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.

In the following articles, UK-based independent journalist Indy Hack uncovers how the Tibetan leadership engaged Michael Jäckel (aka Tenzin Peljor) to create a string of propaganda campaigns to justify their persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners. Indy Hack provides a detailed account of Jäckel’s approach to demonizing Shugden Buddhists, which seems to come straight out of a Stasi training book.

Following Indy Hack’s exposé, the Tibetan leadership’s house of cards built by Jäckel begins to fall apart. This is a strange tale that explains to some extent why the Tibetan cause has failed, especially given the fact that the Tibetan leadership focuses more on its smear campaign than working towards freedom for the Tibetans in exile. For more from Indy Hack, visit arebuddhistsracist.com.

The Holy Spy

Unmasking a CTA Intelligence Officer

16th March 2015

Initially it may seem a ludicrous concept to associate the Dalai Lama with spying, however that’s only because of the carefully crafted media persona most people assume he lives up to.

From 1959-1974 the Dalai Lama received $180,000 a year from the CIA just for his own personal expenditure. They trained and armed resistance fighters and used the Dalai Lama extensively to promote anti-communist propaganda.

Throughout the entire history of the Dalai Lama in exile you will find the fingerprints of the US intelligence community. Bearing in mind the direct and indirect involvement of the CIA with all aspects of the exile leadership it is unsurprising then that the Dalai Lama uses spies in much the same way other leaders do.

Unmasking a CTA Spy

For those of us who grew up in the 80′s the concept of a spy is very much like James Bond, a tough guy risking his life behind enemy lines to get secrets for his government. Dramatic, daring, dangerous and completely unrelated to reality.

Since June 2013 the world’s concept of spying was irrevocably changed by Edward Snowden when he chose to reveal exactly how far and wide the reach of the US intelligence community was. Rather than tales of derring-do it was more a case of being geeky, wearing glasses and sitting behind a computer screen. The spy was actually an Intelligence Officer, James Bond was James Bland.

In February 2014 Snowden released to the media a file which has an incredible bearing on the Dalai Lama controversy. It was a Power-Point presentation from the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) entitled, “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.“

For those who have been living in a cave or shipwrecked on an island for the past few years GCHQ is the UK’s intelligence and security organisation responsible for spying on communications. The document Snowden released was part of a training course for GCHQ’s Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG). It’s function was to train intelligence officers how to control and manipulate online resources to affect a target.

In an article for The Intercept entitled, “How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive and Destroy Reputations“, Glenn Greenwald wrote:

“Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable.

“To see how extremist these programs are, just consider the tactics they boast of using to achieve those ends: “false flag operations” (posting material to the internet and falsely attributing it to someone else), fake victim blog posts (pretending to be a victim of the individual whose reputation they want to destroy), and posting “negative information” on various forums.”

If we compare the GCHQ training with the activities of Tenzin Peljor it becomes quite apparent that there are some alarming similarities. For the purposes of comparison it is easier to look at both tactics separately.

(1) Injecting False Material onto the Internet

In 2006 Michael Jäckel visited Dharamsala, India, the home of the Central Tibetan Authority (CTA) and its leader, the Dalai Lama. He claims he was ordained as a Buddhist monk and received the name Tenzin Peljor. He then began his main work for the CTA as an intelligence officer tasked with discrediting the Dorje Shugden protest movement.

For the purposes of clarity I will refer to Tenzin Peljor throughout the remainder of this article by his legal name, Michael Jäckel, as I remain unsure whether he genuinely is a Buddhist monk, or whether this is a cover he has been given by the CTA.

As explained in previous articles for someone with a vow against lying Mr Jäckel has been caught lying with a shocking freqency already. In addition, as a footnote to his online biography he claims to have no affiliation to any specific Buddhist tradition stating, “I am just a Buddhist monk in the monastic order of the Buddha“, which seems somewhat vague.

The process of undermining or discrediting protest movements is quite widespread amongst the intelligence community. For instance in East Germany, where Michael grew up, the Stasi would routinely engage in such operations against groups who promoted ideologies that were opposed to the state.

Such operations fell under directive 1/76 of the Ministry of State Security and were referred to as Zersetzung. One commentator referred to the similarities between the GCHQ briefing document and the Zersetzung:

Having grown up in East Germany and served in its armed forces for nearly two and a half years these methods would not have been unfamiliar to Mr Jäckel. In fact when he first contacted the religious website, Dialogue Ireland, to try and exert some influence over their articles about the New Kadampa Tradition he stated, “I am much interested into the dynamics of Nazi, Stasi, dictatorship, totalitarian systems“.

Yet when they asked him to explain his background in relation to these issues he wrote, “I appreciate your interest in the Stasi / Nazi / East German dictator ship issue. I am interested in these too and I would be happy to meet you and to discuss this. But I don’t seek a public discussion about my background or person.“

Back to 2006

Skipping back to 2006, after he received his ‘ordination name’ Michael then proceeded to set about his main work for the CTA, undermining the Dorje Shugden protest movement by using the Zersetzung methods in a more up to date context.

Since the main organisation supporting the protests was the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) the CTA’s approach was to try and discredit it. Since 1996 they had been trying to present the NKT as a rogue tradition, a dangerous cult which was not to be trusted.

In 2006 Michael began to work on the NKT’s Wikipedia entries, injecting false information and trying to promote the CTA’s agenda. As previously explained his attempts were quite unsophisticated and drew the attention of various Wikipedia editors who raised concerns about the accuracy of his information.

In 2008 Michael began to develop his own websites after proclaiming to the members of his anti-NKT ‘survivors’ group, “maybe we use the power of the many people here and the motivation to protect others (giving fearlessness) by setting up 1-2 websites.“

In order to maintain a pretense that the websites were not solely directed at discrediting the NKT he included various academic articles and some limited criticism of other traditions of Buddhism. Despite this, all of his websites shared the main theme of being critical of the NKT and seeking to discredit them in line with the CTA agenda to which he was working.

Whatever the pretense it is very clear from the above quote that Michael’s main intention behind establishing his websites was to discredit the NKT.

The advantage of using his own websites rather than Wikipedia was that he could strive for credibility whilst being able to control criticism of his information. In this respect he was fulfilling the intelligence officers role as described by GCHQ, “to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets“.

(2) Manipulating Online Discourse

Whereas the first aspect of the GCHQ briefing document is fairly straightforward it is the second aspect which is the most disturbing, and as Glenn Greenwald says, “extremist“.

Within strand two of the GCHQ document subtitled, “Influence and Information Operations“, they state:

People make decisions as part of groups. People make decisions for emotional reasons not rational ones.

It is this part of the training which encourages intelligence officers to become influential members of the groups they seek to manipulate online. It is also this area that has the most alarming parallels with Mr Jäckel.

He became a member of the Buddhist forum e-sangha as he was scouring online groups to find disenchanted members, or ex-members of the NKT, he could form alliances with. It wasn’t long before the ideal candidate appeared.

David Cutshaw, a disillusioned NKT member was on e-sangha discussing doubts about the tradition and his experiences within it. Very quickly Michael struck up a friendship with David and persuaded him to establish an exclusive online forum dedicated to ex-NKT members and people thinking of leaving the NKT.

On 22nd May 2007 David created the group which was called “NKT survivors” and after David, Michael was the first person to post on it. Michael had now created his very own group dedicated to discrediting the NKT by gathering disgruntled former members and those with some doubts.

Within strand four of the GCHQ document it details the qualities intelligence officers should look for to bond groups together: shared opposition, shared ideology, and common beliefs. It also details some of the attributes that pull a group apart: competition, and ideological differences.

For the survivors group to work in line with the CTA’s agenda it was essential that it was focussed solely on opposition to the NKT and anyone who showed ideological differences such as supporting the NKT needed to be quickly removed.

For this reason the group established the following rule:

“No NKT members/followers/students are allowed.
If you are happy with the NKT, and have no desire to leave, this group is not for you. If you join anyway trying to post and try to get Yahoo to delete this group, we can only assume you are a troll trying to cause disharmony. Such people will be banned and removed at once from the group.”

Anyone posting comments which were deemed in any way supportive of the NKT were dismissed as ‘trolls’ trying to promote ‘NKT propaganda’. In this way they ensured that members self moderated their comments avoiding anything that could be accused of being ‘Pro-NKT’.

Now Michael had a group of people who were either ex-NKT members who were unhappy about their previous treatment in the tradition or current members who were thinking of leaving.

Fake Victim Blog Posts

In order to get the ball rolling Michael created a false identity online which he used to join the group and post comments. The fake identity was called “York Johns” and he posted as if he was an ex-NKT member with bad experiences.

Unfortunately for Michael his trade-craft wasn’t very good with ‘York Johns’ and he used the same persona to create a YouTube account for some videos he wanted to use on his websites. The ‘York Johns’ account also uploaded some teachings in German by Dr. Birgit Schweiberer who was at Instituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy with Michael.

‘York’ was meant to be English, yet he was uploading German videos of Michael’s friend. ‘York’ also recently uploaded footage Michael had recorded of the protesters outside the Dalai Lama’s teachings in Frankfurt in 2014. Either Michael has multiple personality disorder or he was creating fake victim posts using his ‘York’ persona.

his wasn’t an isolated incident, Michael’s friend Rory Tasker also joined the ‘survivors’ group and posted under a false name. Rather than using his ordination name (Jamyang Khedrup) he posted using the name Lobsang Jangchub.

Over the course of 6 months several people replied to him using this false name, yet Rory never corrected them. An account of his time at Sera monastery was also published by Michael on one of his websites but attributed to, “the monk Lobsang Jangchub“, even though Tenzin knew it was written by the monk Jamyang Khedrup.

Exactly how many of the other victim posts are fake is anyone’s guess, there’s no way to prove who the person is who posted the account or if it’s accurate. This aspect of the ‘survivors’ group made it an incredibly potent tool in Michael’s work for the CTA.

At this point I’d like to note that I am not trying to dismiss or belittle anyone’s actual experience of dissatisfaction with the NKT. The issue is with the ability to ascertain if the accounts are truthful or if they are fake. Michael has demonstrated a willingness to use fake accounts within both the ‘survivors’ group and his own websites, which raises a valid question about which are accurate and which are false.

Posting “negative information” on Various Forums

In addition to using false identities within the ‘survivors’ group Michael also runs various different online identities which he uses to post negative information throughout the internet. He often comments on any articles which present anything other than a negative portrayal of the protests and almost always includes links within the posts to his own websites. Needless to say he pretends that the websites are not connected to him.

