Dorje Shugden Movie

A team is assembling and heading to Tibet to begin filming a well researched documentary film about Dorje Shugden.

dorjeshugdenmovie.com - “The general idea is to do documented research on the origin and practice of the Buddhist protector deity Dorje Shugden. We will travel to Tibet and surrounding countries, visit historically relevant sites and talk to its followers and masters all over the world.”

This is great news. I’m sure that this documentary will clear up some of the nonsense about Dorje Shugden created by the Dalai Lama. However, they state on the site they will not be going into the recent controversy and this project is not connected to any organization.

Safe travels Dorje Shugden filmmakers. I’m sure you’ll be well protected on your journey!

Dharmaprotector.org and the Dalai Lama Controversy

There are a couple of sites worth visiting regarding the Dalai Lama Controversy. Thomas Hochman, from Albuquerque, New Mexico wrote an interesting series of articles about the controversy and the site Heart Jewel – Standing up for the Middle Way has been redesigned. It’s looking sharp. Check out these sites if you haven’t already.

Update: Dalai Lama’s Court Case in Delhi High Court

An update on the Dalai Lama’s court case in Delhi High Court has been posted on the Shugden Society blog. Unfortunately, it’s not good news, but it’s good to know what’s going on at least.

Here’s a link: Update on the Dalai Lama’s Court Case in New Delhi, India

The Truth About the NKT, the WSS and the Protests

The author of the blog Why Dalai Lama Why is currently refuting some of Tenzin Peljor’s most recent smears of the New Kadampa Tradition and the Western Shugden Society.

From the Why Dalai Lama Why Blog:

I visited Tenzin Peljor’s blog and found an entry that had various quotes from people questioning the WSS’s behavior. I would like to use this post to show that his posting contains many misstatements.

Is Tenzin Peljor leading people to make these misstatements, influencing them, urging them to say things that fulfills his wish to continue to smear the WSS and NKT?

He is also repeating statements that have been disproved over and over again. Like the Dalai Lama quote saying “there is no ban”.

There is plenty of evidence that shows there is real religious discrimination happening due to the ban of Dorje Shugden practice by the Dalai Lama. There is plenty of evidence showing that the Dalai Lama is enforcing the ban. Even the FPMT has outcast Shugden practitioners from their teachings, classes, etc. due to following the requests of the Dalai Lama.

Another baseless accustion is that the WSS is funded by the Chinese. There is NO evidence that WSS has been funded by the Chinese. These are just negative accusations that have no evidence supporting them.

Read the full refutation on the blog Why Dalai Lama Why

The FPMT’s Restrictions on Dorje Shugden Practitioners

New article from the New Kadampa Truth site:

From the FPMT website: “Restriction: FPMT has recently issued a new policy regarding the Shugden practice in accordance with the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has expressed the wish “not to have a guru-disciple relationship with anyone who is practicing Shugden.”

Since Lama Zopa is still the nominal head of the FPMT, this means that Tibetan politics has now irreversibly permeated the FPMT. It means that not even Lama Zopa’s precious teachers, Trijang Rinpoche or Lama Yeshe, or their reincarnations, would be allowed to attend Lama Zopa’s teachings.

FPMT members have long accused the NKT of being a sectarian cult. The irony is that the NKT is an open and tolerant organization that has never turned anyone away from a teaching due to their religious beliefs. This religious belief is the 400-year old practice passed down through generations of fully accomplished Buddhist masters, including half the lineage Gurus of the FPMT.

Meanwhile, it is unclear whether or not Lama Osel (the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe) would countenance this latest extraordinary development. He has kept his distance from the FPMT for the last few years. The de facto head of the FPMT is now the Dalai Lama.

Lama Zopa has said this about himself and Lama Yeshe, the Founder of the FPMT:

“Of course, Lama and I practiced Dorje Shugden for many years. That was always the main thing that Lama did whenever there were problems to overcome. At the beginning of every Kopan course, Lama always did Shugden puja to eliminate hindrances.”

Murders in Dharamsala, India

Recently, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile have been spreading many smears about Shugden practitioners in general. This is an attempt to justify the Dalai Lama’s brutal persecution of Shugden practitioners and to discedit them. 

One of the things they say about Shugden practitioners is that they are murderers. This accusation goes back to 1997 when Lobsang Gyatso and his two attendants were murdered in Dharamsala, India. After the murders, the Tibetan Government in Exile tried to link Shugden practitioners to this horrible crime.

After the Tibetan Government in Exile accused the Shugden society in India of committing these murders, some members of the Shugden society were arrested. The Shugden Society then released a press release, which refuted the allegation that the society was involved in any way in the murders. The five leaders of the Shugden society were then released from Dharamsala and returned to Delhi the next day. There is still no evidence of them having any involvement in the murders.

