Western Shugden Society
Encyclopedia
The Western Shugden Society (or WSS) is a campaigning group established in 2008 to protest
against the 14th Dalai Lama's ban of the practice of Dorje Shugden
within the Tibetan exile community.
When talking to the Western media, the Dalai Lama stated that "he had not advocated a ban, but he had stopped the worship of the spirit because it was not Buddhist in nature." When talking to Tibetans, he said: "These monks must be expelled from all monasteries. If they are not happy, you can tell them that the Dalai Lama himself asked that this be done, and it is very urgent."
Dorje Shugden is a Dharma Protector of the Sakya and Gelug traditions, who has been worshipped for over three hundred years. The WSS state that they are an organized community of Dorje Shugden practitioners from around the world, with no leader and no registered office.
In 1996 the Dalai Lama openly advised against the propitiation
of Dorje Shugden "in the interest of Buddhism and the Tibetan national cause." This was reported in the New Internationalist
as a ban. A statement in September 1996 from, Ven. Lobsang Nyima Rinpoche, the Head of the Gelug school
of Tibetan Buddhism referred to it as a "ban", as did a Tibetan Youth Congress
resolution in 1997.
In a speech made at a Tibetan University in Southern India January 2008, the Dalai Lama said:
The Tibetan Government in Exile is enforcing this ban in national institutions:
However, in May 2008, the Office of Tibet in London claimed that, rather than banning the prayer, the Dalai Lama is advising against it, adding that those who choose to ignore his advice cannot expect to attend his teachings. They also state that he considers Dorje Shugden a fierce spirit who can be used to curse others. Devotion to this spirit is seen by the Dalai Lama as encouraging sectarianism, harming the prospects for Tibetan autonomy and, indeed, the Dalai Lama’s own longevity.
The WSS claim that the Dalai Lama and the TGIE have not responded to any of their attempts to dialogue on the subject and supporters say that the TGIE have simply discredited the opposition. Tsultrim Tenzin, MP in the Tibetan Government in Exile, when asked if the Tibetan Parliament debated the Dorje Shugden issue replied:
The WSS also claims that about one third of the Tibetan population, including hundreds of previous Tibetan Buddhist teachers, used to rely on Dorje Shugden. They state that the Dalai Lama abandoned the practice of Dorje Shugden in the 1970s and that in 1996 he and the Tibetan Government in Exile imposed social obstacles on those not willing to follow his lead, resulting in access to various jobs, positions, schools, and monasteries in the Tibetan community in exile becoming impossible without publicly renouncing Dorje Shugden, while those who showed support for him were rewarded with key positions and visits by the Dalai Lama.
The WSS further states that on 9 January 2008 the Dalai Lama instigated public swearings in monastic universities in South India
, and now throughout the world. They claim that this is aimed at making social life impossible for anyone not renouncing Dorje Shugden and that it has created social segregation with those who refuse to renounce Shugden being publicly denounced as "unclean", "traitors to the Tibetan cause" and enemies of the Dalai Lama. They state that without the new yellow identity card which has been introduced, it is not possible "to attend common Prayer Halls, to buy goods in shops, to obtain visa’s for travelling and families are being torn apart." The WSS maintain that this is ostracising Shugden practitioners and religious apartheid, while the Dalai Lama teaches in the West about religious freedom and tolerance.
Shugden practitioners have also been subjected to violence. Most recently, Radio Free Asia
reported on October 2, 2008 that Tibetan monks been "handed jail terms ranging from four to nine years in connection with several explosions in Markham county, Chamdo, during Tibetan protests earlier this year", including "one at the residence of a Tibetan who worships Shugden, a controversial deity espoused by Beijing but regarded with suspicion by those loyal to the Dalai Lama."
As a result of this situation, some Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, such as Dagom Tensung Ling and Gaden Samdrupling, Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in the United States set up by Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche
, have separated from the Dalai Lama. According to Geshe Kuten Lama, a teacher at Gaden Samdrupling:
The first protests by Dorje Shugden practitioners in the West were organised by the Dorje Shugden Coalition (DSC). For instance, in May 1998, 130 DSC protestors demonstrated as the Dalai Lama visited Manhattan
in the United States
. The DSC said they would continue to follow the Dalai Lama on his tour of the United States until he gave them the religious freedom they said they were being denied. The DSC campaign lasted for two years from 1996 until October 1998. At that time, the main sponsoring organization, the New Kadampa Tradition
(NKT) and its leader Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
confirmed that they had stopped all involvement in the campaigning. In 1996 there had been other groups associated with the NKT such as the Shugden Supporters Community and the Freedom Foundation.
coalition of Dorje Shugden practitioners from many different countries. Its aims are fourfold:
The WSS states four reasons for protesting, using four slogans:
The WSS website offers little information about the structure or size of the group. All group membership entails is to be sympathetic to the aims of the WSS.
