American Buddhist Net

There are two sorts of protectors, enlightened protectors and oath bound protectors, who are in their retinue. Ritual offerings are usually made to protectors around sunset asking for the removal of obstacles to practice.

In general, there are both mundane and supra?mundane Dharma protectors who dispel practitioners' inner and outer hindrances. Each of those is also divided into father?lineage and mother?lineage types.

WASHINGTON — A complete Tibetan Buddhist shrine room, including a silver Buddha, gem-encrusted adornments and silk scroll paintings, goes on display for the first time in Washington on Saturday.

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With about $200,000 in donated labor from volunteers, many of them "just walking in the door, wanting to help," a three-story, $1.6 million Buddhist meditation center is nearing completion and will open for classes the first week of June.

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In his annual address from exile in India on the 51st anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against China, he said: “They are putting the monks and nuns in prison-like conditions, depriving them of the opportunity to study and practise in peace.

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The Chinese government says that it will have the final say, rather than the Dalai Lama, on who succeeds him as Tibet's spiritual leader.

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China shed a glimmer of light yesterday on the life of a young Tibetan man who vanished 15 years ago after the Dalai Lama declared him to be the reincarnation of the second-highest monk in Tibetan Buddhism.

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Dharamshala, Mar. 2 (ANI): The Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala held special prayers to mark the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese occupation, and their subsequent exile to India in 1959.

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THIMPHU: Few Bhutanese seem to realise the great loss of Konchogsüm lhakhang, which was destroyed by fire on the afternoon of 10 February, 2010, and even fewer may have lingering pictures of this small temple. In spite of its significance, it was not an icon like Taktsang or Kurje temples. Yet, it was a small, beautiful, well designed and, above all, a very old and historically important temple in Bhutan. I always loved it for its aesthetics, antiquity and lack of opulence.

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Dharamsala, March 1 – China on Sunday made its handpicked Panchen Lama Gaincain Norbu a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body, according to the official news agency Xinhua. The 20-year-old boy is among 13 new members of the CPPCC.

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THONNAKKAL: All spiritual traditions in the world are, in their essential nature, the same. They only differ in their terminology, their presentation, the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism Karmapa Lama has said.

He was inaugurating a seminar on ‘Tibetan culture and spirituality’ at Sai Gramam here on Friday. The differences between spiritual traditions are, however, valuable as they cater to the different spiritual appetite of people. Each being is capable of attaining ‘Buddhahood.’ The fundamental nature of all beings is peace and nirvana. This is veiled by “stains” that are secondary to our nature.

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Dharamsala, Feb 25 : The Tibetans living in exile in India marked the centenary of the 13th Dalai Lama's exile to India here today.

The 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Thupten Gyatso, took refuge in India from 1910 - 1911 following the invasion by Mancho China led by General Chao Er-feng.

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(CNN) -- China is "denying there is a problem" between its government and Tibet, the Dalai Lama says.

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Dharamsala, Feb 14 (IANS) The spiritual head of the Tibetan community, the Dalai Lama, Sunday once again expressed concern over the plight of people living in Tibet and asked them to put in more efforts in studying Buddhism.
Presiding over the special prayer sessions at the hilltop Tsuglagkhang temple at McLeodganj near here to mark Losar (Tibetan New Year), the Dalai Lama offered greetings to the Tibetans - both living inside and outside Tibet. According to the Tibetan lunar calendar, Losar is the first day of the year and traditionally celebrated in a big way.

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I read an article from a forum on www.dorjeshugden.com which I would like to share below:

• May 14, 1995 – Tsangpa Oracle Prophesy I
Prophesy (kha.lung) through the Tsangpa Oracle requested by the Private Office of the Dalai Lama, Prophesies of the Tibetan Government Oracles, published by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Tibetan Administration of the Dalai Lama, Dharamsala, 1996, p. 13.

"It is important that Tibetans should observe their commitments (dam.tsig) which is their obligation. Particularly, the issue of Gyalchen [Dorje Shugden] is a bad omen. In this direction, we, the formless, are aware that it does not harbor good. This should definitely be stopped (mtshams.'jog) in the region of Tibet. With respect to the issue of the unity of religion and politics [of Tibet] and the Ganden Potang government in particular, Gyalchen [Dorje Shugden] cannot demonstrate even a grain of benefit. He can never bring happiness for Tibet [or Tibetan people?].

• June 14, 1995- Tsangpa Oracle Prophesy II
Prophesy (kha.lung) through the Tsangpa Oracle requested by the Cabinet of the exile government: Prophesies of the Tibetan Government Oracles, pp. 14-17.

"An important current issue is that if you continue to go through the motions of government service as if it were punishment instead of serving the Ganden Potang government with total loyalty it is possible that this may pose a serious threat to the well being of Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso [the Dalai Lama]. A grave issue has arisen concerning the administration of the Ganden Potang. One thing that I, the Tsangpa Dhungthoed Chan, have to say about this explicitly is that [Tibetan] worship of deities has now reached a critical stage. It is extremely sad that Gyalchen [Dorje Shugden] the Chinese spirit is being worshiped.

