Dalai Lama events
Events of 2008: April - July
April 1st, 2008
A meeting is held in Rabgya House about holding the purification day on April 5th, the 29th day of the Tibetan calendar, in Sera-Je monastery. It is decided that if Dorje Shugden practitioners try to attend it will be held elsewhere. If they persist, they would be asked not to come.
An officer from Dharamsala comes to Sera and tells them to open the prayer hall, canteen, monastery shop and so on.
There are two different versions of a statement by the Superintendent of Police (SP):
Shugden practitioners cannot be expelled from the place where they live, and they must keep your previous demand.
Shugden practitioners had better go along with the majority.
There is a report that the SP has not given the appropriate report to Central Government.
April 3rd, 2008
A meeting is convened in Sera Monastery, South India, by the Deputy Commissioner, Additional Commissioner and so on, which is attended by abbots, administrators, representatives of Pomra, and the Dalai Lama’s representative in the Tibetan settlement.
The Deputy Commissioner makes three demands:
(1) You had better hold spiritual activities together, as you used to.
(2) If this is not possible, then one party must hold their prayers first, and the other party must do them next.
(3) If either of these two demands cannot be met, then there will be no option but to close Sera Lachi and Sera-Mey monasteries.
The Sera-Je monks in attendance suggest expelling the Shugden monks and making them go elsewhere. The police are reported saying:
‘According to your point of view, we should single out the Muslim from the Hindu community and the Hindu from the Muslim community. This is not possible. The so-called referendum is nonsense. You are saying that they only have 200 monks. Whether they have 200, or 500, or 10, the Indian government supports those with truth on their side.’
The high-level police officers give 24 hours for a decision. The deadline is 3 p.m., April 4th, 2008.
April 3rd, 2008
The statement by the Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association & Himalayan Cultural
Association For Action on Tibet:
‘… hence we will see that the group of Shugden, the ghost, is driven out of our country.’
April 4th, 2008
Lobsang Choedar of Sera-Je monastery declares that he and his people will stop Shugden practitioners from attending the next day’s puja at Sera Lachi monastery. He has formed a group named Himalayan Culture. Lobsang is from Tawang in Arnachal Pradesh, India.
He and his group defy the official order of the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore. There is a widespread report that members of the Tibetan Women’s Association are coming to Sera Monastery to protest against Shugden practitioners, and to physically drive them out of the monastery.
The police ask the Shugden monks not to attend the puja. The police assure them that there will be no puja in the monastery at all. The Deputy Commissioner gives 24 hours for a decision. None of the Shugden monks defy the police directives.
However, Lobsang Choedar and his group try to incite a crackdown against the Shugden monks. The situation in the monastery is tense.
When setting up the Himalayan Culture organization Lobsang Choeder reportedly says that they will sacrifice their lives to fight against Shugden practitioners.
Mr. Choeder gives an inflammatory speech to Tibetans in Camp No 1 and distributes a three-page letter. The essence of the letter is that he has begun the campaign against Shugden devotees, and that he will finish it; and that he will drive all Shugden devotees from India. The letter contains a hit list of 12 monks from Pomra. The Tibetans are provoked, and Lobsang Choedar becomes the leader and organizer of a mob.
April 5th, 2008
In the morning, Sera Lachi monastery, Bylakupee, Mysore District, Karnataka State, re-opens for sojong ceremony. The Tibetan public are called and gather in the courtyard of Sera Lachi. Many are old men and women. The mob turns violent and is ready to attack Shugden practitioners. The ultimate intention of the mob organizers in pursuing such a violent strategy is to create public riot or public clashes, on which basis they can file false cases against Shugden practitioners for the purpose of harassing them. Most of the mob do not know this real intention of the organizers.
During a conversation, a high level officer of the Tibetan government in exile says:
‘If you open the cafeteria and they come to collect food, tell them not to come. If they don’t listen, ask the Sera-Je monks to come, and if not, call other Tibetans.’
Pomra monks are stopped on the way to Sera Lachi. A monk from Pomra is attacked and someone tries to snatch his camera.
The Tibetan Women’s Association and the Tibetan Youth Congress threaten to come at night to attack the Pomra monastic building.
The Tibetan mob protest to the police and the Indian government that they are not being supported. They use harsh words against the Indian government – the same government that accepted them and gave them food and shelter when no one else would.
