“The Buddha’s Service”

[Muriel]

http://www.trulybuddha.com/the-buddhas-service/

This article talks about the core deeds that the Buddha had served. His path to peace is very well known since He was the first religious leader in human history to criticize animal sacrifice for any reason. He was friends and teacher to everyone, and so did not accept any unfriendliness even to his worse enemies. Unlike other great leaders and teachers like Socrates, the Buddha maintained inspiring love for the suffering multitudes, simultaneously great philosopher, thinker and seeker after truth.

In my opinion, it is very important to be knowledgeable before protesting for the religious freedom of Dorje Shugden because attacking the opponents’ arguments is an essential tool to win the fight.

Dorje Shugden practitioners have been doing great in peaceful protesting, but silence won’t work forever. I think the most powerful tool to defeat one’s opponent is logic. As an old saying goes, knowledge is power. It is very important that one finds all the evidence that one can use to prove against the Dalai Lama about the ban on the Dorje Shugden, so He cannot continue just simply oppressing these poor practitioners. I thought that it would be very helpful for those who are not familiar with the Buddhist teachings to spread awareness about this injustice.

[kris]

I felt the whole thing about the peaceful protests is not just about the knowledge but to create awareness. And even more so, it is not just about the awareness whether Dorje Shugden is evil or not; instead it is awareness about the unjustifiable denial of basic human rights. The world needs to know that there is such denial of basic human rights FIRST, before people will start to understand what is this deity all about. Therefore I felt these peaceful protests are pretty much needed even before we have a chance to present our logic.

[Big Uncle]

What the Buddha was a spiritual revolutionary in his own way. Although the Buddha used many of the same terminologies that was in mainstream Brahmanist thought but he revolutionized their meanings according to his own meditative experience and enlightenment. His new ideas proved to be extremely successful and caught on with waves of followers that proliferated the faith and eventually brought it out of India and influenced great civilisations.

We who follow in the footsteps of the Buddha, follow in the way we revolutionised our existing spiritual traditions. The protests are definitely effective means to bring awareness and to put the attention of the plight of Dorje Shugden practitioners. The ban cannot go on indefinitely. I feel how much attention we bring to the plight of Dorje Shugden practitioners and how well the real practice is proliferated will be how quick the ban would be brought down.

[dondrup]

A truth is a truth.  The basis used by HH Dalai Lama for the ban on Dorje Shugden is unfounded.  At this juncture, it is not so much about providing logical evidence to prove that HH Dalai Lama is wrong.

Since its inception, the ban on Dorje Shugden had caused great suffering on Dorje Shugden practitioners.  In addition to the lack of religious freedom, the ban has impinged on the basic human rights of Dorje Shugden practitioners. Many Tibetan Dorje Shugden practitioners in particular had been ostracized, persecuted, harmed, discriminated, shunned, excommunicated due to the ban.

Peaceful protest (as well as any other form of protest) is necessary to bring to the attention of the World or to create the awareness of the injustice done by HH Dalai Lama and Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

As with any phenomenon, the ban is impermanent.   We must persevere and do whatever it takes without harming others to lift the ban. There will come a time when the right causes and conditions converge for the ban to be lifted.
 

[fruven]

I felt the whole thing about the peaceful protests is not just about the knowledge but to create awareness. And even more so, it is not just about the awareness whether Dorje Shugden is evil or not; instead it is awareness about the unjustifiable denial of basic human rights. The world needs to know that there is such denial of basic human rights FIRST, before people will start to understand what is this deity all about. Therefore I felt these peaceful protests are pretty much needed even before we have a chance to present our logic.

You brought up a good point that I would further add that violations of basic human rights are still very common in this day and age. Many countries are withholding basic human rights and the leaders are it using as a means of holding on to power to enriching themselves. Some of the populations are even put into forced labors, workers are treated unfairly by employers and not compensated if mishaps happen. There is no end to this of violations because it encourages enslavement, society deteriorates and considered it as a norm which is not.

I believe the Dorje Shugden ban, indirectly, is also a way to let other countries which have some degrees of violations of human rights to become aware that it is just wrong.