New Kadampa Tradition - Separation From Contemporary Tibetan Buddhism - Dorje Shugden Controversy

Dorje Shugden Controversy

Alongside the Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa, one of the NKT-IKBU's two "essential practices" is of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden, as taught by Kelsang Gyatso's and the Dalai Lama's root Guru, Trijang Rinpoche. For NKT-IKBU practitioners, "Shugden is, like Tsongkhapa, an emanation of Manjushri, and equal in status." It is no wonder, then, that controversy arose due to the Dalai Lama's "suppression" of the Dorje Shugden practice within the Tibetan exile community. Acting from of a sense of "spiritual solidarity" for Dorje Shugden practitioners in India, hundreds of members of the NKT-IKBU joined in the Western Shugden Society in publicly demonstrating against the Dalai Lama's "explicit ban" which resulted in Kelsang Gyatso's expulsion from his alma mater, Sera Je monastery. Kelsang Gyatso considered the "political" ban to be "unwarranted meddling in a legitimate spiritual practice," with many of his students regarding the Dalai Lama's "accusations against Dorje Shugden practice absurd" and continuing with it unabated.

In the British press, the NKT-IKBU was widely criticized for engaging in the controversy and picketing the Dalai Lama.