Elderly Tibetan is Jailed for Discouraging Worship of Controversial Deity

[WisdomBeing]

I am sure there will be the perennial accusation that Shugden practitioners are China spies from the latest news below. One-and-a-half years in jail is rather stiff for what the elderly Jamyang Tsering is accused of, but it is very consistent with the Chinese authorities' reaction to anything pro-Dalai Lama.

However, I believe that the Chinese reaction is about the political Dalai Lama/Tibet issue rather than any desire to preserve the Dorje Shugden practice. Since the Dalai Lama has condemned Dorje Shugden, the Chinese authorities have simply adopted the opposing view. I don't see any notable Chinese personalities being loud and proud about Dorje Shugden practice, nor do I see any public temples/statues of Dorje Shugden in China itself (excluding Tibet). Have you? 

What do you think?


Elderly Tibetan is Jailed for Discouraging Worship of Controversial Deity

http://www.indiagazette.com/index.php/sid/228496791

RFA Saturday 13th December, 2014



An elderly Tibetan man has been ordered jailed by Chinese authorities for advising a group of Tibetan students to abide by the Dalai Lama's call not to participate in a controversial form of worship deemed "divisive" by the exiled spiritual leader, sources said.

Jamyang Tsering, 77, was handed a one-and-a-half year term in early December by a court in Dzogang (in Chinese, Zuogong) county in the Chamdo (Changdu) prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, a local source told RFA's Tibetan Service.

"He is currently being held in the Dzogang detention center pending transfer to a jail in Chamdo," RFA's source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"His relatives are worried about his health, which is said to be not good," the source said, adding that Tsering suffers from abdominal disorders, diabetes, and high blood pressure, among other ailments.

"He himself says he has done nothing wrong and has no regrets. His only concern is for his wife, who is 86 and was left behind in [the regional capital] Lhasa after he was detained," he said.

Tsering, a native of Chamdo, was taken into custody in early June after encouraging a group of Chamdo-area students visiting Lhasa to follow the wishes and guidance of the Dalai Lama and to always "hold to their pride in being Tibetan," the source said.

"He had also advised as many people as possible in local gatherings not to worship Shugden," a Tibetan "protector" deity whose rituals have been denounced by the Dalai Lama as divisive and sectarian, he said.

Chinese police frequently investigate and arrest Tibetans deemed to have responded to the policy directives of the India-based Dalai Lama, whom Beijing considers a dangerous separatist bent on "splitting" Tibet from Chinese control.

'Religious differences'

Earlier this year, a young Tibetan stabbed himself to death when police attempted to detain him in Chamdo's Markham (Mangkang) county over the destruction of a Shugden statue six years ago, sources told RFA in an earlier report.

Tashi Tsering, a 28-year-old layman, had joined together with at least eight monks of Chamdo's Khenpaluk monastery in 2008 to destroy the statue of the deity after the Dalai Lama urged Tibetans to abandon its worship, one source said.

When the Dalai Lama in 2008 publicly criticized Shugden worship as damaging to harmony among Tibetans, Khenpaluk monastery was the first religious establishment in the area to ban the practice, the source said.
"Some monks of Khenpaluk then volunteered to dismantle the statue," which had been installed by a private sponsor, he said.

Chamdo police in April issued a set of regulations including a ban on "creating differences" among religious believers and using language that appeared to be "aimed primarily at opponents or critics of the Shugden practice," Columbia University Tibet scholar Robbie Barnett told RFA in an e-mail on Friday.

"From the perspective of the Chinese, they have a responsibility to prevent violence and conflict over this, as with any other contentious issue among Tibetans," Barnett said.

"However, the Chinese authorities have published numerous statements attacking the Dalai Lama on the Shugden issue both in Tibet and internationally," he said.

"So they are widely perceived within Tibet as favoring the pro-Shugden side in this dispute."

Copyright 1998-2014, RFA. Published with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036

[dondrup]

Another innocent and ignorant person that had gotten himself an unnecessary imprisonment at such an old age!  He may be devoted to Dalai Lama but Dalai Lama will not be able to stop the Chinese authorities from detaining him! Jamyang Tsering had committed heavy negative karma for his negative actions which include forsaking and spreading wrong views about Dorje Shugden and causing schism within the Buddhist practitioners.  Imprisonment of one and a half years may be the initial repercussion.  More heavier repercussions are awaiting him upon his death!  Can Dalai Lama or CTA be really concerned about the negative effects of the ban on Dorje Shugden? Lift the ban quickly before more innocent and ignorant Tibetans commit heavy negative actions. 

