Once a month, a joyful procession of Tibetan refugees – many of them disfigured by frostbite suffered while escaping their homeland over the Himalayas – files into the Dalai Lama’s exile palace at the Indian hill station of Dharamsala. For these visitors, His Holiness is an emanation of the Compassionate Buddha, and his blessing is their reward for having survived the icy Himalayan crossing.

During one audience this summer, a brawny young Tibetan showed a curious lack of enthusiasm about meeting the Dalai Lama. The youth’s attention was focused instead on security in the palace and the layout of the buildings inside. This Tibetan, named Chomphel, was a Chinese spy, Indian police say. His mission may have been to scope out security flaws for a possible attack on the Tibetan religious leader.

As the faithful were busily spinning prayer wheels, Chomphel was seen mapping out the open temple courtyard where the Dalai Lama often conducts ceremonies. The visitor timed the routine of monks who fill the altar butter lamps and sweep the temple, and he watched the movements of Indian police and soldiers around the town. Eventually, Indian undercover agents spotted him sketching details of the army garrison. He was trailed and then last week arrested. Inside a false bottom of his suitcase were maps and other documents relating to the Dalai Lama’s security.

Under questioning, Chomphel allegedly confessed that he was a member of a Chinese army intelligence unit. He’s no ordinary refugee, says police superintendent Kashmir Chand Sadyal. He’s very knowledgeable and quite an expert in several things, including cartography.

Tibetan security officials disclosed that during interrogation, Chomphel said that his superiors had sent him to India to gather intelligence for a further action against the Dalai Lama involving 10 to 15 Chinese agents later this year. Many of his drawings centered on the temple outside the Dalai Lama’s residence, leading some Tibetan security officials in Dharamsala to believe that the Chinese might have intended to blow up the house during one of the spiritual leader’s gatherings. Next month, film star Richard Gere and other Tibetan Buddhism devotees are expected to attend a Dalai Lama teaching session at this same temple.

Following the arrest of Chomphel and a suspected Tibetan accomplice, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied any involvement in a plot to kill the Tibetan leader. Spokesman Zhu Bangzao added that Beijing was willing to negotiate with the Dalai Lama once he stopped activities aimed at splitting the motherland. Nevertheless, Indian officials believe China closely monitors the exiled Tibetans and frequently tries to stir up trouble between Dharamsala’s Indians and Tibetan refugees.

Says a senior police officer: The Chinese are sending many spies across to Dharamsala. Some exiles also maintain that China, in its battle against the Tibetans’ god-king, sometimes mixes Marxism with a touch of black magic. They accuse Beijing of recruiting the followers of a wrathful Tibetan spirit known as Dorje Shugden.

This deity has tens of thousands of Tibetan worshippers – plus a contingent of Western Buddhist fans. Described as having four fangs sharp like the ice of a glacier, three blood-red eyes and hair like flaming serpents, Dorje Shugden has become a supernatural enemy of the Dalai Lama. His fashion sense attests to his ugly mood: Dorje Shugden sports a necklace of 50 severed heads.

Repeatedly over the past decade, the Dalai Lama has warned that Dorje Shugden poses a threat to both Tibet’s struggle to regain independence from China and his own personal safety. What more could the Chinese want in a new, otherworldly friend?

Editor’s note: Dorje Shugden does NOT have severed heads in his iconography. Regarding Dorje Shugden as a threat to Tibet’s independence, HH the Dalai Lama has said for decades that he is NOT seeking Tibetan independence but only autonomy. How can Dorje Shugden be a threat to that then? HH the Dalai Lama has also said that Dorje Shugden threatens his life. HH the Dalai Lama is in his mid 70s which is a very respectable age! Dorje Shugden is also not “new” since he manifested around 350 years ago!

This combat between the Dalai Lama and the snarling deity has already crossed out of the realm of sorcery and into reality – with gruesome consequences. A respected Tibetan dialectics professor who publicly opposed Dorje Shugden worship was ritually slaughtered in February of last year along with two students. The academic, Lobsang Gyatso, 70, had been one of the Dalai Lama’s closest allies in the struggle with the deity.

Indian detectives discovered that the six suspected Tibetan assassins made several telephone calls to the Dorje Shugden Society headquarters in New Delhi en route to the slayings. Says former police superintendent Rajeev Kumar, who investigated the case: The link is clearly established between the murderers and the Dorje Shugden cult.