So far I’m aware of the following online identities he runs, although there are probably several more not included here:

• Tenpel
• Mick
• Mick Jackman
• York Johns
• Tashi
• KT66
• Losang Tashi

Generating Outcomes with the ‘Survivors’

With respect to using, “social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable.“, we need to consider what outcome the CTA would find desirable. If you bear in mind that their tactic is to discredit the NKT by calling it a cult, their desired outcome would be to create an appearance that accords with that narrative.

For this reason the main outcome that the CTA want from the ‘survivors’ group are statements or testimonies that support this premise. Such testimonies can be used to encourage others to see faults in the NKT, as evidence to the media to support the CTA claims, and as a method to influence the views and comments of religious research organisations such as Inform.

Inform is a UK charity based at the London School of Economics that specialises in researching minority and new religious movements. It’s use by the CTA has been so widespread and significant that it warrants an article in its own right, which is due to be published in the near future.

For the time being if we return to how the ‘survivors’ group is used by Michael in relation to the aims of the CTA its importance comes sharply into focus.

Within strand two of the GCHQ briefing document there is a section they term ‘Social Creativity‘ and illustrate with the diagram below:

Diagram taken from GCHQ briefing document: “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.” (p.32)

When considering that the function of the ‘survivors’ group for Michael is to generate negative testimonies about the NKT this diagram explains the route an intelligence officer would take. Note that NKT members who are not thinking of leaving the NKT are not allowed in the ‘survivors’ group, so consequently those who are considering leaving are welcome.

By planting seeds of doubt within the minds of people considering leaving the NKT and nurturing those doubts you eventually arrive at converts, people who have left the NKT and are ‘survivors’. Only those posting negative comments about the NKT are allowed in the group, so the only converts allowed a voice are those who are negative ex-NKT members.

According to this diagram converts function in two ways, firstly they help to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of people still thinking of leaving the NKT and they also transition to those converts who share their experiences. When the ‘survivor’ has shared their experience and written a ‘survivor testimony’ that is shared with the group it functions to sow more seeds of doubt in those still in the NKT and also to encourage those who have left to write their own testimony.

This is the theory for how the ‘survivors’ group should function according to the people who train intelligence officers for the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters. In other words this is the model a spy working for GCHQ would follow to manipulate an online group.

So how does this theory compare to the way that Michael Jäckel uses the ‘survivors’ group?

From my research into the group it follows exactly this pattern. Visitors who are still within the NKT are encouraged to leave the tradition. They are directed to several ‘survivor testimonies’ and encouraged to see negative aspects of the NKT.

After someone announces that they have left the NKT there is a steady increase in pressure on them to write about their experiences, to share with the group. This functions to encourage others, but also there is a strong pressure running throughout the group that members should contact Inform.

This step highlights the fact that the ‘survivors’ group isn’t intended as an end process, but a stage within a larger process. Its function is to generate testimonies and also to share those testimonies with Inform and influence their opinion of the NKT. In so doing the ‘survivors’ group forms the very heart of Michael’s methodology in that it generates statements used to influence an independent research group in order to lend credibility to the CTA’s claims.

This trend is apparent and starkly obvious to anyone who looks through the archive of posts on the group. Time after time people are encouraged to contact Inform, to send their accounts to them. In one case a ‘survivor’ was strongly encouraged to ask Inform for advice on publishing a book based on their experiences within the NKT.

Inform are so entwined with the CTA’s campaign that they regularly feature in official press packs for the Dalai Lama’s events and they are promoted as a point of contact to the media to prove the CTA’s narrative that the NKT is a cult. The CTA even go as far as to say that the NKT must be dangerous because they have a ‘survivors’ group.

Conclusions

In conclusion to his own article Glenn Greenwald stated:

“Claims that government agencies are infiltrating online communities and engaging in “false flag operations” to discredit targets are often dismissed as conspiracy theories, but these documents leave no doubt they are doing precisely that.”

If the UK and US intelligence communities are engaged in discrediting targets who oppose them through manipulating online communities is there any doubt that the exile Tibetan government would do the same? They have a long history with the US intelligence community and Michael Jäckel has a history within the East German armed forces and an interest in the Stasi/Nazi approach which would include Zersetzung methodologies.

Interestingly Mr Jäckel’s response to my previous expose of his web of lies was to state that I am an “ill-informed conspiracy theorist“. Yet here we have an official training document from the UK intelligence services which mirrors the exact methods he uses for the CTA.

How can Mr Jäckel manage to recreate the same methods of operation that GCHQ use unless he is working as an intelligence officer for the CTA and is following the training he has received?

1. Is it just coincidence that he was ‘injecting false material onto the internet‘ via Wikipedia and his own websites?
2. Is it accidental that he was ‘manipulating online discourse‘ through the survivors group?
3. Was it a random chance that he created ‘fake victim blog posts‘ and published one of them on his website?
4. Is it incidental that he has been ‘posting “negative information” on various forums‘ using multiple false identities?
5. Is it unintended that his use of the ‘survivors’ group follows the plan explained by the GCHQ ‘Social Creativity‘ diagram?
6. Why is it that Mr Jäckel’s online activity to counter the Dorje Shugden protest movement follows the GCHQ document, “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations“?

Bearing all of this in mind there is only one question to answer:

Is Mr Jäckel a Buddhist monk, the victim of some ill-informed conspiracy theory, or is he an intelligence officer working directly for the Central Tibetan Authority?

Source: http://www.arebuddhistsracist.com/the_holy_spy.html

House of Cards

14th May 2015

In the two months since publishing an article entitled, “The Holy Spy”, which exposed Tenzin Peljor/Michael Jäckel as an Intelligence Officer, working for the Central Tibetan Authority (CTA), there have been some surprising developments.

In the weeks that followed, further revelations showed how far and wide reaching Tenzin’s work for the CTA was. What had been intended as a single article turned into a series of pieces which demonstrated how he had manipulated vulnerable members of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) and co-opted a UK religious research charity (Inform) to help fulfill his aims.

With every additional piece of evidence Tenzin’s carefully crafted web of lies began to show signs of weakness. Eventually through the sheer weight of the truth his house of cards started to tumble down.

Sources close to both Tenzin and Carol have revealed that they are now struggling to maintain any significant degree of support beyond their die-hard core members, which number about 5-10 people. The illusion of a movement which boasted over 1,300 members appears to have evaporated, which raises questions about how many people were actually active behind the scenes in the first place.

The problem facing Carol and Tenzin is that they have no rational way to explain the accusations levelled against them, other than the obvious conclusions. Instead they have resorted to simply dismissing any claims as “conspiracy theories” and “false evidence“.

One such example is Carol’s private meeting with the Dalai Lama in Basel and her sharing the stage with him at one point. She sought to downplay this incident as somehow normal despite the fact it is anything but normal and serves to illustrate her close ties to the CTA.

At present Carol has been tasked with re-invigorating the “survivors” discussion group and trying to re-establish her relationship with Inform.

Tumbleweed and Ice

One of the biggest loses for Tenzin has been the almost deserted “survivors” discussion group which he established in 2007. Since the expose revealed exactly how he had established this group as a propaganda weapon against the NKT it has seen a massive drop in activity.

Perhaps its members, realising they had been lied to and deceived by Tenzin, chose to disengage from it. It was certainly no coincidence that the group was established and run in exact accordance with the training given to UK spies at GCHQ, as revealed by Edward Snowden.

In the 7 weeks since exposing this elaborate manipulation there have only been 12 messages posted in the group. Of those 7 were posted by Carol in a desperate attempt to re-ignite some semblance of activity.

Aside from Carol’s input there were only 5 messages posted, 2 of which were in response to a question from Carol as she attempted to track down someone whom she hoped could restart a campaign against the NKT.

Without the “survivors” group Carol and Tenzin’s main set-piece against the International Shugden Community (ISC) protests is worthless. This was a declaration against the protests signed by a handful of members seeking to represent the 1,300 “survivors”.

What’s now apparent is that there are nowhere near 1,300 “survivors” of the NKT. If the discussion group is in any way representative of them the true figure is dramatically smaller, much closer to 10 than 1,000.

The truth is that Tenzin followed the training he had previously received from the East German intelligence community and adapted it using modern day training from the CTA. The Central Tibetan Authority has been heavily trained and influenced by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), therefore in this context the parallels between Tenzin’s activities and those revealed by Edward Snowden is not too surprising.

Another knock-on effect of their loss of credibility with the “survivors” group is that it has weakened their position with Inform. Following another expose showing how Tenzin and Carol had co-opted them into their work for the CTA, Inform have themselves faced closer scrutiny.

As well as already having had to answer questions from their main funding body, the UK government’s Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), they also face serious questions from the UK Charities Commission over their independence in this issue. At the same time Inform have witnessed the “survivors” group almost vanishing before their very eyes. This has raised serious concerns about the validity of the group and just how genuine they were.

Whilst Carol faces an uphill struggle to try and resurrect the myth that the “survivors” group is real, rather than an elaborate ploy by Tenzin, she is also experiencing a cooling of her previously cosy relationship with Inform. Meanwhile Tenzin is also struggling to generate any new or continued interest in his propaganda websites against the ISC protest movement.

Hits vs Visitors

When Tenzin left Carol in charge of the “survivors” discussion group he focussed a large part of his efforts on developing supposedly “independent” websites about Tibetan Buddhism. As previously shown they were far from independent and simply served as a smokescreen to promote the CTA’s own agenda against the protest movement.

Even Inform weren’t entirely convinced by Tenzin’s claims to be independent and when pressed on this point Dr Suzanne Newcombe conceded:

“We are aware that he works towards the [sic] promoting the Dalai Lama’s position on various issues.”,

adding,

“it is clear from his many public websites that Tenzin Peljor works actively in ways that support the agenda of the CTA.”

Since he was exposed as an Intelligence Officer for the CTA, Tenzin’s main website has dropped off a cliff in terms of visitor numbers. He has been desperately trying to garner support but seems to be lacking any new or compelling material.

His recent attempt to disprove claims of the Dalai Lama’s connections to Shoko Asahara, the man behind the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, were weak and poorly thought out. It did nothing to discredit the large volume of evidence that shows his relationship with Asahara was that of a teacher to his student.

In terms of Tenzin’s attempts to discredit the protests against the Dalai Lama’s ban on Dorje Shugden Buddhists they too have been weak and half-hearted. The latest of which was just re-publishing a 3 month old anti-protest editorial from a newspaper as if it was recent.

This weakness in his arguments and rhetoric hasn’t gone unnoticed by his readers, who like members of the “survivors” group appear to have all but deserted him.

An analysis of his website has shown that on average he receives only 5 page views per day. If each visitor looked at just one page this would mean 5 people a day, if they looked at more than one page then obviously that number would fall.

The analysis showed that on average there are 500 ‘hits’ per day on Tenzin’s main CTA propaganda website, however a hit doesn’t equate to a visitor. A hit is a record of every file request that’s made when you visit a web-page. Every time you visit the homepage for Tenzin’s main website it makes 109 separate file requests, so one visit will record 109 hits. When you compare that to 500 hits/day it shows how few people are actually visiting it.

