Protest against NKT at Bristol

[DharmaSpace]

By Sherab Gyaltsen
BRISTOL, UK, 2 February 2016
On the afternoon of Sunday, 31 January, a group of approximately 25 Tibetans, former members of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), and their supporters gathered outside Amitabha NKT Centre in Gloucester Road, Bristol, England, to protest the NKT’s worldwide defamation campaign against the Dalai Lama. Members of the NKT have openly stated that the aim of their campaign is to destroy the reputation of the Dalai Lama and bring about his downfall.

For the last two years the leaders of the New Kadampa Tradition, under the banner of their political front group, the International Shugden Community, have organised loud, intrusive, and offensive protests at venues all over the world, wherever the Dalai Lama has given public talks and Dharma teachings. They use loudspeakers, drums, bullhorns, and incessant hypnotic chanting of hateful slogans in order to disrupt these teachings, causing great pain and upset to the followers of the Dalai Lama, who wish only to be allowed to listen in peace to the teachings of the greatest living Buddhist master today.

During the Bristol demonstrations, local Tibetan community organiser Sherab Gyaltsen urged the general public to carefully investigate the NKT before becoming involved with them. Linda Ciardiello read a speech which highlighted allegations against the NKT by its former members — descriptions of its cultish, exploitative nature whereby the interests of the organisation are always put above the welfare of its members, many of whom have experienced all manner of spiritual, psychological, physical and sexual abuse and exploitation at their hands. She also drew attention to a recent Reuters news investigation which revealed the connections between the NKT campaign and its covert support from the Chinese Communist Party. Lama Lobsang appealed to the NKT teachers to desist from their baseless campaign against the Dalai Lama.

In addition to the demonstration, over 1,000 information leaflets about the New Kadampa Tradition’s activities were distributed in the local area, door-to-door and to passers-by, many of whom showed a lot of interest in the issue and offered their support with cars tooting their horns and people offering refreshments to the demonstrators. Prior to the event, the Bristol Post published an extensive article about the reasons for the demonstration, including an interview and photograph of Sherab Gyaltsen, and sent a journalist and photographer to cover the event on Sunday.

One local resident who joined the demonstration, but asked to remain anonymous, told of a Tibetan Buddhist friend who felt compelled to leave the area many years ago when the Amitabha Centre was established in Bristol, due to unusual nightmares he experienced, whereby he was being attacked by a demonic spirit — even finding long scratch marks on his body in the morning. The significance of this story was not lost on Lama Lobsang in particular, who said it was an important indication that gave support to the Dalai Lama’s advice against the worship of Dolgyal Shugden, NKT’s favoured Protector deity, because its nature is that of a malevolent worldly spirit, associated with bitter sectarian violence, hatred and division within the Tibetan community.

Towards the end of the demonstration a letter was delivered at the door of the Amitabha Centre (received by a resident NKT nun) addressed to the resident teacher, Kelsang Chonden (Nick Baylis), containing an appeal to the NKT to stop their baseless campaign of hatred against the Dalai Lama and to stop hurting the Tibetan people.


Copyright © 2016 Sherab Gyaltsen
Published in Tibet Sun
Posted in News You Witness » Tags: Human Rights, Protest, Shugden, Tibetan Cause

Can you believe this? A local resident can even say they had bad nightmares since NKT moved into a neighbourhood. This is quite amusing. Well there are other millions of others who have no nightmares and no scratch marks?

This demonstration is warped logic, Dorje Shugden people are the ones being discriminated not the Dalai Lama and his people, they are as free as a bird.

[DharmaSpace]

This is the link to news
http://www.tibetsun.com/news_you_witness/2016/02/02/protest-against-nkt-at-bristol

[DharmaSpace]

More silliness from Linda Cardiaello and gang.

http://www.centralsomersetgazette.co.uk/WATCH-Buddhists-war-Buddhists-Somerset-peace-cafe/story-28642433-detail/story.html

[Matibhadra]

The nightmare-cum-scratch story is particularly ridiculous, and will help Bristolians and Britons in general to realize that dalaite Tibetans, while belching around about democracy and human rights, still live in the primitive, dark age of witch-hunts.

[grandmapele]

Why are the nightmares not settled the proper way? Aren't the Tibetans Mindroling lamas very good at subduing spirits? Why simply blame and not do what Tibetans usually do, i.e. do a fire puja to take care of the problem, if it is a problem? If the fire puja is not effective, it can only mean that whatever is creating those scratches is not a spirit?

[Blueupali]

Wow, the only thing I can say here is this is pretty desperate from the Dalai Lama's side; my main issue IN the NKT has been people who come from other groups, join as members, only to try to defame and convert from within.  This is easy to do within the NKT because "everyone is welcome" rather than excluded-- in other words there is no regulation over who can become a member; so if someone from the FPMT wants to join, who is going to know, and if they say "we are here to defame the Dalai Lama" then who is is really saying that is just whoever showed up and joined as a member.
  Not every single member speaks for us; anyone could have whatever affiliation; it isn't like we check on that sort of thing.
 

[DharmaSpace]

These people who have protested against the Dalai Lama are really who have too much time on their hands and it shows their priorities.

They have no discrimination thrown against them and yet they demonstrate. I guess some Britons like their witch-hunts. 

[kris]

I heard there are a lot of people are who against NKT, but why are they only able to get 25 people to come for the protests? Couldn't Linda and gang get more people to come join the protest?

[fruven]

They have too much time in their hands to protest fighting for discrimination. Isn't this kind of twisted?

What does nightmare have to do with Dorje Shugden? Isn't it just negative karma manifesting?

[SabS]

First of all Sherab Gyaltsen was ignorant enough to write of the man who experienced "unusual nightmare" and scratch marks when Amitabha Centre was established near him. It distracted everyone's attention and made a mockery of his piece. Any practitioner would know that it was the man's karma ripening to allow the nightmares and attack. Maybe the "spirit" knew a valid Buddhist centre is established that may cause it harm in the future, it decided to step up and attack the man who lives there before it gets "exorcised". Or maybe in his nightmare of fighting with the demon, the man scratched himself. And so all the theorising goes on. Oh wait, what was Sherab Gyaltsen writing about again?? Hmm can't be all that important since he couldn't even get his fact straight. Reuters News investigation said that there was NO PROVEN claims of CCP funding NKT. Besides what if CCP did fund the ICP movements? That makes CCP more humane in being concern about the violations of religious freedom and human rights by the Dalai Lama and CTA on the Shugden practitioners (majority of which are their own country people, the Tibetans-In-Exile). If they don't like the idea, then don't put the favour in CCP's hands. Stop being political and lift the ban on Dorje Shugden practise. Then there will be no demonstration, no "defaming" the Dalai Lama, no segregation, all practitioners reunite to practise in harmony, families reunite to be a unit again and admiration for the Dalai Lama will grow to all time high. How wonderful!

[Tenzin Malgyur]

I feel a little lost in this article by Sherab Gyaltsen. In this article it was reported that members of the NKT have openly stated that the aim of their campaign is to destroy the reputation of the Dalai Lama and bring about his downfall. It does not make sense at all. So what would happen if really they succeed to bring the Dalai Lama down? Have the NKT ever campaign a candidate to replace the Dalai Lama?

From the footages of the videos of the protests, it was only audible they were asking for a dialogue with the Dalai Lama and the chanting of Stop Lying. Wonder how all these were translated to the effect of wanting the downfall of His Holiness.