The killings were religiously motivated. The assassins fled through Nepal back to Tibet and have since vanished. Their border crossing was allegedly unhampered by Chinese authorities, even though returning Tibetans are often subjected to arrest and interrogation.

Editor’s note: There has been no concrete proof of the link between Dorje Shugden practitioners and the regretful murder. Even if the murder was perpetuated by Dorje Shugden practitioners, it does not mean that all Dorje Shugden practitioners are murderers, like not all Muslims are terrorists. This is a gross generalization and imputed wrong view.

Tibetan exiles and Indian investigators suspect Beijing is manipulating the feud between Shugden supporters and the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile. Across Tibet, the Chinese are giving funds to rebuild Shugden shrines and temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

Sonam Topgyal, a Dalai Lama cabinet minister, claims that government workers who professed to be devotees of the wrathful god were given special cash bonuses for the Tibetan New Year. The Chinese press gleefully prints accusations by Shugden supporters that the Dalai Lama is imposing religious dictatorship on his people. Indian authorities are investigating the possibility of a link between the two alleged Chinese spies and Shugden devotees. But according to Geshe Cheme Tsering, general secretary of the Dorje Shugden Society in New Delhi, “This is just police speculation. We don’t come into the picture at all.”

Still, those in charge of the Tibetan spiritual leader’s security are taking threats against his life seriously. Last January, police began receiving reports that the Dalai Lama might be in danger from disgruntled Shugden-ites. They urged him to cancel a trip to Tibetan refugee communities in southern India – a center of Shugden support – but he refused. “For us, the threat perception is very serious, and we’ve got to maintain round-the-clock surveillance,” says an official.

Besides the Dalai Lama’s personal security force of Tibetans, a contingent of 100 policemen now guards the Tibetan leader’s residence at Dharamsala. Some Indian officials doubt that the Chinese would want to kill off the Dalai Lama, especially so soon after U.S. President Bill Clinton, on his recent trip to Beijing, championed the exile leader.

A better strategy, say Indian experts on China, would be to wait for the Dalai Lama, who is now 63, simply to die. Then there would be nobody to defy Beijing’s rule in Tibet. But the Chinese may not have the patience to wait for him to pass away naturally. A secret 1994 Chinese government report, leaked to human rights groups, admonished that to kill a snake you must crush his head.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054287,00.html

The ban on the worship of the Deity Dorje Shugden is illegal with regard to the constitutions of the Tibetan government-in-exile, India, and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Source: http://www.westernshugdensociety.org/ebook

The world was horrified when the Taliban blew up images of the Buddha carved into the rock in Afghanistan. This religious terrorism has also been happening in India since the 1980s. For 30 years, the Dalai Lama’s Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has been ordering the destruction of statues and other holy images of the Wisdom Buddha, the Protector Deity of the Gelugpa Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and encouraging monks and nuns to engage in such terrible negative karmic actions.

I was trying to think of a title for this post.  I settled on the title after I read these definitions of conundrum: A confusing and difficult problem or question
 an intricate and difficult problem

What is the problem?

Well, what do you think about these spiritual quotations?

If we make a steady effort, I think we can overcome any form of negative conditioning and make positive changes in our lives.

Compassion and love give meaning to our activities and makes them constructive.

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible.

Due to the fundamental interconnectedness that lies at the heart of reality, your interest is also my interest.

Of course, they all makes sense and are correct.  They would be worthy of remembering and of contemplation. The problem I have is that they were all taken from the Dalai Lama’s Twitter page.

As spiritual truths, of course they make perfect sense but we’ve also got to put them in context:  They were written or spoken by a Spiritual Teacher who has inflicted the greatest harm on the greatest number of people in modern times.

We have to put those valid sentiments in the context of a person who has turned his back on their Root and Lineage Gurus over the matter of Dorje Shugden, who has created a schism in not only the Tibetan community over this issue, but in the worldwide Buddhist community at large.  The Dalai Lama has been responsible for expelling monks from their monasteries and for ostracising Shugden practitioners from their families

Therefore, when I see these spiritual sentiments, which I would normally agree with and ‘re-tweet’, I hesitate: do I really want to encourage people to make a connection with someone who, although very popular and renowned for compassion and championing human rights, has nonetheless created the biggest and most divisive controversy in modern Buddhism?  Do I want people to connect with someone who says very sweet words but whose actions cause pain and suffering to millions?

