by Andrew Norton
Unless you have experienced it yourself, it is difficult to imagine the pain you would feel if you were commanded to abandon a heart practice that was the very core of your spiritual life. It is like having your spiritual heart ripped out.
And imagine how it would feel if at the slightest suspicion that you were continuing with the practice your family were persecuted, lost their jobs and were expelled from the community.
Imagine too, the pain and distress you would feel at having to break your samaya, your lifelong commitments to your protector and Spiritual Guide - and how that would play on your mind as you approached the end of your life and faced the prospect of dying with your spiritual promises broken.
And how much harder would the pain be to bear knowing that it was inflicted by a so-called spiritual leader who lectures the world on religious tolerance and the need to be kind and compassionate to one another!
For this is the suffering felt by thousands of spiritual practitioners throughout the world who have been ordered by the Dalai Lama to stop the centuries old practice of relying upon the enlightened protector Dorje Shugden.
Suppression
This pure practice has been the heart spiritual practice of thousands of Tibetans for hundreds of years, and is now practised by thousands more people around the world. It was the heart practice of the Dalai Lama’s own Spiritual Guide, and one that the Dalai Lama himself had practised for many years.
But as part of a politically motivated deal to strengthen his grip on power, the Dalai Lama used his position as a spiritual and political leader to ban the practice and launch a campaign of suppression and persecution against those who continued with it.
Destroying the spiritual path
If the suffering inflicted by the Dalai Lama had been limited to the immediate impact on Shugden practitioners and their families it would be bad enough, but it goes far beyond that.
In the Dalai Lama’s world nothing is sacred. By casually tossing aside the sacred principles of keeping pure commitments and relying upon a Spiritual Guide, principles that have for centuries been the very life force of pure spiritual practice, he has torn the heart out of Buddhism in particular and of all religions in general.
If we were to accept the Dalai Lama’s example and follow his lead, religious integrity and spiritual purity would count for nothing. They could be traded in for political expediency or personal gain at any time.
This would herald the end of all pure spiritual paths in this world, and with them the opportunity for millions and millions of people in this and future generations to attain true liberation from suffering and enjoy everlasting happiness. In truth, the Dalai Lama’s actions amount to spiritual genocide on a terrifying scale.
The Dalai Lama is a false spiritual leader who must be stopped. The world should look behind the veneer of respectability, choose free thinking over celebrity adoration, and expose his true nature before it is too late.