Even though [Gyalchen] angers Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso [the Dalai Lama], there are those who worship him [Dorje Shugden] and who revere him in secret. Not only are there such worshipers in Tibet, there is deep reverence for him even among government employees. This is very harmful. That he is of great harm has already been said by Dorje Dragden [Nechung].

In this regard there is a popular perception that there is acrimony between Dorje Dragden [Nechung] and Gyalchen [Dorje Shugden]. That can never be true. For the success of Buddhism and the Ganden Potang government, Dorje Dragden continues to extend to me complete support and since I too am to pursue this path completely, [I have to point out] that if the Cabinet and the People's Deputies [Assembly] do not strictly decide this issue and adhere to it, even though Buddhism may spread and even though the causes for the speedy freedom for Tibet may have begun [to grow], Gyalchen [Dorje Shugden] is sowing dissension [among Tibetans] by employing Chinese spirits and [furthermore] taking advantage of being a formless entity to vocalize and spread misinformation and thereby supporting China. This is a grave matter. Interesting to note here is that the Buddhists who rely on Dorje Shugden strongly favor Tibetan independence. Thus, it is difficult to reconcile that they would be working for the Chinese who are so adamantly against Tibetan independence. It is almost as if someone were trying on purpose to divide the Tibetan people along these lines, zeroing in on the deepest karmic weakness of the Ganden Potang government brought forward into the twentieth century. One has only to ask, in whose interest would such a division be?

We recommend rituals toward the well being of Gyalwa Rinpoche [the Dalai Lama]. Nevertheless, it is our serious concern that there needs to be strict adherence to the wishes of His Holiness and internal unity. Whether it be the People's Deputies or an ordinary Tibetan, it is unacceptable for anyone to engage in partisan politics.

Of the honest guidelines stipulated by [His Holiness] in this regard, the most important is that regarding the worship of deities. If the common Tibetans and the government employees in particular do not heed those guidelines, there will be great loss for all." When in 1995 someone claims that the seeds of freedom for Tibet are flourishing when the Chinese have vowed to wipe out even the name of the Dalai Lama from history seems a blatant contradiction. In fact, this sounds so absurd that one must conclude something else entirely must be going on here. I think it is that the demonization of the Dalai Lama by the Chinese which started in 1995 is passed right on to Dorje Shugden. Perhaps he is strong enough to carry such a heavy burden. Who is to say which would be a greater loss to the tradition of Buddhism, a Dalai Lama shouldering the blame for the loss of Tibet, no doubt unjustly, or Dorje Shugden and the split banning him has caused within Buddhism? All we know for certain is that the demonization of Dorje Shugden split the Tibetan community. It drive underground many genuine Buddhist practitioners and their practices, leaving in the larger public view mostly those who know how to play their political card correctly.

Another interesting point about this "prophesy" is the claim that acrimony between Nechung and Dorje Shugden is impossible. This is a statement from an ultimate and exclusively religious point of view also held by Buddhists who rely on Dorje Shugden. Clearly there is a danger to the Ganden Potang government of the Dalai Lama. The Chinese have been working hard to destroy it for the last fifty years. Blaming Dorje Shugden for the actions of the Chinese makes the issue a political one. Dorje Shugden is -- even for the government protector through this oracle -- a matter of politics. The issue the oracle points out it is about the [deposed] Tibetan government, that is, the institution of the Dalai Lama. It is political, especially when it concerns the Chinese.

In one trance ceremony of Tsering Chenga, the female oracle tells that Dorje Shugden
prevented her from raising the Tibetan flag on the Potala in Lhasa Some of the prophesies of these oracles are published by the exile government's Department of Religion and Culture, 1996: gzung.bsten bod.skyong lha.srung khag.gi rdo.rje bka'.lung bzhug.so // implying that Dorje Shugden works for the Chinese.

• 1995- Exorcism Rituals Against Dorje Shugden
The Dharamsala government Most government rituals are performed by Namgyal Monastery, special to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government. In the course of the ban, other monasteries were also asked by the government to perform anti-Dorje Shugden rituals, often without the participating monks knowing specifically who had ordered them. performs massive exorcism rituals against Dorje Shugden. For some the Dalai Lama is present. See above reference, the Dalai Lama's statement of March 21, 1996 It is said that for thirteen days after the Tibetan new year celebrated in spring 1996, the government did rituals against Dorje Shugden.

Above article extracted from:

http://www.shugdensociety.info/Bernis2EN.html

NOW, Dorje Shugden acts in the Bodhisattva manner accepting criticisms, hate campaigns and the 'destruction' of his practice. Why? Because it serves a bigger purpose for the overall survival of Buddhism in the world for the future. Why? It is easier to resurrect or do a Lazarus on Dorje Shugden in the future when the smoke clears, than it would be for the Dalai lama. The Dalai lama is a man and controlled by media, opinions, ppl, circumstances. But Dorje Shugden is a formless entity that can 'rise' above all of that very quickly when the time is right.