Two Shugden Monks from Shar Gaden Monastery Attacked

Western Shugden Society – Two young monks have been admitted to hospital, to be treated for injuries sustained during an unprovoked attack.

The attack took place around 11.30pm on Saturday 30th May 2009, outside Serkong Khangtsen, in the Tibetan colony near Mundgod, Karnataka State, India.

The victims, Lobsang Damchoe and Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, are both tulkus (reincarnate lamas) who recently enrolled at Shar Gaden Monastery. They are known in the community as followers of the protector Dorje Shugden.

The six attackers, supporters of HH Dalai Lama’s policy against the practice of Dorje Shugden, have admitted to planning and carrying out the attack. Thus far, their monastery, Gaden Jangtse, has made no comment and has given no punishment.

The attackers are also supported by the local Tibetan Representative’s office and its chairman, which themselves have wide support in the local community.

The Indian police have been informed of the attack and are currently investigating, but as yet have made no arrests.

Samdhong Rinpoche Blames Abbots for Signature Campaign!

The latest news from the Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden Blog. It seems that the Abbots of Sera Je, Sera Mey, Gaden Jangtse, Gaden Shartse, Drepung Gomang and Drepung Loseling were recently summoned to Dharamsala by the Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile, Samdhong Rinpoche.

Unbelievably, Samdhong Rinpoche scolded the Abbots for pushing the signature campaign on all monks to renounce Dorje Shugden in the three great seats of Sera, Ganden and Drepung Monasteries.

He said that their “insistence on the signature campaigns has made personal difficulties for the Dalai Lama.”

Could this be Samdhong Rinpoche and the Dalai Lama’s attempt to wriggle out of being implicated in the September Indian Supreme Court case, where they are on trial for Deity discrimination? Could it be because the international public are increasingly wary and suspicious of the Dalai Lama undermining others’ religious freedoms? By blaming the Abbots, they might let themselves off the hook?

In the short term they may look better in the Indian supreme court and in the court of international opinion, but in the long term this new strategy will likely backfire as it presents irreconcilable contradictions.

Why? Because there are many recorded public tapes of the Dalai Lama available on the mainstream press and the Internet at large where he is very clearly encouraging the Abbots of these three Monasteries to expel and remove all monks who refuse to sign the declaration that they will no longer associate spiritually or materially with Dorje Shugden practitioners.

See videos here.

This indeed is why Shar Ganden and Serpom Norling Monasteries are arising — communities of monks expelled under the Dalai Lama’s orders who are continuing with their practice of Dorje Shugden.

At least we can be thankful that the Abbots are now being scolded instead of praised for their enactment of the oppressive and unlawful signature campaign mandated by the Dalai Lama, ironic (and hypocritical) as this reprimand may be.

Professor Samdhong Rinpoche Caught Lying by Al Jazeera

This evening I put together these clips which specifically highlight Samdhong Rinpoche’s lies on the Al Jazeera Documentary “Dalai Lama – The Devil Within”. From this series of clips it’s pretty obvious that he is lying even to people who are uneducated with regard to the Dorje Shugden controversy.

In other news, related to the Dorje Shugden controversy, someone named Jigme left this comment on an article of the Orangeville Citizen newspaper in Ontario, Canada. Hopefully, the media will eventually look behind the glossy image of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile and report in a balanced and accurate fashion with regard to them. Below is Jigme’s comment:

Thank you for your column “Unity vs. uniformity”. I would like to make a comment on one sentence towards the end of your article: Some see the Dalai Lama as a better model of humble witness to transcendent truth.

Although I do not doubt that, as a communications person, you remember the demos in 3 continents against the Dalai Lama, last Summer, I would like to request you to please bear in mind their meaning, in order not to publish, if possible, non-qualified, non-commented-upon news on the Tibetan leader…

If you remember the Dalai Lama´s actions, or find out about them then you might agree that his is one severe case of double talk, double behaviour, of … how to call it? deception of the masses using your own good fame?

Remember, the Dalai Lama instituted the segregation, persecution and religious annihilation of an important group of Buddhists, the followers of his own (the Dalai Lama’s) teachers, tagged as if by a yellow star as “Shugden worshippers”. This is an unprecedented case in Buddhist history, and the Dalai Lama is getting away with it because the Press and the politicians and even the common folk do not like to admit that they were deceived by his charming smile and the sacred words of the Buddha that he repeats while betraying them.

