Religious persecution in history: some examples

[beggar]

Just been forwarded these videos recently about incidences of religious persecution in history. I know they are already such significant, defining moments of our world history so there isn't anything new, but in the light of the religious persecution against Dorje Shugden, we might view these with a new perspective.

Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition:

The Most Evil Men in History Torquemada

Bloody Queen Mary and the persecution of the Protestants (in three parts):

The Most Evil Women In History - Bloody Mary Tudor (part1/3)	Small | Large

The Most Evil Women In History - Bloody Mary Tudor (part2/3)	Small | Large

The Most Evil Women In History - Bloody Mary Tudor (part3/3)	Small | Large

A fascinating, but very saddening account of the holocaust, directed by Steven Spielberg (I can only imagine how much courage is needed to make a documentary like this):

The Last Days (Steven Speilberg,Shoah,1998)[1Maven].avi

Now, these very countries that suffered the tremendous pain of religious persecution are among what we commonly regard as a free world. Anyone is permitted to practice anything they wish, without any spiritual intervention from the (secular) governments.

Looks like the CTA are about 600 years behind everyone else, not to realise this. which is why it's probably one of very few countries still in the world who still believe that launching witchhunts against people of a different religious belief is perfectly acceptable. Indeed, the tibetans are not the first peoples in the world to have a leader that is regarded as both "god" and "king". The difference is that the rest of the world have gone through the process of understanding how important it is to differentiate the two into completely different spheres, and not have one affect the standing and force of the other.

That's not to say that a country HAS to go through such religious persecution to enjoy religious freedoms, but it certainly changes the cultural consciousness to be more aware of the rights of others to practice as they wish, so long as they live within the laws of the land.

Anyway, have a watch of the videos. It's well worth it to understand the kind of cultural, historical climates of such nations and what they have had to go through to realise and understand the importance of religious freedom and rights.

[Big Uncle]

This is a wonderful and novel approach to bring understanding of the injustice done with the Dorje Shugden ban. The medieval-like ban on Dorje Shugden is very much akin to the inquisition that swept Europe in the middle ages. However, they emerged from wreckage of religious intolerance and became societies that were more tolerant, accepting and totally advanced nations with industrialization and all that we see today.

Now, what about the CTA? First of all, they don't even run their own country and some history books have already attributed the lost of the country to gross mismanagement of the country by its government. Now, they have the inquisition of Dorje Shugden and they are up against the gargantuan China? What are the odds that the CTA would survive at all? Unless, there would be drastic measures to keep up with the times.

These videos are a historical fact and they meant to be a lesson to be learnt so some people (CTA) don't make the same mistake. The time for religion witch hunts and intolerance is over. Either you keep up with the times or you end up becoming just a chapter in a history book.

[dsiluvu]

Thanks Beggar.. very good education to the CTA. Well lets hope they can comprehend how back dated their mind sets are.

Ahhh we are all moving along making big plans, bigger Dorje Shugden statues, monasteries, teachings, education etc... There they are wasting time and resources trying to rewrite TRUTH and history when their resources could be focused and spent on improving their ppl's well being, Education, Health and Welfare of their people in exile. Which is now not many now since they have ostracized a huge number of DS practitioners who are gaining their strength back and starting their own strong community. Rather silly, because if they were united.... so much more could be easily achieved.

Oh well it looks like their history chapter is slowly closing soon as HHDL retires more and more, and sorry to say eventually leaves them with no incarnation - what would become of this society who is so highly dependent on HHDL to solve their problems. And after the interesting statement made by HHDL to start Questioning the Advice of the Guru http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1874.0
well it would be interesting to see the absurd logic they will give behind this as we can now question HHDL too as adviced by HHDL.

[hope rainbow]

Thank you Beggar, I just watched the videos you have linked.
This comes to my mind, especially upon watching the videos of the 3rd world war concentration camps in Europe:

1. PRIOR TO THE CAMPS:
Simply racisme, simply differences, simply looking at the "other" as an "other", without thinking that this could hurt.
Claiming tolerance but not removing the thought that the "other" is a threat, that the "other" is of less value, that kind of tolerance.
This is like a seed at the scale of a society. A seed for the worse to un-fold.

