[On 8th Oct. 1997, His Holiness gave a speech to a group of Tibetans from Nepal at a long life ceremony that they offered to His Holiness. The following is an excerpt from that talk.] Personally, when I heard about the false accusations and derogative remarks made against me, although my instantaneous feeling was that of disbelief and surprise, thinking more deeply really helped me to view these as the best basis on which to practise patience. In such circumstances, I would think thus: ‘these people are gripped by the three strong poisonous emotions and there is nothing to feel bad about it. I am someone who has been giving others teachings on Shantidevi’s text Engaging in the Deeds of Bodhisattvas; being someone who teaches this text to others, my failure to practise patience in such circumstances would mean that I was only bluffing [under the false pretext of believing in the practice of Bodhisattvas]. Thus, I try to see such experiences [of being attacked by others] as good opportunities to practise patience and make the best of it. This not only helps me to tackle mental disturbances but also to retain my peace of mind. For example, three bhikshus [fully ordained monks] were murdered here in Dharamsala last year. The gruesome manner in which they were killed was horrific: The director of the Tibetan Dialectic School here at Dharamsala was attacked with sixteen stabs of knife on his body, before his throat was slit. My first reaction to that was of anger and fear. However, on a second thought, I felt sorry for the murderers. Had anyone who believes in a totalitarian brutal regime done such atrocious deeds, I would not react to them with shock and disbelief. However, that people who claim to be Buddhist and consider themselves as Geluk practitioners, and particularly students of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, had carried out such murders under the false belief of showing allegiance to him would only bring tremendous sadness in Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche if he were alive today. There is no doubt about that. The Indian police have been able to indentify four of the six culprits and are trying to bring them to justice.
[Note: The six culprits escaped to Tibet and were received by Chinese officials in Tibet. The Indian police have written to the Interpol but to no avail.]
The Indian police have investigated the murder, and have said that all of the six were Shugden proponents. [Their murderous crime was linked to the ‘Dorji Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society’ in Delhi.]
Upon hearing this sad news, as I thought about it, I felt very strong compassion for the culprits, thinking how sad it is that these ignorant ones fell under the influence of gross delusions. Instantly, my anger was gone, and there was also no fear in me.
All of you should not worry about me. Although there are some who proclaim that I am an enemy of the Buddha Dharma in general, and particularly of Tsongkhapa’s tradition, it does not bother me at all. From my side, considering myself a simple bhikshu [monk] who follows Buddha Shakyamuni, I am doing my best. Whatever people might say about me, if the truth was that I have wronged, there is nothing good about it even if everyone praised me. However, if I have not wronged, it does not bother me at all whatever others might accuse me of. However, one thing that would make a difference is, if I were to die soon; Tibetans inside and outside Tibet would become extremely distraught, and there would be many unfinished works that would not succeed smoothly, thus, weakening the force of our national struggle. However, our national struggle will continue and will never stop: So long as we have Tibetans alive on this earth, it will always continue.
[On 6th Dec. 2002, His Holiness gave a speech at Drepung Monastery on the occasion of commemorating 360 years of Gaden Phodrang’s existence since its inception. The following talk about Dolgyal is an excerpt from that talk.]Â
Unfortunately, in the books published by Dolgyal followers in support of their claims on Dolgyal, you see many points that are false. What point is there in lying? One has to be truthful. In the past few years, they have resorted to all desperate measures such as beating up and killing people etc. Thus, such terrorising attacks are only disgraceful and can never be true of service to Tsongkhapa’s tradition. Documents that they have been circulating contain so many lies, devious and manipulative stories that are deeply shocking. However, if they think they would be able to change people’s minds through such resorts, they are wrong. Ninety nine percent of Tibetans will only follow the truth using their own senses; you will hardly find anyone to deceive through your lies and devious rhetoric. By all means, it would be better for you to follow the six million Tibetans; any Tibetan straying away from the common pathway of the Tibetans will not only lose many things in this life as they would have to live like white crows, but as I pointed this out earlier at Sera, they would also risk being born as spirits who serve these perfidious devils or king-spirits. What good is there in this? If you lived propitiating a devil in this life, you risk yourself of being born as another devil in your future life. There is nothing good in this. You are only bringing disgrace on the tradition of Tsongkhapa and there is no benefit from this [for you or others].
Nowadays, having founded the ‘Dorji Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society’, Dolgyal followers claim that they are protecting Shugden. For example, the reason why the erstwhile director of IBD [Institute of Buddhist Dialect] was murdered was because he had written quite extensively in support of my stand against Shugden. The place where he and his two students were killed is one kilometer away from my residence. The culprits who committed this murder did not come from China; they are not some outlawed criminals in India. Those were people who had studied at the Pomra House of Sera Mey Monastery and the Dokhang House of Gaden Shartse Monastery. They hailed from the Lithang and Chatreng regions of Tibet. After the murders, they immediately fled to Tibet and people have seen them in a hotel [in Lhasa] that belongs to someone from Chatreng. The Chinese officials warmly received them and accommodated them in Tibet. These details were gathered by the Indian Police in Dharamsala of Himachal Pradesh. Their reports contain detailed information such as the time at which those assassins left from Delhi to Dharamsala, and how they contacted Chime Tsering [The secretary of the Dorje Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society]. These incidences are really disgraceful.
After the gruesome murders, I received a letter that was written by some followers of Dolgyal. It stated that they were offering me three bodies of human flesh [for the Tibetan New Year]. If I did not stop being active [against Dolgyal], more bodies would be offered. [The murders took place two days before the Tibetan New Year].
Their activities to protect Dolgyal consist of violent measures such as killing, beatings [at Sera, Gaden, Delhi etc] and so forth. One of the Tibetan settlement officers was beaten so severely that he almost died from it. These are the facts. Thus, it is important for you to be wary of deceptions. It is not good for those who propitiate Dolgyal — who had strained his relations with the Great 5th Dalai Lama and the 13th Dalai Lama — to receive empowerments and vows from me. I have been restricting their attendance in my teachings. This is not because I bear a grudge against them. On the contrary, I feel empathy and sorrow for them, wondering how best they could be helped. Being swept away by your distorted faith would be worth it if Dolgyal could lead you from the intermediate state to a better rebirth, however, it would hardly be the case. Although I don’t feel easy saying this, the truth is that I am better and not worse than Dolgyal.
