Tibetan Political Activist/Writer Speaks Up Against Religious Intolerance

[Namdrol]

Taken from http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/highest-peaks-to-lowest-gutters-by-jamyang-norbu/

The Claws Reach Further

Jamyang Norbu is a Western-based Tibetan political activist and writer. From his post we can conclude that he is more of a secular writer and not so much, if at all, a person who delves in religion, which is perfectly fine.

Jamyang Norbu accepts that the Dalai Lama has his right to object to the practice of Shugden based on theological grounds, but this recent incident of his photo with a Shugden organization member made him realize the depth and extensiveness of the destructive forces that the Shugden ban has on the Tibetan community and beyond.

First of all, Jamyang Norbu already stated clearly that he believes everyone has the right to their own religious belief, Shugden included, and even if he does not agree with the Shugden practice and knows that the person he was taking picture with belongs to the Shugden organization,  he would still do the same. Therefore he finds it illogical, to the point of absurdity, that he is now condemned simply because of him taking picture with that other person, and he is been made into a criminal who has committed a mortal sin for that.

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), or the group of people who circulated that picture, has to realize that if by taking a picture with someone of questionable character means he or she endorses or condones the other person’s motivation and actions, then they should really look at the top of their own group, where their leader the Dalai Lama has previously done so with a few persons of such nature. For one, the Dalai Lama has been seen with Shoko Asahara, the Japanese cult leader who instructed his cult members to attack the Tokyo subway with sarin gas, kiling 13 and injuring thousands. So, using their own caption, we can now rephrase it as such:

“Watch and think, what he (the Dalai Lama) is trying to establish by posing with Shoko Asahara (who is a well-known mass murderer of modern times based in Japan).”

Using the logic of people who make up the CTA, the Dalai Lama must be an accomplice or supporter of Shoko Asahara by posing for a picture with him, and thus the Dalai Lama is a criminal and has committed a mortal sin. Now how does that sound?

What Jamyang Norbu experienced here proves that the witch-hunt for Shugden practitioners is still very much alive and pervasive even until today, something which the Dalai Lama and CTA constantly deny. Shugden practitoners and their families (both monastic and lay) are ostracized in the society and are denied basic services which normal people are entitled to, like health-care, schooling etc., and they are also subjected to the constant emotional stress and possible physical violence since the ban on Shugden was imposed many years ago. All of this evidence can be found in the articles, pictures and videos on DorjeShugden.com.

While many societies are marching towards a modern, open-minded democracy, the CTA is clearly going backwards to the dark Middle Ages where witch-hunting was deemed necessary to justify their own selfish agenda. How do we know that their utterly ignorant ways of doing things do not fit into modern times anymore?  Very simple – they lost their country, and will never get it back again.

Jamyang Norbu is a political activist and writer, and has nothing to do with the religious scene, but even he is targeted in the attack set out by the CTA on Shugden. This shows how extensive and damaging the ban on Shugden is. It is a ban that is based on false grounds, being executed with such animosity and bigotry, and will end with nothing but destruction for all.

I salute and respect Jamyang Norbu very much for making a statement that, even if he knew the person is from a Shugden organization, he would still take a picture with that person, simply because he respects the religious freedom of everybody. He is a much needed model of true wisdom and sanity amidst all this chaos in the darkness.

It is rare for a Tibetan to speak so openly against the CTA and the Dalai Lama, but I believe that Jamyang Norbu has no ill-intention of criticizing them, but it is simply because he truly believes that it is the correct way that should be voiced out and heard. Mr. Jamyang Norbu truly believes in religious freedom which the Dorje Shugden ban obviously contradicts.

Tarlay Vin

[Ensapa]

I think it is pretty sad that the CTA has been trying so hard to hide the fact that they have been acting out blatantly against Buddhist principles and they keep denying again and again of their wrongdoings to the international community and the worst part is that the international community actually buys it! (surprisingly nobody actually investigates the whole thing themselves, but rather rely almost entirely on hearsay on the whole matter!) And of course, who can forget the Dalai Lama's fanatics who keep insisting that it is a peaceful ban? I actually find it pathetic and sad that people actually buy lies so easily.

[Rihanna]

It is very rare indeed to see a Tibetan speaking so openly against the CTA and the Dalai Lama. I am sure it was done with the motivation of promoting religious freedom. For this, I respect  Jamyang Norbu for making such statement heard to the public and promote religious freedom to all.  His comments will be a positive reference for the public especially for the neutrals on the lifting the ban of Dorje Shugden practice. Hopefully more and more people will step out to speak for the surpressed, not just Dorje Shugden practitioners!

