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

him. The usual constitutional statements and the well-known demands for peace, human rights,
religious freedom, pluralism, etc. then follow, as if a western parliamentarian were campaigning for
his country’s democracy. Only at the end of his speech does the Kundun let the cat out of the bag and
nonchalantly proposes Tibetan Buddhism as China’s new religion and thus, indirectly, himself as the
Buddhist messiah: “Finally it is my strong believe and hope that however small a nation Tibet might
be, we can still contribute to the peace and the prosperity of China. Decades of communist rule and
the commercial activities in recent years both driven by extreme materialism, be it communist or
capitalist, are destroying much of China's spiritual and moral values. A huge spiritual and moral
vacuum is thus being rapidly created in the Chinese society. In this situation, the Tibetan Buddhist
culture and philosophy would be able to serve millions of Chinese brothers and sisters in their search
for moral and spiritual values. After all, traditionally Buddhism is not an alien philosophy to the
Chinese people” (Tibetan Review, October 1995, p. 18). Advertising for the Kalachakra initiation
organized for the year 1999 in Bloomington, Indiana was also available in Chinese. Since August
2000 one of the web sites run by the Tibetans in exile has been appearing in Chinese.
In recent months (up until 1998), “pro-Chinese” statements by the Kundun have been issued more and
more frequently. In 1997 he explained that the materialistic Chinese could only profit from an
adoption of spiritual Lamaism. Everywhere, indicators of a re-Buddhization of China were already to
be seen. For example, a high-ranking member of the Chinese military had recently had himself
blessed by the Mongolian great lama, Kusho Bakula Rinpoche, when the latter was in Beijing briefly.
Another Chinese officer had participated in a Lamaist event seated in the lotus position, and a Tibetan
woman had told him how Tibetan Buddhism was flourishing in various regions in China.
"So from these stories we can see”, the Dalai Lama continued, “that when the situation in China
proper becomes more open, with more freedom, then definitely many Chinese will find useful
inspiration from Tibetan Buddhist traditions” (Shambhala Sun, Archive, November 1996). In 1998, in
an interview that His Holiness gave the German edition of Playboy, he quite materialistically says: “If
we remain a part of China we will also profit materially from the enormous upturn of the
country” (Playboy, German edition, March 1998, p. 44). The army of monks who are supposed to
carry out this ambitious project of a “Lamaization of China” are currently being trained in Taiwan.
In 1997, the Kundun wrote to the Chinese Party Secretary, Jiang Zemin, that he would like to
undertake a “non-political pilgrimage” to Wutaishan in Shanxi province (not in Tibet). The most
sacred shrine of the Bodhisattva Manujri, who from a Lamaist point of view is incarnated in the
person of the Chinese Emperor, is to be found in Wutaishan. Thus for the lamas the holy site harbors
the la, the ruling energy of the Chinese Empire. In preparing for such a trip, the Kundun, who is a
consistent thinker in such matters, will certainly have considered how best to magically acquire the la
of the highly geomantically significant site of Wutaishan.
The god-king wants to meet Jiang Zemin at this sacred location to discuss Tibetan autonomy. But, as
we have indicated, his primary motive may well be an esoteric one. A “Kalachakra ritual for world
peace” is planned there. Traditionally, the Wutai mountains are seen as Lamaism’s gateway to China.
In the magical world view of the Dalai Lama, the construction of a sand mandala in this location
would be the first step in the spiritual conquest of the Chinese realm. Already in 1987, the wellknown
Tibetan lama, Khenpo Jikphun conducted a Kalachakra initiation in front of 6000 people. He
is also supposed to have levitated there and floated through the air for a brief period (Goldstein, 1998,
p. 85).