At 6 p.m., Sera-Mey Monastery announces that it will hold a debating class in its courtyard. It is their plan to call the Tibetan public to block Shugden monks from attending the debate class. The public did not show up, and the debate class was not held.
April 5th, 2008
The local Dorje Shugden Society writes to the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore:
‘We are very sad to report that Sera Lachi was opened this morning and we were denied access to the temple. We now believe that Sera-Mey Monastery is planning to re-start the normal evening debate class this evening. We are going to attend this class and respectfully request immediate protection in the event of the possibility of our attending.’
Sunday April 6th, 2008
A function is held at the Dalai Lama’s palace in the New Tibetan Settlement, Bylakuppe. At this event, Lobsang Rabgya (the Sera-Mey abbot) and Tenzin Dragpa (his assistant) make a speech to the so-called Himalayan Buddhist Association and gathered Tibetan people, declaring that those who practise Dorje Shugden should separate themselves from the other monks of Sera-Mey Monastery and should not attend joint pujas, debates and so on. They plan to open Sera-Mey for pujas and so on, and appeal for support from attendees to prevent Shugden monks from attending.
April 7th, 2008
Puja is held in Sera-Lachi Monastery. More than a thousand Tibetans patrol the monastery with the purpose of barring Shugden practitioners from attending.
April 8th, 2008
Posters of five monks with their photographs are posted, declaring that they are excommunicated from the institution of Sera Monastery and appealing to the Tibetan public and monks not to share religious or material resources with them.
April 8th, 2008
The High Court in Delhi send notice to the Dalai Lama and other respondents, including Samdhong Rinpoche – Kalon Tripa (Tibetan Prime Minister in exile), who is heading the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) – and central and state governments, of a writ petition filed against them by the Dorje Shugden Society.
The Dorje Shugden Society maintains that the ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden is illegal and unconstitutional because it violates the freedom of worship guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.
Lawyers acting for the Dalai Lama manage to have the hearing postponed until September.
April 9th, 2008
The Western Shugden Society write letters to Sera Lachi, Sera-Je and Sera-Mey monasteries asking them to reinstate the five monks who were expelled from the monastery because of their religious belief.
April 11th, 2008
At 6 pm, the debate class is attended by the abbot, Mr. Rabgya, delegates of the monastic section, and Thubten Rinchen of Tsangpa Khangtsen. Monks from Pomra also attend. The abbot and Thupten tell the Pomra monks:
‘You, the monks from Pomra, cannot attend the debate class. You are not qualified because you did not take the oath and pledge.’
At that point, monks leave the courtyard because of the presence of the Pomra monks. The next day the debate class continues and monks prevent Shugden monks from entering by blocking the gate.
April 12th-15th, 2008
A couple in the Tibetan settlement of Mundgod get married on April 12th. Normally the date for a marriage is fixed months before by consulting the Tibetan calendar. The newly wedded couple are abused and reprimanded by Tibetan people in the Camp, saying they are disregarding the news of the court hearing against the Dalai Lama. Eventually they, and the driver who escorted the bride, have to apologize.
A rumour spreads in Sera Monastery that the Himalayan Buddhist Association has petitioned the Indian government to drive all Shugden practitioners out of the country, and that the government has sanctioned their expulsion. This rumour is intended to put pressure on and panic Shugden practitioners.
According to the reliable sources, many Tibetans in the Tibetan settlements in Mundgod were unwilling to join protests against Shugden practitioners, believing that it would cause bloodshed. They still remember the horrible events in 2000 when the then Dhokham Khangtsen of Ganden Shartse, now known as Shar Ganden Nampar Gyalwe Ling, was attacked with stones by Tibetan mobs.
April 12th, 2008
The Western Shugden Society sends a letter to the Dalai Lama requesting the fulfilment of four points.
April 13th, 2008
In the SOS school in Bylakuppe, Tibetan students are asked to sign their names saying that they will never practise Shugden, and also to pledge that they will never share religious and material amenities with Shugden people. 20 students refuse to sign and pledge, and are threatened with expulsion.
Signature and oath campaigns are carried out in the three different camps at Bylakuppe, presided over by the abbots of Sera Monastery and the Dalai Lama’s representative.
April 13th, 2008
In the city of Ooty, Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu state, South India, in the Tibetan Market near the Botanical Garden, there are 74 families who sell sweaters. Among these are four families who are Dorje Shugden practitioners. Their lives have become increasingly difficult since the recent signature campaign and the signing of oaths against the practice of Dorje Shugden. The remaining families no longer have any kind of contact with them; they have lost long-term friendships and become outcasts.
