Religious Parochialism - Two Outstanding Examples

By Lama Shree Narayan Singh

'With malice towards none, with justice for all, with firmness in the right....'

Abraham Lincoln

It is fascinating indeed that modern day Hindus, who derive their ethos from Adi Shankaracharya, should be aghast at the inequality currently prevalent in Indian society! This is exactly what he had created and bequeathed to posterity, the burden of which Indians are compelled to carry. It includes within its ambit, the institutionalisation of racism under the cover of the caste system, the persecution of Buddhists transposing them as Shudras in his world order, the disempowerment and suppression of women, female infanticide and foeticide, child marriages, marginalisation of dalits and above all an amoral ethos -- in short, an enervation of the Indian psyche through the vicious cycle of exploitation.

These form the very crux of Hindu culture, in direct contrast with the spiritual egalitarianism, humanism and respect for life enunciated by ancient Buddhism in India. This is the root of the Naxalist insurgency in various parts of the country -- the exploited are boldly telling the world that they are no longer willing pawn's in the grand scheme of the upper castes as fodder to be exploited. Thus there is tremendous wisdom behind Pakistan's President Musharraf's statement that the root cause of a problem needs to be addressed to eradicate terrorism.

Over the centuries, Buddhism too has become as parochial and exploitative as any other religious tradition extant particularly in the context of the Dalai Lama. This must necessarily be attributed to human nature which treats religion for its own purposes of spiritual materialism rather than any inherent fault lines in Buddhism per se.

It was due to this enervation of the pan Indian psyche that wave upon wave of Muslim marauders successfully invaded India as is evident from the historical accounts of the multiple pillaging by Mahmood Ghaznavi of the temple of Somenath, Gujarat, some twelve hundred years ago -- seventeen times in all. These attacks were successful due solely to the obfuscation perpetrated by Brahmins. While their companions were being slaughtered, others, rather than defending the shrine, were heard boasting that the Lord Someshwarnath is so powerful that if he so wishes, he will manifest and destroy the marauders in an instant. Clearly the Lord himself was as fictitious as a Harry Potter character for he never did come. The rest of course is history.

Many of the Muslim invaders eventually stayed behind enriching local culture, creating the fusion currently known as modern Indian culture. Clearly Indians are unable to take the initiative necessary to protect the political interests of the country. It is now characterised by hyperbole, conflict, arbitrariness, corruption, abject dishonesty. shamelessness, crass inefficiency and a complete uncertainty in every aspect of daily life. Human life and concerns are subservient to the mahamantras of religion, caste and money. This is perhaps the only country in the world where artificial milk made primarily of urea is mixed in with the natural product. Adulteration of food, petrol and the manufacture and sale of spurious life saving medicines are rife accepted as integral to life in north India.

In the more recent past western countries entered the 'holy land' the 'noble land of aryas'. With their departure they took with them virtually any semblance of law and order they had created and nurtured as is evident particularly in northern India! This has resulted in the emergence of modern political leaders, so-called, who have little or no hesitation to even sell their own country as is evident with the deep Chinese penetration of Sikkim second only to that of the Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence Agency in India.

Although erudite speeches are made and slogans bandied about, benefits which accrue to the common man are negligible. The attainment of independence was obviously a massive orgasm soon after which the country became rudderless as genuine freedom fighters together with their ideals, faded away into oblivion.

Some, such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, were compelled into oblivion with the perpetration of the myth that he had died in Japan 1945, simply because he was perceived as a threat to the establishment. Gradually one saw intellectuals receding from the political scenario leaving it open to those of questionable integrity, resulting now in the criminalisation of politics and now with the anomaly of criminals become legislators! If there is an example of failed democracy and a banana republic, surely one does not need to look very far!

The reason for this lies in the tremendous difference between two world views. The perspective of the west defines life in distinct terms of black and white in an attempt to create order and a civil society. Hindu philosophy treats life in its entire gamut as gray areas except in so far as the vested interests of Brahmins and the upper castes are involved. Both these approaches are inherently flawed. The former seeks to regiment human nature -- a tremendous challenge in its own sphere. The latter has now resulted in the creation of a laissez faire society where anything is passe with the balance clearly tilted in favour of the haves against the have nots, be it from whatever caste they may be.

The spiritual axiom of 'the path itself is the goal' is taken to its ridiculous extreme by its application to daily life. One finds therefore that one has to not only discover for one's ownself the entire process for a small economic or administrative act which in the west would hardly take any time. There are few who even know what's to be done in any given situation. Others simply refuse to part with the information except piecemeal and that too for a cost and at their own leisure. The result is achievable only through the personal dedication of any individual over an extended period of time, much like the search for enlightenment at the feet of one's Master.

It has been said that the British, not being a spiritual people invented cricket to understand the concept of eternity, referring to test matches. Applying it indigenously, it could be modified to, 'Indians, being a religious people, created a highly involved and intricate socio-politico-economic system to point out to the ordinary person the concept of eternity clearly and urge them Indians to strive for its attainment!'

HE Kalu Rinpoche had once quipped during a discourse at Sonada, Darjeeling, WB, that given the amount one needs to exert oneself in mundane activities in India, even a fraction of that effort and dedication in an individual would ensure speedy realisation and consummate enlightenment for that person.

Clearly the solution if any, would lie in an amalgamation of these two perspectives and modalities of the west and the east.

This is the reason why Indians living abroad are able to manifest fully their potential. Examples abroad are numerous. It is only now that western principles of economics and management are succeeding to pierce the armour of Indianness creating a marriage of these two world views resutling in success stories such as Azim Premji, reportedly the richest man in the country who is of Parsee extraction, and Mr. Narayana Murthy, CEO of Infosys, a Hindu, amongst others. Lakshmi Mittal is what he is not because he lived in India! It does need to be acknowledged at this juncture that India too had a thriving economy deriving from indigenous principles prior to wave upon wave of muslim invasions which certainly created a discontinuity with its past.

Various attempts have been made since independence to repudiate the effects of history and change the basic ethos of the country through legislation. However, the cultural momentum of a millennium and a half has virtually defied such attempts. History cannot be wiped out through a legalistic imposition of liberal humanism, a western experience which has evolved on the foundations of the Christian Church and with a total different history.