 

[Ensapa]

It is very rare indeed to see a Tibetan speaking so openly against the CTA and the Dalai Lama. I am sure it was done with the motivation of promoting religious freedom. For this, I respect  Jamyang Norbu for making such statement heard to the public and promote religious freedom to all.  His comments will be a positive reference for the public especially for the neutrals on the lifting the ban of Dorje Shugden practice. Hopefully more and more people will step out to speak for the surpressed, not just Dorje Shugden practitioners!

Yes, it is rare indeed for a Tibetan to speak up against the Dalai Lama's total authoritarian rules. Although he is a world respected spiritual leader, I still dont think it is a good idea to give him full control of the rules and that whatever he says cannot be challenged and must  be followed because that is just something that is not Buddhist at all. It is really up to the Tibetans to question his policies and to improve it further rather than just accepting it blindly. On the other hand, there are also many Tibetans who are not happy with the Dalai Lama's middle way policy and want full independence for Tibet, so that does speak a lot about how much they actually believe in the Dalai Lama.

[vajrastorm]

It is good that Jamyang Norbu, a secular Tibetan political activist speaks up, without fear or favor, for the the right of everyone, including Tibetans and Dorje Shugden supporters and practitioners, to religious freedom.Coming from someone, who respects HH Dalai Lama and who does not agree with the Shugden practice, his voice, advocating religious freedom for all, comes across very strongly, as a voice of reason, without bias or prejudice.

It is also a genuine voice, because he himself had experienced how unreasonable the supporters of the ban on Shugden practice can be. Just because he had allowed a picture to be taken of him and a Shugden supporter, in New York, on a  'mundane' occasion like a reunion of people who had supported a political cause in the past, he is now being branded a criminal; and now,this picture is being circulated everywhere.   

By re-acting in this negative way to the innocent posing for  a picture by Jamyang, the CTA is unthinkingly opening up a can of worms that would hurt even the Dalai Lama himself. For, as TV shows here, HH Dalai Lama has posted for a picture before with  mass murderer and terrorist ,Shoko Asahara. S. Asahara was the master-mind, who had instructed his cult members to release sarin gas on Tokyo subway users. The result was 13 people being killed and thousands being injured.
 
Like HH Dalai Lama, Jamyang Norbu posing with the DS supporter, was without any agenda or negative motive.

Jamyang Norbu,being targeted for attack by CTA, shows how far-reaching is the damage and destructive nature of the ban.

May it be lifted soon.

[Ensapa]

It is good that Jamyang Norbu, a secular Tibetan political activist speaks up, without fear or favor, for the the right of everyone, including Tibetans and Dorje Shugden supporters and practitioners, to religious freedom.Coming from someone, who respects HH Dalai Lama and who does not agree with the Shugden practice, his voice, advocating religious freedom for all, comes across very strongly, as a voice of reason, without bias or prejudice.

It is also a genuine voice, because he himself had experienced how unreasonable the supporters of the ban on Shugden practice can be. Just because he had allowed a picture to be taken of him and a Shugden supporter, in New York, on a  'mundane' occasion like a reunion of people who had supported a political cause in the past, he is now being branded a criminal; and now,this picture is being circulated everywhere.   

By re-acting in this negative way to the innocent posing for  a picture by Jamyang, the CTA is unthinkingly opening up a can of worms that would hurt even the Dalai Lama himself. For, as TV shows here, HH Dalai Lama has posted for a picture before with  mass murderer and terrorist ,Shoko Asahara. S. Asahara was the master-mind, who had instructed his cult members to release sarin gas on Tokyo subway users. The result was 13 people being killed and thousands being injured.
 
Like HH Dalai Lama, Jamyang Norbu posing with the DS supporter, was without any agenda or negative motive.

Jamyang Norbu,being targeted for attack by CTA, shows how far-reaching is the damage and destructive nature of the ban.

May it be lifted soon.

A picture does not prove much, so to speak, and if Jamyang Norbu is 'evil' for posing a picture with a DS lama, surely the Dalai Lama posing pictures with Shoko Ashara and the 100th Ganden Tripa posing pictures with master Lu would make them very controversial indeed. Again, it is pretty sad that CTA has to resort to these methods in order to discredit anyone who does not tow in line with what they want like what happened to the Radio Free Asia incident and even then many people fail to see how they have a very hard hand in manipulating the media and the minds and hearts of people, especially with regards to the Tibet issue.

