Author Topic: History of the Dalai Lamas  (Read 3595 times)

James

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 35
History of the Dalai Lamas
« on: April 16, 2008, 12:02:55 AM »
A brief history of the 14 Dalai Lamas so far(ZT)

Author: Charles Carreon

 
The illustrious history of the Dalai Lamas just doesn’t exist. Their sad legacy is a testament to the byzantine manipulations of the Potala Junta. The Tibetan people have been taught that they are led by a god-king, but that king is an invention of unscrupulous political strategists who sell influence as their primary product. If the rascals who manipulated the lives of these 14 individuals as the figureheads of their corrupt theocracy have indeed reincarnated into this age, we are all unfortunate that they haven’t fallen into the hells they so eagerly imagine for others. They had a corrupting influence on the life of Tibet, and on the lives of the 14 Dalai Lamas they manipulated. We have enough corruption, and don’t need to be importing it from past eras.

 

The First Dalai Lama didn’t apparently know anything about being a Dalai Lama. That is because, like the Second Dalai Lama, he was only recognized "posthumously." Who did the recognizing? Well, the Third Dalai Lama! When did he do it? After he identified himself as the Third Dalai Lama! Wow, that’s kind of like writing your resume with the qualifications of dead people, but what the heck. They’re not around to object.

This tradition continues with the current Dalai Lama (14DL), who voiced an intuition to a TIME reporter once while visiting Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, that he might have previously incarnated as this early President of the United States. Wow, author of the Declaration of Independence, member of the First Constitutional Congress, and Third President of the United States! Well, let’s see, that would have been in 1776. A little arithmetic will show us that, during that time period, the Eighth Dalai Lama (8DL) was on the throne in Tibet. Okay, assume that he did not only reincarnate successively as a bunch of Tibetans, he generated a double and had him reborn in Virginia (where he developed a taste for having sex with his slaves, but that’s another story). Assuming this, he was simultaneously T. Jefferson, Founding Father of the USA, and Jamphel Gyatso (1758-1804), who according to this website  http://news.mpr.org/features/200105/07_newsroom_dalai/bios.shtml at Minnesota Public Radio ("MPR"), "was uninterested in politics, and for a 150-year period starting with his reign, day-to-day power was exercised in Tibet neither by Dalai lamas nor the Chinese ambans, but by a series of regents. During Jamphel Gyatso’s reign, Tibet fought wars with the Gurkhas of Nepal, and received a delegation from England, which was interested in Tibet because of its strategic location in relation to British India, China, and Czarist Russia. The Tibetans at this time began to severely restrict outside visitors."

So, what a guy! A real diplomat this 8DL/Third US President. He’s fighting a war with Britain on one side of the world, and having them to tea on the other side. And the British none the wiser.

At any rate, you’d figure once he got back from this double incarnation, he’d drop the apolitical stance of the Eighth Dalai Lama and import some democratic reforms into Tibet. Let’s check the Ninth DL’s record.

Whoops! He didn’t get much of a chance, since he was "likely murdered" at age 11 by his compassionate tutors. According to MPR, 9DL Lungtok Gyatso (1806-1815) enjoyed a very brief reign. He "died at age 11 in the Potala palace. Some historians believe that, given the tumultuous state of Tibetan politics, he was assassinated. The subsequent three Dalai Lamas also died young. Some theories suggest they, too, were murdered." Well, maybe he did come back from America with some ideas for reform!

At any rate, back to the Dalai Lama and the Mongol thugs. What’s that about? The Third DL recognized himself as the incarnation of two men who had apparently never prophesied that, in the future, they would be reborn as 3DL. IN-teresting, that. Because one of the bulwarks of "credibility" for the serial-reincarnation hypothesis is that the births of the reincarnated ones are foreseen by the prior incarnation. This slim warrant of authority is lacking for the Third Dalai Lama. But what did he care? He had Mongol muscle to back his claim.

How’d that happen? Well, kind of like with the TIME reporters. The Third DL was hanging out with Altan Khan in around 1578 when suddenly he had a flash. In a past life, 3DL told the Khan, he had been a famous Tibetan warlord! And in that past life as a Tibetan warlord, the Khan’s spiritual mentor had been — YES! Prior incarnations of 3DL! Happy reunion! Kill the fatted calf.

And who was 4DL? Squeeze your eyes shut really hard and think about how Tibetans work. Make your guess! YES! The Fourth Dalai Lama was Altan Khan’s Grandson! YES!

