Anti-Dalai Lama protests

Dorje Shugden is a Buddhist movement upset with the current Dalai Lama. An entire propaganda machine is poised to knock and villify Tibet's political and spiritual leader, courtesy of the imperial Chinese government trying to consolidate holdings such as Tibetan, Taiwanese, and Uighur land. The immense resources it is able to marshal against him far outweigh internal Buddhist opposition to the Dalai Lama. But the fact that it is a Buddhist movement is a substantive twist. This is the controversy in a nutshell:

Dorje Shugden is a deity in Tibetan Buddhism. Highly regarded in the Gelug school, he is considered a Dharma Protector or "guardian angel." The practice of venerating Dharma protectors is central to most practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. Dorje Shugden is thought of as the incarnation of Gelugpa Lama Dragpa Gyaltsen of Drepung Monastery. He was a contemporary of the 5th Dalai Lama.

Dorje Shugden's enlightened nature has been debated since his appearance in the 17th century. With the current (14th) Dalai Lama's growing public opposition and subsequent "explicit ban" of the practice, this debate has escalated into what is known as the Dorje Shugden Controversy. While such a controversy is distressing to Vajrayana Buddhists, it is quite pleasing to Chinese military officials.

The Dalai Lama/Dorje Shugden Controversy

Documentary in three parts (Part 2, Part 3)

Unpleasant facts within the Tibetan community are easily forgotten. Therefore, this documentary is of historical importance.

For centuries the deity Dorje Shugden has been worshipped by the greatest and most important Buddhist masters, many of whom are among the most respected in Tibetan history. This includes the Dalai Lama's own teacher, Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang.

If the Dalai Lama thinks that all of the great masters were mistaken, he denies them their qualification. They would not be great masters.

• Question: If the great masters have worshipped this deity for centuries, were they all wrong?
• Dalai Lama: "Wrong! Yes, wrong!"

The Dalai Lama's criticism and defamation of his own Root Guru created the schism of the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism and conflicts within the Tibetan community.

Dorje Shugden practitioners are currently experiencing ostracism and oppression in India and throughout the world due to the Dalai Lama's ban on their practices.