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

the Hor Mongols. Pehar, the later state oracle, is thus a foreign deity imposed upon the Tibetan
people.
It is true that the oracle god has sworn an oath of loyalty, but it is — in the lamas’ opinion — by no
means ruled out that he may one day break this and unleash his full vengeance upon the Tibetans who
defeated him in times gone by. He has in his own words explained to Padmasambhava what will then
happen. He will destroy the houses and the fields. The children of the Land of Snows will have to
endure famine and will be driven insane. The fruit of the and will be destroyed by hail and swarms of
insects. The strong will be carried off and only the weak shall survive. Wars shall devastate the roof
of the world. Pehar himself will interrupt the meditations of the lamas, rob their spells of their magic
power, and force them to commit suicide. Brothers will rape their sisters. He will make the wisdom
consorts (the mudras) of the tantra masters bad and heretical, yes, transform them into enemies of the
teaching who emigrate to the lands of the unbelievers. But first he shall copulate with them. “I,”
Pehar proclaims, “the lord of the temples, the stupas and scriptures, I shall possess the fair bodies of
all virgins” (Sierksma, 1966, p. 165).
In the sphere of practical politics the recommendations of the Mongolian martial god have also not
always been advantageous for the Tibetans. For example, he gave the Thirteenth Dalai Lama the
catastrophic advice that he should attack the British army under Colonel Younghusband which led to
a massacre of the Tibetan soldiers.
Current politics and the oracle system
One would think that the Tibetans in exile would these days have distanced themselves from such a
warlike deity as Pehar, who constantly threatens them with bloody acts of revenge, especially after
their experiences at the hands of the Chinese occupying forces. One would further assume that, given
the Kundun’s strident professions of democracy, the oracle system as such would be in decline or
have even been abandoned. But the opposite is the case: in Dharamsala the divinatory arts, astrology,
the interpretation of dreams, and even the drawing of lots still have a most decisive (!) influence upon
the politics of the Tibetans in exile. Every (!) politically significant step is first taken once the
mediums, soothsayers, and court astrologers have been consulted, every important state-political
activity requires the invocation of the wrathful Mongolian god, Pehar. This tendency has increased in
recent years. Today there are said to be three further mediums (who represent different deities) whose
services are made use of. Among these is a young and attractive girl from an eastern province of
Tibet. Some members of the community of Tibetans in exile are therefore of the opinion that the
various oracles misuse His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama for their own ends and force their will
upon him.
Now, how does the “god-king” see this through his own eyes? “Even some Tibetans,” we learn from
the Kundun, “mostly those who consider themselves 'progressive', have misgivings about my
continued use of this ancient method of intelligence gathering. But I do so for the simple reason that
as I look back over the many occasions when I have asked questions of the oracle, on each one of
them time has proved that his answer was correct” (Dalai Lama XIV, 1993 I, p. 312). “I not only
believe in spirits, but in various kinds of spirits!”, His Holiness further admits, “... To this category
belongs the state oracle Nechung (Pehar). We consider these spirits reliable, then they have a long
history without any controversy in over 1000 years” (Tagesanzeiger (Switzerland), March 23, 1998).
Pehar determined the point in time in which the Dalai Lama had to flee Tibet and with the statement
“that the shine of the 'wish-fulfilling jewel' [one of the Dalai Lama’s names] will light up in the West”