2. DURING THE CAMPS:
It's ok to exterminate, after all, as far as this life's memory goes, we have always felt and heard in the society, in the family, from our very own parents even that the "other" was tolerated, that the "other" was inferior, that the "other" was "OTHER".
The very large majority of german soldiers working in the camps (the german doctor interviewed shows this clearly) did not have anger towards jews, no, they did not have anger, they had INDIFFERENCE, their emotional involvement was neutral. They die, they don't die: INDIFFERENCE. Well, if orders come that they must die, they we apply the orders.
This could never have happened if step 1. above did not take place first and pollute the mind of the majority of the Europeans for centuries (my grand-mother was European and she told me once that before the war, everyone she knew disliked the jews, she told me this was the common thought then).
This demonstrates that simply thinking "tolerance": but with a mind of superiority, with a mind of pride, with a mind of self-righteousness, with a mind of dislike is a damaging process in its early stage. It may not hurt then, but it creates a terrain that may lead later, generations later to atrocities like the SHOAH.
Same goes with what is taught to the young generation of Tibetans that are told to ostracise the Dorje Shugden practitioners. I might take a big leap here, but it just sounds like pre-war Germany when jews were not allowed in groceries, where jews were not allowed in public posts, where jews were not allowed to marry non-jews, or even date!
I am not comparing CTA with Nazis, of course this not at all what I am doing, this would be a stupid short-cut. No, not at all, I am not saying that. All I am saying is this: small thoughts and actions of ost-racisme may lead to stronger thoughts, may lead to anger or indifference and may lead to catastrophies if history takes a turn for the worse. So, it is better to stop now, because we simply do not know what may happen in the future. Just as it is better to recognize anger arising in our mind when it is in its early stage so that it can be stopped before it grows out of control.

3. AFTER THE CAMPS:
Europe is now a country where Catholicism, or even Christian practice as a whole has diminished to a historical low level. At the same time, the judaic religious practice has gained in strength in and out of Europe. So the result of persecuting people out of religious reasons seem to put down the religious practice of the persecutor and to re-inforce the religious practice of the persecuted.
History has shown the same pattern with early Christians being persecuted by pagaen Roman emperors.
Same again with the protestants and the catholics...
Just as if by persecuting practitioners of another religion, we PUT DOWN our own religion. And yes, that makes sense to me, for there can be no TRUE religious practitioner that find his legitimcy in the persecution of another religion, there cannot possibly be any religious teaching that says: PUT THE OTHERS DOWN SO THAT YOU CAN DOMINATE. Actions based on that reasoning is meant to bring about war and miserliness, especially if it is done in the name of religion.
And again, I'll make a parrallel with the ban on Dorje Shugden and as to how it has been carried on: those of us who put down high lamas, who put down Dorje Shugden, and who put down the practitioners of Dorje Shugden are putting down their spiritual practice, they are putting down their Gurus.

And I know the Dalai Lama seems to be doing that, but hey! if you look at him as a man, then I don't think you'd be following his advice, and if you look at Him as a Buddha, then you know already that there must be a message to understand from the contradictions expressed, there must be something to reflect on, Buddhas do not call for discrimination, for ost-racisme, for persecution, if you look at the Dalai Lama as a Buddha, then it must be that he wants you to think and show compassion, show intelligence and cease the opportunity to gain skills in helping others, ALL others, and that does not include persecuting Dorje Shugden practitioners. Wisen up guys!

[Klein]

3. AFTER THE CAMPS:
Europe is now a country where Catholicism, or even Christian practice as a whole has diminished to a historical low level. At the same time, the judaic religious practice has gained in strength in and out of Europe. So the result of persecuting people out of religious reasons seem to put down the religious practice of the persecutor and to re-inforce the religious practice of the persecuted.
History has shown the same pattern with early Christians being persecuted by pagaen Roman emperors.
Same again with the protestants and the catholics...
Just as if by persecuting practitioners of another religion, we PUT DOWN our own religion. And yes, that makes sense to me, for there can be no TRUE religious practitioner that find his legitimcy in the persecution of another religion, there cannot possibly be any religious teaching that says: PUT THE OTHERS DOWN SO THAT YOU CAN DOMINATE. Actions based on that reasoning is meant to bring about war and miserliness, especially if it is done in the name of religion.
And again, I'll make a parrallel with the ban on Dorje Shugden and as to how it has been carried on: those of us who put down high lamas, who put down Dorje Shugden, and who put down the practitioners of Dorje Shugden are putting down their spiritual practice, they are putting down their Gurus.

Dear hope rainbow,
What you highlighted is very interesting. I didn't realise that Christian practice in Europe has decreased. Now that I think of it, it makes sense. Who needs to join an organisation that promotes more suffering? We are already very good at that on our own! What's the point of joining an organisation to learn more about creating suffering for others and ourselves? It's not logical.

