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Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today
The Day the Last Monastery in Shangri-La Fell- Buddha's Not Smiling is the anatomy of a crisis. Rumtek was not in China, and its attackers were not Communist troops. It was Tibetan lamas themselves who led the siege.
- GenresBuddhismNonfiction
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First published April 9, 2008
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June 3, 2017
Most westerners think of Buddhism with a peaceful kitsch imagery. Many academic books (e.g. Zen at War, Imperial-way Zen, Buddhist Fury, Buddhism Violence, etc) have been extensively discussing the darker side of Buddhism history and the religion's current collusion with political powers across many Asian countries, as well as the role it played in colonialism and imperialist wars.
Curren's book is not entirely academic--one that doesn't engage with theoretical framing at all, but is still very objective and a piece of largely unbiased report of the historical and political evolution of Vajrayana Buddhism (known among westerners as "Tibetan Buddhism"). The book tells us that there are five major schools of Vajrayana, Gelugpa represented by the Dalai Lama is only one of them and the one that came into power through documented persecution against the other four schools, especially the Karmapa. At the core, Vajrayana has a unique system of passing down religious and political power, that is choosing the reincarnation of its religious leaders (Panchen Lama, Dalai Lama, etc.). If the holder of such concentrated political and religious power can be inherited by "reincarnation", in practice, such inheritance would get inevitably involved in the conflicts of different interest groups, through violence and corruption.
Throughout the history, choosing the reincarnation of religious and political leaders is a highly contentious matter in the community. As the book expanded, foreigner powers such as the Mongolians, Manchurians, and Han Chinese sided with different Lama "candidates", and their alliance often changed the course of Tibetan history. The current Dalai Lama, is not without contention within his own Tibetan exile community. The book revolves mainly around one issue: why does Dalai Lama force his choice of reincarnation "candidate" to the other schools of Vajrayana, and why his supporters violently attack the "candidate" chosen by the Karmapa school, which had so far enjoyed an independent right of Lama-nomination until the end of 20th century?
Very intriguing is that the candidate chosen by the Dalai Lama is also the one agreed by the Chinese Communist Party. However, suddenly in 2016, the Dalai Lama claimed there is a possibility that he will not reincarnate. The book was finished almost a decade before this incident. What happened afterward? Why has Dalai changed his mind? Can him alone decide whether to reincarnate when there are more than one candidate and five different schools?
Curren's book is not entirely academic--one that doesn't engage with theoretical framing at all, but is still very objective and a piece of largely unbiased report of the historical and political evolution of Vajrayana Buddhism (known among westerners as "Tibetan Buddhism"). The book tells us that there are five major schools of Vajrayana, Gelugpa represented by the Dalai Lama is only one of them and the one that came into power through documented persecution against the other four schools, especially the Karmapa. At the core, Vajrayana has a unique system of passing down religious and political power, that is choosing the reincarnation of its religious leaders (Panchen Lama, Dalai Lama, etc.). If the holder of such concentrated political and religious power can be inherited by "reincarnation", in practice, such inheritance would get inevitably involved in the conflicts of different interest groups, through violence and corruption.
Throughout the history, choosing the reincarnation of religious and political leaders is a highly contentious matter in the community. As the book expanded, foreigner powers such as the Mongolians, Manchurians, and Han Chinese sided with different Lama "candidates", and their alliance often changed the course of Tibetan history. The current Dalai Lama, is not without contention within his own Tibetan exile community. The book revolves mainly around one issue: why does Dalai Lama force his choice of reincarnation "candidate" to the other schools of Vajrayana, and why his supporters violently attack the "candidate" chosen by the Karmapa school, which had so far enjoyed an independent right of Lama-nomination until the end of 20th century?
Very intriguing is that the candidate chosen by the Dalai Lama is also the one agreed by the Chinese Communist Party. However, suddenly in 2016, the Dalai Lama claimed there is a possibility that he will not reincarnate. The book was finished almost a decade before this incident. What happened afterward? Why has Dalai changed his mind? Can him alone decide whether to reincarnate when there are more than one candidate and five different schools?
February 7, 2017
I have conflicting feelings about this book.
First off, it's very engaging. I wouldn't say "well written" in the traditional sense that Curren's constructed a book with great writing and flawless sentences, but that it's a book I found hard to put down.
