separation from their Sangha, families and even their teachers, they built up the monasteries again from scratch. They have even helped the governments to set themselves up again and rebuild the Tibetan exiled community.

Now, the CTA turn against these very same monks, claiming that they are bad and evil for practicing Dorje Shugden. They claim that by continuing their practice of Dorje Shugden, they are traitors to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause and accuse them of being Chinese spies. These monks are expelled from their monasteries, denied any welfare or rights and even have to suffer physical attacks from people who call themselves Dalai Lama devotees. Is this fair?

By doing so, the CTA effectively nullify all the contributions that these monks have made to the Tibetan exile community and the new Tibetan Buddhist monastic communities throughout India. All that the monks have done – the sponsorship they have raised, the teachings they have given, the institutions they have helped to build – are forgotten, only because of one religious choice they have made.

We call for a different response. If the CTA wants to nullify all those contributions by ostracizing monks who they deem “bad”, “traitorous” and “evil”, then the CTA should also return all the contributions, all the money, the roofs, the tiles, the floors, the bricks, the food, the furniture, the fixtures, the statues, the offerings, the thangkas, the books, the buildings etc. to all the monks who sponsored and gave all these things to the monasteries. If the items given have already been used up (such as food, building materials or study materials), then the equivalent amount of money should be returned. Then, it is a fair game.

If the monks who are being ostracized and discriminated against by CTA are really that bad, then it follows that their contributions and everything that they have given before must also be bad and stained. These monks are being punished for their practice of Dorje Shugden because it is deemed evil and impure. If they are so bad and evil, then surely all their actions, contributions, sponsorship and support are based on a foundation that is also bad and evil. If the CTA and all the monasteries wish to remain so “pure” and “good” then shouldn’t they also remove and return all these “impure” things and sponsorship also? Why remove the impure person but keep the impure things given by them?

Even buildings and infrastructure being used by the CTA today were first supported, sponsored and built by Dorje Shugden Lamas. Now, the CTA make accusations against these Dorje Shugden Lamas and even issue “wanted” lists against them… even though they are sitting on and using the very things that the these Lamas gave them and build for them! Is this fair? We don’t think so. We find this ungrateful, very unkind and seriously hypocritical.

His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was instrumental in helping to rebuild the Tibetan exiled community. Trijang Rinpoche also physically donated so much to the monasteries – a majority of statues that are still in Gaden Monastery today are there because Trijang Rinpoche sponsored and donated them.

Today, the young incarnation of Trijang Rinpoche has had to leave his monastery in India and move to America because he suffered a tremendous number of threats and physical attacks while he was still living in Gaden Monastery as a child. He is disliked and viewed with great suspicion by Dalai Lama supporters and the CTA, simply because he was a Dorje Shugden practitioner in his previous life, and continues to be in this incarnation. Do you see the hypocrisy in this? He is so viciously hated by so many of his own Tibetan people, but at the same time, they are all very happy about using the many things he has built up for them. The very statues that the monks continue to pray to were sponsored by Trijang Rinpoche. If Trijang Rinpoche is really so bad and evil for his practice, then why pray to the statues that he made and donated? The Tibetans and the CTA should return every last cent that Trijang Rinpoche contributed in this and previous lives.

They should also return all the teachings that Trijang Rinpoche so compassionately gave to thousands of people. If he can make such a grave and terrible “mistake” to practice something “bad” and “evil” like Dorje Shugden; and if he is such a “bad”, “traitorous” and “evil” person for doing this practice, then all his other practices and teachings must also be tainted, wrong and impure.

Within the Gelugpa lineage, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was the sole and main source of teachings, which he generously shared to many, many, many other monks, Lamas and practitioners, including the Dalai Lama. Today, 99% of Gelugpa practitioners in the world can trace their lineage and practice back to Trijang Rinpoche. But why keep practicing his teachings and lineage when he is being ostracized, attacked and hated for his worship of Dorje Shugden? How can we say that his Dorje Shugden practice is wrong and evil but his Lamrim teachings are incomparable, as the Dalai Lama himself has said? If we accept someone as our Guru, we should also accept all his teachings as pure and correct – if not, why accept him as our Guru in the first place, to teach us everything we need to get to enlightenment?

