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

Institute (near Denver, Colorado) was established as a private university, where alongside various
Buddhist disciplines fine arts could also be studied.
The Shambhala warrior
Trungpa had told one of his pupils that during deep meditation he was able to espy Shambhala. He
also said he had obtained the teachings for the “Shambhala training” directly from the kingdom. The
program consists of five levels: 1. The art of being human; 2. Birth of the warrior; 3. Warrior in the
world; 4. Awakened heart; 5. Open sky: The big bang. Anyone who had completed all the stages was
considered a perfect “Shambhala warrior”. As a spiritual hero he is freed from the repulsiveness
which the military trade otherwise implies. His characteristics are kindness, an open heart, dignity,
elegance, precision, modesty, attentiveness, fearlessness, equanimity, concentration, and confidence
of victory. To be a warrior, one of Trungpa’s pupils writes, irrespective of whether as a man or a
woman, means to live honestly, also in regard to fear, doubt, depression, and aggression which comes
from outside. To be a warrior does not mean to conduct wars. Rather, to be a warrior means to have
the courage to completely fathom oneself (Hayward, 1997, p. 11). This subjectification of the warrior
ethos brings with it that the weapons employed first of all represent purely psycho-physical states:
controlled breathing, the strict stance, walking upright, clear sight.
The first basic demand of the training is, as in every tantric practice, a state of „egolessness”. This is
of great importance in the Shambhala teachings, writes Trungpa. It is impossible to be a warrior if
you have not experienced egolessness. Without egolessness, your consciousness is always filled with
your ego, your personal plans and intentions (Hayward, 1997, p. 247). Hence the individual ego is not
changed through the exercises, rather the pupil tries solely to create an inner emptiness. Through this
he allows himself to be transformed into a vessel into which the cult figures of the Tibetan pantheon
can flow. According to Trungpa these are called dralas. Translated literally, that means “to climb out
over the enemy” or in an further sense, energy, line of force, or “gods”.
The “empty” pupils thus become occupied by tantric deities. As potential “warriors” they naturally
attract all possible forms of eager to fight dharmapalas (tutelary gods). Thus a wrathful Tibetan
“protector of the faith” steps in to replace the sadhaka and his previous western identity. This
personal transformation takes place through a ritual which in Trungpa’s Shambhala tradition is known
as “calling the gods”. The supernatural beings are summoned with spells and burning incense. When
the thick, sweet-smelling white smoke ascends, the pupils sing a long incantation, which summons the
dralas. At the end of the song the warrior pupils circle the smoke in a clockwise direction and
constantly emit the victory call of the warrior (Hayward, 1997, p. 275). This latter is “Lha Gyelo —
victory to the gods” — the same call which the Dalai Lama cried out as he crossed the Tibetan border
on his flight in 1959.
Trungpa was even more fascinated by the ancient national hero, Gesar, whose barbaric daredevilry
we have already sketched in detail, than he was by the dharmapalas. The guru recommended the
atavistic war hero to his followers as an example to imitate. Time and again he proudly indicated that
his family belonged to the belligerent nomadic tribe of the “Mukpo”, from whose ranks Gesar also
came. For this reason he ennobled his pupils as the “Mukpo family” and thus proclaimed them to be
comrades-in-arms of Gesar. The latter — said Trungpa — would return from Shambhala, “leading an
army to conquer the forces of darkness in the world” (Trungpa, 1986, p. 7).
But Trungpa did not just summon up Tibetan dharmapalas and heroes with his magic, rather he also