The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to [email protected].
By: Steve Lee
A comment from an ex-CTA (Central Tibetan Administration) insider on a TibetSun.com article reveals a rather insidious agenda brewing right in the heart of the Tibetan leadership. To date, the CTA has failed to make statements that discourage or denounce the growing trend of self-immolations occurring in India and Tibet, within the Tibetan community. Since the Tibetan leadership has failed to denounce the self-immolations, it is clear through their silence that they condone this practice. Hence they are allowing and encouraging Tibetans to kill themselves in the name of the Tibetan cause. They even glorify Tibetans who self-immolate by holding memorial services, lighting candles, calling them martyrs of the Tibetan cause and erecting statues to commemorate past self-immolations. And beyond this, the Tibetan leaders have even used self-immolation stories and statistics as garnishing for their fundraising campaigns in the West. There is blood smeared all over the donations that they have received into their fat pockets.
How can the Tibetan leaders allow their own people to kill themselves for the Tibetan cause when the leaders are not doing nearly enough to make a breakthrough for the Tibetan cause? All negotiations with the Chinese have reached a stalemate and there are no fresh attempts or even a change of strategy in dealing with the Chinese. In other words, the Tibetan leadership have been ineffective with their policies and dealings with the Chinese leaders and the self-immolations, a manifestation of the people’s frustrations, are actually proof of this.
At the end of the day, the Tibetan leaders could do much more to engage with the Chinese leaders. What government or leadership in the world celebrates the self-immolation of its own citizens instead of taking steps to prevent it? It is not as though the Tibetan leadership lacks the mechanisms to discourage people from self-immolations. For example, the Tibetan leaders have proven themselves to be extremely adept at browbeating and segregating Dorje Shugden practitioners into giving up the practice. The same methods could be applied in a positive manner towards families and friends of those who self-immolate because that would help to prevent other cases of self-immolation from occurring in the future.
In the case of Dorje Shugden practitioners, they are denied basic services such as medical care in Tibetan hospitals, access to shops and facilities, and they are ostracized by the general Tibetan populace. These behaviors by ordinary Tibetans are instigated and perpetrated by the CTA who repeatedly talk about the so-called harmful nature of Shugden practitioners. But while these actions obviously have a negative impact on the lives of Shugden practitioners, the CTA could also use the very same methods for more positive impact on their community.
By warning Tibetans that these restrictions will be imposed on the families of those who self-immolate, the CTA could potentially end self-immolations in their community altogether. Families and friends of those considering taking their own life would have a greater impetus to pressure them out of this deadly act, thereby saving everyone from the pain, suffering, and death caused by such an action. And the self-immolators might think twice about engaging in an act that brings difficulties and limitations on their loved ones. After all, since the CTA are already known for imposing such restrictions on their people, why not use the methods for something positive and worthwhile instead of negative? This way they would be protecting their people for once, instead of harming them.
Furthermore, self-immolations in Buddhism is considered an act of killing. The act of killing is widely considered to be grave negative karma for the individual committing the act. Unless the individual has a bodhisattva motivation like that of the Buddha in a previous life who offered himself up to a hungry tigress, the act of killing has the very serious repercussion of taking rebirth in the hell realms. Now, since the Tibetan leadership consider themselves to be Buddhist (or at least led by Buddhist principles), should they not abide by this very fundamental aspect of the teachings? Why would they condone and encourage others to take their own lives? Therefore, even though they call themselves Buddhist, ultimately this is merely an attractive label used to encourage foreigners to donate to the cause. In fact, after every case of self-immolation, the CTA are said to benefit financially through donations given by foreign countries and organizations who take pity on them, as expressed in Chokyi’s comment. This is not something to be taken lightly since Chokyi claims to have worked for the CTA for over 15 years, experiencing the blatant greed of the leadership as a firsthand witness.
At the end of the day, the Tibetan leadership should apply the necessary means to end all self-immolations and that is to make headway with their negotiations with China. So far, the Tibetan leaders have only issued statements to put down China’s actions and this has got to stop. Just like a salesperson trying to sell its products to a potential customer, a sensible salesperson would not say things to criticize or insult the customer. They would instead praise or say things to make the customer feel happy in order to make a sale. Likewise, the Tibetan leadership should stop highlighting self-immolations and instead find common ground to talk about and encourage China to reopen negotiations. After all, China’s powerful influence is growing day by day, while the effectiveness and appeal of the CTA and the Tibetan leadership is waning fast.
