Don’t Enroll Your Children in Shugden Monasteries

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The above is an excerpt from the 14th Dalai Lama’s speech about “Dolgyal”, given to the people of the Himalayan region, Bhutan and Gangtok on 13 January 2011 in Varanasi, India.

Since February 2014, the waves of protests against the Dalai Lama for his ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden, complete with drum beats and rhythmic chanting of “False Dalai Lama”, have angered the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), who retaliated with the publication of a “hit list” of Dorje Shugden protestors, complete with names, photos and (in some cases) addresses.

The CTA have since been quick to proclaim that there was no ban against Dorje Shugden’s practice and published a series of accounts on their official website to that effect, even quoting prominent Buddhist scholars such as Robert Thurman to support their position. Others have questioned the validity of calling the influential Tibetan leader, believed to be an incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, a liar.

However, in the video above, one will witness firsthand the Dalai Lama firmly discouraging parents from sending their children to Dorje Shugden monasteries. The Dalai Lama clearly states that Dorje Shugden practitioners are against the Dalai Lama (although it is in fact the Dalai Lama who created this standoff against Shugden practitioners) and implies that Dorje Shugden monks use fraud and deceit to recruit new monks.

The Dalai Lama also threatened the parents in attendance, telling them that if their children were enrolled in Dorje Shugden monasteries, they would not be able to meet Gyalwa Rinpoche (the Dalai Lama) in the future, nor attend his teachings or pujas (prayer services). This may not appear to be a serious threat, or even a threat at all, but an understanding of the Tibetan psyche would reveal that this is perhaps the most serious form of censure possible, as Tibetans regard the Dalai Lama as Buddha-incarnate.

The official website of the CTA features an article by Robert Thurman, in which he states:

The worship of their chosen deity was not “banned” by the Dalai Lama, since he has no authority to “ban” what Tibetan Buddhists practice. “Banning” and “excommunicating” are not Tibetan Buddhist procedures.

However, the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines excommunication as:

A form of censure by which a member of a religious body is excluded from the congregation of believers and from the rites of the church.

Thus, by examining the contents of the Dalai Lama’s speech in the video above, along with many other countless statements available on the Internet, it is clear that the Dalai Lama, in his position of authority as the temporal and spiritual leader of Tibet, is effectively excommunicating Dorje Shugden practitioners from the Tibetan Buddhist congregation. Contrary to what Robert Thurman claims, “banning” and “excommunicating” ARE now Tibetan Buddhist procedures.

The Dalai Lama also implies that the opportunity to meet his august self is supreme and priceless, and certainly worth more than the opportunities that Dorje Shugden monasteries can provide to young monks in terms of “education and better facilities”. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama has conveniently overlooked the existence of highly qualified lamas who practice Dorje Shugden including H.E. Gangchen Rinpoche, H.E. Yongyal Rinpoche, and H.H. Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche, who is none other than the incarnation of the Dalai Lama’s own teacher. The Dalai Lama’s sweeping statement is therefore a direct put down of Dorje Shugden Lamas and monasteries, clearly indicating his discrimination, prejudice and bias.

The Dalai Lama warns Tibetans in exile not to send their children to Dorje Shugden Monasteries lest they become outcasts of their community

The persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners has continued unabated till today. Most recently, the Tibetan Parliament in exile unanimously passed a five-point resolution ¹ against the worship of Dorje Shugden in March 2014. Some of these resolutions include:

• proclaiming that any individual or organisation propitiating Dorje Shugden would not be affiliated to any Tibetan religious school;
• condemning actions of Dorje Shugden followers as a political tool to create discord within the Tibetan community under the influence and deception of monetary gains, and to denigrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama with baseless allegations; and
• recognising that the followers of Dorje Shugden have caused grave harm to the faith and polity of Tibet under the Chinese government’s ploy and in violation of the law of Karma – as criminals in history

The Parliament also stated in the resolution that the issue has nothing to do with religious freedom (despite the fact that Dorje Shugden practitioners continue to suffer discrimination and denigration, even being labelled as enemies of the state without the opportunity of a fair trial).

New children enrolled in Shar Gaden Monastery in 2014. Despite the Dalai Lama’s efforts, a section of the Tibetan community continues to have strong faith in Dorje Shugden, sending their children to Shugden Monasteries

All is not lost however. Despite the polemics and countless attempts discouraging support for Dorje Shugden practitioners, enrolment continues at Dorje Shugden monasteries. Shar Gaden Monastery welcomed 43 new monks in February 2014, increasing their numbers to approximately 800 monks while Serpom Monastery has approximately 600 members. Perhaps this is an indication of Dalai Lama’s waning influence in the Tibetan communities, whether in Tibet or in exile.

Notes

1. The five-point resolution: http://tibet.net/dolgyal-shugden/