I have to say no.

If these teachings were given by any other Buddhist Teacher, I could accept and promote them, but in this case I cannot.  At the end of the day, it’s what you do rather than what you say that has power and determines your trustworthiness. Actions, not words, determine whether people have faith in you.  It’s a Spiritual Teacher’s example we should check first and then their words.

Source : http://dorjeshugdentruth.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/the-dalai-lama-a-spiritual-conundrum/

This is the English translation:-

0.05
For the philosopher Frederic Lenoir, the Dalai Lama did not have any other choice but to impose the ban. He took a risk, both political and religious. It is a religious risk because he is upsetting the Tibetans who are devotees of Dorje Shugden and it is a political risk because the Chinese can take advantage of the division it has created within the Tibetan community to discredit the Dalai Lama both inside and outside of Tibet.

0.35
However, if he allowed the practice of a deity that is very intolerant. The Dalai Lama would be taking yet another risk of allowing the development of a vision of Tibetan Buddhism, especially in the Western world, that is both, intolerant and sectarian. The Western world is today the Dalai Lama’s best ally. In the USA, we find one of the largest supporting networks of the Tibetan cause.”

1.00
“I am in Aspen, Colorado, the most exclusive ski resort in the USA. The monks are starting the day with mantras in order to purify their minds. Those who accompany them in their prayers are Americans. They are Buddhists and they are rich. For three days, opinion leaders will raise funds to support the work of the Dalai Lama. A very private event organized by a millionaires’ club.”

1.40
It is very interesting to hear about what they think of the violence between the Chinese and the Tibetans. “I have factories in China, so I’m keen to know more about the conflict.” In this select group, Matthieu Ricard clearly is at ease, “Is it vegetarian?” Matthieu Ricard has become the best “Sherpa” of the Dalai Lama. The whole year round, he relays the Dalai Lama’s message throughout the world and lobbies for the Tibetan cause.

2.20
“Some people have paid more than $2,000 to come and see you, did you know that?” “They came to see His Holiness; we are just filling the gaps really.” The Dalai Lama’s arrival is imminent. For the event organizer, Walter Isaacson, former CEO of CNN, it is important not to make a mistake, “Do I offer it like this?”

2.45
“Yes, you can, hold it like this.” “The first time, they told me to hold it like this.” Received with deference, the Dalai Lama is here at home. “Your Holiness, I am happy to see you again.” Isaacson and his friends finance the Dalai Lama’s struggle. The Tibetan leader however does not spare them.

3.15
“The businessmen, the millionaires, they cannot buy inner peace. You cannot go with a bag of bank notes to a shop and ask to buy some peace of mind in exchange for a few hundred thousand dollars. Nobody is able to do that.” If today, private funds support the Tibetan cause, 30 years ago, the US Government funded it.

3.55
“In 1956, in India, on the occasion of the Buddha’s birthday, I discovered that my brothers, Taktser Rinpoche and Gyalo Thondup” were in contact with the CIA. It is only then that I learnt about this.” Until 1973, the CIA provided more than 1.5 million dollars every year to support the Tibetan cause, funds for the Dalai Lama, and weapons to resist the Chinese enemy. A top secret plan supervised by the Dalai Lama’s own brother, Gyalo Thondup.

4.40
“I told my brother that I was against the use of violence, that it should stop.” “He came to see me and we argued about this situation.” But what was the role of Gyalo Thondup? I will find out a few kilometres away. These mountains around Aspen were used as a secret base to train the Tibetan fighters. At Camp Hall, the fighters were supervised by Bruce Walker, a CIA officer now retired. “What was your connection with the Dalai Lama’s brother?” “With Gyalo Thondup?” “I met Gyalo Thondup in New Delhi; he was the liaison between the Dalai Lama and the CIA.” “That’s how it happened.”

5.35
“Do you think that the Dalai Lama knew about his brother’s activities?” “I don’t know to what extent he was aware.” “In any case, he knew that the Tibetans were encouraged, trained, and financed by the CIA.” Nowadays, the new sponsors are in the open. Like Richard Blum, for example. This billionaire is the President of the “American-Himalayan Foundation. Its budget: 6 million dollars a year.

