Interesting summary of the ban

[Ensapa]

Here's an interesting and informative summary of the ban on Dorje Shugden and has transpired during 2008 and my own comments to them in blue.

* Agents of the Dalai Lama are trying to destroy Palgyeling Monastery in Nepal.
* Mobs supportive of the Dalai Lama’s ban burnt down the house and hotel of Tenzing Choegyal (Zongkar Choede) in New Delhi last Thursday.
And...this is Buddhist in what way?
* A doctor who was helping Dorje Shugden practitioners was attacked yesterday at a clinic in a Tibetan settlement (Ooti) that was giving out medicines for tuberculosis.
* The Dalai Lama’s sister Pema is in Paris starting the forced signature campaign of Tibetans in France.
* The forced signature campaign is being arranged for Madison, US, in July 2008.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama has been in England talking about tolerance, religious harmony and the need for dialog with one’s enemies. He has still refused every single request to discuss the unlawful ban on the worship of Dorje Shugden.

Segregation

Today the entire Tibetan population is being forced to hold an Identity Card, the YELLOW CARD, proving that they took the oath swearing (1) not to worship Dorje Shugden, and (2) not to have any material or spiritual relationship with Dorje Shugden practitioners.
Whatever happened to tolerance?
This segregates and denies the human rights of both monastics and lay families.

Segregation in the monasteries

Buddhist monks and nuns who do not swear and are not given the Yellow Card are:

* Not allowed to eat with others
* Deprived of food. They are not allowed in any of the monastery’s kitchens. Even if they receive some external help for their survival, they cannot buy food from the monastery’s shop or anywhere in the nearby Tibetan settlements
* Not allowed to set foot in their main temple,
* Not allowed to attend the daily monastic gatherings of prayers, rituals and debates
* Having to be protected by Indian police to attend the sacred yearly Monlam Chenmo Festival, created by their religious founder Je Tsongkapa.
* Receiving violent threats in the neighbouring Tibetan settlements, cowardly posted during the night

It is forbidden to talk to them. It is forbidden to walk close to them. If you see one of them, you have to deviate your steps to not cross his or her path.
Can you imagine the demerits from doing this? HHDL has only said not to practice, but is this measure necessary?
Segregation in the lay community

Lay Tibetans have been made to swear the double oath of not worshipping the Protector Dorje Shugden themselves as well as forsaking all contact with the monastic practitioners.

Those who do not swear and are not given the Yellow Card:

* Are not allowed to travel in the same taxicab or rickshaw with other Tibetans.
* Cannot purchase even the most essential groceries (their children cannot even buy candy)
* Eat in any restaurant
* Lose their jobs
* Have their children expelled from school
I wonder what would Nelson Madela said if he heard knew....what would he tell the Dalai Lama?
Definition of Segregation from Cornell: 3 -Segregation -1. enforced separation of groups: the practice of keeping ethnic, racial, religious, or gender groups separate, especially by enforcing the use of separate schools, transportation, housing, and other facilities, and usually discriminating against a minority group.
4 -A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, and assembly [.] and the right to equality in public places.
Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of their membership in a particular group or class. (Cornell University Law School).]

Does the Dalai Lama have the right to do this?

Although the world has been served an image of the Dalai Lama as the religious leader — a Pope of sorts — of all Buddhists, he is not. He does not have any religious authority to do what he is doing. In a general way this is because Buddhism accepts all internal religious beliefs and doesn’t harbor the notion of persecuting heresy, and in particular because there is no level of authority in the Buddhist religion to order or implement a religious persecution.

Who is responsible for the ban, Yellow Card and resulting penalties for those who disobey?

Everything going on now is the direct responsibility of the Dalai Lama. He has been campaigning personally to push the abbots and monks to do the referendum and make others take the double oath.
Whatever the CTA does will also use his name as a cover and justification. Whatever they do, right or wrong can be hid under the Dalai Lama's name.
He is responsible for the persecution because he chose the necessary words to push Tibetans to become the tormentors of their fellow exiles by repeating four calumnies over and over again:

1-The worshipping of Dorje Shugden endangers his life
2-It harms the cause of Tibet.
3-Practitioners assassinated three monks in Dharamsala in the 1990s
4-Practitioners are working for the Chinese to harm the cause of Tibet
None of these are true, but lies will become the truth if repeated and enforced enough and this is a clear case of it
To measure how deep the crisis goes, consider the following statement by Ngawang Tenpa, Officer of the Cholsum organization, the largest regional group in Tibetan politics:

“It is possible to think of a time when we will make friends with the Chinese, but with these (Dorje Shugden) people – never.”