The WSS states that it is independent of any other groups. Protesters representing the WSS at demonstrations in 2008 were principally Western Buddhists and Tibetans living in the West, affiliated with various groups who practice Dorje Shugden including the NKT and others such as students from Dagom Tensung Ling and Gaden Samdrupling, Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in the United States. Some of the people who took part in these demonstrations were ordained monks and nuns, both Western and Tibetan.
Following the expulsion of the first six monks, all Dorje Shugden practitioners, from Sera monastery
in Bylakuppe
, Mysore
, South India
, the WSS wrote to the monastery on 9 April 2008 stating that the expulsion was based on wrong and false reasons. They said that unless the monastery reversed the expulsions by 22 April they would "immediately organise worldwide public demonstrations directly against the Dalai Lama whenever he visits any country." Although the letter came from the WSS, they requested the monastery reply to the Dorje Shugden Devotees Society in Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi
. On 12 April they wrote to the Dalai Lama with their fourfold aims, also giving him until 22 April to respond, and again care of the Dorje Shugden Devotees Society.
, United States on 22 April 2008 and since then several thousand people from a number of countries have taken part. They chant two slogans, "Dalai Lama, Stop Lying" and "Dalai Lama, Give Religious Freedom," calling the protests "Shugden Protests, a Journey in Compassion." Protestors chant in English
as well as the language of the country they are in (such as German
), and also with some protestors being Tibetan, in the Tibetan language
.
Between 22 April and 17 August 2008 the WSS has protested outside twelve locations where the Dalai Lama was giving talks in the United States, United Kingdom
, Germany
, Australia
, and France
. The BBC
reported that there were 500 protesters at the demonstration on 28 May 2008 outside the Sheldonian Theatre
in Oxford
, England, where the Dalai Lama had been invited to speak to the Dominican monks
of Blackfriars.
At the start of the Dalai Lama's visit to Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald
reported that there were a total of 50 demonstrators on 11 June at the Sydney Olympic Park
in Sydney
as he held a meditation course for about 5,000 followers at the Acer Arena
. As the Dalai Lama spoke to a crowd of about 5,000 at the Stabler Arena, Lehigh University
in Bethlehem
, Pennsylvania
in the United States on 13 July, about 300 protestors stood outside chanting slogans.
At the demonstration outside Radio City Hall
in New York City
on 17 July, chaotic scenes surrounded the protest as police, including mounted police
, had to separate the WSS protestors, said to number about 200-300 and the Dalai Lama supporters who numbered several thousand to avoid a possible clash, with some of the Dalai Lama supporters approaching the WSS protestors, as they left a lecture by the Dalai Lama. Hundreds of the Dalai Lama supporters shouted "Long live the Dalai Lama" toward the protestors and waved currency notes to make the point that they believed demonstrators were paid Chinese
agents. The WSS deny this and request proof. Some of the Dalai Lama supporters also spat
at the demonstrators and threw things. Eventually the police had to close down The Avenue of the Americas
for about twenty minutes to escort the protestors away from the scene. One protestor claimed that the 50 police officers who were there urged the protesters to leave the scene for their own safety, as they could not protect them.
WSS press speaker, Kelsang Pema, who had flown from England for the demonstration, referred to the Dalai Lama as the "Hollywood Monk" and claimed that he "pretends he doesn't speak English to avoid getting into any discussion of serious issues." She also denied that the group had been paid by the Chinese government. "We get no money from the Chinese. They can check our organization. We’re clean." She also called him a hypocrite
and compared the treatment of Dorje Shugden practitioners to the treatment of the Jews
in Nazi Germany
, saying it is
The Dalai Lama had been asked about the protest during his talk. He said that he used to follow the same practice, but that he had given it up because it was intolerant of other Buddhist teachings, adding, "This is just spirit worship. After I read more about it, I realized my mistake and dropped my practice. I think 99% of Tibetans follow my practice. Some small portion worship this spirit. I am committed to freedom of speech, freedom of talk. So I say to them, enjoy freedom of talk." He also argued that two past Dalai Lamas had restricted the practice, and that he was following tradition. The WSS asserts that he has for more than a decade "been fostering a campaign of intimidation, humiliation, and ostracism" against practitioners of Dorje Shugden. They also argue that even if the worship of Dorje Shugden has now become a minority religion due, ironically, to the actions of the Dalai Lama, it is still correct to protect the religious freedom of minorities.
