Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

also experienced as a “salvational history”. Its eschatology is recorded in the Kalachakra Tantra, the
highest cult mystery of the Dalai Lama. The Shambhala myth linked with this tantra also prophesies
(like the Apocalypse of St. John) the appearance of a warlike messiah (Rudra Chakrin) and the terrible
final battle between good and evil. It is just that this time the good are Buddhists and the evil are
primarily Moslems. After Rudra Chakrin’s victory the total “Shambhalization” of the planet (i.e., a
global Buddhocracy) awaits humanity. This is equated with an Eden of peace and joy.
A knowledge of the Shambhala vision is necessary in order to be able to assess historical events in
Tibet (including the Chinese occupation) and the politics of the Dalai Lama. Every historical and
practical political event must — from a Lamaist viewpoint — be assessed in the light of the final goal
formulated in the Kalachakra Tantra (the establishment of a worldwide Buddhocracy). This also
applies — according to the tantric teachings — to the evolution of humankind.
Thus, in terms of principle, the Tantric Buddhist vision resembles the traditional Christian one. In
both cases a realm of bliss is found at the outset which decays due to human misdeeds and
subsequently experiences a catastrophic downfall. It is then re-created through the warlike (!) deeds of
a messianic redeemer. But in the Buddhist view this dramatic process never ends, according to cosmic
laws it must be constantly repeated. In contrast to the conceptions of Christianity, the newly
established paradise has no permanency, it is subject to the curse of time like all which is transient.
History for Lamaism thus takes the form of the eternal recurrence of the eternally same, the
ineluctable repetition of the entire universal course of events in immensely huge cycles of time. [2]
History and mysticism
That the relationship between individuals and history may be not just an obvious, active one, but also
a mystical one is something of which one hears little in contemporary western philosophy. We find
such a point of view in the enigmatic statement of the German romantic, Novalis (1772-1801), for
example: “The greatest secret is the person itself. The solving of this unending task is the act of world
history”. [3]
In contrast, in the Renaissance such “occult” interdependencies were definitely topical. The micro/
macrocosm theory, which postulated homologies between the energy body of a “divine” individual
and the whole universe, was widely distributed at the time. They were also applied to history in
alchemic circles.
Correspondingly, there was the idea of the Zaddik, the “just”, in the traditional Jewish Cabala and in
Chassidism. The mission of the Zaddik consisted in a correct and exemplary way of life so as to
produce social harmony and peace. His thoughts and deeds were so closely aligned with the national
community to which he belonged that the history of his people developed in parallel to his individual
fate. Hence, for example the misbehavior of a Zaddik had a negative effect upon historical process
and could plunge his fellow humans into ruin.
Yet such conceptions only very vaguely outline the far more thorough-going relation of Buddhist
Tantrism to history. A tantra master must — if he is to abide by his own ideas and his micro/
macrocosmic logic — take literally the magical correspondences between his awareness and the
external world. He must be convinced that he (as Maha Siddha, i.e., Great Sorcerer) is able to exert an
influence upon the course of history through sinking in to meditation, through breathing techniques,
through ritual actions, and through sexual magic practices. He must make the deities he conjures up or