Some of the People, Some of the Time

It would seem the elaborate plan Tenzin hatched with his superiors in the CTA back in 2006 is finally falling apart.

Perhaps the only reason his deception has lasted for so long is because no-one has properly researched it and challenged him. In addition to losing traction in the west his status within the CTA is similarly diminishing.

Due to a combination of arrogance on Tenzin’s part, some well placed and helpful sources (albeit sometimes grudgingly), and a smattering of luck, his elaborate ruse has been very publicly unwoven.

The truth of the allegations revealed on this site is evident in his catastrophic failure to maintain any convincing level of support. Survivors he could once count on no longer want to play his game after realising they were pawns directed against the NKT at his will.

People have grown weary and tired of his unceasing rhetoric, so much so that they don’t even bother to visit his website anymore.

As for the academics and researchers he could once count on to battle behind the scenes and off the record in his favour, they no longer want to be associated with him. The only ones who remain connected to Tenzin share his own ties to the CTA and the exile Tibetan leadership.

What becomes of his attacks on the protest movement now is uncertain. For the time being though, Tenzin’s bubble has burst and re-inflating it will take more effort than ever before. Whereas previously he could fool some people with his claims to be independent and a “survivor”, his true colours are now visible for all to see.

It appears that only his core followers are willing to battle to the bitter end to try and defend the Dalai Lama’s “right” to discriminate and persecute Shugden Buddhists.

 
Update
30th May 2015

Immediately after publishing this article Carol and Tenzin denounced it as “lies” and sprang into action to try and enact a “spontaneous” flurry of activity on the “survivors” discussion group.

As explained above, in the 7 weeks following my initial expose of the “survivors” group there was practically no activity on it at all. Aside from Carol’s increasingly desperate posts there were only 5 messages in those 7 weeks, 2 of which were in response to Carol. The last activity was on 4th May.

The day after I published this article the “survivors” group returned to life with activity from a number of users, including some who had never been active on there before.

Their ruse to try and create the illusion of an active and involved group soon dissipated and it became obvious that there was almost no-one active on the group. Kathleen, who by her own admission hadn’t even been involved with the NKT, posted a message to the other 4 active members.

Carol has referred to the claims in this article as “nonsense” without offering any explanation to support her view. Both she and Tenzin have failed to refute any of the evidence against them, which is by now a sizeable amount.

Information from sources close to them revealed that there are just 5-10 core members of their group who remain active. The message from Kathleen above proves that this information is accurate.

Carol and Tenzin also attempted to feed me false information to give the impression that their campaign was gaining strength. Lots of “behind the scenes” activities were fabricated or just outright lies. The truth is that they have run out of ideas and now that their fraudulent behaviour has been exposed they have lost the support of people and organisations that can no longer trust them.

Tenzin’s blog continues to fail to get any traction and he has resorted to being more active on Facebook in order to try and get his message out. From 12th May – 30th May his website had an average of 430 hits/day. As explained above this equates to just 4 visitors per day.

Even on Facebook though Tenzin seems unable to stop himself from being dishonest. He fails to use either his legal name or his “ordained” name, preferring instead to pretend to be “Mick Jackman”. The reason for this is so that he can pretend to be someone else when he posts comments on media websites.

When contacting the media to brief them against the protest movement he uses his legal name (Michael Jackel) and his ordained name (Tenzin Peljor). When articles are published online he uses one of several false identities to comment on them such as, “Mick”, “Tenpel”, “York Johns”, and “Mick Jackman” to name but a few.

In response to someone querying why he wasn’t using his real name on Facebook he explained that it was primarily so that he could comment on articles on US media sites, as shown below (excuse the poor translation by Bing):

A more accurate translation would be: “Mark I prefer to remain anonymous. I had to create the account because you can only post comments on US media with a FB profile.“

Given that he publishes numerous websites all aimed at undermining the protest movement and that he issues press releases against the protests in his official capacity as “media spokesperson” for the German Buddhist Association (DBO) it raises the question as to why he wishes to remain anonymous when posting comments on media websites.

Using multiple false identities is another aspect of the training given to spies working for the UK, as explained in the GCHQ document, “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.” Tenzin has repeatedly refused to explain why his own online activities so closely resemble the training given to agents by the UK’s GCHQ spy agency. Nor does he explain why it is acceptable for a supposedly fully ordained monk to lie and use false identities, acts which he has explained are against the vows of ordained Buddhist monks.

It’s actions such as these that demonstrate how blatantly Tenzin and Carol both try to deceive and manipulate the media and other organisations. They seem to make up their own rules and realities as they go. It’s as if they believe their mission to try and shield the Dalai Lama from public scrutiny place them beyond the rules and conventions of society.

The only “nonsense” and “lies” it would seem come from their own deceptive activities, not my exposing of them.

Source: http://www.arebuddhistsracist.com/house_of_cards.html

Manjushri Buddhist Centre

From Más Allá de la Ciencia

Number 103/9/1997, by J.C. Deus
(Translated from Spanish; scroll down to see scans from the original Spanish magazine)

For the first time in history, the Dalai Lama is having to confront serious accusations made against him publicly for infringing the religious freedom and human rights of his own people. His attempt to eliminate a deity which he describes as ‘suspicious’ and ‘defiled’ is causing him, the highest Tibetan authority, endless problems. Even though the feared ‘demon’ is in fact harmless, the internal demons of Tibetan Buddhism seem to have woken up from their sleep.

Readers of MAS ALLA DE LA CIENCIA will remember that I have written two articles about the religious persecution which the Dalai Lama has implemented against one of the most revered of the countless number of deities within Tibetan Buddhism, a deity known as Dorje Shugden (see numbers 94 and 100). These articles were also recently published on the Internet. In these articles we can read about the ban of the worship of this deity, who has officially been declared as evil, about the persecution of his devotees, and public demonstrations by a number of dissidents who, for the first time in the history of the Tibetans in exile, accuse the Dalai Lama of being a dictator and an oppressor. Finally, there were three murders at the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the court of Dharamsala, for which the dissidents were blamed. This was an obvious sign that ‘the blood had reached the river’ and that this quarrel, which at first just seemed like another of the countless quarrels that have characterised the history of this theocracy (which has not yet lasted a millennium), is becoming a story that has heavy consequences for the future of these people.

For this reason, it was not surprising that one day I received a message through the Internet from someone who complained about my bias in favour of the Dalai Lama, and who offered to tell me the other side of the story. This person was a Basque-born Buddhist nun called Kelsang Dewang, who has been studying with Geshe Kelsang Gyatso – known as Geshe-la by his followers. This Lama has been brave enough to contradict the orders of the Dalai Lama, to protest publicly against them, and to lead a movement of disobedience. The organisation that Geshe leads – the New Kadampa Tradition – not only regards the deity Dorje as a ‘divine emanation’ and one of their main spiritual practices, but is also an important group within Western Buddhism, since it is the one that is growing the most at present.

In this way, we started exchanging messages, with much discussion, not only about the decision of the Dalai Lama, but also about a little-known story of alleged abuse, persecution and despotism by the man who the media has enthroned as a symbol of tolerance and the embodiment of human rights. However, the new image presented by his critics is that of a man hungry for power, cruel to those who oppose him, and ruling the Tibetan government-in-exile with an iron hand while preaching compassion around the world.
 

The Demons of the Dalai Lama

But let’s do a bit of history. The Dalai Lama himself previously revered the deity Dorje Shugden, as had his tutors and teachers, until inexplicably in 1978 he changed his view and adopted a hostility [towards the deity]. Initially this hostility was expressed only within the complex labyrinth of his feudal court and in the puzzling organisation of the Tibetan religious apparatus in exile.

But in 1996 this repudiation of Dorje Shugden was made public and what until then had been only exhortations, often ignored, became prohibitions implemented with violent persecution of the followers of this [deity], now a so-called ‘demon’. The Dalai Lama presented his attack as a matter of life or death for the Tibetan cause. Dorje was portrayed as an evil being responsible for the failure to attain Tibetan independence and for many other problems. If he were not completely abolished forever, he would sink the Tibetan people into the greatest of catastrophes. He was even harmful to the life of the Dalai Lama, the highest leader in Tibetan Buddhism.

His assertions stunned the devotees of this deity, to the extent that the lama Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, director of the New Kadampa Tradition, ignored his orders, and his followers organised public demonstrations in England and Switzerland protesting against the Dalai Lama’s decision. Officials of Tibetan Offices, representing the Dalai Lama in the West, promptly relayed to the media accusations against the New Kadampa Tradition, describing it as a dangerous sect, worshippers of the devil, and people who had sold their soul to a Satanic cult in exchange for Mephistophelian favours of money and power. Dorje was portrayed as a demon, hungry for blood and responsible for a cult that brainwashed and financially exploited innocents who fell into its hands.

For this reason, doubts assailed me when Dewang, the Basque-born Tibetan Buddhist nun and member of the New Kadampa Tradition, invited me to see for myself that these accusations were completely false, to visit their main centre and interview their leader Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, and to know about Dorje Shugden directly. Thoughts such as ‘Am I going into the very mouth of the wolf by going to the headquarters of a fanatic group? What if the Dalai Lama was right and Dorje Shugden really bites?’ arose.
 

In the House of the ‘Demon’

The Manjushri Buddhist Centre is located in the north of England, five hours by train from London, next to a bay in the midst of idyllic green fields. It is a huge mansion, whose property includes a large wood, a beach and several secondary smaller buildings. It is certainly impressive, especially since the purchasing price twenty years ago was only £75,000, as Dewang hurried to tell me in order to counter rumours.

The problem of owning such a mansion, said Dewang, is not so much buying it but maintaining and repairing it. Religious communities are free from this problem as their members work diligently in exchange for room and accommodation, work being considered as ennobling. Dewang took me to see the new temple that was to be inaugurated in two weeks’ time, when more than 1600 followers of the New Kadampa Tradition from all around the world would be gathering for their annual festival. In stone, wood and glass, it is a magnificent place with capacity for about 700; a great work of art made exclusively by the members of the community. I saw impressive bronze statues ready to be placed in the shrine, monks sand-papering the wood and painting walls.

I was guided by Dewang around the whole property, going up and down a labyrinth of staircases, visiting large and beautifully-maintained meditation rooms, and listening to detailed explanations about the statues, mandalas, pictures and shrines of the vast pantheon of Tibetan Buddhism. I was introduced to some of the monks and nuns who had arrived from many of the 200 centres of the New Kadampa Tradition around the world. The fact that it was a mixed monastery, with [some people keeping] vows of chastity, gave the place a charming hippie touch. The nuns with their short hair had a good appearance; they looked at you smilingly, and you forgot that they were nuns. Their faces were beatific, and I couldn’t find anything that was weird or suspicious.

