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

shortly before the Mongol prince seized the Chinese throne was legendary. The future Emperor was
so impressed by the knowledge and rhetoric of the lama that he adopted the Buddhist faith and even
let himself be initiated into the Hevajra Tantra.
The “Great Fifth” correctly saw this historical encounter as a corner-stone of world politics which
dovetailed perfectly into the foundations of his own global vision. He hence simply declared the
conversations between himself and the Mongolian potentate, Gushri Khan, which took place in the
year 1637 and which concerned the defeat of the Kagyupa order, to be the “incarnatory” continuation
of the dialog which commenced in 1276 between Kublai Khan and the then powerful Phagspa Lama
and continued afresh in the year 1578 between the Third Dalai Lama and Altan Khan. During the
meeting with the god-king (the Fifth Dalai Lama), Gushri Khan is supposed to have recalled their
previous joint “incarnation meetings” (as Kublai Khan and Phagspa Lama and as the Third Dalai
Lama and Altan Khan). This example shows, how politics was conducted across the centuries. Death
no longer played a role in these political events which were so important for Asia.
The Jonangpa order
The no longer extant school (up until the 17 th century) of the Jonangpas was a small but powerful
offshoot of the Sakyapa order. During the “civil war” between the Gelugpas and the Kagyupas its
followers allied themselves with the king of the Tsang (the “Red Hat” alliance). They were therefore
branded as heretics by the “Great Fifth” and de facto destroyed. This is all the more surprising since
an abbot of the school, the famous historian Taranatha (1575–1634), was asked by the parents of the
Fifth Dalai Lama to name their child. However, it demonstrates once more the unsentimental,
uncompromising manner in which the god-king pursued his political goals. He ordered that the
printing plates of the sect (i.e., their writings) be sealed and incorporated the order’s funds along with
the majority of its monks into the Gelugpa system. It is of interest that at that stage this school was the
prime specialist in matters concerning the Kalachakra Tantra, to which Taranatha also devoted a
number of writings. Perhaps a cause for the conflict can also be found here, then there can be no
doubt that the “Great Fifth” took the cosmic power system of the Time Tantra literally and laid
exclusive claim to it.
The Bon religion
The eclectic on the Lion Throne (the Fifth Dalai Lama) was also not at all ill-disposed towards the pre-
Buddhist Bon religion. Avalokiteshvara appeared to him in a vision and called upon him “to invite
Bonpos often to carry out rituals which ensure the prosperity of the country.” (Karmay, 1988, p. 64).
This liaison is not quite as paradoxical as it may appear at first glance. Admittedly, the Bon priests
had been fiercely persecuted as the exact opposite of Buddhism since time immemorial- over the
centuries they had been reviled as the practitioners of black magic, the sacrificers of animals, the
worshippers of demons. This negative Tibetan evaluation has been shared by many western
researchers up until of late. However, more recent studies have shown that the Bon religion was closer
to Buddhism than was previously thought. It is not — as is often erroneously believed — the original,
shamanist religion of the highlands.