The book will be generally available from January 2010.
in Australia
on 11 June 2008 and television
also in Australia to investigate what they claim are social injustices being carried out against Dorje Shugden practitioners within the Tibetan exile community and elsewhere.
The group have also set up an account on the video sharing
website YouTube
to promote the activities of the WSS including WSS-made video coverage. The WSS are also using political means to further their campaign. A House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Human Rights
report in July 2008 contained a letter from Kelsang Pema under her lay name, calling for help to gain freedom from religious discrimination and which confirmed that the WSS would be seeking help from each member of the United Nations
Council, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
, the President of the United States
, the President of France, the President of Russia and the President of the People's Republic of China
. The WSS have also set up an online petition to the Dalai Lama, asking him to give religious freedom.
A decade ago, in 1997, at the height of the Dorje Shugden controversy
, Robert Thurman
claimed: "It would not be unfair to call Shugdens the Taliban of Tibetan Buddhism
," referring to the Muslim extremists of Afghanistan. This characterization was repeated in other newspapers in 2002 when reporting about death threats against the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala
, northern India
, which were blamed on the Dorje Shugden practitioners. In September 2008, the Western Shugden Society wrote an open letter
, challenging Thurman to justify his 10-year-old claim: "You should show your evidence publicly through the internet before 25 October 2008. If your evidence does not appear by this date then we will conclude that you have lied publicly and are misleading people." As of November 2009, there has been no response by Thurman on his website.
There have been claims that the WSS is organised and run by the NKT. However, during the 2008 International Spring Festival the Spiritual Director of the NKT, Kelsang Gyatso, explained that in order for the NKT itself to be a part of the WSS, the board of Directors would have had to vote on it. A vote, though, never took place as the NKT itself states that it is not directly participating in the activities of the WSS. Individual Dorje Shugden practitioners from the NKT have joined the WSS in their capacity as Dorje Shugden practitioners. Any involvement by the NKT directly in the politics of Dorje Shugden would represent a u-turn, after Geshe Kelsang Gyatso said in an open letter in 2002:
The WSS does not deny that prominent NKT students have taken part in the demonstrations in their capacity as concerned Dorje Shugden practitioners. Both the NKT and the WSS state that no NKT funds have been used to fund the activities of the WSS, but that WSS activities have been funded by donations from both Westerners and Tibetans, with some, they claim but by no means all, from individual NKT practitioners acting in their private capacity. Also, whilst many of the demonstrators are NKT members, some have come from other Tibetan Buddhist groups in the West such as Dagom Tensung Ling and Gaden Samdrupling in the United States.
s and nun
s and brought Buddhism in the country into disrepute". They added that they recognized there is a difference of opinion with the Dalai Lama on various issues, and that it is the right of NKT and WSS members to disagree with the Dalai Lama's opinions, but that their disagreement should be expressed in a peaceful, respectful and reasonable manner. On 11 August 2008, the WSS responded to the ASA stating that the WSS protests were peaceful and giving several examples from the 1990s and the present-day where Dalai Lama supporters were not peaceful in attacking Shugden protestors.
, the security and law enforcement arm of the United States Department of State
.
Time Magazine reported on July 19, 2008:
Tibet
scholar Robert Barnett of Columbia University
opposes how he was quoted by Time magazine's correspondent David van Biema. He states that he made very clear to him that "ID cards are not given out by the exile administration, but by the Indian authorities". According to Barnett:
The WSS agree that the practice has been banned in monasteries, but reply that Barnett's other claims are unfounded: there is no Pope of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama himself is the one abusing the so-called "non-believers", relying upon Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden is not spirit worship and his practitioners are not sectarian, and the reason for "provoking" publicity is to help restore religious freedom amongst Tibetans in exile, not for its own sake.
Claims about 4 million Shugden followers made in reports by France 24
and Al Jazeera
were rejected by scholars. Journalist Andy Brown comments:
Another source estimates the number of adherents of Tibetan Buddhism to be 20 million. The WSS points out that even the most conservative estimate of 100,000 affected is still a very high number of people to lose their religious freedom as a result of the Dalai Lama's actions.