6.12
It is the individuals and groups that act today. We know that when governments get involved, tensions will rise and so forth. I will measure the strength of the Dalai Lama, this summer, back in France. It is 15th August, and here in Nantes, about 10.000 people are entering the “Zenith” hall to listen to the Dalai Lama. French people are seeking spirituality and a better life. These are the teachings of our founding lamas, Lama Zopa and Lama Yeshe.

6.54
A philosophy coming from the high Tibetan plateau for Western people in search of betterment. It is someone who shows us an inspiring path that anyone can achieve. It is a message of peace to help us find our radiating inner peace. Today in France, there are about a million Buddhist supporters. The Dalai Lama has reached out to them and made the Buddha’s teachings accessible.

7.30
Violence is now old-fashioned. Non-violence is the true path to be followed by everyone. Violence is inhumane. The 21st century should be the century of dialogue. Wherever there are conflicts, we must make efforts to find peaceful means to solve them.” The Dalai Lama seems to have succeeded in rallying the Westerners to his spiritual tradition and to his struggle so that one day he may go back to Tibet. Our interview is over. “Matthieu, what did you think of the interview?” “Yes, it was good. Because I have some doubts, I am tired and I am not very precise in my answers.”

8.43
“And on Dorje Shugden, do you think I forgot to mention anything?” “I did not know he was going to ask me all these questions.”

“He is a sage, and will be remembered as one of the greatest sages of the 20th century who dedicated his whole life to non-violent resistance to an invader who is killing his own people.”

9.09
“One last question Your Holiness.” “You are always surrounded by bodyguards. How do you cope with it?” “Chinese officials spread rumors in Tibet.They say that I have a cancer and that I will die soon. And nowadays, some people are waiting for me to die and it could happen anytime, just like that.” But for the Dalai Lama, death does not matter. Lama Dondrub knows that he will reincarnate. At 73 years old, he prepares in secret for his succession so that the dynasty of the Dalai Lamas will continue to exist.

Isolationism was intensified in 2008, when the Dalai Lama started a new phase of persecution against Shugden practitioners. Whilst ostensibly on a religious visit to Drepung Loseling monastery in South India, instead he instigated a political referendum on whether the monastery wanted Shugden monks to remain in their ranks.

He forced the monks to vote by having them select a stick of either red (for Dorje Shugden) or yellow (for the Dalai Lama) colour in a public referendum. Very few monks were brave enough to go against the Dalai Lama and as a result of the ‘referendum’ which was undemocratic and unconstitutional – since when do monks engage in a political vote on a spiritual practice?

Nine hundred monks were expelled from their monasteries. The Dalai Lama himself is on video shamelessly praising the Abbots of the monasteries for expelling the monks. This intensified the schism in the Sangha that the Dalai Lama has instigated with the introduction of the ban in 1996.

Eventually the monks found a home in two new monasteries that were purpose built for them by various Western benefactors, Shar Gaden and Serpom. It was clear that the monastic community was completely split. High walls were erected between the new monasteries and the old to separate the two factions.

The Central Tibetan Administration quickly introduced a process of oath-swearing for Tibetans whereby the had to swear in front of Palden Lhamo not to share material or spiritual resources with Shugden practitioners. Just as the monasteries were divided, this split families and set family members against each other as some swore and some bravely refused.

The suffering that this caused was incredible and further isolated Shugden practitioners, making them pariahs in their own communities. It’s difficult to believe that a so-called ‘Buddhist’ society could countenance this, but out of blind faith in the Dalai Lama, the ordinary people have instigated his evil actions. There are many examples in history where the weak have been influenced by powerful and charismatic dictators to create evil – this unfortunate situation is just another one of those.

All of these actions, instigated by the Dalai Lama, clearly show that he is not a qualified Buddhist Teacher, nor even a Buddhist, as it is a commitment of Buddhism not to harm others.

Editor’s note: DorjeShugden.com does not support the anti-Dalai Lama stance in this article as we believe that the Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden are working together to spread Dharma. However, we are publishing this article to show the various different perspectives on this subject.

