Ngawang Yontan Gyatso (1902 – 1963) the disrobed abbot
The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to [email protected].
By: Toby Lee
More than 50 years ago, before the practice of the enlightened Dharma protector Dorje Shugden was banned by the Tibetan leadership in 1996, there existed an extremely ambitious and gifted, but stubborn and destructive monk who courted the support of the Bhutan palace. As the 69th abbot of Sakya Ngor Monastery, he distinguished himself by creating a strong dislike for Dorje Shugden and the teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa, leaving a trail of schism and division behind him.
This was at a time when Dorje Shugden and Lama Tsongkhapa were popularly represented by the Gelugpa stalwart H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo (1878–1941) who was not only highly respected by the monastic community but also the lay people of the Himalayas.
As a result of Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s ambitious but sectarian actions, Dorje Shugden publications were destroyed and his practice halted at many Sakya and other monasteries that Ngawang Yontan Gyatso had control over or had underhandedly leaned on.
Ironically, his sectarian actions were justified by the Gaden Phodrang (Tibetan government) which had been established in the 17th Century by the 5th Dalai Lama, who had not only fought with the Sakyas but also banned the printing of Gorampa’s writings. Gorampa, as the 6th Abbot of Sakya Ngor Monastery, had been the fiercest critic of Lama Tsongkhapa in his time. Even the Mahasiddha and erudite master Je Tsongkhapa had his strong critics. With the passage of time, we can see that Tsongkhapa’s view and teachings really expanded globally, silencing his critics.
A statue of the 5th Dalai Lama (right) in the Jokhang Temple
Family influence makes a stubborn boy the Abbot of Ngor
As a child, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso is described as being intelligent and witty but also distressingly stubborn and independent, almost notoriously so. For example, it is recorded that when they were studying with their teacher (Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s uncle, Lama Gendun), his distant cousin Dezhung Rinpoche never got beatings over the head with his teacher’s slipper, but Ngawang Yontan Gyatso did.
Through the influence of his family who were relatively well-to-do and could count amongst them a number of respected lamas of rank, he was accepted as a candidate from Khangsar Labrang for the abbotship of Ngor Monastery. Subsequently, he became its 69th Abbot. Unlike some of the other Ngor abbots who ascended the throne due to their hard work, studies and personal achievements, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso ascended the Ngor Abbot’s throne due to wealth and family position which is usually a recipe for disaster.
Ngor Monastery is one of the three main monasteries of the Sakya tradition. It was established by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1444) who is considered one of the Six Ornaments of Tibet due to his many written works (almost 200 titles), teachings, practice, and the monastic institution he established.
Ngor abbots were originally selected primarily for their spiritual attainments, without regard for familial ties or regional origins. However, in the following century after its founding, a few eminent abbots had amassed a great fortune, some of which was kept after their deaths by family members. This became the seed from the 16th century onward for the three oldest Labrangs of Ngor to control the abbotship of the monastery.
The present day Ngor Monastery located in India
A student disrespects his lama
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso may have been known for his intelligence, but respect for those senior to him was not counted amongst his positive qualities.
His main teacher, Dampa Rinpoche, was not a permanent resident of Khangsar Labrang and instead lived in places such as Sakya and Tanag. The lamas in permanent residence at Ngor were Zhalu Kuzhang Lama and Khensur Ngawang Khyenrab Jampal Nyingpo, who had been the 60th abbot of Ngor Monastery.
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, unsurprisingly, failed to get along with this older abbot and this was the cause of many later problems. In the second year of his term, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s behavior had so disappointed the senior master that he was even temporarily removed from his abbotship. It appears that Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s involvement in religion was for position, power, prestige and wealth. He was even disgracefully removed from the prestigious and sacred position of the abbot of Ngor Monastery. Being removed is a big disgrace.
Dezhung Rinpoche reported:
“The young zhabs-drung [now abbot] soon demonstrated not only a native intelligence and wit, but also a distressing stubbornness and independence. He soon quarrelled with the aged Khang-gsar mKhan-po. As a result of this conflict, he withdrew from the Khang-gsar Lama-palace and set up his own separate ecclesiastical palace.”
So, not only had Ngawang Yontan Gyatso disrespected a senior and older former abbot, but had gone so far as to leave the monastery to set up his own residence.
Sakya Monastery located in Tibet, China.
Spreading sectarianism
Having founded a residence of his own, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso now needed to find some way of funding his activities. In order to obtain patronage to boost his prestige at Ngor, he set out for Bhutan where he attracted the attention of the King who lavished upon him considerable wealth. He soon became the wealthiest of all the “ecclesiastical princes” of Ngor and became popularly known as the “Drukpa Khenpo” (“Bhutan abbot”). Following his success in Bhutan, he returned to Ngor where he remained a controversial figure.
Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo in his younger days
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso also began to manifest intense dislike for the enlightened protector Dorje Shugden, represented by the very popular Gelug lama Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo (1878–1941) at that time. Pabongka Rinpoche is the one who, in 1921 at Chuzang Hermitage near Lhasa, gave a historic 24-day exposition on the Lam Rim, or “stages of the path” that was attended by some 700 people. Many monks came from the three major monasteries in Lhasa (Ganden, Sera and Drepung), and many more traveled weeks from the Central Province of Tsang, and from as far away as Amdo and Kham just to receive teachings from Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. This included about 30 lamas and reincarnations of lamas, as well as many lay people.
Unlike many other lamas who became famous for their scholarship or practice, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso is perhaps best remembered for his crusade against Dorje Shugden. The writings that exist about him are predominantly related to his anti-Shugden activities, and his systematic targeting of monasteries and monks to dismantle the practice in and around Tibet. In the summer of the third and last year of his abbacy (1935), during the time of the rainy-season retreat, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso began to court open conflict with Dorje Shugden practitioners. He began by sharply criticizing the monks of Khangsar Labrang’s own community, calling them “thieves and breakers of sacred tantric commitments”.
He then set out for Kham where he embarked upon a crusade against Dorje Shugden, destroying images and ritual objects at Damthog Monastery. Around 1948, when his cousin and former classmate Dezhung Rinpoche was at Sakya on pilgrimage, he traveled to Dezhung Rinpoche’s monastery of Tharlam.
Gathering the monks together, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso told them of his crusade against Dorje Shugden and said that Dorje Shugden was not a protector of religion, but an evil spirit who would cause the doctrine to perish. He told the monks of Tharlam that in his previous incarnation as Phankhang Ngawang Kunga Tenpai Gyaltsen, this deity had caused him great obstacles and had caused his early death at the age of 36. He also elicited from the Tharlam monks their agreement to destroy the mask of this deity the next morning. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s actions showed his blatant disrespect for the previous holy Sakya Throneholders who had in their learning and wisdom installed Dorje Shugden within the Sakya tradition in the first place. But then, Ngawang Yonten Gyatso never had a penchant for respecting his seniors and the learned masters of the past, and was determined to exercise power and control in his focus to gain fame.
Hearing such words being uttered by someone of position, the monks were made sufficiently fearful and, although they were afraid of reprisals from the so-called angered deity, they felt duty-bound to follow the Ngor Abbot’s wishes.
Hence the following morning, after extensive prayers, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso led a procession of monks into the Protector Chapel. They removed a revered mask of Dorje Shugden from its shrine and carried it outside. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso then threw it into a fire, before drawing a pistol and shooting the mask several times. After the mask had been destroyed, he re-entered the Protector Chapel and removed all ritual articles associated with Dorje Shugden. He then had the monks carry the items down to the banks of the Kyichu River and hurl them into the waters.
