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EXPOSÉ
Vicctor 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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