, although not by the WSS. The founder of Kundeling Monastery, Lobsang Yeshe, who lives in South India
, has filed a complaint against the Dalai Lama at the Indian High Court
on the grounds of religious persecution
. The prosecuting lawyer, Shree Sanjay Jain, says:
The Tibetan Government in Exile
accuse Lobsang Yeshe of being paid by the Chinese and state that he has visited China at least twice. He however denies working for the Chinese, but does confirm that he has Chinese friends and he praises the Chinese "for what they are doing in Tibet", claiming that if Tibetans who followed Dorje Shugden had to live under the Dalai Lama in Tibet, they "would have possibly been crucified
." He has also made similar comparisons to that of the WSS about the treatment of Dorje Shugden practitioners and the treatment of Jews in 1930s Germany as well as religious apartheid.
The Dorje Shugden Devotee's Charitable & Religious Society (DSDCRS) based in the Tibetan settlement of Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi
, India have presented appeals to the Dalai Lama, The DSDCRS also held a Press Conference on 29 April 2008 in New Delhi
to publicly express their concerns about perceived persecution by the Tibetan exile community.
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
against the 14th Dalai Lama's ban of the practice of Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden , "Vajra Possessing Strength", or Dolgyal Shugden , "Shugden, King of Dhol" is a deity in Tibetan Buddhism, especially its Gelug school, who is regarded as a Dharma Protector or "guardian angel." The practice of Dharma Protectors is central to most religious Tibetans and...
within the Tibetan exile community.
When talking to the Western media, the Dalai Lama stated that "he had not advocated a ban, but he had stopped the worship of the spirit because it was not Buddhist in nature." When talking to Tibetans, he said: "These monks must be expelled from all monasteries. If they are not happy, you can tell them that the Dalai Lama himself asked that this be done, and it is very urgent."
Dorje Shugden is a Dharma Protector of the Sakya and Gelug traditions, who has been worshipped for over three hundred years. The WSS state that they are an organized community of Dorje Shugden practitioners from around the world, with no leader and no registered office.
Background
Propitiation
Propitiation is appeasing or making well disposed , especially a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding Divine retribution.-Christian theology:...
of Dorje Shugden "in the interest of Buddhism and the Tibetan national cause." This was reported in the New Internationalist
New Internationalist
New Internationalist is a magazine from New Internationalist Publications, a co-operative-run publisher based in Oxford, England. It has editorial and sales offices in Toronto, Canada; Adelaide, Australia; Christchurch, New Zealand; and New York, USA....
as a ban. A statement in September 1996 from, Ven. Lobsang Nyima Rinpoche, the Head of the Gelug school
Ganden Tripa
The Ganden Tripa or Gaden Tripa is the title of the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, the school which controlled central Tibet from the mid-17th century until 1950s. He is identical with the respective abbot of Ganden Monastery...
of Tibetan Buddhism referred to it as a "ban", as did a Tibetan Youth Congress
Tibetan Youth Congress
The Tibetan Youth Congress is an international non-governmental organization that advocates the independence of Tibet from China. With around 30,000 members in the Tibetan diaspora, it is the largest of the pro-independence organizations of Tibetan exiles...
resolution in 1997.
In a speech made at a Tibetan University in Southern India January 2008, the Dalai Lama said:
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."
The Tibetan Government in Exile is enforcing this ban in national institutions:
In sum, the departments, their branches and subsidiaries, monasteries and their branches that are functioning under the administrative control of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile should be strictly instructed, in accordance with the rules and regulations, not to indulge in the propitiation of Shugden.
However, in May 2008, the Office of Tibet in London claimed that, rather than banning the prayer, the Dalai Lama is advising against it, adding that those who choose to ignore his advice cannot expect to attend his teachings. They also state that he considers Dorje Shugden a fierce spirit who can be used to curse others. Devotion to this spirit is seen by the Dalai Lama as encouraging sectarianism, harming the prospects for Tibetan autonomy and, indeed, the Dalai Lama’s own longevity.
The WSS claim that the Dalai Lama and the TGIE have not responded to any of their attempts to dialogue on the subject and supporters say that the TGIE have simply discredited the opposition. Tsultrim Tenzin, MP in the Tibetan Government in Exile, when asked if the Tibetan Parliament debated the Dorje Shugden issue replied:
There was no argument. If there was some opposition, then there will be some argument, but there is no opposition. We do not have any doubt about the Dalai Lama's decisions. We do not think he is a human being. He is a supreme human being, and he is god, he is Avalokiteshvara, he has no interest [in] himself, he always thinks of others. Everybody is happy. Our system is everybody is happy. There is democracy, full democracy. Everyone can experience whatever he likes.