Please go back to your archives, please review what has been said, what has been happening. Try to understand that he produced a painful and unheard of schism in the Tibetan Sangha, i.e., among the Gelukpa monks, his own people. He used his religious and political power to implant hatred and segregation against even the lay people following this very traditional Tibetan Buddhist belief.

If you would like to find about it, you might like to go to some websites. They are not very perfectly written, these people do not have PR specialists advising them, but they are defending the victims of the Dalai Lama and they are saying the truth.

The Dalai Lama preaches compassion to the world but does not practice it at home, in his backyard.
www.shugdensociety.info

www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.org

S. Jigme

Update on the Dalai Lama’s Court Case in New Delhi, India

Below is an update on the Dalai Lama’s Court Case which came from a valid source in New Delhi.

The Dalai Lama had finally sent a response through his advocate to the High Court of New Delhi, India, on the 19th of December, 2008. This was precisely 9 and a half months after he had received a Notice from the Court-questioning his actions behind the Ban and asking him to provide a response. His response has been inconclusive and irresponsible!

Samdhong Rinpoche

To begin with, it is Samdong Rinpoche, the supposed Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile, who has incidentally, responded on the behalf of the Tibetan leader. The Dalai Lama, on the other hand, has stayed aloof, apparently to demonstrate his sanctimonious position, which is probably even beyond diplomatic immunity! The response, in itself, is a ridiculous compilation of excessive lying and denials. It claims the court has no legal jurisdiction in matters of religion-the ban being a religious directive of the Tibetan leader-who has a mandate to guide the Tibetan people in the religious and political sphere.

On the other hand, as stated, there is a vehement denial of the fact that the Dalai Lama ever even placed a ban, or issued the referendum. Samdong claims that there has been no discrimination, no abuse of human rights, no suppression of religious freedom, no jobs have been denied, and no students have been expelled from schools! The 15, or so, monks who were denied entry to the settlement, were rejected due to the ban placed by the monasteries themselves,  not by the Dalai Lama.

The Prime Minister, would rather engage in mud-slinging, as he wants the court and the world, to take note of the unholy liaison, of Kundeling Rinpoche and Lama Gangchen Rinpoche with the Communist Chinese government. According to Samdong: It is to minister the misdeeds and animosity of this duo, that such vicious attacks have been made to the holy Dalai Lama.

To prove the immaculate antecedents of the Dalai Lama, almost all of  his ministries have attested letters to the effect. There even seems to be a letter from an obscure Indian minister.  The National Human Rights Commission of New Delhi (NHRC) claims to the effect that no objections had been raised against the Dalai Lama. A letter from a so-called press Union, calling itself UBO, alleged to be in Switzerland, claims that the Swiss TV Channel Documentary ‘10 vor 10′, was one-sided and biased in its interpretation of the on-going deity controversy, thus giving the Dalai Lama a clean sheet.

These, in substance, are clever ploys and face saving tactics on the part of the Dalai Lama and his Government. The Tibetan Government in Exile has even claimed, that under the leadership of the Dalai Lama there is harmony and good-will amongst all the Tibetan traditions, wherever Tibetans abide within and outside Tibet! And this, Samdong claims ”has never happened before in the history of Tibet”.

The ball is now back in the court of Shugden practitioners and a response is being prepared. Please make prayers for the success of this court case.

Dalai Lama Taken to Court for Religious Discrimination

As stated in my last post, Al Jazeera has featured ‘The Dalai Lama: The Devil Within’ as one of their top stories of 2008. Below is the section of the documentary focused on the Dalai Lama being taken to court on grounds of religious discrimination by Kundeling Rinpoche.

As the lawyer for the persecuted Shugden practitioners, Shree Sanjay Jain, explains:

“It is certainly a case of religious discrimination in the sense that if within your sect of religion you say that this particular Deity ought not to be worshipped, and those persons who are willing to worship him you are trying to excommunicate them from the main stream of Buddhism, then it is a discrimination of worst kind.”

