Plan B Forum

The Dalai Lama defied protesters as he opened a Buddhist community centre.



The demonstrators, who are Shugden Buddhists, chanted "Dalai Lama stop lying" as he arrived at the complex in Aldershot, Hampshire. In response, the Dalai Lama said he had turned away from the Shugden form of Buddhism because it had denied him "religious freedom". He blessed the site, which includes a monastery and is billed as the UK's first Buddhist community centre.

The International Shugden Community accused the Dalai Lama of "religious persecution" The development is located in Aldershot as the area was identified as having the largest population of Buddhists in the UK, and has strong links to the Gurkhas and Nepalese community. Centre spokesman Damar Ghale said they were "deeply honoured" by the visit of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

A spokesman for the International Shugden Community said there were more than 700 protesters campaigning against "religious persecution". They say the Dalai Lama has suppressed their form of Buddhism.
Supporters for the Dalai Lama mounted a counter-protest. Hampshire Police declined to confirm how many protesters were involved.

The 14th Dalai Lama himself said in 2008, that he never used the word "ban", and

...restricting a form of practice that restricts others’ religious freedom is actually a protection of religious freedom. So in other words, negation of a negation is an affirmation.

Several reasons for the 14th Dalai Lama's stance have been given. According to John Makransky,

The current Dalai Lama, seeking to combat the ancient, virulent sectarianisms operative in such quarters, has strongly discouraged the worship of the “protector” deity known as Dorje Shugden, because one of its functions has been to force conformity to the dGe lugs pa sect (with which the Dalai Lama himself is most closely associated) and to assert power over competing sects.

According to Kapstein, the 14th Dalai Lama is

...focused upon the role of Shugden as a militantly sectarian protector of the Gelukpa order, and the harm that has been done to Tibetan sectarian relations by the cult's more vociferous proponents.

According to Dreyfus, the 14th Dalai Lama stance stems from his favoring the traditional Gelugpa traditions and protectors rather than Shugden:

n this dispute the Dalai Lama’s position does not stem from his Buddhist modernism and from a desire to develop a modern nationalism, but from his commitment to another protector, Nechung, who is said to resent Shukden [...] his opposition to Shukden is motivated by his return to a more traditional stance in which this deity is seen as incompatible with the vision of the tradition (the "clan") represented by the Fifth Dalai Lama.