Strange Happenings at Sera Monastery March 4, 2008
Posted by Philip Ryan in Tibet.trackback
The Dorje Shugden controversy goes on. Were monks devoted to Dorje Shugden discriminated against at Sera Monastery in India?
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“A house divided can’t stand.” Abraham Lincoln.
Many of the great Lamas of past generation dedicated themselves to rebuilding these monasteries in South India. This includes Song, Trijang, Zemey Rinpoche and many others. They were all devotees to Dorje Shugden.
So, is this discrimination? It is worse, it is creating the conditions to force practitioners to break commitments to their root Gurus. These Gurus are the ones who dedicated themselves to preserving Tibetan tradition in exile, not Chinese partisans as they are accused of being now.
How can the police be policing the monks to be “peaceful”? This is so contradictory to everything Buddha has taught.
How can some monks sit by and have food/tea and watch other monks go without??? What kind of politics is influencing/forcing the monks to act in that manner? What an embarrassment to the Tibetan/Indian/Buddhist authorities. I feel ashamed. I do not mean any disrespect, but I am very embarrassed.
As of this year, since HHDL visited the great Monasteries in south India the monks of Polmra at Sera are certainly being discriminated against. They are being thoroughly ostracized, accused of being traitors on the basis of their faith, not allowed to mix with the other monks, which means they cant get their normal provisions such as food etc.
This is a very sad time for the Ganden Tradition, so easily swayed by political preasure.
Evidence of the actions to discriminate against these practitioners:
http://www.shugdensociety.info/outcastSociety.html
Really tragic
Verifiable reports came through from sources in the Tibetan settlements in India that:
* Agents of the Dalai Lama are trying to destroy Palgyeling Monastery in Nepal.
* A small mob supportive of the Dalai Lama’s ban burnt down the house and hotel of Tenzing Choegyal (Zongkar Choede) in New Delhi last Thursday.
* A doctor who was helping Dorje Shugden practitioners was attacked yesterday at a clinic in a Tibetan settlement (Ooti) that was giving out medicines for tuberculosis.
* The Dalai Lama’s sister Pema is in Paris starting the forced signature campaign of Tibetans in France.
* The forced signature campaign is being arranged for Madison, US, in July 2008.
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama has been in England talking about tolerance, religious harmony and the need for dialog with one’s enemies. He has still refused every single request to discuss the unlawful ban on the worship of Dorje Shugden.
Segregation
Today the entire Tibetan population is being forced to hold an Identity Card, the YELLOW CARD, proving that they took the oath swearing (1) not to worship Dorje Shugden, and (2) not to have any material or spiritual relationship with Dorje Shugden practitioners.
This segregates and denies the human rights of both monastics and lay families.
Segregation in the monasteries
Buddhist monks and nuns who do not swear and are not given the Yellow Card are:
* Not allowed to eat with others
* Deprived of food. They are not allowed in any of the monastery’s kitchens. Even if they receive some external help for their survival, they cannot buy food from the monastery’s shop or anywhere in the nearby Tibetan settlements
* Not allowed to set foot in their main temple,
* Not allowed to attend the daily monastic gatherings of prayers, rituals and debates
* Having to be protected by Indian police to attend the sacred yearly Monlam Chenmo Festival, created by their religious founder Je Tsongkapa.
* Receiving violent threats in the neighbouring Tibetan settlements, cowardly posted during the night
It is forbidden to talk to them. It is forbidden to walk close to them. If you see one of them, you have to deviate your steps to not cross his or her path.
Segregation in the lay community
Lay Tibetans have been made to swear the double oath of not worshipping the Protector Dorje Shugden themselves as well as forsaking all contact with the monastic practitioners.
Those who do not swear and are not given the Yellow Card:
* Are not allowed to travel in the same taxicab or rickshaw with other Tibetans.
