Dorje Shugden in Sacred Paintings from Old Tibet

[Rowntree]

In Tibet, thangkas (Tibetan scroll paintings) that usually depict Buddhist deities or images of worship. Thangkas are important teaching instruments and meditational tools, as well as sacred art. It was customary for thangka painters in the past to undergo studies of religious texts to comprehend the significance of the imagery they were painting. Hence for some, thangka painting has traditionally been considered a practice in its own right. As thangkas are intended to be an object of worship, patrons will not commission a thangka of a harmful deity or include a harmful deity on the same thangka as an enlightened being that they are going to make offerings to, such as Dorje Shugden as the CTA claimed. Full article here http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/dorje-shugden-in-sacred-paintings-from-old-tibet/

...the existence of these very old Dorje Shugden thangkas below is a direct counter to the disinformation that has been spread by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala) in relations to the Dorje Shugden controversy.

In imposing a ban on the 400-year old practice of Dorje Shugden, the 14th Dalai Lama and his exile government have claimed that:

• Dorje Shugden is only a minor practice that is nothing more than spirit worship engaged in by a small and extreme splinter Gelugpa subsect;
• That the practice has been opposed since the 17th century due to its sectarian nature, and it is extremely intolerant of other Tibetan Buddhist traditions, meaning to say that Dorje Shugden is not embraced by any other Tibetan Buddhist sect and that its practitioners seek the destruction of all Tibetan schools of Buddhism;
• That it was right for the Dalai Lama and the CTA to have prohibited the practice because Nechung, the State Protector of Tibet and Palden Lhamo, one of the Dalai Lama’s main Dharma Protectors are opposed to the practice of Dorje Shugden.

[Drolma]

The CTA cannot be saying Dorje Shugden is sectarian anymore! These thangkas were produced way before the ban was imposed. Besides, it is a practice of 400 years history, how come 400 years ago no one complained about Dorje Shugden being sectarian and was an evil spirit?

No one will paint an evil spirit and worship it along with other enlightened deities. Having Dorje Shugden painted together with other protectors such as Palden Lhamo, Setrap; and Buddhas such as Amitabha, Shakyamuni, Tsongkhapa, etc., it must mean he is not an ordinary being. He was also seen painted with high lamas of different traditions. A high lama would not be propitiating a local deity or spirit, that is for sure.

What does the CTA have to say about Dorje Shugden being an evil spirit and sectarian now and causing them to lose their country? The reason they lost their country was that their corrupted government was not capable. During the Qing dynasty, they had to kowtow to the Qing government to get their protection. So if the Tibetan leadership was capable of running a country, why would they need protection from the Qing government? The Tibetan leadership in the past was incapable, now they are also incapable. Just accept the fact and be protected by the Chinese again, life will be much better.

[Alex]

This is a big slap on CTA's face because obviously they had not done their homework and they are lying. The proof is in front of everybody's eyes to show how sneaky CTA is to make up lies and accusations to support the ban.

These ancient thangkas are created way before the Dorje Shugden ban and Dorje Shugden can be seen depicted together with other mainstream deities and lamas such as Guru Rinpoche and Sakya Trinzin. Dorje Shugden practice is not sectarian as claimed by the CTA and certainly not a minor and insignificant practice because no one creates thangka for deities that were minor or insignificant.

[Pema8]

I just love these Thangkas who speak a clear language of who Dorje Shugden is. I really thank DorjeShugden.com for researching and finding the many Thangkas with Dorje Shugden.

We can see that there is no mistake about Dorje Shugden's enlightened nature, the emanation of the wisdom Buddha Manjushri.

Since when is the CTA rewriting history? We should have a good look at this Central Tibetan Administration who is obviously not interested in the truth but changes the truth for their own convenience!!!

 

[Alex]

These ancient Tibetan thangkas are just amazing. Thank you whoever that wrote that article and showing us the truth about Dorje Shugden practice and his lineage.

CTA must feel really stupid now for telling us lies on Dorje Shugden practice being a minor and insignificant practice and being sectarian. All these ancient thangkas that obviously has been around longer than the ban had proven otherwise. Why would so many thangkas had been produced for a minor and insignificant deity? That does not make sense at all. If Dorje Shugden is sectarian, why is he being depicted with other mainstream big deities?

Hence, it is obvious that CTA lied about Dorje Shugden practice. He is not a small practice. He is not a minor practice. He is not an insignificant practice. He is a mainstream protector practice that is practiced alongside many other practices.

