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Dorje Shugden (Standard Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ་ཤུགས་ལྡན་, Wylie: rdo rje shugs ldan, Tibetan pronunciation: [toːtɕe ɕuktɛ̃]), also known as Dolgyal and Gyalchen Shugden, is an entity associated with the Gelug school, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism.[1] Dorje Shugden is variously looked upon as a destroyed gyalpo, a minor mundane protector, a major mundane protector, an enlightened major protector whose outward appearance is that of a gyalpo, or as an enlightened major protector whose outward appearance is enlightened.
Promoters of Dorje Shugden consider it to be the protector of Je Tsongkhapa's pure dharma, traditionally regarded as the founder of the Gelug school.[2] The Dorje Shugden controversy arose in the 1930s within all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Gelug school itself, regarding Dorje Shugden's nature, status of enlightenment, differences from traditional Gelug teachings, replacement of traditional Gelug protectors, sectarian functions, and actions by western adherents of the New Kadampa Tradition.[3]