Theos-Talk Archives (May 1998 Message tt00384)

Interesting post, Daniel, about all the Shugden controversy.  I
would suggest that if a demonic being is the one telling Gelugpas
to shun and hate Dugpas, i.e. if the Dalai Lama is right, then
HPB's attitude toward Dugpas is demonic.  OTOH, if HPB is right
in presenting Dugpas as objects of horror and loathing, then the
Dalai Lama is wrong and his opponents right.

You say you are "dismayed" at my admission of limited knowledge
of Tibetan Buddhism.  I don't believe that for one second; you
are evidently *delighted* to find another pretext to proclaim
your superiority in matters related to Theosophical history.
But you misread what I said, since I was speaking in the present;
of course I knew that there had been centuries of bloody struggles
between various factions in Tibetan Buddhism.  What I did not know,
and what I had been explicitly told was untrue by people with greater
knowledge than you or I have of the field, is that Gelugpa hatred of Dugpas
was a continuing feature of Tibetan Buddhism into the 20th
century.  So, they were wrong in this.  But as far as HPB's credibility on
the subject is concerned, her making Dugpas a worldwide conspiracy of evil
black magicians is still a distortion of what a minority of Gelugpas believe,
not a straight presentation of the Shugdenites' position.

Cheers,
KPJ