Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, May 5: The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, also known as Gaden Phodrang, has issued an announcement clarifying His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s unwavering position regarding the controversial propagation of the Dolgyal spirit, addressing misconceptions that have circulated since a 2021 statement. The Gaden Phodrang urged Tibetans to remain firm in their “collective stance” and not be swayed by attempts to “sow discord among Tibetans”, referencing that the Chinese government has tried to exploit this issue to create divisions within Tibetan communities.
The clarification, released on May 2, 2025, responded to deliberate misinterpretations by Dolgyal followers who claimed the Dalai Lama had reversed his decades-long guidance discouraging the practice. The announcement firmly states, “His Holiness’s position on restricting Dolgyal practices has clearly remained unchanged, as evidenced by his various statements.”
According to the announcement, confusion arose from a brief comment made during an online teaching to Tibetan youth on June 2, 2021, when the Dalai Lama said Dolgyal followers “should be objects of compassion and love”. This statement was subsequently misconstrued by some as a retraction of his previous position, the announcement asserted.
The statement clarified that the Dalai Lama was emphasising the importance of cultivating compassion toward all beings while still maintaining his stance against the practice itself. Shortly after that teaching, when His Holiness was informed about what the Dolgyal followers were saying, he responded: “My position on Dolgyal has not changed. As the Great Fifth Dalai Lama stated: ‘This evil spirit called Dragpa Gyaltsen, who makes false claims to being a Dharma protector, is a harmful spirit born from distorted aspirations”.
The announcement further stated that His Holiness’s recent statements further reinforce this position. On February 5, 2025, after a ceremony at Sera Thekchen Ling in South India, the Dalai Lama enquired about potential “disturbances” regarding Dolgyal, demonstrating his continued concern about the practice. Additionally, on April 7, 2025, when responding to a woman whose daughter was allegedly possessed by a spirit some called Shugden, His Holiness said, “It’s not Dolgyal. I can say that definitively. Because I have imposed restrictions on the propitiation of Dolgyal, so it cannot harm you.”
The Dalai Lama renounced Dolgyal practice in 1975 after discovering what he described as historical, social and religious problems associated with it. He has consistently discouraged followers from propitiating the spirit based on three main concerns: the risk of Tibetan Buddhism degenerating into spirit worship, obstacles to genuine non-sectarianism, and the practice being particularly inappropriate in relation to the well-being of Tibetan society.
This clarification comes against a backdrop of previous controversies surrounding Dogyal practice. In 2015, Reuters published an investigation revealing connections between the Chinese government and the International Shugden Community (ISC), which had organised protests against the Dalai Lama worldwide. A leaked Communist Party document from 2014 described the Dogyal issue as “an important front in our struggle with the Dalai clique”.
The ISC subsequently disbanded in March 2016, announcing the withdrawal of all demonstrations against the Dalai Lama.
