Violence is a problem endemic to organized religion. What this thesis will examine is a particular manifestation of violence in Tibetan Buddhism with the controversy surrounding the deity Shugden. In order to understand and contextualize this conflict, I examine the roots of how a supposedly pacifist religion can sanction bloodshed. This requires an analysis of Tibet’s slow and ongoing conversion to Buddhism and how this process occurred as a navigation of political, economic, and social transformations. This materialist basis for conflict is essential in understanding of the contemporary Shugden phenomenon, which has attracted the attention of Western media and several national governments who all have certain political objectives regarding the worship of Shugden. What this paper will therefore argue is that this violence is not a result of abstract theological debate, but rather due to changing demographics, economic pressures, claims to legitimacy, cultural adaptations, and control of resources. In this way, Shugden is best understood as a metaphor representing the interests of certain groups making claims to power.