I do agree with you WisdomBeing that it is more a political game that the Chinese government is playing than its actual acceptance of the Dorje Shugden practice after all the Chinese Government is a Communist and not a Buddhist!

[yontenjamyang]

Never thought I would say this. Kudos to the Chinese authorities; not because of my pro Shugden believe which is fact is pro truth rather than pro-deity. In buddhism, truth is supreme and all that is in the Dharma is the truth and upon investigation I find Shugden to be an enlightened being; for me at least. So for me no issue.
If we analyse the "edict" given by the Dalai Lama on the Protector, the basis is that the Protector is a spirit; that is not true; that the practice endanger His life; again cannot be true and harm the cause of Tibet; again cannot be true as any spirit however powerful cannot harm any one or country is there is no karma for it.

Back to the article on the elderly Tibetan jailed by the Chinese authorities. Any country in the world will not tolerate disharmony and chaos. China has especially been very strict about any issue they think will cause a threat to the peace and harmony of its citizens and threat to its rule. So it is nothing surprising actually for this to happen. It is news because to us anything related to Protector has become big news because of the ban. So perhaps the ban has some positive effect because China is pro Shugden. And going back to what I expressed about the truth. So China is Pro Truth ie pro Dharma! I rejoice for China.

[vajratruth]

Back to the article on the elderly Tibetan jailed by the Chinese authorities. Any country in the world will not tolerate disharmony and chaos. China has especially been very strict about any issue they think will cause a threat to the peace and harmony of its citizens and threat to its rule. So it is nothing surprising actually for this to happen. It is news because to us anything related to Protector has become big news because of the ban. So perhaps the ban has some positive effect because China is pro Shugden.

Yonten Jamyang,

You hit the nail on the had. As far as the Chinese is concerned, they will put a stop to anything that threatens the harmony of the people (Tibetans and Chinese alike). The Shugden ban has severely split the Tibetan community in exile and has the same incendiary potential for Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region. However, I am certain that Shugden haters will use this to accuse Shugden worshippers of being Chinese agents or sympathisers.

The Dalai Lama could so easily put a stop to this unhealthy division but instead the CTAhas passed resolutions to make it a crime to be a Shugden worshipper and have made public calls for Tibetans to oppose Shugden worshippers as a show of their loyalty to the Dalai Lama.

Strange that when the CTA and Dalai Lama politcise the Shugden issues, they get innocent people involved in politics that in the end brings more harm than good.

[Dondrup Shugden]

From this article, it is obvious that the division and segregation from the ban on the worship of Dorje Shugden can hurt either way depending on where you are and what you are doing with this ridiculous decree from the Dalai Lama.

I feel sad that anyone should suffer due to curbing of human rights, even with Jamyang Tersing who is elderly and probably frail who had advocated against Dorje Shugden.

May the Dalai Lama comprehend the absurdity of this Ban and as a emanation of Chenrezig (one of ultimate compassion) will lift the ban immediately to cease the suffering of mankind. 

[icy]

Of course it is not religiously motivated when China implements the stringent ruling. Can you imagine what will happen to the huge populace of China without its stringent rule? Dalai Lama's lies can cause great dissension, disharmony and riots exponentially. Remember there were murders to threaten Shugden Buddhists. Surely it is wise to keep it in check and in tight controls. I respect China for her decision.

[vajrastorm]

This elderly Tibetan, native of Chamdo, was taken into custody in early June after he was seen encouraging a group of Chamdo-area students, visiting Lhasa, "to follow the wishes and guidance of the Dalai Lama" and discouraging them from practicing Shugden.

What is obvious is that this is not about the Chinese becoming Shugden devotees overnight, as a result of being convinced by Shugden followers. On the contrary, what the Chinese have done here is very much in keeping with their avowed aim of doing everything in the opposite direction of the Dalai Lama's actions and aspirations.

It is clearly evident that Tsering is one of hundreds or thousands of Tibetans, who follow the words of the Dalai Lama without hesitation, and hang on his every word as if it were an instruction from a living God-king. That is how they and generations of Tibetans before them have come to regard the Dalai Lama. What this portents is Dalai Lama, exploiting their unswerving loyalty and blind faith,is making them into his mouthpieces to the Tibetan public, who have respect for these elderly people who are steeped in Tibetan tradition(but unfortunately lacking in the knowledge of Dharma).