All of us are stressed and unhappy to a certain degree. We need a place of solace, compassion and acceptance. We need wisdom to become happy and at peace. All selfish acts create more pain and sufferings.

CTA's foolishness in creating suffering in their people will create the karma to be phased out. Who needs leaders who create hell for us? OUT OUT OUT!

[diamond girl]

These countries which had such severe and inhuman religious persecution are, as highlighted earlier, the developed countries we know today. If you watch these videos it is very perverse that so many were killed in order for religious freedom and development to materialize. Imagine the karma accumulated by these countries which they still suffer till today, I am sure. I know many German friends who are embarrassed and guilt stricken when we talk about the holocaust and Hitler. They are ashamed that their forefathers were ever involved in such atrocious acts of barbaric inhumanity.

Evil is an understatement to describe Hitler, Queen "Bloody" Mary... even the dictionary does not provide words to describe such evil actions.

I am sure that the CTA knows this website exists and I am sure they come see what we are discussing here. So, CTA if you are reading this, WAKE UP and for karma sake, lift the Ban NOW! Focus on developing your government and pray hard to regain your country instead of "blaming" the practice of DS as a cause for your ineffectiveness.

[beggar]

2. DURING THE CAMPS:
It's ok to exterminate, after all, as far as this life's memory goes, we have always felt and heard in the society, in the family, from our very own parents even that the "other" was tolerated, that the "other" was inferior, that the "other" was "OTHER".
The very large majority of german soldiers working in the camps (the german doctor interviewed shows this clearly) did not have anger towards jews, no, they did not have anger, they had INDIFFERENCE, their emotional involvement was neutral. They die, they don't die: INDIFFERENCE. Well, if orders come that they must die, they we apply the orders.
This could never have happened if step 1. above did not take place first and pollute the mind of the majority of the Europeans for centuries (my grand-mother was European and she told me once that before the war, everyone she knew disliked the jews, she told me this was the common thought then).
This demonstrates that simply thinking "tolerance": but with a mind of superiority, with a mind of pride, with a mind of self-righteousness, with a mind of dislike is a damaging process in its early stage. It may not hurt then, but it creates a terrain that may lead later, generations later to atrocities like the SHOAH.
Same goes with what is taught to the young generation of Tibetans that are told to ostracise the Dorje Shugden practitioners. I might take a big leap here, but it just sounds like pre-war Germany when jews were not allowed in groceries, where jews were not allowed in public posts, where jews were not allowed to marry non-jews, or even date!
I am not comparing CTA with Nazis, of course this not at all what I am doing, this would be a stupid short-cut. No, not at all, I am not saying that. All I am saying is this: small thoughts and actions of ost-racisme may lead to stronger thoughts, may lead to anger or indifference and may lead to catastrophies if history takes a turn for the worse. So, it is better to stop now, because we simply do not know what may happen in the future. Just as it is better to recognize anger arising in our mind when it is in its early stage so that it can be stopped before it grows out of control.

You bring up a good point there. From a Dharma point of view, when you constantly engage in actions like these, you reinforce a karma and a mind that will "allow" you to continue doing these actions and creating these karmas. The first stage is an indifference - not thinking that it is wrong. Then, it accumulates, we rehabituate to a point that we will enjoy and be attracted to such acts. This is how we come back as snakes, wild animals that HAVE to kill to survive - their entire basis of survival and "pleasure" is found in killing.

It begins with something that isn't as explicit as killing. It begins first on a much subtler level, with us denouncing the teachers (i.e. Dharma or the right way), denouncing practices that are actually positive, breaking our commitments and vows in our practices (or even on a secular level). This is precisely the dilemma of the Shugden practitioner: that you are force to denounce something you have practiced your whole life. You are forced to choose the opposite way, knowing that it is negative and that that way takes you away from a correct path.

Those who do give up the practice and HAPPILY, and then proceed to even denounce other Shugden practitioners of course develop that karma much quicker because they actively rejoice in renouncing their practices and what is positive, correct view. 

There are plenty of ramifications to giving up this practice that runs much further than just not doing a practice anymore. It creates impressions in our minds that it is okay to act in these ways, go against the advice and practices of our teachers, or, in some tragic cases, to go against our teachers and Dharma communities. If we're creating imprints that this is okay, then other negative things also become okay, and eventually, we find ourselves attracted to wrong views.

