China’s View on Shugden

 Dear Dharma friends,

While Tibet fights the ongoing noble cause for independence, it looks like the Chinese have other plans.

Below is an article written by one of China’s leading newspapers about the Dorje Shugden issue, namely the ban instituted by the Dalai Lama against this Protector deity.

Although the article was written in the earlier days, before the height of the ban, it shows clearly that China has been closely watching the activity of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama and his exiled government (now the CTA). They know very well what is happening within the exiled Tibetan communities.

Also, note that the article is written with a tone which does not agree with the undemocratic and unjust methods used against Dorje Shugden practitioners; it is clear that the Chinese do not agree with the Dalai Lama’s policies on this and are on the side of the Shugden activists and practitioners.

Note what they write in the article: “China is in fact gaining greater international prestige, and Tibetans are leading a better life… people have lost confidence in the call for “Tibetan independence””.

You might think that Tibetan independence is a different issue from the Dorje Shugden issue. In fact, the two issues are very connected. From the point of view of the Chinese, they may use internal troubles within the Tibetan communities as “proof” that the Dalai Lama is disharmonious. They will use this information against the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama, saying that they are doing more harm than good for their people – so therefore, why should China give them independence?

Issues of disharmony like the Dorje Shugden ban creates more fuel for China to use against the exiled Tibetan people.
This might also potentially jeopardise the exiled Tibetans’ relations with their host country India. When India hears of these internal disharmonious issues in their own country, it can signal instability within India, which of course the government will not like.

It is important to note that although the ban against Shugden is continuing within Tibetan communities, the practice of Shugden is growing in China. The government gives a lot of support to the Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan areas and especially to Dorje Shugden temples.

Please read this article. There are definitely many more articles like this circulating throughout China and which will spread to the world. Consider the long-term effects of the Shugden ban and how it affects the Tibetans’ internal and international relations. Is this the kind of future that the exiled Tibetans want?

Beijing Supports The Shugden Activists

http://www.friendsoftibet.org/databank/chinageneral/chinag6.html

China’s Tibet

January 1996

Just like his predecessors, the 14th Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile in India, once worshiped Gyaiqen Xudian (Gyalchen Shugden). In fact, a thangka painting of the Buddhist guardian once hung prominently on a wall in the residence of the Dalai Lama.

In 1978, however, the Dalai Lama ordered that the thangka painting of the Buddhist guardian be removed. Thereafter, he vowed that he would no longer worship the Buddhist guardian, and that “no Tibetan was allowed to do so,” the Dalai Lama ordered. “Anyone who dares to worship Gyaiqen Xudian will no longer be considered my disciple.”

Retribution

In recent years, the Dalai Lama, a self-styled believer in religious freedom, who allegedly stands in firm opposition to any suppression of religion, sought retribution against the innocent guardian of the Tibetan Buddhist doctrine. His staunch disavowal has, in fact, recently gained momentum.

Following years of silence, the Dalai Lama declared a virtual war against a holy spirit of the Gelug Sect in 1994. The Dalai Lama and his followers have repeatedly declared that Gyaiqen Xudian is a ‘Han Ghost’ who lacks favor with Nequn (Nechung), who is often seen as the main guardian of Buddhist doctrine.

In March 1996, the Dalai Lama forcefully disallowed the practice of the Dharma Protector Gyaiqen Xudian during lectures. The Dalai Lama issued a ridiculous accusation that this guardian of Tibetan Buddhism was in some way adversely affecting his government in exile.

Proceeding on the basis of the accusation, he instructed all monasteries and all Living Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism to cease worship of Gyaiqen Xudian. The Dalai Lama stressed that anyone worshipping the guardian would be acting against the ‘common cause of Tibet’, and would quite simply be yearning for the Dalai Lama’s own early demise.

The audience attending his lecture on Buddhism was astonished at the remarks. The hysterical Dalai Lama yelled that anyone unwilling to obey his instructions should leave. Members of the Dalai Lama’s government in exile, a group at the beck and call of the Dalai Lama, are forcibly prohibited from worshipping Gyaiqen Xudian, the guardian of the Gelug Sect Buddhist doctrine.

Various related Tibetan departments adopted resolutions and issued statements banning the worship of Gyaiqen. The resolutions and statements, as well as the speeches of the Dalai Lama, were compiled into books and audio-video products for widespread circulation. This Dharma Protector has since been the target of attacks from the Dalai Lama and his followers.

The Dalai Lama’s cronies rushed to areas in India and Nepal inhabited by Tibetans. They forced Tibetans to obey the Dalai Lama’s order to abandon the worship of Gyaiqen Xudain, a figure worshipped by generations. The Dalai Lama’s men proceeded to visit monasteries and private houses, destroying statues of the guardian of the Buddhist doctrine.
Tibetans held differing views on the ban on the generations-old worship of this Dharma Protector. Mounting opposition invited suppression from the Dalai Lama and his men who proceeded to cancel support for students who opposed the Dalai Lama, and went so far as to dismiss government officials who refused to obey.
Faced with rising discontentment amongst Tibetans, the government in exile recently issued a statement to the effect that only “Government departments” were prohibited from worshipping this Dharma Protector, and that individuals were free to make their own decision.

The government in exile dared not admit the fact that various students who refused to obey had been ordered to leave monastic schools. The indisputable fact is that over a dozen Tibetan lamas were driven from Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in southern India.

Opposition

The Dalai Lama’s move has sparked widespread boycott and opposition in Tibetan-inhabited areas both in and outside Tibet. Many highly respected Living Buddhas, and indeed common people, have refused to affix their signature to documents the Dalai Lama and his men have drafted; documents which demand that they abandon worship of this Dharma Protector. They produced various posters and audio products for distribution in areas where there are Tibetans, describing the suffering the Dalai Lama and his men have inflicted on people continuing to worship the guardian of the Buddhist doctrine.

Tibetans living in various areas have been forced to hide their statues of the Dharma Protector.

Tibetan compatriots living in India and Nepal joined in a collective protest opposing the Dalai Lama’s decision and banded together to protect monasteries, lamas and nuns from continual hounding by the Dalai and his men. The protestors also issued statements pointing out the Dalai Lama’s move to violate human rights.

Background

The Dalai Lama has been leading a life in exile for the past 37 years. He has yearned for the day when the Communist Party of China would step down, and has worked hard to turn the tide in China. He predicted that 1990 would be a period ripe for Tibet to “win independence” and that the “Chinese Communist regime” would be toppled between 1995 and 1996. He travelled far and wide seeking support for the independence of Tibet, with his effort was supported by funds raised from Tibetans residing overseas. The group providing his funds, however, is becoming increasingly disappointed to see that the Dalai Lama has been reduced to a mouthpiece of international anti-China forces, and that his predictions are sheer nonsense.

China is in fact gaining greater international prestige, and Tibetans are leading a better life. Tibetan compatriots residing abroad express amazement at the freedom of religious belief enjoyed by their counterparts. Discontent for the Dalai Lama continues to grow, and people have lost confidence in the call for “Tibetan independence”.

Given the situation of spreading discontentment amongst Tibetans residing abroad, the Dalai Lama resorted to what is referred to as “killing a chicken as a warning to monkeys”. This is precisely the reason he flies into a rage when dealing with the guardian of the Buddhist doctrine.

The Dalai Lama, who turned 60 in 1995, predicted: “According to all signs I have gathered from dreams and elsewhere, I will live to an age between 100 to 120 years.” The Dalai Lama instigated a war against the spiritual image in the minds of Tibetans out of the fear that Gyaiqen Xudian, the guardian of the Buddhist doctrine, would somehow disrupt his yearning for longevity.