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

There had barely been a peaceful period for him. Soon after its declaration of independence (in 1911)
the country became a plaything of the most varied interests: the Chinese, Tsarist Russians,
Communists, and numerous national and regional groupings attempted to gain control of the state.
Blind and marked by the consumption of alcohol, the Khutuktu died in 1924. The Byelorussian,
Ferdinand Ossendowski, who was fleeing through the country at the time attributes the following
prophecy and vision to the Khutuktu, which, even if it is not historically authenticated, conjures up
the spirit of an aggressive pan-Mongolism: “Near Karakorum and on the shores of Ubsa Nor I see the
huge multi-colored camps. ... Above them I see the old banners of Jenghiz Khan, of the kings of
Tibet, Siam, Afghanistan, and of Indian princes; the sacred signs of all the Lamaite Pontiffs; the coats
of arms of the Khans of the Olets; and the simple signs of the north-Mongolian tribes. .... There is the
roar and crackling of fire and the ferocious sound of battle. Who is leading these warriors who there
beneath the reddened sky are shedding their own and others’ blood? ... I see ... a new great migration
of peoples, the last march of the Mongols …" (Ossendowski, 1924, pp. 315-316).
In the same year that Jabtsundamba Khutuktu died the “Mongolian Revolutionary People’s
Party” (the Communists) seized complete governmental control, which they were to exercise for over
60 years. Nonetheless speculation about the new incarnation of the “living Buddha” continued. Here
the Communists appealed to an old prediction according to which the eighth Khutuktu would be
reborn as a Shambhala general and would thus no longer be able to appear here on earth. But the
cunning lamas countered with the argument that this would not hamper the immediate embodiment of
the ninth Khutuktu. It was decided to approach the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and the Ninth Panchen
Lama for advice. However, the Communist Party prevailed and in 1930 conducted a large-scale show
trial of several Mongolian nobles and spiritual leaders in connection with this search for a new
incarnation.
There were attempts in Mongolia at the time to make Communist and Buddhist ideas compatible with
one another. In so doing, lamas became excited about the myth that Lenin was a reincarnation of the
historical Buddha. But other voices were likewise to be heard. In a pamphlet from the twenties we can
also read that “Red Russia and Lenin are reincarnation of Langdarma, the enemy of the
faith” (Bawden, 1969, p. 265). Under Josef Stalin this variety of opinion vanished for good. The
Communist Party proceeded mercilessly against the religious institutions of Mongolia, drove the
monks out of the monasteries, had the temples closed and forbade any form of clerical teaching
program.
The Mongolian Shambhala myth
We do not intend to consider in detail the recent history of Mongolia. What primarily interests us are
the tantric patterns which had an effect behind the political stage. Since the 19 th century prophetic
religious literature has flourished in the country. Among the many mystic hopes for salvation, the
Shambhala myth ranks as the foremost. It has always accompanied the Mongolian nationalist
movement and is today enjoying a powerful renaissance after the end of Communism. Up until the
thirties it was almost self-evident for the Lamaist milieu of the country that the conflicts with China
and Russia were to be seen as a preliminary skirmish to a future, worldwide, final battle which would
end in a universal victory for Buddhism. In this, the figures of the Rudra Chakrin, of the Buddha
Maitreya, and of Genghis Khan were combined into an overpowering messianic figure who would
firstly spread unimaginable horror so as to then lead the converted masses, above all the Mongols as
the chosen people, into paradise. The soldiers of the Mongolian army proudly called themselves