What is sad is that this bodes ill even for these poor elderly folk, with their simple minds and trusting natures. They are being sold the lie that Dorje Shugden is a spirit,  and remain in complete ignorance of the Truth-  that the Protector is a fully enlightened Buddha who will lead them and guide them on the Dharma path to peace and happiness for this and future lives.

[Matibhadra]

The elderly fanatic was promoting religious hatred and intolerance. China does well neutralizing such criminal activities, and sets a beautiful example for India and Western countries, who tolerate the activities of kindred criminals, such as the evil dalai and his minions.

[TARA]

Chinese view the Dalai Lama as a dangerous heretic with considerable political influence able to stir up discontent within China’s borders. It is only prudent China set such heretic in control.   

[kris]

i can understand why China jail this elder. we must understand China has gone through the Fa Lung Gong incident which makes them realise the power of religion, as the religion head can instigate their followers to do almost anything. Even though it has been many years since the Fa Lung Gong incident, it still haunt the China government. That is also why China is very much against HH Dalai Lama, not because of His spiritual leader status, but because of His political leader status.

also, i don't agree with the act of this elder. he may not like the practice of Dorje Shugden, but he should not discourage others from practicing. His act is exactly the same as CTA (or may be that is the result of the CTA's policy?).

however, i don't agree with this act of jailing the elder. Discouraging the practice of Dorje Shugden should not bring any benefit to Tibetan independence in any way.

[cookie]

Sigh ! Another innocent and ignorant life put in jail over this controversy of banning Dorje Shugden. Plus the poor wife of 86yrs worrying from home over her husband's survival in jail and her own livelihood too. So much suffering is continuously manifesting from this ban; the BAN MUST COME DOWN !

[Tenzin Malgyur]

I feel so much sympathy for the elderly Jamyang Tsering. At his old age and many health issues, he should be spending his days in his own home with members of families. Now he is suffering in a Chinese jail together with some hardcore criminals, far away from home and worrying of his wife. I am sure the prison wardens are not going to treat him with any care or kindness even though he is old and frail. This incident would not happen if there was no ban on the Shugden practice. Looks like the illogical ban is also affecting non-Shugden believers.

[Matibhadra]

I feel so much sympathy for the elderly Jamyang Tsering.

I share your sympathy for him and for every other criminal. This is the very nature of being a Buddhist.

However, the elderly criminal felt no sympathy for those persecuted because of their religious beliefs, and even tried to increase their sufferings, promoting the evil dalai's witch-hunt.

Fortunately the Chinese authorities timely stopped his fanatical, harmful behavior, and gave him an opportunity to reeducate himself about respecting others' religious beliefs.

At his old age and many health issues, he should be spending his days in his own home with members of families.

The elderly criminal is surely much better off than many innocent people punished by previous evil dalais, such as the 13th, people such as those who had their eyes plucked, or who were skinned alive, or died under the most unspeakable tortures in the dark prisons of the Potala hell.

This is by the way precisely what would be happening to Dorje Shugden followers if only the evil criminal dalai were in power in Tibet, and this is what the elderly fanatical criminal Jamyang Tsering was brazenly promoting until he was caught red-handed by the Chinese authorities.

Now he is suffering in a Chinese jail together with some hardcore criminals, far away from home and worrying of his wife.

The elderly criminal *is* himself a hardcore criminal, and Chinese jails are surely much better than the horror torture chambers of the toppled evil dalai's Potala hell.

Just in order to refresh the memory of those always eager to demonize the Chinese, and to see any kind of “purity” in the scum which was removed from power by those very same Chinese, here follow some pictures of old days Tibetan prisons.

[Matibhadra]

Here are the pictures mentioned above.

[fruven]

I won't say the Chinese is pro-Shugden. They are opposed to Dalai Lama follower who threaten the peace of the Tibetan region. In terms of religious freedom no one should advise others from giving up their religious practice. Many Tibetans have been doing this practice before the ban started. Those who are following gurus instructions we should not talk in ways that cause them to abandon their practice. It breaks the samaya of guru and disciples. At the same time the Chinese could have given a stern warning instead of using such a drastic measure of jailing the elderly man.