The WSS further states that on 9 January 2008 the Dalai Lama instigated public swearings in monastic universities in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, and now throughout the world. They claim that this is aimed at making social life impossible for anyone not renouncing Dorje Shugden and that it has created social segregation with those who refuse to renounce Shugden being publicly denounced as "unclean", "traitors to the Tibetan cause" and enemies of the Dalai Lama. They state that without the new yellow identity card which has been introduced, it is not possible "to attend common Prayer Halls, to buy goods in shops, to obtain visa’s for travelling and families are being torn apart." The WSS maintain that this is ostracising Shugden practitioners and religious apartheid, while the Dalai Lama teaches in the West about religious freedom and tolerance.
Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation that operates a radio station and Internet news service. RFA was founded by an act of the US Congress and is operated by the Broadcasting Board of Governors . The RFA is supported in part by grants from the federal government of the United States...
reported on October 2, 2008 that Tibetan monks been "handed jail terms ranging from four to nine years in connection with several explosions in Markham county, Chamdo, during Tibetan protests earlier this year", including "one at the residence of a Tibetan who worships Shugden, a controversial deity espoused by Beijing but regarded with suspicion by those loyal to the Dalai Lama."
As a result of this situation, some Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, such as Dagom Tensung Ling and Gaden Samdrupling, Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in the United States set up by Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche
Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche
Kyabje Dagom Rimpoche is a Gelug incarnate lama and a direct disciple of Trijang Dorjechang, tutor to the 14th Dalai Lama, from whom he received most of his heart instructions. Rimpoche has been the holder the Ganden 'Ear-Whispered' Lineage until his parinirvana in 2007.- Biography :Kyabje Dagom...
, have separated from the Dalai Lama. According to Geshe Kuten Lama, a teacher at Gaden Samdrupling:
There was one primary reason why we established our monastery: to preserve our lineage. The hardship is because the Dalai Lama took our religious freedom, our human rights. But it is very hard for us ordinary persons to explain to the world because he is so powerful and famous and our words are not too important.
The first protests by Dorje Shugden practitioners in the West were organised by the Dorje Shugden Coalition (DSC). For instance, in May 1998, 130 DSC protestors demonstrated as the Dalai Lama visited Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The DSC said they would continue to follow the Dalai Lama on his tour of the United States until he gave them the religious freedom they said they were being denied. The DSC campaign lasted for two years from 1996 until October 1998. At that time, the main sponsoring organization, the New Kadampa Tradition
New Kadampa Tradition
The New Kadampa Tradition ~ International Kadampa Buddhist Union is a global Buddhist organisation founded by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in England in 1991. In 2003 the words "International Kadampa Buddhist Union" were added to the original name "New Kadampa Tradition"...
(NKT) and its leader Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Kelsang Gyatso
Kelsang Gyatso is a Buddhist monk, "meditation master, scholar, and author" of 22 books based on the teachings of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism...
confirmed that they had stopped all involvement in the campaigning. In 1996 there had been other groups associated with the NKT such as the Shugden Supporters Community and the Freedom Foundation.
Aims
According to its website the WSS is an ad hocAd hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
coalition of Dorje Shugden practitioners from many different countries. Its aims are fourfold:
- To give freedom to practice Dorje Shugden to whoever wishes to rely upon this Deity.
- To stop completely the discrimination between Shugden people and non-Shugden practitioners.
- To allow all Shugden monks and nuns who have been expelled from their monasteries and nunneries to return to their monasteries and nunneries where they should receive the same material and spiritual rights as the non-Shugden practitioners.
- That the Dalai Lama tell in writing to the TibetanTibetan peopleThe Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
community throughout the world that they should practically apply the above three points.
The WSS states four reasons for protesting, using four slogans:
- "Dalai Lama, Give Religious Freedom" - The WSS claim the ban interefers with religious freedom.
- "Dalai Lama, Stop Lying" - The WSS accuse the Dalai Lama of lying for a number of reasons.
- "Hypocrisy" - The WSS claim that the Dalai Lama is a hypocrite, inflicting human rights abuses while lecturing on human rights and religious freedom.
- "Ostracism" - The WSS claim that the ban is creating untouchables within the Tibetan community.
The WSS website offers little information about the structure or size of the group. All group membership entails is to be sympathetic to the aims of the WSS.