Indians constitute essentially an entirely different set of peoples with their own independent historic experiences vastly different from those in the west. Here, life is necessarily defined in terms of opposition rather than the commonality of human values and concerns such as peaceful coexistence, a shared planet. This is only too evident from the manner in which political parties in opposition behave -- their sole intent is to oppose the treasury benches simply for the sake of obstructing the implementation of the govt's political agenda at the expense of the welfare of the people, state or country as is evident from their harrangues, demonstrations, strikes etc.

In actuality, terms such as human values are western concepts beyond the ambit of both hindutva and the muslim consciousness as is becoming increasingly evident. Even though their high priests may wax eloquent about such issues they remain within the confines of a wish list! It would actually be a mistake to expect to transpose such concerns into this ancient setting! Western aspirants are fooled by the apparent egalitarianism with which they are treated in ashrams and monasteries. Charmed they naturally project that these qualities are to be found within the context of the host culture! This is not so!

The result of such impositions is more than evident. The feudal Zamindari system was abolished with the best of intentions shortly after independence. The result at least in Bihar is there for all to see -- chaos prevails concerning land records which defy resolution. Even proper cadestral surveys have not been carried out for half a century or more. Moreover, the common man is exploited and suppressed at all levels by politicians, the administration and the police as also by the upper caste gentry, with each and every govt scheme merely being a process of redistribution of public wealth and social justice amongst the select few in power. The public weal is conveniently set aside.

And if it is to be maintained that these erstwhile feudal lords suppressed the common person, modern political masters and administration have hardly been found to be more benign. It is documented that in many instances erstwhile rulers were extremely benign and far sighted cherishing and actively engaging in public welfare. The decadence they are accused of has been adopted in toto by modern rulers whose values are certainly questionable.

The motto of the French Revolution -- equalite, liberte and fraternite, resounds hollow bounced off the walls of the mental matrix of 'lebensborn' Indians -- Aryans whose misplaced arrogance is comparable only to that of Hitler and the Dalai Lama. Over three millennia, countless saints of various religious traditions have manifest in Aryavarta, the Land of the Aryans -- India, being a 'punya bhumi' or 'God's own Country'.

The Sufi saint Kabir, Guru Nanak Devji, the founder of the Sikh tradition, Mahatma Gandhi and the two Sai Babas clearly stand out as pillars of human values -- spiritual egalitarianism. Unfortunately their message tends to get lost in the milieu with results more than visible! This degeneration cannot be attributed to foreign invasions as many hindus are wont to do. It has happened due to the inherent weakness of the host culture of this country, the Brahminical perspective nurtured by the followers of Adi Shankaracharya, a factor few are willing to even look at.

The political vision which has evolved is reactive rather than proactive as is evident from the response to the attack on the Parliament three years ago. That hindutva has created politicians unable to protect our national borders is clear from the fact that when Sri Vajpayee, PM, was shaking hands with Chinese leaders in Beijing a year ago, the Chinese army was walking into and captured Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh.

In spite of this, the PM went ahead to sign a treaty concerning the opening of the Nathu La Pass in neighbouring Sikkim to trade with the PRC. Currently, in spite of warnings repeatedly given to the GOI years ago, it has fallen asleep over the Chinese threat to its northern borders, now exemplified by the recent intrusions mid November into Bhutan and the capturing of its territory in open violation of international norms and treaties. Simply stated, the political will is lacking!

It is therefore that the legacy of any individual, Adi Shankaracharya, Dalai Lama or anyone else, can never be or viewed in monochrome but in its totality of hues and nuances. This is for the simple reason of their human-ness.

For the devout Hindu, Adi Shankaracharya, c. 450 CE, is the very manifestation of Lord Shiva -- a saint spontaneously manifest for the weal of the world -- the Great Reformer.

An objective historical analysis would prove that he was directly influenced by events in the century preceding him by events in the Christian Church. The pantheon of gods, epics, legends, myths, philosophical treatises, meditation texts and so on created by him and the highly imaginative Brahmins, empowered to flourish under his dispensation, patronised by kings who knew no better, derive from the ancient Greek and Roman experience as also from various Buddhist traditions then extant.

This is evident from the fact that prior to Adi Shankara, the vaidik pantheon, echoed in the Buddhist Pali Canon, was not nearly as colourful and diverse as the one currently accepted. The current animated rendering of the myth of Hanuman would best be compared to the Harry Potter series.

What is really amazing is that even intelligent Hindus simply guzzle down the fare presented to them without so much as batting an eyelid! Such is the obfuscation deeply impressed upon the Hindu psyche. And it is fed by only too willing High Priests of the traditions whose very existence depends on the largesse of their following! This is clearly a modern echo of the famous statement of Jesus -- 'Ye have made the House of God into a den of thieves,' two thousand years ago!

The reformist Arya Samaj movement of Swami Dayananda Saraswati of the late nineteenth century in India was an attempt to bypass brahminism and revert back to the purity of the vaidik dispensation. It met with limited success perhaps because it had no place for colour and variety -- an inherently human requirement. It has been noticed however, that its priests now are as corrupt as their Brahmin counterparts, thus vitiating the efforts of their founder in its entirety!

These Brahmins successfully recreated a cultural history of this sub-continent, taking shards of historical facts from different parts of the world and spinning incredibly clever tales around them, creating gods and personalities, both god-like and human, possessing extraordinary powers, duping the people with their supposed wisdom and erudition. Mythological cities were created out of nowhere, some transposed on to existing ones changing them from Buddhist to purportedly Hindu. Notably Ayodhya was transposed on the Buddhist city of Saket in the tenth century. The religisio-political upheavals deriving from this in the previous decade is a hark back to medieval times, addressing itself to a basic fact of life in northern India -- the usurpation of Hindu and Buddhist religious places by Muslims during the previous millennium.

The Vishnu Purana, in which the historical Buddha is made to appear an incarnation of Vishnu, discussing the purported multiple avataars of Vishnu, dates back to the century preceding. A concept of time, totally beyond human imagination, was enunciated through these supposedly religious texts merely perpetrating obscurantism. Whereas the west has succeeded somewhat in transcending the obscurantism of church doctrine, in Asia and Africa, it is the reverse which is true. It is amazing that similar fairy tales have not been authored in the form of a Jesus Purana or a Mohammed Purana or for that matter, a Vidyut Purana in Bihar to appease the goddess of electricity in a state where power shortages are endemic.