So what happened in the reign of 5DL? Let’s just take a quote from the Shamarpa’s website
 http://www.karmapa-controversy.org/VA/VA-Quelques-donnees.html
since they can be presumed to know their Tibetan history pretty well:

"The landscape of the old Tibet was dotted with wars, political intrigue, and bloody feuds. For centuries, two old, "red-hat" Buddhist schools, the Sakya and the Kagyu, held, one after the other, undisputed sway over the country. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, a new power had emerged and began to threaten the political status quo: the Gelugs, or Virtuous Ones, a "yellow-hat," reformed Buddhist order, founded around 1410 by a disciple of the 4th Karmapa. Led by the mighty 5th Dalai Lama and his authoritative ministers, the Gelugs invited Gushri Khan, the Mongolian warlord, into Tibet in 1638. Their design was to break the power of the Kagyus, take over the government, and secure a hold on Kham in the east and the rebellious Tsang in the south of the country. Given free rein, the ferocious Mongol hordes razed to the ground or converted to the Gelugpa tradition a large number of Nyingma monasteries. The 10th Karmapa had to flee into a thirty-year exile after his camp was attacked by an army operating on orders from the Dalai Lama’s ministers. The school of the Virtuous Ones imposed their political hegemony with sword and fire."

5DL was such a powerful figure that his "regent" concealed his death for about fifteen years. MPR wrote:

"Lozang Gyatso’s death in 1682 was not announced until 1697, as the regent of Tibet attempted to monopolize power."

That’s cool. This DL scam gets manipulated every which way. When they’re dead, you conceal their death for fifteen years, and — wait a minute — how the hell do you conceal the DL’s death for fifteen years? Wouldn’t somebody notice? That will give you an idea how tight lips were sealed in the Potala. And if you think you can keep a political secret for fifteen years without killing a few people and bribing a hell of a lot more, then you should definitely be a Tibetan Buddhist, ‘cause you can believe anything.

But eventually, someone finds out that the DL is dead, and you gotta pick a new one. No problem.

6DL hasn’t been discussed before, but he also died young, at age 23. He made the mistake of alienating the Mongols who had made the DLs the puppet leaders of the nation. The Mongols invaded, kicked him off the throne, and killed him when he tried to flee Tibet. From the MPR site:

"Tsangyang Gyatso (1683-1706). Because of the delay in announcing the Fifth Dalai Lama’s death, Tsangyang Gyatso was well into his teens before he was recognized as the Sixth Dalai Lama. He is considered to be the most unconventional Dalai Lama. He dressed as a layperson, drank wine, enjoyed the company of women and composed love songs that are still popular in Tibet. His eccentric style alienated him from Mongol leader Lhabzang Khan, who invaded Tibet during this time and deposed Tsangyang Gyatso. He died while leaving the country; many historians believe he was murdered. Lhabsang Khan appointed another monk, Yeshe Gyatso, as the Seventh Dalai Lama, but his legitimacy has never been recognized by the Tibetan people."

7DL knew better than to piss off the politicians, because his posse got the Chinese to push out the Mongols, who had deposed 6DL. 7DL remained a figurehead political leader, with a Chinese "amban" making all the decisions pursuant to Chinese law.

8DL we already discussed. Another hands-off leader, thanks perhaps to having transferred his political spirit through the ether to his co-incarnation, Thomas Jefferson.

9DL, as we know, died young. Here’s the stats on 10DL, 11DL and 12DL, indicating that here was a position with no job security. From the MPR website again:

"10th
Tsultrim Gyatso (1816-1837). Like his predecessor, Tsultrim Gyatso died suddenly in Potala before assuming temporal power. During his brief life, Tibet continued to isolate itself, while keeping a suspicious eye on its borders.

11th
Khendrup Gyatso (1838-1856). He was the third in a series of Dalai Lamas who died at an early age. During Khendrup Gyatso’s life, China’s influence in Tibet weakened further because of the Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion. Tibet’s struggles continued with Nepal and Ladakh to the west.

12th

Trinley Gyatso (1856-1875). His reign was a time of severe unrest among Tibet’s neighbors. The weaker Qing dynasty was unable to provide military support because of its own battles. At the same time, the British intensified pressure on the Tibetan borders, from their colonial bastion in India."

Time for Arithmetic:

10DL was killed at age 21 "before assuming temporal power." That’s 21 years of rule by regents.
11DL was killed at age 18, so that’s another 18 years of regent-rule.
12DL was killed at age 19, adding another 19 years of regent-rule.

If you ask whether the Trimondis are off their nut with their book, The Shadow of the Dalai Lama (see the Thorn in the Lotus thread), which alludes to murder and human sacrifice as elements of ritual, you must consider this fact: the Holy Men in the Potala somehow killed the God-king Four Times! Serially going through this charade of "finding a reincarnation," taking him from his family, and mummifying him in ritual, then sending him off to the heavenly realms. Probably they did it with careful rituals that made sure his soul wouldn’t get bruised from all that birth, death, rebirth stuff.

Now consider also that the old lamas who committed the god-murders have also been reincarnating. There’s no history to say that finally the Potala Junta was broken up and 12DL was therefore not murdered, and all of his killers were forbidden to reincarnate. Hell no, the Potala Junta leaders continued to reincarnate, and their later incarnations still hold positions of power within the Gelugpa power structure.