What if the Dalai Lama says that it is alright to practice again and that he is the main protector of Tibet? what will you do then?

To me, this summary covers some additional information about the ban that we should all be aware of, and the effects it has on the people of Dharamsala and how much they are suffering, and how HHDL's followers are contradicting the Dharma.Just because HHDL does not speak up against it, it is obvious that such actions are wrong by logic, so why even on a very secular sense do these people are unable to not do something very basic like not harm others? Where is all the Dharma when you need it the most?

[Vajraprotector]

To me, this summary covers some additional information about the ban that we should all be aware of, and the effects it has on the people of Dharamsala and how much they are suffering, and how HHDL's followers are contradicting the Dharma.Just because HHDL does not speak up against it, it is obvious that such actions are wrong by logic, so why even on a very secular sense do these people are unable to not do something very basic like not harm others? Where is all the Dharma when you need it the most?

The weird thing is that His Holiness himself has denied the devastating effect of the ban on Dorje Shugden practitioners.

In a documentary, when the Dalai Lama was asked why he would not simply advise against the practice and then otherwise be tolerant, advising against violence, he repeated his statement that no one was being harmed. When confronted by the reporter about the announcements advocating violent action in newspapers and wall postings His Holiness said he thought it was rumours. When asked "All the great masters who have worshipped the deity for centuries, was all of that wrong?" the Dalai Lama replied simply "Wrong! Yes! Wrong!".


From the transcript of programme "10 vor 10" shown on Swiss National TV SF1 in 1998

Question to the Dalai Lama (1)
Reporter: "Are you aware the potential for violence that your ban contains when Tibetans think that your life is in danger?"   

Dalai Lama: No! No!...No No! (meant as denial of the violence)   

He continues to bring up the subject in public discussions. A commission of his government in exile found no wrong doing against the worshippers of this deity.

Dalai Lama: "Everybody you can ask. The majority, I think 99%, completely agrees or follows my advice, and from this side, NO SINGLE record about violence."


Question to the Dalai Lama (2)    
Reporter: Why don't you simply advise people not to worship the deity Dorje Shugden and instruct others to be tolerant and avoid violence towards those who continue to worship it?

Dalai Lama: Nobody harming! Nobody harming on them!

Reporter: But I've seen the calls for violence in the newspapers

Dalai Lama: No, no, no

Reporter: I've seen it with my own eyes

Dalai Lama: No, I think rumors!

[Ensapa]

This is another interesting piece extracted from a longer article on CTA and Tibet:

The Dalai Lama: Religious Tolerance, Human Values

According to the Toulouse Tibetan festival website, the purpose of the Dalai Lama’s visit to the French town was to engage in dialogue on the promotion of human values, the promotion of tolerance among religions and the well-being of the Tibetan people.

The official press reports of the Toulouse Tibetan festival were relayed by the French media without any discussion as to their validity or veracity. It is well known, for example, that the Dalai Lama has outlawed the Dorje Shugden sect of Buddhism in Dharamsala, India, the city which is home to the separatist Tibetan government in exile.

In 2008, France 24 broadcast a report from Dharamsala where they filmed Dorje Shugden monks being shunned by the local community on the Dalai Lama’s orders. The report showed how signs are regularly put on many shops in the region forbidding the entry of Dorje Shugden worshipers. According to the report, whole families have been ostracized due to their belief in the traditional Buddhist god Dorje Shugden.

Although the Dalai Lama claims that Dorje Shugden is a demon and that the cult is a deviation, the worship of the Dorje Shugden is widespread throughout traditional Tibetan Buddhism. Since the Dalai Lama’s decision to outlaw this practice, thousands of monks have been excluded from visiting temples. In fact, the Dalai Lama’s dictatorial campaign against the Dorje Shugden religion threatens to exclude over 4 million Tibetans from practicing their religion.

