Dorje Shugden

Dorje Shugden (), "Vajra Possessing Strength", or Dolgyal Shugden (), "Shugden, King of Dhol" is a deity (Tib. lha)von Brück, Michael (2001). "Canonicity and Divine Interference" in Dalmia, V., Malinar, A., & Christof, M. (2001). Charisma and Canon: Essays on the Religious History of the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 337Kay, D. N. (2004). Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, development and adaptation. RoutledgeCurzon critical studies in Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 46.The Shuk-den affair: Origins of a Controversy (Part I) by Geshe Georges Dreyfus, retrieved 2009-10-18. in Tibetan Buddhism, especially its Gelug school, for whom he was regarded as a Dharma Protector or "guardian angel."Mullin, G. H., & Shepherd, V. M. (2001). The fourteen Dalai Lamas: A sacred legacy of reincarnation. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light. p. 209Terhune, Lea. Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004. p. 142 The practice of Dharma Protectors is central to most religious Tibetans and practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism.Dreyfus, Georges B. J. (2003). The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, p. 304.
Dorje Shugden is regarded as the incarnation of Gelugpa Lama Dragpa GyaltsenKay, D. N. (2004). Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, development and adaptation. RoutledgeCurzon critical studies in Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 46.Concerning Dholgyal with reference to the views of past masters and other related matters by the Dalai Lama, retrieved 2009-05-07. of Drepung Monastery, a contemporary of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Yet, Dorje Shugden's enlightened nature has been debated since his appearance in the 17th century.Terhune, Lea. Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004. p. 143 With the current Dalai Lama's growing public oppositionvon Brück, Michael (2001). "Canonicity and Divine Interference" in Dalmia, V., Malinar, A., & Christof, M. (2001). Charisma and Canon: Essays on the Religious History of the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 331Wilson, Richard, & Mitchell, Jon (2003). Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements. London: Routledge. p. 10. and subsequent "explicit ban"Dalai Lama, direct quote in Chhaya, Mayank (2007). Dalai Lama: Man, Monk, Mystic. New York: Doubleday. p. 189.Waterhouse, Helen (2001). Representing western Buddhism: a United Kingdom focus. quoted in Beckerlegge, G. (2001). From sacred text to internet. Religion today, v. 1. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. p. 137.Partridge, C. H. (2004). New religions: A guide : New Religious Movements, Sects, and Alternative spiritualities. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 206.Curren, Erik D. 2006. Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Staunton, VA: Alaya Press. p. 17 of the practice, this debate has escalated into what is known as the Dorje Shugden Controversy.
==Nature and Function==
===Differing views===
Dr. Ursula Bernis explains that "The different beliefs about Dorje Shugden depend not so much on historical records but on the differing interpretations of the relationship between reality and appearance."Condemned to Silence: A Tibetan Identity Crisis by Ursula Bernis, p. 45 (Eulogy - page 11), retrieved 2009-10-25. Thus, Dorje Shugden as a Dharma Protector has come to be understood in two ways:
# A supramundane deity (Tib. 'jig rten las 'das pa'i srung ma)Kay, David (2004). Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development and Adaptation. RoutledgeCurzon critical studies in Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 44.
# A mundane deity (Tib. 'jig rten pa'i srung ma)de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, 1956: 4Kay, David (2004). Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development and Adaptation. RoutledgeCurzon critical studies in Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 47.
According to Trijang Rinpoche, these two seemingly contradictory views — Dorje Shugden as either (1) an enlightened protector, or (2) a worldly protector — are easily reconciled by the belief that Dorje Shugden "can appear in any mundane or supra-mundane form whatsoever depending upon whether our mind is pure or impure."Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors (1967) by Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. p. 7. retrieved 2009-10-12.
