Religion, nothing but trouble...

[Gob]

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.

[wesw]

gee, those protesters look a lot like pasty white british lefties to me....

china must be paying well....

[Econoline]

Yeah, wes, that was my first reaction, too...

If anyone here had the same response as me regarding this "controversy" (i.e., "WTF???") here's a link to a Wikipedia article, and if because that's way too long, here's a shorter quote:

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.

The takeaway seems to be that (a) there are several rival factions within Tibetan Buddhism, (b) the current Dalai Lama would like to unite them all, (c) the Shugden sect is violently opposed to this unification, and (d) consequently, the Dalai Lama wants to distance himself (and the rest of Tibetan Buddhism) from the Shugden sect.

[rubato]

Reminds me of the Sparticus Youth League (now "Sparticist League"); A group so fanatical and minuscule that they had to go to OTHER leftist group's rallies and heckle to get an audience at all.



yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Spartacist.

But an interesting analogy. Not a patch on the original Spartacist League though.

[rubato]

That is why I had to be the person to bring it up.

You are not interesting enough. Spell checking has its limits. And there you are to demonstrate them for us.


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

I just regard it as a function of illiteracy that needs to be gently corrected. Takes effort to mess up Saptiracus.

[dgs49]

I didn't think Buddhists recognized "deities."

When I first saw this article, I was trying to find out what the reference was in the "Stop Lying!" signs. What was he lying about? I still haven't figured it out.

I guess over there, as in the U.S., if someone says something that a listener doesn't like, it is a "lie."