According to the Dalai Lama, the Dorje Shugden are traitors to the cause of Tibetan independence. Such is the Tibetan leader’s “tolerance”. The Dalai Lama’s violations of human rights are rarely, if ever, mentioned among the cacophony of hysterical “free Tibet” sloganeering in the mass media.

Death threats and the ostracism of whole families who practice this traditional form of Buddhism are common in Dharamsala.  Thousands of people have had to flee Dharamsala due to the “tolerant” Dalai Lama’s commands.  Many people have been murdered.

The French documentary made it abundantly clear that the Dalai Lama functions as an absolute dictator in Dharamsala. The French film crew was even prevented by Tibetan officials from recording a dispute between a Dorje Shugden monk and his pro-Dalai Lama opponent.

Breaking with official orthodoxy, the France 24 report admitted that the Dalai Lama and his independence movement has no popular support in Tibet and that many Tibetans actually fear a return to the days of Lama autocracy. One of the thousands of Doje Shugden practitioners who fled from Dalai Lama worshipers told France 24 reporters:

If he’s really Buddha, if he’s really god, you know, he won’t create so many problems, you know, he won’t give us such trouble. I believe if he is a Buddha, he won’t create any problem for one human being, so we have changed our mind now, we don’t see him as we saw him earlier.

The Dalai Lama’s problem with these Buddhists is simply that they worship the symbolic god Dorje Shugden and not “his holiness, the Dalai Lama”. The exiled leader is persecuting Buddhists for not worshiping himself and his insatiable desire to become the puppet dictator of a ‘free Tibet’ under NATO hegemony. Any worshiper of Dorje Shugden is, then, automatically dismissed as an ‘agent’ of China.

The France 24 report also admitted that the Dorje Shugden community constitutes the majority in Tibet and that they were almost all pro-Chinese government.

In France we tend to associate Tibet with the Dalai Lama but there are many Tibetans who are Buddhists, who think that China actually contributed something to Tibet.

The reporter adroitly omitted the “quelque chose” which Tibetans thank the CPC for; namely, the liberation from serfdom!

After the reportage, the France 24 presenter asked one of the correspondents Capucine Henry:

So just how taboo is it to criticize the Dalai Lama?

To which Madame Henry replied:

It’s completely taboo. Actually our shooting of the reportage was very difficult because we had our camera smashed in. The Dalai Lama is considered as a living god. He has achieved a level of clairvoyance that means that every decision he takes is the rule of law. If you criticize the Dalai Lama, you are judged to be a Chinese spy.

In spite of the fact that such revelations have been made by the mainstream French press in the past, it is astonishing that none of this was mentioned during last year’s Tibetan Festival in Toulouse, as the Tibetan dictator was presented to the French public as a benign philanthropist who supports “human rights”,  “tolerance”, peace, and “Tibetan freedom”, while politely spreading the word about “Chinese cultural genocide”. Nothing could be further from the truth.18

http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/06/dalai-lama-cult-postmodern-neo-feudalism-and-the-decline-of-the-west/

Can you believe that the Tibetans actually destroyed the video camera?! That was scary to think of "peaceful" Tibetans doing such an act, all in the name of the Dalai Lama, they carried out barbaric acts against others. Over time there will be more and more exposure to the ignorance of the Tibetans and more and more people will lose trust in them unless they change and lift the ban for the sake of their credibility.

[biggyboy]

If HHDL is known to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara why would he ban the practice and caused sufferings and harm to Dorje Shugden practitioners, their families and friends?  Isn’t this contradictory act of Avalokiteshvara, a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas?  Why?  I am asking this is not that I do not respect HHDL, but it is too contradictory and I don’t comprehend it at all.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso even questioned further in an interview http://www.tricycle.com/special-section/an-interview-with-geshe-kelsang-gyatso

“GKG:If he is an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara why he is causing so many people suffering? Why is he causing the spiritual life of so many people to be destroyed? Now there is big confusion. Since His Holiness the Dalai Lama removed Shugden statues from Gelugpa monasteries and temples and claimed that Shugden is a worldly, harmful spirit, people throughout the Buddhist world have begun to have doubts about the general dharma of the Gelugpa tradition, and in particular the dharma of Je Pabongka and Trijang Rinpoche. Now you can see the belief pervading everywhere that these lamas and their tradition are invalid and impure. How can His Holiness the Dalai Lama do this, unless he thinks that the dharma taught by Trijang Rinpoche is not the real dharma? What he is doing now is putting great effort to destroy the Dharma taught by his own spiritual guide. This is a very horrible example, because every Buddhist practitioner believes that relying on the spiritual guide is the root of the path and the very essence of the practice. He is showing that the lama or spiritual guide doesn’t matter. How can Avalokiteshvara do this?”