(Continued in part 3)

Source : http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-dorje-shugden-practitioners-are-not_17.html

Statement of Pomra Kamtsen
February 2008

1. This community of the Sera-Mey College has remained in peace and harmony, without ever having any conflict or schism, since the founding of the Sera monastery by Jamchen Choeche Shakya Yeshe in the year 1419 in Tibet, until now.
2. After coming to India we have shared spiritual and material experiences, with all the other monasteries mutually and in particular within our own college. The community has lived together harmoniously without any problems or discord, sharing good and bad times together.
3. The deity Dorje Shugden has been worshipped in Tibet for the last 350 years. This Pomra department of Sera-Mey monastery has been relying on this deity as its special protector for the last 236 years. This is for us purely a practice of Dharma without any political implications.
4. This Sera-Mey college is a community which is registered under the laws of the government of India. In its by-laws it is stated, that anybody who wishes to enter this college has the equal right to do so, without any discrimination regarding race, country, province, or whatever. However, last year, 28 Tibetans did not receive the right to enter into this monastery on the bases of being devotees of Dorje Shugden.
5. Since the worship of this deity was banned in 1996 up until now the monastery gradually has prevented those people who worship the deity from obtaining higher positions in the monastic administration. However, we remained without complaint, concentrating on the study of the Dharma, and have thus sacrificed all monastic statuses.
6. In this monastery Sera-Mey, the monks of our department have until now, and continually are, fulfilling diligently and wholeheartedly the various branches of activities for the service of the monastery. According to the rules of this monastery for the appointment of functionaries, suitable candidates are selected, and then the final decision is brought in front of the Dharmapala Ta-ok (the protector of the college).There, by throwing dough-balls with name (a kind of lottery) the functionaries are assigned. It is not permitted to refuse an appointment. Whoever does not want to take the responsibility after appointment has to be expelled. This being the rule for appointing monastic functionaries, it is obvious, that what has been mentioned before totally contradicts the principles of this monastery.
7. Now we face the condition, that without any reason of contravening rules or regulations of the monastery, those who rely on the deity Dorje Shugden, are expelled from the monastery, from school, and from offices. Therefore we have made up our mind to oppose this injustice in accordance with the law.
8. The procedures of the compulsory oath the monks had to take “not to share any spiritual or material relation with anybody who is worshipping Dorje Shugden”, as well as the signature-campaigns to this effect, are not only in contradiction with the Dharma, but also in contradiction with any law. This problem is not created by us. So who has created it? Such behaviour is not in harmony with Buddhist view and conduct, and it contradicts the rules of the peace-loving world. If there is no internal peace, then how can one speak about universal peace and harmony?
9. From Dec. 20th 2007 until the 6th of this month, due to this emergency situation, there have been six meetings trying to deal with this situation in the monastery. But since the whole problem has not been created by the monastery, and also exists on an intercollege level, it is agreed unanimously that there is nothing we can do about it. There are two committees responsible for these new rules of swearing and voting, so they are fully responsible for the situation. We would therefore like to bring these committees to court and hopefully come to a final decision there.
10. From the so-called Geden-committee a postponement has been given until the 9th of February 2008. Nevertheless, on the 26th of January, the republic day of India, the general kitchen of the monastery was closed, followed by a closing of the school and the medical clinic and all other branches.
11. With regards to this trouble we make our request with great hope to the government of India and the human rights committee, to act as witness, and in accordance to the convenience of time, we want both sides to meet in court to have this issue decided there.
12. Until now, thanks to the government and the people of India and thanks to the democratic constitution of this great country, we received a place to live, all the sustenance for our living, and have all the chance to enjoy all our religious activities.We can never forget this kindness of the government and the people of India. And also in future we have no-one else to go for help. We have clear proof of the points we are appealing for the be facts, so we request the government of this great nation as witness of truth.

(Source : http://www.shugdensociety.info/pdfs/DeclarationPomra2008.pdf)

A Dorje Shugden practitioner and student of Domo Geshe Rinpoche shares her personal reasons for why she practises Dorje Shugden, and why she is protesting.

Mob of Angry Dalai Lama Followers Attack Protestors

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On July 17, 2008 a group of hundreds of angry followers of the Dalai Lama attacked a group of peaceful Buddhist protestors. Imagine the persecution faced by Dorje Shugden practitioners in India and other countries.

More Religious Persecution by the Dalai Lama

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Dorje Shugden monks are forced to leave their monastery and then their water is cut off.

Why Protest the Dalai Lama?

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Interviews with protesters about why they are protesting:
“I’m here to protect our lineage because at the moment, our lineage is under threat…

Dalai Lama’s Ban Affects Children

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A ban the Dalai Lama imposed on followers of JeTsongkhapa’s teachings affects even children and takes away their right to continue their education.