The 342-mile Kyichu River in Lhasa
Reviving the Dharma out of spite
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s intense dislike for all things Dorje Shugden also manifested in the form of animosity towards the Gelug lama Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso claimed that in 1940, a year before Pabongka Rinpoche’s death, Pabongka Rinpoche carried out “sectarian machinations” by voicing to a Chinese Kuomintang governor his displeasure at the fact “Uncle Jamyang Gyaltsen” had published Gorampa’s works. He even claimed that Pabongka Rinpoche had criticized the exposition of the Thirteen Great Indian Buddhist Works.
“Uncle Jamyang Gyaltsen” here refers to Gapa Khenpo Jamyang Chokyi Gyaltsen (also known as Khenpo Jamgyal; 1870-1940) who played a pivotal role in the preservation and propagation of Gorampa Sonam Senge’s teachings. Gorampa had been the 6th Abbot of Ngor Monastery, and a contemporary of Lama Tsongkhapa as well as his biggest critic. His writings were banned by the Central Tibetan government who, for centuries, had ordered they be held under lock and key, outlawing their reproduction.
In claiming that Pabongka Rinpoche continued to be against Gorampa’s works, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso accomplished a number of things:
Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche was a tremendous proliferator of Dorje Shugden’s practice
- He fanned the flames of sectarianism by claiming that Gelugpas (as represented by Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche) were against the teachings of a Sakya lama (as represented by Gorampa). Ngawang Yontan Gyatso was highly sectarian as the evidence shows.
- He fanned people’s hatred against Dorje Shugden, just because Dorje Shugden was being heavily promoted by Pabongka Rinpoche. If Ngawang Yontan Gyatso could succeed in painting Pabongka Rinpoche as sectarian and therefore someone to be avoided, then anything else he propagated (i.e. Dorje Shugden) should also be avoided.
- This was an opportune moment to remind the laity that the Central Tibetan government, which was predominantly Gelug, had banned the teachings of a Sakya lama for centuries. The Gelugs were a convenient target now that he had gained the support of the Bhutanese palace because, whilst the Sakyas were friendly with Bhutan, the Bhutanese viewed the Gelugs as enemies stemming from the time of the 5th Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang government.
- As the 69th Abbot of Ngor, by defending the legacy of the 6th Ngor Abbot, it would legitimize his other actions and reinforce his power base, therefore helping him garner support for his crusade against Dorje Shugden.
- Thus for Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, it suited him politically to be on the side of Gorampa and against Dorje Shugden and Pabongka Rinpoche. It was pure revenge which does not reflect well on himself. His vengeful tactics and sectarianism disqualify him as a spiritual master that can be relied upon.
An unremarkable end
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso eventually disrobed, took on a wife and lived the life of a “holy madman”. Even though he was a supposed high lama, he had not gain any sort of discipline. Even after a lifetime of monk-hood and his position as the abbot of such a prestigious monastery, he had no control over his desires, something which led him to disrobe and take on wife like an ordinary layman. Some time between 1959 and 1960, he was imprisoned by the Chinese, telling his remaining disciples, “I am going there, and will die after being tortured. If any of you have real faith and trust in me, come along with me!”
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso died in the early 1960s at about age 60 in a large prison near Siling (Xining), China, which held thousands of prisoners. His karma from persecuting others and destroying their religion finally caught up with him. Unlike other lamas who practice compassion, what Ngawang Yontan Gyatso practiced was the opposite. Genuine lamas make sure that their students do not suffer unnecessarily, but Ngawang Yontan Gyatso invited his disciples to join him in prison to suffer. During his death, he showed no extraordinary signs befitting a high lama, such as ‘thukdam‘ or death meditation, during which a lama remains in the deepest state of meditation when all bodily functions have stopped without physical decomposition occurring. There was a clear absence of rainbows, auspicious singing by celestial beings, or slight earth tremors that usually mark the birth and/or the death of a supreme high lama. There were no tears shed either. He died unceremoniously in prison and was never heard from again.
His legacy remains especially evident in Bhutan where, to this day, many people continue to view Gelugpas with suspicion in general, and Dorje Shugden with hatred in particular. Such is the effect Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s hate has had on the Bhutanese people where centuries later, they continue to dislike Dorje Shugden even though he is deeply rooted in their history via the 4th Zhabdrung Rinpoche Jigme Norbu, the reincarnation of the lama who founded modern-day Bhutan.
Fortunately, the younger generation of Bhutanese people are educated, can do research, discern and make their own decisions regarding the sacred practice of Dorje Shugden. Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s negative legacy is fading. The new literate class of young Bhutanese can see that sectarianism is harmful and that the 4th Zhabdrung Rinpoche who was the highest incarnation in the land of Bhutan practiced and promoted Dorje Shugden. He even composed special prayers to Dorje Shugden as he knew that Dorje Shugden is beneficial for the Bhutanese people. The 4th Zhabdrung Rinpoche must have regarded Dorje Shugden highly in order to compose texts to him. Out of faith for Zhabdrung Rinpoche, there has been a resurgence in Dorje Shugden’s practice among the younger generation of Bhutanese as they can feel the swiftness in the efficacy of his practice.
Dorje Shugden Tanag is a form of Dorje Shugden commonly practised within the Sakya tradition. Click to enlarge.
Observers will also find it contradictory that someone who was the abbot of a Sakya monastery could leave behind him such a trail of destruction and negativity, because real Sakya practitioners are upholders of Buddha Shakyamuni’s doctrine which can only lead to the development of attainments such as compassion and wisdom. Genuine Sakya masters are saintly and they benefit sentient beings. They never cause sectarian destruction.
Yet, neither wisdom nor compassion is associated with Ngawang Yontan Gyatso and when examining the course of his life, it is easy to see why. When someone can challenge an elderly former abbot of his own monastery, to the point that said abbot would try to remove him, such a negative legacy is no longer surprising. Hence, today, the Abbot of Ngor is mostly remembered for his schismatic campaign against Dorje Shugden; even in anti-Shugden literature, his actions are referred to as a “grudge”, a word one does not often associate with Buddhist lamas and Dharma practitioners.
It is worth noting that for all of Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s campaigning against Dorje Shugden, Sakya’s reliance on Dorje Shugden continued well into the 20th Century. For example, the 41st Sakya Trizin was often seen engaging in Dorje Shugden pujas while living in the Tibetan refugee community in Buxa, North-East India back in the 1970s. All the high lamas of the four lineages lived in Buxa together and intermingled when they first went into exile back in 1959. It was well known the Sakyas practiced Dorje Shugden including the 41st Sakya Trizin, who later denied it most likely for political correctness at the height of the ban against Shugden. Many times, the high lamas met and shared their lineages together. Senior Gelugpa monks and Sakya monks attest that Dorje Shugden was practiced in Sakya as well as by the 41st Sakya Trizin while in Buxa. They were all in Buxa for a few years before resettling in various parts of India as designated by the Indian government. Similarly, to this day, there remains a Dorje Shugden mural prominently painted on one of the walls of Sakya Monastery in Shigatse.
Hence, if it was Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s intention to scrub Dorje Shugden’s image and practice off the face of this planet, his own lineage’s continued connection with the deity makes it clear that he was wholly unsuccessful. So if there is one lesson to be learned from the life story of Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, it is how negativity, schism, division and disharmony never pay off in the end.
