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

typifies the androcentric spirit of the “circle of elders”: “God our Father, we sacrifice and dedicate to
you our Mother the Earth” (Eersel and Grosrey, 1998, p. 413). This says it all; even if a few women
participate the council of elders remains a “circle of patriarchs”, and the female sacrifice which we
have identified as the central mystery of Tantric Buddhism also essentially determines the traditional
systems of ritual of the shamans gathered in France.
The occult scene and the New Age
What then is the relationship like between the Dalai Lama and the so-called esoteric scene, which has
spread like a bomb all over the West in recent years? In relations with various traditional occult sects
(the Moonies, Brahmakumaris, Scientologists, Theosophists, Roerich groups) who in general do not
enjoy a good name in the official press His Holiness is often more tolerant and intimate than the broad
public realizes. We have already reported extensively about his connection to Shoko Asahara’s AUM
sect. He also maintains lively contact with Theosophists of the most diverse schools. A few years ago
His Holiness praised and introduced a collection of Madame Blavatsky’s writings with a foreword.
But it is his relationship with the religious subculture that became known worldwide as the New Age
Movement which is of decisive significance. Already at the start of the seventies the youth protest
movement of 1968 was replaced by the spiritual practices of individuals and groups, the left-wing
political utopia of a classless society by a vision of the “community of the holy”. All the followers of
the New Age saw themselves as members of a “soft conspiracy” that was to prepare for the “New Age
of Aquarius” and the appearance of messianic saviors (often from non-European cultures). Every
conceivable school of belief, politico-religious viewpoint and surreal fantasy was gathered up in this
dynamic and creative cultural current. At the outset the New Age movement displayed a naive but
impressive independence of the existing religious traditions. It was believed one could select the best
from all cultic mysteries — those of the Indians and American Indians, the Tibetans, Sufis, the
Theosophists, etc. — in order to nonchalantly combine it with one’s own spiritual experiences and
further develop it in the sense of a spiritual and peaceful global community. Even traditionally based
gurus from the early phase like Rajneesh Baghwan from India or the Tibetan, Chögyam Trungpa,
were able to accept this “spiritual liberalism” and combined their hallowed initiation techniques with
all manner of methods drawn from the modern western tradition, especially with those of therapeutic
psychology. But after only a few years of creative freedom, the orthodox ecclesiastical orientations
and atavistic sects who put this “mystic-original potential” to use for their own ends, indeed vitally
needed it for their own regeneration, prevailed in the New Age movement.
Buddhism was intensively involved in this process (the incorporation of the New Age) from the outset.
At first the influence of Japanese Zen predominated, however, two decades later Tibetan Lamaism
succeeded in winning over ever more New Age protagonists. The fact that since the 19 th century Tibet
has been the object of western fantasies, onto which all conceivable occult desires and mystic hopes
have been projected, certainly helped here. The Theosophic vision of omnipotent Mahatmas who
steer the fate of the world from the heights of the Himalayas has developed into a powerful image for
non-theosophical religious subcultures as well.
For the Fourteenth Dalai Lama the New Age Movement was both the primary recruiting field for
western Buddhists and the gateway to mainstream society. The double character of his religion, this
mixture of Buddhocratic officialese and the anarchistic drop-out that we have depicted earlier, was of
great advantage to him in his skilled conquest of the spiritual subculture. Then the “children of the
Age of Aquarius”, who conceived of themselves as rebels against the existing social norms (their