Shugden Worshippers - The Buddhist Taliban

What Chinese demon hides behind Shugden’s mask?

According to 17th century Tibetan legend, after his death the well-known Lama Dragpa Gyaltsen turned into Shugden, the "protector of Buddhism." Since then Dorje Shugden is represented as a terrifying avenging deity who rides a white lion with an unsheathed sword and tramples on a human being. Shugden supposedly protects against contaminations from the teachings of other schools. (If a Shugden follower touches or possesses an image of a deity belonging to a different tradition, he will be seriously interfered with and in the end destroyed by Shungden.)

The deity has been a source of controversy within Tibet since the 17th century. Shugden has never been an official practice of the Gelug school or any other school of Tibetan Buddhism. The present controversy regarding Shugden refers to a particular brand of Gelukpa exclusivism that emerged in Tibet during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Shugden was seen as demarcating the boundaries of Gelukpa practice. Shugden is believed to be a "protective" spirit which brings down its wrath upon the enemies of its followers. However, Dharma protectors are not a main teaching in any Buddhist school, and today none of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism accept Dorje Shugden as a Dharma Protector, citing his origination and activities against others schools. Most believe he is a demonic force. Another objection to Shugden is that it emphasises spirit worship rather than fundamental Buddhist doctrines.

Followers of this cult have proved to be fanatics and fundamentalists – worlds apart from the pluralistic teachings of Buddhism. They declare to teach the "pure" dharma, and prohibit all other Buddhist texts and teachings; according to them, other Buddhist teachings are dangerous – in some contorted manner, they teach that pluralism will actually encourage sectarianism. It seems that the Dorje Shugden dispute has erupted throughout Tibetan history each time a politically signficiant Dalai Lama has held office.

The Shugden sect gained popularity once again at the beginning of the 20th century. But in 1975, the 14th Dalai Lama made a break with Shugden, urging his followers to consider the problems of Dolgyal practice for these reasons: the danger of Tibetan Buddhism degenerating into a form of spirit worship, obstacles to the emergence of genuine non-sectarianism, and its inappropriateness in relation to the well-being of Tibetan society. He stated that whether or not his advice is heeded is a matter for the individual, while requested that those who practice Dolgyal not to attend his formal religious teachings, which require the establishment of a teacher-disciple relationship, explaining:
"I took this decision as a matter of principle in the larger interest. There is a danger that the great Tibetan tradition will degenerate into spirit worship. It is my responsibility to make people aware of the consequences of worshiping Dorje Shugden. But whether they listen or not is up to the individual. Right from the beginning that's my position."

In 1991, a senior monk named Kelsang Gyatso established a new Dorje Shugden order based in England, calling it the New Kadampa Tradition. (The NKT does not consider itself a form of Tibetan Buddhism.) The practice promised spiritual rewards for cash, which helped trigger problems with the Dalai Lama. Shugden can basically be considered a revival movement within the Geluk tradition. Shugden is considered the protector, not just of individual practitioners, but of the integrity of the Geluk tradition as conceived by its most conservative elements – for which they have been called "the Taliban of Buddhism."

In February 1997, Lobsang Gyatso, Head of the Tibetan Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and close collaborator of the Dalai Lama (who, according to Shugden worshippers is their principal enemy) was murdered together with two of his young disciples on the premises of the Institute, located in Dharamsala. They were killed in ritualistic murders in which it is believed that up to five persons took turns stabbing the 70-year-old academic. The murders took place 200 yards from the Dalai Lama’s private residence. Robbery was eliminated as the motive - cash and gilded statues were left at the murder scene. A bag was found at the scene of the crime containing documents written by the NKT. After the murders, fourteen persons in the Dalai Lama's entourage received death threats.
The two suspected assassins, Lobsang Chodak, 36, and Tenzin Chozin, 40, now have Interpol Red Notices for their capture, based on request of the Indian police. (A Red Notice is not an arrest warrant but is a means by which Interpol notifies member nations that an individual is wanted in another country.)

Shugden organizations deny any involvement; however, a report in the Indian press claims that Indian police traced a call the escaped killers made to a pro-Shugden organization in New Delhi. Seven months prior to the killing, a threatening letter allegedly was sent under the seal of the Dorje Shugden Charitable and Religious Society to "... the morally degenerated Lobsang Gyatso, who is a disgrace to the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics....[We] came to Dharamsala three times. In which nunnery were you hiding then?... Instead of writing warped compositions, you should come down to Delhi (the locale of Shugden sect headquarters) with courage and meet us like the louse meets the thumb nails. However, if your guilty conscience does not afford you the courage to come down, give us a date and we will come to you. Make your decisions".

Many followers of Shugden travel often to China. The Chinese, who destroyed so many temples and killed so many monks, reportedly are restoring Shugden temples in occupied Tibet. During the period leading up to the Beijing Olympics, members of the sect – almost entirely from the West, with almost no Tibetans among them - continually staged counter-protests against pro-democracy Tibetans and their supporters, accusing the pro-democracy anti-CCP demonstrators of the same exact criminal acts that the Chinese regime propagate against the Tibetan people. Since 1991, it has grown to over two hundred centers in England and about fifty in Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere in Europe.

Chinese "Buddhist" organizations connected with NKT – such as the Buddhist Association of China (BAC) – use the agency New China to proclaim H.H. the Dalai Lama to be a "superstitious dictator" who holds his people in subjugation. The popular Chinese newspaper China Daily supports this line, continuously accusing the Dalai Lama of violating the human rights of Shugden followers and of being against democracy, though the Tibetan government in exile is democratic. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua appears has even accused the Dalai Lama of disrespect for religious freedom.

In the past, members of the NKT accused the Dalai Lama of selling out Tibet by promoting its "autonomy" within China rather than outright "independence." Now they accuses him of insincerity towards the Chinese and of being unwilling to hold dialogue with the Chinese, which according to them is his strategy to buy time - incredible but, as usual, the CCP method of accusing its opponents of using the very methods that the CCP utilizes.

Shugden followers have requested Amnesty International to issue a statement declaring that the Tibetan Government in Exile has violated their human rights. In reply, Amnesty International issued an official press statement:
"Amnesty International has received and studied a large amount of material alleging human rights abuses against worshippers of the Tibetan Buddhist deity Dorje Shugden. These alleged abuses are reported to have happened largely in Tibetan settlements in India.
None of the material AI has received contains evidence of abuses which fall within AI's mandate for action - such as grave violations of fundamental human rights including torture, the death penalty, extra-judicial executions, arbitrary detention or imprisonment, or unfair trials."

Could followers of Shugden have "infiltrated" the famous March 2008 clashes in which the Chinese alleged that some overexcited "monks" acted in ways that are in complete antithesis to Buddhism, but which are advocated by Shungden? Certainly, a fundamentalist sect which trains young monks - especially ones who may be open to using violence is very convenient for the forces of the Chinese occupation.
What will happen to Tibet if the non-violent Buddhism preached and defended by the Dalai Lama dies out and Shungden fundamentalism takes root?

Shungden’s mask may hide an even more terrible one: that of the CCP and of Hu Jintao. And His Holiness the Dalai Lama may be man they are trying to crush.

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