I was a hypocrite: Dalai Lama

[Ensapa]

I think this issue of hypocrisy must be looked at in a deeper vein, not just taken at face value for what the Dalai Lama has said. The Dalai Lama makes a "confession" that he has been hypocritical in mixing secular and spiritual matters. If the spiritual leader (and for some time also a political leader) is able to make such a confession, then surely it would mean that his government should not be beneath re-examining their own actions too. 

And so, it leads logically that the hypocrisy extends to the actions of the CTA too. If the spiritual leader can "criticise" himself for mixing the secular and the spiritual, then surely the CTA must examine this aspect of their leadership also. Why indeed does a secular government interfere in spiritual matters like the Dorje Shugden issue? Why do they include information in their official websites speaking against a religious belief and practice like Dorje Shugden? Why do they discriminate against practitioners of a certain spiritual practice? What bearing should any individual's spiritual practice have on the secular policies of the government?

If there is anyone who is being hypocritical, it should surely be the CTA, who would be held more accountable than the Dalai Lama for the civil, secular wellbeing, rights and welfare of their people? To fight on the one hand for the "freedom" (independence / autonomy or whatever it is they call it these days) for their people, but to suppress their own exiled community based purely on their religious beliefs is a great hypocrisy, if nothing else! How can they be fighting for a larger freedom when they don't grant their own people the most basic human rights and individual freedoms of expressions and religion?

Hypocritical? I think so. The Dalai Lama is humble enough to admit it himself and perhaps that is a teaching in itself for us to look at the corresponding (often hypocritical) actions of his own followers and supporters too.

The hypocritical behaviour also extends to a majority of the Dalai Lama's followers, who claim to follow the Dalai Lama but does not put his words or teachings into action and choose to remain that way. isnt it hypocritical to only choose to follow words and sentences that you like rather than all of the Dalai Lama's teachings? If the Dalai Lama keeps telling you to investigate his words about Dorje Shugden, why do you just believe and not investigate? Why would even so called scholars of Buddhism like  bob thurman and richard dreyfus ignore the plethora of Dorje Shugden material and write lies about Dorje Shugden to 'please' the Dalai Lama? Spreading lies in the Dalai Lama's name...is that how you love your Guru?

[beggar]

The hypocritical behaviour also extends to a majority of the Dalai Lama's followers, who claim to follow the Dalai Lama but does not put his words or teachings into action and choose to remain that way. isnt it hypocritical to only choose to follow words and sentences that you like rather than all of the Dalai Lama's teachings? If the Dalai Lama keeps telling you to investigate his words about Dorje Shugden, why do you just believe and not investigate? Why would even so called scholars of Buddhism like  bob thurman and richard dreyfus ignore the plethora of Dorje Shugden material and write lies about Dorje Shugden to 'please' the Dalai Lama? Spreading lies in the Dalai Lama's name...is that how you love your Guru?

Excellent point there.

It is a great irony that the people creating so much damage and harm to Dorje Shugden practitioners are the same people who proclaim that they are doing this a way to preserve religious purity and out of their great devotion to the Dalai Lama, whose instructions they claim to be following. The Dalai Lama has also taught to be kind, tolerant and compassionate, especially to the people who we find most difficult.  So yes, it's 'fine' if one chooses not to continue their own practice of Dorje Shugden - that is every one's individual choice. But it's quite another thing to then harm other people who choose to continue their practice... using the name of the Dalai Lama, religious purity etc etc to justify their harmful behavior. Yes, the Dalai Lama had said not to practice Dorje Shugden, but I'm quite sure he has also told us to love our enemies and not to harm others. Why does one advice apply, and not another?

In this way, there doesn't necessarily need to be conflict in following the advice of the Dalai Lama. One could choose not to practice Dorje Shugden (for whatever personal reasons; or perhaps they were not Shugden practitioners to begin with, in which case there would be no breaking of samaya or any negative repercussion of not practicing) but remain quiet and peaceful about it and allow other people to make their own decision about the practice.

In fact, if Dorje Shugden practitioners really were so terrible, harmful and destined to go to hell (as is so often claimed about people who do the practice), then out of great compassion, the Dalai Lama's followers should EVEN KINDER, more compassionate and patient with them, to teach them the 'right' way with kindness and gentleness so as to help them to go to a 'better' place and make 'better' decisions. If you know that someone is engaging in something harmful or bad, wouldn't you want to help them all the more to get out of a potentially bad situation? Why would you step on them even further and hurt them more? It is completely illogical and completely against the most fundamental teachings of Buddhism to not harm and to be kind.

So yes, a great hypocrisy, even in the way the ban is being 'upheld' by the very people who claim that they are students of Chenrezig's emanation, the Dalai Lama.

