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

At the end of his critical book, Prisoners of Shangri-La, the Tibetologist and Buddhist Donald S.
Lopez addresses the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s vision of “conquering” China specifically through the
Kalachakra Tantra. Here he discusses the fact that participants in the ritual are reborn as Shambhala
warriors. “The Dalai Lama”, Lopez says, “may have found a more efficient technique for populating
Shambhala and recruiting troops for the army of the twenty-fifth king, an army that will defeat the
enemies of Buddhism and bring the utopia of Shambhala, hidden for so long beyond the Himalayas,
to the world. It is the Dalai Lama’s prayer, he says, that he will some day give the Kalachakra
initiation in Beijing” (Lopez, 1998, p. 207).
The “Strasbourg Declaration” (of June 15, 1988), in which the Dalai Lama renounces a claim on state
autonomy for Tibet if he is permitted to return to his country, creates the best conditions for a possible
Lamaization of the greater Chinese territory. It is interesting in this context that with the
renouncement of political autonomy, the Kundun at the same time articulated a territorial expansion
for the cultural autonomy of Tibet. The border provinces of Kam and Amdo, which for centuries have
possessed a mixed Chinese-Tibetan population, are now supposed to come under the cultural political
control of the Kundun. Moderate circles in Beijing approve of the Dalai Lama’s return, as does the
newly founded Democratic Party of China under Xu Wenli.
Also, in recent years the numerous contacts between exile Tibetan politicians and Beijing have not
just been hostile, rather the contacts sometimes awake the impression that here an Asian power play is
at work behind closed doors, one that is no longer easy for the West to understand. For example, His
Holiness and the Chinese successfully cooperated in the search for and appointment of the
reincarnation of the Karmapa, the leader of the Red Hats, although here a Kagyupa faction did
propose another candidate and enthrone him in the West.
Since Clinton’s visit to China (in 1998) events in the secret diplomacy between the Tibetans in exile
and the Chinese are becoming increasingly public. On Chinese television Clinton said to Jiang Zemin,
“I have met the Dalai Lama. I think he is an upright man and believe that he and President Jiang
would really get on if they spoke to one another” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 17, 1998). Thereupon,
His Holiness publicly admitted that several “private channels” to Peking already existed which
produce “fruitful contacts” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 17, 1998). However, since 1999 the wind has
turned again. The “anti Dalai Lama campaigns” of the Chinese are now ceaseless. Owing to Chinese
interventions the Kundun has had to endure several political setbacks throughout the entire Far East.
During his visit to Japan in the Spring of 2000 he was no longer officially received. Even the Mayor
of Tokyo (Shintaro Isihara), a friend of the religious dignitary, had to cancel his invitation. The great
hope of being present at the inauguration of the new Taiwanese president, Chen Shui-Bian on May
20, 2000, was not to be, even though his participation was originally planned here too. Despite
internal and international protest, South Korea refused the Dalai Lama an entry visa. The Xchinese
even succeeded in excluding the Kundun from the Millennium Summit of World Religions held by
the UN at the end of August 2000 in New York. The worldwide protests at this decision remained
quite subdued.
The Fourteenth Dalai Lama and communism
The Kundun’s constant attestations that Buddhism and Communism have common interests should
also be seen as a further currying of favor with the Chinese. One can thus read numerous statements
like the following from His Holiness: „The Lord Buddha wanted improvement in the spiritual realm,