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

face of Shakyamuni Buddha radiated from my ajuna chakra. The vision persisted steadily, without a
flicker. ‘Ah, this is the Buddha image the Dalai Lama was talking about,’ I thought. I continued my
meditation” (Bracket, 1996, p. 68). Smiling, the Dalai Lama then took his leave of him after an
intensive exchange of ideas with the following words: “Dear friend, … Look at the Buddhism of
Japan today. It has degenerated into ceremonialism and has lost the essential truth of the teachings. …
If this situation continues, … Buddhism will vanish from Japan. Something needs to be
done” (Kaplan and Marshall, 1996, p. 13). Thereupon the god-king entrusted him with a spiritual
mission: “You should spread real Buddhism there [in Japan]. … You can do that well, because you
have the mind of a Buddha. If you do so, I shall be very pleased. It will help me with my
mission” (Kaplan and Marshall, 1996, p. 13). Asahara was indeed more than happy. Afterwards, His
Holiness blessed him with water and posed for a photo with him. Eight years later this photo was to
appear in all the newspapers of the world. From now on, the Japanese guru referred to himself as a
pupil of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. The god-king’s final version of affairs is different. He never
commissioned the Japanese to do anything at all, nor established any special relation with him, and
definitely did not take him on as a sadhaka. For him Asahara was just one of the many hundreds of
worshippers and visitors whom he met with in the course of a year. After the fact, His Holiness made
a critical pronouncement with reference to the Japanese guru, which he obviously took to apply to
others, but not himself: “I am suspicious of miracles and supernatural powers. Believers in Buddhism
should not rely to much on a specific leader. This is unhealthy” (Tibetan Review, May 1995, p. 9).