So lemme ask you this: when 14DL draws inspirational support from his lineage, how the hell does he do it? What’s it like to know that he is surrounded by the reincarnations of people who serially killed his past incarnations, assuming he believes in this stuff. How do you draw inspiration from a guy like 3DL, who apparently was a total opportunist. How do you draw inspiration from 4DL, who was the grandson of the guy who bought into 3DL’s "Hey man, we were together in past incarnations!" scam? How do you draw inspiration from 5DL, who converted people by the sword and took over opposing monasteries in a gangsterish takeover assisted by Gushri Khan’s mongol thugs that put rival sect leaders into exile.

But let’s move on. Finally 13DL lives a normal lifespan. How is that? Well, he was a jumpy kinda guy. Probably got to thinkin’ about what had happened to 9DL - 12DL, and got a fuckin’ clue. Most people say he fled Tibet twice to escape outside aggression. See MPR website. However, I suspect that he wanted to get the hell out of the Potala any damn way he could. Much better out their traveling amongst the poor people who think you’re god, than in the castle, where everyone thinks they’re god, and you’re just a pawn in their game. All of the old conniving lamas stay in Lhasa, with their wealth and ceremonies. You get out on horseback with the yak herders, and you’re a lot safer.

14DL has followed the same tactic, at least by getting out of Lhasa. It has probably saved his life, if the histories of the prior five DLs tells us anything.

Of course, you probably think he had no choice but to abdicate, but I question that. Remember how suspicious it was when "W" hid in a bunker while the WTO towers were reduced to smoking ruin. When London was being bombed with V2 rockets and buzz bombs, did Churchill flee to America? Why is Israel pushing so hard to evict Arafat? Abdication is the abandonment of your followers, that’s why. A leader in exile is no leader at all.

From a traditional viewpoint, leaving Tibet was an enormous bungle. The first time 14DL left, on December 20, 1950, he simultaneously sent a delegation from Lhasa to Beijing to negotiate a deal with the PRC. The delegates unanimously signed an agreement that essentially "wiped out Tibetan autonomy," and still provides the basis for the PRC to claim that Tibet is part of China. See the text of the agreement at this URL:  http://www.tibet.freeserve.co.uk/beijing.html. 14DL was supposedly very bummed out about this agreement, but he never repudiated it in a timely fashion.

But from 14DL’s viewpoint, it was probably the right move. Lhasa was crawling with war profiteers who were making lots of money selling supplies to the Chinese garrison. The people he sent to negotiate with China came back to Lhasa, having given away the country. His prior incarnations had been murdered by their handlers, and the 13DL kept alive by staying on the move.

Tibet had already been taken over by evildoers. The Chinese were like the buzzards, tearing apart the corpse. 14DL now hopes to build the Tibet that never existed — one founded on equality and fairness — something more Jeffersonian, like 9DL might’ve had in mind, if he hadn’t died at age 11.

So what’s the box score? We start with 14 Dalai Lamas:

1DL didn’t even know he was one.
2DL didn’t know it either.
3DL was some kind of clever opportunist.
4DL was a royal appointee.
5DL was a killer-conqueror, and his last fifteen years of "rule" were fraudulent.
6DL was murdered at the age of 23, and his appointed successor was denied office.
7DL was put on the throne by the Chinese, who treated him as a figurehead.
8DL was a hands-off guy who let the Chinese run the country.
9DL was murdered and never ruled.
10DL was murdered and never ruled.
11DL was murdered and never ruled.
12DL was murdered and never ruled.
13DL fled twice, which isn’t a sign of great political support, but nominally ran the country.
14DL effectively abdicated, and never ruled the country. As a leader in exile, he is a figurehead for armies of monastics who take refuge in his popularity to pump their own organizations.

In the end, the illustrious history of the Dalai Lamas just doesn’t exist. Their sad legacy is a testament to the byzantine manipulations of the Potala Junta. The Tibetan people have been taught that they are led by a god-king, but that king is an invention of unscrupulous political strategists who sell influence as their primary product. If indeed, the rascals who manipulated the lives of these 14 individuals as the figureheads of their corrupt theocracy have indeed reincarnated into this age, we are all unfortunate that they haven’t fallen into the hells they so eagerly imagine for others. They had a corrupting influence on the life of Tibet, and on the lives of the 14 Dalai Lamas they manipulated. We have enough corruption, and don’t need to be importing it from past eras.

Dondrup Shugden

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 896
Re: History of the Dalai Lamas
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2015, 03:44:22 PM »
This is an interesting brief on the history of Dalai Lamas.  The intention of reviving this post is not to put down the Dalai Lamas but for all to know a little about the history of this particular segment of Tibetan history.