It is to the credit of the depth and vastness of their thought processes and their social skills deriving from a gut level survival instinct, that eventually their world view permeated every single aspect of human life, to the exclusion of any and all other traditions and continues to be blindly accepted even now. This in spite of the fact that it entailed the suppression and exploitation of nearly eighty percent of the population by a mere twenty. Even Muslims and Christians have incorporated social anomalies such as the caste system, dowry and so on, drawing from the above.

The country was, in this way, deprived of a written history, a realistic recording of events as they occurred, a fact noted in the eleventh century by Al Berruni, the famous Arab historian and scholar who had visited India. This obscurantism was necessary as otherwise Brahmincal authenticity would be questioned and its power diminish.

Irrefutable evidence emerges from a study of the language employed in each of these works which enable historians to date compositions. In some, such as the Mahabharata, the idiom, metrical renderings and compositions clearly reveal that its creation took place over centuries and is a collage rather than a composite whole written by a single towering intellect. The less said about the Ramayana, various Hindu tantras, shastras and so on, the better!

The stranglehold these wily Brahmins had over the populace was and remains so complete that the common person is left with no alternative but to believe in them and rely upon Brahmins implicitly. Over a period of time, with the same set of fabrications endlessly repeated, evolved into what is now unquestionable tradition and purported truths.

It was the Brahmins alone, racially pure Aryans, sic., who were the keepers of this supposedly timeless spiritual and religious knowledge. It is they who benefited economically the most, wielding unquestionable religious clout under the kshatriya kings, who ensured their continuation and their own as well, deriving sanction from pseudo scriptures.

Karl Marx had once said, 'Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. Religion is the opium of the people!' Perhaps it is due to this that hinduism spread -- the suppression, both religious, intellectual and temporal by the upper castes of the majority of Indians. Desperation was purposefully created and when those in despair had no where else to turn, Brahminism was presented as the sole repose.

It is also known that he institutionalised the persecution of Buddhists during his short life span of 32 years. In actuality Adi Shankaracharya had spent his early years until the death of his mother at 15 in a Buddhist monastery. It was when his Abbott refused him permission to cremate his mother, so the story goes, that he had revolted and become rabidly anti Buddhist. He then went on to persuade local kings to patronise his version of hinduism which he termed 'sanatana dharma'.

Simultaneously he destroyed Buddhist monasteries, killing monks and capturing their religious sites and teachings making them 'hindu'. Towards the end of his short life, defeated in debate by the Buddhist Mahapandita Vasubandhu, Adi Shankaracharya was compelled to embrace Buddhism once again, as was the norm then. He died out of the sheer shame of his defeat!

The Buddhist origins of traditional Indian medicine now known as Ayurveda, date back to Jivaka, the Buddha's physician. Similarly the study of astrology, astronomy, science and mathematics were all within the ambit of Buddhist culture in India before being usurped by 'sanaatan dharma' .

Given the above, it is a wonder that any good can come from an edifice with foundations as questionable as these. Yet, as with the Christian Church, an element of grace does permeate this tradition and is transmitted on. This is really paradoxical and indicates that Divinity compulsively manifests compassion in human situations in spite of it all with the sole intent of providing a balm to humanity.

There is a distinct difference however. The Blessed Pope John Paul II had repeatedly prayed, it was counted as ninety three times, to God seeking forgiveness for the acts of commission and omission of the Church. A photograph of him on bended knees with hands folded at the advent of the twenty first century speaks of his greatness. He has also been uncompromising concerning the sexual proclivities of his clergy!

Pertinently, neither the leaders of Hinduism, nor the Dalai Lama, have the moral courage to express such remorse and engage in any penitence. They never committed any mistakes anyway, nor do their faithful adherents and disciples, remaining completely pure and unblemished! The moment human culpability is acknowledged, their entire edifice would simply crumble away!

'Hindutva' certainly has a hoary past of its own which its followers wantonly overlook! The same is equally true of the Dalai Lama and his Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism! It is their very basic identity which thus gets questioned. It is questionable as to how many people are open minded, content as most are to blindly accept and follow tradition. This in spite of the historic Buddha having repeatedly exhorted his followers to be aware.

Few if any are even willing to look deeply inside their traditions or even their ownselves to in a search for possible solutions to life situations! The stress remains to be successful materially at the expense of personal growth. The modern educational system in India and the all pervasive media certainly fosters this!

Is it any wonder then that fundamentalist sections of Islam actively refer to both as works of the shaitaan!

The process of modernisation, as is evident from the experience in Sikkim and neighbouring Kingdom of Bhutan, is that it introduces with it a tremendous amount of negative traits which traditional cultures are unable to cope with, resulting in the increase of disharmony at all levels!

The present Dalai Lama has not been spontaneously born of a lotus as many westerners are wont to believe! He is the product of four centuries of human history -- a human being himself as culpable as any. Even a perfunctory reading of Tibetan history will reveal the scale of the gore and destruction which accompanied the ascension of the Fifth Dalai Lama, purportedly the Great Fifth, to the throne of Tibet in 1642 CE in a manner which would have done Ghenghis Khan overly proud.

In fact, Alta Khan, the Mongolian warlord who created this institution had claimed for himself as being the reincarnation of Kublai Khan a grandson of the illustrious Genghis. Thus was ushered in a period of the emergence of the so-called 'reformed' Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism as a political force and political interference in the selection of reincarnated Lamas. The video documentary titled The Dalai Lamas, created by the renowned Prof Robert Thurman of the USA and available with the so-called Govt of Tibet in exile, will certainly shed more light on this!

One is left wondering as to whether a person such as the Great Fifth could ever have even reincarnated given the amount of blood, gore and destruction of non-Gelugpa monks and monasteries he was responsible for. But then, karma supposedly spared him, or as his followers would maintain, the Dalai Lamas are beyond the Law of Karma, not to mention international or Indian laws!

Modern readers will be incredulous that the Dalai Lama had actually sent an assassination squad for the Xth Gyalwang Karmapa which fortunately failed in its mission! In 1792 C.E. the Xth Shamar incarnation of the Karma Kagyu too had been incarcerated by the Gelugpa Govt. This was repeated too during the lifetime of the present Dalai Lama. Little is known outside Tibetan circles that in the nineteen seventies conspiracies hatched and bounties declared to eliminate Their Holinesses the XVIth Gyalwang Karmapa, Dudjom Rinpoche, Dhilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Penor Rinpoche amongst others! Naturally the reader not familiar with Tibetan undercurrents will be simply aghast at these assertions!