That said, I'm glad that he came out right away and acknowledged his own bias. Before he even gets into the story and the narrative, Curren comes right out and talks about how he was friends with Shamar Rinpoche, and that he trusts his judgement regarding how the situation was handled with the reincarnation of the 17th Karmapa. He makes explicit his intention to use only the given names of the boys in question, Ogyen Trinley and Trinley Thaye, without explicitly calling either one "the 17th Karmapa Lama," a choice that other authors have explicitly made to align themselves with one or the other (most often Ogyen Trinley).
However, despite all of that, I find Curren's approach to be somewhat crass at times, and he is able to be comprehensive without being detailed. For example, when he questions how old Orgyen Trinley is (implying he may have been groomed as an acceptable cross Beijing-Dharamsala candidate, or as an agent to undermine the Sikkim frontier) Curren needs to include mention from the medical report to make sure the reader understands that the doctor implies Trinley's genitals appeared fully formed, which one might not expect of a boy that was supposed to be Orgyen Trinley's age. And several times, Curren mentions that traditional Tibetan histories make/don't make mention of such and such events. Yet, when you look into Tibetan-language works in his bibliography, there are four books (in Tibetan language) listed in his bibliography: two of which argue against his main premise (The Fifth Dalai Lama's Autobiography, and Shakabpa's *An Advanced History of Tibet* which Curren actively argues against and accuses of Gelukpa bias). The other two, Dhoring's *A True History of the Dhoring Gazhi Family* and Yugyal's *Assorted Tales on the Art of Thinking* are not titles I'm familiar with, but at least one is a purely religious text, hardly a "traditional Tibetan history," and frankly, being an in-training historian, I'm more inclined to believe Shakabpa's extensive 4-page bibliography on Tibetan-language works.
(Curren's English-language bibliography is an interesting list of works, though often padded with irrelevant texts on the issue or related to his thesis at all, thing's like Penick's *Warrior Song of King Gesar*, or Weatherford's *Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World*)
Curren makes some very concise and poignant observations. He shows how Tibetan lamas are somewhat prone to suing each other, and made extensive use of the legal system to solve their disputes in Tibet, throwing the image of peaceful lamas above petty differences of opinion up in the air, while then reminding the reader that these lamas are resorting to the rule of law and arbitration rather than violence and political infighting, a much better alternative. He points out the tragedy of exile from one's homeland and the hypocrisy of some lamas to enjoy the lifestyles of kings while the average Tibetan, in Tibet, China, and India, languishes in poverty. Or worse.
Curren's investigative analysis is, to me, top notch. He does a fine job examining the apparently bogus letter that Tai Situ brought before the reincarnation committee and (to me) the best part of the book was the conclusion where he tries to summarize the challenges that lay both ahead and behind the Tibetan community at large, and their religious divisions in particular.
My main problem goes right back to the fact that Curren is not an objective observer and it's hard to take his word for it. I'm happy that a book is being presented that doesn't spread the image of just happy Buddhist monks singing Kum-bah-ya at the tops of mountains to teach spirituality to Westerners after their homeland was unjustly stolen by those dastardly Communists. This is a book that presents Tibet and the Himalayas in all its tragic and human complexity. BUT. Curren was friends with the Sharmapa, who exploded into conflict with the Tai Situ and Gyaltshab Rinpoche.
That Sharmapa endoreses Thaye Trinley for the seat of Rumtek and the crown of the 17th Karmapa is made apparenty from page xiii, and that Curren is a student of the Sharmapa (and by proxy a supporter) is made evident on page xvii. And THEN, even though Curren claims he won't make an absolute pronouncement on WHO is the true Karmapa, he still titles the chapter introducing Ogyen Trinley, "A Pretender to the Throne," and the chapters on Thaye Trinley, "The Secret Boy," and "The Return of the King." Which... well, to me, kind of casts away any semblance of bi-partisanship or neutrality.
Frankly, as a detective story, so SO much of it is circumstantial. Perhaps Tai Situ really was a Communist agent and was working to get Sikkim in Chinese hands to eventually reunite the Dalai Lama's Dharamsala Government and Beijing? Perhaps Sharmapa was just a stuck-up traditionalist who needed to enter the 21st Century and Tai Situ was dragging the Karma Kagyu church kicking and screaming into it? There's constant accusation in the book (though always put in third-person neutral terms) that Tai Situ was trying to get at the treasures inside Rumtek Monastery to sell them off and increase his own wealth. While this sort of thing is unheard of, neither is it unheard of for teachers to sell of monastic assets "to spread the Dharma" by getting rid of ornaments and promoting monastic discipline and study. But maybe not. Again, circumstantial evidence.
