Spreading Dorje Shugden in China..how can you contribute?

[Big Uncle]

Have you guys heard of the great historical temple in Beijing called Yong He Gong? It is quite huge and it has thousands of tourists and locals that flock the temple to visit, offer incense and admire its ancient beauty. Wouldn't it be great if a Dorje Shugden chapel is established within the temple grounds so these tourists, pilgrims and so forth can gain a connection and greater awareness would spread about Dorje Shugden? I know this is far-fetched but having something like that would certainly spread Dorje Shugden quite far.

[WisdomBeing]

I stumbled across this monastery today. According to wikipedia, it was built during the rule of the Qing dynasty Kangxi Emperor (r.1662-1722), who fully patronized the development of this monastery. As Kangxi is said to be an emanation of Dorje Shugden and for it to be a Gelugpa monastery, then this monastery must have practiced Dorje Shugden at one stage or another. There is an 8 metre (26 foot) Shakyamuni statue on the main altar and large Tsongkhapa statues which are the norm for any Gelugpa monastery (see the pictures attached).

From wikipedia:
The Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, also known as Sungtseling and Guihuasi (Chinese: Songzanlín Sì), is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery situated 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the city of Zhongdian at elevation 3,380 metres (11,090 ft) in Yunnan province, China. Built in 1679, the monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan province and is sometimes referred to as the Little Potala Palace. Located in the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, it is also the most important monastery in southwest China.

It belongs to the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelukpa order of the Dalai Lama. The Fifth Dalai Lama's Buddhist visionary zeal established the monastery in Zhongdian, in 1679. Its architecture is a fusion of the Tibetan and Han Chinese. It was extensively damaged in the Cultural Revolution and subsequently rebuilt in 1983; at its peak, the monastery contained accommodation for 2,000 monks; it currently accommodates in its rebuilt structures 700 monks in 200 associated houses.

Because of the popularity of James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon (novel) (1933), which introduced Shangri-La and is said have been written on an inspirational theme of "the Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures, where human beings, animals, and nature lived in harmony under the rule of a Tibetan", the Chinese authorities changed the name of Zhongdian County to Shangri-La County in 2001, basically to encourage tourism. The earlier names were – the Zhongdian to the Chinese, and Gyalthang also known locally as 'Xianeggelila' to the Tibetans of the town which has predominantly Tibetan population. The name of the county's capital town was similarly changed from Jiantang to Shangri-la. The ambiance of the town is distinctly Tibetan with prayer flags fluttering, mountains known by holy names, lamaseries and rocks inscribed in Tibetan language with Buddhist sutras.

[Manjushri]

No doubt China is at the forefront on its influence throughout the world, but stability within its people has also been of prime importance too. And religious and political gathering is a big no no, so as to maintain peace within its people.

How can Dorje Shugden be introduced mass-scaled into China without the government deeming it as disruption of peace in its people? Of course the internet is vital. Social network places like QQ, or a new one called YY is gaining momentum. With technology and innovation, articles, pictures and "life-saving, miraculous" stories can spread like wildfire. Even interesting, silly youtube videos can gain millions of views. If the Chinese crowd tapped into Dorje Shugden in that way, it could spread big and fast. And after that the idea for Dorje Shugden temples and chapels could work, especially if it is marketed as a luck bringing buddha.

Read an article here on the up and coming social network platform, YY:

Chinese Social Network YY Reaches 400 Million Users
Posted November 20th, 2012

Under the leadership of an ambitious CEO, YY.com is quietly becoming one of the world’s largest and most innovative social networks.

David Li might not be a household name in the West yet, but that may soon change.  Li runs the massive social network YY.com, and has developed a business model that in some respects is more interesting than that of Facebook. Specifically, where Facebook currently relies on advertising for profit, YY derives revenues from a diverse combination of gaming, music sales and virtual currency transactions.

At a recent tech conference in Shanghai, Li explained, “Before, people did not think that the engagement segment of the market was big enough, but that’s because the technology wasn’t good enough. If YY can continue to improve, in the future you wouldn’t need to have a conference like this in person, where people have to come from all over the world to China to do it.”  Speaking with moderator Frank You, Li continued: “You could do it in a cloud format and allow a lot more people to be engaged. The challenge is to provide this service to tens of thousands of people at the same time and still have the same high quality of voice delivery.”

For Mr. Li, redefining expectations is nothing new. Few could have anticipated that he would grow a simple gaming platform into a massive, multipurpose social portal used by karaoke singers, educators, and gamers alike. Today, YY boasts over 400 million registered users, and according to their latest SEC filing, recently reached a monthly average of 51.7 hours spend on the site for active users.