[Ensapa]

It is a great irony that the people creating so much damage and harm to Dorje Shugden practitioners are the same people who proclaim that they are doing this a way to preserve religious purity and out of their great devotion to the Dalai Lama, whose instructions they claim to be following. The Dalai Lama has also taught to be kind, tolerant and compassionate, especially to the people who we find most difficult.  So yes, it's 'fine' if one chooses not to continue their own practice of Dorje Shugden - that is every one's individual choice. But it's quite another thing to then harm other people who choose to continue their practice... using the name of the Dalai Lama, religious purity etc etc to justify their harmful behavior. Yes, the Dalai Lama had said not to practice Dorje Shugden, but I'm quite sure he has also told us to love our enemies and not to harm others. Why does one advice apply, and not another?

Yeah you see the irony of the entire thing as well right? The Dalai Lama taught them compassion and integrity, to have respect for others and to investigate the teachings and not just believing in them? What is more astonishing is that it is not just the Tibetan students of the Dalai Lama - in which their actions are justifiable as they do not have much western education, it is the Dalai Lama's western students who are educated in logic that act in the most illogical ways. Some of them seem to be only interested in the mystical side of Tibetan Buddhism but ignore totally the fundamental teachings that are important such as holding vows and developing compassion (probably because they find it hard) so they see that having blind faith as a quick way out.

[honeydakini]

Thanks for the views. There's a fine line between righteousness and hypocrisy. I think a lot of people think that they're doing the right thing - the Dalai Lama's supporters perhaps sincerely think they're doing the 'best' possible thing upholding the ban in the ways that they are doing. I don't think anyone sets out consciously wanting to create more bad karma.

I think what's most important in our practice is to always think if what we are doing is truly in accordance with what our teachers have instructed. And i think one of the best ways of achieving this is to think if by doing what we are doing we reflect our teachers well, or if we would do these acts in front of our teacher, if he/she was standing right there? I'd be interested to know if the people who are smashing the homes of Dorje Shugden practitioners and destroying Dorje Shugden statues would do those very same acts if the Dalai Lama was standing right there?

This of course also applies the other way. As Dorje Shugden practitioners, we should also consider if our actions reflect the very practice we are trying to defend, free and uphold. In our attempts to release the ban and free the practice of Dorje Shugden, are we doing anything that would displease the Dharmapala? If we are bad-mouthing the Dalai Lama or fighting eye for an eye, tooth for tooth against the followers of the Dalai Lama / upholders of the ban, then we are not any better than them, and we too become poor reflections of Dorje Shugden. So that would make us hypocrites too, wouldn't it?

We may think we get away with doing what we're doing. Or we might think that we have good intentions and/or even use that as a way of justifying what we inherently know is not very right.. Our karma always knows though and that cuts rights through the hypocrisy, boomeranging right back to us.

[Ensapa]

Thanks for the views. There's a fine line between righteousness and hypocrisy. I think a lot of people think that they're doing the right thing - the Dalai Lama's supporters perhaps sincerely think they're doing the 'best' possible thing upholding the ban in the ways that they are doing. I don't think anyone sets out consciously wanting to create more bad karma.

Its not that they want to consciously create bad karma, but most of the Dalai Lama's followers tend to think that by worshipping the Dalai Lama and being on his side, it would equate to spiritual development and they  need not focus on any other teachings. It is this wrong view that generates a lot of negative karma for them. I  find that this is the main reason why many of them would do things that are opposite of Dharma -- because they tend to not investigate the teachings and think that by having faith in the Dalai Lama, all their problems will go away and they are spiritual and they need not study Buddhism further. Perhaps, this is why the Dalai Lama keeps repeating to them to investigate the teachings...which they often fail to do.

[Dondrup Shugden]

"I was a hypocrite: Dalai Lama" these words ring melodiously to my ears.  This was said when the Dalai Lama gave up the secular head of the Tibetans in Exile and just kept the position of Spiritual Head.

With that in mind everything changed even the name of the administration from TGIE to CTA.

Please Dalai Lama, say that again and have the Ban on Dorje Shugden be lifted.  It is as simple as that and no fault will be placed on you as you did the last time and all went on smoothly.  Let the controversy be ended, just say it.

[Rihanna]

So the Dalai Lama publicly announced that he is a hypocrite in combining religion and politics together while he was in the helm of the Tibetan Government.... If that was the case, then was it for political reasons that the ban against Dorje Shugden was imposed because at that time (1996) the Dalai Lama was still the religious and political leader of the Tibetans and there was a growing pressure from the Nyingmapas as they wanted to withdraw support  to the then Tibetan Government in Exile hence the Dalai Lama had  to balance the different interests and be sensitive towards the different traditions?  In short, the ban of Dorje Shugden was not as an attempt to stamp out a religious practice he disagrees with, but a politically motivated reason.  However,  prior to this ban, there was no history of disharmony between practitioners of Dorje Shugden and other traditions and it is the ban itself that is a causing sectarianism. Political dimension forms an important part of this controversy , and Dorje Shugden practitioners are on the receiving end. That is so unfair!

[Matibhadra]

Another evidence that the evil dalie not only was but still is such a hypocrite is the fact that he praises and encourages self-immolations for others, but cowardly never does it himself.