The WSS states that it is independent of any other groups. Protesters representing the WSS at demonstrations in 2008 were principally Western Buddhists and Tibetans living in the West, affiliated with various groups who practice Dorje Shugden including the NKT and others such as students from Dagom Tensung Ling and Gaden Samdrupling, Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in the United States. Some of the people who took part in these demonstrations were ordained monks and nuns, both Western and Tibetan.
Activities
The WSS demonstrates in non-violent, peaceful protests stating that all such protests will end when the Dalai Lama lifts his ban, or at least when he accepts Shugden practitioners' invitation to dialogue, which has been in place since 1996.Sera Monastery
Sera Monastery is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located north of Lhasa. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery. The origin of the name 'Sera' is attributed to a fact that the site where the monastery was built was surrounded by wild roses in...
in Bylakuppe
Bylakuppe
Bylakuppe kannada:ಬೈಲಕುಪ್ಪೆ, Tibetian:བལཀུཔེ is the location of "Lugsum Samdupling" and "Dickyi Larsoe" , two adjacent Tibetan refugee settlements, as well as a number of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. The area is located in the west of the Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka...
, Mysore
Mysore district
Mysore District is an administrative district located in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. The district is bounded by Mandya district to the northeast, Chamrajanagar district to the southeast, Kerala state to the south, Kodagu district to the west, and Hassan district to the north...
, South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, the WSS wrote to the monastery on 9 April 2008 stating that the expulsion was based on wrong and false reasons. They said that unless the monastery reversed the expulsions by 22 April they would "immediately organise worldwide public demonstrations directly against the Dalai Lama whenever he visits any country." Although the letter came from the WSS, they requested the monastery reply to the Dorje Shugden Devotees Society in Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. On 12 April they wrote to the Dalai Lama with their fourfold aims, also giving him until 22 April to respond, and again care of the Dorje Shugden Devotees Society.
Demonstrations
Ten years after the original DSC campaign ended, and following no response to the two WSS letters, demonstrations began under the WSS umbrella in Hamilton, Madison CountyHamilton (town), New York
Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 5,733 at the 2000 census. The town is named after American patriot Alexander Hamilton....
, United States on 22 April 2008 and since then several thousand people from a number of countries have taken part. They chant two slogans, "Dalai Lama, Stop Lying" and "Dalai Lama, Give Religious Freedom," calling the protests "Shugden Protests, a Journey in Compassion." Protestors chant in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as well as the language of the country they are in (such as German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
), and also with some protestors being Tibetan, in the Tibetan language
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
.
Between 22 April and 17 August 2008 the WSS has protested outside twelve locations where the Dalai Lama was giving talks in the United States, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reported that there were 500 protesters at the demonstration on 28 May 2008 outside the Sheldonian Theatre
Sheldonian Theatre
The Sheldonian Theatre, located in Oxford, England, was built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the university at the time and the project's main financial backer...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England, where the Dalai Lama had been invited to speak to the Dominican monks
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
of Blackfriars.
At the start of the Dalai Lama's visit to Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
reported that there were a total of 50 demonstrators on 11 June at the Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sydney Olympic Park is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Auburn Council....
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
as he held a meditation course for about 5,000 followers at the Acer Arena
Acer Arena
The Allphones Arena is a large entertainment and sporting complex located in Sydney, Australia. It is situated in Sydney Olympic Park, and was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for the 2000 Summer Olympics....
. As the Dalai Lama spoke to a crowd of about 5,000 at the Stabler Arena, Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
in Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the United States on 13 July, about 300 protestors stood outside chanting slogans.
At the demonstration outside Radio City Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 17 July, chaotic scenes surrounded the protest as police, including mounted police
Mounted police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. They continue to serve in remote areas and in metropolitan areas where their day-to-day function may be picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and...
, had to separate the WSS protestors, said to number about 200-300 and the Dalai Lama supporters who numbered several thousand to avoid a possible clash, with some of the Dalai Lama supporters approaching the WSS protestors, as they left a lecture by the Dalai Lama. Hundreds of the Dalai Lama supporters shouted "Long live the Dalai Lama" toward the protestors and waved currency notes to make the point that they believed demonstrators were paid Chinese
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
agents. The WSS deny this and request proof. Some of the Dalai Lama supporters also spat
Spitting
Spitting or expectoration is the act of forcibly ejecting saliva or other substances from the mouth. It is currently considered rude and a social taboo in many parts of the world including the West, while in some other parts of the world it is considered more acceptable...
at the demonstrators and threw things. Eventually the police had to close down The Avenue of the Americas
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
for about twenty minutes to escort the protestors away from the scene. One protestor claimed that the 50 police officers who were there urged the protesters to leave the scene for their own safety, as they could not protect them.