Al Jazeera adds:

“No matter what the outcome of the court case, in a country where millions of idols are worshipped, attempting to ban the Deity is an uphill battle. One in which many Buddhist monks have lost their faith in the spirit of the Dalai Lama.”

For a full transcript, see Al Jazeera News Documentary, October 2008.

The Dalai Lama Gets Trumped by Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera’s People and Power has named ‘The Dalai Lama: The Devil Within’ one of their top two stories of 2008. As a result, Al Jazeera is now featuring it along with a story entitled ’Trumped’ which is about Donald Trump trying to build a billion dollar golf course in Scotland. The two stories have nothing in common, but it is wonderful that Al Jazeera is once again drawing attention toward the Dalai Lama’s religious persecution of Shugden practitioners. After the first day of being posted on Youtube, the story had around 1,000 views. Hopefully the video will continue to attract a lot of attention.

Here’s the video:

Lama Zopa, Lama Yeshe and the ban on Dorje Shugden

The new blog  Scholars and Yogis, Please Check, posted an article today entitled ‘Good Advice from Lama Zopa…‘. This article sheds light on some of the history of the founders of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) and their reliance on Dorje Shugden in the past. Both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa relied upon Dorje Shugden as their Dharma Protector. Lama Yeshe relied upon Dorje Shugden until his death. Even against the advice of the Dalai Lama. Unfortunately, Lama Zopa has followed the Dalai Lama’s advice and now he enforces the ban on Dorje Shugden within the FPMT.

 

Tibetan Religion and Politics Completely Mixed

The Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden Blog is definately the most valuable resource I’ve found on the web for keeping up with the religious discrimination against Shugden practitioners. A recent post titled Tibetan Youth Congress Enforces Dalai Lama’s Ban on Dorje Shugden, reveals that the forced signature campaigns are still in full swing.

After reading this article, I came across a news article from India. The source of the article was obviously the Tibetan Government in Exile. It was full of their usual lies: Shugden practitioners are murderers sponsored by the Chinese Government etc.

It is sad to say the least, that in their battle against the Chinese Government, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile have become just as bad if not worse than those they are fighting against. In the West, it is well known that the Chinese Government feed false information to the public, in order to fulfill their own agendas. In the Dalai Lama’s quest to become the spiritual head of the Tibetans he feeds lies to the Tibetans in order to remove those who don’t rely upon him from Tibetan Society. It is definately an important time to make heartfelt prayers for those brave Shugden practitioners in India and Tibet who continue to rely upon the Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden.

Below is a section of the post mentioned about on the WBDS Blog:

A Spanish journalist came to the Dorje Shugden Society to interview its members about the Shugden Issue. He was in Manali when the incident happened. He reported that the Manali TYC had forced the public to come to the monastery for their signatures and oaths, telling them that they needed to close their shops and restaurants and that, if any of them did not come, the public would be asked to boycott their businesses.

The journalist was shocked at hearing this.

“Tibetans are saying that they are proceeding on the path of democracy; but they are using coercive force. I did not know much about Dorje Shugden. When I heard about the ban on Shugden, it made me want to find out more.”

The journalist asked people in Manali who had organized this campaign what was the benefit of banning this Deity?  He did not get an answer, and he said they sounded hostile towards him. He said he had discovered that Tibetan religion and politics are completely mixed.

Dalai Lama Protests (High Quality Videos)

I just found these videos of the Western Shugden Society protests on Vimeo. They are much better quality than the youtube versions of the same videos.

Response to “India Update – Present Situation”

A response has just been posted on the Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden Blog to Tenzin Peljor’s post titled “India Update – Present Situation” in which claims are made that the WSS aims have already been met.

In fact, the WSS aims have not been met at all. It is most regrettable that the monks should be separated. Segregation did not work out too well in the South of the U.S. or in South Africa.

However, if the choice is between “separate but equal” (Jim Crow) or being deprived access to basic social services, then separate but equal is better. The question is then whether Shugden practitioners are still denied access to shops and medical care within the monasteries and nearby communities? It would appear that yes, they are, and there are accounts to show this.

Read the article: A response to “India Update – Present Situation” on Tenzin Peljor’s anti-Shugden blog