Relevant readings
A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche
Page 31 – 32
Lama Gendun served for about four years as khenpo of the seminary of Jyekundo after Shenga’s departure and was a stout defender of Sakyapa doctrines in local controversies. After that he went to Central Tibet and became head of the small seminary at Ngor. He also traveled widely with the Ngor Khangsar lama Dampa Rinpoche (1876-1953, his teacher and senior classmate under Shenga), receiving many teachings from him, and it was in Tsang at Sakya that he passed away in 1939 or 1940.
Dezhung Rinpoche had been instructed by Gatön to stay with Lama Gendun and was accepted by Lama Gendun as his personal pupil. At this time Lama Gendun had two or three young monks under his personal supervision, including Dezhung Rinpoche and the latter’s distant cousin, the future Ngor Khangsar abbot Ngawang Yontan Gyatso (1902-ca. 1963, Ngor abbot 1933-1936), later known as the “Druk Khenpo.” As a teacher Lama Gendun was so strict that both pupils were afraid of him. Once he asked Dezhung Rinpoche to go to another room and fetch a book and a vase of water. Afraid of some rebuke, Dezhung Rinpoche immediately ran off as requested and rushed back into the room, holding the two objects before him, staring intently into his teacher’s face to try to divine his next wish. In his nervous distraction, he held the vase over the book.
“What are you doing, careless fellow?” said Lama Gendun, snatching the book out of his hands and swatting him over the head with it. “You should never hold something over a book like that!”
Another time, after some mistake, Lama Gendun scolded him sharply, saying, “You a trulku? Hah! Maybe a vulture’s trulku!” But Dezhung Rinpoche never got beatings over the head with his teacher’s slipper, as his more obstinate companion, the future Khangsar abbot Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, Lama Gendun’s nephew, did.
A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 31.
Click to enlarge.
A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 32.
Click to enlarge.
A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche
Page 188 – 189, together with some relevant notes
During this period (ca. 1953-1954), Rinpoche’s distant cousin the Drukpa abbot Ngawang Yontan Gyatso (1902 – ca. 1963), an old classmate of Dezhung Rinpoche from the time of his youthful studies under Shenga and Lama Gendun, and now for many years the ex-abbot of Ngor turned tantrika, also visited Tharlam. He requested Dezhung Rinpoche to record the life story of Ga Lama Jamyang Gyaltsen, saying, “Since Jamgyal Rinpoche was your ‘maternal uncle’ and you studied under him for two years, you should by all means write his biography.” The Drukpa Abbot was a true paternal nephew of Jamgyal, being the son of Jamgyal’s younger brother Skal dga’ (Skal bzang phrin las). He was a well-known and almost notorious figure.
As Dezhung Rinpoche later recalled:
‘Brug pa Mkhan po… was born in Sga in Kham. His family was an old and honorable one, some of whose scions had achieved great prominence as religious figures of the Sakyapa and Nyingmapa sects. His uncle was the famous Sga Lama Jamyang Gyaltsen (1870-1940), the editor of the collected works of Gowo Rabjampa Sonam Sengge (1429-1489). He was related to the ruling houses of Nangchen and Derge. Through the influence of his family and because of his intelligence and wit, he was accepted as a shabdrung of the Khangsar Lama palace of Ngor and proclaimed to be the rebirth of Ngorpa Mkhan po Ngawang Kunga Tenpay Gyaltsen (1863-1899) of the Phan khang Lama palace.712
The young shabdrung soon demonstrated not only a native intelligence and wit, but also a distressing stubbornness and independence. He soon quarrelled with the aged Khang gsar Mkhan po Ngag dbang snying po . As a result of this conflict, he withdrew from the Khang gsar Lama palace and set up his own separate ecclesiastical palace. In order to obtain the wealth necessary to increase his prestige at Ngor, he set out for Bhutan where he attracted the attention of the King of Bhutan, who lavished upon him considerable wealth. He soon was the most wealthy of the ecclesiastical princes of Ngor.
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso, now known as the “Drukpa Khenpo” (“Bhutan abbot”), returned to Ngor and there began a crusade against the protector Rdo rje shugs ldan.713 Still later he returned to Kham and gave up his monk’s vows. Living mainly in Gapa, he was known there as “Lab kha Abbot,” so called from his family home near Tharlam on the opposite side of the Drichu. He is said to have died in the early 1960s in Kham, in Communist imprisonment.
Footnotes
712 – Ngag dbang kun dga’ bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan was the sixty-first abbot of Ngor and his tenure was from 1895 to 1898. During the second year of his term, the senior Khang gsar abbot at that time, Ngag dbang mkhyen rab ‘jam dpal snying po of the Zhwa lu Sku zhang family, was very disappointed at Ngawang Yontan Gyatso’s behavior and succeeded in temporarily removing him from the position of abbot, saying, “I put him up as abbot, and I can take him down!”
713 – According to Dezhung Rinpoche (as recorded in E.G. Smith, unpublished paper “Notes on the History of the Cult of Rdo-rje-shugs-ldan,” Inner Asia Colloquium, July 25, 1963, pp. 7–9), the ‘Brug pa Mkhan po lived as a sort of “holy madman” (chos smyon) and was subject to ecstatic trances in which deities would enter his person. On numerous occasions, when bestowing the initiation of Na ro Mkha’ spyod ma (Naro Kacho Vajrayogini), he would rise and begin dancing and whirling about. He intensely disliked the particular tradition within the Dge lugs pa represented by Pha bong kha pa, and his main wrath was directed against the cult of the protector Rdo rje shugs ldan. Sometimes it seemed as if he were physically struggling with another deity for the possession of his body. That deity was Shugs ldan. As Smith also recorded (pp. 7-8):
It was at Ngor that he began his “war” on Rdo-rje-shugs-ldan. One of the most important mgon-khang of Rdo-rje-shugs-ldan was the rTenmkhar at Ngor. Having made significant gifts to the various politically significant personages and to the monastic community, he assessed the climate to be ripe for the destruction of the mask of Shugs-ldan and the institution of the worship of a rival bstan-srung. His iconoclastic successes at Ngor made him only more eager for more victories against Shugs-ldan, whom, it seems, he actually viewed as a physical enemy.
He set out for Khams where he embarked upon a crusade against this deity. He visited the monastery of ‘Dam thog in Ldan rna and there destroyed the images and ritual objects of this cult. Then he came to Tharlam in about 1948, in the absence of Dezhung Rinpoche (who was at Sakya on pilgrimage). He called the monks together and told them of his crusade against Shugs ldan. He told them that Shugs ldan was not a protector of religion, but that he was an evil spirit who would cause the doctrine to perish. He told them that this deity had caused him great obstacles in his previous incarnation as the Phan khang Ngag dbang kun dga’ bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1863-1899), and that Shugs ldan had then actually caused his early death at age thirty-six. He proposed to destroy, if they would agree, the mask of this deity the following morning. Many of the monks feared the consequences of so provocative an act, and they were afraid of reprisals from the angered deity. But being the disciples of ‘Brug pa Mkhan po, they felt bound to follow his wishes. The next morning, after prolonged prayers, he led a procession of monks into the Protector’s Chapel (mgon khang). He took down a revered mask of the deity from its shrine and carried it outside. He then hurled it into a fire, and then drew a pistol and shot at the mask numerous times. After the mask had been destroyed, he reentered the Protector’s Chapel and removed all the ritual articles associated with that deity. These he had the monks carry down to the banks of the ‘Bri chu and hurl into the river.
After this, he reconsecrated the chapel to the deity Beg tse. He defied Shugs ldan to take revenge. When nothing happened, the frightened monks lost their faith in Shugs ldan and accepted the new protective deity.