Indians will perhaps not believe that the Gelugpa Govt [of so-called free] Tibet then had actually imposed 'jazia' or a religious tax, on all the other traditions of Tibetan Buddhism during its extended reign. Thus was born sectarianism in Tibet which has spilled over into the modern world with the diaspora now epitomised by the Dalai Lama.

Is it not then that the present Dalai Lama is himself the product of a sectarian momentum sans compere in the history of Tibetan Buddhism? Can it then be stated unequivocally that he was truly deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1988?

It is therefore extremely peculiar to read encomium upon encomium showered upon the present Dalai Lama by the Indian media. Clearly journalists such as Mahesh Dattani who has written about him in Last Word, The Week, Aug 21, 05, have no idea concerning Tibet and its violent past or even a figment of truth behind the Nobel Peace laureate's facade of peace of non-violence. The Dalai Lama in his wisdom, has failed miserably to provide a socio-economic vision to his peoples in the free world. His fight for a Free Tibet, the establishment of a Tibetan Parliament under a democratic constitution of Free Tibet, are in themselves insufficient to provide sustenance for Tibetans.

The Dalai Lama's PR Managers, present day Tibetan Brahmins, continue to write and rewrite the Dalai Lama Purana, successfully weaving and spinning tales of his purported righteousness and excellence with the unfailing support of ill-informed western devotees and disciples. He too contributes to this process by posing to be a peacenik and writing books about various issues which appeal to the western consciousness, successfully hiding the truth concerning him in the process. All this go to create an incredible fairy tale to be told as bedtime stories to children!

Brahmins in ancient India had done just the same -- extolling the glory of that which was according to their perception, supposedly once India -- a fictitious product of their fertile imagination! Even currently, Sai Baba of Shirdi is the target of one such effort of combining myth with reality in Ramanand Sagar's rendering of this saint's life. It is widely at variance with the truth concerning this saint as is known through folklore.

Is it not beyond imagination that simply because a handful of Tibetans treat the Dalai Lama as their Holy Prophet and Messiah, that it be expected by them that the rest of the world too must do likewise, irrespective of any other consideration! Is he any different from an overly glorified 'tribal chieftain' or a 'witch doctor'?

But then Tibetans have a tremendous stake in the Dalai Lama myth. It is a foregone conclusion that he will ever go back to Tibet in spite of all the guiles and wiles of his infamous elder brother Gyalo Thondup, residing in Beijing and the international intrigues he so willingly authors for an exceedingly compliant younger brother, The Holiness Dalai Lama. However, the very existence of Tibetan peoples in the free world depends entirely on him. He is "the Tibetans' face in this world", not the 'Face of Buddhism' as Time had mistakenly stated a few years ago, unless of course it is to be construed that Tibetanism is the only form of Buddhism extant which really matters, others being relegated to history!

Free Tibet is certainly a lost cause in terms of translating into reality given the situation there. The Dalai Lama continues to harp on this for the simple reason that it earns him international sympathy and provides him and thousands of Tibetans with the means for collecting massive amounts as donations from gullible westerners. No proper records are maintained of the manner in which funds accrue to him and his compatriots and how they are spent.

It is not unusual for 'poor' Tibetan refugee women to be sporting heavy bracelets made of solid gold! Naturally, he does not pay taxes -- the God King is unaccountable to anyone on earth! Nor do the others! It is not well known that a large amount of this largesse showered on him has been diverted to creating a multi million dollar palatial complex near Chandigarh spanning eighteen acres for this person who calls himself a 'simple monk'. It is questionable as to who all are benefiting from this, given that the Dalai Lama is reaching the end of his natural lifespan!

It is not conceivable that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue after his demise out of sheer political expediency! Given his track record, it is doubtful that the Govt of India be even willing to create anew a parallel locus of control as it has permitted with the XIVth Dalai Lama. This is the reason why he and his cohorts are attempting to achieve the most to perpetrate their vision while he is yet alive! Time is clearly no longer on their side!

It is his name which provides Tibetans with a standing in this world, which ensures that the UNHCR deals with them preferentially enabling thousands to continue to migrate to the western lands of their dreams. It is all together another issue that hiding behind his charisma, a frighteningly large number of Tibetans engage in the entire range of crimes in this world. In Nov 05 Maneka Gandhi, MP, was constrained to say openly in a TV interview on India TV that the only remedy for preventing the illegal trade in tiger parts and tiger skins is to have all the Tibetans removed from the suburb known as Majnu ka Tila in old Delhi. Coming as it does from a seasoned ecologist, in the wake of photographs of such skins being openly flaunted in Lhasa, it conveys a profound message which cannot be lost on the world -- the Tibetans are simply not 'simple peace loving people' as is given to believe.

Given the similarities as stated above, between the Adi Shankaracharya and the Dalai Lama, is it any wonder then that Hindu leaders, including the National Democratic Alliance dispensation, extend their unqualified support to him?

Clearly the Govt of India, GOI, is behind promoting him blindly even though it is fully aware that with the patronage he enjoys from Uncle Sam and the west, his close links with Beijing and the ISI, no friends of this country, he is actually involved in international intrigues to destabilise India. The Karmapa Controversy is one such.

In the early seventies he was integral to a failed coup through which he intended to make Bhutan his homestead. One is left wondering as to the recently detected intrusion into Bhutanese territory by the Chinese, is part and parcel of his realpolitik! Similarly the Maitreya Project, earlier slated to be executed near Bodh Gaya and then near Kushinagar in UP, has been shelved with the GOI understanding that this would merely emerge as a shield for furthering complex intrigues, insurgency and other illegal activities in the country at which many Tibetans simply excel. It may be recalled that the purported Karmapa Urgen Trinlay Dorje was actually smuggled across this border by a group of Tibetans specialising in preparing fake documents and bringing Tibetans across to India from Nepal.

It is pertinent to note that the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama and his subsequent rise to prominence was concomitant with the impending disintegration of the former USSR. Evidently the USSR had been able to keep him under considerable check during the Cold War.

It is little known that the so-called Govt of Tibet in Exile, with all its sovereign trappings, which he runs from his headquarters in Dharamsala, HP, does not have the sanction of Indian or international laws! Moreover his name is actually spelt Taala'i Lama! But then the Dalai Lama is beyond human laws and language or so his following would have us believe! He is a law unto himself and may do as he may please!

