Dalai Lama asks Monks to ‘Remember The Buddhist Faith’

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Hypocrisy: The practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case
~ Oxford Dictionary

Hypocrisy is a growing phenomenon that is plaguing humanity through the fight for survival and success in this superficial dog eat dog world. However, the monastic community is usually deemed to be exempt from this trend, given that sangha members take on vows and dedicate their lives to studying and practicing the virtuous teachings of Lord Buddha with the goal of enlightenment and benefiting all sentient beings.

Taking on the monastic vows and becoming ordained is seen as a form of protection against the vices of samsara, and Buddhist teachers, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, are expected to be living examples of virtue, morality and right conduct. Thus it is very disturbing to have the world’s most recognized Buddhist icon, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, show a blatant display of hypocrisy.

In a series of 2013 interviews and statements related to the sectarian clashes in Myanmar that left around 200 dead in the state of Rakhine and approximately 140,000 homeless (as of September 2013), the Dalai Lama pled with the Buddhist monks of Myanmar to “remember the Buddhist faith”.

All the major religions teach us the practice of love, compassion and forgiveness. So a genuine practitioner among these different religious traditions would not indulge in such violence and bullying of other people.

If from one corner of your mind, some emotion makes you want to hit, or want to kill, then please remember Buddha’s faith. We are followers of Buddha.
~ Dalai Lama

While his words are appropriate and even expected from a Buddhist leader and Nobel Laureate, the Dalai Lama fails to act in alignment with his own words of advice when addressing similar situations in the Tibetan community, where his approach is not unlike what is happening in Myanmar.

In relations to the Sino-Tibetan conflict, the Dalai Lama conveniently ignores the peaceful tenets of his religion, making no attempt to stop the self-immolation of Tibetans (112 dead as of April 2014) in pursuit of the Free Tibet cause.

Freedom fighter or un-Buddhist violence? The Dalai Lama does nothing to stop this senseless loss of life.

Worse, when it comes to the Dorje Shugden conflict, the Dalai Lama harnesses Tibetan anti-China sentiment to instigate hatred and violence against Dorje Shugden practitioners, labeling them as Chinese spies or pro-China terrorists who are funded by China.

Intense hatred: Tibetans burn the Chinese flag while the Dalai Lama does nothing.

How are the Dalai Lama’s actions any different from what he is condemning in Myanmar? How can the Dalai Lama plead with the Buddhist monks of Myanmar to be forgiving, tolerant and compassionate when he himself behaves in the opposite manner, initiating and encouraging violence and division in Tibetan communities?

Is the Dalai Lama too accustomed to Tibetan tradition, where both spiritual and temporal authority are vested in the institution of the Dalai Lamas? Is the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) too used to operating as a one-party government, doing as they please without any form of opposition within the upper echelons of Tibetan leadership? This certainly seems to be the case – the Dalai Lama’s tendency to impose his will on others has caused a deep rift in Tibetan society between Dorje Shugden practitioners and the rest of the community.

As a result, Dorje Shugden practitioners have been ostracized by their fellow Tibetans and denied the basic rights that all Tibetans-in-exile are entitled to, such as medical attention, education, employment, public services and access to shops. Some are even forced out of their monasteries, villages or family homes. How is this situation any different from that of the Rohingya Muslims, who are also deprived of citizenship rights due to the government’s discriminatory policies?

Monks from Tharpa Choling Monastery (on the jeep) forcefully entered Gaden Choling Monastery in an attempt to take over the monastery on account of its Dorje Shugden practice. The Dalai Lama said nothing against this show of violence from his supporters.

Anti-Dorje Shugden sign at Loseling Clinic, Drepung Loseling Monastery. Such signs are commonplace in the Tibetan exile communities, and the Dalai Lama does nothing to safeguard the rights of Tibetan Dorje Shugden practitioners.

Gen Chonzey of Trijang Ladrang in Shar Gaden Monastery was a recent victim of violence. According to this letter, it was perpetrated by supporters of the Dalai Lama. To date, the Dalai Lama has not reproached the perpetrators.

Furthermore, not only does the suppressed section of Tibetan society submit to the abuse out of fear, others are pressed into enforcing such injustice for fear of the repercussions on their loved ones should they not comply. Clearly, the Dalai Lama is accustomed to having dictatorial authority over the Tibetan community to the point where this habit of imposing his view and his rules on others is in danger of spilling over into other communities, e.g. the case of the Myanmar conflict. Unlike the Tibetans however, the Burmese monks are unafraid to voice their displeasure with the Dalai Lama, openly and loudly.

An open letter to the Dalai Lama from Ven. Ashin Kawwida, President of International Burmese Monks Organization (Canada), Past Vice President of the International Burmese Monks Organization headquarters in New York (Click to enlarge)

The violence in Myanmar has caused the death of hundreds and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless, which the Dalai Lama says is “very sad”. But what does he have to say of the self-inflicted death of Tibetans through self immolation? And what of the Tibetans who lost their homes through vandalism by Dalai Lama followers simply because they chose to continue their religions practice of Dorje Shugden? Is their plight not saddening? Is there not supposed to be ONE standard of compassion for all sentient beings? These basic questions remain unanswered and ignored while the violence intensifies and escalates within Tibetan societies all over the world.

During the Dalai Lama’s visit to Australia in June 2013, the Dalai Lama gave the following answer when questioned about the spate of self-immolations:

Tibetans could “easily hurt other people”, but instead were choosing “to sacrifice their own lives, not hurting others”.

And in 2008 in Drepung Monastery in India, the Dalai Lama has the following to say about the actions being taken against Dorje Shugden practitioners:

Recently monasteries have fearlessly expelled Shugden monks where needed. I fully support their actions. I praise them. If monasteries find taking action hard, tell them the Dalai Lama is responsible for this.

Clearly the Dalai Lama applies different standards regarding the use of violence when it comes to Tibetan affairs, especially when it is not in favor of the policies he implements. It is high time that the Dalai Lama does what he preaches and starts by stopping the violence that his own supporters are perpetrating in his country, on his instructions.

…this century should be a century of dialogue, not wars. ~ Dalai Lama

Great advice. The Dalai Lama should take a bucketful of his own medicine.

Original statement from the Dalai Lama, April 2013

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Latest statement from the Dalai Lama, July 2014

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