DORJEE SHUGDEN CONTROVERSY AND MYTH: Dorje Shugden:Dorje Shugden, also known as Dolgyal, is an entity associated with the Gelug school, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism headed by the Dalai Lamas. Dorje Shugden is variously looked upon as a gyalpo, a mundane minor protector, a mundane major protector, a fully enlightened major protector whose outward appearance is that of a gyalpo or a fully enlightened major protector whose outward appearance is enlightened. Shugden generated controversy in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Gelug school itself, regarding its enlightened nature, aberrations from traditional Gelug teachings, sectarian functions and promotion by western adherents. Origins;Minor protector: Dorje Shugden, also known as Dolgyal, was a gyalpo angry and vengeful spirit of South Tibet, which was subsequently adopted as a minor protector of the Gelug school, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism,[1] headed by the Dalai Lamas (although nominally the Ganden Tripas).Dreyfus says Shuk-den was nothing but a minor Ge-luk protector before the 1930s when Pa-bong-ka started to promote him aggressively as the main Ge-luk protector.Dreyfus states the propitiation of Shukden as a Geluk protector is not an ancestral tradition, but a relatively recent invention of tradition associated with the revival movement within the Geluk spearheaded by Pabongkha. Dorje Shugden controversy:The Dorje Shugden controversy is a conflict within Tibetan Buddhism over the purity of the Gelupgpa school and the inclusion of non-Gelugpa teachings, especially Nyingma-teachings. The worship and status of the deity Dorje Shugden has become the symbolic center-point of this conflict. The controversy has its origins in the 17th century, when Dorje Shugden was introduced as a worldy protector-deity of the pure teachings of the Gelugpa-school. In the 1930s Pabongkha, who favoured an exclusive stance, started to promote Shugden as a major protector of the Gelug schools, who harms any Gelupga practitioner who blends his practice with non-Gelugpa practices. The conflict re-appeared by the publication of the Yellow Book in 1976, containing stories about wrathful acts of Dorje Shugden against Gelugpas who also practiced Nyingma-teachings. In response, the 14th Dalai Lama, an advocate of an inclusive approach to the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism,started to speak out against the practice of Dorje Shugden in 1978. The controversy was further developed by the breakaway of Kelsang Gyatso and his New Kadampa Tradition from the Gelugpa-school in 1991, considering his own organisation as the true continuation of the pure teachings of Je Tsongkhap
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 07:51:39 +0000