Is this any different from those of that faith such as Osama bin Laden, who seek to impose the Sharia in accordance with the Sunni Wahhabi tradition of Islam, throughout the world, repudiating man made laws concerning democracy, freedom, human rights and so on as the cry has recently gone up in Bangladesh? No, it must be 'Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama uber alles!'

Only the methods are different. The Dalai Lama openly professes non-violence, peace, harmony and so on, while actively engaging in its exact opposite amongst his own peoples. With their active participation -- he has successfully engendered a massive schism within Tibetan Buddhism through the Karmapa Affair. His belief in democracy, human rights and so on moreover, is confined merely to those who agree with him. Those who don't must be liquidated! All this is hidden extremely well from the world under the auspices of his patrons, the President of the USA and other western leaders.

The proposed opening of the Nathu La Pass to trade from the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the Peoples' Republic of China is integral to his personal agenda of harming India, that country which has given shelter to him and his hundred thousand compatriots when they had nowhere else to go! This is exactly how he repays this country for all it has done for him!

Those whose viewpoints are at variance with his in anyway, must be liquidated by his establishment through black magic or simply brute force. India has seen sufficient evidence of this until now! The assassinations of Gungthang Tsultrim in Clement Town, Dehra Doon, May 1978 and HE Jamgon Rinpoche of Rumtek, Sikkim, April 1992. It had emerged during the prosecution of the former's assassin that the Dalai Lama and his establishment were directly involved. It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs that in such instances, the so-called high Lama is exonerated with the blame being passed on to his underlings. This merely negates the modern principle of responsibility and accountability.

Notable too was the attack on the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute in New Delhi March 17, 1994 by the Dalai Lama's followers and clearly at his instance, during a small presentation ceremony of HH the XVIIth Gyalwang Karmapa Thaye Trinley Dorje, documented as irrefutable by a video camera. This had gone on for over three hours and a criminal case had followed on its heels against those who had vandalised the institute!

Dec 12, 1998 his supporters had attacked this writer who together with two others, had put up banners questioning the purported sovereign authority of the Dalai Lama, highlighting Chinese meddlesomeness in front of the High Court Patna, Bihar. They were unarmed and were merely attempting to create an awareness in India distributing an article written by Jaishankar Gupta and published in Hindustan, Aug 24, 1998, a Hindi daily from New Delhi, the title of which translates as 'A conspiracy is being hatched to dismember Sikkim from India' -- www.lamashree.org.

The Dalai Lama had just then landed in Patna and had been briefed about the banners and article resulting in this attack! The reporter has subsequently been warned by his Director to refrain from 'getting involved in Tibetan politics' as was conveyed to him! It needs to be asked of him and his cohorts as to why they are harming the national interests of India. No, it is not kosher to engage in exposes concerning the DL! Democracy in action, DL style, isn't it? Unfortunately he forgets that any attempt to victimise a legitimate movement merely adds to its strength! This writer looks forward to the time in the near future when the truth concerning the Dalai Lama will be known throughout the world, the facade of his subterfuge disintegrates totally in shatters!

It is his sectarian background combined with Chinese political ambitions which has manifest in the form of the imbroglio now known as The Karmapa Affair. In this, driven by his sense of racial superiority, Chinese involvement and sectarian vengeance, he has recognised an impostor as the XVIIth Karmapa who is medically about ten years older than his purported age as stated by the Dalai Lama. This person, Urgen Trinlay Dorjee, is constrained to live in Dharamsala, HP with his mentor. Clearly the Govt of India is aware that there is every reason to believe that he has been sent by the PRC to further its long term agenda of the sinisation of the Himalayas!

It is unprecedented in the history of Tibet that a Karmapa incarnation be educated under the auspices of the Dalai Lamas, leader of the Gelgupa sect. Successive Karmapas have led their own Karma Kagyu tradition totally independent of the Dalai Lamas and/or the Gelugpas. This is akin to having the future Shankaracharya of Badrinath being groomed by the Shankaracharya of Kanchi! Or that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Head of the Church of England, be responsible for the education and election of a Pope of the Roman Catholic tradition!

Human culpability was at its highest when the Dalai Lama failed to obtain Beijing's sanction to his selection of the Panchen Lama. He had assumed that simply because he had acceded to Beijing's selection of the Karmapa incarnation, the PRC would oblige by let him select the next Panchen. How sadly mistaken he has been! He could have had the boy smuggled across to India and then recognised and instated him with full honours. Due to his lack of political acumen, the boy remains currently the youngest prisoner of conscience in the world! But the Tibetan community no longer discusses this -- 'Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama, uber alles!'

Ever since the murder of the young IVth Dalai Lama, a Mongolian grandson of Alta Khan, by Tibetans, the institution of 'trulkus' or incarnated Lamas has become subject to the usual forces of human manipulation -- in other words, a scam in its full blown glory! Perhaps the reader has never once wondered as to the reasons why the Dalai Lama has never, with one exception, recognised a non-Tibetan incarnation! That too was accomplished under tremendous duress from the large and economically powerful international following of the late Lama Yeshe, a fellow Gelugpa! Could it be that there simply aren't any Bodhisattvas having chosen to manifest amongst other than the chosen people or could it be for political reasons?

This writer recalls an exchange with H. E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, the moving force behind the Karmapa Imbroglio, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA summer of 1986. His American wife of those years, was carrying and there were indications that the child had been a Lama of the Karma Kagyu tradition previously. This writer had broached this with H. E. who snidely remarked, 'Well, someone has to recognise him first!' This writer was unable then to fathom the implications behind this profoundly simple statement. Similarly, this writer too has yet to be given his rightful place in the spiritual hierarchy!

It is in this context that the phenomenon of a sixteen year old local lad Rambahadur, near Lumbini in Nepal has been immersed in samadhi for more than six months now, is extremely pertinent and highly refreshing. The youngster already emanates the aura of holiness with locals regarding him as an incarnation of the Buddha. The Tibetan hierarchy will certainly do all in its power to disempower him as he is not 'lebensborn', in exactly the same way as they have destroyed the authentic Indian incarnation of the XVIth Gyalwang Karmapa!

