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EXPOSÉ
Victor and Victoria
Trimondi
The Shadow of the
Dalai Lama
In March 1999 “The Shadow
of the Dalai Lama: Sexuality, Magic and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism” by
Victor und Victoria Trimondi appeared in Germany.
The book looks in detail at the cultic background of Tibetan Buddhism and
its clerical leader, the Dalai Lama. In this original work of analysis,
interpretation and critique, the authors not only provide surprising,
previously largely ignored factual information; they also undertake a
philosophically well-grounded interpretation of Lamaism, rendering the
Tibetan-Buddhist worldview understandable for Western readers through a
comparison with European religious traditions. V. and V. Trimondi have succeeded in combining history, politics,
religion and psychology in an impressive cultural-historical presentation.
 The German
edition of the book was published by the Patmos Group (Düsseldorf and Zurich) in the spring
of 1999. The Patmos Group consists of four of the most reputable
German-language publishers (Walter;
Benzinger;
Artemis and Winkler; Patmos) and
specializes in the fields of psychology, mythology, comparative religion,
classical antiquity, world literature, cultural analysis and contemporary
history. Walter published the
complete works of C. G. Jung. THE SHADOW OF THE DALAI LAMA thus appeared in
the company of international classics. The authors hold all foreign rights.
Although this is a well-grounded
and scholarly work, the language of the text is fluid and enlivening. The
authors have paid particular attention to rendering Tibetan culture
understandable to “laypeople” who have not dealt with it before. This study
by V. and V. Trimondi measures up to all the
criteria of a classic reference text and could well be described as a
seminal work on the topic.
Of the book’s reception,
the Berner Zeitung (a
Swiss newspaper) reported that THE SHADOW OF THE DALAI LAMA "struck
like a thunderbolt". To date (Oct. 2000) the work has been reviewed in
over 200 different media outlets. Opinions have alternated between pro and
contra, but virtually no review remains unemotional. Despite numerous
initial calls for a boycott by the pro-Lamaist
wing, the book has led to a fierce, ever-expanding discussion, and has in
the meantime become a standard work on the critical examination of Lamaism
and the metapolitics of the Dalai Lama. The major
press organs (AZ; Focus; NZZ; Zeit; Facts; SZ; Presse;
Standard; Badische Zeitung;
Die Woche; Berner Zeitung; WOZ, etc.), numerous radio and television
stations (ORF; 3SAT; BR; HR; SFB; WDR; SW; DRS2, etc.), and many “scene”
magazines (Tattva Viveka; Women
World Wide; Idea; Factum; Topic; Ab 40; Hier & Jetzt; Spuren; Novalis) have all
run stories on the book. Within a very short time, THE SHADOW OF THE DALAI
LAMA became a discussion topic in four other books.
In the German-speaking
world, the book by Victor und Victoria Trimondi
appeared in the middle of an already begun reconsideration of the Dalai
Lama and his religious system. In 1998, the Scottish author June Campbell’s
book (Traveller in Space: In Search
of Female Identity in Tibetan Buddhism, Athlone
Press) had appeared, in which she reported on the system’s secret sexual
practices and the sexual abuse of women, along with two explosive film
reports on German — ARD (Panorama)
— and Swiss— SFR (10 vor 10) — television, about the human rights
violations associated with the suppression of the Tibetan Shugden religious community by the XIV Dalai Lama.
These fuelled intensive discussion and opened the gateway for a critical
debate. Nonetheless, THE SHADOW OF THE DALAI LAMA caused quite a furor when it appeared, and was not without its
successors. Within a few months several other books with a critical content
came onto the market. There was Colin Goldner’s Dalai Lama. Fall eines
Gottkönigs [Dalai Lama: The Fall of a
God-King] (Allibri Verlag),
likewise a critical title, which confirmed factual material. The theology
professor Michael von Brück picked up essential
facts from the Trimondis and wrote a critical
book on the topic himself (Religion
und Politik im tibetischen Buddhismus
[Religion and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism], Kösel
Verlag). Then the former Buddhist, Martin Kamphuis, told of his disappointing experiences with
the Lamaist system (Ich war Buddhist [I was a Buddhist], Pattloch
Verlag).
THE SHADOW OF THE DALAI
LAMA has also not been without a direct influence on public opinion about
Tibetan Buddhism and its "god-king". When at the invitation of
German Interior Minister Schily and the SPD (the
governing party) the XIV Dalai Lama attended a public discussion in Munich in May 2000, a
critical body had already formed. Not only did the press report critically
and reservedly about the Nobel Peace Prize winner for the first time, there
were also protests in front of the hall where he was appearing and the
posters for the event were pasted over with protest notes. The chief
critics were the Munich University Student Committee, the Forum for
Critical Psychology, and SPD members. The accusations against the Dalai
Lama in the media could no longer be overheard. Here are some examples from
the press headlines. (Translations of such critical opinions are provided
in a separate information flyer.)
"A system that
despises women!" (AZ) — "Loved, honored
and avoided!" — (AZ) "Free Tibet from the Lamas" (ASTA) —
"Fuss about a cult figure" (Deutscher Freidenker Verband [German
Freethinkers Association]) — "The Dalai Lama is no saint!" (Idea
- Informationsdienst) — "Pretty lame: Dalai
Lama and the Munich SPD" (AZ) — "Row in the SPD about Dalai Lama
visit!" (SZ) — "The Dalai Lama - Welcome to Munich?" (AZ) — "A
controversial guest" (SZ) - "The Dalai Lama rumpus" (SZ) -
"The Entertainer!" (FAZ).
Politicians, journalists,
artists, theologians — no one who deals with the
Dalai Lama and his religion will be able to ignore the facts and arguments
in this sensational yet sound study. It is a standard critique of Tibetan Buddhism. The subject areas encompassed
by V. and V. Trimondi’s book, which also reveal
potential target audiences, include the history of culture and religion,
cross-cultural comparison, comparative religious studies, philosophy,
political theory, international politics, state theory, interreligious
dialogue, the sociology of religion, Buddhism, fascism, anarchism,
ecological studies, feminism, gender studies, postmodernism, ethics,
occultism, esotericism , mysticism, ritualism, mythology, magic, Oriental
studies, history, anthropology, psychology, sexual theory, and
consciousness studies.
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