The situation becomes even tenser since the legal petition against the Dalai Lama and Samdong Rinpoche has been filed in Delhi High Court. The other Tibetan vendors in the market say that Shugden people have brought their living Buddha to court, and that they must have been funded and helped by the Chinese. Notices are posted reprimanding Shugden practitioners, and groups of younger Tibetans are reported saying that Shugden practitioners should be beaten.
These four families are living in fear, feeling vulnerable to assault and abuse at any time.
April 14th, 2008
Living in a newly built house between Sera and Camp No 3, Kagyur Tulku of Gyaltang province gives a signed statement renouncing his practice of Dorje Shugden. He tells his assistant to give his signature, but his assistant refuses and is told to leave his home. Kagyur also told the Gyaltang monks of Sera-Mey to give their signatures.
April 14th, 2008
News from Ganden Shartse Dokhang Khangtsen is posted announcing the official separation of 450 monks of Dokhang Khangtsen from Ganden Shartse Monastery. They will form their own monastery called Shar Dokhang Dratsang.
April 15th, 2008
SOS school decide not to expel these students for fear of an international outcry. Instead, the school director asks the other students not to talk to or have any contact with the 20 students who refuse to recant their religious belief. So they face a suffering more painful than expulsion.
April 17th, 2008
Sera-Mey school opens, but Shugden students are denied attendance to the school.
April 22nd, 2008
Having received no reply from the Dalai Lama to their letter dated April 12th, 2008, the Western Shugden Society protests outside the Dalai Lama’s visit to Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. (450 Western practitioners of the Deity Dorje Shugden – including 100 Tibetan practitioners resident in the West – join together for this purpose).
April 27th, 2008
The Dorje Shugden society receive abusive emails from Tibetans.
May 3rd, 2008
An urgent meeting is held in Dharamsala against Shugden practitioners. Samdong Rinpoche says that Shugden practitioners are staging demonstrations against the Dalai Lama in many places. There is discussion on the petition filed in the High Court in Delhi by the Dorje Shugden Society. It is reported that some Tibetans volunteer to attack the Society and its members.
May 6th, 2008
At Ganden Lachi Monastery in Mundgod, South India, Thubten Lungrik, Minister of Education in the Tibetan exile government speaks publicly to monks and lay people and says:
‘Every Tibetan must know that the Dorje Shugden Society has filed a case against His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In New York, during the demonstration by western Shugden practitioners, some Tibetans took part. … All Tibetans must identify them.’ He also accused Shugden followers of being linked with China.
May 8th, 2008
Thubten Lungrik, Minister of Education in the Tibetan exile government convenes a public meeting in Sera Lachi Monastery in Bylakuppe, South India, and says:
‘Tibetans must know that the Dorje Shugden Society has filed a case against the Dalai Lama. People and the monasteries combined must put pressure on Shugden practitioners. We should not leave them like this.’
During his speech, he also says:
‘We anger the Chinese by burning their flags and so on. There is no point in angering the Chinese.’
May 16th, 2008
300 members of the Western Shugden Society (50 Tibetans and 250 western practitioners with representatives from 11 countries) gather to demonstrate against the Dalai Lama outside the Ruhr Congrees Hall, Bochum, Germany requesting him to stop lying about the religious persecution he initiated and endorsed with his ban against the practice of Dorje Shugden, and to give religious freedom to all Shugden practitioners.
*May 16th, 2008*
Mr. Rinchen Dharlo, the ex-minister of the Tibetan government in exile, travels to Nepal from America, and does a Tibetan exile minister from Dharamsala, reportedly to preside over the meeting attended by Nyenang people. The meeting is reportedly to discuss how to pressurize the Phelgyeling monks into recanting their religious faith.
The senior monks in the monastery take a firm stand that they will never give up the practice of Shugden even if they face imprisonment or death because of their religious faith.
The tentative provocative meeting plunge the monks into a state of stress and tension.
May 16th, 2008
A meeting organized by the Himalayan Buddhist Association is held in the courtyard of Sera Lachi Monastery, South India. Monks from the Himalayan areas take part in the meeting. The essence of the meeting is the decision to continuously confront Shugden monks and to excommunicate them not only from Sera monastery but also from India.
