Dalia lama Throws Monks Onto Streets Inside Tibetan Colonies Gaden Shartse | Apr 14, 2008 Life can be like that! Bizarre and unexpected repressions that afflict us all when the powerful persecute the powerless and the vilification of the innocent. The 450 monks of Dokhang Khangtsen has officially seperated from Gaden Shartse Monastery. Gaden Shartse had meetings and the property of the Shartse had to be divided. Dokhang Khangtsen was given their share of the collective monastic property. From Gaden Shartse Monastery, Dokhang khangtsen has recieved: 1. 400 crore Indian Lakhs (1 lakh is Indian rupees 100,000)( 1 crore is 1 lakh x 100) 2. 15 Female buffaloes that produce milk 3. Shartse has a guest house in Delhi, that has been handed over to Dokhang. 4. Shartse has a newly built guest house in Gaden, that has been handed over. 5. Much ritual silverware and ritual objects of the monastery. 6. Hospital Car 7. Carpets and Many thangkas 8. One lorry and two tractors 9. 20 acres of agricultural land They have remained where they are in the Monastery but seperated from the main Gaden Shartse Monastery completely. They have no involvement with any activities with each other. They have kept their Khangtsen prayer hall and monk rooms. With this, they have formed their own Monastery and now it is officially called: SHAR DOKHANG DRATSTANG The newly elected Abbot is: Geshe Lobsang Pende The incredible part is that The exile Govt of Tibet very much encouraged all monks and organizations to seperate from Dorje Shugden practitioners. They advised strongly not to share anything with Dorje Shugden practitioners. That any cost incurred in this THEY WILL HAPPILY COVER AND REIMBURSE. So far the expenses as mentioned in the 9 points mentioned above incurred by Gaden Shartse Monastery has not been reimbursed by the Tibetan Government. Gaden Shartse has to bear the 'lossess.' Tibetan Government is absolutely silent on this issue of reimbursement. They talk alot and demand, but when it comes to footing the bills, they are silent. Dokhang Khangtsen has been an inalienable part of Gaden Shartse Monastery for the past 600 years. Dokhang has produced so many great Masters of the highest calibre. Now because they wish to continue worshipping Gyelchen Dorje Shugden, the Tibetan Govt insists that ANY MONKS WORSHIPPING DORE SHUGDEN may not remain in the monastery. The Tibetan Govt has put incredible unfair pressure on the abbot of Gaden shartse during this period. This policy will return to 'haunt' the Tibetan Govt in exile. Dokhang Khangtsen in Shartse is not fully gone, as around 30 monks stayed and did not move with their compatriots to Shar Dhokhang Dratsang. Shar Dokhang Dratsang has had no conflicts with Gaden Shartse Monastery. Such a seperation/division within the sangha is unheard of . The Tibetan Govt is responsible for such an heinous act. The monks of Dokhang khangtsen has never had anything ill against HH the Dalai Lama, or were ever unpatriotic. Their worship of Gyelchen Dorje Shugden was granted to them by HH Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Their district in Tibet (Chatreng) where many of the monks from Dokhang hail from have kept Dorje Shugden as their heart protector for hundreds of years now and many generations. Their forefathers have worshipped Dorje Shugden for so many generations. Each home in Chatreng will have a shrine to Dorje Shugden. Because they wish to adhere to the religious commitments of their guru (Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang) by worshipping Dorje Shugden, they are not allowed to remain in Gaden Shartse Monastery. That is their so called 'crime.' Much pain, anguish and loss has been inflicted upon both the monks remaining in Gaden Shartse and those who have left to Shar Dokhang Dratsang. May their practice, study, lineage, traditions prevail. Their courage, adherence to their guru samaya, and steadfast faith opens a new door for all Dorje Shugden practitoners. A VERY POWERFUL EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW. TO REMAIN TRUE TO YOUR COMMITMENTS AND WORDS OF HONOUR TAKEN BEFORE ONE'S VAJRADHARA LIKE GURUS. Dokhang khangtsen are in need of financial aid to provide food/tea to the monks on a daily basis. It would be good to contact them to help. Pomra khangtsen with over 600 monks in Sera has not concluded. They are not, so far, seperating from Sera Mey Monastery. But they are taking the Monastery to Indian Court. By Indian democratic law, why are they not allowed to stay within the monastery due to a difference in religious beliefs. They are still monks. The result of that is not out yet. Report this comment Media Misses Real Tibet Story by Thomas Canada | Apr 14, 2008 Western media miss the real Tibet story By Michael Backman The Age April 9, 2008 AFTER several years of highlighting wrongdoers in Asia in these pages and providing viewpoints that run counter to prevailing wisdom, I've at last received my first death threat. Probably not that serious (it came anonymously by email) but something of a career milestone, nonetheless. It came from someone who claims to be a Tibetan refugee in India and a follower of the Dalai Lama. My correspondent informed me that the next time I visit India I will be killed (eaten, he said) and my family will never find my body. What annoyed my correspondent was a column I wrote last year for