If Trijang Rinpoche was wrong about Dorje Shugden, then there is a high chance he can be wrong about all the other things he has taught us. So if you wish to be totally sure that you are “clean” and completely disassociated from Dorje Shugden practice, then you should return EVERYTHING that you have received from Lamas like Trijang Rinpoche – from the physical and material sponsorship he gave, to the teachings and practices he gave. If you wish to cut off from Dorje Shugden practitioners, then honor your word and do it all the way – remove and return everything completely. Keep yourself totally “pure” and “untainted”. Have some integrity and disassociate yourself completely. Do not pick and choose what you keep or give up, to suit your own conveniences.

At the most basic human, ethical level, even women with dignity return their wedding rings to their husbands if the marriage ends! From a spiritual, ethical point of view, this is even more important – shouldn’t we return things to people who we believe to be evil? Why take the risk of having something so evil and bad in your life? And why keep things that were given by someone you disagree with and are so strongly against? Again, isn’t that very hypocritical?

Some may argue that they are keeping things given by Dorje Shugden practitioners for their benefit, to help them collect merit. This is completely untrue and illogical. If you really care about the welfare and benefit of Dorje Shugden practitioners, you should not force them to give up their practice in the first place; you would not apply such terrible pressure on them to take oaths against their lifelong practice; you would not expel them from monasteries and then deny them any welfare, support, help or access to Dharma teachings. If you really were concerned for Dorje Shugden practitioners, you should be even more kind to them, more patient, welcome them all the more to Dharma teachings so that they can learn what they are doing “wrong” and make any necessary changes. There is so much contradiction and hypocrisy in the way that Dorje Shugden practitioners are treated.

We urge you to think carefully about how much damage the ban has created. It is ruining lives and causing so much hurt to Buddhist practitioners everywhere. It also creates tremendous harm to the people who are enforcing the ban – it creates a terrible image that this is how cruel and unkind the Dalai Lama’s supporters are. The world will look at Tibetan Buddhists and see how uncompassionate, unforgiving and hateful they are towards their own people. It will cause Buddhism to be destroyed from within our own community.

Please think about how hypocritical the situation has become. Think about the logic we have pointed out in this letter. It is not meant to criticize or harm, but to show you clearly that the actions carried out because of this ban do not make any sense and completely contradict the teachings of the Buddha. Also, this is not how a modern 21-century government should act. How will you ever progress in the world and gain independence for your country if you cannot even be kind and united to your own people?!

We request you to reconsider your actions and urge you to lift this unnecessary, hurtful, damaging ban. We beg you to please practice kindness towards all sentient beings, which include Dorje Shugden practitioners.

Yours sincerely,
(YOUR NAME)

Hello sir,
I send my good greetings to you, and I also hope that my letter finds you well. I just wanted to thank you for being a member of a Buddhist government that does a lot to preserve Sakyamuni’s tradition in this world. It is quite a wonderful thing. There is something that I am have some trouble understanding and also I have not been able to get an answer. It is pertaining to the question of Dorje Shugden whom I understand that you have labelled to be a dolgyal.

Prior to learning of this issue, my lama asked me to practice and I have seen many benefits from this practice. My children had great difficulties in school and I could not pay their school fees so I prayed to Dorje Shugden to help. And every time a bill was coming from the school, something unexplainable would happen and I would get just enough money to pay for their bills. Maybe if their bill is US$1599, I would get exactly that amount.

So I am just wondering why a Buddhist government is suppressing a Buddhist deity. I have yet to see harm in Dorje Shugden’s practice and even when I am not consistent, he does not punish me. As I understand from Buddha’s teachings, if bad things happen to me, it is because my OWN bad karma is ripening. It is not because Dorje Shugden seeks to harm me.

How come your government does not feel it is hypocritical to take the money of Western donors like me, yet condemn us for interfering in Tibetan affairs? I am not saying that giving a lot of money means we have an overall say in Tibetan affairs, but surely we are allowed to have an opinion. At least that is what I understand democracy to be all about – everyone is entitled to an opinion, and in a democracy everyone listens to everyone (money or not). I feel that it is arrogant of the Tibetans to label Westerners as lacking in understanding of Tibetan ways, and therefore not being qualified to comment (when we’re apparently qualified enough to donate!).

Except for a few Tibetans who follow the crowd like sheep, I have not yet met any logical person who can discern with conviction, without coercion that Dorje Shugden is wrong. I am not asking you to go against the ban but just to think about your government’s actions, and whether you wish to inform the world that hypocrisy is the way of the Tibetans. It does not foster trust and will probably make your work for a free Tibet become much more difficult. I hope that you are the person of logic to make the right decisions.

Gigi Leung