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

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Thurman’s devoted commitment as Lamaist initiand, his absolute loyalty to the Dalai Lama, his
consistent vision of an earthly “Buddha paradise”, his uncompromising affirmation of a Buddhocratic
state, his involvement with the world of the Tibetan gods which reaches even into his own dreams, his
systematic training by the highest Tibetan lamas over many years—all these certify Thurman to be a
“Shambhala warrior”, a Buddhist hero, who according to legend prepares for the establishment of the
kingdom of Shambhala over our globe. This is the goal of the Kalachakra ritual (the “Wheel of Time”
ritual) performed all over the world by the Dalai Lama. Thurman has, he reports, seen the Dalai Lama
in a vision as the supreme time god above the Waldorf Astoria. But even here he conceals that the
Shambhala myth is not peaceful, and can only be realized after a world war in which all nonbelievers
(non-Buddhists) are destroyed.
Perhaps such a perspective frightens some Western intellectuals? No worries, Thurman reassumes
them, “who is afraid of the Dalai Lama? Who is afraid of Avalokiteshvara? No Tibetans are
afraid” (Thurman in Bonn). How could one be afraid of the supreme enlightened being currently on
earth? He, in whom all three levels are compressed, “that of the selfless monk, the king, and the great
adept” (Thurman), who is (as great adept) preparing the creation of “a buddhaversal human
society” (Thurman 1998, p. 39), even if he (as king and statesman) is still concentrating chiefly on the
concerns of Tibet. Then, “Tibet’s unique focus on enlightenment civilization makes the nation crucial
to the world’s development of spiritual and social balance” (Thurman 1998, p. 39).
Thurman is convinced that the Dalai Lama represents a projection of the ADI BUDDHA, who can
liberate the world from its valley of sorrows. He describes very precisely the micro- and macrocosmic
dimensions of such a redemptive being in the form of the Fifth Dalai Lama. If humanity were to
recognize the divine presence behind the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, it could calmly place its political
matters in his hands, just as the Tibetan populace did in the time of the “Great Fifth”: “Small
wonder”, Thurman tells to his readers. “Suppose the people of a catholic country were to share a
perception of a particular spiritual figure as not simply a representative of God, as in the Pope being
the vicar of Christ, but as an actual incarnation of the Savior—or, say an incarnation of the Archangel
Gabriel. In such a situation it would not be strange for the nation to reach a point where the divine
would actually take responsibility for the government. In Tibet, this moment was the culmination of
centuries of grass-roots millennial consciousness, the political ratification of the millennial direction
that had been intensifying since the Great Prayer Festival tradition had begun in 1409. The sense of
the presence of an enlightened being was widespread enough for the people to join together after the
last conflict and entrust to him their land and their fate” (Thurman 1998, pp. 250–251).
There is no need to read between the lines, simply paying close attention to the text of his book is
enough to be able to recognize that, for Thurman, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama represents the
quintessence of political wisdom and decisive power for the coming millennium. The author draws
attention to the five principles of his planetary political program: “nonviolence, individualism,
education, and altruistic correctness. The fifth [principle], global democratism, is exemplified in His
Holiness the Great Fourteenth Dalai Lama himself” (Thurman 1998, p. 279). The Tibetan “god-king”
as the incarnation of universal democracy—a true piece of bravura in Thurman’s “political theology”.
No wonder the “god-king” applauds him so roundly in his foreword: “I commend him for his careful
study and clear explanations, and I recommend his insights for your own reflections” (Thurman 1998,
p. xiv).