Ask Dalai Lama 3 Questions

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According to the Dalai Lama who can attend his teachings? Everyone except followers of his root guru…

The above video clip is a news report by Al Jazeera, a globally recognized and trusted media network. In recent years, Al Jazeera has developed a reputation for daring coverage and their refusal to shy away from addressing sometimes controversial, oftentimes difficult issues.

The network is also well received for its policy that is characteristically free from political persuasions and restrictions. At a time when many news networks have developed a reputation for bias, Al Jazeera has managed to remain free from such stigma. Since the time of their inception, it has been their objective to provide information that is complete, balanced, unbiased and absent of coloring by Western narratives that have long shaped ‘conventional’ wisdom, and social and political consciousness.

As a result of Al Jazeera’s commitment to unbiased reporting, it is today one of the most popular news networks for the way it fulfills another of its missions, “to give a voice to the voiceless”.

That this celebrated network regarded the Dorje Shugden issue as important enough to cover, attests to the severity of events that have not only rocked the Tibetan community but also pierced the very heart of Tibetan Buddhism. It is a story of how the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) committed what may be one of the most serious breaches of human rights in modern history, right under the noses of nation-states who regard it, ironically, to be a victim of China’s oppression.

In an issue as emotionally-charged as the Sino-Tibetan conflict, it is important to remember that Al Jazeera is a Middle Eastern-owned and operated network that has no stake or vested interest in the quarrel between the Dalai Lama and China. We can therefore safely assume that there is no political agenda in this reporting.

At the center of the storm undermining the Tibetan cause is none other than His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. Although the Tibetan leader is revered worldwide for his public proclamations of peace, love, tolerance and harmony, this penetrating Al Jazeera report provides a vastly contrasting image to the public.

In 1996, the Dalai Lama suddenly proclaimed that he was banning the 400-year-old practice of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden, an emanation of the Buddha Manjushri. It was a proclamation that ran completely incongruous with the fact that the same Dalai Lama had also declared the Tibetan nation-in-exile to be a democratic state, underwritten by a Constitution that guarantees various freedoms including that of religious practice.

A sign in Sera Monastery, South India. Because of the ban and the resulting heavy-handed discrimination against Shugden practitioners, Sera Mey Monastery later split, with hundreds of monks leaving to Serpom Monastery.

The Dalai Lama’s instruction resulted in widespread condemnation of Dorje Shugden practitioners, and institutionalized discrimination of the practice’s devotees. In fact, the CTA’s actions that followed the Dalai Lama’s declaration proved that in reality, the Tibetan leadership is not a democracy but merely an executrix of the Dalai Lama’s wishes.

The CTA began issuing Cabinet and Parliamentary resolutions that made it permissible to abuse Shugden followers, inferring that it was the duty of every good Tibetan to oppose those who continue to practice Dorje Shugden. At stake, they said, was the precious life of the Dalai Lama. Successive resolutions by the Tibetan Cabinet and Parliament drove the conflict deeper and fueled the animosity between those who chose to obey the CTA’s forced rule and those who decided to remain true to their religion.

In essence, the CTA had institutionalized a constitutionally-wrong purge of people based on their religion, much like the unholy inquisitions in countries like medieval Spain. Tibetan vigilante groups formed to root out Shugden practitioners and eradicate them as, according to the CTA’s May 1996 resolution,

…a matter of highest importance to the cause of Tibet…and the personal security of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,

On the streets, mobs of Tibetans gathered to riot against Dorje Shugden worshippers, attacking Shugden-practicing monasteries until they were stopped by the Indian police who were called in to quell and contain the violence.

Elsewhere, individual Tibetans made a show of their resentment of this new ‘enemy’. Some did so believing in the Tibetan leadership’s propaganda against the religion, while others acted out of fear of repercussions for non-cooperation with the CTA. In some cases, the CTA even threatened fines against people who refused to join the riots against Shugden practitioners.

All over the Tibetan settlements in India, it quickly became taboo to serve, sell or buy from, to educate, to work with and to provide livelihood for Shugden believers or anyone known to associate with these religious adherents. It was, and still is, strictly prohibited to render medical care to anyone even remotely connected to this Protector-deity. Not even hospitals and clinics operated by supposedly benevolent monasteries, who are obliged to observe the Hippocratic Oath if not the injunction of the Lord Buddha himself, dared to defy the Dalai Lama’s command.