[WisdomBeing]

I am glad that Jamyang Norbu has received this negative attention - why? Because he can now empathise with what Dorje Shugden practitioners go through. People are frightened to death of associating with Dorje Shugden practitioners for fear that they will be tarnished with the same brush by the CTA and Dalai Lama followers. Whether or not they are actual practitioners seem to be beside the point. Their only concern is to not be associated. Being the vocal activist that Jamyang Norbu is, I hope that he will now bring his voice to raise awareness about the unjust and crippling effect on Dorje Shugden practitioners which the ban has. Things have been quiet for too long. It's time to rattle that cage!

[bonfire]

I am glad that the CTA is not in charge of a country at all.
They'd be hurting it with this kind of low-level blind politics, they would create discrimination at a much larger scale than today!
I don't enjoy writing about the CTA, they don't interest me, but I do speak about them, I must, because the ban that they support is hurting a lot of people. And after all, this is the only way they can still manage to make some news, because frankly speaking not many foreign ears (if any at all) wants to hear again about Tibet's independance.
Tibet IS independant, it is independant from the CTA and free from this surreal ban on Dorje Shugden.
this is what I'd say to the CTA: Wake up and embrance change if you really care for the well-being of your people and the future of Tibet together with, within, China. Think big and do not hold to a past that is gone FOR GOOD!

[Ensapa]

I am glad that Jamyang Norbu has received this negative attention - why? Because he can now empathise with what Dorje Shugden practitioners go through. People are frightened to death of associating with Dorje Shugden practitioners for fear that they will be tarnished with the same brush by the CTA and Dalai Lama followers. Whether or not they are actual practitioners seem to be beside the point. Their only concern is to not be associated. Being the vocal activist that Jamyang Norbu is, I hope that he will now bring his voice to raise awareness about the unjust and crippling effect on Dorje Shugden practitioners which the ban has. Things have been quiet for too long. It's time to rattle that cage!

But one thing good is that Jamyang Norbu is not in Dharamsala so he will not be facing the wrath of the CTA (assassins, discriminations, etc) so he is free to talk about anything and everything. There is not many Tibetan writers who can write in english, or even write so well as he did. So if CTA 'loses' him, then they would lack someone who can really help them to write. And not just any one, but one of the few and rare ethnic Tibetans that know what is it like to be Tibetan first hand and who can write about it, instead of some westerner trying to emulate them.

[vajratruth]

Guilty by association is the pronouncement by which the CTA has quite successfully marginalized Shugden practitioners. It is this kind of very primitive system of terror that the Tibetan government has inflicted on its own people to as to divide and control its population. As Namdrol correctly pointed out, if guilt by association is valid, then His Holiness the Dalai Lama must be similarly pronounced guilty many times over by the CTA itself, for the sarin gas attacks in Tokyo but such is not the case nor should it be.

What Jamyang Norbu has discovered is what every Tibetan should be aware of. That the CTA has for decades played the Tibetans for fools and have bullied them into submission. But as the writer/activist stated, such methods will not work with him nor any educated and liberal Tibetan. I hope that Jamyang Norbu with his considerable reach will inform his fellow countrymen of what is going on within their own community. Jamyang Norbu may not subscribe to oracles and religious rituals but clearly he subscribes to reason, logic, and fairness. For sure Jamyang Norbu does not agree that anyone should be able to impose their home-cooked idiocy on others, least of all the CTA - an illegal government that is perhaps the greatest pretender to democracy in recent modern history, and all the time crying foul over China's persecution of human rights.

It is unfortunate that it took such a time for a prolific thinker as Jamyang Norbu is, to become aware of the CTA's shenanigans but better late than never. Interestingly, many events have taken place in the past few months, much of which reported on this site, to indicate that the ban is buckling at its knees as more and more people, capable of sound thought begin to question its validity.

My appeal to Jamyang Norbu is to look deeper into the impact of the ban, and its impact on the unity of the Tibetan people, and on their spirit as a nation of supposedly free people. Look also into whether the ban has split the people when all measures ought to be taken to unite the people in order to form an effective phalanx in the Tibetan people's quest for freedom.

[Ensapa]

Guilty by association is the pronouncement by which the CTA has quite successfully marginalized Shugden practitioners. It is this kind of very primitive system of terror that the Tibetan government has inflicted on its own people to as to divide and control its population. As Namdrol correctly pointed out, if guilt by association is valid, then His Holiness the Dalai Lama must be similarly pronounced guilty many times over by the CTA itself, for the sarin gas attacks in Tokyo but such is not the case nor should it be.

