Saturday, June 12, 2010

Letter from the CTA and Dalai Lama urging ostracism of Dorje Shugden family

Sadly, these two pieces of information from someone currently staying at Shar Gaden show us nothing new -- Buddhist Dorje Shugden practitioners are still being ostracized for their beliefs due to the immoral and intolerant ban of the 400-year old practice by the 14th Dalai Lama:

"Here is a picture on the gate of Gaden Jangtse warning people about the family in camp 4 that are Dorje Shugden practitioners and people should not go to their shop in camp 4. I took this photo yesterday. Very sad that this is the first thing you see upon entering such a beautiful monastery."


If you look closely, you will see that this notice is issued by the Office of the Representative of the Central Tibetan Administration of the Dalai Lama. A terrible example of using political power to further supposedly religious aims, that of destroying a spiritual tradition passed down through generations of Gelugpa Buddhist masters, including the Teacher of the Dalai Lama himself. Click here for more.

And of course there have been numerous incidences of violence toward Dorje Shugden practitioners over the years, such as:

"Trokhang DechenChog is a Dorje Shugden chapel not far from Shar Gaden and is within feet of the Gaden Shartse debate ground. It is actually closer to Gaden Shartse than Shar Gaden... One monk is in charge of doing the daily pujas there and keeping the chapel safe from harm. He has been beaten up more than once due to his devotion to this chapel."


Tenzin Sungrab originally went over to the monastery to help (as have other Westerners) because, as he put it:

"Being able to be there, standing in solidarity with our dear monks, is an opportunity for me to show support in my own limited way. This is one way for people to directly oppose the ban: cross the line, help the monks, talk to them, support them, encourage them, feed them, share with them... everything the ban says not to do."

And yet he finds that the monks at Shar Gaden are not giving up despite years of ostracism and persecution, refugees amongst refugees:

"These monks have given so much to our lineage and continue regardless of how hard it has been at times. That is the true meaning of Dharma commitment and is a never ending source of inspiration for me. I am really just a nobody, but being amongst so many who work so very hard to practice the pure Dharma has changed me in ways hard to describe. Every day that I wake up here is a gift. I feel that all of this is due to the blessings of Gyalchen Dorje Shugden and my deep faith in him. May he always care for us with love, like a mother for her children. Shar Gaden is a place like no other and everything these monks do here is for the benefit of ALL suffering beings who dwell in this realm."

See his blog.

2 comments:

Bill Esterhaus said...

I think it's important for people to realize that, just because there is no big publicity splash about how the Dalai Lama is persecuting Dorje Shugden practitioners as there was when the WSS demonstrations were going on, this reprehensible practice is still going on and every day there are Shugden practitioners who have to deal with being reviled because of the Dalai Lama's ban.

It speaks volumes about the Dalai Lama's hypocrisy when he's just written a book called “Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World’s Religions Can Come Together.” The reality is there is no kinship with Dorje Shugden practitioners - he's pushing them away even though they are sincere Buddhist practitioners. It's a very sad and perplexing situation.

Wisdom Moon said...

Everything the Dalai Lama knows about Dharma comes from the kindness of his root Guru Kyabje Trijang Dorjechang.

Why, then, does the Dalai Lama treat Trijang Rinpoche's followers as if they were criminals?