Lama Policy - Freedom from the Drug
The following information has been prepared by the Western Shugden Society based on Tibetan books written by different authors. The purpose of this information is to encourage people to stop taking the ‘drug’ of ’Lama Policy’, which means to stop following ‘Lama Policy’. In this context ‘Lama’ refers to the Fifth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas. The policy of these Lamas has been to use religion for political aims, thus causing suffering to millions of people from generation to generation. Because of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s policy of mixing religion and politics, the Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu traditions of Tibetan Buddhism quickly degenerated and, as a result, for hundreds of years millions of people who followed these traditions experienced great difficulties. Today, some people from these traditions say that it was the Gelugpas who caused their tradition to degenerate, but this is incorrect. The Gelugpas themselves had no political power. It was only the Fifth Dalai Lama through his political power who destroyed the development of the Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu traditions, both spiritually and materially.
The Fifth Dalai Lama always showed two faces. One face was that of a Nyingmapa and the other was that of a Gelugpa. In truth, however, he did not follow either tradition, but remained in an intermediate state between them. He never found a pure spiritual path. This is the same as the present Dalai Lama who also shows two faces and likewise has never found a pure spiritual path.
How the Fifth Dalai Lama achieved political power
The Fifth Dalai Lama achieved political power through the Mongolian ruler, Gushri Khan who helped him to fight a civil war against the Karma Tenkyong Wangpo, the principal ruler of Tibet. Requested by the Fifth Dalai Lama, Gushri Khan sent the Mongolian army into Tibet, and as a result Karma Tenkyong Wangpo was murdered and the Fifth Dalai Lama won the war. In this way the Fifth Dalai Lama achieved political power as ruler of Tibet. This alone shows the nature of ‘Lama Policy’. The Fifth Dalai Lama was an ordained Buddhist monk who had the commitment not to harm others, including not to kill and not to steal. He therefore acted directly against the spiritual rules of Buddhism.
In their teachings these three Lamas – the Fifth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas – talk about compassion, but they always behave like dictators, causing so many problems for their society. Nevertheless, because of extreme religious view and blind faith, many people still believe that these Lamas are holy beings. In Tibetan society, if anyone has views and intentions that are different to those of the Dalai Lama they are immediately accused of not being Tibetan; they are criticized, threatened and ostracized from society. This is happening to Shugden practitioners today. From this alone we can see that this ‘Lama Policy’ is worse for society than the problem of drugs. No one can solve the problems of ‘Lama Policy’ unless the Lama himself changes from his own side.
The Fifth Dalai Lama was the founder of this Lama Policy, which he named ‘the union of religion and politics’. The nature of ‘Lama Policy’ is deceptive; its function is to mislead people and to use religion for political aims. It is like a rainbow, which from a distance looks beautiful but on close examination is seen to be completely empty and hollow. The only lineage holders of the Lama Policy founded by the Fifth Dalai Lama are the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas, and of these two the policy of the present Dalai Lama is the worst.
During the Fifth Dalai Lama’s time, there was a Lama called Ngatrul Dragpa Gyaltsen, who was recognized as an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom. People throughout Tibet had great faith in Ngatrul Dragpa Gyaltsen and the Mongolian ruler Gushri Khan was especially devoted to him. Because of this, even though the Fifth Dalai Lama had political power, Ngatrul Dragpa had spiritual power. These two Lamas had different views and intentions; Ngatrul Dragpa rejected the Lama Policy of the union of religion and politics. He wanted Buddhism to be maintained purely without being used for worldly aims, but the Fifth Dalai Lama was opposed to this. Afraid that Ngatrul Dragpa would take the position of the Fifth Dalai Lama through receiving help from ministers of the Mongolian ruler, the Fifth Dalai Lama and his ministers secretly murdered Ngatrul Dragpa. Many Tibetan people believe that Ngatrul Dragpa then appeared as a deity called Dorje Shugden, who is the protector of pure Buddhism and who prevents Buddhism being used for political aims. This belief is based on commitments made by Ngatrul Dragpa himself when he was alive and because of many predictions.
At that time the Fifth Dalai Lama experienced many difficulties and inauspicious signs. Because of this he believed that Ngatrul Dragpa had become Shugden out of retaliation, and he was terrified that Shugden would now kill him. The Fifth Dalai Lama first sought refuge in other Lamas and requested them to burn Shugden with a magic ritual fire practice, which of course failed. Then for a long time he made many strong request prayers to his own protector, the Nechung spirit, to destroy Shugden, but his experience of bad signs and hallucinations became even stronger. Finally he realized that he had made a great mistake in opposing Ngatrul Dragpa. Regretting his previous actions, he began to respect the instructions of his Root Guru, the First Panchen Lama, who had indicated that Ngatrul Dragpa was the same mental continuum as the great beings Sonam Dragpa, Duldzin Dragpa and Je Tsongkhapa Losang Dragpa. With strong regret the Fifth Dalai Lama confessed his wrong deeds and, recognizing Shugden as an enlightened Deity, finally decided to rely upon him. For his daily practice the Fifth Dalai Lama wrote a request prayer to Shugden called ‘lhun drub do ma’. Later he ordered a Shugden Temple to be built in Lhasa called ‘Trode Khangsar’, which has a Shugden statue and shrine.
From this true account we can understand that the present Dalai Lama is acting completely opposite to the Fifth Dalai Lama. Due to ignorance, the Fifth Dalai Lama first rejected the enlightened Deity Shugden, but later his mind changed from ignorance to wisdom and he then believed in and relied upon Shugden for the rest of his life. In contrast, the present Dalai Lama first relied with his wisdom upon the enlightened Deity Shugden but later, having received advice from the evil oracle of the Nechung spirit, his mind changed from wisdom to ignorance. Using his political power he has now imposed a ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden, causing suffering to millions of people. Despite this reversal of behaviour, the present Dalai Lama still says publicly that he is rejecting Shugden because he is following the Fifth Dalai Lama. This is clearly a lie.
Shugden practitioners want to practise the Gelug tradition purely without mixing it with the Nyingma tradition; because of this the present Dalai Lama says that Shugden practitioners are sectarian. In truth, the Nyingmapas also want to practise their tradition purely without mixing it with the Gelug tradition. And it is the same for the Sakyapas and Kagyupas. Therefore, according to the Dalai Lama’s view the Nyingmapas, Sakyapas and Kagyupas are also sectarian; but he says that only Shugden people are sectarian. From this we can see how dishonest and deceitful he is. What the present Dalai Lama really wants is for himself to become the leader of all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, and to make people throughout the world follow only a tradition of his own that he has newly created. Doing this will naturally destroy the pure lineages and blessings of the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug traditions; this will be a great loss. For this reason the Western Shugden Society encourages people to stop taking the drug of ‘Lama Policy’.