[SabS]

These thangkas are beautiful. Guess now CTA has to shut its mouth with all these old thangkas in existence before the ban and definitely non-sectarian as other sects practice without any segregation. It was the Tibetan Leaders who had created the sectarianism, segregation, discrimination or whatnot just to distract away from their failures. Last laugh is on them. After spending so much monies and resources into vilifying Dorje Shugden, they had instead promoted DS to the world. And everyday there are more and more starting their practices to be close to DS. Hahaha! Too bad CTA!

[Tracy]

One of the things the CTA use to attack Dorje Shugden is, he is sectarian. He doesn't like Gelugpa to study the teachings of other lineages, he will get angry and punish the practitioner. Therefore, he is very dangerous.

But in Buddhism, we don't believe in punishment, we believe in karma. Dorje Shugden does not have the power to punish anyone. The good or bad consequences we experience are due to the ripening of our karmas. So to say he will get angry and punish the practitioners, it is illogical.

These ancient thangkas further prove that Dorje Shugden is not sectarian. He was first enthroned by the Sakya lineage, the Gelugpas adopted it. Even Nyingmapas practiced Dorje Shugden too! No one will practice a deity that would harm them, would they?

[Alex]

One of the things the CTA use to attack Dorje Shugden is, he is sectarian. He doesn't like Gelugpa to study the teachings of other lineages, he will get angry and punish the practitioner. Therefore, he is very dangerous.

But in Buddhism, we don't believe in punishment, we believe in karma. Dorje Shugden does not have the power to punish anyone. The good or bad consequences we experience are due to the ripening of our karmas. So to say he will get angry and punish the practitioners, it is illogical.

These ancient thangkas further prove that Dorje Shugden is not sectarian. He was first enthroned by the Sakya lineage, the Gelugpas adopted it. Even Nyingmapas practiced Dorje Shugden too! No one will practice a deity that would harm them, would they?

Dorje Shugden is obviously not a sectarian deity. So many beautiful ancient thangkas depicted Dorje Shugden with other mainstream deities. The sheer amount of the thangkas already told us that Dorje Shugden is not a rare and small practice in the ancient times. It only makes sense that Dorje Shugden practice is an important and popular practice because no one will create thangka for a small or unimportant practice.

Even nowadays, if you search online. There are tons of new thangka that is being created that depicts Dorje Shugden with other mainstream deities from all lineages. This shows that Dorje Shugden is not sectarian as being claimed by CTA. CTA is stupid to have made that accusation on Dorje Shugden pracice because it is to easy to see through their lies as there is alot of evidence that proves them wrong easily.

CTA should have done more extensive homework before they decided to accuse Dorje Shugden with all their baseless lies. Anyone with a logical mind will be able to see through their lies. Dorje Shugden ban will not last long as more evidence is being found as days go by. Soon, CTA will look very stupid to have imposed the ban in the first place.

[SabS]

One of the things the CTA use to attack Dorje Shugden is, he is sectarian. He doesn't like Gelugpa to study the teachings of other lineages, he will get angry and punish the practitioner. Therefore, he is very dangerous.

But in Buddhism, we don't believe in punishment, we believe in karma. Dorje Shugden does not have the power to punish anyone. The good or bad consequences we experience are due to the ripening of our karmas. So to say he will get angry and punish the practitioners, it is illogical.

These ancient thangkas further prove that Dorje Shugden is not sectarian. He was first enthroned by the Sakya lineage, the Gelugpas adopted it. Even Nyingmapas practiced Dorje Shugden too! No one will practice a deity that would harm them, would they?

Dorje Shugden is obviously not a sectarian deity. So many beautiful ancient thangkas depicted Dorje Shugden with other mainstream deities. The sheer amount of the thangkas already told us that Dorje Shugden is not a rare and small practice in the ancient times. It only makes sense that Dorje Shugden practice is an important and popular practice because no one will create thangka for a small or unimportant practice.

Even nowadays, if you search online. There are tons of new thangka that is being created that depicts Dorje Shugden with other mainstream deities from all lineages. This shows that Dorje Shugden is not sectarian as being claimed by CTA. CTA is stupid to have made that accusation on Dorje Shugden pracice because it is to easy to see through their lies as there is alot of evidence that proves them wrong easily.

CTA should have done more extensive homework before they decided to accuse Dorje Shugden with all their baseless lies. Anyone with a logical mind will be able to see through their lies. Dorje Shugden ban will not last long as more evidence is being found as days go by. Soon, CTA will look very stupid to have imposed the ban in the first place.

