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

If the records are to be trusted, the Mongol prince, Gushri Khan, made a gift of his military conquests
(i.e., Tibet) to the Fifth Dalai Lama and handed over his sword after the victory over the “Red Hats”.
This was not evaluated symbolically as a pacifist act, but rather as the ceremonial equipping of the
prince of the church with secular power. Yet it remains open to question whether the power-conscious
Mongol really saw this symbolic act in these terms, then de jure Gushri Khan retained the title “King
of Tibet” for himself. The “Great Fifth” in contrast, certainly interpreted the gift of the sword as a
gesture of submission by the Khan (the renunciation of authority over Tibet), then de facto from now
on he managed affairs like an absolute ruler.
The Secret Biography
The Fifth Dalai Lama took his self-elevation to the status of a deity and his magic practices just as
seriously as he did his real power politics. For him, every political act, every military operation was
launched by a visionary event or prepared for with a invocatory ritual. Nevertheless, as a Tantric, the
dogma of the emptiness of all being and the nonexistence of the phenomenal world stood for him
behind the whole ritual and mystic theater which he performed. This was the epistemological
precondition to being able to control the protagonists of history just like those of the spiritual world. It
is against this framework that the “Great Fifth” introduces his autobiography (Secret Biography) with
an irony which undermines his own life’s work in the following verses:
The erudite should not read this work, they will be embarrassed.
It is only for the guidance of fools who revel in fanciful ideas.
Although it tries frankly to avoid pretentiousness,
It is nevertheless corrupted with deceit.
By speaking honestly on whatever occurred, this could be taken to be lies.
As if illusions of Samsara were not enough,
This stupid mind of mine is further attracted
To ultra-illusory visions.
It is surely mad to say that the image of the Buddha's compassion
Is reflected in the mirror of karmic existence.
Let me now write the following pages,
Though it will disappoint those who are led to believe
That the desert-mirage is water,
As well as those who are enchanted by folk-tales,
And those who delight in red clouds in summer.”
(Karmay, 1988, p. 27)
Up until recent times the Secret Biography had not been made public, it was a secret document only
accessible to a few chosen. There is no doubting that the power-obsessed “god-king” wanted to
protect the extremely intimate and magic character of his writings through the all-dispersing
introductory poem. One of the few handwritten copies is kept in the Munich State Library. There it
can be seen that the Great Fifth nonetheless took his “fairy tales” so seriously that he marked the
individual chapters with a red thumbprint.
Everything about Tibet which so fascinates people from the West is in collected in the multilayered