They have already done this with the person of Dinchhen Rinpoche of Mungpoo, Darjeeling. This person was ethnically a Tamang, an off shoot of the Tibetan race. He emerged as a Lama in his own right in the 1980s. This writer had first encountered him, a yogi in his twenties with long hair, during the extended Rinchhen Terdzo transmissions in Sonada, Darjeeling, being given by H. E. Kalu Rinpoche and attended by the Karma Kagyu hierarchy. The Lamas would have absolutely nothing to do with him. This writer too, then overly enamoured by the Tibetan phenomena, had simply disregarded him as a deviant.

Ven Dinchhen Rinpoche established himself in a small village called Mungpoo as a 'self-arisen yogi or lama' -- an unique person in his own right. His forte lay that he was able to reach out to the ordinary resident of the hills, guide them with his accurate prognostications, care for them with efficacious rituals and instruct them in the rudiments of Buddhism in the local vernacular urging them to practise regularly, arranging extended meditation sessions for them and so on.

By the time of his untimely demise Dec 15, 02 in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, he had established a temple in Mungpoo where locals would actively practice meditations. Moreover he would overstretch himself to serve the poor, the sick and the needy in direct contrast with the Tibetan establishment steeped in self-importance and committed to self preservation.

It was he who had naively recognised the Indian incarnation of the XVIth Gyalwang Karmapa prior to his impending birth and also openly summer, 1986. Clearly it was this that had sent alarm bells ringing in the corridors of Tibetan hierarchy resulting in the hasty recognition of the Chinese incarnation on the basis of a fabricated Prediction Letter! 'How could the Karmapa ever be from any other than a Tibetan?' This was sentiment repeatedly thrown at this writer in those early days!

The last time this writer and his family had a private audience with Ven. Dinchhen Rinpoche in Mungpoo, May 02, the venerable Lama had expressed his fears about discussing the Karmapa issue. He had clearly stated that he had been warned by Tibetan agents of the Dalai Lama to stay away from the Karmapa Affair.

His untimely death too has a story of its own. His personal doctor based in Gangtok had revealed to this writer after the Lama's demise, that Nov 4 onwards, the Lama had been consulting him over the phone telling him that he was going to die soon as he was having some very bad dreams. His doc had told him not to worry and advised some sedatives.

Mid Nov the Lama fell sick with a liver complaint and was promptly taken down to Siliguri where he was hospitalised. By Nov 22 he was recovering. Devotees once again started to meet him for darshan. Shortly thereafter his condition deteriorated and he was shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, amongst the best in New Delhi, the first week of Dec. By a strange coincidence this writer had visited the hospital the afternoon prior to his demise when he saw him asleep. The next day at about half past four in the afternoon, he had complained of a burning sensation in his abdomen, following which he had died. Apparently his portal vein had burst, by all accounts, an exceptional event!

It is only too apparent to the discerning that the ven Lama was murdered by the Dalai Lama through the use of black magic at which he and his followers are extremely adept. But hush! This must not be revealed to the outside world! Incidentally black magic is considered by 'hindutva' to be a legitimate means of furthering one's aims and ambitions as well, with Swamis and Gurus either directly involved in such misguided attempts or condoning and acquiescing in their disciples and devotees indulging themselves in this way.

The early demise of Sri K. P. R. Bandhu of New Delhi after a prolonged mysterious cerebral disease a year later, too has a story of its own. He was an active and outspoken Indian Buddhist who had never hesitated to call a spade a spade. He was the founder of the All India Buddhist Coordination Committee, New Delhi, an active member of Reiyukai and the founder of the Bokaro Buddha Vihar, Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand. He also enjoyed a tremendous amount of goodwill amongst Buddhists throughout the country which in itself was an amazing accomplishment. In various issues of Udbodhan, later Yug Udbodhan, a bilingual Hindi-English monthly, he had published various articles concerning the Karmapa Affair showing the Tibetan establishment in a bad light. It is not a matter of speculation really that he paid the price of being a patriotic Indian, silenced by this Nobel laureate using the same powers of darkness.

The playground where the sordid Karmapa intrigue is being unraveled is Sikkim and the neighbouring Darjeeling hills. It is common knowledge that the Chinese have, over the preceding fifteen years or more, deeply penetrated the political establishment in that state through their largesse, so much so that Dharma Chakra Centre, the Seat of the Karmapas in Rumtek, Sikkim has been under the control of pro-Chinese forces since 1992. The clamour for the opening of the Nathu La Pass, trade with China and so on, are all various aspects of this conspiracy which seeks to create a Chinese enclave in Sikkim. The army brass continues to warn the govt of this precipitous decision and its potential weaknesses!

The recently detected Chinese incursions into the Kingdom of Bhutan in November should send alarm bells ringing throughout the country and the world, concerning the PRC's actual intentions in the Himalayas. Pertinent is the confidential report of the Chief Secretary of Sikkim of May 1997 in which this issue is clearly discussed. By some chance, no records of this report exist in his office in Gangtok as also New Delhi! But then does India have many in power and command who are able to mull over such profundities and protect the national interest particularly when large sums of money are freely transferred as gratuities? And does the west have any genuine interest in this region and its welfare?

The entry of the Dalai Lama into Sikkim in 1993 is also highly questionable. During a visit in the late eighties, HE Goshri Gyaltsab Rinpoche, an immediate disciple of HH the XVIth Gyalwang Karmapa of Rumtek, had ritually purified the throne on which he had sat. During its four centuries as an independent kingdom, Sikkim adhered solely to the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism with the Karmapas having an influence as well. The Gelugpas and their leader, the Dalai Lama, were nowhere to be seen as is still the situation in the Kingdom of Bhutan. The Sikkimese, off shoots of the Tibetan race, are still considered racially inferior to them!

It is only as the Karmapa Affair became more and more sordid that he was invited to Sikkim to perform the Kalachakra empowerments by the Govt of Sikkim. The situation now is that the Gelugpas are attempting to set up shop in that state with varying degrees of success as the local sentiment is very much against them. Clearly the historical animosity of the other traditions of Tibetan Buddhism towards the extremely self-righteous, corrupt and bellicose Gelugpas, is the principal driving factor.

Strictly applying the authentic teachings of the Buddha to this Nobel Laureate, given the above scenario, one would not be surprised to learn that the Dalai Lama has long forfeited, the right to remain a monk in the Buddha's Dispensation, not to mention give advanced teachings and initiations of the Vajrayana. In short, he has broken the Pratimoksha Vows and irreparably broken the Vajrayana Covenants.