Just as if by persecuting practitioners of another religion, we PUT DOWN our own religion. And yes, that makes sense to me, for there can be no TRUE religious practitioner that find his legitimcy in the persecution of another religion, there cannot possibly be any religious teaching that says: PUT THE OTHERS DOWN SO THAT YOU CAN DOMINATE. Actions based on that reasoning is meant to bring about war and miserliness, especially if it is done in the name of religion.
And again, I'll make a parrallel with the ban on Dorje Shugden and as to how it has been carried on: those of us who put down high lamas, who put down Dorje Shugden, and who put down the practitioners of Dorje Shugden are putting down their spiritual practice, they are putting down their Gurus.
others, ALL others, and that does not include persecuting Dorje Shugden practitioners. Wisen up guys!

I like what you say here, especially that by persecuting other practitioners, we put down our own religion. This has been especially clear in the Dorje Shugden issue. Shugden practitioners demonstrating against the Dalai Lama show the world that this is what Buddhists do - protest against their spiritual leader. It doesn't matter what the issue is - the outward impression leaves a sour imprint. People think, "But I thought Buddhists were peaceful people?" and the very contradiction in demonstrating does not collude with what people expect of Buddhists.

Similarly, Dalai Lama followers who spit on Shugden practitioners right outside the Dalai Lama's teachings, or go into Shugdenpa's homes and burn their statues, or turn Shugdenpas away from their offices and shops - how do they reflect the very Guru they are trying to protect and defend? It will make the world look upon them and wonder "this is how the Dalai Lama teaches you? Then the Dalai Lama can't be good".

The Buddha himself has often said that Buddhism will be destroyed from within, by Buddhists themselves - this becomes ever true in the context of the Shugden ban.

Torquemada and Queen Mary showed the world the ugly side of their religion. If they had only invested time into providing education about their religion instead and promoting its more positive, beneficial aspects, then surely more people would have been enrolled to their cause and faith than by simply killing them! Conversion from fear is not conversion at all. It doesn't just leave a sour taste in people outside that religion. It also risks destroying the faith of people within that religion who will look upon them and wonder why their own religion is doing such cruel things - this is in fact what did happen around Queen Mary.

The biggest irony of these videos - and the Shugden ban - is that it is all done in the name of preserving the "right" religion or the PURITY of the religion. But the ends shouldn't justify the means, all of which are furthest from being pure. How can we defend our religion by engaging in all the very actions that are against the commitments and practices of our religion?! The most basic tenets of Buddhism is not to create schism, not to speak harshly, not to harm anyone - how is this being lived out, truly, by all those proponents of the ban who have split up families, separate teachers from their students and divided sangha communities? Who have physically attacked lamas? Who have ostracised their own people? Doesn't make any sense to me and sadly, it doesn't reflect at all well on the very teachers these people claim to love and be devoted to.

[hope rainbow]

Thank you for your post beggar.
I so do agree with you. When we think over/study historical cases like persecutions, mass killings, etc... It would be wrong to think that just before it happened, every thing was fine.
If everything was fine before, there could be no terrain for atrocities to take place.
So this is not just about Queen Mary, Torquemada or Hitler.
To think that they only are the culprits, I think, would be short-thinking.
It's about the terrain, it about the mind-set of the society, it's about karma.

Torquemada and Queen Mary showed the world the ugly side of their religion.

If I may comment, there can be no religion that has an ugly side, this is antinomic.
A religion with an ugly side is not a religion...
What may happen is that the ugly side of someone's bias practice and understanding of a religion shows up.
The ugly side does not come from the religion, it comes from the degenerated practitioner. Let's be clear on that.
Then it is up to the "terrain" to ignorantly  accept and go along or not.

And as you say:

If they had only invested time into providing education about their religion instead and promoting its more positive, beneficial aspects, then surely more people would have been enrolled to their cause and faith than by simply killing them!

And then, the next generation looses faith, for what they saw of "religion" is an "ugly side" (as Beggar also explained), and frankly, they couldn't be bothered anymore.

The biggest irony of these videos - and the Shugden ban - is that it is all done in the name of preserving the "right" religion or the PURITY of the religion.
But the ends shouldn't justify the means, all of which are furthest from being pure.
How can we defend our religion by engaging in all the very actions that are against the commitments and practices of our religion?!
The most basic tenets of Buddhism is not to create schism, not to speak harshly, not to harm anyone - how is this being lived out, truly, by all those proponents of the ban who have split up families, separate teachers from their students and divided sangha communities?
Who have physically attacked lamas?
Who have ostracised their own people?
Doesn't make any sense to me and sadly, it doesn't reflect at all well on the very teachers these people claim to love and be devoted to.