Finally I saw Dorje, as he appeared in Newsweek, holding a blazing sword and riding a wrathful white lion that steps over a human body. A Dorje of wrathful fangs and bulging eyes, including the third eye. Dewang explained that in Tibetan Buddhism there are thousands of beneficial deities with wrathful aspects, and that they only subdue evil and show their wrath against obstacles that prevent spiritual realisations.

I looked and looked at it, but I didn’t feel any fear. It reminded me of the silly things shown to children during the Valencian fallas [typical Spanish fiestas of Valencia]. It was placed in a huge glass cabinet surrounded by four other representations mounted on different animals. If the one mounted on a dragon was quite repulsive, the ones riding a horse and an elephant had kind faces. Perhaps to compensate for his wrathful representation, the most well-known, Dewang insisted on me looking at another of his manifestations, a handsome peaceful youth that seemed to have come out of a poster from the Chinese cultural revolution. Undoubtedly, I could see nothing that was strange, or which you would not see in any one of the hundreds of religious movements that presently exist around the world.
 

A New Portrait

Then the time came for me to meet with Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the thin and enigmatic person who from his photos seems difficult to reach (see the interview that follows). With his English and mine, we struggled to understand each other. He would continually put his hand at his heart to express that his objectives were pure. He looked happy and very little affected by the controversy. When we finished the interview, he surprised me with a hug and gifts of a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and a pen.

Then I had supper with James Belither, the Secretary of the New Kadampa Tradition, who lives in one of the little houses that surround the main building, and where the Buddhist families live. He is not a monk but a lay person, a gentle English man. That day he was a little taciturn as he told me of the difficulty of knowing the exact number of people affiliated to the New Kadampa Tradition, estimating that there are between two and four thousand. He explained that he could not understand why the Dalai Lama had launched such an absurd witch hunt, and expressed his concern about the possible future harmful effects of ill-intentioned rumours spread by some people against them.

From what I gathered in my conversations with Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the nun Dewang and James Belither, there emerged a surprising portrait of the Dalai Lama from which we can conclude that although he is considered a world hero, he is in reality a superstitious dictator who relies heavily on oracles and divinations. It also gave a dark description that tore through the idyllic veil of his propaganda; a scenario filled with intrigues more suited to a medieval court in which cruel feudal men fight to the death, while court favourites and sorcerers manipulate the sovereign. Demons and deities fighting to control people’s minds; spells and curses…

It was said, for example, that the new favourite medium or oracle of the Dalai Lama is a young girl who has recently arrived from Lhasa, expert in fanning the inquisitorial fire against the deity Dorje. Recently, in the middle of a public religious ceremony, this young girl, who invokes a favourite spirit of the Dalai Lama called Nechung, entered a trance and accused an old and respected lama of being a secret servant of the demonic deity [Dorje Shugden]. The old lama slapped her. Later, it was agreed to keep quiet about the incident.

An oracle of the protector Nechung

At midnight I switched off the light, mindful that my door had no lock. I slept very well and woke up early in the morning. I had a walk in the woods, went down to the beach, looked at the various buildings and took some pictures. I spoke with a young monk from Barcelona who insisted that the way Geshe Kelsang Gyatso presents Tibetan Buddhism is much more accessible to Westerners than the way shown by other lamas and traditions. Later on, Dewang showed me the local prehistoric stone circle, and we also had time to visit the New Kadampa Tradition’s office. There was nothing else to see, nothing else to discuss, my stay had come to an end.

On the train back to London, I reflected on the conflict. It is a repeat of one that occurred three and a half centuries ago between the then-Dalai Lama and Ngatrul Dragpa. That conflict finished with the Dalai’s assumption of military-political power, the assassination of Ngatrul by [suffocation with] a katag (the traditional white silk scarf), the blaming of problems on the vengeance of Dorje, and the Dalai’s repentance. Would the story repeat itself again?
 

Intrigues at the Palace

For many years, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, guru of the New Kadampa Tradition, was not allowed to work independently until his followers threatened to expose publicly the dirty linen of a drug trafficking operation organised by certain organisations in order to finance Tibetan centres. The truth is that the growth of the New Kadampa Tradition in the West is causing fear to some, and is the envy of many. Its rapid development over the last six years provides Geshe Kelsang Gyatso with a growing leadership which is a threat to the Dalai Lama. Because of this, the followers of the Dalai Lama are trying to destroy Dorje Shugden, his protector and emblem. However, he has shown himself to be an independent figure and it will be difficult to silence him.

According to one of the personal translators of the Dalai Lama, there is a secret society, the self-styled Secret Organisation of External and Internal Enemy Eliminators [of Tibet] that has threatened to kill anybody who continues to practise Dorje Shugden. The translator, who has offered to prove and expand on his assertions, says that the accusations against the Dorje Shugden Society in Delhi of having planned the three recent assassinations at the court of the Dalai Lama are totally unfounded.

“The Lama who was killed in February 1997″, says the translator, “was known for his strong attacks on Dorje Shugden and those who worship him. It was said that he had returned from Taiwan just a few days before, carrying a lot of cash. Among the hypotheses that circulated at the palace-in-exile in Dharamsala about the motive of the crimes were: there was disagreement about the distribution of the money; Mr Gyalo, a brother of the Dalai Lama, was involved in the crimes, and that he was in contact with other secret organisations; the murders were committed by the Khampa guerrilla organisation that led the fight in 1959 and who are also in disagreement with the Dalai’s government; or by a desperate individual follower of Dorje Shugden; or by Chinese or Taiwanese secret agents; or even done purposely to incriminate the Dorje Shugden Society.”

The accusations that the Dalai Lama and his court are obsessed with eliminating internal dissents are also confirmed by this translator and Western monk: “While the Tibetan government-in-exile has shown itself powerless against the Chinese occupation, they have concentrated on repressing Tibetan opposition to the point of eliminating it, as is shown by the suspension in 1996 of the only independent newspaper in the Tibetan exile community, the recent amendment of the Tibetan Constitution so that a Supreme Judge cannot possibly be a devotee of Dorje Shugden, and by rejecting attempted mediation by abbots of the great monasteries.”

While the followers of the Dalai Lama say that the practitioners of Dorje Shugden are the Talibans of Tibetan Buddhism, they themselves did not show a very good example or good sense when, in July 1997, Lobsang Thubten, one of the leaders of the Dorje Shugden Society in New Delhi was furiously attacked by 200 followers of the Dalai Lama. On the other hand, the Shugdens deny allegations that they use their deity to obtain material and personal favours. They say that they rely on him only for help in their spiritual progress and in their praying for the happiness of all beings. The followers of the New Kadampa Tradition admit that pictures of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, their spiritual director, take pre-eminent place in their meditation rooms and that they also have special prayers for his long life but as they explain, this is a common practice in Tibetan Buddhism, in which the figure of the guru, or spiritual guide, is crucial.

In summary, all this indicates that the Dalai Lama will not stop until he manages to stop Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. And if the latter has the powerful deity and protector Dorje Shugden on his side, the Dalai Lama tries to counteract this power with his own protector, the spirit Nechung. Lama against lama and deity against deity, it is possible that behind this bloody religious battle, which is not short of threats, intrigues and assassinations, there hides manipulation, which is not spiritual, by a feudal monarchipope trying to eliminate a dangerous rival. On his side he has world public opinion, headed by Hollywood. But in matters of gods and demons one never knows….
 

Deus writes here that Kyabje Ling Rinpoche practiced Dorje Shugden. Click to enlarge.

The Friends of the ‘Evil One’

Among famous Lamas who have already passed away, Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche, the tutors of the Dalai Lama, were probably the most renowned figures who worshipped the controversial deity and protector Dorje Shugden. But there are also many famous living Lamas and teachers whose responsibility has been to keep this tradition alive. Despite their cautious silence, they have all become direct opponents of the official line promulgated by the Dalai Lama, and many continue their practice in secret due to fear of reprisals.
 

Geshe Kelsang Gyato: The Dalai Lama is Infringing Human Rights

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

The difficult responsibility of leading the opposition to the Dalai Lama has fallen into the hands of the highest authority in the New Kadampa Tradition, the independent and intellectual lama Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. But his disagreement goes further than the question of the intrinsic virtue or otherwise of a figure within the Buddhist pantheon. Behind his words, well measured and respectful, throb doubts and accusations of greater depth.

His private residence is on the second floor of Manjushri Buddhist Centre, on top of the visitors’ rooms and next to a meditation room where there is a big statue of Vajrayogini, a female Buddha with naked, swollen breasts who does not seem to take such prominence in orthodox monasteries.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s house is similar to an upper middle class apartment in any Western city. In the kitchen, next to a machine for making organic bread, I was served tea, and then in the sitting-room I finally met him, a gentle man of indefinite age – actually he is over sixty – who has published sixteen books over the last ten years, after completing a three-year retreat in which he alone knows what happened.
 

J.C. Deus: Is there a solution to the serious conflict that divides Tibetan Buddhism in relation to the ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden, the deity you regard as an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: If the Dalai Lama decided to give freedom and allow the practice of Dorje Shugden, the problem would finish automatically.
 

J.C. Deus: What steps should be taken to resolve the situation?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: The Dalai Lama has to understand that his ban and the methods his government-in-exile is using to implement it are illegal, cruel and inhumane. The Dalai Lama is infringing the human rights of many people.
 

J.C. Deus: Are there other important figures in Tibetan Buddhism who are disappointed with the Dalai Lama? If so, why don’t they make their criticism public?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: There are very many indeed who do not agree with him, but they cannot express their critical point of view for fear of reprisal. In Tibetan society, no one is allowed to express ideas that oppose those of the Dalai Lama. If you do, they will destroy you. They will discredit you to the point of making you a pariah, if they don’t resort to violence.
 

J.C. Deus: Is it possible that the Dalai Lama is just a moderniser of Tibetan Buddhism who is clashing with more traditional sectors? Or are you amongst those who think that he is hungry for power and wishes to monopolise all Tibetan religious and political power?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: The second description seems closer to reality.
 

J.C. Deus: What, in your opinion, is the real reason why on 14th July 1978 the Dalai Lama publicly went against the deity and protector Dorje Shugden?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: I think that there are many reasons. One of them was the influence of the spirit Nechung, the protector of the Dalai Lama. The oracle (medium) of Nechung with the consent of the Dalai Lama wants to have all the power. Many people think that jealousy was an important factor because the practice of Dorje Shugden was, and still is, very popular among many Lamas, including the tutors and root gurus of the Dalai Lama, as well as many scholars and thousands of other practitioners. But there is also a factor of ignorance and superstition, because the Dalai Lama based all his decisions to implement this ban on divinations, oracles and dreams. He himself says so in the discourse he gave in July 1978.
 