[kris]

Regarding the ban, it always puzzle me.. I know HH Dalai has only give instructions to ask people not to practice, but he never ask his administrator to ill treat those who practice, but his administration went ALL THE WAY to discriminate the monks, lay practitioners and their family. But to me, it is the same as HH Dalai Lama giving the instruction. Why? Because he kept silent and allowing it to happen, and to me, he is "approving" it.

This is indeed very sad.

CTA must practice "Tibetans first and religion second". NOW.

To me, that is the freedom we should be talking about!

[Big Uncle]

The Dalai Lama’s proposal to retire from his political role — formally ending a 370-year-old tradition — has finally been accepted by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile after 10 days of emotional debate in the north Indian town of Dharamsala. ~ March 28, 2011, China Realtime Report http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/03/28/dalai-lama-retirement-accepted-so-now-what-for-china-tibet/

Looks like the Dalai Lama has resigned and this has a lot of implications and I am not sure if you guys understand. It doesn't really matter anymore about who ordered the ban in the past, which in this case was the Dalai Lama. However, the 'baton' has been passed to the lay leaders of the Central Tibetan Administration. So, I feel they are responsible for this archaic religious ban now and not the Dalai Lama because they are in power and they can put into place or remove whatever is it that is hindering social harmony.

From the look of things, I don't think the Dalai Lama will be the one that is going to abolish the ban. It has fallen into the hands of these lay people and I believe that they have the power and say in this matter. Actually, it is a good thing that the new leaders are all lay people because they can act based upon secular matters. I believe this has been put into place by the Dalai Lama and he is doing this so that people learn to take matters of state into their own hands. I believe that if the CTA propose abolishment of the ban in support of secular rule and with good explanations, the Dalai Lama wouldn't object to this matter at all.

So, all this information in this thread, especially on the effects of the ban should be presented to the CTA and not the Dalai Lama. There should particular emphasis on what CTA is going to do for the fragmented Tibetan society in India. Are they just going to kick back and leave it all on the Dalai Lama or are they going to do something about it. I believe what they do would have huge implications on the survival of CTA.

[VivianChin]

This segregation thingy has reminded me of the Caste system in India, which has been criticised by activists from both within and outside of India. They consider the caste system a form of racial discrimination.
It seems that under the government of CTA, Shugden practitioners have become the untouchables with no human rights.

Here is the summary of Caste system in India:
India's caste system has four main classes (also called varnas) based originally on personality, profession, and birth. In descending order, the classes are as follows:

1. Brahmana : Consist of those engaged in scriptural education and teaching, essential for the continuation of knowledge.
2. Kshatriya : Take on all forms of public service, including administration, maintenance of law and order, and defense.
3. Vaishya : Engage in commercial activity as businessmen.
4. Shudra : Work as semi-skilled and unskilled laborers.
5. Below these castes are the outcasts who are untouchable to the four castes. These untouchables worked in degrading jobs like cleaning, sewage etc.

The first three castes had social and economical rights which the Shudra and the untouchables did not have. The first three castes are also seen as 'twice born'. The intention in these two births is to the natural birth and to the ceremonial entrance to the society at a much later age.
The most obvious problem with this system was that under its rigidity, the lower castes were prevented from aspiring to climb higher, and, therefore, economic progress was restricted.
The maltreatment of untouchable in India has been described by some authors as "India's hidden apartheid", which defies every civilized notion of justice and equality.

[dsiluvu]

The Dalai Lama’s proposal to retire from his political role — formally ending a 370-year-old tradition — has finally been accepted by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile after 10 days of emotional debate in the north Indian town of Dharamsala. ~ March 28, 2011, China Realtime Report http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/03/28/dalai-lama-retirement-accepted-so-now-what-for-china-tibet/

Looks like the Dalai Lama has resigned and this has a lot of implications and I am not sure if you guys understand. It doesn't really matter anymore about who ordered the ban in the past, which in this case was the Dalai Lama. However, the 'baton' has been passed to the lay leaders of the Central Tibetan Administration. So, I feel they are responsible for this archaic religious ban now and not the Dalai Lama because they are in power and they can put into place or remove whatever is it that is hindering social harmony.