The Age in which I highlighted some aspects of the Dalia Lama that most media reports ignore: the fact that in running his government in exile, he has been extraordinarily nepotistic by appointing many relatives to senior positions, and that during the 1950s, '60s and into the '70s he was personally on the CIA payroll, for example. Last week, the column was reproduced without permission on a North American website and, in the context of the problems in Tibet, it added to the already fraught emotions of those who care strongly about this issue. The original column was written to coincide with the Dalai Lama's visit to Australia last year. It was written to counterbalance the huge, uncritical media coverage given to the Dalia Lama in the Australian media at that time. I have always felt that the coverage accorded to the Dalai Lama in the Western media has been excessively favourable and uncritical, just as the media coverage in China of the Dalai Lama is appallingly biased but in the negative. Clearly, in the past few weeks, ethnic Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese military. This has been widely reported. But it is also clear that ethnic Chinese have been murdered by ethnic Tibetans in racially based attacks. This has not been made as clear in the Western media. And yet, the Western media were rightly appalled in 1998 when ethnic Chinese were raped and murdered in Jakarta for similar reasons — perceived excessive economic control at the expense of non-Chinese locals. In Lhasa, four Chinese girls and one Tibetan girl were burned alive when a clothing store in which they worked was set alight by Tibetan protesters. But the rampage against the Chinese was not as simple as an attack on Han Chinese. Ethnic Chinese Muslim traders were also rounded on. Muslim traders have a centuries-old presence in Lhasa, a legacy of the ancient Silk Road. But in the unrest two weeks ago, the main mosque in Lhasa's old quarter was also burned down. The apparent swamping of Tibetan culture by Chinese migrants is a tragedy. But the killing of ethnic Chinese small-business people, or indeed anyone else, is also wrong and no doubt one of the reasons why the Dalai Lama has threatened to resign. But again, the treatment of this seems to suggest the Western media have their own bias when it comes to reporting on Tibet. Unfortunately, this blunts criticism that can be made of China when it comes to its own propagandizing. With regards to China and Tibet, unequivocal right does not reside on either side. Both sides point to sound historical arguments to bolster their case. China genuinely believes that Tibet has long been a part of China. The Tibetans genuinely believe the opposite. Ordinary Chinese in China regard the Tibetans as thankless and selfish. On my last visit to Beijing, one young Chinese described them as aggressive and unappreciative of all the development that China has provided them. I told him that their main concern is that they are being swamped by Chinese migrants seemingly as a calculated attempt at cultural genocide. A look of surprise flashed across his face. He'd not heard this argument before and yet its logic clearly appealed to him. He'd never heard it because the Chinese media have never reported it. Nationalism has been rising in China, so it is unlikely that such a view will get a hearing in China. Many Western investors will probably find their passage in China eased if they make clear statements in favour of China on the issue too. Potentially, China did do ordinary Tibetans a great service when it overthrew the rule of the Dalia Lama, the rich monasteries and a coterie of wealthy aristocratic families whose members typically were so laden with Sicilian coral, Iranian turquoise and Burmese rubies that they could barely move. The overthrow has its parallel in King Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries of England that had developed a stranglehold over the land and the lives of the peasants. Unfortunately, in Tibet's case, what replaced theocratic, self-serving rule was scarcely much better — the Chinese Communist Party. The local despots were replaced by foreign ones. The first Starbucks in Lhasa is probably only one or two years away. This is a tragedy, too, particularly for the many rich Western travellers who would rather Tibet stay stuck in the Middle Ages for their own personal enjoyment, much in the same way economic sanctions have preserved Burma as the world's largest living museum. The vested interests that surround the Tibet issue are many and make it a great deal more complicated than simple slogans such as "Free Tibet" suggest. If China is ever going to neutralise this issue, it is going to have to learn to act with a level of sophistication, maturity and self-confidence that it now lacks. Apologizing to Tibetans for their suffering under Chinese rule will need to be part of the package. But obviously such a degree of enlightenment is years off. ends http://www.michaelbackman.com Report this comment Dalia lama still persecuting his own monks and people by Thomas Canada | Apr 14, 2008 The High Court of New Delhi hears writs against the Dalia Lama accused of violating the civil rights of Dorje Shugden monks and persecuting it's members. France's TV 3 will air the lawsuit details this Saturday. The Tibetan Cultural Center position mirrores