May 18th, 2008
The 300 members of the Western Shugden Society continued their demonstrations in Germany with two consecutive protests against the Dalai Lama outside the Arena Nurnberger Versicherung, Nurenberg and the Arena Hall, Bamberg.
May 19th, 2008
Gen Rabgya, the abbot of Sera-May Monastery, summons two senior monks of Pomra to his house and informs them about the meeting. He says that since he is concerned he is sharing this (information about the meeting on May 16th) with them for their consideration. He adds that they had discussed confronting Shugden monks continuously and furthermore to expel Shugden monks from the monastery as well as from India. He tells them: ‘You still have time to think, or you will be in difficulties.’
(This branch association (of the Himalayan Buddhist Association) has actively planed and been involved in anti-Shugden activities in Sera monastery. But it has not yet been confirmed whether the head office agree with the anti-Shugden activities of the branch association. It is said that this branch has written to the Indian government to appeal for Shugden monks to be driven out of Sera Monastery as well as from India.)
May 22nd, 2008
1,000 Western Shugden Society members gathered together to demonstrate against the Dalai Lama outside the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK.
May 22nd, 2008
Two journalists come to Ooty to interview the families of Shugden practitioners, and to hear their stories of discrimination and abuse. At 6 p.m., the journalists go to the Tibetan market where the Shugden practitioners sell clothes together with other Tibetans who are non-practitioners.
In the office of Tibetan market, the journalists ask the officer about the abuses experienced by Shugden practitioners. He denies that Shugden practitioners have any problems. Later, the journalists bring a Shugden practitioner to the office to counter this. The officer gets angry and says, ‘Why are you questioning us? You must question the Tibetan representative in Bangalore, and the Dalai Lama.’ The office is surrounded by a large group of Tibetan men and women. Some young Tibetans try to snatch and smash the journalists’ camera. The journalists, threatened with being beaten up, go to the nearby police station for protection.
The Shugden practitioners are now deeply distressed, wondering what will happen to them.
May 27th, 2008
With representatives from over 30 countries, 800 Western Shugden Society members demonstrate against the Dalai Lama in the Main Market Square, Nottingham, UK.
May 30th, 2008
Over 500 members of the Western Shugden Society gather to protest against the Dalai Lama’s religious discrimination while he gives a public talk at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, UK
June 11th-15th, 2008
200 members of the Western Shugden Society demonstrate for four days outside the Olympic Park Arena, Sydney, Australia – once again requesting the Dalai Lama to give religious freedom to Shugden practitioners throughout the world.
July 7th, 2008
‘Appeal’ posted by Save Tibet Group:
Except 1: ‘It is apparent that the Dholgyal (Shugden) organization, whose face is as thick as elephant skin, is engaged in sinful actions of criticism and so on against His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is the eye and soul of Tibetan people, when he travels to the western countries. At this crucial time, the organization keeps evil touch with Chinese government, the chief culprit of all Tibetans. And the Dalai Lama is our sole object and a leader with whom we share our plight …’
Except 2: ‘We appeal to you to cut any ties of buying and selling foods in restaurants and shops with whoever has connection to this Dholgyal organization that choose the enemy and forsake friends.’
July 11th, 2008
Report received from Kathmandu, Nepal:
Mr Rinchen Dharlo, ex-minister of the Tibetan government in exile, is in Nepal. He is creating a tense environment in Phalgyeling Monastery, where the monks follow their monastic protector, the deity Dorje Shugden. For the past eleven years they have been pressurized and terrorized to recant their religious belief. They have stood firm against these pressures. These days they are once again in a more difficult and tense situation.
Problem
Mr Dharlo is demanding that the monks divide the monastery between Shugden practitioners and non-Shugden practitioners. The Shugden monks unanimously state: ‘We cannot divide the monastery. We are follow the monastery’s traditional practice of Dorje Shugden; and there is no change in our stand in this case.’
Mr. Dharlo, based in USA, came to Nepal for this very purpose. It goes without saying that Rinchen Dharlo and co, if they could, would take over the monastery and put the Shugden monks in the street.
Shugden practitioners believe and practice peace and non-violence and tolerance with which they survive against atrocity, abuses and discrimination.
Appeal
We request all of you to write to the Nepali government and give your helping hand to these suffering monks. Your help will give them inspiration instead of disappointment, rejoicing instead of sadness, and alleviate their decade-long suffering.