Curren is wrong to assume that either a Tibetan spiritual lineage has never split, which he seems to be both aware of, and try to resist. He's painfully aware of how the Panchen Lama lineage has split with a Tibetan candidate being whisked away under house arrest in China (since the early '90s) while the Chinese candidate rules from his traditional seat in Shigatse. The founder of Bhutan was only the first of a lineage that produced *three* successive ones (referred to as Body, Speech, and Mind Incarnations). That same man was himself the product of a split lineage: one of which became the three Zhabdrung lineages, the other became the Gyalwang Drukpas. So while it's easy to find split reincarnate lineages, it's pretty easy to find good results that came of them: the country of Bhutan, for one example.
This review has gone on long enough. Curren has written a very interesting, relatively quick read, that serves as a good introduction to the tribal nature of Tibet: a country thrown from the medieval era into the modern one with all of its divided loyalties, complex ancient philosophies, and constellation of spiritual teachers and deities.
As for the Karmapa issue itself, it certainly deserves a more neutral books to carry it. There's plenty of literature on both sides to counter each other at this point. Maybe one day we'll get a meeting between the two Karmapas and settle something.
First off, it's very engaging. I wouldn't say "well written" in the traditional sense that Curren's constructed a book with great writing and flawless sentences, but that it's a book I found hard to put down.
That said, I'm glad that he came out right away and acknowledged his own bias. Before he even gets into the story and the narrative, Curren comes right out and talks about how he was friends with Shamar Rinpoche, and that he trusts his judgement regarding how the situation was handled with the reincarnation of the 17th Karmapa. He makes explicit his intention to use only the given names of the boys in question, Ogyen Trinley and Trinley Thaye, without explicitly calling either one "the 17th Karmapa Lama," a choice that other authors have explicitly made to align themselves with one or the other (most often Ogyen Trinley).
However, despite all of that, I find Curren's approach to be somewhat crass at times, and he is able to be comprehensive without being detailed. For example, when he questions how old Orgyen Trinley is (implying he may have been groomed as an acceptable cross Beijing-Dharamsala candidate, or as an agent to undermine the Sikkim frontier) Curren needs to include mention from the medical report to make sure the reader understands that the doctor implies Trinley's genitals appeared fully formed, which one might not expect of a boy that was supposed to be Orgyen Trinley's age. And several times, Curren mentions that traditional Tibetan histories make/don't make mention of such and such events. Yet, when you look into Tibetan-language works in his bibliography, there are four books (in Tibetan language) listed in his bibliography: two of which argue against his main premise (The Fifth Dalai Lama's Autobiography, and Shakabpa's *An Advanced History of Tibet* which Curren actively argues against and accuses of Gelukpa bias). The other two, Dhoring's *A True History of the Dhoring Gazhi Family* and Yugyal's *Assorted Tales on the Art of Thinking* are not titles I'm familiar with, but at least one is a purely religious text, hardly a "traditional Tibetan history," and frankly, being an in-training historian, I'm more inclined to believe Shakabpa's extensive 4-page bibliography on Tibetan-language works.
(Curren's English-language bibliography is an interesting list of works, though often padded with irrelevant texts on the issue or related to his thesis at all, thing's like Penick's *Warrior Song of King Gesar*, or Weatherford's *Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World*)
Curren makes some very concise and poignant observations. He shows how Tibetan lamas are somewhat prone to suing each other, and made extensive use of the legal system to solve their disputes in Tibet, throwing the image of peaceful lamas above petty differences of opinion up in the air, while then reminding the reader that these lamas are resorting to the rule of law and arbitration rather than violence and political infighting, a much better alternative. He points out the tragedy of exile from one's homeland and the hypocrisy of some lamas to enjoy the lifestyles of kings while the average Tibetan, in Tibet, China, and India, languishes in poverty. Or worse.
Curren's investigative analysis is, to me, top notch. He does a fine job examining the apparently bogus letter that Tai Situ brought before the reincarnation committee and (to me) the best part of the book was the conclusion where he tries to summarize the challenges that lay both ahead and behind the Tibetan community at large, and their religious divisions in particular.
My main problem goes right back to the fact that Curren is not an objective observer and it's hard to take his word for it. I'm happy that a book is being presented that doesn't spread the image of just happy Buddhist monks singing Kum-bah-ya at the tops of mountains to teach spirituality to Westerners after their homeland was unjustly stolen by those dastardly Communists. This is a book that presents Tibet and the Himalayas in all its tragic and human complexity. BUT. Curren was friends with the Sharmapa, who exploded into conflict with the Tai Situ and Gyaltshab Rinpoche.