This powerful message needs to be deeply understood by all! Yet he poses to the world as if he is the very embodiment of righteousness -- a simple monk he calls himself! What blatant hypocrisy! In direct contrast are the humility of the Blessed Pope John Paul II and of course Mother Teresa, yet another Nobel Peace laureate!

Similar is the case with the Kanchi Shankaracharya and his junior currently being tried for the murder of Shankar Raman, a former official of their Muth. There is one truth which needs to be understood and accepted by all -- there are no longer saints abroad such as Milarepa, St. Francis of Assissi and Kabir or Guru Nanak Dev.

Each and every Swami, Guru, Lama is a human being and equally culpable. It is the quirks of history and their individual circumstances which either elevates them or brings them to the level of ordinary humanity. To ascribe supra human qualities to any of them without personal and proper study of the persona each embodies, can only be fraught with danger both for the aspirant as also for the world at large as has become amply evident.

The authentic Tibetan incarnated XVIIth Gyalwang Karmapa now, is Thaye Trinlay Dorje who currently lives in Kalimpong, Darjeeling. He is acclaimed throughout the world during his multiple travels in India and abroad -- www.karmapa.org. The Dalai Lama will have none of this as it is not in accord with his agenda of religious and racial hegemony -- his version of Nazism. This youngster is far too liberal in his outlook and not hemmed in by Tibetan Nazism. In fact he has repeatedly stated as had the XVIth that his mission was the Dharma alone!

He is also completely beyond the Dalai Lama's control as was his immediate predecessor. Moreover, he has attended a peace conference in Mumbai April 9-10, 05 where he walked through the streets with fellow Buddhists. This was repeated by his presence in Bhopal November 19 - 22, 05 for the bicentennial celebration of the Deekhsha Samaroha of Dr. Ambedkar. He had then gone on to U.P. for the installation of five statues of the Tathagata in Agra and elsewhere Nov 24 - 26. Clearly he is emerging as the peoples' lama in direct contrast with the omniscient and omnipotent Dalai Lama!

The intelligent reader is urged to verify each and every assertion made in this article for one's ownself! There will certainly be errors, as the writer is merely human, but for the most part it will be found that the assertions made here will stand the test of time! This article is actually the product of a questioning process of this writer himself. He too had accepted the vision of Hinduism implicitly as also the greatness of the Dalai Lama. It is only when the process of questioning started that both these edifices began to collapse in his mind as a stack of cards. Tradition has no place for such introspection: 'This is our tradition. One may accept it or leave it! No answers to incisive queries will ever be provided!'

Those interested in deepening their understanding of the Tibetan phenomenon known as the Dalai Lama, in greater depth are referred to Writ Petition # 613 of 2000, Supreme Court of India - S. N. Singh vs GOI & ors. This was unfortunately dismissed as otherwise it would have embarrassed the GOI to no end -- www.lamashree.org.

Current however, is the Original Suit # 2199 of 2003 pending in Delhi High Court - S. N. Singh, this writer, vs GOI & ors which delves into the questions of authenticity of Urgyen Trinlay Dorjee as the XVIIth Karmapa -- www.lamashree.org.

The book 'The Water Bird and Other Years', written by K. Thondup, a Tibetan, in 1987, available from his widow Dr. Dolkar at D-10 Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 015, sheds tremendous light on the Tibetan psyche and polity. Any person who reads this book will be compelled to question the Dalai Lama and what all he represents! He or she will be compelled to ask highly embarrassing questions about the Tibetan administration to which it will have no answers. Amazingly the author died shortly after the publication of this work, certainly due to black magic employed by the so-called Govt of Tibet in exile for his having written the truth concerning his country.

The saddest aspect of it all is that in spite of the greatest personal tragedies suffered, the families of both H.E. Jamgon Rinpoche of Rumtek and of K. Thondup, both Tibetan, simply accept the situation passively rather than standing up for themselves and their rights. The medieval influence of obscurantism and unquestionable feudal loyalty exerted by the Dalai Lama on their consciousness is deeply embedded in their psyche! Is it then any wonder the Chinese resolutely keep him away from Tibet?

A dvd titled The Flight of a Karmapa, which has been submitted as evidence in OS 2199 of 2003 above, compelingly traces the purported flight of Urgyen Trinlay Dorjee to India. It is available from info@nachtvision.net. An earlier production titled Karmapa - Two Ways of Divinity, is available from Norway.

What is even more intriguing is the fact that the GOI, as does the US Govt, forbids the media to give accurate portrayals of the Dalai Lama. This Nobel Peace laureate has moreover, a dedicated following of key personalities throughout the country who continually receive largesse and accolades from him. Their loyalties are highly questionable! For such, the truth is anathema, national concerns of no consequence whatsoever, content as they are to blindly worship and promote him! Clearly they consider him to be an avatara of Vishnu, conveniently forgetting that all such avataras have invariably been of Aryan, not of Mongolian descent!

Obviously the GOI is afraid that once truths concerning him are made public, his carefully cultivated international image will be tarnished. Uncle Sam will be extremely unhappy if this happens as also the rest of the caucasian world!

It is therefore that the cover page of Outlook Aug 22, 05 boldly pronounces with reference to 'Heroes & Villains of 1947': 'No one was all white. Or black. They shaped India with a band of bit players. All enacting their own scripts.'

Given that even the Father of the Nation, not to mention other prominent personalities in the world are continually being assessed and reassessed, certainly the Fourteenth Taala'i Lama merits a more realistic appraisal!

But then the entire world of phenomenon is akin to a dream wherein every person is entitled to his or her own illusions! And who is this writer to question the validity of any such of any other?

There are possibly at least two reasons why Adi Shankaracharya struck a deep chord amongst Indians. It is difficult at this juncture to know actually what happened then. However, projecting backwards from the current state of affairs one may arrive at these two definitive conclusions.

Firstly, the entire process was in effect a knee jerk reaction to the Buddhist ethos of spiritual egalitarianism -- one which promoted moral discipline in daily life. This is evident from the work titled The Agama Shastra of Gaudapada published by Motilal Banarsidas, Varanasi, which contains also a sanatana commentary by Adi Shanakara of a genuine Buddhist shastra, the Agamashastra. As has been shown, his is a brazen attempt to distort a genuine Buddhist scripture using convoluted logic to appropriate it for the purpose of sanatanism or what is now termed 'hindutva'.

