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

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Even if these fascist and terrorist interpretations of the Sh<strong>am</strong>bhala myth are erroneous, it is therefore<br />

all the more pressing that the XIV <strong>Dalai</strong> L<strong>am</strong>a and his followers lay bare the Kalachakra ritual in all<br />

its detail, correct possible distortions, projections and misuses, and distance themselves publicly from<br />

its more problematic contents, that or edit them out of the traditional texts. Instead, however, there<br />

have in the past been numerous friendly meetings between the Tibetan religious leader and former SS<br />

figures (Heinrich Harrer, Bruno Beger), the founder of "esoteric Hitlerism", Miguel Serrano, and the<br />

terrorist, Shoko Asahara, whom even after the Tokyo attacks he described as his "friend, albeit an<br />

imperfect one”. Only later did he distance himself from him. It is the duty of the city of Graz, the<br />

provincial government of Styria, the various political factions, the media, the intellectuals and not<br />

least the Christian institutions, to begin a broad public discussion of this ritual, so as not be drawn<br />

into something which is di<strong>am</strong>etrically opposed to their original intentions.<br />

<strong>The</strong>n, according to statements in numerous international media reports, Tibetan Buddhism is the<br />

"trend religion" of our time. Through the XIV <strong>Dalai</strong> L<strong>am</strong>a, through both his charismatic appearances<br />

and his ostensibly humanist speeches and writings, a gigantic, unreflective cultural import of Eastern<br />

concepts into the West is taking place, one which displays fund<strong>am</strong>entalist characteristics and serves as<br />

an ideological foundation for various fund<strong>am</strong>entalist c<strong>am</strong>ps and can continue to so serve in the future.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Buddhist leader appeals to people’s deep need for harmony and peace, but the history of<br />

L<strong>am</strong>aism itself, the contents of the Tibetan tantras and their complex of rituals, even the conditions<br />

which prevail <strong>am</strong>ong the Tibetans in exile, are anything but peaceful and harmonic. <strong>The</strong>re are<br />

passages in the Kalachakra Tantra which brazenly call for a "war of the religions", which are<br />

intolerant and aggressive. In Tibetan Buddhism we have an archaic, magic-based religious system,<br />

which has remained to a large extent untouched by the fund<strong>am</strong>entals of the Western Enlightenment.<br />

This is also the reason it is so attractive for right-wing extremists. For centuries it has led to social<br />

injustices that any freedom-loving citizen of today would be forced to reject. <strong>The</strong> equality of the<br />

sexes, democratic decision making and ecumenical movements are in themselves foreign to the nature<br />

of Tantric Buddhism, although the XIV <strong>Dalai</strong> L<strong>am</strong>a publicly proclaims the opposite.<br />

In a reaction to 11 September 2001, <strong>De</strong>r Spiegel drew attention to aggressive elements and<br />

fund<strong>am</strong>entalist currents in the three monotheistic religions in an article entitled "Religious Mania –<br />

<strong>The</strong> Return of the Middle Ages". As is so often the case in such cultural critiques, Buddhism was<br />

spared. This is untrue! All of the topics criticized in this article (battles against unbelievers and<br />

dissidents, religious wars, arm<strong>am</strong>ent fantasies, theocratic visions of power, apocalyptic predictions,<br />

misogyny, etc.) are to be found in a particularly concentrated degree in the Kalachkra Tantra.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Critical Forum Kalachakra (CFK) demands that a wide-ranging cultural debate over the<br />

Kalachakra Tantra and the Sh<strong>am</strong>bhala myth. <strong>The</strong> CFK collects informations, distributes and<br />

translates documents.<br />

Index | Contents | References | Buddhism <strong>De</strong>bate | Glossary | Home<br />

© Copyright 2003 – Victor & Victoria Trimondi<br />

<strong>The</strong> contents of this page are free for personal and non-commercial use,<br />

provided this copyright notice is kept intact. All further rights, including<br />

the rights of publication in any form, have to be obtained by written

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