those of the Dalia lama and they too violate the right of any denomination to enter the grounds and practice their own religious precepts. The TCC is on dangerous grounds to deny the Dorje Shugden Devotees admission to the center and may lose their charter in the near future. If they do not adhere to the laws of the United States and the freedoms that are entailed within our Bill Of Rights for everyone to enjoy. This is not the society that the totalitarian depot Potentate known as the Dalia lama controls. This is the United States Of America. We actually believe in the principles established by Our Founding Fathers to practice and believe as we choose to believe. A concept he has never been able to grasp in his 49 years as an exiled dictator. Bickering Buddhists Midwest Enclave, Beset By Factional Strife, Braces for the Arrival of the Dalai Lama by Jason Vest July 20th, 1999 12:00 AM Bloomington, Indiana— Having just had its national profile raised by a hate crime, this small Midwestern city is looking forward to a round of positive news coverage a few weeks hence when His Holiness the Dalai Lama— after stopping in New York for a spiritual gathering in Central Park with Richard Gere— arrives here to perform the Kalachakra Initiation, described in local literature as "the most reverent of all Buddhist rituals" devoted to furthering the cause of "peace and harmony." Just how peaceful and harmonious HH's presence here will be is, however, a subject for speculation among knowledgeable locals. Despite its image as one of the world's most benign religions, Tibetan Buddhism has been in discord for the past few years, thanks to the Dalai Lama's zealous condemnation of Dorje Shugden, a deity he formerly held sacred. Though hardly a spot one would expect to be a flashpoint in a Tibetan Buddhist theological battle, Bloomington is a microcosm of schismatic Buddhism about which His Holiness is reportedly less than pleased. It so happens that Thomas Canada— husband of an heiress to the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical fortune, a longtime practicing Buddhist, and the former patron of the local Tibetan Cultural Center (run by Thubten J. Norbu, the Dalai Lama's oldest brother and Canada's former mentor)— has a particular affinity for Dorje Shugden. So much so, in fact, that he's helped to establish a Shugden monastery in town. For his troubles, he's received at least one death threat (he suspects from Buddhists in India), says he's been made to feel unwelcome on land he and his wife gave to the cause of Tibetan Buddhism, and now openly wonders whether money, not spirituality, has more to do with the cultural center he helped build. Thubten Norbu— or Takster Rimpoche, as he's known to some— contends that Canada and Shugden followers are welcome and that the rift between HH and Shugden sectarians is much ado about nothing. So much for harmony. At first blush an incongruous location for a Buddhist enclave, Bloomington became part of the Tibetan diaspora in 1965, when then Indiana University president Herman B Wells asked Norbu if he'd be interested in leaving his position as curator of Tibetan artifacts at New York's Museum of Natural History to create a Tibetan studies program in the school's Central Eurasian Studies department. While the program quickly gained an international reputation— it was, after all, one of a kind in American academe— it was also a subject of campus curiosity; some speculated it might have ties to the CIA. (In an interview with the Voice, although Norbu confirmed that he worked with the CIA before coming to IU, he declined to comment on alleged connections between IU's Tibetan studies program and the agency.) Even without the spook ties, Norbu has been one of Bloomington's more compelling citizens. According to John Knaus's recently released Orphans of the Cold War, in 1950 Norbu, rather than accept the Chinese government's quiet offer to become a puppet ruler of occupied Tibet (provided he'd kill his younger brother), instead warned the Dalai Lama of impending danger, and— after his brother sent him West for his own safety— became one of the most vociferous crusaders for an independent Tibet. According to several current and former associates, it was in the late 1960s that a handful of students sought him out, and asked him to again embrace his clerical identity as Takster Rimpoche— the reincarnation of an enlightened master. "There weren't that many of us, but we were very serious about it, and some of us did a lot of reading and traveling to further our studies— I spent time in the Moroccan desert with nothing more than a bag of clothes and four books on Tibetan Buddhism," Canada recalls. By the mid '70s, Canada had married Kathy Noyes— a scion of the Lilly family— and they decided to help support Tibetan Buddhism locally as well as globally. To that end, they gave 100 acres of a 1200-acre tract of land they owned to the cause. Over the next decade, Canada and others worked with Norbu to clear the land, first building a stupa, or shrine, before breaking ground for a cultural center that would serve as a lesser counterpart to Dharmsala, the Indian home of the Tibetan government-in-exile. "The Dalai Lama himself came to Bloomington in 1987 to dedicate the center, and it was amazing— he gave me a blessing and when I looked into his eyes, it was like looking