That Sharmapa endoreses Thaye Trinley for the seat of Rumtek and the crown of the 17th Karmapa is made apparenty from page xiii, and that Curren is a student of the Sharmapa (and by proxy a supporter) is made evident on page xvii. And THEN, even though Curren claims he won't make an absolute pronouncement on WHO is the true Karmapa, he still titles the chapter introducing Ogyen Trinley, "A Pretender to the Throne," and the chapters on Thaye Trinley, "The Secret Boy," and "The Return of the King." Which... well, to me, kind of casts away any semblance of bi-partisanship or neutrality.
Frankly, as a detective story, so SO much of it is circumstantial. Perhaps Tai Situ really was a Communist agent and was working to get Sikkim in Chinese hands to eventually reunite the Dalai Lama's Dharamsala Government and Beijing? Perhaps Sharmapa was just a stuck-up traditionalist who needed to enter the 21st Century and Tai Situ was dragging the Karma Kagyu church kicking and screaming into it? There's constant accusation in the book (though always put in third-person neutral terms) that Tai Situ was trying to get at the treasures inside Rumtek Monastery to sell them off and increase his own wealth. While this sort of thing is unheard of, neither is it unheard of for teachers to sell of monastic assets "to spread the Dharma" by getting rid of ornaments and promoting monastic discipline and study. But maybe not. Again, circumstantial evidence.
Curren is wrong to assume that either a Tibetan spiritual lineage has never split, which he seems to be both aware of, and try to resist. He's painfully aware of how the Panchen Lama lineage has split with a Tibetan candidate being whisked away under house arrest in China (since the early '90s) while the Chinese candidate rules from his traditional seat in Shigatse. The founder of Bhutan was only the first of a lineage that produced *three* successive ones (referred to as Body, Speech, and Mind Incarnations). That same man was himself the product of a split lineage: one of which became the three Zhabdrung lineages, the other became the Gyalwang Drukpas. So while it's easy to find split reincarnate lineages, it's pretty easy to find good results that came of them: the country of Bhutan, for one example.
This review has gone on long enough. Curren has written a very interesting, relatively quick read, that serves as a good introduction to the tribal nature of Tibet: a country thrown from the medieval era into the modern one with all of its divided loyalties, complex ancient philosophies, and constellation of spiritual teachers and deities.
As for the Karmapa issue itself, it certainly deserves a more neutral books to carry it. There's plenty of literature on both sides to counter each other at this point. Maybe one day we'll get a meeting between the two Karmapas and settle something.
April 27, 2014
Interesting and thorough book studying Karmapa controversy - the fight between two monk groups of major Karma Kagyu school to control over Rumtek monastery and right to nominate the school leader.
This book is biased to one of the parties though author at least acknowledges his bias early in the book. While I believe the author honestly tries to be just to both sides, the critical and attentive reader will notice bias and different tone and justification towards the different parties. This book will not tell you who is right and who is wrong in Karmapa controversy (although the author will strongly suggest you to think this way) but is great in uncovering usually obscured network of relations between different high lamas and their monasteries which are much more political than spiritual.
It's quite apparent that Karmapa controversy is political issue with various stakeholders, which apart from the two Karma Kagyu monk parties involves other players like Tibetan government in exile (by the time headed by Dalai Lama), Chinese administration of Tibet, Indian secret services, Sikkim's nationalists and western admirers.
Sometimes the author quotes sources which are way too unreliable and speculative (like Flight of Karmapa documentary) which casts doubt on other author's arguments though still book is quite a valuable account.
This book is biased to one of the parties though author at least acknowledges his bias early in the book. While I believe the author honestly tries to be just to both sides, the critical and attentive reader will notice bias and different tone and justification towards the different parties. This book will not tell you who is right and who is wrong in Karmapa controversy (although the author will strongly suggest you to think this way) but is great in uncovering usually obscured network of relations between different high lamas and their monasteries which are much more political than spiritual.
It's quite apparent that Karmapa controversy is political issue with various stakeholders, which apart from the two Karma Kagyu monk parties involves other players like Tibetan government in exile (by the time headed by Dalai Lama), Chinese administration of Tibet, Indian secret services, Sikkim's nationalists and western admirers.
Sometimes the author quotes sources which are way too unreliable and speculative (like Flight of Karmapa documentary) which casts doubt on other author's arguments though still book is quite a valuable account.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews