XPost: alt.philosophy.zen, alt.religion.buddhism, alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan   
   XPost: cn.culture.buddhism, uk.religion.buddhist   
   From: peter.terpstra7@gmail.com   
      
   Who is demonstrating against the Dalai Lama? [Questions and Answers about the   
   New Kadampa Tradition]   
      
   by Carol McQuire   
   Who is demonstrating against the Dalai Lama?   
      
   The protests against His Holiness the Dalai Lama are organised by the   
   International Shugden Community (ISC) whose directors   
   are senior teachers and members of the New Kadampa Tradition – International   
   Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU). They   
   are supported on the ground by other NKT followers and a minority of Tibetan   
   Shugden practitioners who have proven links to   
   Chinese interests.   
      
   NKT teachers are all volunteers with no contracts or worker’s rights,   
   although some are paid. There is some evidence from 2008   
   that shows a senior NKT teacher was removed from her NKT teaching role after   
   publicly criticising the protests against His   
   Holiness.   
      
   What is the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT)?   
      
   The NKT is a controversial New Religious Movement – academically analysed as   
   being appreciably different from mainstream   
   Buddhism. It was created as a legal entity by a Tibetan Buddhist monk called   
   Kelsang Gyatso and his students in 1992. It can be   
   called ‘separatist’ due to its official policies of separation from all   
   Tibetan teachers except Kelsang Gyatso. Centres are advised   
   never to accept invitations and to ignore requests for help from any Tibetan   
   Buddhist group or teacher. The NKT is mentioned   
   several times in an academic pamphlet on religious extremism in UK   
   universities.   
   The NKT functions like a ‘spiritual franchise’; each NKT centre or   
   business is a member of the ‘Kadampa Buddhist Union’, is   
   financially independent of the NKT and sustains any losses locally while all   
   profits are passed directly to the NKT through the   
   ‘International Temples Fund’. Each centre has to follow the ‘NKT   
   Constitution’ and ‘Internal Rules’. There are exceptions [See   
   “Who runs the NKT?”]   
   The NKT’s main daily spiritual practice chosen by Kelsang Gyatso is a Guru   
   prayer to Je Tsongkhapa combined with prayers to   
   Shugden, a Tibetan protector whose propitiation began in the 18th century   
   amongst an elite male group of Gelug tantric   
   meditators. The practice became popular during the 20th century until it was   
   seen as provocative of sectarian dispute.   
      
   How is the NKT set up legally?   
      
   The purpose of the NKT is to ‘increase Buddhist faith in the world’ by   
   ‘promoting the activities of the union of Kadampa   
   Buddhist Centres known as the NKT-IKBU’, to ‘introduce the Buddhist Faith   
   of the New Kadampa Tradition publicly’, to   
   ‘exemplify Buddhist practice by service to the public’ and to ’emphasize   
   the development’ of affiliated ‘Kadampa centres’,   
   ‘publishing activities’ and ‘companies’.   
   The NKT and each of its subsidiary businesses (such as centres) in the UK are   
   registered as both a ‘company’ and a ‘charity’   
   (giving them tax free status). All ‘NKT’ centres are therefore independent   
   businesses that are ‘spiritually affiliated’ with the   
   NKT but are legally and financially independent entities. In other countries,   
   a similar ‘independence’ is set up according to local   
   laws. Local directors of NKT centres are the persons responsible in case of   
   loss while the NKT generally takes no responsibility.   
   Exceptions are the one remaining ‘Kadampa Hotel’ in Holland and the   
   ‘Kadampa Primary School’; the former runs at a loss as   
   did the latter until 2014. The Spanish (and its subsidiary Taiwanese) company   
   owned by the NKT ran at a loss in 2014. The NKT   
   also owns the London Kadampa Meditation Centre (KMC) and the German   
   International Retreat Centre (IRC).   
   As stated by NKT sources, the ‘business lineage’ of the NKT is considered   
   equally as important as the spiritual in furthering the   
   aims of the charity.   
      
   How big is the NKT?   
      
   The NKT has roughly 48 affiliated residential ‘Kadampa Buddhist’ (KBC) and   
   ‘Kadampa Meditation’ (KMC) centres in the UK,   
   50 in the US, and more than 120 in the rest of the world. Approximately 600   
   venues are temporarily rented, often only by the   
   hour, for giving classes. Even adding the temporary venues this does not add   
   up to the ‘1,100 centres and groups’ the NKT claims   
   that Kelsang Gyatso has established.   
   The ‘World Peace Temples’ are temple buildings that are within the 16   
   Kadampa Meditation Centres such as that at Manjushri   
   KMC, the ‘mother centre’ of the NKT. There are 3 international retreat   
   centres, 32 World Peace Cafes, one ‘Kadampa Hotel’ in   
   Holland and a children’s ‘Kadampa Primary School’ in England. Tharpa   
   publishing company, which only publishes Kelsang   
   Gyatso’s books and translates these into other languages including Chinese,   
   has affiliates and distributes world wide. Profits are   
   also collected from the NKT’s worldwide festivals and celebrations and   
   through selling statues made in the Kadampa Art Studio   
   at Manjushri.   
      
   Where does the NKT’s money go?   
      
   Every NKT business has the same intention as stated in the NKT’s ‘Internal   
   Rules’ – ‘flourishing Kadam Dharma’ – all profits   
   are directed to their ‘International Temples Fund’ (ITF) – which aims to   
   create a New Kadampa Tradition temple in every major   
   city in the world.   
   Public accounts clarifying the specific activities and decisions of the   
   International Temple Fund (ITF) are not available. To get   
   some information about how these funds are collected from each NKT subsidiary   
   and what they are used for it is necessary to   
   view the financial accounts and websites of each NKT centre/business.   
   The ITF can only be seen as a few figures in the final section of accounts for   
   the ‘New Kadampa Tradition’. At the end of 2013,   
   the ITF had £2.8 million designated funds with £14.7 million available as   
   unrestricted funds giving a total of £17.5 million.   
   Including this, the NKT had a total declared fund of £20.7 million.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)