J.C. Deus: Do you think this is an attempt to stop the preponderance of the Gelug tradition in Tibetan Buddhism?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: Yes, this is clear.
 

J.C. Deus: Who is responsible for this problem, the Dalai Lama or the human oracle through whom the spirit Nechung manifests? Who is this oracle, how was he elected and whose interests does he represent?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: The Dalai Lama chooses everything. He also chose Nechung. I don’t know much about him but they themselves say he is a spirit.
 

J.C. Deus: It is said that the Dalai Lama has more oracles (mediums) than ministers, that he is surrounded by oracles and that he does not take a step without consulting them. What do you think about such reliance? Do you think that there is a hidden power at the palace in Dharamsala?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: This reliance is inappropriate. These methods of divination are often the source of many problems, conflicts and quarrels, and give rise to superstition. The person who gets into the habit of relying upon these methods ends up losing self-confidence, and there comes a time when he becomes incapable of taking a single decision by himself based on logical reasoning and using his own wisdom, or relying on the wisdom of other experts who could advise him. Buddha did not teach these methods; they are not Buddhist practices. About the second part of the question, whether or not there may be a hidden power in Dharamsala, all the power is in the hands of the Dalai Lama. If tomorrow he were to say that all Tibetans have to worship Dorje Shugden, they would put photos and images of this deity on their shrines. If the next day he said the opposite, they would remove all these images. This is his power.
 

J.C. Deus: Has the Tibetan government-in-exile failed? Do you think that the fight for independence should be abandoned and instead accept dependency on China?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: It is obvious that the Tibetan government-in-exile has failed in its principal task: to gain independence for Tibet. But I prefer not to comment about political matters, so I will abstain from replying to the second question.
 

J.C. Deus: How do you see the Dalai Lama’s role as a political Tibetan leader? Do you think that he may have become a puppet of the United States in its disputes with China?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: I think that it is a serious error to have a political leader who is at the same time a spiritual leader. Politics and religion are two different things, and to mix them gives rise to many political and religious problems. Often they use religious methods, such as devotion to the spiritual guide, to attain political objectives. It is very problematic. To me it is unacceptable that the government-in-exile forces all of us to take the Dalai Lama as our spiritual guide or guru. In Buddhism there is complete freedom; no one can force you to choose someone as your spiritual master, this is something that each of us has to choose with complete freedom.
 

J.C. Deus: Would you say that the Dalai Lama runs a dictatorship over the Tibetan exile community?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: Yes, in many aspects it is a dictatorship. There are no elections and an opposition is impossible in present Tibetan society, and these are two of the main characteristics of a dictatorship.
 

J.C. Deus: Finally, do you think that it was a serious mistake to have chosen the present Dalai Lama? Is it possible that he may not be the actual reincarnation of his predecessor?
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: I think that political leaders should be elected democratically, and it is a mistake that the same person embodies and administers both the political and religious power of a country.
 

Interview with Kelsang Dewang, Buddhist Nun

The Dalai Lama makes decisions based on oracles, and dreams, and throwing little balls of dough into the air.

Despite her name, Kelsang Dewang is a Spanish nun who converted to Buddhism twenty years ago. She is the translator and personal assistant of the leader of the New Kadampa Tradition. As a practitioner of the deity Dorje Shugden, her voice has been listened to in this controversy, and presents a serious and critical point-of-view about the historical roots of Tibetan Buddhism and the present role of the Dalai Lama.
 

J.C. Deus: You are a practitioner of Dorje Shugden, a deity that is accused of being a demon and of taking the souls of those who worship him.
Kelsang Dewang: No, he is not a demon. He is a protector of Dharma and these protectors, by definition, are emanations of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas (realised and liberated beings), and the practitioner relies on them seeking help to attain spiritual realisations. Shugden is an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom and one of the main protectors of the Gelugpa tradition.
 

J.C. Deus: Are we in fact facing a political conflict and a battle for power which is obscured by an apparent religious confrontation?
Kelsang Dewang: It could be, religion and politics are very much mixed in Tibetan society. The truth is that the Gelugpa Tradition is the most widespread and the most successful, and this always gives rise to jealousy and envy. It is a conflict that has its roots in the XVII century, but it is dreadful to bring these resentments into the present. It does not matter that some people think that Dorje Shugden is a spirit and others think that he is a Buddha. In democratic countries we have freedom, and we should also respect those who have different views to us. Besides this, they cannot prove that Dorje is an evil spirit. When they try to, they only tell superstitious stories. If someone has a bad dream, if someone gets sick, if the crops are not good, or if a Lama falls off a bicycle and dies, all these are blamed on Dorje Shugden. Just recently a young girl in Dharamsala was raped, and they immediately said that the perpetrator was a follower of Dorje Shugden. Tibetan culture is very superstitious, but this has nothing to do with Buddhism. Buddhism and Tibetan culture are two different things, and we have to learn carefully to unwrap the precious treasure of Dharma from the dirty wrappings in which we have received it.
 

J.C. Deus: It seems that the attack is not limited to Lama Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and to the New Kadampa Tradition, but that they are also trying to discredit the whole Gelugpa tradition by forbidding the essential practices of this tradition. News has been heard that some of the Lamas of this lineage have been discredited. Are there any details of this situation?
Kelsang Dewang: It has been said that they have started to suppress the practice of Lama Chöpa, and that the Dalai Lama has also publicly criticised the famous Jamyang Shaypa. But the principal objects of the attack are the lamas that have brought the Gelugpa tradition into the present day, Pabongkha Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche. This criticism implies that they were not realised beings, but were ordinary beings with delusions, so it would follow that their teachings lack blessings and are not valid. From this it would follow that the Gelugpa Tradition is a degenerate path. But the paradox is that the Dalai Lama himself was educated as a Gelugpa, and received all his instructions from Trijang Rinpoche, his root guru, whom he now criticises. In reality, in Tibetan society there has never been any democracy. In the VIIth century in Tibet they threw criminals over a cliff, and in the XXth century the way of punishing those who oppose the Government has not changed so much, even in exile.

Before the present Dalai Lama escaped to India, members of his government assassinated the great Gelugpa Lama Reting Rinpoche. He was poisoned in 1947, after it was decided that to throw him over a cliff was not an appropriate way to kill a lama of such rank. And this lama was killed just because he did not agree with the government’s activities. Because of these reprisals, Tibetans are forced to wear two masks: with one they smile to the Dalai Lama, and with the other they criticise him. All the power is held by the Private Office of the Dalai Lama and its orders have to be followed at all costs. No one has the opportunity to express a different view. This institution [the Private Office] is in charge of passing on information to the people. When it criticises someone for holding different views, and that person does not retract his views or keep silent, he will start receiving threats. Many people feel unhappy for other reasons also. For example, the Dalai Lama and his government have spent the last twenty six years fund-raising for the purpose of Tibetan independence, but now the Dalai Lama says that he is not interested in the independence of Tibet, so for this reason many people feel that they have been cheated.
 

J.C. Deus: What is the relationship between the Dalai Lama and other schools and traditions?
Kelsang Dewang: The Dalai Lama has a very bad relationship with the other main Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Kagyupas. Recently they underwent a lot of suffering due to the interference of the Dalai Lama in the choice of the reincarnation of the new Karmapa, the head of the Kagyupas. The Dalai Lama forced the recognition of a boy that the Chinese authorities had recognised as the new Karmapa, but the Kagyupas had already found a boy they believed to be the true incarnation. Besides, the Dalai Lama has no power to recognise officially this reincarnation and in doing so, he has divided the Kagyupas into two main factions: those who follow the Dalai Lama and those who follow Shamar Rinpoche, the lama in charge of recognising the Karmapas. Consequently, the Tibetan Government has done everything possible to make this lama another pariah. In Gelugpa society, the problems created by the ban of the practice of Dorje Shugden has forced many lamas and monks, who cannot accept abandoning their religious practice, to escape to Nepal or Mongolia. Many monks demonstrated, and several of them were expelled from their monasteries.
 

J.C. Deus: Nechung is the spirit protector of the Dalai Lama. How does he manifest?
Kelsang Dewang: Nechung is a worldly spirit, they say so themselves. Tibetans like spirits and divinations very much. In the New Kadampa Tradition, we do not follow these methods because we do not consider them to be truly Buddhist. In my opinion, often the medium or oracle is just a good actor. When the spirit has entered the body of the oracle, people ask questions and he replies. I find this way of answering questions incorrect and open to criticism, because often a medium will reply according to his personal interests. Also, I cannot understand why the Dalai Lama, if he is an enlightened being as some say, needs to consult a worldly spirit. The Dalai Lama decided that he had to ban the worship of Dorje Shugden following the advice he received from the spirit Nechung transmitted via a medium. The writings of the Dalai Lama confirm that he makes his decisions based on divination through oracles, dream interpretation and throwing little balls of dough into the air. Considering that his internal and external political activities are based on these methods of discrimination, we should not be surprised that in all these years in exile he has [only] managed mainly to become one of the idols of Hollywood stars. Besides, the spirit Nechung is notorious for making many mistakes. The 13th Dalal Lama died because Nechung gave him poison by mistake.
 

J.C. Deus: Do you think that the Dalai Lama has degenerated?
Kelsang Dewang: A being of high realisations cannot degenerate. There is a point on the spiritual path when it is impossible to go backwards. It is not possible for the Dalai Lama to be a Buddha and then to degenerate; therefore, the only possibility is that he is an ordinary being and his actions are showing it. A real Buddhist does not need to be afraid of spirits, so why should he be?

J.C. Deus
 

Addendum

Spanish author José Catalán Deus is renowned for having worked with the likes of CNN, and other big name newspapers and magazines. He has even published book after book of historical reporting, giving factual accounts of events and issues. His article in a 1997 issue of the Mas Alla magazine is no different. Aiming to fulfil the magazine’s aim to report on events and matters regarding religion, spiritual affairs, and metaphysics, he has provided a balanced, unbiased overview of a somewhat tricky situation – the conflict surrounding the practice of Dorje Shugden, as orchestrated by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala). Published well before the height of this coordinated ban, the article is free from the CTA’s machinations to hide the truth.

The CTA have long spewed the false claim that Kyabje Ling Rinpoche did not practice Dorje Shugden but as Deus reports, this is not even close to the truth of the matter. He clearly interviewed the right people and as an independent commentator, discovered that Kyabje Ling Rinpoche did in fact practice Dorje Shugden and has even composed prayers to the deity. In fact, it was not only Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, the senior tutor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama who practised the deity, but Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, the junior tutor to the Dalai Lama as well. The CTA often claim that these two primary teachers of the Dalai Lama were not involved with the practice, but as Deus’s objective reporting clearly indicates, they both in fact did practice. And Deus has no recourse to lie or take sides on the matter, as such a blunder would have ruined his reporting career – neither he himself nor the magazine he was writing for were linked to Tibetan Buddhism in any way, and therefore have no reason to report either in support for or against the Dorje Shugden ban.