Implications for Telework

Unlike other social networks that mostly just connect users, Li says that YY wants to engage them.  He envisions YY as a collective action platform that brings large groups of users together with an aim toward solving problems. For example, during the recent “Silicon Dragon” conference, Li highlighted YY’s potential as a telecommuting application by telling a story about a pharmaceutical company with three thousand salespeople who had to educate thirty thousand doctors about a new drug. Previously the company would have had to travel and host costly seminars, but YY’s sophisticated group messaging chat and video capacities enabled them to cut costs and educate the doctors online. Whether Li will attempt to expand YY’s telework capacities remains to be seen.

Plans for Expansion
Game controller

As VOA previously reported, YY includes an innovative financial exchange system that enables virtual currency transactions unlike anything available in the West. Talented singers can earn up to $20,000 per month by live streaming performances and related events on the site.

However, YY is also taking on new areas. Their SEC filing includes plans for monetizing YY’s mobile platform by allowing users to purchase virtual items and to develop relationships with new networks of advertisers.

YY’s most ambitious and potentially game-changing plan involves broadcasting e-sports – enabling millions of Chinese gamers to watch competitive gaming tournaments at the same time. Professional gaming has widely been reported as a profitable market in South Korea (see video here and start at 6:45), but also has a considerable presence in China. Given that YY’s core infrastructure evolved from a gaming platform, YY’s managers have an intricate understanding of the Chinese gaming market and may be well positioned for the e-sports market.

If they succeed, YY could become an essential social gaming hub and garner major increases in active user time spent on the site. While Western pro gaming leagues such as Major League Gaming have taken advantage of streaming websites in the past, these leagues are tiny compared to the Asian gaming scene. If it works, YY’s sports broadcasting platform could become as valuable a cultural enterprise as something like the NFL is in the United States.

Seeking out Rich Uncle Pennybags

YY is now attempting a Western IPO with hopes of raising up to 97.5 million dollars. If all goes according to plan, shares will initially trade for between $10.50 and $12.50 on the NASDAQ under the symbol YY, with Morgan Stanley, Citi, and Deutsche Bank underwriting the deal. As promising as YY may seem, whether or not it will trade well on Western markets remains to be seen. According to Forbes, 13 Chinese companies that conducted IPOSin 2012; only two of them are currently trading above their initial offering prices.

Lessons for The West

Stock value uncertainties aside, YY is a promising social network that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg might want to take note of. In many respects, Facebook groups fail to truly encapsulate or enable what it means to be in a group. Public groups primarily serve as a means of publicizing various entities and often end up as little more than a public spamming forum. Private groups can sometimes enable cursory threads of conversation, but still aren’t conducive to deeper forms of engagement.

Although Facebook’s Skype integration happened over a year ago, Facebook’s group engagement capacities are still thin compared to Google’s “Hangouts.” What’s more, both Google+ and Facebook fail to impress when compared with YY’s group communication services. Although building out more sophisticated group communications capacities might not yield an instant return on investment, Western social networks may soon be forced to make a choice – either offer proper group functions or don’t offer them at all.

http://blogs.voanews.com/digital-frontiers/2012/11/20/chinese-social-network-yy-reaches-400-million-users/

[dsiluvu]

Another great temple is Wu Tai Sun in China where Manjushri is also from and is so closely connected to. It would be so significantly powerful that we have a DS chapel there as the connection is so obvious

Mount W?tái is one of the Four Sacred Mountains in Chinese Buddhism. Each of the four mountains are viewed as the abode or place of practice (dàocháng; ??) of one of the four great bodhisattvas. W?tái is the home of the Bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjusri or Wénsh? (??) in Chinese.

W?tái was the first of the four mountains to be identified and is often referred to as "first among the four great mountains." It was identified on the basis of a passage in the Avatamsaka Sutra (Ch: Húayán j?ng; ), which describes the abodes of many bodhisattvas. In this chapter, Manjusri is said to reside on a "clear cold mountain" in the northeast. This served as charter for the mountain's identity and its alternate name "Clear Cool Mountain" (Ch: Q?ngliáng Sh?n; ).

The bodhisattva is believed to frequently appear on the mountain, taking the form of ordinary pilgrims, monks, or most often unusual five-colored clouds.

Mount W?tái is a holy site in Tibetan Buddhism, and devotional sites to both Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism have coexisted for centuries in Mount Wutai.[2]

Mount W?tái is home to some of the oldest existent wooden buildings in China that have survived since the era of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). This includes the main hall of Nanchan Temple and the East Hall of Foguang Temple, built in 782 and 857, respectively. They were discovered in 1937 and 1938 by a team of architectural historians including the prominent early 20th century historian Liang Sicheng. The architectural designs of these buildings have since been studied by leading sinologists and experts in traditional Chinese architecture, such as Nancy Steinhardt. Steinhardt classified these buildings according to the hall types featured in the Yingzao Fashi Chinese building manual written in the 12th century.