You are right! Wonder why the Tibetan Leaders had not done their research before making baseless allegations against Dorje Shugden which had been so beneficial to anyone who propitiates him. All the allegations that can be so easily debunked by any Guru who uses logic and applies the Dharma as taught by Lord Buddha himself. Now the numbers of refugees are dwindling and that certainly shows how the support of the Tibetan government is dwindling too. After all, they prefer to move away, migrate and stop going to India. Who is going to trust the Tibetan Leaders after all the lies and false promises that they had not been able to keep? That is why they used Dorje Shugden to create chaos to cover their failures. Wish the people are able to understand logic instead of failing into the trap of karma.

[Tracy]

You are right! Wonder why the Tibetan Leaders had not done their research before making baseless allegations against Dorje Shugden which had been so beneficial to anyone who propitiates him. All the allegations that can be so easily debunked by any Guru who uses logic and applies the Dharma as taught by Lord Buddha himself. Now the numbers of refugees are dwindling and that certainly shows how the support of the Tibetan government is dwindling too. After all, they prefer to move away, migrate and stop going to India. Who is going to trust the Tibetan Leaders after all the lies and false promises that they had not been able to keep? That is why they used Dorje Shugden to create chaos to cover their failures. Wish the people are able to understand logic instead of failing into the trap of karma.

The CTA is not interested to learn or to present facts, they will make their own story to accuse Dorje Shugden. Their purpose is to find a scapegoat to cover up their failure in the Free Tibet movement and their failure in bringing a better future to the Tibetans. To accuse a deity is perfect for the CTA because the deity cannot challenge them!

In order to put the blame to Dorje Shugden, the CTA had spent so much donation in publishing books to spread fake information and lies about Dorje Shugden. They eve held press conference to launch the books. They have created so much disharmony and conflict within the Tibetan community. What they have done bring only negative results, they have not done anything that is beneficial to the Tibetans.

However, the CTA cannot do this for long. People are starting to lose their confidence in the CTA. Many Tibetans in India have either migrate or have become India citizens. The Tibetans in Tibet are not coming to India anymore as their lives are so much better now in Tibet. The CTA probably won't last for too long!

[Drolma]

I don't understand why the CTA keep saying Dorje Shugden is sectarian. I think other lineages are sectarian too including the CTA. The CTA has put more focus on preserving Gelug lineage than other lineages, why? Is it because Gelug lineage is more precious?

People are talking about the Rime movement, what is actually the definition of it? Does it mean all Buddhist practitioners should learn from different lineages but not just their own? If that is the case why I don't see lamas of other lineages giving teachings in a monastery other than their own lineage? When the Dalai Lama is giving teaching, how come no monks from other lineages join the teachings?

If the CTA is so against sectarianism, they must be very supportive of the Rime movement. But what have the CTA done to promote the Rime movement? So sectarianism is just another lie CTA tells to justify their ban on Dorje Shugden practice.

[Alex]

I don't understand why the CTA keep saying Dorje Shugden is sectarian. I think other lineages are sectarian too including the CTA. The CTA has put more focus on preserving Gelug lineage than other lineages, why? Is it because Gelug lineage is more precious?

People are talking about the Rime movement, what is actually the definition of it? Does it mean all Buddhist practitioners should learn from different lineages but not just their own? If that is the case why I don't see lamas of other lineages giving teachings in a monastery other than their own lineage? When the Dalai Lama is giving teaching, how come no monks from other lineages join the teachings?

If the CTA is so against sectarianism, they must be very supportive of the Rime movement. But what have the CTA done to promote the Rime movement? So sectarianism is just another lie CTA tells to justify their ban on Dorje Shugden practice.

Those people who said Dorje Shugden is a sectarian deity clearly is not exposed to Tibetan Buddhism. They are not aware of the deities of Tibetan Buddhism and that is why they say things like that. There are 4 main sects of Tibetan Buddhism and each sect will have their unique set of deities that their worship is unique to their sect. It is very common.

Dorje Shugden is not a Gelug protector because his practice can be seen in Sakya and also Nyingma sects. However, he is most commonly practiced in Gelug tradition. That does not mean he only protects Gelug practitioners. He is an enlightened Buddha which is the emanation of Buddha Manjushri. He will respond to everyone's prayers regardless of their race, culture, background, and religion.

We can also see from ancient thangkas that he is depicted alongside other deities from other sects as well. This means that Dorje Shugden is being practiced together with those deities as well. That is why Dorje Shugden is not a sectarian deity.