And so the Tibetan leadership really have to do much more and quickly before it becomes too late. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama is no longer around, the Chinese leadership at that time will no longer need or want to negotiate because they will no longer find the Tibetan leadership to be a threat. As it is, the Chinese leadership already refuse dialogue with the Tibetans despite the Dalai Lama’s international standing, so what chance will the Tibetan leadership have to reopen dialogue once they no longer have the Dalai Lama’s reputation to rely on? So rather than using self-immolation as fodder against China, if the CTA had the real motive of benefiting their people, they would actually take measures to curb self-immolations within their own community rather than using them to line their own pockets with blood-stained money. But until that day comes, on the topic of self-immolations, sadly it is not a question of if the next one will happen but when, and this constant loss of life is certainly a most tragic situation for the already-dwindling community.
TseringD, Delhi
October 29, 2017
I m think Nechung is 1 of d best when I m watch to dis video By Geshe Dorjee la but now I m think is not d truth n he is lie to Tibet people we are not back to Tibet yet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDZLzXIgW8 Chithue Tenpa Yarphel la tq for talk about truth of Nechung . I m watch to this video many time la https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if2dFMKIr_8 n after I hear you talk I m not belief to Nechung
ZUMA 👎
Why CTA Why
October 30, 2017
Watch when Geshe Dorje interprets Nechung’s prophecies! What happened? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDZLzXIgW8
After the Nechung oracle takes trance, his answers are interpreted and explained by Geshe Dorje, a Buddhist master from Nechung Monastery.
The video from 2009 proves that Nechung is wrong again! Why rely on Nechung when all his prophecies are wrong?? Someone with a hidden agenda maybe?!!
Michaela Smith
October 30, 2017
Only the CTA relies on the Nechung and made the spirit who gave so many false advice so much privileges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDZLzXIgW8
Namdrol
October 30, 2017
MP Tenpa Yarphel is very brave to questioned the validity and accuracy of the spirit Nechung who the Dalai Lama always consulted, apparently Nechung has been giving highly inaccurate prophecies, but people still keep using him because Dalai Lama keeps using him and nobody dare to say otherwise, although Nechung is full of mistake, no wonder Tibetans did not get back their country even after 60 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKOjcpLH8A
Look at this guy’s way of protest against MP Tenpa Yarphel and you know why the Tibetans will never get back their country:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30NL4hG8oA
Amber Sonam
October 30, 2017
Bravo to MP Tenpa Yarphel for speaking up bravely! CTA has a lot of dodgy business going on even it’s own MP cannot keep quiet anymore. Watch what is being said here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if2dFMKIr_8
Yet, those in denial continue to support the corruptions within the CTA by shaving off his hair in protest against MP Tenpa Yarphel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30NL4hG8oA
He is also supported by Geshe Dorje himself who is riding on the Nechung issue giving no concrete proof as usual https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDZLzXIgW8
Michaela Smith
October 30, 2017
I would like to share with you about this courageous Tibetan parliament MP who is speaking up against Nechung. He received a lot of backlash due to his bravery, but I hope it won’t deter him to speak up in the future. There are many people who actually agree with him
1. Tibetan Parliament member representing Kagyu School, speak up about Nechung
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if2dFMKIr_8
2. Tibetan shaves off his hair in protest against MP Tenpa Yarphel 2017 Sept
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30NL4hG8oA
Tenzin Wangyal
November 17, 2017
If President Trump prefers China
https://youtu.be/Na3lcejmqZ4
The CTA only has themselves to blame
Ngodup Tsering
November 18, 2017
Announcement with Dharamsala!!!
celia
January 21, 2018
Well, if CTA really cared about Tibetans and did what they were elected to do in the first place, there will not be Tibetans who would be driven to take such drastic action. One can only imagine the desperation, frustration and hopelessness felt by them resulting in them feeling that they can only use their life to be heard.
Sadly, such self-immolation does nothing for the Tibetan cause. The only one benefitting is CTA and hence they will not actively bring a stop to it. After all, more deaths translate to more sympathy prompting more donations for CTA to pocket.
When will Tibetans realise the futility of not only self-immolations but also trusting/supporting CTA?
Lhakpa Dhendup
August 11, 2018
What will the all the people around the world and in Tibet do now? Dalai Lama says he is happy that Tibet is a part of China and should remain a part of China. So many Tibetans self-immolated for Tibet to be independent and now Dalai Lama did a 360 degree turn and says he wants to go back to Tibet and China and Tibet should be a part of China. So unbelievable. So many are angry and disappointed.
Dalai Lama should set things right
August 12, 2018
Dear Dalai Lama,
Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.
By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.
It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.
Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.
You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.
No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.
You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.
You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.
After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.
Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.
The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.
Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.
Ayana
August 16, 2018
Why doesn’t the United States and its allies end Refugee Status for the useless Tibetans? They have been refugees for 60 years now and don’t tell me they still cannot get their lives back in order?