A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 188.
Click to enlarge.
A Saint in Seattle; The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, page 189.
Click to enlarge.
Further reading
Lungta 14: Aspects of Tibetan History Spring 2001
Published by Amnye Machen Institute
Guest Editor: Roberto Vitali
Editor: Tashi Tsering
[Click to download a PDF copy]
English
Indonesia
Tibetan
Tenzin Paljor
August 5, 2018
I am sure Sakyas had many holy and genuine lamas, But this Ngawang Yontan Gyatso must be one of the fake, greedy, power-hungry lama of the Sakyas sect. What a shame it is. I am sure after dying in prison, he went to hell.
What a fanatic Ngawang Yontan Gyatso was.
Carole McQuirre
August 5, 2018
Even this thangka of Ngawang Yontan Gyatso looks distorted with a big head, no neck and small body. He looks like some sort of imp. Even in this thangka of him, you can feel his negative energy coming out. His face and mustache is really ugly.
Ex-Sakya Follower
August 5, 2018
This shameful Ngawang Yontan Gyatso after being a monk for a lifetime disrobes as he couldn’t control his desires and married a wife. He was abbot of Ngor Monastery and the seniors dethroned him because he was a very bad abbot with political motives. He was rude and disrespectful to the elders as Dezhung Rinpoche said. Because his career suffered due to all his intrigues, he disrobed and lost his reputation therefore he pretended to be a ‘mad yogi’ wandering around the countryside acting crazy. That didn’t work. Later he was imprisoned and demanded his ‘genuine’ students to follow him to prison and suffer with him. He had no affection for his students. What a shameful person he turned out to be. Totally a sectarian Sakya ‘Lama’.
Tracy
August 6, 2018
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso wanted only money and power. Seeing how popular Pabongka Rinpoche was, he must have been very jealous. Therefore, he started to spread rumours about Dorje Shugden so Pabongka Rinpoche’s popularity would decrease because Pabongka Rinpoche was a Dorje Shugden practitioner.
He claimed he died very young in his previous life because Dorje Shugden created obstacles for him and caused him to die at the age of 36. This didn’t make sense at all, if the law of karma applies, one dies because of one’s karma, not because of spirits. If a spirit can cause a lama to die, it is maybe because the lama is not attained to protect himself from a spirit or it is his karma catching up on him.
The schism created by Ngawang Yontan Gyatso had caused disharmony among different lineages, some people might have lost faith in Dorje Shugden and not practicing anymore, some might spread the rumours to more people creating even more negative influence and there is a risk of losing a pure lineage if this continues. In the end, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso died in the prison with no sign of attainment. Greed and jealousy lead us to the wrong path regardless of who we are, we have to be careful of our motivation so we don’t end up in a bad place.
SabrinaS
September 21, 2018
This make absolute sense. If Dorje Shugden can cause his death at 36, then Ngawang Yontan Gyatso is not attained and subjected to his own karma. And then he goes on to create more negative karma ☠️👻As proven at his death, no special signs of his being anything but ordinary. Such arrogance to start his own monastery after removal as the 61st Abbot by the older former Abbot. And to destroy the Dorje Shugden’s mask and prayer items without permission at Dzehung Rinpoche’s monastery when he was away.
Dalai Lama wants Tibet to be part of China
August 7, 2018
Dalai Lama says returning to China is better for Tibetans-What do rangzen (Tibet Independence fighters) people fighting for Tibet’s freedom do now??? Have we wasted our time?
Suddenly the Dalai Lama keeps insisting he wants to be a part of China. How about all the tens of millions of dollars in money and so much time and resource poured into the Free Tibet movement for 57 years in exile. Is that all wasted? Is that all down the drain? How can the Dalai Lama turn around on us like that?
If Dalai Lama returns to Tibet/China, then he is telling the world China is good for Tibetans and we Tibetans want to be a part of China. Is that correct? So Dalai Lama is telling the world that Tibet is a part of China? After so many years of saying we want independence and our country was eaten and now Dalai Lama is sending what message to the world?
How will India feel after hosting the Dalai Lama for so many years? – This one minute video shows the Dalai Lama August 2018 saying he feels Tibet should be a part of China! -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xLKINuIrtE
Dalai Lama wants Tibet to be part of China
August 8, 2018
Dalai Lama says returning to China is better for Tibetans-What do rangzen (Tibet Independence fighters) people fighting for Tibet’s freedom do now??? Have we wasted our time?
Suddenly the Dalai Lama keeps insisting he wants to be a part of China. How about all the tens of millions of dollars in money and so much time and resource poured into the Free Tibet movement for 57 years in exile. Is that all wasted? Is that all down the drain? How can the Dalai Lama turn around on us like that?
If Dalai Lama returns to Tibet/China, then he is telling the world China is good for Tibetans and we Tibetans want to be a part of China. Is that correct? So Dalai Lama is telling the world that Tibet is a part of China? After so many years of saying we want independence and our country was eaten and now Dalai Lama is sending what message to the world?
How will India feel after hosting the Dalai Lama for so many years? – This one minute video shows the Dalai Lama August 2018 saying he feels Tibet should be a part of China!
http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1533732491.mp4
Yoezer
August 8, 2018
While the government of Nepal has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, they have welcomed 30 Chinese NGOs to enter the country. These NGOs will penetrate the country’s social sector at the grassroots level. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal at one time. Nepal is increasingly open to Chinese influence, a sign that ties between both countries are strengthening, while India’s influence is being reduced. The time has passed for India’s monopoly to remain uninterrupted in Nepal as opportunities to engage with China are being welcomed.
Jampa Lhundup
August 8, 2018
The Nikkei Asian Review is a highly reputable news platform. They are not tabloid in any sense of the word. What they publish is reputable and thoroughly reliable. They mention clearly in an article published August 7, 2018 that the Dalai Lama has a terminal illness. The Prime Minister of India knowing this is now conciliatory towards China. He understands that the Dalai Lama cannot be used as a pawn in irritating China any further. Negotiations are progressing that after the passing of Dalai Lama, his government in-exile will close. The end.
Ayana
August 9, 2018
Why doesn’t the United States and its allies end Refugee Status for the useless Tibetans? They have been refugees for 60 years now and don’t tell me they still cannot get their lives back in order?
Tibetans really know how to put on a good show and use people, take their money and do nothing in return.
Lhakpa Dhendup
August 10, 2018
What will the all the people around the world and in Tibet do now? Dalai Lama says he is happy that Tibet is a part of China and should remain a part of China. So many Tibetans self-immolated for Tibet to be independent and now Dalai Lama did a 360 degree turn and says he wants to go back to Tibet and China and Tibet should be a part of China. So unbelievable. So many are angry and disappointed.
Dalai Lama should set things right
August 11, 2018
Dear Dalai Lama,
Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.
By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.
It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.
Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.
You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.
No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.
You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.
You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.
After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.
Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.
The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.
Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.
Rinchen
August 12, 2018
Murderers, rapists, rabble-rousers and troublemakers! If you need protection, you will find refuge under the Crooked Tibetan Administration. For a fee, you will get carte blanche to exploit who and what you like. And with hundreds of years of experience under their belt in protecting your kind, you can be rest assured that under the Crooked Tibetan Administration, it will be business as usual for you!
Vardaniya
August 13, 2018
The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.
Ojas
August 14, 2018
Supreme Court of India JUSTICE Mr. MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) writes that Tibet is much better under the Chinese than it was under the lamas who only wanted to make the populace slaves. It was feudal and it will never return to the backwardness again.
