Elsewhere I've described the practise of shunning in the early Christian communities, and we are all personally aware of the potentially harmful affects of this barbaric practise (though I must admit that for me, it became the means by which I achieved intellectual liberty, after decades of mental imprisonment in a Jesus cult):
Now it seems ostracism (another word for shunning) may also be a practise wthin Tibetan Buddhism.
The followers of the Dorje Shugden sect, within Tibetan Buddhism, have been labelled as apostate and evil by the Dalai Lama and they charge mainstream Tibetan Buddhists with shunning them.
Now I've found a film called Dao Ma Zei ( titled in English (it seems) as The Horse Thief). It's a Chinese film by Tian Zhuangzhuang, who has had a particular interest in Chinese minorities. The notation attached to the film describes it:
Dao ma zei
1986. Devout Buddhists, Norbu and Dolma live with their young son Tashi in a clan in Tibet . Norbu is a highwayman. Charged with stealing from the temple, inexplicable because he gives the temple most of his loot, he and his family are banished. Impoverished and marginalized, they can do little when their beloved son becomes ill. Tashi dies of a fever. After a second son is born, Norbu focuses his every action on keeping this child alive, seeking re-admission to the clan for his wife and child, then risking all to save them from isolation and starvation in winter.
Images of harsh landscapes, vultures, and prayer wheels carry a virtually wordless narrative.
And here's a link to a portion of the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_dEk4iE_AA
Which raises a question as to how frequently is the evil practise of religious shunning used within the Tibetan Buddhist framework?
I'll attempt to find out: