The Dalai Lama and controversial Buddhist masters

[beggar]

Wow the website is on a roll today! I just logged on and saw a whole collection of new articles up. Well done and thank you!

Now here's an interesting take - the Dalai Lama associates with EVERYONE in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, even the most controversial Buddhist masters, except Shugdenpas. And he reminds us how important it is for us to "criticize openly" our teachers when they act out of line. But no one is permitted to question or even discuss the ban on Shugden? Why are there so many double standards in this?

Have a read - some good points for further thought and yet another penetrating perspective. Thanks again to everyone at the website for the valuable new insights!

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To our friends in the Dharma,

“When teachers break the precepts, behaving in ways that are clearly damaging to themselves and others,  students must face the situation,  even though this can be challenging, criticize openly,
that's the only way.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama

We bring a topic of interest and great importance to you today and hope you will take the time to read what we have to say. As you will probably know, there are many controversies and scandals that occur across every religion. Buddhism is no exception. We found a very interesting article online on viewonbuddhism.org, which we have attached here for your reference: “Controversial ‘Buddhist’ Teachers and Groups.”
(http://viewonbuddhism.org/controversy-controversial-teacher-group-center-questionable.html)

First, however, we must make it clear that we are NOT condoning everything that is stated in this article and we are not proclaiming to be an authority to comment on the authenticity or actions of any of the teachers mentioned in the article. We wish to simply draw your attention to some aspects to be aware of as we thread our spiritual path.

In particular, we wish to point out the relationship that the Dalai Lama has with some of these personalities. As the spiritual head of millions of Tibetan Buddhists around the world, we believe it is all the more important that he is transparent in his teachings and instructions. In the last two decades, the Dalai Lama has taken a very militant stance against people who pray to the Buddhist Protector Dorje Shugden, going to the extent of banning the practice. People who continue the practice are considered traitors to the Dalai Lama and to the cause of Tibet’s independence (we will never understand why a religious practice would have any bearing on a political issue but that is not a point that seems to be ever addressed by the Dalai Lama and his supporters).

Today, the situation is such that anyone of any faith, background, religious tradition or culture may attend teachings and public events with the Dalai Lama. Newspapers the world over splash headlines of historic meetings between the Dalai Lama, religious leaders and spiritual groups everywhere. He is widely photographed in inter-faith prayer sessions with Christians, the Pope, Muslims, secular leaders and presidents.

However, Dorje Shugden practitioners – who are also Buddhists and of the same Buddhist school (Gelug) as the Dalai Lama himself – are prohibited from even going to greet him. Non-Shugden practitioners within the Tibetan communities are not allowed to associate, practice or even talk to Shugden practitioners. In most cases, grocery shops are not even permitted to sell items to Shugden practitioners.

Now, let’s look again at this article from viewonbuddhism.org. The beginnings of the article quotes His Holiness the Dalai Lama calling for the action of individuals to “face the situation” and “criticize openly” when “teachers break precepts, behaving in ways that are clearly damaging to themselves and others”.

This has been the biggest question within the Buddhist community. How can such blatant exclusion of a group of practitioners and the denial of religious freedom towards fellow Buddhists be in line with any Buddhist precept or vow? The heart of Buddhism is kindness and not to harm anyone. But in this case, Shugden practitioners are being discriminated against and even attacked by their own fellow Buddhists.

Above all, they are denied and rejected by their own spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. In many cases, the Dalai Lama is also one of their teachers. Many Shugden practitioners find themselves in the terrible dilemma of having to “choose” between one teacher who has advised them to pray to Dorje Shugden and the Dalai Lama who is now telling them it is a wrong practice. The relationship with the spiritual teacher is a most crucial part of the Vajrayana Buddhist practices, so this dilemma is an especially difficult one for practitioners.

In stark contrast, we note that the Dalai Lama has been seen to publicly meet, support and even praise other very controversial spiritual figures, including people listed on this article. For example, he has been clearly photographed with Shoko Asahara of the Aum Shinrikyo group in Japan, famous for having launched sarin gas attacks on train passengers. The Dalai Lama is quoted as saying to Asahara, “You should spread real Buddhism there [in Japan]. … You can do that well, because you have the mind of a Buddha. If you do so, I shall be very pleased. It will help me with my mission.” The Dalai Lama has also been seen to closely associate with Sogyal Rinpoche, also on this list of questionable masters (See more information on Sogyal Rinpoche here: wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2011/07/sogyal-rinpoche-in-sex-abuse-scandal.html)

So it seems that the Dalai Lama will meet anyone, of any faith, except those who pray to Dorje Shugden. Is this fair? Does this support human rights in anyway? Is this the action of a globally loved religious leader? There are many contradictions and inconsistencies within this issue of Dorje Shugden’s practice. Much of what the Dalai Lama says or does not accord with the teachings or the Dharma. Even the reasons for why the practice is not correct are illogical and go far against the most basic principles of Buddhism. (There is much discussion about this on dorjeshugden.com or on its forum, dorjeshugden.com/forum).

We do not mean any disrespect towards the Dalai Lama. We have always maintained a great deal of respect and love for His Holiness, with much admiration for how much he has been able to bring Buddhism to so many millions in the world. We wish only for transparency, dialogue and a clear explanation about what seems to be very contradictory and illogical actions on the part of the Dalai Lama, his supporters and government in exile (the Central Tibetan Administration).

We wish only to understand why it is okay for people of every other faith and belief to meet with the Dalai Lama, but his own students are shunned by him, simply because of a single religious choice they have made.

We urgently call for a change and for much needed progress within such religious policies. It is much needed for our modern times. We should not be contributing and creating further controversies than there already are in the world, especially not in one of the world’s fastest growing and beloved religions.


With much concern,
dorjeshugden.com   |        dorjeshugden.net        |      xiongdeng.com


(here's the original article, just published): http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/controversial-buddhism/)

[Galen]

No one can understand why the Dalai Lama making this strong stand against Dorje Shugden Practitioners. On the surface, it really looked like blatant discrimination against his own people, Gelug school of Buddhism, where people who practices Dorje Shugden could not associate with him and go near him. If his reasoning is because Dorje Shugden is a spirit, then please prove it to the people. HHDL could not just impose on one when this practice has been going on for more than 600 years. 

So far, those high Lamas like Trijang Rinpoche, Pabongka Rinpoche, Zong Rinpoche, to name a few are back in this world with their reincarnation. If these high Lamas were practicing a spirit, would that be a broken vow and that would be rebirth in the three lower realms. But they are back! How do you explain this?

Let's hope that there will be an explanation from the Dalai Lama before it is too late.

[DharmaSpace]

In many oppressive regimes where freedom of speech is not possible I believe people have developed the ability to read in between the lines.

Yes the Dalai Lama has associated with 'dodgy' figures, by are we guilty just by association, he is after all Avalokiteshvara can he not have compassion for such dodgy figures? The more negative the people he is after all blessing such controversial beings so that after such beings do descend to the lower realms there is hope for such beings.

I still think the Dalai Lama engages in subterfuge to bring the Dorje Shugden practice to all corners of the world. The more infamous the Dalai Lama makes Dorje Shugden the more this practice will spread like wildfire. People should not take the 'ban' so literally for their own benefit.

[vajratruth]

Frankly I am not sure if I should be impressed by HHDL's strategic prowess or be disturbed by how inconsistent and self contradictory the Dalai Lama is. On the one hand, I am completely bothered by how overtly unfair the Dalai Lama is towards Dorje Shugden practitioners. In light of what we know about how the Dalai Lama's ban has so adversely affected Shugden practitioners, and in light of his continuing discrimination against Shugden and his followers,  His Holiness's openness and acceptance of all people in the name of peace and love, with respect, reeks of hypocrisy. On the other hand, who knows what Avololiteshvara's plan is and it would be wrong to judge the workings of a Buddha based on our own shallow and uninformed minds.

I am sure I am not the only one who sees the contradictions and I am also quite certain that, if not the Dalai Lama, then his advisors, would certainly see that HHDL's own stance on Dorje Shugden makes a mockery of His Holiness's message of peace and acceptance which he communicates to the world. So why does he risk it?

I agree that there has to be a good explanation. For now, the advice of Trijang Rinpoche to keep supporting the Dalai Lama in his work, should be foremost in our mind regardless of how we may personally feel.

[Ensapa]

Frankly I am not sure if I should be impressed by HHDL's strategic prowess or be disturbed by how inconsistent and self contradictory the Dalai Lama is. On the one hand, I am completely bothered by how overtly unfair the Dalai Lama is towards Dorje Shugden practitioners. In light of what we know about how the Dalai Lama's ban has so adversely affected Shugden practitioners, and in light of his continuing discrimination against Shugden and his followers,  His Holiness's openness and acceptance of all people in the name of peace and love, with respect, reeks of hypocrisy. On the other hand, who knows what Avololiteshvara's plan is and it would be wrong to judge the workings of a Buddha based on our own shallow and uninformed minds.
To be honest, there are many things that bother me about the Dalai Lama too, but the main thing is about how he handled the Dorje Shugden issue. It is either a very elaborate play where he wants to test the strength of Dorje Shugden practitioners, or that he is a fraud like what the WSS claims him to be. Who am I to place an expectation of how a Buddha or high lama should act? So i'll just not take sides and follow Trijang Rinpoche's advice to Support the Dalai Lama.

I am sure I am not the only one who sees the contradictions and I am also quite certain that, if not the Dalai Lama, then his advisors, would certainly see that HHDL's own stance on Dorje Shugden makes a mockery of His Holiness's message of peace and acceptance which he communicates to the world. So why does he risk it?
Because he values Dharma practice more than politics, that's why. If enacting the ban can make the practitioners become more determined and matured, then the ban is on, but the Dalai Lama has also released many hints that he supports Dorje Shugden, subtle ones. So how?

I agree that there has to be a good explanation. For now, the advice of Trijang Rinpoche to keep supporting the Dalai Lama in his work, should be foremost in our mind regardless of how we may personally feel.
That is more important than anything else. If we trust in the lineage Gurus, we should not be selective in his advice: trust  his teachings on Lamrim and Tantra but not on how to handle the Dalai Lama.Then, might as well not trust in everything if we are selective in this.

Interesting perspective on this matter. It is nice of you to remember Trijang Rinpoche's advice that he gave in Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors. To me, that is really the best way to handle this situation. After all, he is Pabongkha Rinpoche's heart son and the teacher of so many teachers of this generation. He is a lineage holder of Ganden. If we dont listen to his advice, who else do we listen to besides our Gurus?

[kris]

I am always fascinated by the logics presented by this website and forum (of course, and the people behind them).

For whatever the reason there is such a ban, the monks, many of them are already very old, are suffering, and that needs to end. For that, we need to educate people around the world about this issue so that it is highlighted. Many people knows Tibet about its issue of independence, but most do not know there is such discrimination against their own people.

In the mean time, we need to get as many people to learn about this special deity Dorje Shugden, and when the ban is lifted, His practices can go very far and wide!

[diablo1974]

I would be confuse by the Dalai Lama movement to ban the practise if i have gotten the practice before the ban from my teachers. Guru devotion and samaya between guru and student is somehow the essence in tibetan buddhism. This topic of guru-student relationship issue pertaining to DS practice is brought up by many over and over again, but theres no clear answer from the dalai lama office. Will i break my samaya towards my guru if i give up my practice?

[yontenjamyang]

First and foremost we need to trust our Gurus. Everything that they do is for the benefit of others. If we do not understand or have a certain perception to the contrary we can ask the Gurus or others for better understanding. I take it that your Guru is someone you "selected" to be the most suitable for you and he has the qualities as stated in the 50 Stanzas on the Spiritual Teacher. Always keep your respect and faith. If you are not comfortable then please ask. Keep our mind and samaya clean. This is very important.

Next keep our trust in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. If we regard the Dalai Lama as Avalokitesvara we need to trust him also. The same applies as above. If what the Guru says and what the Dalai Lama says is contrary then that is a teaching in itself. We need to contemplate and "break through" our perceptions. If we still do not understand then we ask our Guru. If we still don't understand, then just have faith in the Guru. Check the results and not the action please. Sometimes the actual results take time.

Meanwhile, we check out practice. Did we transform? If so what is the result? Is it positive? We need to contemplate, transform, check the results and adjust our personal "in between meditation" practice always. That is the true practice. Not the prayers or mantra. Those prayers is just our help our practice.

So, don't judge the Dalai Lama or even the controversial Buddhist masters. Just transform ourselves. That is the true practice.

[Ensapa]

What is interesting is that the Dalai Lama has spoken very little about the Sogyal Rinpoche issue. As the 'pope' of Tibetan Buddhism, should he not speak up against his ways? The Dalai Lama has indirectly given advice to expose ill doings of Lamas who are not in accordance with traditionalist views, but why cant he directly single out Sogyal Rinpoche as he can and he could have? Or perhaps, he knows that as a Gelug, he should not interfere with Nyingma teachers.

FYI, the allegations against Sogyal are interesting enough and he has done little to refute them so far. This is not a Chongyam Trungpa case, as his 'dakinis' underwent mental, physical and emotional abuse.

the following is an account from one of the ex 'dakinis' who underwent such treatment:

The person who was probably most affected by Gerard’s obsession with Rigpa is his daughter Janine. Aged 22 in 2000 and outstandingly beautiful, she was already feeling parentally deprived because of Gerard’s  professional absences. Determined to take every opportunity to be close to him, Janine started attending Sogyal’s teachings with her father – usually falling asleep against his back. Inevitably Sogyal’s lasciviously roving eye alighted on Janine and in due course she was lured into the brainwashing process that leads to his bedroom.

In 2009 Janine spoke at length about her experiences with Sogyal in a series of recorded interviews. The way she was treated is identical in most respects to what happened to Dierdre Smith.

“We were at a retreat in Germany. He sent for me during his rest period and asked me to massage his hands and feet,” she says.”Afterwards he gave me his   schedule and his phone numbers – and almost immediately I was invited to join him for a holiday in Australia. This seemed like a nice thing to do so I said yes.

“I was met in Sydney by a wealthy family who were obviously under orders to look after me – and I was treated like a princess. They have a fabulous house where I was given a room and they arranged everything I wanted – yoga classes, shopping etc”.

Did Janine query this – and wonder why it was happening?
“Not really”, she says, “ I assumed Sogyal was being paternal in an Asian way. But I still hadn’t seen him. Then suddenly, in the middle of the night, he decided it was time to go to the beach.”

A convoy of cars set off. Janine found herself crammed into one of them with five other people, including Sogyal:
“I didn’t get a good impression” she says, “he virtually ignored me, which was not at all the Asian papa way – I think this was the moment when he started to manipulate my feelings.”

The time at the beach coincided with Valentine’s day. Janine was ordered to wear a best dress and turn up at Sogyal’s house for dinner. At this moment she realised the whole set up was  somewhat bizarre:

“There was Sogyal surrounded by five or six young pretty girls and there were no other men,” she says. “it was quite fun actually, we had nice drinks and we danced for him. Then at a certain point he asked me to go upstairs with him and massage his head.
P18

I made some sort of smart reply and he became angry. He said I was too proud and he would have to break my pride.”

A few months later Janine got a phone call asking her if she would like to take part in a special training.
“I accepted because it seemed to clarify my relationship with him. It turned out that the people involved were all women. We were put to work in the “lama kitchen.”  We called it hell, because it was an underground bunker – a horrible place. A Swiss woman (Renata) was in charge of us and the first three weeks were pure slavery – we worked non-stop doing the cleaning.

“We never saw Sogyal, but they gave us documents listing all the instructions he has given about caring for him around the world. There was nothing about Buddhism, but we were told the whole process was a teaching.

“They made us work so hard we didn’t have time for proper meals. We had to grab food  and eat standing up. We were constantly being told to run here or fetch this in a haphazard way – because basically Sogyal is not very organised.
He says he wants something and you have 50 people panicking to get it in five minutes.”

As Janine’s induction into the inner circle unfolded, she was assigned work inside Sogyal’s compound at Lerab Ling –  two chalets and a garden surrounded by a high fence. The next stage involved being Sogyal’s personal  servant – bringing his food and looking after him in minute detail – in the same manner described by Dierdre Smith.
“He made me the only person to interact with the other people. By this time I was sleeping on the floor in his room…every time he had a thought, I would write it down and communicate it. I had control of the phones and the walkie talkies.”

Sogyal is pampered like a medieval monarch – with a clique of women trained to respond to his slightest whim – day and night, 24/7. He is never alone and never lifts a finger to do anything for himself. After grooming her at record  speed (other girls complained she had been fast tracked out of ‘hell’s kitchen’), Sogyal pounced on Janine for the first time at a high stress moment:

“We had arranged to go to dinner at a restaurant to celebrate one of the other girls’ (Minou) birthday. Whenever Sogyal does something like this it is a major operation, involving anything up to 20 people. We have to send an advance party to the restaurant to make sure everything is exactly how he wants it, we have to polish up the big cars, pack his bags, wash him, dress him, collect his pillows, tissues and so on.

I was at the centre of the storm, co-ordinating the various strands and at that time I had had only about three hours sleep a night for the past month.”

When everything was ready and the people were waiting to leave, Sogyal and   Janine were alone in his chalet:
“He ordered me to take my clothes off. I thought it was another test, so I did as I was told. He told me to get onto the bed and we had sex. As this was happening he said ‘look into my eyes, this is the moment you connect with  your master.’  There were no preliminaries, he did not use a condom, my pleasure was not in the picture and it was all over in about three minutes. Afterwards he made me swear to keep it a secret, even from the other girls, and said if I did not keep the samaya it would be very bad for my karma and for the karma of my family.

“It happened again of course, especially at times of stress – before a teaching for example he has to have his fix. Sometimes it was every day, sometimes less often depending on how many girls he was into, or what was happening.
He is very selfish –  he never asks what you would like, it’s always him giving  orders. Sometimes there is some petting afterwards and he reminds you how lucky you are. Its not comfortable being in the same bed with Sogyal because he’s an anxious character and he doesn’t sleep well. He keeps waking up and wanting things, medicines or food and so on.

“I blanked out my feelings for a while, but then I became very troubled, which was extremely difficult because I’d been sworn to secrecy and couldn’t talk about it with anyone. Things started to go wrong with my body. My periods stopped. I was in shock. I had to sneak out of Lerab Ling to do the test because I was scared I was pregnant.

“A young lama married to an American woman came to teach at Lerab Ling. He was by himself in the courtyard and I really needed to talk to someone because I knew something was really wrong. So I decided to talk to this lama, hoping he would explain it for me. I asked him ‘what’s a consort?’ He looked at me and he knew exactly what I was talking about. I burst into tears and that bastard said ‘if you are the consort of a master you are very lucky’ and that was it. That’s all he said.”

Dakinis who were in the harem (Alison, Anna, Minou, Nee, Lillie, Jackie, Renata, Lorraine) before Janine’s arrival gradually came to accept her as a team member. Eventually they announced that she should join them in an orgy. Janine was not keen. The other women pressurised her, insisting that they had to do whatever ‘Rinpoche’ wanted:

“They were terrified of being beaten” says Janine. “During the time I was with him continuously, one of us would be beaten every day – because you forgot something or did something wrong. For one girl it was because the way she walked was too proud. I got a little less than the others – some would get a serious, really bad beating.

He got irritated with me because when I did  something wrong I would hand him something to hit me with and that would  spoil the fun.”

source: http://behindthethangkas.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/13-dakini-janine/

Perhaps, HHDL should speak up against this so that less people would suffer and he should focus on cases like this more as it blackens the name of Tibetan Buddhism and even Buddhism on a whole.

[vajratruth]

Thank you Ensapa. That is a chilling account of treatment meted out by a controversial Buddhist Master to his students, but clearly not controversial enough for the Dalai Lama to speak up on.

His Holiness has unfairly painted such a terrible picture of Dorje Shugden and yet there is not one single complain made by any practitioner of Dorje Shugden stating that the practice has harmed them. And this is a practice that has spanned hundreds of years!

In an age where journalists are always on the prowl for sensational news, especially on the back of the Dalai Lama's claim that propitiating Dorje Shugden tantamount to demon worshipping, surely there would be endless collections of validated stories by people giving testimony to how they have been harmed by the Protector. On the contrary, we hear stories of how Dorje Shugden has saved and helped people and how his true identity as an enlightened Protector has been verified by a long list of veritable Buddhist Masters.

Here is some information on the Dalai Lama's relationship with Soko Asahara. Again, the Dalai Lama has not said much and even after the first gas attack ordered by Asahara, it seems that Dalai Lama continued to regard Asahara as a friend:

 
        THE  JAPANESE DOOMSDAY  GURU  SHOKO  ASAHARA  AND  THE  XIV. DALAI  LAMA
 
On March 20, 1995 there was a poison gas attack in Tokyo’s underground system that killed a number of people and injured around 5,500 further victims and shook the world public. It was a sect leader, Shoko Asahara, who gave the command. Asahara was born in 1955 as the son of a large Japanese family. As he could barely see, he had to attend a school for the blind. After finishing school he tried without success to gain admittance to Tokyo University. In the following years he became involved in Asian medicine and started to practice various yoga exercises. He married in 1978. This marriage produced six children. The first spiritual group, which he founded in 1984,was known as AUM Shinsen-no-kai, that is, “AUM — Group of the mountain ascetics”.
 
Shoko Asahara’s relationship to the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
The „mystic” history of the AUM sect began in India in 1986. Shoko Asahara had wandered through the southern slopes of the Himalayas for weeks visiting Buddhist monasteries. This journey was supposed to mark the end of years of pilgrimage through the most varied esoteric landscapes: „I tried all kinds of practices such as Taoism, Yoga, Buddhism, incorporating their essence into my training. My goal was supreme spiritual realization and enlightenment. I continued the austere practices with Buddhist texts as my only resort. Finally, I reached my goal in the holy vibration of the Himalayas. I attained supreme realization and enlightenment. […] I also acquired supernatural powers” (Asahara, 1991, vol. 2, p. 13). Upon returning to Japan he changed the name of his yoga group and called it AUM Shinrikyo, which means roughly „AUM — Doctrine of the absolute truth”. From this point on, Asahara’s world view was shaped by the compassionate ethos of Mahayana Buddhism: „I could not bear the fact that only I was happy and the other people were still in the world of suffering. I began to think: I will save other people at the sacrifice of my own self. I have come to feel it is my mission. I am to walk the same path as Buddha Shakyamuni” (Asahara, 1991, vol. 2, p. 13).
 
But the Himalayas did not yet loose their hold over him. Almost a year later, in February 1987, Shoko Asahara stood before the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. He was received by the supreme Kalachakra master in person. He probably first met him in the year 1984, as His Holiness conducted a ceremony in Tokyo at the invitation of the Agon-shu sect. Asahara was at this stage still a member of this religious community.
 
The Japanese would later report the following of his meeting in Dharamsala: “Imagine my delight at being able to meditate with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, … And in His Holiness’s private meditation room! ‘I’ll sit here where I always sit; you sit there,’ he instructed me. ‘Let me give you a Buddha image.’ … After a few minutes of loud, deep breathing, all traces of the Dalai Lama vanished. He must have completely stopped his breath. At that moment, the astral vision of the golden face of Shakyamuni Buddha radiated from my ajuna chakra. The vision persisted steadily, without a flicker. ‘Ah, this is the Buddha image the Dalai Lama was talking about,’ I thought. I continued my meditation” (Bracket, 1996, p. 68). Smiling, the Dalai Lama then took his leave of him after an intensive exchange of ideas with the following words: “Dear friend, … Look at the Buddhism of Japan today. It has degenerated into ceremonialism and has lost the essential truth of the teachings. … If this situation continues, … Buddhism will vanish from Japan. Something needs to be done” (Kaplan and Marshall, 1996, p. 13). Thereupon the god-king entrusted him with a spiritual mission: “You should spread real Buddhism there [in Japan]. … You can do that well, because you have the mind of a Buddha. If you do so, I shall be very pleased. It will help me with my mission” (Kaplan and Marshall, 1996, p. 13). Asahara was indeed more than happy. Afterwards, His Holiness blessed him with water and posed for a photo with him. Eight years later this photo was to appear in all the newspapers of the world. From now on, the Japanese guru referred to himself as a pupil of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. The god-king’s final version of affairs is different. He never commissioned the Japanese to do anything at all, nor established any special relation with him, and definitely did not take him on as a sadhaka. For him Asahara was just one of the many hundreds of worshippers and visitors whom he met with in the course of a year. After the fact, His Holiness made a critical pronouncement with reference to the Japanese guru, which he obviously took to apply to others, but not himself: “I am suspicious of miracles and supernatural powers. Believers in Buddhism should not rely to much on a specific leader. This is unhealthy” (Tibetan Review, May 1995, p. 9).
 

