Dear fellow Dharma brothers and sisters,
By now, the religious ban on the deity Dorje Shugden, as instructed by the Dalai Lama,
has drawn worldwide attention. For the first time in Buddhist history, Buddhists are being
excluded from Dharma teachings and social welfare, brutally attacked and discriminated
against by their own Buddhist community, simply because of a spiritual choice they have
made. Dorje Shugden practitioners everywhere are suffering from this unjust and illogical
ban, which denies them the most basic human right of religious freedom.
It has come to our attention that the Tibetan-government-in-exile (now called the Central
Tibetan Administration) has been sending letters to monasteries, institutions, organizations
probing if certain monks or individuals are practicing Dorje Shugden. We find this act
appalling and extremely despicable. No civilized government in the world would write
letters to their religious institutions or organizations interrogating them about the private
practices of individuals and which deities they choose to pray to. Only a witch-hunting
government from the Middle Ages would abuse their power to do something like this to
intimidate its own people.
One of the very few things that Tibet is famous for throughout the world is its religion –
Tibetan Buddhism. However, instead of preserving and supporting the monks who
dedicate their lives in the monasteries to study, practice and teach Buddhism, the CTA
goes the opposite way to suppress and persecute the very Sangha that made Tibetans
famous in the world. Instead of writing letters to encourage, congratulate and support
these monks who have dedicated their whole lives to Dharma, excelled in their studies and
made the Dharma grow in the world, the CTA writes letters to interrogate, instill fear,
suppress and ostracize the good Sangha and Dharma practitioners who did nothing but
practice Dharma sincerely and only have good thoughts always in their mind.
These monks teach Dharma, conduct pujas, raise sponsorship and gather support to bring
huge benefits to the monasteries. These monks build new monasteries, establish spiritual
monastic communities, renovate chapels, erect new statues, feed monks, build hostels
and help the lay community. When the Tibetans first fled Tibet in the 1950s to seek refuge
in India, these monks did everything they could to reestablish their religious practice and
community in this foreign land. Despite the many obstacles of language, unfamiliar
territory, climate and separation from their Sangha, families and even their teachers, they
built up the monasteries again from scratch. They have even helped the governments to
set themselves up again and rebuild the Tibetan exiled community.
Now, the CTA turn against these very same monks, claiming that they are bad and evil for
practicing Dorje Shugden. They claim that by continuing their practice of Dorje Shugden,
they are traitors to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause and accuse them of being
Chinese spies. These monks are expelled from their monasteries, denied any welfare or
rights and even have to suffer physical attacks from people who call themselves Dalai
Lama devotees. Is this fair?
By doing so, the CTA effectively nullify all the contributions that these monks have made to
the Tibetan exile community and the new Tibetan Buddhist monastic communities
throughout India. All that the monks have done – the sponsorship they have raised, the
teachings they have given, the institutions they have helped to build – are forgotten, only
because of one religious choice they have made.
We call for a different response. If the CTA wants to nullify all those contributions by
ostracizing monks who they deem “bad”, “traitorous” and “evil”, then the CTA should also
return all the contributions, all the money, the roofs, the tiles, the floors, the bricks, the
food, the furniture, the fixtures, the statues, the offerings, the thangkas, the books, the
buildings etc. to all the monks who sponsored and gave all these things to the
monasteries. If the items given have already been used up (such as food, building
materials or study materials), then the equivalent amount of money should be returned.
Then, it is a fair game.
If the monks who are being ostracized and discriminated against by CTA are really that
bad, then it follows that their contributions and everything that they have given before must
also be bad and stained. These monks are being punished for their practice of Dorje
Shugden because it is deemed evil and impure. If they are so bad and evil, then surely all
their actions, contributions, sponsorship and support are based on a foundation that is also
bad and evil. If the CTA and all the monasteries wish to remain so “pure” and “good” then
shouldn’t they also remove and return all these “impure” things and sponsorship also?
Why remove the impure person but keep the impure things given by them?
Even buildings and infrastructure being used by the CTA today were first supported,
sponsored and built by Dorje Shugden Lamas. Now, the CTA make accusations against
these Dorje Shugden Lamas and even issue “wanted” lists against them… even though
they are sitting on and using the very things that the these Lamas gave them and build for
them! Is this fair? We don’t think so. We find this ungrateful, very unkind and seriously
hypocritical.
His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was instrumental in helping to rebuild the Tibetan
exiled community. Trijang Rinpoche also physically donated so much to the monasteries –
a majority of statues that are still in Gaden Monastery today are there because Trijang
Rinpoche sponsored and donated them.
