How many people rely on Great King Dorje Shugden, and where are they all?

[Atishas cook]

hi everyone -

a friend asked me earlier today: "How many people rely on Duldzin Dorje Shugden, and where are they all?"  i said that i had heard that there are millions of practitioners; he asked me where they all are. the more he asked the less certain i was!

i looked around for figures, even estimates, but never found any info. more substantial than "millions".  does anyone have any more information, or know where i can find some?  we hear about the practice spreading, despite the ban, but it'd be nice to have some more detailed estimate of the numbers involved.

just how many people are there in the world today relying on Dharmapala Gyalchen Dorje Shugden?

with love,
AC x

[beggar]

Yes, this would be interesting to find out.

I think one way to start might be perhaps to locate monasteries, temples, centers that are known to practice Dorje Shugden and see if we can find out how many members / sangha there are. Even if we can't get exact numbers of members, I think it would also be good to know how many DS centers there are in different countries around the world. You could also track growth in that way.

There's a section on this website about monasteries or Dharma centers that practice Dorje Shugden. It would be very nice if readers, browsers, forum participants can also submit information , write-ups, photos of others DS centers from around the world. That way, people from around the world who log in can also check out if there's a center near their area and may be inspired to join and start their practice!

[Mohani]

Hi AC,
I don't think there are currently millions of practitioner. In the past I think many tibetans used to rely on Duldzin, they where very loyal to Trijang. If I am correct there are or where 6 million tibetans, so I think it is fair to guess there were over a million followers of Duldzin. There are still some in tibet and Mongolia who have faith in Duldzin.
I think the statement made on the wss book about liberating millions of Dorje Shugden followers must refer to practitioners to come and the ones who have been affected in Tibet. There cant bee more than say 20,000 in the non Tibetan world. This is all guess work, sorry.. This is a question I have been pondering the last couple of days.

[Atishas cook]

yes, this is what i've been thinking about.  of course, there are the monasteries, but really that can't be more than a few thousands, or - maybe - tens of thousands?

then there are the Tibetans living inside and outside Tibet - and if there are a large proportion still practising in secret then maybe several tens - or hundreds - of thousands?  then, there are the various new non-Tibetan Sanghas in the East and the West - again, a few thousands - maybe tens of thousands?

so i was thinking: just how many Dorje Shugden practitioners are there in Mongolia? China? Russia? India? elsewhere? could there really be, right now, millions? :-)

it'd be great to have even an estimate, but i just don't have enough info.  how wonderful it would be if we could say with confidence that around x-hundred thousand, or x million, people worldwide rely on our Protector!

[TA]

There are  thousands of tibetans still worshipping inside and outside of tibet and I represent one of them.

[LosangKhyentse]

There are  thousands of tibetans still worshipping inside and outside of tibet and I represent one of them.

That is truly wonderful to hear. Please speak up more.

tk

[Lineageholder]

There are  thousands of tibetans still worshipping inside and outside of tibet and I represent one of them.

I rejoice!  May your numbers grow.  Please tell us more.

[thaimonk]

There are  thousands of tibetans still worshipping inside and outside of tibet and I represent one of them.

Speak up more please. Get involved here. Work with the rest of us here please. Encourage others to do so also please. Welcome!!

[TA]

Our sincere gratitude to every one of you. Although we(tibetans) may not actively take part in the forum, we are frequent  visitors here who religiously follow every topics that is being posted. We truly appreciated all the love and support.
OM VAJRA WIKI VITRANA SOHA

 Truth shall triumph.

[Atishas cook]

thank you, TA.

i deeply apologise if my strong words are ever offensive to those with faith in the Dalai Lama. 

i find it necessary to be strongly critical, and i feel it necessary to continue.  it very much saddens me that there are many faithful people who will find my words painful.  these strong words are motivated by love, however, and the desire to protect our holy lineages and practice.

i am, after all, an object for everyone's patience...

[Helena]

Our sincere gratitude to every one of you. Although we(tibetans) may not actively take part in the forum, we are frequent  visitors here who religiously follow every topics that is being posted. We truly appreciated all the love and support.
OM VAJRA WIKI VITRANA SOHA

 Truth shall triumph.

Welcome, TA and thank you for sharing your thoughts/feelings.

Truth shall indeed triumph!

[WisdomBeing]

Excellent topic for discussion!

I guess the minimum number would be the monks in the Shugden monasteries as mentioned by Beggar, plus all the NKT - does anyone know what is the total number of members of NKT? I tried to browse around but didn't find any numbers. According to their website, they have 1100 centres, so if there are an average of 100 members per centre, that would be 110,000? HE Gangchen Rinpoche has 100 Inner Peace Education centres or Self-Healing Study Groups worldwide but I don't know the numbers involved there either. Does anyone have more information?

[DharmaDefender]

Thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions...

That leaves us more than 6 billion human lives to touch

WB - that's not counting all the follows who aren't signed up to the centres, but still attend. Because I'm sure not everyone whom Gangchen Rinpoche passes the mantra on to necessarily become his students, but still recite the mantra anyway for protection, etc.

[Atishas cook]

hey WB -

i think in NKT's case it's 1100+ Centers & branches, meaning groups or classes.  so 100 students average is probably too much.  i'd estimate - and it's an estimate not based on any real data! - that NKT's total student numbers would be in the tens, rather than hundreds, of thousands.  i might well be wrong, though, but at least it's an estimate...

anybody else - TA? beggar?  WB?  etc., etc. - able to give an approximation, an estimate, of the size of their Sangha?

[WisdomBeing]

Think we'd have to rely on someone from NKT who might have a better idea... I have no clue...