What Jamyang Norbu has discovered is what every Tibetan should be aware of. That the CTA has for decades played the Tibetans for fools and have bullied them into submission. But as the writer/activist stated, such methods will not work with him nor any educated and liberal Tibetan. I hope that Jamyang Norbu with his considerable reach will inform his fellow countrymen of what is going on within their own community. Jamyang Norbu may not subscribe to oracles and religious rituals but clearly he subscribes to reason, logic, and fairness. For sure Jamyang Norbu does not agree that anyone should be able to impose their home-cooked idiocy on others, least of all the CTA - an illegal government that is perhaps the greatest pretender to democracy in recent modern history, and all the time crying foul over China's persecution of human rights.

It is unfortunate that it took such a time for a prolific thinker as Jamyang Norbu is, to become aware of the CTA's shenanigans but better late than never. Interestingly, many events have taken place in the past few months, much of which reported on this site, to indicate that the ban is buckling at its knees as more and more people, capable of sound thought begin to question its validity.

My appeal to Jamyang Norbu is to look deeper into the impact of the ban, and its impact on the unity of the Tibetan people, and on their spirit as a nation of supposedly free people. Look also into whether the ban has split the people when all measures ought to be taken to unite the people in order to form an effective phalanx in the Tibetan people's quest for freedom.

Other than the Dalai Lama, the 100th Ganden Tripa is also guilty by association with him associating with Master Lu who is already well known to be questionable and also has a sex scandal. There are even more people misusing the Dalai Lama by association, where they would take a picture with the Dalai Lama and when they return to their own country, use the picture as proof of approval from the Dalai Lama for their actions, whatever it may be or result in (usually used as a symbol of authority over Buddhist matters in their own country) so in some way, the CTA is the origin of this practice and it has now been misused.

[Q]

Jamyang Norbu has always been very open and direct about the Tibetan culture. If only they would open up and listen to him for once, I think the Tibetans will have it better... after all, you don't go around nagging over something for years if you didn't care about it... obviously the Tibetan's mentality bugged Jamyang Norbu a lot!

I think what Vin wrote here is very logical. A picture may paint a thousand words, but it certainly will not tell us what is in one's mind for sure! It is always ever so convenient to reword things according to our convenience, just as how many lamas and even lay people had to go through just to have their picture being taken with DS lamas (worst of all, it shouldn't be an issue in the first place).

The CTA has always been insisting that the ban is a choice that people can make... however, if we think about it... you don't even have to think about it deeply, just logically if such a thing is done in another regular situation. How is it a choice when you can never win with the CTA if you decide to choose DS?

Take for example, back in the days when the colored people are discriminated by the whites. It is not their choice to be black, they are born as blacks and proud of it... just like Shugden practitioners, we are given a lineage from our Gurus, one that we respect equally, if not more than our parents. So it really is not a choice for us either to stick with DS or not. So there really is not much of a choice for Shugden practitioners just as for the colored people back in the 19th century.

Whatever it is, the CTA haven't been very smart about their actions. Not only they leave so many hole for us DS practitioners to poke in and reveal the truth, but also make themselves look plain idiotic in most cases, as the methods they use always somehow have a way of getting back on them lolx... talk about karma

[kris]

To me, CTA is like a kid. Anything related to Dorje Shugden, they just jump on it as if it is the end of the world. Sometimes it got me thinking, don't they have better things to do than just harping on Dorje Shugden issue? Isn't CTA supposed to take care of the welfare of Tibetan (in exale)? Isn't CTA supposed to grow their "country"?

Come on. Move on. Go start doing something meaningful already!

[Ensapa]

To me, CTA is like a kid. Anything related to Dorje Shugden, they just jump on it as if it is the end of the world. Sometimes it got me thinking, don't they have better things to do than just harping on Dorje Shugden issue? Isn't CTA supposed to take care of the welfare of Tibetan (in exale)? Isn't CTA supposed to grow their "country"?

Come on. Move on. Go start doing something meaningful already!

Any sane or logical person would aim for that, but to the CTA, all they can think about is taking Tibet back for their resources and for the power that they would have and to revive the old systems that were used in Tibet before. They do not really want to free the Tibetans from oppression whatsoever, but just to regain their former glory and to gain back their material needs. If Dharamsala still has many Tibetans in poverty, and the CTA is not doing anything about it, for sure they would not be able to handle the people in Tibet and there's no two ways about that.