From the look of things, I don't think the Dalai Lama will be the one that is going to abolish the ban. It has fallen into the hands of these lay people and I believe that they have the power and say in this matter. Actually, it is a good thing that the new leaders are all lay people because they can act based upon secular matters. I believe this has been put into place by the Dalai Lama and he is doing this so that people learn to take matters of state into their own hands. I believe that if the CTA propose abolishment of the ban in support of secular rule and with good explanations, the Dalai Lama wouldn't object to this matter at all.

So, all this information in this thread, especially on the effects of the ban should be presented to the CTA and not the Dalai Lama. There should particular emphasis on what CTA is going to do for the fragmented Tibetan society in India. Are they just going to kick back and leave it all on the Dalai Lama or are they going to do something about it. I believe what they do would have huge implications on the survival of CTA.

THANK YOU BIG UNCLE.  Someone finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel! Well I KNEW IT! I knew this would happened... it was hinted and directed and probably premeditated right up to this stage by His Holiness and Thank Him!

I Strongly feel that this is exactly what He wanted and that the whole entire system of a God Like Spiritual & Temporal Leader be abolished completely. He has even mentioned in a few interviews clearly He does not feel there is a need for any more Dalai Lamas. What is His Holiness really doing? Looks like he is changing the entire system that He probably saw there is a need for change if they wanted a chance for the Tibetans to transform and stand on their own instead of always using His Holiness to do their secular job.

In this way I believe His Holiness is truly compassionate and a Avalokiteshvara because He doesn't just look at this life but way far in to the future. The future of Tibetan people belongs to Tibetan people. The CTA now being lead by a lay Tibetan should see this change as a platform to straighten sectarianism in all the Vajrayana schools. And they have the best logical reason for it - well because they are "DEMOCRATIC" No longer can anyone from any sect complain, be jealous, cause schism that would affect their very own people. Because religious affairs ought to be dealt with by respective religious Heads within the Democratic guidelines of Religious Freedom like in many democratic countries.

From this note... I see progress and hope that the BAN can and will be lifted sooner then we think. Because no Democratic government can go get away from Human rights issues such as this, no even China. Hence CTA better clean up their closets, their act and their stance as a Democratic govt. Better do it quick before His Holiness passes because after taht, sorry to say, your voice in the world would even be smaller and probably not even heard. The world will be watching!

[Ensapa]

The Dalai Lama’s proposal to retire from his political role — formally ending a 370-year-old tradition — has finally been accepted by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile after 10 days of emotional debate in the north Indian town of Dharamsala. ~ March 28, 2011, China Realtime Report http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/03/28/dalai-lama-retirement-accepted-so-now-what-for-china-tibet/

Looks like the Dalai Lama has resigned and this has a lot of implications and I am not sure if you guys understand. It doesn't really matter anymore about who ordered the ban in the past, which in this case was the Dalai Lama. However, the 'baton' has been passed to the lay leaders of the Central Tibetan Administration. So, I feel they are responsible for this archaic religious ban now and not the Dalai Lama because they are in power and they can put into place or remove whatever is it that is hindering social harmony.

From the look of things, I don't think the Dalai Lama will be the one that is going to abolish the ban. It has fallen into the hands of these lay people and I believe that they have the power and say in this matter. Actually, it is a good thing that the new leaders are all lay people because they can act based upon secular matters. I believe this has been put into place by the Dalai Lama and he is doing this so that people learn to take matters of state into their own hands. I believe that if the CTA propose abolishment of the ban in support of secular rule and with good explanations, the Dalai Lama wouldn't object to this matter at all.

So, all this information in this thread, especially on the effects of the ban should be presented to the CTA and not the Dalai Lama. There should particular emphasis on what CTA is going to do for the fragmented Tibetan society in India. Are they just going to kick back and leave it all on the Dalai Lama or are they going to do something about it. I believe what they do would have huge implications on the survival of CTA.