Zee News India
August 15, 2018
It is all over the Indian media how the Dalai Lama insulted Prime Minister Pandit Nehru. How dare the Dalai Lama insult the very person who allowed him and his people to come to India in 1959 and grow fat and build their golden temples TAX FREE.http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1534332541.mp4
Robin
August 22, 2018
Not all lamas are holy, whether in the past or present. This lama called Ngawang Yontan Gyatso was full of jealousy and greed. At that time, Pabongka Rinpoche was very famous, he was very jealous of Pabongka Rinpoche so he started to spread rumours about Dorje Shugden hoping that people would not go to Pabongka Rinpoche.
His action of destroying Dorje Shugden publications was supported by the Gaden Phodrang, the then Tibetan government. IT is very similar to how the CTA imposed the Dorje Shugden ban. It looks like the Tibetan government has the tradition of mixing religion with politics.
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso was very disrespectful and arrogant, later, he disrobed and married a woman. Even though his behaviour was bad, the Gaden Phodrang did not say a single word to warn the public or do anything to protect the public. If something is not to their advantage, the Tibetan government would not say or do anything. Again, this is very similar to the CTA, Recently, so many lamas were involved in sex scandals but the CTA is not saying or doing anything.
Tibetan government has never been efficient, they are not able to run a country. Will the Tibet cause be successful? I don’t think so.
Tenzin Paljor
August 22, 2018
Why does Bhutan’s lama Dzongsar Kyentse Rinpoche behave and dress in a way that makes people lose faith in Buddhism and it’s teachers? 😒
Maya
August 24, 2018
Although the Dalai Lama has offered an apology, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) still expressed their disappointment over his controversial comment on Nehru, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Dalai Lama called Nehru self-centred.
The Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.
What a joke
September 8, 2018
This is a typical example of how Dorje Shugden ban is a result from one’s greed for power, money and fame. This lama is not even a real lama. he got his fame and power all because of his family and he did not do anything to earn it. Then, he proceed to harm the pure lineage of Dorje Shugden by simply putting a ban on it and gave a really shitty reasoning. He do not care about the lineage holders, the monks, the monasteries on how they will feel and the consequences of his actions.
He is no real lama. He is not even Buddhist.
Lobsang Dhondup
September 16, 2018
It is bewildering that His Holiness the Dalai Lama mentioned that he had known of sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers since the 1990s, yet nothing was done to reprimand these Buddhist teachers. After all, such abuses inflict substantial damage to the reputation of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole as compared to smaller issues like Dorje Shugden.
The Central Tibetan Administration was fervent in executing the Dorje Shugden ban, launching a documentary film, books, expelling monks, splitting monasteries and denying access to hospitals, clinics, schools, retail shops and so forth down to even publishing a hit list of Shugden activists in order to encourage violence and lynch mob. Yet, the damage done to Tibetan Buddhism by these lamas seems to be ignored and hushed. Why is the Central Tibetan Administration not doing more to warn the public about these sex offenders like posting a warning list on their website?
Tashi Wangchuk
September 16, 2018
His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the Tibetan spiritual leader revered by millions of Buddhists around the world should ensure that the Tibetan spiritual leaders do more to denounce sexual misconduct and abuse of Buddhist teachers as there are far-reaching repercussions and negative impact on Tibetan Buddhism.
While His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been consistent in reminding practitioners about not practising Dorje Shugden in lieu of the social and religious problems associated with it, despite the unsubstantiated claims or justifications, the indolence of the Central Tibetan Administration in taking action to pacify the public disgust against the misconduct of these Buddhist teachers is severely lacking and appalling. The bias in dealing with these issues related to religious matter has again proven the political nature and conspiracy behind the ban on Dorje Shugden.
Tashi Wangdi
September 20, 2018
When compared to the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala that does not take any responsibility for their people like any proper government normally would, China is radically different and liberal for allowing sex abuse victims to express themselves on social media, despite its heavy censorship of the Internet.
For people like Luo Xixi, whose online postings on sex abuse has garnered millions of views on Chinese social media, said that the government is gradually opening up to the #MeToo movement, a hashtag catch-phrase movement that encourages and empowers sex abuse victims to stand up against sex abuse. In China, those who are convicted of sexual abuse are severely dealt with by the law and laid off from work. The Central Tibetan Administration should take heed of how such cases are dealt with in China and not allow sex abuse perpetrators, especially Tibetan lamas to continue committing their crimes unchecked and without consequence.
Thupten Lungrig
September 20, 2018
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s speeches create headlines nowadays not because they bring wisdom and enlightening thoughts, but rather unpleasant feelings and disapprovals. From the sexist quip in 2015, his gaffe on Nehru, and his recent comment about Europe that caused him to be labelled as White Supremacist, there is now one more to add onto the list. In order to be congenial and consistent with the image of a Nobel Peace Laureate, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been issuing statements, especially about Islam, such as redefining Jihad as an interior struggle.
More and more people are expressing their doubt, with some even directly pointing out the mistakes in the Dalai Lama’s speech. This pattern of speech of strong statements that ends up in denial or apology seems consistent with his advice concerning the practice of Dorje Shugden. With the reasons behind the ban shifted so much over time, perhaps there really was never any validity behind the ban at all.
Gold Germany
September 28, 2018
Transcript: Dalai Lama is a Racist Nazi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_J_we4rp34
Dalai Lama is a piece of shit and a disgusting scumbag. It is, it is insane this cunt comes to Europe and tells us that we should not accept more refugees. Is he fucking retarded? It is amazing, like you don’t expect from people like, like those to be Nazis and to support all the right. It’s just insane a spiritual leader is a fucking Nazi dude. Europe needs more refugees, way more than we already have. Do you understand? And this degenerate says that we should send refugees back to where they came from and that we should help the countries of the refugees. His suggestions are, it’s obvious, like obviously we should help the countries of the, of the refugees, of their origin, but we should not send anyone back. We need more refugees in Europe and we should not deport anyone. We should give money to the refugees so they can stay in Europe and live here. What this Dalai Lama is suggesting is very inhumane, that’s all what I wanted to say. Hopefully in future we will get more migrants in Europe. Hopefully we can help more people. Let’s hope, let’s hope for the better.
Ngawang Norbu
October 1, 2018
The issue of Indian resentment towards the Tibetan refugees living on Indian soil is nothing new. The Tibetans have built comfortable lives for themselves in India and enjoy many privileges including exemption from paying tax. All of this is done without Tibetans showing genuine concern for the less fortunate in their host country.
The story below, which took place over 24 years ago, is a reflection of how fragile the Tibetan situation is in India. When a Tibetan murdered an Indian following a dispute, chaos ensued, and the Dalai Lama had to consider moving out of Dharamsala. Tensions between the Indian and Tibetan community have not normalised and remain high in the area even until today.
Pema Tashi
October 2, 2018
A Plot to Murder the Dalai Lama
Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, South India, says there is a plot to murder the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Link to the original video: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/video/fight-for-separate-lingayat-religion-karnataka-deputy-cm-alleges-murderous-plot-against-dalai-lama-more-1353993-2018-10-02
http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1538514480.mp4
Namdrol
October 2, 2018
A plot to murder the Dalai Lama by a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorist named Kausar was recently uncovered. Kausar planned to cause the Dalai Lama’s demise and blow up Buddhist temples in the Indian State of Karnataka as revenge for the attacks on Rohingya Muslims by some Buddhists in Myanmar.