The Dalai Lama and Shoko Asahara
 
But Asahara was not a complete nobody for the god-king. According to the German magazine, Stern, they had met five times since 1987 (Stern 36/95, p. 126). Amazingly, weeks after the first poison gas attack, His Holiness still called the guru a “friend, although not necessarily a perfect one” (Stern 36/95, p. 126). Then a document from 1989 came to light in which the Kundun thanked the AUM sect for donations and confirmed that they “encouraged public awareness through religious and social activities” (Focus 38/95, p. 114). On January 21, 1989 Asahara had sent the sum of $100,000 to Dharamsala for the assistance of Tibetan refugees. As a kind of service in return he received an official note from the Council for religious and cultural affairs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in which one can read: “To the best of our knowledge, AUM attempts to promote public well-being through various religious and social activities, for example through instruction in Buddhist doctrines and yoga” (Focus 38/95, p. 116–117).

Source: http://www.trimondi.de//color]

While I continue to hold to my view that the Dalai Lama is the emanation of Avalokiteshvara, I am completely puzzled by His Holiness's labeling of a Buddha as a demon and people who do things with monstrous consequences as friends. Is there a complete lack of of judgement on the part of His Holiness or am I not understanding even a bigger picture?

[Ensapa]

I wonder how many credible accounts are there of Dorje Shugden's harm that actually sound legible and not because it was influenced by the words of someone or some party. (Obviously uneducated or miseducated people in the refugee camps who claim that harm came to them as a result of Dorje Shugden do not count, for very obvious reasons as its just a placebo effect) and even educated people, motivated by fear and sheer ignorance would blame Dorje Shugden on their headaches and on mad cow disease (lol, all those years in the university and Buddhist studies, what happened?) but my point is, there is no solid proof that Dorje Shugden is harmful.

And the Dalai Lama claims that he is without any solid proof.

While 'buddhist' masters whose ex followers have been harmed and there is obvious proof of them being harmed by these 'buddhist' masters are not commented on and HHDL even supports or takes a middle stance on them. Does anyone see how odd this is?

[DharmaSpace]

When the Dalai Lama is trying to make something the whole world buy into his subterfuge it has to be believable so all the students of the Dalai Lama and his enemies like China for example will buy it.

When you put a white dot on black paint, that white dot will stand out prominenetly.

[Ensapa]

I am always fascinated by the logics presented by this website and forum (of course, and the people behind them).

For whatever the reason there is such a ban, the monks, many of them are already very old, are suffering, and that needs to end. For that, we need to educate people around the world about this issue so that it is highlighted. Many people knows Tibet about its issue of independence, but most do not know there is such discrimination against their own people.

In the mean time, we need to get as many people to learn about this special deity Dorje Shugden, and when the ban is lifted, His practices can go very far and wide!

This is not the sad part of the whole thing. The sad part about the whole thing is how CTA tends to gloss over the negatives and the damages that they have done against Tibetan Buddhism USING the name of the Dalai Lama and all these westerners who arent that smart (after university, you'd expect them to fare a bit better at least, but unfortunately that is proven wrong) just gobble them up as the truth. They dont even bother to check if things are right or wrong.

But for those who are more aware, they choose not to get involved, or they support Dorje Shugden. So i think the ban just separates the wheat from the chaff, if you get what i mean.

[Dondrup Shugden]

The Ban on Dorje Shugden is a controversy is because there is no sound logical reasons from either the Dalai Lama nor CTA.

As this forum always encourage Shugdenpas to be steadfast in their faith in the King Protector, Dorje Shugden and not be disrespectful of the Dalai Lama, we should all just logically explain and refute the wrong views and soon the Ban will be lifted.

Let us transform with our faith and let the CTA be our most treasured teacher.