WSS press speaker, Kelsang Pema, who had flown from England for the demonstration, referred to the Dalai Lama as the "Hollywood Monk" and claimed that he "pretends he doesn't speak English to avoid getting into any discussion of serious issues." She also denied that the group had been paid by the Chinese government. "We get no money from the Chinese. They can check our organization. We’re clean." She also called him a hypocrite
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
and compared the treatment of Dorje Shugden practitioners to the treatment of the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, saying it is
The Dalai Lama had been asked about the protest during his talk. He said that he used to follow the same practice, but that he had given it up because it was intolerant of other Buddhist teachings, adding, "This is just spirit worship. After I read more about it, I realized my mistake and dropped my practice. I think 99% of Tibetans follow my practice. Some small portion worship this spirit. I am committed to freedom of speech, freedom of talk. So I say to them, enjoy freedom of talk." He also argued that two past Dalai Lamas had restricted the practice, and that he was following tradition. The WSS asserts that he has for more than a decade "been fostering a campaign of intimidation, humiliation, and ostracism" against practitioners of Dorje Shugden. They also argue that even if the worship of Dorje Shugden has now become a minority religion due, ironically, to the actions of the Dalai Lama, it is still correct to protect the religious freedom of minorities.
'A Great Deception'
The Western Shugden Society has published a book entitled A Great Deception - The Ruling Lamas' Policies (Western Shugden Society, 2009 ISBN 978-0-9563918-0-3) in which they claim to expose the mixing of religion and politics (called 'lama policy') by the Fifth, Thirteen and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas and the negative consequences of this for Dorje Shugden practitioners, Tibetan Buddhists in general, and others. The stated aims of the book are fourfold:- To liberate millions of innocent practitioners of the Buddhist Deity Dorje Shugden and their families from suffering
- To restore peace and harmony between Shugden and non-Shugden practitioners
- To re-establish the common spiritual activities of Shugden and non-Shugden practitioners
- To free Buddhism from political pollution
The book will be generally available from January 2010.
Other activities
The WSS has been appealing to the general public through the media, including interviews on radio and television such as an interview on ABC Radio NationalRadio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 11 June 2008 and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
also in Australia to investigate what they claim are social injustices being carried out against Dorje Shugden practitioners within the Tibetan exile community and elsewhere.
The group have also set up an account on the video sharing
Video hosting service
A video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video...
website YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
to promote the activities of the WSS including WSS-made video coverage. The WSS are also using political means to further their campaign. A House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
report in July 2008 contained a letter from Kelsang Pema under her lay name, calling for help to gain freedom from religious discrimination and which confirmed that the WSS would be seeking help from each member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Council, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, the President of France, the President of Russia and the President of the People's Republic of China
President of the People's Republic of China
The President of the People's Republic of China is a ceremonial office and a part of State organs under the National People's Congress and it is the head of state of the People's Republic of China . The office was created by the 1982 Constitution...
. The WSS have also set up an online petition to the Dalai Lama, asking him to give religious freedom.
A decade ago, in 1997, at the height of the Dorje Shugden controversy
Dorje Shugden controversy
A controversy arose in the late 1970s when the Fourteenth Dalai Lama started to speak out against the propitiation of Dorje Shugden, which has intensified since 1996 when he issued an "explicit ban", suppressing the practice within the Tibetan exile community....
, Robert Thurman
Robert Thurman
Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman is an influential and prolific American Buddhist writer and academic who has authored, edited or translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He is the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, holding the first endowed chair...
claimed: "It would not be unfair to call Shugdens the Taliban of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
," referring to the Muslim extremists of Afghanistan. This characterization was repeated in other newspapers in 2002 when reporting about death threats against the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala
Dharamsala
Dharamshala or Dharamsala is a city in northern India. It was formerly known as Bhagsu; it is the winter seat of government of the state of Himachal Pradesh and the district headquarters of the Kangra district....
, northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, which were blamed on the Dorje Shugden practitioners. In September 2008, the Western Shugden Society wrote an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
, challenging Thurman to justify his 10-year-old claim: "You should show your evidence publicly through the internet before 25 October 2008. If your evidence does not appear by this date then we will conclude that you have lied publicly and are misleading people." As of November 2009, there has been no response by Thurman on his website.