The very fact that an unbiased author, in a matter-of-fact reporting manner, reaffirmed the truth that both tutors of His Holiness the Dalai Lama practised Dorje Shugden, undermined the CTA and exposed them for what they are – liars. What they propagate is nothing near the truth, and here it has been exposed for all to see.

You can scroll down to page 33 of the magazine to see where José Catalán Deus specifically mentions that Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche both practised Dorje Shugden.

The cover of the September 1997 issue of Mas Alla magazine in which the article by José Catalán Deus was published. Click to enlarge.

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José Catalán Deus highlights the fact that both Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche were practitioners of Dorje Shugden here on page 33 of the magazine. The sentence in English reads “Among famous Lamas who have already passed away, Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche, the tutors of the Dalai Lama, were probably the most renowned figures who worshipped the controversial deity and protector Dorje Shugden.” Click to enlarge.

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[Editor's note: If you would like your Dharma centre's activities to be featured on DorjeShugden.com, please write in to our editors at ds@dorjeshugden.com]

USA & CANADA

Kadampa Meditation Centre Canada, Toronto

Experiencing Limitless Possibilities: Retreat On Emptiness

Requirement: Open to Public
Date: 12 – 14 June 2015

By understanding the true nature of phenomena, we begin to realize the limitless possibilities this wisdom reveals. The rare teachings and meditations presented in this retreat will make this wisdom practical and accessible to all. This will allow us to transcend our actual state of limitation and actualize our own limitless potential.

For more information, visit http://kadampa.ca/coursesevents/retreats/

Kadampa Meditation Centre Canada, Toronto

Guru Yoga Mandala Offerings Retreat

Requirement: Open to Public
Date: 18 – 22 June 2015

Engaging in the practice of Guru Yoga together with making mandala offerings creates a vast collection of merit through which we can receive the powerful blessings of our Spiritual Guide and fulfil our spiritual wishes.

For more information, visit http://kadampa.ca/coursesevents/retreats/

EUROPE

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Short Commentary of Guhyasamaja Tantra

Requirement: For HYT Practitioners only
Date: 30th May – 2nd June 2015

Short commentary of Guhyasamaja Tantra: Crystal Massage Method to Create the Pure Energy Form of Light and Nectar

The Guhyasamaja Tantra is one of the most important highest yoga tantras. Originally taught by Buddha Vajradhara to Mahasiddha Indrabhuti (the elder brother of Mahasiddha Laksminkara, a previous incarnation of Lama Gangchen) this lineage was the heart practice of Lama Tsongkhapa and many of his close disciples. Lama Tsongkhapa attained the gyulu – the deathless body of light at the time of his death as a result of this practice, and it is also the basis of the body mandala of the guru in the Lama Choepa guru yoga and the mandala of the World Peace Protector. Although the explanation of this tantra is very profound and extensive, we will try to summarise the most important practical points for those who wish to engage in the retreat in August, or who just wish to practice it.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/short-commentary-of-guhyasamaja-tantra-crystal-massage-method-to-create-the-pure-energy-form-of-light-and-nectar/?lang=en

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Black Manjushri Residential Retreat

Requirement: Call for more information
Date: 5th – 7th June 2015

Black Manjushri is the wrathful healing form of Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. This practice helps us to heal our deep inner negative emotions and the mental sufferings that arise due to problems or sickness; it is also a powerful antidote against the harm and disturbances caused by negative astrological influences.

There are numerous benefits to this meditative practice because above all, it supports us both mentally and physically, those suffering from so-called “incurable” diseases such as aids and cancer. It helps us to confront and deal with the negative emotions such as anger, depression, fear and denial that arise when we are challenged by serious health problems or when we are confronted with problems in our daily life.

The practice of Black Manjushri can also be used to purify the negative consequences that can be created, for example, when we perform a marriage ceremony, hold a cremation or cut down trees on astrologically inauspicious days. This practice gives us the opportunity to stop our energy flowing into the wrong path due to astrological influences.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/black-manjushri-residential-retreat/?lang=en

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

White Heruka of Long Life Initiation and Practice

Requirement: Call for more information
Date: 13th – 14th June 2015

This is a very special long life practice which combines the blessings of Heruka with NgalSo Self Healing and a special method to gather around us the essence energy of the five elements. Receiving the Empowerment from Lama Ganchen, we will do a short retreat to develop familiarity with the practice.

Fundamentally this practice consists of:

1. Repossessing lost life energy
2. Regenerating degenerated life energy using pranayana to absorb the essence of the five elements, increasing our positive karma and renewing our vows.
3. Increasing our longevity by means of special long life pills.
4. Other very secret methods for a long life which will be revealed at the time.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/white-heruka-of-long-life-initation-and-pratice/?lang=en

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Tara NgalSo Chulen: A Powerful Cleansing Practice for Body and Mind

Requirement: Call for more information
Date: 26th – 28th June 2015

During these days we shall purify body and mind by abstaining from gross food and nourishing ourselves with “the essence” pills made with flower petals and Himalayan minerals with a strong protein value and the capacity to regenerate body cells, as well as seasonal fruit juices. With this ancient method of Tibetan yogic and medical tradition, we purify ourselves of toxins accumulated through incorrect diet, chemically treated, refined or genetically modified food, excessive alcohol, tobacco etc. thus regaining the natural equilibrium of body and mind.

Through this physical purification, our mind becomes free of impure energy. As a result, uncontrolled negative emotions like excessive desire, anger, anxiety, stress and frustrations calm down and we feel a state of well-being and joy.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/tara-ngalso-chulen/?lang=en

ASIA

Kadampa Meditation Centre Hong Kong

Blessing Empowerment of Green Tara & Commentary

Requirement: Open to Public
Date: 19 – 21 June 2015

Blessing Empowerment of Green Tara & Commentary to the Practice of The Transference of Consciousness (Powa) Practice of Arya Tara with Gen Kelsang Tonglam

Tara is our Spiritual mother. When we are young we turn to our worldly mother for help. She protects us, cares for us and teaches us worldly skills. In the same way, during our spiritual growth, we need to turn to Holy Mother Tara. Renowned as the swiftest of the Buddhas, Tara will protect us from all outer and inner fears during our spiritual journey. In particular, during this course, Gen Tonglam will share with us the instructions of Powa Practice of Arya Tara.

Through this simple but extremely profound practice, Mother Tara will guide us away from the sufferings or ordinary appearance of this life to a Buddha’s Pureland without having to abandon this present body. This is a practical method that we can apply in our daily life and at the time of death in order to attain the Pureland of Dharmakaya.

For more information, visit http://www.meditation.hk/en/courses/East-Asian-Dharma-Celebration-2015

Discover the ideal place to get away from it all: relax and be inspired by the many interesting and exciting programmes of Je Tsongkapa’s tradition offered in many Shugden centres around the world this March.

[Editor's note: If you would like your Dharma centre's activities to be featured on DorjeShugden.com, please write in to our editors at ds@dorjeshugden.com]

USA & CANADA

Florida Dharma Celebration

Prajnaparamita Empowerment

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 6 – 8 March 2015

During this special event, we will receive the blessing empowerment of Buddha Prajnaparamita, the Female Buddha of Wisdom, from Gen Kelsang Jampa, the Eastern US National Spiritual Director of the New Kadampa Tradition. An empowerment is a beautiful blessing and guided meditation that enables us to create a special connection with an enlightened being.

Join the Florida Kadampa Buddhist community for a weekend of guided meditations and instruction on the practice of Buddha Prajnaparamita, which is a method that strengthens our own wisdom.

For more information, visit http://floridadharmacelebration.org/program/

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa Meditation Centre

Empower Your Inner Potential

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 13 – 15 March 2015

Over the course of this inspiring weekend, Gen-la Dekyong will be granting the Blessing Empowerment of Buddha Shakyamuni and special teachings on training the mind. Through this, we can open our hearts and cultivate the limitless potential that exists within our own minds.

Gen-la will teach special methods that enable us to grow love, acceptance, joy and freedom, so we see our daily life as a natural expression of these beautiful qualities.

For more information, visit http://meditateinsa.org/empower-your-inner-potential/

EUROPE

Kalpa Bhadra Buddhist Centre

The Empowerment of Buddha Manjushri

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 13 – 15 March 2015

In our busy daily lives, we experience many unpleasant feelings such as anger and stress, and we long to be free from them. To accomplish this, we need to understand how all our experiences arise from our mind, and how we can control our mind by relying on Buddha’s wisdom. We can then cultivate positive states of mind that protect us from suffering and create happiness for ourselves, both now and in the future.

This blessing Empowerment is an opportunity to make a special connection with Buddha Manjushri, who is the synthesis of the wisdom of all the Buddhas. Kadam Bridget Heyes will explain how, by applying this wisdom to our everyday life, we can solve our problems and attain a happy, meaningful life.

For more information, visit http://www.meditatenorthwales.com/welsh-dharma-celebration.html

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Naro Cho Druk, Commentary on the Six Yogas of Niguma, Part I

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 14 – 15 March 2015

This teaching is based on the commentary on the six yogas by the yogini Niguma, which are similar to those of Naropa. This first part will deal with the Lineage and Trulkor yoga, the Yoga of Sleep and Tummo.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/naro-cho-druk-commentary-on-the-six-yogas-of-niguma-part-i/?lang=en

Madhyamaka Kadampa Meditation Centre

Life Is But A Dream

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 20 – 22 March 2015

Milarepa said:
Last night’s dream is my Teacher. Is it the same for you?
During this special weekend course, Gen-la Dekyong will give a commentary to this beautiful and profound quote revealing Buddha’s teachings on emptiness.

Sunday morning will be a guided retreat on the teachings with Gen Kelsang Thekchen.

For more information, visit http://www.madhyamaka.org/special-events/

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Initation and Practice of Singamukha: the Lion-Faced Wisdom Dakini

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 21 – 22 March 2015

Lama Gangchen elaborated this practice on the base of the ancient text “Guru Yoga of the Dakini with the Face of a Lion” of Gyalwa Ensapa. Singamukha subdues the distressing forces of the subconsciousness that try to invade the waking consciousness and represents the primordial aspect of female energy.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/initation-and-practice-of-singamukha-the-lion-faced-wisdom-dakini/?lang=en

Madhyamaka Kadampa Meditation Centre

Mindfulness & Concentration Weekend Course

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 27 – 29 March 2015

This course will look at how to develop and increase our mindfulness and concentration during meditation and in daily life, so that we can strengthen our meditation practice, experience a calm and peaceful mind, improve our relationships and have a happier, meaningful life.