A sign in the medical clinic of Drepung Loseling Monastic University denying entry and service to Shugden practitioners. Is such a sign befitting of a clinic situated inside a monastery which is supposed to uphold the tenets of Shakyamuni Buddha, chief of which is compassion?

Monasteries that had been repositories of wisdom and kindness for over six centuries broke with tradition when ordained monks were forced to commit the cardinal sin of breaking their tantric vows to keep the practice. The consequence of refusing to swear out from the practice (as it was soon called) was expulsion from their temples, effectively rendering them homeless. Everywhere the Tibetan government could exert its influence became the scene of old friendships and family ties breaking, each year more destructive than the last as the CTA launched campaign after unrelenting campaign against Dorje Shugden followers. Anger and hatred towards Shugden people also exploded everywhere in the world wherever the Dalai Lama’s portrait hung, and developed its own life-force independent of Dharamsala.

It was difficult for many to accept the Al Jazeera exposé because the Dalai Lama has been an icon of peace, love, friendship and tolerance for decades, traversing the world to preach his message of conciliation. But neither could they ignore the evidence presented in the report or say that people have misread the Dalai Lama’s meaning. The Dalai Lama’s message has always been clear – abandon the Shugden religious practice or face the consequences. For a refugee community so heavily dependent socially, economically and spiritually on their leader, this is something they apparently could not afford to lose.

The CTA imposed a card system so that Shugden practitioners could be identified and marginalized in the same way Jews were forced to identify themselves with armbands during Hitler’s war on Europe. If the ban on Dorje Shugden is just ‘advice’ as the Tibetan leadership like to claim, would such cards be necessary? Why the need to identify Dorje Shugden practitioners from non-practitioners, if it was just advice?

While the Al Jazeera report was able to provide an account of Shugden worshippers’ woes under the CTA’s direction, it is more difficult to document the supramundane costs of the CTA-sponsored attacks on Dorje Shugden. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Protector is one of three crucial components in spiritual practice, the other two being the guru and the yidam (meditational deity). And in so far as Dharma Protectors are concerned, Dorje Shugden is highly respected and deemed to be of great importance due to the karmic affinity between himself and the people of our time.

So, contrary to allegations levelled against him by the Tibetan leadership, for over 400 years Dorje Shugden has been worshipped and relied on as a crucial component of spiritual practice by the majority of Tibetan Buddhists at one time or another. His practice has been strongly advocated by the highest and most respected masters and scholars. Even the line of Dalai Lamas regarded the deity in the highest terms:

• The Great 5^th Dalai Lama constructed Trode Khangsar, the first chapel in honor of the deity and composed a praise that acknowledged this Protector as an enlightened being
• The 11^th Dalai Lama enthroned Dorje Shugden as the Dharma Protector of the entire Gelug lineage
• The 13^th Dalai Lama is documented to have relied on Dorje Shugden for some of the most crucial decisions of his time
• The 14^th and present Dalai Lama too, entreated Dorje Shugden as an enlightened being in the prayer he famously composed, and referred to Dorje Shugden as the guardian of “Manjushri Tsongkhapa’s teachings”

In fact, the 14^th Dalai Lama trusted Dorje Shugden explicitly. During the political turmoil of 1959, the Dalai Lama followed Dorje Shugden’s advice, given while in trance of an oracle. The advice led to the Dalai Lama’s safe escape to India, away from the clutches of a then hostile China. Dorje Shugden even provided the exact route of escape. This incident has been well documented by the very people who accompanied His Holiness on his perilous journey into exile.

The Tibetan leadership is fond of labelling the ban against Dorje Shugden as just advice, but such a large body of evidence has been compiled over the years that the attack against Shugden practitioners cannot be due to sheer coincidence, and can only be the result of a coordinated ban. It is this information that we present to you here in this website, along with the Al Jazeera video. The fact so much evidence exists, and has been so easily compiled is a sad indictment of the Tibetan leadership, their disrespect for the ideals of democracy, and their maltreatment and abuse of Shugden practitioners for the past 20 years.

A shop in a South Indian Tibetan settlement refusing service to Dorje Shugden practitioners. Such signs have been commonplace since 1996, when the ban on Dorje Shugden was instituted. Overnight, Shugden practitioners found themselves barred from shops and restaurants just like this one.