Tibetans really know how to put on a good show and use people, take their money and do nothing in return.
Ojas
August 17, 2018
Supreme Court of India JUSTICE Mr. MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) writes that Tibet is much better under the Chinese than it was under the lamas who only wanted to make the populace slaves. It was feudal and it will never return to the backwardness again.
Yoezer
August 19, 2018
While the government of Nepal has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, they have welcomed 30 Chinese NGOs to enter the country. These NGOs will penetrate the country’s social sector at the grassroots level. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal at one time. Nepal is increasingly open to Chinese influence, a sign that ties between both countries are strengthening, while India’s influence is being reduced. The time has passed for India’s monopoly to remain uninterrupted in Nepal as opportunities to engage with China are being welcomed.
Vardaniya
August 22, 2018
The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.
Maya
August 24, 2018
Although the Dalai Lama has offered an apology, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) still expressed their disappointment over his controversial comment on Nehru, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Dalai Lama called Nehru self-centred.
The Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.
Drolma
December 9, 2018
The Tibetans in Tibet are less exposed to the information outside, they can be easily manipulated. For the Tibetans outside Tibet, they are more exposed and they know self-immolation will not help them to get their country back that is why they are not burning themselves to death.
The fact that the CTA glorifies self-immolation is an indirect way of encouraging more to burn themselves. The CTA needs more people to self-immolate so they can use these cases to condemn China and ask for donations from the sponsors. The CTA is making money at the expense of someone’s life.
It is quite disturbing that the CTA did not try to stop people from self-immolating but they actually encourage that. It seems like their lives are more precious than those in Tibet. How come? They knew it very well that self-immolation will not help them to get their country back, why are they not stopping the Tibetan from doing that? The CTA is so selfish, they only care about the money.
Tracy
January 1, 2019
Did you know there is actually a guidebook published by the CTA to guide people to self-immolate? Did you know the CTA is using all these self-immolation cases as a tool to raise fund for themselves. No government in this world will advise their people to kill themselves for the country, the CTA is the only one. Didn’t the Buddha said if we kill ourselves, we will go to the lower realms? Why is the CTA allowing the Tibetans to do that?
The CTA and Lobsang Sangay are real murderers, they may not have murdered someone themselves but the guidebook they published that encourages people to self-immolate is already a big crime. Up to date, more than 160 people in Tibet have sacrificed their lives for a cause that has not shown any result after 60 years.
The CTA tends to encourage the Tibetans in Tibet to self-immolate because they are more gullible and not exposed to the outside world. They are not aware of what the CTA is doing, how the CTA is using these self-immolation cases to get donations for themselves. The CTA has not done anything good but only evil deeds, causing pain and sufferings to their own people.
Roy
March 1, 2019
A democratic government is elected by the people to work for the people. The boss is the people, not the government. However, the CTA does not run its so-called democratic government this way. They run their government like it is their family business, they disregard the welfare and the voice of the Tibetans. They only want to benefit themselves.
Not only they disregard the welfare of the Tibetans, they further exploit the Tibetans by encouraging them to self-immolate. They told the Tibetans it is a great honour to sacrifice their lives for free Tibet movement and they will be remembered. Many Tibetans in Tibet believe what the CTA says and they sacrifice their own lives.
These self-immolation cases are then used by the CTA to ask for donations from the west. This is so evil, the CTA manipulate the Tibetans to sacrifice their lives so their wallets continue to grow fatter! No government will want unnecessary sacrifice of lives, but the CTA seems to be quite happy to see more self-immolation cases.
Devi
October 27, 2019
I just don’t understand how people can glorify self-immolation and further encourage people to do it. There are many ways to create awareness of the sufferings people are going through, self-immolation definitely is not one of them.
Gandhi and Mandela did not free their countries by committing suicide, they use a very peaceful way to make their voices heard. Their ways are the real non-violent methods. The CTA only wants to create trouble for China, to disturb the stability of the society.
While people want to take pity on those who have sacrificed their lives, they should also discourage people from doing that. Self-immolation is not necessary, it brings no benefits to the cause.
Tracy
October 28, 2019
There is a reason the CTA and Lobsang Sangay encourage Tibetans to self-immolate. The CTA and Lobsang Sangay just want to create troubles to China. Apart from that, they also need to create more tragedies to victimise themselves in order to get more sympathy and donation from people.
The CTA and Lobsang Sangay are only after money and power. For the past 60 years, they have been receiving free money from the sponsors. They don’t have to work hard for anything, all they need to do is to make themselves pitiful.
Hence, self-immolation becomes a tool for the CTA and Lobsang Sangay to achieve their selfish agenda. The real victims are the Tibetans who are stateless.