For more information, visit http://www.madhyamaka.org/beginners-weekend-retreats/

Rabten Chödarling

The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 28 – 29 March 2015

For more information, visit http://www.rabten.eu/eventsLiberec_en.htm

New York City was the final destination in the Dalai Lama’s recent USA tour, where he was scheduled to give a 3-day teaching. Once again, the Dalai Lama had to face both Western and Tibetan Shugden practitioners, who were peacefully demonstrating for religious freedom at the various locations where the Dalai Lama was scheduled to appear.

• 2nd November 2014: Manhattan Center
• 3rd and 4th November 2014: Beacon Theater

DorjeShugden.com has been closely following the protests organised by our fellow Shugdenpas to bring our readers this compilation of news, pictures and videos. If you have more pictures or information to share, please email us at ds@dorjeshugden.com.

Admin

News Coverage

THE EXAMINER

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Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-dalai-lama-accused-of-discrimination

BLOOMBERG NYC

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Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-02/nyc-protesters-say-dalai-lama-rejects-their-buddhist-sect.html

CBS NYC

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Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/11/04/buddhist-group-protests-dalai-lamas-nyc-visit/

HUFFINGTON POST

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/04/dalai-lama-new-york_n_6097362.html?ir=Religion

THE TECH

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Source: http://tech.mit.edu/V134/N52/dalailama.html

SOUTH COAST TODAY

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Source: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20141106/Opinion/141109502

Photos of the NYC Demonstrations

Video Coverage of the New York City Demonstrations

Proud to be Shugden

From ISC News

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The Dalai Lama’s Religious Intolerance Spreads to the US

From ISC News

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One Flag: Buddhism

From ISC News

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Protest against the Dalai Lama at Beacon Theatre, NYC

From ISC News

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Recently, one of the most honored Gelugpa lineage masters, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, presented 500 copies of ‘The Oral Instructions of Mahamudra’ to the monks of Shar Ganden Monastery. Authored by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, this book, written in Tibetan, is based on the root text of Mahamudra called ‘The Main Path to Attainment of the Conqueror Buddha’.

In Sanskrit ‘Mudra’ means ‘absolute necessity’ and ‘Maha’ means ‘great understanding’. The root text, also known as ‘The Great Seal of Voidness’ was composed by the 4th Panchen Lama, Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570-1662), who was the tutor of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama as well as Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen.

The world of Tibetan Buddhism must indeed pay the greatest tribute and honor to this great teacher and master. Why? Just like his incomparable root guru, Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso has reached out and touched the lives of millions of people worldwide. Thousands of monks, nuns and lay practitioners have gained success in the spiritual path through his teachings and guidance.

Born in 1931 in Yangcho, Eastern Tibet, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso escaped Tibet with only two scriptural texts in 1959. Today, his achievements are near unbelievable. Apart from founding the largest international Tibetan Buddhist organization in the world with over 700 ordained monks and nuns, he has authored over 20 Dharma books in the English language for Buddhists of all levels, from beginners to tantric practitioners.

His greatest works include Joyful Path of Good Fortune (a commentary on the Lamrim), The New Guide to Dakini Land (a commentary on Vajrayogini’s practice) and Heart Jewel (a commentary on Dorje Shugden’s practice), along with various other commentaries on Indian texts such as Shantideva’s ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’.

This great Lama’s incredible success can only be attributed to his unwavering faith and confidence in his lineage and protector, Dorje Shugden, which can be traced back to the teachings he received from Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang and Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s greatest mission now is to preserve the precious tradition of Lama Tsongkapa and by extension, the practice of Dorje Shugden who is the special protector of Tsongkapa’s lineage.

The world rejoices in the achievements of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and his wisdom in writing and publishing such an important book which will escalate the pure lineage of Lama Tsongkapa to further unprecedented heights. We await his next book with great anticipation and offer prayers for his continued good health, long life and the growth of his works.

500 Mahamudra books offered to Shar Gaden

Shar Ganden administrator, Geshe Lobsang Gelek (left) offers the Mahamudra books to the monks on behalf of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Awesome programmes of Je Tsongkapa’s tradition are lined up for October 2014 around the world. Here are some of the outstanding ones:

[Editor's note: If you would like your Dharma centre's activities to be featured on DorjeShugden.com, please write in to our editors at ds@dorjeshugden.com]

USA & CANADA

Kadampa Meditation Center New York, USA

Buddha Manjushri Empowerment and Teachings

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 17 – 23 October

The Wisdom to Understand the Mind
Empowerment of Buddha Manjushri and teachings based on Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s remarkable new book How to Understand the Mind with Buddhist monk and international Meditation Teacher, Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab.

Part I – October 17 – 21 – Meditation, teachings and empowerment
Part II – October 22 – 23 – Meditation retreat

For more information, visit http://kadampafestivals.org/fall

EUROPE

Rabten Choeling, Switzerland

Praise of Interdependent Origination

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 3 – 5 October

Master Je Tsongkapa has composed these extraordinary verses of praise to Buddha Shakyamuni for his teachings on interdependant origination, which is the core of the middle path.

Languages: Tibetan, English, French, German

For more information, visit http://www.rabten.eu/eventsSwiss_en.htm

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Black Manjushri Residential Retreat

Requirement: Call for more information
Date: 10 – 12 October

Black Manjushri is the wrathful healing form of Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. This practice helps us to heal our deep inner negative emotions and the mental sufferings that arise due to problems or sickness; it is also a powerful antidote against the harm and disturbances caused by negative astrological influences.

There are numerous benefits to this meditative practice because above all, it supports both mentally and physically, those suffering from so-called “incurable” diseases such as aids and cancer. It helps us to confront and deal with the negative emotions such as anger, depression, fear and denial that arise when we are challenged by serious health problems or when we are confronted with problems in our daily life.

The practice of Black Manjushri can also be used to purify the negative consequences that can be created, for example, when we perform a marriage ceremony, hold a cremation or cut down trees on astrologically inauspicious days. This practice gives us the opportunity to stop our energy flowing into the wrong path, due to astrological influences.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/black-manjushri-residential-retreat/?lang=en

Rabten Jigme Ling

The 51 Mental Factors

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 11 – 12 October

If we want to improve our lives and become happier, it is important to thoroughly know our own mind. All experiences of pain and happiness originate from the mind. We can develop our mind and direct it in a more wholesome way. Therefore, in this series of courses we study the Functions of the Mind and the 51 Mental Factors.

The Buddhist teaching categorizes 51 Mental Factors: 11 wholesome, 26 unwholesome, 10 neutral and 4 changeable. These and still other functions of the mind are explained in this series of yearly weekend courses.

For more information, visit http://www.rabten.eu/eventsDenHaag_en.htm

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Sound Therapy with Tibetan Singing Bowls and Gong Yoga

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 18 – 19 October

Peter Gouw, musician, teacher and music (sound) therapist at his practice ‘Praktijk Positief’, guides and supports individuals and groups in finding their personal natural (sound) destination. The psychology of the chakras and aura are central in his treatments with tuning forks and singing bowls because of their own timbre and resonance.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/sound-therapy-with-the-tibetan-singing-bowls-and-gong-yoga/?lang=en

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Ngalso Lam Rim

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 18 – 19 October

This is Lama Gangchen’s text on the Graduated Path to Enlightenment. It is a synthesis of the many meditation practices required to develop renunciation, bodhichitta and the correct vision of reality. Lam Rim teachings are beneficial in this life and they help us at the time of death and in our future life; they are also fundamental teachings to impart us with the ability to fully help other beings as well as our external environment.

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/ngalso-lam-rim-4/?lang=en

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Teachings of Buddhist Philosophy

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 25 – 26 October

For more information, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/teachings-of-buddhist-philosophy/?lang=en

ASIA

Kadampa Meditation Centre, Hong Kong

The Union of Sutra and Tantra Weekend

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: 10 – 12 October

In his Sutra teachings Buddha encourages us to abandon attachment, and in Tantra he encourages us to transform our attachment into the spiritual path. Some people may think this is a contradiction, but in reality, these practices support each other. In this course, Gen Tonglam will guide us how to experience without contradiction, the perfect practice of the union of Sutra and Tantra as taught in Kadampa Buddhism. By learning to use the power of creativity and integrating both the practices of Sutra and Tantra into our spiritual training, we can change all our experiences, whether suffering or pleasure, into the dynamic path of enlightenment.

For more information, visit http://www.meditation.hk/en/courses/The-Union-of-Sutra-and-Tantra-Weekend-Course

The heat is on. While the International Shugden Community’s ongoing protests for the Dalai Lama to lift the Dorje Shugden ban is getting the most attention from the media, public, the Tibetan administration and certainly the Dalai Lama himself, there are four other powerful, unstoppable rivers that are flowing into the walls of the ban, slowly but surely bringing it down.

#1: Trijang Rinpoche and Up-and-Coming Young Lamas

Firstly, there is Trijang Rinpoche and capable young lamas like him, for example Domo Geshe Rinpoche, Geshe Tendar and Denma Gonsar Rinpoche) who are growing up, maturing, teaching, and deservedly gaining full respect for their teachings and achievements, past and present.

Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche (left) and Rabgya Rinpoche. The future of Dorje Shugden’s lineage rests in the hands of these great masters.

Trijang Rinpoche, who is now thirty-one going on thirty-two, is one of the biggest names in Tibetan Buddhism, equal to the Karmapa, and was teacher to numerous illustrious lamas including the Dalai Lama in his previous life. His incarnation has reached maturity, and is a powerful force for the growth of Dharma.

Trijang Rinpoche is now teaching, travelling, doing dharma work and does not oblige the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in any way. They have tried to bribe him, tried to offer him prestigious positions, tried to lure him back into their fold. When that didn’t work they threatened him, tried to kill him, they beat up his assistants and his Ladrang people, but Trijang Rinpoche will not budge and he is very firm on his Dorje Shugden practice.

There is no doubt that that this is the genuine Trijang Rinpoche because of his achievements, and because this Trijang Rinpoche was recognized (finally) by none other than the Dalai Lama himself as well as Dorje Shugden. Indeed, Trijang Rinpoche’s increasing power and stature will be one of the main causes to bring the Dorje Shugden ban down.

Remember that it was the Dalai Lama who made an exception and allowed Trijang Rinpoche to practice Dorje Shugden. Yet, the irony is that Trijang Rinpoche, whose previous life was the Dalai Lama’s Guru, is not allowed to attend the Dalai Lama’s teachings on account of his Shugden practice. If Dorje Shugden is so bad, why didn’t Trijang Rinpoche go to the three lower realms? Why is Trijang Rinpoche doing so well?