* Cannot purchase even the most essential groceries (their children cannot even buy candy)
* Eat in any restaurant
* Lose their jobs
* Have their children expelled from school
Definition of Segregation from Cornell: 3 -Segregation -1. enforced separation of groups: the practice of keeping ethnic, racial, religious, or gender groups separate, especially by enforcing the use of separate schools, transportation, housing, and other facilities, and usually discriminating against a minority group.
4 -A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, and assembly [.] and the right to equality in public places.
Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of their membership in a particular group or class. (Cornell University Law School).]
Does the Dalai Lama have the right to do this?
Although the world has been served an image of the Dalai Lama as the religious leader — a Pope of sorts — of all Buddhists, he is not. He does not have any religious authority to do what he is doing. In a general way this is because Buddhism accepts all internal religious beliefs and doesn’t harbor the notion of persecuting heresy, and in particular because there is no level of authority in the Buddhist religion to order or implement a religious persecution.
Who is responsible for the ban, Yellow Card and resulting penalties for those who disobey?
Everything going on now is the direct responsibility of the Dalai Lama. He has been campaigning personally to push the abbots and monks to do the referendum and make others take the double oath.
He is responsible for the persecution because he chose the necessary words to push Tibetans to become the tormentors of their fellow exiles by repeating four calumnies over and over again:
1-The worshipping of Dorje Shugden endangers his life
2-It harms the cause of Tibet.
3-Practitioners assassinated three monks in Dharamsala in the 1990s
4-Practitioners are working for the Chinese to harm the cause of Tibet
To measure how deep the crisis goes, consider the following statement by Ngawang Tenpa, Officer of the Cholsum organization, the largest regional group in Tibetan politics:
“It is possible to think of a time when we will make friends with the Chinese, but with these (Dorje Shugden) people - never.”
Monks are not discriminated as it is claimed here. The Dorje Shugden ‘cult’ is seen by the majority (including the masters of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism) in general as very harmful. Monasteries have the right to set up rules to protect themselves against the negative influence of that practice. The majority support and hold the same view as HH the Dalai Lama and all the other masters. Dorje Shugden followers are free to practice at their own places or to set up their own places. The Monastic Communities are free to forbid that practice where they abide. There is nothing wrong with this. Moreover I would like to ask those Buddhists and those who are monks and nuns to remind the Buddhist Ethics and the monastic rules, and to live accordingly.
For a background of the complex setting one can visit my blogsite:
http://westernshugdensociety.wordpress.com/
or website: http://info-buddhism.com/Western_Shugden_Society_unlocked.html
I would be happy if Tricycle can research that issue and publish an unbiased and fair article. Thanks.
Dharmapal I can not take your or NKT’’s/WSS’s way of informing people serious. I wish not to deny that there happened things which are injustice or that in some cases people over reacted. But on the other hand this is also true for those who were threatened by followers of Shugden, e.g. the Abbot of Sera Je or the three killed monks. There is no one-way in that issue. Things happen due to many causes, conditions and circumstances, they are dependent arising. It is impossible to blame one person, HHDL, if one understands that.
HHDL is fully supported in his view by the monastic community. If you see a conflict you have to see it in full perspective. The monasteries have the right to set up rules against a practice which is seen by them as harmful. There is nothing wrong with this. Moreover the decision is made by the majority, there is no dictator here. In monasteries with about 5000 monks harmony is most important, how they solve conflicts and quarrels this is their business and they do it accordingly to the Vinaya. How can you or NKT judge this as you don’t know the Vinaya or monastic life?
I have set up a blog and a website to at least balance the misinformation campaign of the NKT/WSS as long as there is no independent and well-researched press article available:
http://westernshugdensociety.wordpress.com/
http://info-buddhism.com/Western_Shugden_Society_unlocked.html
In the latter link one can find some other views including a report of a witness.
Sorry, the first post didn’t appear so I wrote a second one. Now there are both and this third one here… I think the main points have been said. Thanks.