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The better the shaman, the higher the offi- cial he/she served but he/she was still accessi- ble to the public for a price. Kushog said that, just like the shaman, the Buddhist would also charge for these services and they would charge a lot more as they had to support the whole monastery, not just themselves. She also claimed that they were not as effective. For instance, if a couple wanted to be married, a fee was paid to the monastery of the officiat- ing Lama. Not only was the officiating Lama honoured and fed for the several days' celebra- tion, but the new couple were under obligation to feed and shelter every member of that monastery as well, for the duration of the cele- bration. This was understandably a big burden for any new family and having a shaman offi- ciate was often the economic thing to do. Shamans were also the preference if the couple wanted to have a traditional Tibetan-style wed- ding or one they felt would be more powerful as it appeased the spirits of the hearth and home. She claims that the shamans were seen as competition for business and so the Buddhists spread rumours that the shamans were evil and were assisted by demons. Eventually enough fear was generated to justify a genocidal atrocity even though the shamans were generally regarded as good-hearted people who were respected by the com- munity. Kushog claimed that this mass persecution of the indige- nous shamans had happened several times since the sixth century. She claimed that due to this persecution, many shamans took on a thin veneer of Buddhist beliefs for their own protection. Others found that this newly generated fear of them afforded some pro- tection so they began to play the role of the powerful magician who is best just left alone. However these things were not enough to allow them to live unmolested. Picture 2: A 400-year-old small human skin, possibly a child, located in a Tantric chamber at Bhutanese Monastery on the road between Mendegang and Tongsa, kept on a trophy wall with other human and power animal remai It dates to the time of the first Anti -Shamanist edict. Photo by Reinhold Messner HISTORICAL INTOLERANCE AND BANISHMENT Contrary to their doctrines of tolerance, love and understanding, 1577 marked the first anti-shamanist edict by the Mongolian Khan under Buddhist pressure. The atrocities against the shamans began. There are more records of the persecution of the shamans in Mongolia than in Tibet. As the third Dalai Lama was the teacher of the Altan Khan and encouraged this edict, there is little doubt that the persecution took place in Tibet as well. The Kalachakra Tantra tells a tale that echoes Kushog's own account of her exile from Tibet. The first Kalki king, Manjushri, preached the Kalachakra Tantra to his subjects in the newly con- verted Buddhist "Shambhala" (this could be a different place to the pre-existing "Shambhallah" referred to in the Hindu Vedas and by other pre-Buddhists writers). There was a protest against this by a group of 35 million Rishis (mystics/seers/magicians) led by the sage Suryaratha. The magi- cal Rishis worshipped only the sun as did Pythagoras' alti-shaman companion Abaris who, according to the writings of Porphry and Imablicus, left his country at the same time that this incident was supposed to have occurred. Manjushri demanded that the Rishis adopt the teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra this way "...if you wish to enter this path, stay here, but if you do not, then leave and go elsewhere..."* The Rishis replied: "...we all want to remain true to the 'sun chariot’, we also do not wish to give up our reli- gion and to join another". 40 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2005 www.nexusmagazine.com