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

the god-king’s aura has begun to darken, and it is an irony of fate that the serious accusations against
him have come from a conservative faction within his own school (the Gelugpas). In addition, the
followers of the recalcitrant protective god (Shugden) do not argue like “reactionaries” at all in public,
but rather (just like the Kundun) appeal to democratic fundamentals, human rights, and the freedom of
opinion. Thus in certain circles the “greatest prince of peace of our times” has overnight become a
despot, a political traitor, a nepotist, a hypocrite, even a potential murderer. His accusers do not just
abuse him, but rather justify their claims with “hard” facts that are worth checking but for which the
“official” West has up until now closed its eyes and ears.
In the ongoing Shugden debate (as of 1998), many previously repressed and unreappraised topics
from the history of Tibet and the Tibetans in exile have been brought to the surface. Among other
things His Holiness and the government in exile have been accused of constantly defaming Tibetan
Opposition figures as Chinese spies (e.g. Dujom Rinpoche) so as to silence them politically; of
undemocratic actions against 13 Indian branches of Tibetans in exile and the possible murder of their
spokesman, Gungthang Rinpoche; of playing false with the national guerilla army, which is outwardly
combated, but covertly supported and built up; of the political murder of opposition politicians
(Gongtang Tsultrim); of power-politically motivated jealousy of the Fifteenth Karmapa, the head of
the largest Kagyupa lineage; of nepotism and the absolute favoritism of members of the Dalai Lama’s
family (the “Yabshi clan”); of misjudging the world political situation, especially in the years of delay
in establishing good contacts with Taiwan; of cooperation with the Chinese over the enthronement of
the new Karmapa; of secret diplomacy with Beijing in general, through which the country is sold out
to China to the benefit of the Lamaist culture. Intrigues play just as major a role in Dharamsala ("little
Lhasa”) as in the Lhasa of old. The centuries of struggle between the various sects have also not
reached an end in exile, and the competition between the individual regions of the Land of Snows just
as little. Corruption and sinister money dealings are everyday events among the Tibetans. Fresh
accusations are being made every day. In particular, as a spokesperson for the government in exile
laments, the Internet is filled with “an unprecedented amount of literature ... that criticizes the Dalai
Lama and belittles the Tibetan Exile Government” (Burns, Newsgroup 1).
Footnotes:
[1] The inspiration for “engaged Buddhism” come not from the Dalai Lama but rather from Thich Nhat Hanh, a
Theravada monk born in central Vietnam in 1926. The causes of ignorance, egocentrism, violence, war, and
environmental degradation were supposed to be overcome through meditation, social commitment and the
practice of community with Christian groups all over the world.
[2] This was in the period where the Communist Party (the SED) had already lost control over the country.
[3] Pope John Paul II is also more reserved than progressive on the ecumenical front, despite the spectacular
major event with representatives from all religions that took place at his invitation in Assisi on October 25, 1986
and at which the Kundun was also present. Almost ten years after this meeting, upon which many followers of
the ecumenical movement had set great hopes, the Pope describes the teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni in his
book Crossing the Threshold of Hope as atheistic, negative, and unworldly and states that the “doctrines of
salvation in Buddhism and Christianity are opposed” (Tibetan Review, June 1995, p. 12).
[4] It will never come to this, since the Muslims are just as well-versed and sensitive as His Holiness in matters
concerning occultism and “world domination”.
[5] Members of the RSS were closely involved in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, of whom the Dalai
Lama claims he was his greatest non-Buddhist teacher.
[6] With his shunyata doctrine, Nagarjuna, the founding father of Madhyamika, even gained admittance into the
discourse of Christian theology, through Abe Masao’s concept of a “self-emptying, self-denying God”, for
instance. (Brück and Lai, 1997, p. 448).