[dsiluvu]

Statue of Bodhisattva Manjushri, Wu Tan Shan, China

[beggar]

Such a tremendous exchange of ideas, thank you! There are certainly many, many creative ideas here, and it is interesting to see how you are all incorporating aspects of Chinese culture into your ideas for a better reach.

I think that underlying all the ideas, this is a particularly important point to highlight: to drive home the point that Dorje Shugden is not a deity that is foreign to China, but that he is very much a part of Chinese culture and history.

It is important to underline that he is an emanation of the Buddha Manjushri, who, as has already been mentioned, maintains a very close connection to China at Wu Tai Shan (known to be Manjushri's abode). Also, that Dorje Shugden arose from what is now physically considered Chinese land (Tibet) and further endorsed by the Chinese emperor himself.

As Dorje Shugden guards Tsongkhapa's lineage, there we find another very strong connection. Tsongkhapa's lineage and history can still be found widely throughout China such as in very prominent temples in Beijing and of course again in Wu Tai Shan. In bringing Dorje Shugden to China, this is another important point to emphasise, to educate the chinese that Dorje Shugden is not new. He has already been there guarding a most central and significant part of Chinese history, culture and yes, even religion.

[diablo1974]

In china, there are many buddhist temples and monastary. There are the four famous mountains namely; E mei mountain which is regards as the holy mountain of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, wutai mountain as the holy mountain of Bodhisattva Manjushri, Jiuhua mountain as the holy mountain of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, Putuo mountain as the holy mountain of chenrezig. In the year 2008,the fifth mountain was declared as being the holy site of  Bodhisattva Maitreya, its located in Fenghua province at Xue dou mountain.

Throughout the history of china,  There are many great buddhist masters such as Xuan Zhuang who visited India and did many translations from sanskrit into chinese and promote buddhism to spread in china. Jian Zhen who tried to cross over to Japan but finally succeeded in the last attempt and the spread the Buddhadharma in Japan. The chinese created many new routes to other parts of the world such as the silkroad, because of this, buddhism are able to spread to Afghanistan and some Arabian countries which are largely islamic in this present day. Buddist caves or Grottoes are discovered and are currently preserved and maintained in proper as part of the chinese important heritage, some famous grottoes are Chinese Dunhuang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes. And to name a few famous monastary such as Shaolin Temple, Shaolin Kungfu, Lingyin Temple, Zen, Baima Temple, and Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

These are evidences of how powerful china can be and be able to spread Buddhism in their country and spread outwards to other regions. With its political stand in the tibetan governance and the Dalai Lama, i believe Dorje Shugden will be accepted by the ruling governement and the people.

[harrynephew]

Marketing Dorje Shugden would be like marketing other religions, we have to add a face to it. Dorje Shugden and other deities or religions are somewhat vague in the minds of the Chinese. Yes, we still see many people flock the temples such as Yong He Gong on the 1st and 15th of lunar moons but bear in mind that's all they do for spirituality these days.

Having said that, there's a ray of hope somehow shone from the heavens above. Look at this article: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=2811.0

It is quite evident that Dorje Shugden is finding his way into the hearts of the Chinese in the most proper manner! The fact that Dorje Shugden appeared from an educational institution is a sign from the protector that we should educate the Chinese in the most proper manner. Only then will Buddhism stay rooted in their country, and bloom from there.

[DharmaSpace]

My ideas would be

i) Make red packets with Dorje Shugden motive and his mantra there. The Chinese will love it a lot.

ii) Make T-shirts for Summer time with Picture of Dorje Shudgen on them. Put in a lot of red color. 

iii) Chinese New Year cards to have DS motives.

[Ensapa]

In reality, Chinese people are somewhat superstitious and they like money in general. they also like fortune, luck and good health and these are the things that they usually pray for when they pray in a temple or to a god or to a Buddha in general. It is their nature to behave in such a way so nobody can change that. However, if we tell them that Dorje Shugden can give them all that (simply because he can) then they would pray to Dorje Shugden and would undoubtedly make a connection with Dorje Shugden and it might just bloom into something better for them in the near future.

All we have to do now is to let the Chinese know about Dorje Shugden.

[Gabby Potter]

I agreed to tsangpakarpo, China is definitely one of the places on earth that will make Dorje Shugden grow. There are many ways that we can contribute towards the growth, one of the things that can make it happen is to do lots of social media especially on the Chinese social media platforms.