Another study on Chinnamasta published similarly too reveals the plagiarism of this hallowed saint. Similarly Ganapati has been appropriated from the Buddhist pantheon as also have Mahadeva and his consort Umadevi. It was left to the racially pure Brahmins who conversed with the gods in their language Sanskrit, to anthropologise them and create afresh, associations with the Linga.

An excellent example of this is the Balaji Purana through which an attempt is made to hinduise a Buddhist divinity. The same applies to Lord Jagannath. There is an account of a Buddhist Mahasiddha dressed in rags who was repeatedly refused entry into the temple by its priests. After a while he had sat down midway on the steps, taken out a conch and blown it, resulting in the limbs of the images falling off. The Brahmins then concocted their own story concerning him.

Clearly Buddhist traditions and divinities were all redefined to suit the Brahminical perspective. It would therefore be correct to posit the Buddhist origins of Yoga as it has commonly come to be known as together with its expositions of nadis, chakras and so on. The expanse of such perfidy is simply endless.

One is certainly left wondering as to who decided to represent hindu gods as humans with human traits and attributes. Could it not be that they were modeled after Zeus, Jupiter, Diana and Venus? Or was it that Brahmins with their tremendous spiritual prowess had actual access to these gods and divinities and saw them manifest as such?

Secondly rulers in particular were looking for a rationale, religious sanction, much like the Divine Right of Kings, to legitimise their dispensations. Brahmins, finding themselves beset by the radical definition of a Brahmin in the Tipitaka or Buddhist Canon deriving on inherent merit, were seeking a way to justify and maintain the grip they had on the populace both for themselves and their progeny. It provided the necessary rationale for exploitation!

Adi Shankara obliged both solidifying the caste system into what is now its inflexible form. Thus ethnicity and descent became the sole considerations for social status, rather than merit as enunciated by the Buddha.

This also gave the merchant class its own place. Buddhists, naturally, were classified as shudras forming the last rung in this scheme of things. They were to be reviled, shunned and ostracised. One is left wondering as to whether this is any different from the perspectives of institutionalised Christianity and Islam which divides the world between believers and non-believers resulting in the social disempowerment of the latter. An inordinate amount of blood has been shed in the names of various religions throughout the world and continues to be done even today with the Dalai Lama contributing his share.

Dr. Ambedkar's philosophy was the most recent to penetrate this armour of racism rampant in this sub continent. It may not come as a surprise that even Muslims and Christians in India have their own castes, between whom inter marriage is not permitted. So much for the teachings of Jesus and Islam! Clearly there exists substance to the contention of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life extant throughout this subcontinent and taken to the west by emigres!

Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code merits a statement in this analysis. The author has skillfully wedded the glaring anomalies of Christian belief with a telling mystery in the form of a novel. Other serious studies such as Jesus Lived in India too deal with these issues. This writer, derives his inspiration from these works and looks forward to the emergence of similar revealing literature concerning Hinduism and Tibetanism which will hold the attention of the world community in its grip.

Thirdly it is apparent that Indians were not then as also now, comfortable with karma -- the ethics propounded by Buddhism. Adi Shankara went around this highly sensitive issue by cloaking morality in extremely abstruse language such as karma, sakaama karma and nishkaama karma, concerning which modern day religious orators wax exceedingly eloquent.

Modern society naturally laps it up for the simple reason that it provides them the rationale to be crooked and dishonest in their daily life. They attempt to expiate for their misdemeanours by making massive donations of gold to Tirupati Balajee, High Priests, sponsoring religious festivals, religious talks and so on. Thus they hope to expiate their sins. Moreover, according to this tradition, deities may be ritually appeased to fulfill one's selfish desires irrespective of the karmic consequences involved!

The pet phrase in the Hindi speaking belt is 'karma karo,' or perform karma, concepts of right and wrong remaining confined to classrooms and moral science. This is to such an extent that the female foeticide or the persecution of brides, for the purpose of dowry, many of whom are burnt alive, has long ceased to be news in northern India. It should not come as a surprise that these elements are also evident in the Indian diaspora in the western hemisphere.

It is commonly understood that the world of business -- 'dhandhaa' in common parlance -- is corrupt where anything goes. The more sinister aspect of this are that politics and 'dhandhaa' and administration and 'dhandhaa' are inseparably wedded. And of course, God is always there to be held responsible for one's misfortunes!

The recent revelations of MPs taking money to raise questions in Parliament by Aaj Tak, a Hindi news channel should not really come as a surprise. It must have been rampant until it was exposed by the media Dec 12, 05. The expulsion of eleven Members of Parliament Dec 23, 05 is a sad reflection of the status quo in the country. The hypocrisy of those who voted for this motion too is beyond compare, as by definition, politicians are corrupt. Clearly their only fault of these eleven, for which they have been punished, is that they were caught in the process.

The sword also hangs on another set of MPs who have been filmed taking commissions on the release of public funds entrusted to them for development work in individual constituencies. This is merely the proverbial tip of the iceberg as by definition a politician in India is corrupt and an opportunist!

An assessment has revealed that if all the slush funds stashed away in Swiss banks and elsewhere in the world were taken into account, India would long ago have had a national surplus, without the need to ever turn to the IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other agencies!

Similarly the accommodation provided to legislators both in New Delhi and elsewhere are conveniently utilised for business purposes either giving the premises on rent or as in the case of Bihar recently, for dairy farming. It is reported that an earlier Governor of this state also ran a poultry farm from his official residence the Raj Bhawan, making rare delicacies available locally.

Would it be improper at this stage to mention that a number of such political luminaries continue to occupy sprawling bungalows in the heart of the capital even though their terms have expired? Neither do they pay rent nor have any intention of vacating these premises for those who officially require them.

Is it any wonder then, that Indians are not known for their integrity in the world comity ranking exceedingly high in the corruption scale?

This IS the legacy of Adi Shankara in its raw form! That of the Dalai Lama is no different!

The only hope the country has lies in a vibrant and active media which does not hesitate to focus on current affairs impartially and expose the ills prevalent in the country. This article is being written with the intention that it will shake people out of their somnolescence and inspire them to embark on a journey of questioning and self discovery!

'The deepest personal defeat suffered by human beings is constituted by the difference between what one is capable of becoming and what one has in fact become.' Ashley Montagu

'Those who have ears to hear, let them hear!'

Iti shubham! New Year, 2006