Although Kausar’s plans are appalling and cannot be justified, it is a reminder that the Dalai Lama as a well-known Buddhist personality has a moral obligation to discourage religious persecution in any form. This even includes the discrimination experienced by Dorje Shugden practitioners.
Ngawang Jigme
October 2, 2018
The fact that rangzen activists aim for the goal of Tibetan independence is at odds with the Dalai Lama’s goal for Tibet’s autonomy. This is nothing new but it is an undeniable fact that the Dalai Lama is the most recognisable Tibetan face and representative for the Tibetan Cause. However, for years now there has been a deficit of trust between China and the Dalai Lama, which leaves the future of Tibetan refugees in limbo.
Recently, the Dalai Lama tried to take conciliatory steps towards China by acknowledging that development in the Tibet Autonomous Region is beneficial and expressed his desire to return to China. He even said he wants to go on pilgrimage to Mount Wutai, China’s most famous Buddhist site. The fact that the Rangzen people are still protesting against China however shows their true colour. They are against the Dalai Lama and want to make sure that his efforts to help Tibetans are unsuccessful.
Tashi Wangdi
October 4, 2018
Sex Predator in a Monk’s Robes?
In USA, Shambhala’s head Sakyong Mipham with his huge ceremonial hat, blue and gold brocades on a high throne. So much pomp and ceremony and underneath it all was a monster… a sexual predator in religious robes exploiting women and people. Such a disgusting shame. Sakyong should be barred from any activities in the future and go for counselling. He needs it badly. His father was Chogyam Trungpa who did the same thing to women and included drugs and orgies in the 70′s. Dalai Lama supports Sakyong Mipham as sizeable donations were given to the Dalai Lama’s office. Shame. We all thought Dalai Lama was clairvoyant and can see the hearts of sentient beings? Sakyong Mipham wears monk robes, shaves his head but has a wife and kids. Why keep wearing monk robes? He is wearing monk robes to look authentic as he is not authentic. Easier to swindle and fool people. Ontop of wearing robes, shaved head masquerading as a monk, has a wife and kids, he further attacks other women sexually. What kind of spiritual leader is this? Disgusting.
ashrao
November 1, 2018
China and India are becoming closer and in a recent meeting have agreed on some points. One of these points is that the Dalai Lama will not be allowed to carry out any more political activities against China on Indian soil. Being a spiritual leader, why is he so political anyway? The Indian leaders are slowly silencing the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans in India. The Dalai Lama and his Tibetan government in-exile regime had better make friends with China already. They should either go back to Tibet/China or become Indian citizens and remain silent.
Potter
November 8, 2018
A powerful article, a must-read! Makes people wonder, why are they so biased against China when all the other countries are doing exactly what China is doing but behind the facade of ‘democracy’? 👎
Dawa Tsering
November 25, 2018
“The bottom line is its not about whether anyone trusts or likes China but whether China can help these countries advance their own respective national interests. And the answer is yes. Correspondingly the question is whether any country can afford not to access China’s vast consumer market moving into the future. Not doing business is bad for local economies and no one will elect or re-elect a government that presides over a failing economy.”~NY Times
Thupten Lungrik
November 25, 2018
Everyone is expecting a communist China to fail. But in fact China is getting stronger and bigger and more powerful. China proves communism can work to the chagrin of ‘democratic’ countries such as the US who is jealous and threatened of their own status quo. China will continue to grow according to the New York Times.
Jampa Samten
November 27, 2018
India and China now pushing ahead with resolution of their border disputes. It looks like India is finally ready to officially drop the Tibet card.
Excerpt:
“India and China will have “early harvest” talks on their vexed border dispute as many agreements have been reached by both sides since their top leaders met in Wuhan, Beijing said on Monday”.
Sino-Indian ‘early harvest’ spells scorched earth for Tibetan dreams.
Too bad for Tibetans in India. Too bad for Tibetan leadership. Their karma coming back soon for all the harms they have done.
Sonam Wangdue
December 2, 2018
Dear Lobsang Sangye and Tibetan Govt in exile in Dharamsala,
How come after 60 years you are still not at the G20 meetings? How come you cannot get your country back? How come the world economies and power are shifting towards the East which is China? How come you cannot get Tibetan autonomy, or freedom or any leeway with China? How come your negotiations with China is a failure and you produced nothing?
You run around begging for FREE MONEY from Europe, Australia, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and US for 60 years now but no one in your refugee community has made it big or successful? Where did all the money go? In your pockets? How come all your Tibetans from India/Nepal are going back to Tibet or leaving to the west. How come your schools in India are empty? How come Dharamsala is emptying out?
How come you are getting weaker and more world governments are ignoring you? How come more are paying attention to China? Less governments are willing to pay attention to you and the Tibet cause? Where is all your rangzen groups? How come they are not effective? Maybe they are disillusioned with your corruption, lies and underhanded tactics and human rights abuses using religion to divide your own people?
What happened to you? Why are you and your community your Tibetan ‘parliament’ such losers and failures? How come you cannot achieve anything?
Are you going to continue to beg for more FREE MONEY to fund your trips, houses, children’s education, vacations, five star hotels, nice brocade chubas, expensive accessories, and properties. You know the ordinary Tibetan in India has gotten nothing in financial help of the hundreds of millions in aid for that last 60 years you Tibetan exiled government pocketed. Is that why your Tibetan people in India and Nepal are all leaving to back to Tibet and the west? You failed?
Your policies and work are not effective.
Too bad.
Thaimonk
December 3, 2018
TIBETANS SHOULD NOT HAVE MONKS AS LEADERS, THAT IS A BIG MISTAKE
Note what Namdol Lhagyari said is progressive and unlike the usual Tibetan rhetoric:
“The problem I see right now is how reliant we are on one individual,” Namdol Lhagyari, 32, the youngest member of Tibet’s exile parliament, said. “I understand that every freedom movement requires one role model, one leader, who would push everyone in the right direction, bring everyone to one goal. But he has reached an age where we will have to prepare ourselves for a post-Dalai Lama.”
Source: https://themediaproject.org/news/2018/12/3/as-the-dalai-lama-ages-tibetan-exiles-turn-to-secular-unity-over-sacred
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These are important points to remember:
1. Tibetan lamas and monks SHOULD not enter politics. They should not hold positions of power, leadership and political roles. It will demean the Dharma. They are not trained, nor qualified nor have the credentials to be in government. They also do much damage to religion as people start to respect them less. The lines between respecting them as spiritual beings (sangha) and speaking against them when they are in government and make wrong decisions become blurred.
2. Monks and nuns should not get involved with the running of the country but should stick to education. Giving good education to the public about ethics, morality and in some cases Buddhism. No one wants to see a political monk or nun. Because it contradicts the very reason they renounced the worldly life in order to enter a life of contemplation, learning, meditation and gaining enlightenment.
3. Look at other countries where Buddhism is strong where sangha is sangha and never get involved with government or being public officials. In Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Sri Lanka etc where there are tens of thousands of sangha, you don’t see them in the government at all. Local or national governments both do not have sangha. Even in Christian countries you don’t see priests in government. That is Tibet’s big mistake to place monks/high lamas in so many government positions and as public officials. Very dangerous for the country as it has proven with Tibet and Tibetans.
4. Monks, nuns and high lamas should do dharma practice, produce books, videos, give teachings, guide the public, do funerals, blessings, be a nurturer, study dharma, build real temples, keep existing temples spiritual, animal shelters, environmentalists, be mediators, help with orphanages, shelters, the poor, half way houses, poor houses, and basically all sorts of charities that benefit the mind and body of sentient beings that is NOT GOVERNMENT BASED. If sangha gives good education, they can produce kind and good leaders to run the country.
