June 7, 2015 Nicholas Pitts The Sydney Morning Herald
I have been a Buddhist for more than 20 years – eight of them
living in Australia – and this week I find myself
protesting outside the Dalai Lama's teachings in NSW.
Buddha teaches
us not to have blind faith but to question and analyse. Strangely,
very few seem to question the Dalai Lama. Even the media seem to
look no further than his smiles and chuckles. It's like he casts a
spell over his audience and they just accept blindly whatever he
says.
He has been the
political leader of the Tibetans for decades but, unlike virtually
every other political leader in the world, no one seem to hold him
to account or check whether what he says matches what he
does.
Shugden
Buddhists accuse the Dalai Lama of creating an atmosphere of
religious hatred and rallying the Tibetan community against
them. They demand he gives them religious freedom.
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The Dalai Lama
replies that Shugden practice is spirit worship and so it isn't a
question of religious freedom. He says he just advises not to
follow the practice but gives everyone choice.
Most people
listen to his denials and just accept them, and never investigate
or question further.
Shugden Buddhists
practice the instructions of the Dalai Lama's own
teacher, Trijang Rinpoche. Before the segregation of
Tibetan society began in 1996 they had no separate name, but
were simply included within mainstream Tibetan Buddhism.
There are some
questions the Dalai Lama needs to answer.
For several
years, his personal website dalailama.com has published a Tibetan
Youth Congress resolution that calls for Shugden Buddhists to be
barred from every Tibetan organisation. Does he support this call
for the social exclusion of Shugden Buddhists or will he make a
statement condemning this resolution?
Last year,
Samdhong Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama's former prime minister, made a
speech to Tibetan school children saying that the only way Shugden
Buddhists would be accepted in Tibetan Society was if they
abandoned their faith. Does the Dalai Lama share this
sentiment?
In 2008, French
television journalists filmed in the Tibetan exile
communities in India and described what they saw as apartheid. They
showed signs in shops and even medical clinics saying the Shugden
Buddhists would not be served or treated. Does the Dalai Lama
support this?
In 2014, the
Dalai Lama's exile government published a list of Tibetan Shugden
Buddhists who had demonstrated for religious freedom. It included
their names, photographs, identifying information and even one
woman's home address. Does the Dalai Lama approve of this
governmental intimidation of people exercising their right to
protest?
Many Shugden
Buddhists say they have been ostracised by their communities and
even their families. This has caused them terrible suffering, but
still they don't want to abandon their faith. The people
ostracising them believe they are following the Dalai Lama's
wishes. What does the Dalai Lama have to say about this?
The Dalai Lama
tours the world preaching dialogue and compromise, compassion and
forgiveness. Protesters have been outside his teachings around the
world for many years. Why hasn't he once reached out to them to
talk? What compromise has he shown to end this conflict?
The Dalai Lama
presents himself as the Buddha of Compassion, who supposedly cares
for everyone but bars Shugden Buddhists from receiving his
blessings.
Protesters,
including me, will be outside the Dalai Lama's talks in Katoomba
and Luna Park in Sydney. Will he take the opportunity to practice
what he preaches, and reach out to the protesters for dialogue and
offer compromise and compassion?
If not, why
shouldn't we all conclude that he is just another hypocritical
politician with charisma, peddling empty words?
Nicholas Pitts
is a spokesman for the International Shugden
Community.