Tibetan sect pans Dalai Lama's ban - News about religious cults and sects

Several monks from the Gelugpa sect -- one of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism -- yesterday condemned a ban issued by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama forbidding his followers from worshipping the controversial deity Dorje Shugden. They say the restriction has violated religious freedom.

During his lecture in Linkou on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama declared his opposition to the worshipping of Shugden, which is a demon in his view.

Dorje Shugden is one of the "Dharma protectors" traditionally invoked in the Gelugpa sect to protect monasteries and consult on important decisions. The Dalai Lama, who is also the leader of the Gelugpa sect, told the audience not to attend his lecture or come to receive initiation if they were engaging in the Shugden practice. If they insisted on worshipping Shudgen, he said, it would undermine the teacher-student relationship or even decrease the teacher's life span.

"The Dalai Lama is like the emperor of a country. Any words uttered by the leader will have an impact on the people. [If what he says is wrong], the people will nonetheless follow blindly and chaos will arise," said a monk.

"In a democratic society, there should be open discussion with regards to any controversies. We hope the Dalai Lama can provide us with reasons, telling us why Shugden is a demon."

Another monk said that under the Dalai Lama's ban, worshippers of Shudgen suffered discrimination. Shugden's believers were elbowed out of Tibetan society and pictures of Shugden were destroyed. But he said no suppression would stop them from following their faith. "We ask that the Dalai Lama lift the ban and respect our beliefs," he said.

In his speech on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama said the arguments surrounding Shugden in Gelugpa have been going on for 400 years. In the first 300 years, it was not a serious problem because followers worshipped Shudgen as a Dharma protector. But in the past century, the problem has deteriorated because some followers have begun worshipping Shugden as a manifestation of the Buddha.
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