Tibetans should never never never allow Sangha (monks, nuns and spiritual personages) to be involved with government, politics and rule of law because it ends up in disaster. That is how Tibet lost it’s country and will never get it back. There are too many monks in the Tibetan Parliament and as leaders remember Samdhong Rinpoche as the prime minister of exiles. That was very bad. The King of Tibet currently is a monk. How does that look? Very political.
Tibet made that huge mistake and Tibet will never recover from it.
Forum: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=6226.0
Thaimonk
December 5, 2018
Differences between Dalai Lama and CTA president put Tibetan politics in a tailspin
By Rajeev Sharma, November 27, 2018 SouthasianMonitor.com
Tibetan politics is in a tailspin as there are signs of serious differences between the 14th Dalai Lama, unquestionably the supreme and undisputed leader of the Tibetans, and Lobsang Sangay, president of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
The immediate provocation is the unceremonious cancellation of the 13th Religious Conference of the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon Tradition, which was scheduled between November 29 and December 1 year in Dharamshala. Insiders have revealed that the conference was cancelled by Lobsang without consulting the Dalai Lama.
Even more intriguing is the timing of the move. Knowledgeable sources in the Tibetan establishment in India disclosed that Lobsang made the move while the Dalai Lama was travelling back from Japan, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it.
Tibetan politics is turning out to be a cloak-and-dagger mystery. According to sources, Lobsang waited until the Dalai Lama was on his way to the airport before ordering the Department of Religion and Culture to cancel the event. Interestingly, the cancellation of the conference is available by way of an announcement in English on the CTA website.
The CTA’s Department of Religion and Culture announced that owing to the sudden demise of the supreme head of the Nyingma tradition, Kathok Getse Rinpoche, who passed away this week in Nepal and in respecting the sentiments of the followers of Nyingma tradition, the 13th Religious Conference of the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon Tradition was being indefinitely postponed.
The department cited that many lamas and representatives of the Nyingma tradition were unable to participate because of Rinpoche’s passing away.
On November 22, the CTA organised a prayer service to mourn the demise of Rinpoche, the 7th supreme head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche passed away following an accident on November 19 in Pharping, Nepal. He was 64.
Sources say the Dalai Lama is furious with Lobsang Sangay for trying to take credit for his negotiations with China about returning to Tibet.
Sangay claimed that the Dalai Lama has failed for 60 years in negotiations with China, but he has the power and ability to succeed. This is also an indication of how weak the Dalai Lama’s current position is. Sangay knows that the Dalai Lama has been negotiating with China about returning and he’s trying to position himself to take credit for it. Had this happened a few years ago the Dalai Lama would have had him removed, but since his cancer has become terminal, Sangay has been consolidating his position among the exiled community. He controls the press department of the Tibetan government-in-exile and has done so since he ousted Dicki Chhoyang.
For the record, the head of the department, which cancelled the conference, was appointed by Sangay.
By the time the Dalai Lama returned to India the event was cancelled and announcements were issued to the media while he was still in the flight, which would have prevented a confirmation with the Tibetan leader and nothing could have been done to stop it. The reason given for the cancellation was the death of a senior monk.
Sources said that the real reason for the CTA president to keep the Dalai Lama in the dark was because the latter would decide again whether to back the Karmapa as his successor. The Karmapa issue has been a major reason of discord between the Dalai Lama and the CTA president. Sources spoke about a telephonic conversation between the Dalai Lama and Sangay in this regard on November 22 when the former was in Japan.
During this conversation, furious arguments broke out between the two. The Dalai Lama is said to have “shouted” at Sangay, saying that the Karmapa wouldn’t be chosen and that he wouldn’t be dictated terms by anyone. In this conversation, the Dalai Lama used some expletives in Tibetan language which he did not expect Sangay to understand as the CTA president doesn’t know the language. However, a Lobsang aide is said to have translated what the Dalai Lama said.
This marks the most significant power play ever between the different factions within the Tibetan exile leadership. In other words, it’s now an all-out battle between the Dalai Lama and Lobsang Sangay over the future of the exile community, which may worsen in the days to come.
(The writer is a columnist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha)
Source: http://southasianmonitor.com/2018/11/27/differences-between-dalai-lama-and-cta-president-put-tibetan-politics-in-a-tailspin/
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This interesting article has much food for thought:
1. Dalai Lama is angry and shouting expletives as Lobsang Sangay. Everyone knows the Dalai Lama is in full control. He claims he’s retired from politics but this is just to say what the west wants to hear so he can continue getting funding. It looks good to the west that he voluntarily gave up power and this makes him look progressive. But the Dalai Lama controls everything from behind and if you don’t agree with his decisions, he will be furious. Every Tibetan knows this well.
2. Interesting the article mentions Dalai Lama’s cancer is terminal. Everyone knew this but the Dalai Lama tries to cover this point up. Why? Who knows? What is the problem if people knows he has cancer. Tibetan govt tries to play it down.
3. Dalai Lama is angry as his successor will only be on his terms and no one else may dictate to him the terms as Lobsang Sangay tried to do so since it is not a democracy in practice. As all Tibetans know, the Dalai Lama is the Lama-King and he has full power and no one may contradict him. The face he shows the west (soft, friendly, diplomatic, easy-going, democratic) is all just for the west. The face Dalai Lama shows his Tibetan people (fierce, King, angersome, in charge and must be obeyed) is how it really is. Tibetans know the Dalai Lama controls everything and fully manages all politics. People are not happy with this but dare not speak up as there is no democracy.
Writer Rajeev Sharma is telling the situation like it really is. Finally the truth is coming out. Tibetan government in exile is a regime in every sense of the world that depends on all the hundreds of millions of free dollars it has been taking from the west, Japan, Australia and so on. It exists on free money. It is not a good government and has failed all negotiations with China due to the Tibetan leaders’ arrogance. Why arrogance? They think the world will force China to do what Tibetans leaders want and that they are so important on everyone’s agenda. Tibetans are on no one’s top agenda and China is an economic and military super power. China will not and will never kowtow to the Tibetan demands. It is the Tibetans who must beg China to be friends and get some concessions if at all possible. No country has ever dared stand up to USA, but China has and China is growing in power yearly. Everyone is scrambling to be China’s friend and saying goodbye to the Tibetan cause. Tibetan cause is the thing of the past and no economic benefits to support Tibetan cause.
These days every country votes in leaders that can better their country’s economy due to world recession. So every country has to do business and trade and aid with China to improve their economy. If you side with the Dalai Lama and Tibetan govt in exile in India, what do you get? Nothing! So leaders of every nation realize this now and will continue to make friends with China and say goodbye to the Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama on a personal level may be rich, famous and sells a lot of books, but that won’t get Tibet back. That won’t win the support of leaders of the free world and other nations.
Mountains
December 25, 2018
“What does Empress Cixi and the 14th Dalai Lama have in common?”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has a ‘method’ in his very powerful rule.
The Dalai Lama will always say it is not up to him and it’s up to his people. He gave up his power to the people. But it is not really up to his people. His people and his parliament must seek his approval for all decisions or carry out his will. If you ask his people do they want a 15th Dalai Lama after him, they have to say yes as the current one (14th) is watching them and you have to be politically correct to say yes. Who dares to say no? You don’t want to displease him. Who dares to say we want genuine democratically elected leaders. Remember, none of the Dalai Lamas were ever democratically elected (the penny drops). All the Dalai Lamas sit in power on the throne till the end of their lives.