A shop in Sera Monastery, South India. The red sign at the bottom of the MoneyGram poster announces that Dorje Shugden practitioners are not welcome there.

Gaden Jangtse Monastery, Mundgod, South India, again barring Dorje Shugden practitioners and saying they are not welcomed on the grounds.

Clearly it is no exaggeration to say that these anti-Shugden signs are everywhere in the Tibetan settlements. Here, one such sign is pictured on a water tank in Sera Mey Monastery, South India

Outside a monastery in Sarnath, North India, there is a clear sign that states Dorje Shugden practitioners are not welcome even within the premises of the teaching program. Regardless of whether they actually receive teachings or not, their physical presence there is not allowed at all.

More Information

On the Dorje Shugden ban

• The Illegal Ban on an Authentic Buddhist Practice
• Why Protestors Say The Dalai Lama Is Lying
• Not Just a Simple Advice but an Order

Definitive proof of the Shugden religious ban

• Definitive Proof of the Ban and Discrimination against Dorje Shugden
• Proof of Discrimination
• Chronology of Key Events: 1996

About Dorje Shugden

• Introduction to Dorje Shugden
• The Benefits of Dorje Shugden’s Practice
• FAQs – How Can Dorje Shugden Help Me?
• FAQs – About Dorje Shugden

The Tibetan Leadership’s Stance on Dorje Shugden

The CTA’s official website has a dedicated page to spread disinformation on Dorje Shugden and incessantly attack his practitioners. This is not normal practice for a democratic government, which should be upholding religious freedom amongst its citizens. Imagine the uproar if the American or Canadian governments – or indeed, any democratic state – were to have the same section on their official websites accessible to the public.

The CTA Cabinet statement of May 1996 that blames the practice of Dorje Shugden as being the cause of Tibet’s problems and advocates the opposing of the religion as a national priority. (Source: http://tibet.net/important-issues/dolgyal-shugden/)

The CTA Parliamentary Resolution in 1996 also condemned the practice of Dorje Shugden. In passing such a resolution, the Tibetan leadership officially institutionalized the abuse and segregation of Dorje Shugden practitioners.

All CTA departments and organizations were instructed to not indulge in the propitiation of Dorje Shugden. Effectively, this means that members of a certain religion (in this case, Shugden) cannot be employed by the government or any of its associations. Again, the practice of Dorje Shugden is blamed for the failures of the Tibetan cause. If the Tibetan leadership were truly democratic, why would it matter what someone’s personal religious faith is, as long as it does not impact their ability to do their job and discharge their duties? The fact the Tibetan leadership makes employment choices based on a person’s religious beliefs is not democratic at all. (Source: http://tibet.net/important-issues/dolgyal-shugden/#panel-pJV76q5op4P)

Institutionalized persecutions of Dorje Shugden followers continued into 2014, 18 years after it began in 1996.

A 2014 CTA Parliamentary resolution frames Shugden practitioners in a manner that will provoke the Tibetan people, and labels all Dorje Shugden worshippers as ‘criminals’. As Dorje Shugden worshippers hail from all over the world, is the Tibetan leadership also labelling non-Tibetans as ‘criminals’? In their eagerness to condemn Shugden worshippers, the Tibetan leadership therefore infringes upon the sovereignty of countries around the world by insulting their citizens when there is no basis for such a label. (Source: http://tibet.net/important-issues/dolgyal-shugden/#panel-pJV76q5op4P)

This video shows clear evidence of Dalai Lama issuing/enforcing the ban on Dorje Shugden.

He encourages the Monasteries to expel monks who refuse to give up this practice.

It is undemocratic for any leader to ban any form of worship in this day and age.

Not only is Dalai Lama encouraging the ban, but he praises the Monasteries for doing expelling those monks who refuse to listen. This statement from Dalai Lama has hurt the sentiments of thousands of people.

This ban has created great rifts within the Monasteries that never existed before. Dalai Lama is being ordered into New Delhi High Court in regards to this ban. The writ that has been submitted to the court was not rejected. The case is now pending and under observation.

Many have left the monasteries and formed their own all over the world. Two newly formed Monasteries who hold on steadfast to the practice of Dorje Shugden are Shar Gaden Monastery in Mundgod and Serpom Norling Monastery in Bylakuppe.

For photos and videos on these monasteries, go to www.dorjeshugden.com