This year, Trijang Rinpoche is travelling to Australia, New Zealand and Mongolia, and will be going to Indiana soon to officiate the opening of the American oracle’s new center. Trijang Rinpoche’s activities aren’t getting smaller; they are getting bigger and bigger. And he will be a huge thorn in the CTA’s side.

#2: Established Dorje Shugden Lamas and Monasteries

The second cause to bring down the ban is the likes of established high lamas such as Lama Jampa Ngodup and Lama Thubten Phurpu in Tibet, Gangchen Rinpoche and Gonsar Rinpoche in Europe, and many other lamas who are teaching the Dharma and spreading the lineage of Dorje Shugden tirelessly.

Two great Dorje Shugden Lamas of today; Lama Jampa Ngodup (right) escorting Gangchen Rinpoche (middle)

Indeed, such is the popularity of Lama Jampa Ngodup and Lama Thubten Phurpu that both have been sponsored by the Chinese government to go abroad to teach. Each year the Chinese government sends a Dorje Shugden lama abroad – last year it was Lama Jampa Ngodup and this year it is Lama Thubten Phurpu.

Both these illustrious lamas command thousands of people at their teachings and are making Dorje Shugden’s practice grow tremendously. A look through photos and videos of Lama Jampa Ngodup and Lama Thubten Phurpu in Tibet will reveal how their teachings are attended by thousands of people, members of the sangha as well as lay students.

Both lamas are also very outspoken about Dorje Shugden. Not only does Lama Jampa Ngodup speak freely about Dorje Shugden, he criticises the CTA very openly too during his teachings and thousands listen and follow his lead.

One does not hear of lamas of other lineages who can command such massive crowds in Tibet, except for the great Gelugpa lamas. Furthermore, Tibet is full of Dorje Shugden monasteries, strongholds of Dorje Shugden’s lineage including Chatreng Sampheling Monastery, Denma Gonsar Rinpoche’s monastery in Kham, Lama Jampa Ngodup’s monastery and Lithang Monastery, just to name a few. Dorje Shugden’s practice is definitely growing in Tibet.

Thus, the many Dorje Shugden lamas in Tibet combined with the many Dorje Shugden monasteries which number tens of thousands of monks is another thorn in the CTA’s side. These are the teachers of today, the teachers of tomorrow, and they’re growing and getting bigger by the day.

#3: Shar Gaden and Serpom Monasteries

The third cause against the Dorje Shugden ban is the existence of Shar Gaden and Serpom monasteries, established for the sole purpose of preserving and upholding Dorje Shugden’s lineage and practices. Both monasteries are open and thriving, and their activities encompass the full range of monastic programs including Geshe degrees, initiations and oral transmissions, international tours, Buddhist festivals and celebrations.

Serpom Monastery

Shar Gaden Monastery

These two eminent monasteries are and will continue to be an educational base for high Lamas such as Domo Geshe Rinpoche and other future lamas to come. They are learning centers, hubs from which Dorje Shugden’s lineage is practiced and transmitted, and where Guru Devotion is strong and powerful.

With approximately 600 monks in Serpom Monastery, 800 monks in Shar Gaden Monastery and with these numbers increasing over the years, the very existence of these monasteries is a thorn in the side of Ganden, Sera and Drepung monasteries because they are right next door! More importantly, they are out of the CTA’s reach. The CTA cannot touch them, cannot close them down, cannot harass them, cannot do anything to them because they are legal entities licensed and protected by the Indian government.

And although their numbers are fewer than those in non-Dorje Shugden monasteries, each master, scholar and monk in Serpom, Shar Gaden and many other thriving Dorje Shugden monasteries is akin to a piece of solid gold – much better than having thousands of steel or silver pieces. They are definitely the third thorn in the CTA’s side, particular Serpom and Shar Gaden who produce many qualified Dorje Shugden geshes and scholars every year.

#4: The New Kadampa Tradition

The fourth cause to bring down the ban is the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), the largest Tibetan Buddhist-based organisation in the world. No other Tibetan dharma organization in the world can compare, not the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) nor any center from the other Tibetan Buddhist lineages.

Nor can any other lama compete with Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the founder of NKT. He is 80 years old, hale and healthy, has authored many books and established hundreds of centres all over the world. Not forgetting the peaceful protests organized by the NKT and later the International Shugden Community (ISC). The protests are a huge thorn in the CTA’s side because wherever the Dalai Lama or CTA go, there is a protest.

These protests are embarrassing – they are making it into the international news and getting attention all over the world. While it may be “normal” to see Chinese nationals demonstrating against the Dalai Lama, it is shocking to see Westerners and Tibetans protesting against the supposed icon of world peace. People are noticing the protests, researching it, asking questions about it.

Even young Tibetans are beginning to question it, a clear sign of progress in the on-going efforts to bring down the ban. Prime Minister Sikyong Lobsang Sangay recently visited Upper TCV school in Dharamsala and during a Q&A session, teenage students asked the Sikyong earnest questions about the Dorje Shugden ban which he could not answer satisfactorily, nor could he hide his anger at being questioned (Read more).

In an attempt to mitigate the damage done by the students’ questions and the Sikyong failing to answer them directly and sufficiently, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament, Penpa Tsering, stepped forward to speak and began criticising both the previous and current incarnations of Trijang Rinpoche. He also criticised Pabongka Rinpoche harshly and upset a great many Tibetans as a result, opening their eyes to see how the CTA is negative, critical and divisive in their actions (Read more).

Clearly, the CTA are beginning to crack at the seams and the protests, the 4th cause to bring down the ban, are having the desired effect.

#5: DorjeShugden.com

Last but not least is DorjeShugden.com and the Dorje Shugden Fanpage on Facebook. Without access to the protests, monasteries or Tibetans, the majority of people get their information from the Internet, and whenever someone searches for “Dorje Shugden”, DorjeShugden.com will appear on top.

The Dorje Shugden fanpage has also reached over 100,000 fans, meaning that every time an article is posted, more than 100,000 people are reading it. The numbers have grown on their own without advertising or campaigning, and it continues to increase daily.

Therefore, through their network of contributors and supporters, DorjeShugden.com and its associated online assets are the premier source of information about all things Dorje Shugden. The website in particular is a treasure trove, a Kangyur and Tengyur, and a massive encyclopaedia of knowledge, wisdom, history, practice, multimedia, events, and even a thriving community forum. Everybody quotes from it – the media, bloggers, other websites and even the CTA themselves. This is the final factor that will bring down the Dorje Shugden ban.

In summary, the five factors that will bring down the ban are:

1. The emergence of Trijang Rinpoche and other young Dorje Shugden lamas

2. Established high lamas in Tibet and elsewhere spreading Dorje Shugden far and wide

3. The unstoppable growth of Serpom and Shar Gaden monasteries

4. The protests and the New Kadampa Tradition

5. DorjeShugden.com and the Dorje Shugden Facebook fanpage

These factors are in no particular order. They are interconnected and inter-related. These five rivers are flowing and there is nothing that can stop them from bursting the dam holding of Dorje Shugden’s precious practice.

Kelsang Mila, the resident teacher of Vajrapani Kadampa Buddhist Centre

In June 2014, Vajrapani Kadampa Buddhist Centre (VKBC) in Johannesburg, South Africa held a Dorje Shugden teaching and empowerment ceremony. Kelsang Mila, the resident teacher of VKBC, which is part of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) founded by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, gave the empowerment of this great Protector to approximately 40 people in attendance.

Several months before the empowerment, the administrators of VKBC wrote to DorjeShugden.com requesting for sponsorship of Dorje Shugden pendants, which would be given to those participating in the empowerment. Always happy to hear news of Dorje Shugden’s practice growing, especially through the efforts of dedicated and devoted practitioners such as those from the NKT, supporters of DorjeShugden.com contributed not only the pendants that were requested, but also sent additional gifts in appreciation of and to encourage further growth of Dorje Shugden’s practice.

Our gifts have arrived at Vajrapani Kadampa Buddhist Centre: 50 Dorje Shugden posters, 50 Dorje Shugden prayer cards, and 50 Dorje Shugden pendants, all depicting Dorje Shugden in peaceful form.

In 2012, DorjeShugden.com also sent a care package of Dorje Shugden pendants and other educational materials to a Kadampa center in Zululand, South Africa. As narrated in this video:

…it really has transformed their lives because they’ve been very, very ill with HIV and they’ve realized that they can still be happy and realized the happiness from within.

It is heartwarming to witness how Dorje Shugden’s blessings can bring so much happiness to those experiencing tremendous suffering. We pray that the lineage of this great protector continues to be imparted into the lives of people around the world, flourishing and spreading in the ten directions.

Admin Note: If you would like to make a donation to the works of dorjeshugden.com or to the monasteries of Shar Gaden or Serpom, please click here. Proceeds from our online store shop.dorjeshugden.com also go towards supporting the sangha, and for the on-going running and maintenance of this website.

Photos of the Empowerment at VKBC

Those who wish to discover, explore or study the teachings and tradition of Lama Tsongkapa need look no further. Here are some of the interesting and outstanding activities offered this summer in August 2014:

[Editor's note: If you would like your Dharma centre's activities to be featured on DorjeShugden.com, please write in to our editors at ds@dorjeshugden.com]

USA & CANADA

Kadampa Meditation Center, Canada

Caring for the Deceased through Compassion

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: August 15th to August 18th

For more information or to reserve your place, visit http://kadampa.ca/caring-for-the-deceased/

Kadampa Meditation Center, California

Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: August 29th to August 31st

For more information or to reserve your place, visit http://www.meditateinla.org/courses/summer-post-festival-retreat1/

EUROPE

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Intensive residential course Tantric Ngalso Self Healing – Vajrayoghini Meditation the Sky Dance of Great Bliss – a method to trasform unlimited desire

Requirement: For Initiates Only
Date: August 2nd to August 24th

For more information or to reserve your place, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/ritiro-residenziale-della-pratica-di-vajrayoghini-la-danza-della-grande-beatitudine/?lang=en

Rabten Choeling, Switzerland

Summer Meditation Course 2014

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: August 9th to August 16th

For more information or to reserve your place, visit http://www.rabten.eu/course_en.htm

Kadampa Meditation Center, Spain

Becoming The Person You Wish Be

Requirement: Open to the public
Date: August 9th to August 16th

For more information or to reserve your place, visit http://meditaenmalaga.org/cursos-de-budismo/9-actividades/72-curso-meditacion-kadam-morten.html

Albagnano Healing Meditation Centre

Four Armed Chenrezig Residential Retreat

Requirement: -
Date: August 25th to August 31st

For more information or to reserve your place, visit http://ahmc.ngalso.net/events/four-armed-chenrezig-residential-retreat/?lang=en