IT’S DALAI LAMA vs SHUGDEN
The ongoing temporal struggle between the Dalai Lama as head of the Gelugpa sect and the Britain-based Shugden community is part of a tradition that goes back to power plays between spiritual leaders in old Tibet. This time, Western followers of various forms of Tibetan Buddhism are adding fuel to the flames.
In late spring 1996, the world-wide Tibetan community received a rude jolt when a hithertounknown London-based group called the Shugden Supporters Community (SSC) sent out press releases and staged demonstrations outside the Office of Tibet in London protesting the "religious persecution by the Dalai Lama". The ssc contended that since the Dalai Lama's injunction earlier this year against the worship of the deity known as Dorje Shugden, propitiators of that god have systematically been eased out of Tibetan government-in-exile jobs and schools and have been denied humanitarian assistance.