Also how the next Dalai Lama will be found, the current Dalai Lama will definitely set the mechanics during his lifetime and then sit back and say, it’s the people who wanted it this way. It’s the people who wanted another Dalai Lama. Of course they have to say that. If they say they don’t want another Dalai Lama after this one, it is tantamount to treason. It will offend the current Dalai Lama and make him upset. In order for a stateless leader like himself to continue to get millions in aid for free as he has been for 60 years, he must appear democratic. How will he get money to support his vast expenditure of his lama court, if no free donations in the millions are given? So behind the scenes, Dalai Lama pulls all the strings but in front, he acts like he is doesn’t know anything and not involved and his elected leaders are running the show. Nothing can be further from the truth. Just like the last empress Cixi of China. She always enthrones little emperors handpicked by her from her royal family and extended families and controlled their power and ruled China from behind them as their regent during their adolescence. As a woman she could not be the emperor or ruler of all China, so she was clever and put young kids she chose from her royal families on the throne to be their regent and controlled them from behind the gauze curtain. She was suppose to hand power back to them when they reach the age of maturity to rule China, but she never did. She would place the young emperors on the throne during audiences and sit behind a curtain and dictate orders to the ministers in the name of the emperor as their regent. So in this way, she was acting in the name of the emperor (regent), but actually she was in full control. When time came to hand power over to the emperor, she would have them poisoned. Then place another new very young emperor on the throne. She did this for decades.
She was literally the power behind the throne. She could not be dethroned in this way yet she held all power. Like this, she ruled China till her death which was near impossible for any woman to do so. The last emperor Puyi she placed on the throne before the kingdom fell to civil war. (This spawned the movie by director Bernardo Bertolucci “The Last Emperor” and the emperor was played by John Lone.) When time came for the maturing emperors to take actual power from Dowager Cixi during her regencies, she would have them poisoned and install another young emperor and continue to be the regent. In this way, she stayed in power. She didn’t get a chance to poison Puyi because she passed away (rode the dragon to heaven) during his adolescence.
The other only female ‘emperor’ in Chinese history is We Xetian (Empress Wu). Another very incredibly intelligent woman who beat the men around her at their own game and ruled China as a woman.
The Dalai Lama started the Dorje Shugden ban. It came from him and only he can start it. But now he says, it is not him. Because it would make him look bad if he admits the ban came from him which it did. He claims everyone in the monasteries took a vote and they voted Dorje Shugden out. Ignorant western audiences wouldn’t know any better. They had no choice but to vote Dorje Shugden out or the abbots of the monasteries would be dishonorably discharged by the Dalai Lama himself. He places them in power and he can remove them. All Abbots of the great Gelug Monasteries are chosen by the Dalai Lama himself. He can remove them from power anytime, therefore the abbots are frightened of the Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama says he just advised to not practice Shugden, but his people, the abbots in charge, the monasteries took it to another step and outlawed Dorje Shugden and it’s the will of the people. So his ban on Shugden appears democratic. It was up to them. But it is not. He rules behind a ‘gauze’ curtain that he handed his power over to his personal ‘Puyi’ (Lobsang Sangay).
The Dalai Lama cannot show the world he is in full charge, because he would be seen as a dictator and therefore lose all free aid money which he and his government subsist on. Dalai Lama is behind the gauze and holds all power and Lobsang Sangay ‘Puyi’ is on the throne. Strangely similar to Empress Cixi. If Lobsang Sangay does things that does not please the Dalai Lama, you can bet your bottom dollar, he will be dethroned. Again, no Dalai Lama was ever democratically voted into a lifetime of power.
Photos-Empress Cixi of China.
Tsering Ngodup
December 29, 2018
‘Karmapa’ Ogyen Trinley no longer recognised by Indian govt as 17th Karmapa. Indian government is not happy he did not show respect to India for all the years he took refuge in India. He simply renounced his Indian protectorate papers and took a Dominican republic passport. He could have had the courtesy to let Indian government know beforehand and thank them.
Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/67279793.cms?&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Sonam Choephel
January 3, 2019
As the so-called spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama strictly abstains from drinking alcohol in accordance to traditional monastic codes. However, it has recently been reported that the religious leader owns his own vineyard in Switzerland! Apparently, various celebrities, including the likes of Roger Moore, Sepp Blatter and Zinedine Zidane have all made trips to the vineyard. What will people say when they find out that a Buddhist monk, who promotes abstinence from alcohol, owns a vineyard that produces wine for sale? This is certainly not going to sit well with his image of a religious leader and member of the Buddhist monastic order.
http://video.dorjeshugden.com/comment-videos/comment-1546557813.mp4
Jampa Youdon
January 10, 2019
Dear Tibetan government-in-exile (Dharamsala),
Sharmapa Rinpoche is the highest authority in the Karma Kagyu after Karmapa. By age-old tradition, Sharmapa is the one that confirms the real incarnation of Karmapa. He recognized Thaye Dorje as the genuine Karmapa. But Dalai Lama endorsed Orgyen Trinley as the real Karmapa. Dalai Lama is a great lama but there has never been a tradition of him recognizing a Karmapa.
Both ‘Karmapas’ have big followings in and out of Tibet. So which one should we follow? We have to follow the genuine Karmapa. If we follow the fake one, we will get fake teachings, fake lineage and no results. We can even take rebirth in the lower realms.
Only the Tibetan leaders can tell us which is the real Karmapa. You have told us which one is the real Panchen Lama. We follow the Panchen of your choosing. Since then we have condemned China and condemned the fake Panchen Lama. Now it is the same situation with Karmapa. We have denounced the fake Karmapa and ask him to step down. He is destroying the Karma Kagyu Lineage.
This issue has torn the Karma Kagyu sect in half. There are many who are so confused and some gave up Tibetan Buddhism altogether because of this. We must solve the confusion. This does not look good for the Tibetan government in exile because the confusion was started by Tibetan government. I support Dalai Lama and Tibetan government. But so many of us need to know the real Karmapa already. Don’t remain silent. Which one is the real Karmapa.
Tibetan government in exile, you have created two Gelugs (Pro-Dorje Shugden and against), you have created two Panchen Rinpoches, two Karmapas, two Dromo Geshe Rinpoches, two Kundeling Rinpoches and so on. When are you going to solve all the confusion. You are destroying Tibetan Buddhism.
Drolma
March 11, 2019
Pabongka Rinpoche was very famous and had many students, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso was jealous of it. Therefore, he started to spread rumours about Dorje Shugden so that Pabongka Rinpoche’s popularity would decrease as Pabongka Rinpoche was a Dorje Shugden practitioner.
Ngawang Yontan Gyatso claimed he died very young in his previous life because Dorje Shugden created obstacles for him and caused him to die at the age of 36. This didn’t make sense at all, if the law of karma applies, one dies because of one’s karma, not because of spirits. If a spirit can cause a lama to die, it is maybe because the lama is not attained to protect himself from a spirit or it is his karma catching up on him.
The schism created by Ngawang Yontan Gyatso had caused disharmony among different lineages, some people might have lost faith in Dorje Shugden and not practicing it anymore; some might spread the rumours to more people creating even more negative influence and it might cause a pure lineage to disappear. In the end, Ngawang Yontan Gyatso died in the prison with no sign of attainment. Greed and jealousy lead us to the wrong path regardless of who we are, we have to be careful of our motivation so we don’t end up in a bad place.