It has been 9 months since this post but HHDL's grip in CTA is still quite strong and it seems that the sikyong isnt doing anything much to differentiate between religion and state so i'd say that in this aspect he has failed in leading Tibet to a new dawn. Unfortunately Dharamsala is still in a very dark state now because they are spending a lot of unnecessary resources on the Dorje Shugden ban and organizing self immolations...and not to mention protests that do not really bring them anywhere. They should really stop the poor me tactics before the rest of the world gets really annoyed with them and ignores them completely and work towards building a more harmonious society.

[vajratruth]

It has been 9 months since this post but HHDL's grip in CTA is still quite strong and it seems that the sikyong isnt doing anything much to differentiate between religion and state so i'd say that in this aspect he has failed in leading Tibet to a new dawn. Unfortunately Dharamsala is still in a very dark state now because they are spending a lot of unnecessary resources on the Dorje Shugden ban and organizing self immolations...and not to mention protests that do not really bring them anywhere. They should really stop the poor me tactics before the rest of the world gets really annoyed with them and ignores them completely and work towards building a more harmonious society.

Yes, time flies and it has been quite a few years since the Dorje Shugden ban was imposed and the CTA under Dr Lobsang Sangay has not done anything to lift the ban on a holy practice that was accused of being harmful to the Dalai Lama and also the Tibetan cause. This has proven to be patently untrue and yet the lies persist. Despite this the practice has grown throughout the world, reincarnated Shugden lamas grow wiser and more learned by the day as old attainments are revived. Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche has also come out in public to teach and give empowerments. All these are not surprising developments because you cannot suppress a Buddha.

What is surprising is how the CTA foolishly continue with the ban despite it not having any real effect whatsoever. If there was a political motive behind the imposition of the ban, there doesn't seem to be any more mileage to be gained from this foolish enterprise so why Dr Lobsang Sangay reverse the ban and win the hearts of the Tibetan people again?

[Ensapa]

It has been 9 months since this post but HHDL's grip in CTA is still quite strong and it seems that the sikyong isnt doing anything much to differentiate between religion and state so i'd say that in this aspect he has failed in leading Tibet to a new dawn. Unfortunately Dharamsala is still in a very dark state now because they are spending a lot of unnecessary resources on the Dorje Shugden ban and organizing self immolations...and not to mention protests that do not really bring them anywhere. They should really stop the poor me tactics before the rest of the world gets really annoyed with them and ignores them completely and work towards building a more harmonious society.

Yes, time flies and it has been quite a few years since the Dorje Shugden ban was imposed and the CTA under Dr Lobsang Sangay has not done anything to lift the ban on a holy practice that was accused of being harmful to the Dalai Lama and also the Tibetan cause. This has proven to be patently untrue and yet the lies persist. Despite this the practice has grown throughout the world, reincarnated Shugden lamas grow wiser and more learned by the day as old attainments are revived. Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche has also come out in public to teach and give empowerments. All these are not surprising developments because you cannot suppress a Buddha.

What is surprising is how the CTA foolishly continue with the ban despite it not having any real effect whatsoever. If there was a political motive behind the imposition of the ban, there doesn't seem to be any more mileage to be gained from this foolish enterprise so why Dr Lobsang Sangay reverse the ban and win the hearts of the Tibetan people again?

The only reason why the people in CTA foolishly uphold the ban is because they are doing it for only their own benefit and they want to get into the good books of the Dalai Lama no matter what but sadly they would resort to violence in order to get into the Dalai Lama's good books and other stupid things such as upholding the ban, enacting self immolations and also resort to poor me tactics in the eyes of the international community. It is really a pity that LS who could have revolutionized the Tibetan secular ruling system prefers to stick to the old ways that bring no benefit and is no longer relevant to our time.

[Big Uncle]

It has been 9 months since this post but HHDL's grip in CTA is still quite strong and it seems that the sikyong isnt doing anything much to differentiate between religion and state so i'd say that in this aspect he has failed in leading Tibet to a new dawn. Unfortunately Dharamsala is still in a very dark state now because they are spending a lot of unnecessary resources on the Dorje Shugden ban and organizing self immolations...and not to mention protests that do not really bring them anywhere. They should really stop the poor me tactics before the rest of the world gets really annoyed with them and ignores them completely and work towards building a more harmonious society.

