RELIGIOUS ISSUES - related to DORJE SHUGDEN and the DALAI LAMA
by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

A response to the posting by Tseten Samdup: 'Shugden versus pluralism and
national unity controversy and clarification',
which came from the Department of Information and International Relations,
Central Tibetan Administration, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala 176 215, INDIA

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Concerning whether or not Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being, there can
be no final
conclusion through negative debate, mixing religion with political aims.
This is because from
the point of view of many people he is a worldly being, but at the same time
from the point of
view of many other people he is the Wisdom Buddha. This reasoning applies
not only to
Dorje Shugden, but to all holy beings.

If someone asked you how to prove that the fifth and fourteenth Dalai Lamas
are Buddhas,
you would most certainly find it difficult to give clear reasons. On the
other hand, if someone
asked you how to prove that these two lamas are not Buddhas, you could
easily give a clear
answer. You could say: they are not Buddhas because they need translators,
they get sick,
they are unable to come to their own decisions but have to rely on those of
oracles, and
sometimes they even get angry. How can a Buddha get angry, get sick, and so
forth?
Buddhas do not need oracles? So talking about this subject is completely
meaningless, and
only destroys peace and harmony in Buddhist circles.

Therefore, I do not wish to respond to all the allegations mentioned in the
letter distributed by
Tseten Samdup from the Central Tibetan Administration, although there are
many that are
untrue. However, I would like to clarify two points:

1. I understand that in this letter you are saying that Dorje Shugden is
harming the Tibetan
national cause. In many previous letters, and in the Dalai Lama's public
talks it says that
Dorje Shugden harms Tibetan independence, and the Dalai Lama's health. This
is
completely untrue. If this were true, then the Dalai Lama is contradicting
himself. In many
previous newspapers, and on TV interviews given recently in the USA he said
that he has no
intention of working for Tibetan independence but for autonomy under Chinese
rule. This is a
contradiction; how can he say that it is Dorje Shugden who is endangering
the cause for a
free Tibet? The Dalai Lama is not working to free Tibet; his wish is for the
Tibetans to live
under Chinese rule.

2.You say in your letter: 'Trijang Rinpoche told His Holiness that Palden
Lhamo would never
deceive anybody, therefore it would be better to cease propitiation of
Shugden'. Of course
HH Trijang Rinpoche gave permission to the Dalai Lama to stop engaging in
his personal
Dorje Shugden practice. HH Trijang Rinpoche never tried to control his
disciples, but always
gave them freedom of choice. I clearly understood that HH Trijang Rinpoche
never gave
permission to ban the worship of Dorje Shugden within Tibetan society. A few
months before
his death I met HH Trijang Rinpoche in South India. He told me everything
about the
situation between Dorje Shugden and the Dalai Lama. He was very disappointed
with the
Dalai Lama, that he was not allowing other people to practice Dorje Shugden.

In conclusion, until now there have been no problems between the majority of
Buddhists of
the four schools such as Gelugpa, Nyingmapa and so on. We live naturally in
harmony,
respecting each other's tradition and we would like this state of affairs to
continue. Therefore
I would like to request to the Dalai Lama, the Central Tibetan
Administration in Dharamsala
and the Tibetan people: could you please stop completely this meaningless
talking and give
everyone religious freedom to worship whoever they choose.