The Dalai Lama, however, rejects the teachings of his Guru on Dorje Shugden,The Shuk-den affair: Origins of a Controversy (Part II) by Geshe Georges Dreyfus, retrieved 2009-10-18. accepting only that he is a worldly spirit, not an enlightened being:
Dorje Shugden is a protector spirit who has been worshipped for three hundred years, traditionally associated with the Sakya and Gelug traditions. However, even the major masters of the Eastern tradition take a very critical view of Shugden, seeing him as an evil spirit.Dalai Lama (1996-06-16). His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Address to the Buddhist Society. The Middle Way. November 1996. Vol. 7, No. 3. p. 148.
Thus, while supporters of Shugden identify him as an emanation of Buddha Manjushri, detractors classify him as a malevolent spirit (Tib. gyalpo). These two conflicting, disparate views are explained by Bernis as the very basis for the contemporary Dorje Shugden controversy:
The Dorje Shugden believed to be evil and the one religious people rely on seem to have nothing whatsoever to do with each other. They are two different beings with each side believing that the other invented its own story of Dorje Shugden. They could not be further apart, one a demon, carrier of seemingly absolute evil, the other believed by most of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters to be an emanation of the Buddha's wisdom within worldly action... Proclaiming Dorje Shugden an evil spirit denies more than two hundred acclaimed Tibetan Buddhist masters — not counting their tens of thousands of disciples — their religious qualifications.Condemned to Silence: A Tibetan Identity Crisis by Ursula Bernis, p. 13 (Introduction - page 13), retrieved 2009-11-02.
===Function as a Dharma Protector===
thumb|Painting of Dorje Shugden
Adherents of Dorje Shugden pray to him to protect their Dharma realizations of wisdom and compassion and gather all conducive conditions for their spiritual practice to succeed. According to von Brück, "He comes from all directions (and monasteries!) in order to protect his worshippers, to fulfill wishes, to purify the dharma, etc." Citing Mumford, von Brück explains Dorje Shugden's popularity as follows:
He is invoked to protect 'the prestige of the Buddha, dharma, and sangha' and to dissipate 'the obstructions that hinder attainment of the bodhisattva mind'. So far this description testifies to the noble intentions of the deity and relates it to the refuge of the triratna. At the same time, Shugden is connected with 'human wealth, food, life, and good fortune' and asked to grant long life and the fulfilment of all desires, particularly in this life, and invoked against bodily and mental sickness. This, too, is not at all a deviation from other incarnations to protector deities. He is addressed as 'great king', 'religion-protector', 'wish-fulfilling gem' who 'protects the dharma and prevents its destruction' and is asked to 'repel external and internal enemies of the ten regions.'
A common example of a prayer to Dorje Shugden, requesting him to fulfill these functions, is:
I beseech you from the depths of my heart, O Supreme Deity,
Please cause the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa to flourish,
Extend the life and activities of the glorious Gurus,
And increase the study and practice of Dharma within the Dharma communities.
Please be with me always like the shadow of my body,
And grant me your unwavering care and protection.
Destroy all obstacles and adverse conditions,
Bestow favourable conditions, and fulfil all my wishes....
Through increasing the study, practice, pure discipline, and harmony
Of the communities who uphold the stainless doctrine of Buddha,
And who keep moral discipline with pure minds,
Please cause the Gedän tradition to increase like a waxing moon.^ Melodious Drum Victorious in all Directions: The extensive fulfilling and restoring ritual of the Dharma Protector, the great king Dorje Shugden, in conjunction with Mahakala, Kalarupa, Kalindewi, and other Dharma Protectors, Tharpa Publications
The practice starts with prayers to Buddha Shakyamuni, followed by prayers to Je Tsongkhapa (the founder of the Gelug tradition). Practitioners then meditate on Lamrim, Lojong and/or Mahamudra, concluding with prayers to Dorje Shugden to eliminate obstacles to (and create favorable conditions for) the flourishing of Dharma.Waterhouse, Helen (1997). Buddhism in Bath: Adaptation and Authority. University of Leeds, Department of Theology and Religious Studies. pp. 167-168.
The most famous proponent and supporter of the practice of Dorje Shugden in the West, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, explained how Dorje Shugden protects the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa in particular:
Dorje Shugdän is a Dharma Protector who is the manifestation of Je Tsongkhapa. Je Tsongkhapa appears as the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugdän to prevent his doctrine from degenerating. During his life, Je Tsongkhapa founded and established the doctrine of the Ganden oral lineage, which leads living beings to the attainment of permanent liberation from suffering and the supreme happiness of enlightenment very quickly. Of course, Je Tsongkhapa himself takes responsibility to prevent his doctrine from degenerating or from disappearing. He takes responsibility for his doctrine to remain from generation to generation. To do this, since he passed away he continually appears in many different aspects, such as in the aspect of a Spiritual Teacher, who teaches the instructions of the Ganden oral lineage.Who is Dorje Shugden? by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Summer Festival 2006-07-23. retrieved 2009-01-27.
According to some alive at the time, Dorje Shugden also protected the 14th Dalai Lama in his escape from Tibet to India. The monk Helmut Gassner, the Dalai Lama's German translator for 17 years, explains: 
Another, particularly impressive figure of old Tibet was the Dalai Lama's Chamberlain, Kungo Phala, whom you may vividly remember seeing in the movie Kundun. He was a guest in my home in Feldkirch on several occasions. It was he who in 1959 organized His Holiness' escape from the Norbulingka summer palace. He sometimes spoke to me about it, perhaps because he was pleased with the progress I was making in my Tibetan language studies. The
preparations for the escape were made in absolute secrecy and strictly followed instructions received from Dorje Shugden. I asked him what thoughts were on his mind when he had to make his way through the crowds surrounding the Norbulingka with the Dalai Lama, disguised as a servant, just behind him. He said that everything happened exactly as the Dorje Shugden oracle from
Panglung Monastery had predicted. (Panglung Rinpoche now lives in Munich.) In particularly dangerous situations, he felt he was moving within a protected space, his feet seemingly not even touching the ground. I later heard many more accounts about the escape from other people who were personally involved in it, like Trijang Rinpoche's attendants and monks of Pomra Khamtsen of Sera Mey Monastery, who had been chosen as the Dalai Lama's personal bodyguards.Speech given by Ven. Helmut Gassner at the Symposium organized by Friedrich Naumann Stiftung in Hamburg, March 26th 1999
==Appearance and symbolism==
All rituals and prayers related to Dorje Shugden refer to him as an enlightened Protector or holy being. For example, one sample prayer to him from the extensive fulfilling and restoring ritual (Tib. kangso) of Dorje Shugden:
You said "I will protect as a wealth of merit for all beings
The sublime, stainless essence of the Sugatas' teachings."
O Hero Manjushri and Yamantaka in a fearsome disguise,
With the strength of a million Dharma Protectors; to you we offer praise.Melodious Drum Victorious in all Directions: The extensive fulfilling and restoring ritual of the Dharma Protector, the great king Dorje Shugden, in conjunction with Mahakala, Kalarupa, Kalindewi, and other Dharma Protectors, Tharpa Publications, p. 75.
In regards to Dorje Shugden's "fearsome disguise" praised above, Bernis explains that this wrathful appearance is considered by practitioners to be "merely an external show to help those who are threatened or fearful."Condemned to Silence: A Tibetan Identity Crisis by Ursula Bernis, p. 56 (Eulogy - page 5, n16), retrieved 2009-11-02. Von Brück describes Dorje Shugden's appearance as follows:
His character is fierce and violent and he destroys all enemies. Animals are sacrificed to him symbolically. His abode is full of skeletons and human skulls, weapons surround him and the blood of men and horses form a lake. His body has a dark-red colour and his facial expressions are similar to the well-known descriptions of rakshasas. However, all these attributes are not unique, they are more or less stereotypes for dharma-protectors in general.
According to some adherents, it is correct to consider Dorje Shugden as an emanation of Manjushri but not one who shows the aspect of a worldly being. The form of Dorje Shugden is supposed to reveal the complete stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra, and such qualities are not possessed by the forms of worldly beings. Dorje Shugden appears as a fully ordained monk to show that the practice of pure moral discipline is essential for those who wish to attain enlightenment.Kelsang Gyatso. (1997). Heart Jewel: The essential practices of Kadampa Buddhism. London: Tharpa. pp. 115-116. In his left hand, he holds a human heartKreijger, Hugo, and Ernst Jucker. 2001. Tibetan Paintings: the Jucker Collection. Boston: Shambhala. p. 126 to symbolize great compassion and spontaneous great bliss – the essence of all the stages of the vast path of Sutra and Tantra. His round yellow hat (Tib. sakshu)Kreijger, Hugo, and Ernst Jucker. 2001. Tibetan Paintings: the Jucker Collection. Boston: Shambhala. p. 92 represents the view of Nagarjuna, and the wave-shaped sword (Tib. chula) in his right hand teaches us to sever ignorance, the root of samsara, with the sharp blade of wisdom (like the sword held aloft by Manjushri and Je Tsongkhapa). This is the essence of all the stages of the profound path of Sutra and Tantra. He rides a snow lion, symbolizing the four fearlessnesses of a Buddha.Kelsang Gyatso. (1997). Heart Jewel: The essential practices of Kadampa Buddhism. London: Tharpa. p. 91. Geshe Kelsang suggests:
Even Dorje Shugden's form reveals the complete stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra, and such qualities are not possessed by the forms of worldly beings.
==Retinue and mandala==
One of the characteristics of the iconography of Dorje Shugden is the central figure surrounded by four cardinal emanations. According to Nebresky-Wojkowitz: 
*"In the East resides the 'body emanation' (sku'i sprul pa) Zhi ba'i rgyal chen, white with a mild expression" (Vairochana Shugden)
*"In the South dwells 'emanation of excellence' (yon tan gyi sprul pa) rGyas pa'i chen." (Ratna Shugden)
*"In the West dwells 'emanation of speech' (gsung gi sprul pa) dBang 'dus rgyal chen, of white colour, having a slightly wild expression." (Pema Shugden)
*"In the North resides the 'emanation of karma' ('phrin gyi sprul pa) Drag po'i rgyal chen. His body is of a green colour, and he is in a ferocious mood." (Karma Shugden) Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1998:138-139) 
According to adherents, Dorje Shugden is the incarnation of the five Buddha families and appears in five forms that symbolize the five families, called 'the five lineages of Dorje Shugden'. These forms also symbolize Dorje Shugden's attainment of pacifying, increasing, controlling and wrathful actions and his main form as Duldzin symbolizes the supreme attainment of enlightenment itself.Kelsang Gyatso. (1997). Heart Jewel: The essential practices of Kadampa Buddhism. London: Tharpa. p. 90.
In addition to this, Nebesky-Wojkowitz mentions that, in one text, additional retinue "appear nine shaktis and eight bhikshus, who act as mount-leaders; their names unfortunately are not given. The dGe lugs pa priests refer to this group of shaktis as the mDzes sdug yum chen mgu; they also claim that rDo rje shugs ldan is accompanied by ten armed youths (stag shar bcu)."Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1998:140)
According to Sachen Kunlo, a Sakya Lama, each of the thirty-two Deities of Dorje Shugden's mandala has a specific enlightened function: Duldzin Dorje Shugden leads followers to correct spiritual paths by bestowing wisdom; Vairochana Shugden helps pacify negative karma and obstacles; Ratna Shugden increases good fortune; Pema Shugden helps control the mind; and Karma Shugden overcomes the four maras and evil spirits. The nine great Mothers help Tantric practices; the eight fully-ordained monks help Sutra practices; and the ten wrathful Deities help daily activities.Kelsang Gyatso. (1997). Heart Jewel: The essential practices of Kadampa Buddhism. London: Tharpa. pp. 91-92.
Unlike other Dharma protectors, the practice of Dorje Shugden has a body mandala. This is considered an indication that he is a fully enlightened being because only Buddhas have body mandalas. Dorje Shugden's body mandala is based on the 32 deities of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang (Je Tsongkhapa).Kelsang Gyatso. (1997). Heart Jewel: The essential practices of Kadampa Buddhism. London: Tharpa. pp. 113-115.
==Mantra==
Dorje Shugden has two mantras: OM VAJRA WIKI WITRANA SOHA and OM DHARMAPALA MAHA RANDZA BENDZA BEGAWAN RUDRA PENJA KULA SARWA SHA TRUM MARAYA HUM PHAT.
In the long mantra, OM DHARMAPALA MAHA RADZA refers to Dorje Shugden's name: DHARMAPALA means "Dharma Protector," and MAHA RANDZA means "Great King." BENDZA BEGAWAN RUDRA means "Dorje Shugdan," and PENJA KULA SARWA SHA TRUM MARAYA HUM PHAT means “Please grant me attainments.”
In OM VAJRA WIKI WITRANA SOHA, OM refers to the outer aspect of Dorje Shugdan, which is his wearing ordained robes and so on and is temporary. One function of OM is also calling Dorje Shugdan “O, Dorje Shugdan”. VAJRA refers to the real nature of Dorje Shugdan. The meaning of VAJRA is the union of the great bliss and emptiness of Je Tsongkhapa and of all Buddhas. Je Tsongkhapa's realization of the union of great bliss and emptiness appears in the aspect of Dorje Shugdan. The five Sanskrit letters WIKI WITRANA symbolize the five attainments: pacifying, increasing, controlling, wrathful and supreme. SOHA means "Please bestow." The whole mantra therefore means: “O Dorje Shugdan, please bestow the pacifying, increasing, controlling, wrathful, and supreme attainments.”Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Dorje Shugdan Empowerment, 2006-07-23.
==Origin story==
===Previous incarnations===
According to his adherents, Dorje Shugden is the current incarnation in a lineage of enlightened Masters. The lineage of Dorje Shugden's previous lives includes Buddha Manjushri, Mahasiddha Biwawa or Virupa, Sakya Pandita, Butön Rinchen Drub, Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsän, and Panchen Sönam Dragpa.Collected writings of the 1st Panchen Lama Lozang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570-1662), volume ca pages 81-83. mongolian lama gurudeva: 1973.Dorje Shugden's Lineage, retrieved 2008-12-07McCune, Lindsay G. (2007) (PDF). Tales of Intrigue from Tibet's Holy City: The Historical Underpinnings of a Modern Buddhist Crisis. Florida State University. p. 43. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
Dorje Shugden is said to have appeared in his current form as the reincarnation of a Buddhist Teacher in the Gelugpa Tradition named Ngatrul (Tulku) Dragpa Gyaltsen, the reincarnation of Panchen Sonam Dragpa. Dragpa Gyaltsen was a highly regarded teacher at the same time as the Fifth Dalai Lama,Sherap, P., & Combe, G. A. (1926). A Tibetan on Tibet; Being the travels and observations of Mr. Paul Sherap (Dorje Zodba) of Tachienlu; with an introductory chapter on Buddhism and a concluding chapter on the devil dance. London: T.F. Unwin. p. 82. the former held by some in even higher regard than the latter.Mullin, G. H., & Shepherd, V. M. (2001). The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light. p. 209
Dojre Shugden is considered by some Gelugpa practitioners to be an emanation of Buddha Manjushri: "Because the lamas in Drakpa Gyaltsen's lineage of incarnations are manifestations of the wisdom Buddha Manjusri, and because Drakpa Gyaltsen appeared in the form of Dorje Shugden, we believe without doubt that the very nature of Dorje Shugden is that of a wisdom Buddha."Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, quoted in McCune, Lindsay G. (2007) (PDF). Tales of Intrigue from Tibet's Holy City: The Historical Underpinnings of a Modern Buddhist Crisis. Florida State University. p. 44. Retrieved 2009-10-05. This understanding is also based on the commentary to Dorje Shugden by Trijang Rinpoche:
[T]his great guardian of the teachings is well known to be the precious supreme emanation from Drepung monastery's upper house, Dragpa Gyaltsen, arising in a wrathful aspect. The proof is unmistaken. Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen, as is taught in the lineage, was the final birth in a reincarnation lineage that included the Mahasiddha Birwawa, the great Kashmiri Pandit Shakya Shri, the omniscient Buton, Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsen, Panchen Sonam Dragpa, and so forth; this is proven by valid scriptural quotation and reasoning. These great beings, from a definitive point of view, were already fully enlightened, and even to common appearances, every one of them was a holy being that attained high states of realization.Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors (1967) by Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. p. 8. retrieved 2008-12-07
Also Ngulchu Dharmabhadra (1772-1851), a Mahamudra lineage Guru, identified Dorje Shugden as having arisen from the continuum of great beings that includes Duldzin Drakpa Gyaltsen, Panchen Sonam Drakpa and Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen.Collected Works of Ngulchu Dharmabhadra, v. 4, pp. 220: dol rgyal dang dga' ldan lha brgya ma'i skor, available from Asian Classics website
===Death of Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen and emergence of Dorje Shugden===
The emergence of the practice is strongly related to Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen, a contemporary of the 5th Dalai Lama about whom exist different stories. According to von Brück, there is little documented historical evidence before the beginning of the 19th century and different orally-transmitted versions of his origins contradict each other.von Brück, Michael (2001). "Canonicity and Divine Interference" in Dalmia, V., Malinar, A., & Christof, M. (2001). Charisma and Canon: Essays on the Religious History of the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 338 von Brück traces the root of the link between the death of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and the worship of Dorje Shugden back to "the power struggles of the 5th Dalai Lama and the successful centralization of power in his hands after the death of the Mongol Gushri Khan."von Brück, Michael (2001). "Canonicity and Divine Interference" in Dalmia, V., Malinar, A., & Christof, M. (2001). Charisma and Canon: Essays on the Religious History of the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 339 According to Mullin,Mullin, G. H., & Shepherd, V. M. (2001). The fourteen Dalai Lamas: A sacred legacy of reincarnation. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light. p. 208 the soul of the murdered monk Dragpa Gyaltsen wandered after his death for some time as a disturbed spirit, who created trouble for the people of Lhasa. The 5th Dalai Lama tried to "exorcise and pacify" him by first asking Nyingma shamans to subdue him, but when they failed he asked Gelugpa shamans who were finally successful. By these measures, the spirit of the deceased Lama was "pacified and transformed" into the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. According to Mumford, the 5th Dalai Lama unsuccessfully tried to subjugate Dorje Shugden through a fire exorcism and "invited the still-wandering spirit to become a Srungma of the Gelugpa order, with result that Shugs-ldan became one of the most popular Srungmas in Tibet. With the encouragement of local Lamas, kin groups all over Tibet took on Shugs-ldan as their lineage guardian."Mumford, S. (1989). Himalayan dialogue: Tibetan Lamas and Gurung shamans in Nepal. New directions in anthropological writing. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 126.
Mullin continues, saying that the practice was later adopted by "numerous Gelugpa monks who disapproved of the 5th Dalai Lama's manner of combining Gelugpa and Nyingmapa doctrines" and that the 5th Dalai Lama tried to discourage the practice, but "it caught on in many monasteries". According to Mullin, "The practice continued over the generations to follow, and eventually became one of the most popular Protector Deity practices within the Gelugpa school." The practice became even more popular during the late 1800s. During that time, Dorje Shugden "became an all pervasive monthly practice within almost all provincial Gelugpa monasteries, and was especially popular with Gelugpa aristocratic families."
According to Tagpo Kelsang Khedrub, although the Fifth Dalai Lama and others tried to destroy Dorje Shugden, they were not able to because Shugden is enlightened:
Then, although four undisputed powerful Tantrikas with concentration, began wrathful rituals to strike you down, through the power of having completed Guhyasamaja's two stages, you would not be silenced, and showed signs of heroism; praise to you!Tagpo Kelsang Khedrub Rinpoche's praise of Dorje Shugden, Infinite Aeons, translated in Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors, pp. 103, 139, retrieved 2009-03-12.
According to some Gelug Lamas, there is evidence to show that the 5th Dalai Lama realized he was mistaken in considering Dorje Shugden a spirit, and then composed a prayer praising Dorje Shugden as a BuddhaPrayer to the protector Dorje Shugden by the 5th Dalai Lama. retrieved 2008-12-07. and crafted a statueDorje Shugden and Dalai Lama - Spreading Dharma Together (about mid-way down the page). retrieved 2008-12-07. to show his respect for Dorje Shugden. However, the 14th Dalai Lama has denied that the 5th Dalai Lama composed such a prayer.Concerning Dholgyal with reference to the views of past masters and other related matters by the Dalai Lama. 1997-10-??. retrieved 2008-12-07. Also von Brück denies the historical evidence of such a claim, stating "The problem is that this position has no historical evidence, neither in the biography of the 5th Dalai Lama or elsewhere."von Brück, Michael (2001). "Canonicity and Divine Interference" in Dalmia, V., Malinar, A., & Christof, M. (2001). Charisma and Canon: Essays on the Religious History of the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 342
According to McCune, the story about his being a wandering spirit was said by followers to be disseminated by those who murdered Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen, not by his followers who viewed him as the reincarnation of a highly realized being.Tales of Intrigue from Tibet's Holy City, the Historical Underpinnings of a Modern Buddhist Crisis by Lindsay G. McCune, Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences
==Oracle==
As with other Protector Deities in Tibet, there is an oracle of Dorje Shugden.von Brück, Michael (2001). "Canonicity and Divine Interference" in Dalmia, V., Malinar, A., & Christof, M. (2001). Charisma and canon: Essays on the religious history of the Indian subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 337 A previous medium of contact with Shugden has been Trode Khangsar Kuten.Autobiography of His Eminence Choyang Duldzin Kuten Lama (1989). p. 2. retrieved 2008-12-07 
According to Nebesky-Wojkowitz, "The best-known of the prophetic seers who act as the mouthpiece of rDo rje shugs ldan lives at a shrine in Lhasa called sPro bde khang gsar Trode Khangsar (rgyal khang) or sPro khang bde chen lcog. This is one of the few Tibetan oracle-priests who is not allowed to marry. In a house close to this shrine stays also one of the most renowned mediums of Kha che dmar po."Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1998:144)
According to Joseph Rock there were two main Dorje Shugden oracles: Panglung Choje and Trode Khangsar Choje. Joseph Rock witnessed and documented a public invocation of the Panglung oracle in Kham (Eastern Tibet) in 1928. At this time the oracle took a sword of Mongolian steel and twisted into many loops.Rock, Joseph F. Sungmas, the Living Oracles of the Tibetan Church, National Geographic, (1935) 68:475-486. Choyang Duldzin Kuten Lama was the Dorje Shugden oracle for many years.Autobiography of His Eminence Choyang Duldzin Kuten Lama (1989). p. 1. retrieved 2008-12-07
==See also==
*Dharmapala
*Manjushri
==References==
==External links==
* Images of Dorje Shugden - at HimalayanArt.org
* Dorje Shugden History Trinley Kalsang's history of the worship of Dorje Shugden
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