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.

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:

Tibetan Blogger Speaks Up About the Undemocratic Nature of Ban on Dorje Shugden

Below is a section of a recent post from the blog Mountain Pheonix Over Tibet.  The author of Tibet Talk recently wrote a blog post called Keep Relgion and Politics Separate.  Both of these blog posts are written by Tibetans who are not Shugden practitioners, but they don’t agree with the Tibetan Government in Exile’s handling of Shugden practitioners.

If Tibetan society were truly democratic, cooperation would be based on free will, and people would be encouraged to think for themselves, making up their own minds. If Tibetan society were truly democratic, people who do not follow the opinion leader, would not be ostracised.

The way Tibetans have been handling the Dholgyal/Shugden issue says quite a bit about the state of our democratic values. We Tibetans are okay with dissenters being forced into obedience. We see nothing wrong with this political style. We have no issues with the Dalai Lama exerting pressure on dissenters by using secular government organs and tolerating oaths and signature actions in his name. Some even believe it is their duty to expose Dholgyal/Shugden supporters and slander them.

Until recently I thought, the more we talk about this conflict, the worse it becomes. I have changed my mind. I know now that it is wrong to remain silent. All genuine Tibetan democrats must speak up in the political debate over Dholgyal/Shugden. When a few are forced to take on the view of many, we’re going down a dangerous path. It is our duty to speak up. Our young democracy will remain in bad shape if we let this happen without a reaction.

The Dalai Lama: The Devil Within (Al Jazeera)

This new Al Jazeera documentary called ‘People and Power – The Dalai Lama: The Devil Within’ looks into the Dalai Lama’s religious disrimination against Shugden practitioners. Al Jazeera claims at least 40-million viewers in the Arab world. The article is below:

Aljazeera.net – The Dalai Lama has imposed a ban on the worship of a 500-year-old deity called Dorje Shugden.

Across the world 4 million Buddhist Tibetans worship this particular deity. The ban has created tension and dissent amongst the one million Tibetans living in India and in May 400 monks were thrown out of monasteries because of their religious beliefs.

In the Tibetan refugee camps, Shugden worshippers have been turned away from jobs, shops and schools. Posters with the message “no Shugden followers allowed” cover hospital and shop fronts.

The tension has been fueled by the Tibetan exile government who brandish Shugden worshippers as terrorists closely linked to China.

Shugden followers in India have decided to take matters into their own hands, taking the Dalai Lama to court for religious discrimination.

Robert Thurman Blog

Last night, I made another blog, but this one is just related to Robert Thurman. It’s called Robert Thurman’s Challenge. My hope is that many people will come across it on the internet and it will raise awareness about the Western Shugden Society’s challenge for Robert Thurman.

If you have comments about how Robert Thurman’s words have affected Shugden practitioners, please add them to the blog.

Visit the Robert Thurman blog.

Video – Western Shugden Society Protests – Nantes, France

AboutWSS.org – United under the umbrella of the Western Shugden Society, Buddhist Practitioners from all around the world went to Nantes for 3 days of protests against the Dalai Lama. They requested that he stops the persecution and discrimination of Shugden Practitioners around the world and lift the ban on this ancient prayer.

Dalai Lama Ban on Dorje Shugden Part 2 (Video)

Dalai Lama Ban on Dorje Shugden Part 2a (click here for part 1)

Part 2a shows evidence of the effects of the Dalai Lama’s speeches enforcing the ban on Dorje Shugden. As a result of the Dalai Lama’s speeches, temples have been desecrated, as his followers destoyed statues in Tibetan villages in India. The statues that have been destroyed had been blessed by the Dalai Lama’s own spiritual teachers (gurus) Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche. Any monks who have protested against the Dalai Lama’s ban have been expelled from their monasteries.

Dalai Lama Ban on Dorje Shugden Part 2b

Part 2b shows the violent side of the persecution of Shugden practitioners as a result of the Dalai Lama’s ban. Including events in 2000, when 600 monks in Dokhang monastery were doing summer retreat, around 3,000 followers of the Dalai Lama attacked their monastery with stones and bricks. This part also includes interviews with lay people who have experienced extreme persecution as a result of the Dalai Lama’s ban.

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

1. Why do you deny that you are enforcing the ban on Dorje Shugden when there are videos of your speeches enforcing this ban?

2. If you are truly an advocate for human rights, why do you issue identity cards which make it extremely difficult for Shugden practitioners to get food, water, shelter, medical attention and travel visas?

3. Why do your followers view you as the Buddha of Compassion when you engage in such harmful actions toward your own people?

4. If you are truly an advocate for nonviolence, why don’t you ask your followers not to engage in violent actions toward Shugden practitioners?

5. Why do you teach your disciples that the heart practice of a Buddhist is reliance on the Spiritual Guide while you are having the thrones and images of your own Spiritual Guide removed from monasteries?

6. Why do you lie about Dorje Shugden, saying that he is a evil spirit harming the cause for Tibetan Independence when you have said that you are no longer working toward Tibetan Independence?

7. Why have you expelled over 900 monks from their monasteries for practicing what their lineage gurus have been teaching them in their monasteries for the last 350 years?

8. Why do you claim that you are following the example of the 5th Dalai Lama, when it was the 5th Dalai Lama who made the first statue of Dorje Shugden that can still be seen?

9. Why don’t you stop lying?

10. Why don’t you give religious freedom to Shugden practitioners?

Dalai Lama the “God-king” of Tibet

Dalai Lama the “God-king”