into kaleidoscopes," Canada says. "That experience convinced me he was indeed the incarnation of the compassionate Buddha." Since 1996, however, the Dalai Lama has, in some respects, been looking a bit less like the epitome of gentleness to Canada and many others. In 1978, he stunned his followers when he decreed that Dorje Shugden, a prominent protector god in his majority Gelugpa order, was not a paladin who kept the meditating masses free of evil spirits but a malevolent wraith. HH didn't press the issue, however, until 1996, when he warned the world's Tibetan Buddhists who pay homage to Shugden that they were effectively excommunicated if their worship of the specter continued. Beyond claiming that Dorje Shugden worship risks sending Buddhism on a downward spiral into base spirit worship, and does both him and the cause of Tibetan freedom harm, the Dalai Lama hasn't provided much in the way of a practical explanation for his antipathy to Dorje Shugden. Reportedly, however, some of his more spirited followers have committed acts of violence against Shugden monks, and Shugden monks have responded in kind. In a development straight out of a spy novel, Shugden elements last year were rumored to be working with Chinese agents to assassinate HH. Canada was present at the Tibetan Cultural Center when the Dalai Lama visited here in 1996. "He didn't say anything about Dorje Shugden when he was here, but I started hearing more about the ban from people all over the world, so I drove everyone crazy researching what it was all about for the next nine months," Canada says. While he's come to believe that the ban is rooted in an arcane scriptural murder-mystery that few outside Tibetan Buddhism can began to fathom, the Dalia lama was involved in the murder of a Wisdom Buddha to ascend to power. Canada says he's more concerned with doing his part to ensure the safety and lineage of Shugden Worshippers and monks (who, intriguingly, include the men who planned and executed HH's escape from Tibet in 1959). In a brief interview with Norbu and his son Jigme, both dismissed the Shugden issue as overblown, drawing parallels between Buddhist and Christian sects to underscore their contention that all faiths are welcome at the Kalachakra— an 11-day, $2 million affair featuring a 5000-capacity air-conditioned tent, vendors, a film festival, and, of course, celebrities. While not appearing pleased at the mention of the local Shugden monastery and taking pains to emphasize their total lack of connection to it, they nonetheless seemed surprised that Canada and others would not feel welcome. However, given that the sign in front of the center reads, in part, "Grounds Closed, Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted" and "Guard Dogs on Premises," one can't help but question just how open and democratic Tibetan Buddhism is today. Report this comment VIOLATION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES by THOMAS CANADA | Apr 14, 2008 I fail to understand how one month the Dalia lama is throwing a 350 year old lineage out of the Tibetan Buddhism and the next he is inciting rioting and causing more deaths among Tibetans. Why does the world not care to see that the Chinese liberated Tibetans from the servitude of a medieval society that fed on the backs of slaves,indentured servitude, poverty, illiteracy under the authority of anything other than a democratic government and he continues to be anything other than a democratic leader. I see that he steps all over the principles laid down by the founding fathers of American Bill Of Rights and ignores his duplicity with giggles. Because even he is amazed as to how blind they are to his totalitarian potentate practices in the world and goes on with the charade. Why did Free Tibet Radio announce the location of the Panchen lama in Lhasa. They could have easily smuggled the Panchen lama out of Tibet. Instead they betrayed him to the Chinese in a matter of hours. Why did he throw out the monks and then harangue the Dorje Shugden monks, nuns out after 350 years ? Religious Freedom, Freedom of Speech are principles he only gives lip service to freedom as he steals others freedom by a simple few words from his mouth. He is not a Buddha. He teaches violence not Dharma and now he attempt to ruin the only event that is celebrated by the entire world by confused protestors. The Olympics! Report this comment by Anonymous | Apr 12, 2008 There is a Holocaust going on over there. Just another example that history repeats itself Report this comment Conflicting priorities? by Brian Keller | Apr 11, 2008 Report this comment 1 NOTE: Comments posted to our web site may be used our "letter to the editor" section of the paper. Post a comment Name: Subject: Comment: NOTE: Comments posted to our web site may be used our "letter to the editor" section of the paper. SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS! / to / Apr 14, 2008 "Squares-Folds-Life: Contemporary Origami by Robert Lang" Indianapolis Museum of Art A former physicist and engineer turned artist, Lang's innovative approach to the traditional art of origami has earned him a reputation as one of the world... article / photo / video / podcast / event / place / band / user Should the United States participate in the Summer Olympics in China? Yes No [ view results ] Myspace © 2007 NUVO, Inc. Contact Us