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DORJE SHUGDEN
The Divisive One
Dorje Shugden (also known as Gyalchen Shugden or Dolgyal) is one of
many dharma protectors – worldly
gods tamed and converted to the cause of buddhism by tantric yogis.
It's said that some protectors subsequently become practitioners themselves
and advance
on the path to buddahood. While some Tibetans believe Shugden to be an
enlightened being, others consider
him a danger to their tradition.
(See Controversy, below.)
Dharma protectors are a characteristic feature of Tibetan buddhism
and are generally seen as an inheritance from the pre-Buddhist animistic
religions
of the region.
Tantric yoga, an esoteric practice in which one visualizes
oneself as fully enlightened, is described as the practice of ‘taking
the goal as the path.’ Shakyamuni Buddha is said to have revealed these
extremely secret teachings to a select group of highly realized disciples,
deeming
them too dangerous in the hands of the unqualified. Every tantric text is
prefaced with a warning describing the prerequisite qualifications, which
include nothing less than the most remarkable practitioners. In the hands
of such yogis, Tantra leads either to rapid enlightenment or to inconceivably
miserable
vajra hells –
hence
its
danger
and the need
for secrecy.
The power of tantra lies in transforming anger into insight, desire into
compassion and ignorance into wisdom. In the highest class of Tantra one
manifests with
great wrath
and lust. In sharp contrast to the conventional path, women are said to
have certain advantages. Dorje Shugden is a dharma protector with both peaceful
and wrathful forms, and some of the highest practices of tantra are performed
in his image.
Most Southern Buddhists of Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka consider tantra
a travesty, and as not originating from Gotama Buddha.
CONTROVERSY
Dorje Shugden came to unusual prominence in the last two decades of the
twentieth century following the fourteenth Dalai Lama’s pronouncement
that he is a “spirit of the dark forces.” The
Tibetan community in exile is profoundly split on this issue, and some monks
and teachers have severed
all links to their spiritual bases in Tibet and India. In particular, one Geshé Kelsang
Gyatso, formerly from Sera Monastic University, now expelled, has masterminded
a widely successful cult, centred in Britain but now extending throughout
the world, that grows year by year in force and resources. A war of words
and hearts
has been unleashed. Foul
murder has been committed and many westerners are taking sides. The
Dorje Shugden controversy has all the making of a religious war, and the
office of the Dalai Lama has already been
considerably weakened, but only within the confines of Tibetan Buddhism. Although this story created a minor stir in the Western press in the 1990s, it in no way eclipsed the rapidly rising star of the Dalai Lama as the world's most famous buddhist monk, an international superstar and a Nobel peace lauriate.
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DORJE
SHUGDEN
On one point there's no disagreement about
Dorje Shugden – he's very
powerful
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