I know. I guess my speculation of the ban was wrong and that the lay people within the administration are just puppets and unable to implement real changes. This is too bad because the dynamics have changed now. Since they do not want to abolish the ban on Dorje Shugden, they will have no power to do so in the future especially when the Dalai Lama is not with us anymore. When the Dalai Lama is no longer with us, the ban has to be carried on because it was the Dalai Lama's wishes.

To me, I think only the Dalai Lama can revoke the ban on Dorje Shugden now otherwise, this big rift will remain within Tibetan society based on one's affiliations to Dorje Shugden. It will be difficult for any other Lama to fill in the Dalai Lama's shoes, let alone remove the ban instituted by him. That's how I feel about the matter. Actually, the very fact that the Dalai Lama is toning down on speaking against Dorje Shugden is a good sign that he will do that soon. I really hope I am right about this.

[Ensapa]

I know. I guess my speculation of the ban was wrong and that the lay people within the administration are just puppets and unable to implement real changes. This is too bad because the dynamics have changed now. Since they do not want to abolish the ban on Dorje Shugden, they will have no power to do so in the future especially when the Dalai Lama is not with us anymore. When the Dalai Lama is no longer with us, the ban has to be carried on because it was the Dalai Lama's wishes.

To me, I think only the Dalai Lama can revoke the ban on Dorje Shugden now otherwise, this big rift will remain within Tibetan society based on one's affiliations to Dorje Shugden. It will be difficult for any other Lama to fill in the Dalai Lama's shoes, let alone remove the ban instituted by him. That's how I feel about the matter. Actually, the very fact that the Dalai Lama is toning down on speaking against Dorje Shugden is a good sign that he will do that soon. I really hope I am right about this.

Unfortunately, when the Dalai Lama enters clear light, CTA will be lost and they will be unable to sustain themselves without the Dalai Lama's support or advice. As head of secular state, Lobsang Sanggay has more than enough power and reason to remove the Dorje Shugden ban and reallocate the resources from there to do something else such as improving the community in Dharamsala or really advocate freedom of speech where people are free to choose what religious practices they want without facing any sort of harassment. It is a shame that CTA chose to discriminate against Dorje Shugden practitioners when they are okay with Tibetans practicing Islam or Christianity...shows the world how bigoted they are.

[christine V]

Dear Ensapa, thank you for sharing the summary about the ban. I would not know that there are so many violence, injustice cases done for Dorje Shugden practitioners, especially within the Tibetan. These ban, are so not moral, not even showed how a Buddhist practitioners should be,and, as a Buddhist we always trying to tell the other religion practitioners to practice peace and harmony.

As for Dalai Lama, Yes, he kept silent on these violence cases that happened. But, as long as there are no official letter or any instruction from H.H, I choose to believes that H.H will not asked his office to Killed or to do extreme cases. The reason only one, we believes he is the emanation of the Compassion Boddhisattvas- Alokeitesvara. A Boddhisattva will not involve in killing.

So, the question is- who are the actual culprit that have done this extreme action on the Ban.

[Ensapa]

Dear Ensapa, thank you for sharing the summary about the ban. I would not know that there are so many violence, injustice cases done for Dorje Shugden practitioners, especially within the Tibetan. These ban, are so not moral, not even showed how a Buddhist practitioners should be,and, as a Buddhist we always trying to tell the other religion practitioners to practice peace and harmony.

As for Dalai Lama, Yes, he kept silent on these violence cases that happened. But, as long as there are no official letter or any instruction from H.H, I choose to believes that H.H will not asked his office to Killed or to do extreme cases. The reason only one, we believes he is the emanation of the Compassion Boddhisattvas- Alokeitesvara. A Boddhisattva will not involve in killing.

So, the question is- who are the actual culprit that have done this extreme action on the Ban.

It is still quite difficult to actually pinpoint whether or not what the Dalai Lama did was for a higher purpose, but if the previous Trijang Rinpoche has implied it via Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors, then I would say that there is because it cannot be that Trijang Rinpoche is wrong. Maybe the bigger picture would appear in due time or when the ban is lifted that everybody will finally reconcile - those that were divided by the ban. So we just have to bear this for now so that better things can come ahead for us and use this time to actualize what has been taught about patience and effort.