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In 778, not long after Padmasambhava had come to Tibet, this mountains, in the ravines, and even in the monasteries of unsus- king organised a public debate between the Bon-Po, the Tibetan —_ pecting Buddhist monks. The idea was to save those writings for indigenous monastic order, and the new Buddhists who were try- the benefit of future generations. In later centuries, the rediscov- ing to establish their first monasteries. The process of building ery of these literary treasures played an important role in assem- monasteries was expensive. The people were not supporting the bling the Bon-Po canon. ...In this way, according to Bon-Po tra- new religion. At the advice of his geomantic wife, King Khri dition, the adherents of Bon tried to save their religion from being Srong-lde'ti-btsan had paid for and built the first Buddhist eradicated. King Khri Srong Ide brtsan [sic] thus failed to destroy monastery on Tibet's main ley line, over the heart of what was the Bon religion altogether. considered the motherly protective spirit of the land, Srin-mo. In view of the repressive measures he took, the Bon-Po led an Srin-mo was the shamans' main magical spirit or dra-lha, their isolated life, away from the mainstream of the country's spiritual mother earth, from which they drew their power. To this day, pursuits. And yet they kept up their struggle: they still had the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa houses a huge Phur-Ba dagger still support of powerful Tibetan nobles. The conflict remained more plunged into her heart. or less underground during the rest of The Bon-Po already had monaster- the reign of Khri Srong, also during ies in some high-energy places where the subsequent two reigns, viz the the king's wife wanted him to place reign of Mu ne brtsan po (797-98 other monasteries in order to com- A.D.), and that of Sad nam legs (798- pletely pin down this spirit. He came | Thus the Buddhists gained their BITAD).0 ; up with a plan, the result of which first monasteries, stolen from the This is a very different reality to was an intense persecution of the the official Kalachakra legend. Bon-Po described by them in this | Bon-Po, without expense to the way: . "It is said that Buddhist scholars king. were able to defeat [in a debate] the Bon-Po convincingly. This enabled the King to do away with Bon. He started persecuting the Bon-Po. He called all Bon priests together and gave MODERN BUDDHIST INTOLERANCE, PERSECUTION OF MINORITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Again, these calls to murderous acts in the name of religion or because of a manipulated belief that them the choice of becoming Buddhist monks or tax-paying citi- sections of the community are evil are all too familiar to us in the zens. If neither of the two alternatives was acceptable, they west from the historical accounts of 400 years of the Catholic should leave the country. ....He also threatened to put to death witch-hunts and more recently the Nazi Holocaust. those who had turned Buddhist... into Bon... Many of the smaller Similar human right violations are being perpetrated in shrines of the Bon-Po are reported to have been destroyed and the Dharamsala and around the world by the Buddhists against a others taken over by the Buddhists.” recently-shunned shamanic section of their community called the Thus the Buddhists gained their first monasteries, stolen from | Shugden Buddhists. Before I relate this violent oppression of the Bon-Po, without expense to the king. "One result was that human rights by the Buddhists I must first give you some back- many Bon-Po publicly went over to Buddhism. The greater num- ground information. ber, however, preferred exile. They hid their holy writings (which The Fifth Dalai Lama established Nechung Gompa 165(5) for had been banned and were ordered to be burnt) wherever they felt _ the state oracle who channels the dra-lha (that is to say protective they were not likely to be discovered by the King's men—in the _ ancestral spirit), of Pe-Har the former war god of the Hor- Mongols who were the bitterest opponents of the pre-Buddhist Tibetans. This was a crafty political manoeuvre by the fifth Dalai Lama, giving a psychological advan- tage against the Mongols by using the dis- possessed spirit of their land against them. Shortly afterwards a second state oracle, an indigenous one, was installed called the Shugden Oracle. René DeNebesky-Wojkowitz in the final chapter of his monumental piece of research "Oracles and Demons of Tibet" shows the similarities that parallel these state oracles and the traditional indigenous Tibetan shaman. The original state oracle/shaman was not a Buddhist. The office has been held by both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The imagery painted on the walls of Nechung Gompa is more than usually fierce and bloody. Its theme is of flayed human skins and souls in torment that possibly depicts, Picture 3: Buddhist Tanka depicting Maha Siddha Virupa and an impaled human (blonde boy) as the exile Kushog claimed, the plight of king. 42 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2005 www.nexusmagazine.com