Even though there has never been evidence of Shugden practitioners being involved in murder the Tibetan Government in Exile continues to spread these lies. Since the New Kadampa Tradition relies on Dorje Shugden, they are indirectly (sometimes directly) accusing the NKT of being murderers.

From the New Kadampa Truth website:

Truth: The NKT have never murdered anyone. This is a very irresponsible accusation aimed solely at discrediting them for their opposition to the Dalai Lama’s ban of Dorje Shugden.

It is against the very ethos of Buddhism, including the NKT, to kill or harm any living being. One of the commitments of Buddhist refuge is not to harm others. Buddha himself said that those who harm others are not trainees in virtue (i.e. his disciples).

Read the article: Smear: NKT are murderers

Does the NKT Wish to Harm the Dalai Lama?

There are many people who claim that the New Kadampa Tradition wishes to harm the Dalai Lama and that some of our practices shorten the duration of the Dalai Lama’s lifespan. However, this is completely untrue. There is absolutely no evidence to support these accusations. If anyone within the NKT is developing anger or resentment toward the Dalai Lama, they are not practicing the teachings taught at NKT Dharma Centers.

The refutation of this smear on the New Kadampa Truth site:

Truth: This is not true. The Dalai Lama is not our enemy. Harming other living beings goes against the teachings of Buddha and every precept in the Kadampa tradition. Our only enemies are the delusions in our minds, such as ignorance, anger and attachment. Dorje Shugden practitioners like those in the NKT are simply asking the Dalai Lama to stop harming himself and others by suppressing religious freedom. We have never expressed a single malicious intent toward him. We only ask of him that he practice what he preaches (tolerance, respect for differences, unity in diversity, etc.) by lifting his ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden.

Spirit Worshippers?

Buddhist practitioners in the New Kadampa Tradition are commonly labeled as spirit worshippers for their reliance on the Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden. The Dalai Lama’s own teacher Kyabje Trijang Dorjechang clearly refuted false claims about Dorje Shugden. But, the Dalai Lama chose to abandon his Spiritual Guide and now he destroys the reputation of Trijang Rinpoche while publically giving teachings which he received from him. Trijang Rinpoche was the most highly regarded Gelugpa teacher at his time (1901-1981). The Dalai Lama has recently been giving Gelugpa teachings around the world. While at the same time, he is claiming that Trijang and all the Gelugpa lineage gurus of the last 300 years were spirit worshippers by saying the Dorje Shugden is a spirit. 

The Dalai Lama and Guru Devotion

From the New Kadampa Truth website:

Truth: Not one single person in the NKT worships a spirit. It is superstitious, uninformed and offensive to suggest that they do.

Some people suggest that NKT students and teachers are so stupid that they don’t even know they are worshipping a spirit but think they are relying upon a Buddha. This is both patronizing and ignorant.

Read the full refutation of this smear: NKT Worships a Spirit

Is the Dalai Lama the Pope of Buddhism?

One of the smears of the New Kadampa Tradition is that the NKT is a splinter group from the main Tibetan Buddhist traditions, because the NKT does not follow the Dalai Lama. Many Westerners have the mistaken view that the Dalai Lama is the head or Pope of all Buddhists. It is true that the NKT does not follow the Dalai Lama, but it is not true that the NKT is a splinter group. Below are quotes from other articles which have already addressed this topic.

“The Dalai Lama is not the head of any of the four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism – the Nyingmas, Kagyus, Sakyas and Gelugpas. Each sect of Tibetan Buddhism has its own head. Many people mistakenly think that the Dalai Lama is the head of Tibetan Buddhism, or at least of the Gelugpa school, but if he is not head of any of the individual schools of Tibetan Buddhism, how can he be head of the whole Tradition? There is no ‘Pope’ of Tibetan Buddhism.

The confusion about the Dalai Lama’s religious authority lies in the fact that he is a politician who is also a monk. When the Dalai Lama speaks, is it a politician who is speaking or is it a spiritual leader? No-one is quite sure, but clearly it can’t be both because the aims of politics and religion are opposite and contradictory. It’s not safe for a monk to do the job of politician unless the monk is stronger than the politician. If not, the monk becomes a politician who abuses religion for worldly goals rather than a religious leader who uses power and influence to accomplish spiritual goals.” from the article entitled ’On What Authority Does the Dalai Lama Do These Things?‘ from the Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden Blog wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com

From the New Kadampa Truth website:

“Truth: Some people say that the NKT has split from the Dalai Lama, but the Dalai Lama is the political leader of Tibetans in exile and not the head of any of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism nor of Mahayana Buddhism in general, so there is nothing to split from. Although he is considered the embodiment of religion and politics as a God King for many Tibetan natives, he is not the spiritual leader for all Tibetans, for all Mahayana Buddhists, nor for the NKT.” more about this