So do we want the next generation of exiled Tibetan to think that Tibetan Buddhism is about witch-hunting and irrational discrimination, etc? Because this is what shows with the ban being implemented with silly things such as forbidding DS practitioners to enter some shops or go to some schools.
This is the reign of pettiness over spiritual practice: damaging at all levels.

[hope rainbow]

Dear hope rainbow,
[...] I didn't realise that Christian practice in Europe has decreased.

To be correct, what I have heard thee days is that christian practice is growing again in Europe.
Which is a fact to rejoice over.
But the practice went down from the '50s  till the '80s or even the '90s. The number of people going to mass decreased.
I have not researched this matter much, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that great leaders have made a change in many Europeans about their practice, such as John Paul the II, which I think was a remarkable Pope. As well as remarkable priests.
I can only hope that more Christians reconnect with their spiritual practice and do not let scandals and perhaps even some abuse in the past (*) cloud the sight of the beautiful and holy teachings of Jesus Christ.

(*) Torquemada and Queen Mary for example

[michaela]

I have read and/or watched various accounts on world war II and Tudor history from various perspectives.  It's amazing how one delusional people can influence so many and caused so many deaths and suffering.  What kind of bad karma that they have to rise to power in such a delusional state of mind. 

With regard to the Tudor history, all the confusion about religion between Catholic and Protestants was really caused by one man's (Henry VIII) desire to have another wife.  He could not get annulment to divorce his first wife under roman catholic law, so he decided to break up with Roman Catholic church and headed his own church and made his own rules and forced other people to accept this change of faith through terror and fear.  This was the catalyst of Mary's hatred towards Protestants.  Just like Hitler, I think she really believed in her heart that she was doing justice when burning these protestants and labelled them as heretics.  After all she has seen a lot of proof in her younger days how the protestants made the catholics suffer and seen the abbys and catholic churches being robed of their valuables by the protestants.

With regard to the holocaust, there is of course one question that I still could not figure out, the German soldiers that were forced to go to war by this delusional leaders.  And for the American, is it right to go to war killing people to liberate and terminate the sufferings of the jews?  I have read one account that stated that US pilot with planes that carry bombs have another plane following them ready to shoot if the first pilot suddenly got chicken out.  It's really is a bad situation to be in.  What the story in the movie failed to highlight is how many people have to die in the Hirosima and Nagasaki atomic bombing.  How many Japanese have to live with cancer due to various nuclear radiation effects?  How many German soldiers most of them young who have brought up to believe that they are of superior race died during the war.  What I am trying to highlight in here is nobody really won in the warlike situation. 

I genuinely think that we should not create sufferings from sufferings.  That is the main cause we keep circling in samsara and there is no end to it.  I am very happy that the holocausts survivors depicted in the documentary were wiser than Mary Tudor.  They could find some closure and move on with their lives.  What I noticed though is they became more appreciative of life.

I sincerely hope and pray that nobody will be prosecuted or discriminated based on what they believe.  May the DS ban be lifted soon.

[hope rainbow]

Religious persecutions of protestants by catholics, or catholics by protestants, or even catholics by catholics has happened throughout Europe.
One very violent event is the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre in Paris in 1572.

The "Huguenots", the french protestants were lured in Paris to participate to the celebration of a wedding of truce between the catholic Margaret  (the sister of the then King of France) and the protestant Henry III of Navarre (the future Henry IV of France).

The Huguenot came to celebrate a wedding that meant civil peace and religious harmony.
But Catherine de' Medici, the mother of the then King of France Charles IX had a mass murder executed and Paris became a blood bath, the Huguenots were easily recognizable at their more sober ways of dressing. They were killed by knife, by gun, by defenestration... they were killed!

When the Pope, in Rome, heard of this tragic event, he said that the news rejoiced him more than 50 victories over the Turks would.

Note that this happened between people from the same culture, from the same country, talking the same language, eating the same food, sharing the same culture, it happened between brothers who were worshiping the same God. It happened among Christians.

What a evil plot it was... lure people through the prospect of peace and then kill them... ALL!
Here is a recapp of the events:

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre	Small | Large

[honeydakini]

Thanks for starting this post on here. I've been seeing it around Facebook and clicked through from Facebook. I'm glad I did. I've just spent the whole afternoon (to my horror) watching the videos. The Last Days is incredible for how personal it is and how much it reveals of an individual's suffering for those few terrible years. I can't even begin to imagine how it would feel for someone to go through such tremendous suffering just for a belief! JUST A BELIEF! It's not even that they are acting out of their belief in a negative or harmful way; they just believe in a different way. How that justifies killing someone will never be logical to me.