Western Shugden Society and the New Kadampa Tradition
The WSS does not deny that prominent NKT students have taken part in the demonstrations in their capacity as concerned Dorje Shugden practitioners. Both the NKT and the WSS state that no NKT funds have been used to fund the activities of the WSS, but that WSS activities have been funded by donations from both Westerners and Tibetans, with some, they claim but by no means all, from individual NKT practitioners acting in their private capacity. Also, whilst many of the demonstrators are NKT members, some have come from other Tibetan Buddhist groups in the West such as Dagom Tensung Ling and Gaden Samdrupling in the United States.
Perception of the protests by others within the Buddhist community
Following the demonstrations in Sydney, Australia, the Australian Sangha Association (ASA) issued an official statement in which they said that "Noisy public demonstrations such as these are not appropriate behaviour for monkMonk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s and nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s and brought Buddhism in the country into disrepute". They added that they recognized there is a difference of opinion with the Dalai Lama on various issues, and that it is the right of NKT and WSS members to disagree with the Dalai Lama's opinions, but that their disagreement should be expressed in a peaceful, respectful and reasonable manner. On 11 August 2008, the WSS responded to the ASA stating that the WSS protests were peaceful and giving several examples from the 1990s and the present-day where Dalai Lama supporters were not peaceful in attacking Shugden protestors.
Response to the protests by third parties
In the United States, the protestors' constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech was ensured by state and local police and governments. The police liaised with the Bureau of Diplomatic SecurityBureau of Diplomatic Security
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, more commonly known as Diplomatic Security, or DS, is the security and law enforcement arm of the United States Department of State. DS is a world leader in international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, security technology, and...
, the security and law enforcement arm of the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
.
Time Magazine reported on July 19, 2008:
Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
scholar Robert Barnett of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
opposes how he was quoted by Time magazine's correspondent David van Biema. He states that he made very clear to him that "ID cards are not given out by the exile administration, but by the Indian authorities". According to Barnett:
The WSS agree that the practice has been banned in monasteries, but reply that Barnett's other claims are unfounded: there is no Pope of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama himself is the one abusing the so-called "non-believers", relying upon Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden is not spirit worship and his practitioners are not sectarian, and the reason for "provoking" publicity is to help restore religious freedom amongst Tibetans in exile, not for its own sake.
Claims about 4 million Shugden followers made in reports by France 24
France 24
France 24 is an international news and current affairs television channel. The service is aimed at the overseas market, similar to BBC World News, DW-TV, NHK World and RT, and broadcast through satellite and cable operators throughout the world. During 2010 the channel started broadcasting through...
and Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
were rejected by scholars. Journalist Andy Brown comments:
Another source estimates the number of adherents of Tibetan Buddhism to be 20 million. The WSS points out that even the most conservative estimate of 100,000 affected is still a very high number of people to lose their religious freedom as a result of the Dalai Lama's actions.
Other groups protesting the ban on Dorje Shugden
In May 2008, a similar demonstration was held in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, although not by the WSS. The founder of Kundeling Monastery, Lobsang Yeshe, who lives in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, has filed a complaint against the Dalai Lama at the Indian High Court
High Courts of India
India's unitary judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the national level, for the entire country and the 21 High Courts at the State level. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories...
on the grounds of religious persecution
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....
. The prosecuting lawyer, Shree Sanjay Jain, says:
The Tibetan Government in Exile
Central Tibetan Administration
The Central Tibetan Administration , is an organisation based in India with the stated goals of "rehabilitating Tibetan refugees and restoring freedom and happiness in Tibet". It was established by the 14th Dalai Lama in 1959 shortly after his exile from Tibet...
accuse Lobsang Yeshe of being paid by the Chinese and state that he has visited China at least twice. He however denies working for the Chinese, but does confirm that he has Chinese friends and he praises the Chinese "for what they are doing in Tibet", claiming that if Tibetans who followed Dorje Shugden had to live under the Dalai Lama in Tibet, they "would have possibly been crucified
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
." He has also made similar comparisons to that of the WSS about the treatment of Dorje Shugden practitioners and the treatment of Jews in 1930s Germany as well as religious apartheid.
The Dorje Shugden Devotee's Charitable & Religious Society (DSDCRS) based in the Tibetan settlement of Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India have presented appeals to the Dalai Lama, The DSDCRS also held a Press Conference on 29 April 2008 in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
to publicly express their concerns about perceived persecution by the Tibetan exile community.