Protest at Colgate University, NY, April 22 2008
On April 22 2008, 450 Western practitioners of the Deity Dorje Shugden – including 100 Tibetan practitioners resident in the West – protested outside the Dalai Lama’s visit to Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.
Get the Flash Player to see this slideshow.
Deeply upset by the discrimination and persecution they have suffered at the hands of the Dalai Lama they were left with no option but to publicly voice their distress.
After countless letters and petitions to the Dalai Lama have gone completely unanswered, without even the courtesy of an acknowledgement of receipt, this group of monks, nuns, and lay practitioners representing thousands of Dorje Shugden practitioners from many countries around the world felt they had to bring their plight to the attention of the world through public protest.
They called upon the Dalai Lama to stop lying and come clean about the religious persecution he has instigated – and to stop hiding behind the seemingly uncritical celebrity status he enjoys while thousands of people suffer at his hands.
While millions of people have been deeply hurt by his actions of persecution, with many now ostracized from their community and treated like ‘untouchables’ just because they pray to a Wisdom Buddha who helps them develop love, compassion, and equanimity, the Dalai Lama parades himself as a champion of religious freedom.
‘Hypocrisy’, ‘Ostracization’, ‘Give religious freedom’, called the protesters, waving banners to emphasize their point.
A specially prepared booklet, The Tibetan Situation Today, Surprising Hidden Truth, was read out by individuals from among the Western Shugden practitioners, and copies were distributed to people attending the talk. Some took the booklet as they entered, and almost everyone leaving seemed to want a copy.3,000 were handed out within minutes. The booklet can be downloaded from this website.
At one point, a representative of the Dalai Lama, Tashi Wangdi, came out to remonstrate with the protesters, but in front of the cameras proceeded to contradict both himself and the Dalai Lama so many times that by the end his credibility was in tatters.
The truth is that this centuries old lineage, which was passed onto the Dalai Lama himself by his own Teacher, is now threatened with exclusion from the Buddhist community because the Dalai Lama has chosen to abandon the practice.
Thousands of people know this to be the truth, but because of the brutal suppression of dissent within the Tibetan community, few are prepared to admit it.
But yesterday all this changed. Tibetans and Westerners alike joined together to bring to the attention of the whole world, the surprising hidden truth behind the Dalai Lama’s smile.
The event finished with sincere dedication prayers, with everyone praying that this beautiful, harmless, and noble practice will soon be freed from the stains of false accusations and the threat of destruction.
Published: 29 Apr 2008