Hope Rainbow, thanks for the additional videos too.

I hadn't really thought about the impact of these events right here in Europe. They were always just something we studied for history classes. But the letter written to accompany the videos bring out such pertinent points about how overcoming and fighting such prejudices help a nation to grow. The parallels for what is going on within Tibetan Buddhist communities now are extremely clear - less violent, but certainly still there.

It's interesting to consider how consuming religion can be for a country - how empowering it can be and yet at the same time, just how terribly oppressive that very same religion can also be. In an old Tibet, the Gelugpa school of Buddhism was fast becoming the most prolific, the fastest growing and the largest school in the country. Many of the highest Lamas in the land were Gelugs, many of the largest, most influential monasteries were Gelugpa; even other schools of Buddhism leant towards Gelug masters.

Today, because of the issue of the Protector, Gelugpas are eyed with suspicion. They are scrutinised more closely than anyone else in any other Tibetan Buddhist sect. Gelugpas are often automatically accused for being traitors to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause, for being sectarian and for doing negative practices. It is because of this issue - so closely and unfortunately linked to the Gelugpas - that the exiled Tibetan community and their monastic communities are so clearly divided down the middle. Families are turning against each other, friends are not permitted to speak to each other, the most sacred relationship between student and teacher is severed.

So much effort, resources, time, attention has been put into upholding this ban which really is just a more sophisticated way of saying that they're going all the way out to destroy a single religious belief. I'm not sure what that says about a governing body in the 21st century! What other government would invest this much time into suppressing a religion, instead of providing the most basic amenities of education, medical aid and opportunities for the betterment of their own people??  Well, clearly, not the very developed ones.

Thanks again for this. It's a good eye opener and a new way of thinking about things, even for those of us who have already studied these for years in schools across the West. I do hope that this letters gets out there and is read by the very people who are recreating this same oppressive religious regime within one of the world's fastest religions: the Tibetan Buddhists. They should, for the betterment of themselves and their own standing in the world, if nothing else.   

[michaela]

When we relate back the issue of DS, from everything that HHDL said about DS, one statement really hit me when he said, DS issue is the issue of spirit worship.  Maybe it is my ego getting hit when my very own protector is equalized with the spirit of Gyalpo class.  It is not even received the same class of attention as the issues of Catholic vs. Protestants of the past.

After the ban is in place for more than a decade, when major world periodicals mentioned about DS issue, DS did not get prominent place, they often mentioned that it is a weird looking deity that is at odd with HHDL.    

I think this is proof that the ban has outlived its usefulness and should be lifted.  Thus, the high Lamas who work underground can openly promote and teach about DS practice.

[prodorjeshugden]

I don't see anything different between the Dorje Shugden ban and those inquisitions and prosecutions...
The injustice done to people who practice Dorje Shugden  does not differ much from the other prosecutions mentioned in the post.
The Dorje Shugden Ban has also split hundreds of families apart and turned friend into foe.
I really hope that the ban ends soon and may it end in peace...

Thank you Beggar for writing this interesting and informative post.

[SabS]

It has been 20 years since the ban officially started and yet it is still very much in place although recently the Dalai Lama seemed to be softening his stance in saying that Dorje Shugden does not harm him nor the Tibetan Freedom cause. And he said we can practice as well as acknowledging the monasteries that practices Dorje Shugden as their Protector, ie. Shar Gaden and Serpom. It is a beginning but his statements still needed to be disseminated to CTA and his followers to stop their Anti-Shugden activities, which has escalated into having monks wearing badges declaring their Anti-Shugden status. Definitely as badge of shame for all to see due their segregation of religious practitioners. Just as the Jews were marked by the Nazis, CTA mark themselves as the oppressor.

I do wonder though, with the world having gone through the horrendous genocide during the World War 2, why aren't the governments of affected persecutions not stand up to CTA on their blatant abuses and promotion of harm towards the Shugden practitioners? Even United Nations of Human Rights Committee closed their eyes to the wrongful sufferings of Tibeten Shugden practitioners.

May the Dalai Lama's softening towards the practice of Dorje Shugden swiftly move to a full lifting of the ban and may all Tibetan Buddhist practitioners reunite to practice in harmony and acceptance as it should be.