Today, the young incarnation of Trijang Rinpoche has had to leave his monastery in India
and move to America because he suffered a tremendous number of threats and physical
attacks while he was still living in Gaden Monastery as a child. He is disliked and viewed
with great suspicion by Dalai Lama supporters and the CTA, simply because he was a
Dorje Shugden practitioner in his previous life, and continues to be in this incarnation. Do
you see the hypocrisy in this? He is so viciously hated by so many of his own Tibetan
people, but at the same time, they are all very happy about using the many things he has
built up for them. The very statues that the monks continue to pray to were sponsored by
Trijang Rinpoche. If Trijang Rinpoche is really so bad and evil for his practice, then why
pray to the statues that he made and donated? The Tibetans and the CTA should return
every last cent that Trijang Rinpoche contributed in this and previous lives.
They should also return all the teachings that Trijang Rinpoche so compassionately gave
to thousands of people. If he can make such a grave and terrible “mistake” to practice
something “bad” and “evil” like Dorje Shugden; and if he is such a “bad”, “traitorous” and
“evil” person for doing this practice, then all his other practices and teachings must also be
tainted, wrong and impure.
Within the Gelugpa lineage, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was the sole and main source of
teachings, which he generously shared to many, many, many other monks, Lamas and
practitioners, including the Dalai Lama. Today, 99% of Gelugpa practitioners in the world
can trace their lineage and practice back to Trijang Rinpoche. But why keep practicing his
teachings and lineage when he is being ostracized, attacked and hated for his worship of
Dorje Shugden? How can we say that his Dorje Shugden practice is wrong and evil but his
Lamrim teachings are incomparable, as the Dalai Lama himself has said? If we accept
someone as our Guru, we should also accept all his teachings as pure and correct – if not,
why accept him as our Guru in the first place, to teach us everything we need to get to
enlightenment?
If Trijang Rinpoche was wrong about Dorje Shugden, then there is a high chance he can
be wrong about all the other things he has taught us. So if you wish to be totally sure that
you are “clean” and completely disassociated from Dorje Shugden practice, then you
should return EVERYTHING that you have received from Lamas like Trijang Rinpoche –
from the physical and material sponsorship he gave, to the teachings and practices he
gave. If you wish to cut off from Dorje Shugden practitioners, then honor your word and do
it all the way – remove and return everything completely. Keep yourself totally “pure” and
“untainted”. Have some integrity and disassociate yourself completely. Do not pick and
choose what you keep or give up, to suit your own conveniences.
At the most basic human, ethical level, even women with dignity return their wedding rings
to their husbands if the marriage ends! From a spiritual, ethical point of view, this is even
more important – shouldn’t we return things to people who we believe to be evil? Why take
the risk of having something so evil and bad in your life? And why keep things that were
given by someone you disagree with and are so strongly against? Again, isn’t that very
hypocritical?
Some may argue that they are keeping things given by Dorje Shugden practitioners for
their benefit, to help them collect merit. This is completely untrue and illogical. If you really
care about the welfare and benefit of Dorje Shugden practitioners, you should not force
them to give up their practice in the first place; you would not apply such terrible pressure
on them to take oaths against their lifelong practice; you would not expel them from
monasteries and then deny them any welfare, support, help or access to Dharma
teachings. If you really were concerned for Dorje Shugden practitioners, you should be
even more kind to them, more patient, welcome them all the more to Dharma teachings so
that they can learn what they are doing “wrong” and make any necessary changes. There
is so much contradiction and hypocrisy in the way that Dorje Shugden practitioners are
treated.
We urge you to think carefully about how much damage the ban has created. It is ruining
lives and causing so much hurt to Buddhist practitioners everywhere. It also creates
tremendous harm to the people who are enforcing the ban – it creates a terrible image that
this is how cruel and unkind the Dalai Lama’s supporters are. The world will look at
Tibetan Buddhists and see how uncompassionate, unforgiving and hateful they are
towards their own people. It will cause Buddhism to be destroyed from within our own
community.
Please think about how hypocritical the situation has become. Think about the logic we
have pointed out in this letter. It is not meant to criticize or harm, but to show you clearly
that the actions carried out because of this ban do not make any sense and completely
contradict the teachings of the Buddha. Also, this is not how a modern 21-century
government should act. How will you ever progress in the world and gain independence
for your country if you cannot even be kind and united to your own people?!
We request you to reconsider your actions and urge you to lift this unnecessary, hurtful,
damaging ban. We beg you to please practice kindness towards all sentient beings, which
include Dorje Shugden practitioners.
Yours sincerely,
(YOUR NAME)