Why won’t the Dalai Lama pick a fight?

Discussion in 'Politics & Current Events' started by verybdog, Oct 5, 2003.

  1. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    Because, i think, he's counting on the US' financial support for his exile government.

    You don't bite the hand that feeds you, even it should be bit based on one's moral conviction. No exceptions here even for person like Dalai Lama. Am I surprised?

    Wonder why people paid $100 to listen to him?
     
  2. Cascarino's Pizzeria

    Apr 29, 2001
    New Jersey, USA
    I'm just curious. How long has the Dalai Lama been exiled from Tibet? Is he ever allowed to return? And if not, where does he claim primary residence?
     
  3. BenReilly

    BenReilly New Member

    Apr 8, 2002
    You guys are just too much.

    Maybe the Dalai Lama realizes that it isn't "such an obvious, clear-cut moral issue"
     
  4. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    I heard or read somewhere that Dalai Lama was yelled at by Bush when he was in the WH asking him shut up on the Iraq issue. Maybe that's the cause of the hesitation of speaking out.
     
  5. dfb547490

    dfb547490 New Member

    Feb 9, 2000
    The Heights
    The Boston Phoenix is a Marxist rag that is probably on Beijing's payroll (this isn't a paranoid assumption, for instance many groups that protested the Vietnam War took their orders from Hanoi and Moscow, and there is evidence that Imperial Germany supported pacifist movements in the US during the 1910s). No doubt they're going to try to discredit the Dalai Lama.
     
  6. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    Alex, are you on KKK's payroll?
     
  7. dfb547490

    dfb547490 New Member

    Feb 9, 2000
    The Heights
    :rolleyes:

    Stupidity speaks for itself.
     
  8. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    Don't dodge, answer the question.
     
  9. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    But he is so wrong on this. He has failed on his own philosophy.
     
  10. Garcia

    Garcia Member

    Dec 14, 1999
    Castro Castro
    I would guess that "picking a fight" would also go against his own philosophy.
     
  11. DJPoopypants

    DJPoopypants New Member

    I sense a distinct lack of understanding of the central tenets of Buddhism by the author of the article. The difference between urging people to avoid violence - and refraining from criticism of the violent actions of world leaders or even petty criminals - makes complete sense in his world-view (but not in "ours").

    Buddhists have an understanding of life, violence, suffering, and long-term consequences much different than pretty much 99%(?) of the world's population.

    But that's just my useless college education talking.
     
  12. zverskiy yobar

    zverskiy yobar BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Mar 10, 2002
    I wont argue that certain marxist groups were not receiving support from over seas.

    But the Second assertation i will question.Are you saying the sufferage movement (who were one of the largest opposition groups to Wilsons War) were on the German payroll?also large opposition to Wilsons war came from conservative fronts.Are you saying that many of americas top conservatives of the era were on Germanys payroll and traitors?

    Share your sources on this , as I am very curiouis to know who was on Germanys payroll (as I am sure the academic community would be to)
     
  13. Doctor Stamen

    Doctor Stamen New Member

    Nov 14, 2001
    In a bag with a cat.
    Out of interest, do you think that the Communist governments of the USSR and China were a homogenous beomoth trying to take over the world, and the anti-Iraq war protesters were being backed by Al-Queda and Saddam Hussein ?.
     
  14. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    Nobody has asked him to pick a fight. When the issue of Iraq war was brought up, all people wanted to hear from this "Gandhi the second" was to say something that he has strongly believed - violence is not the answer.

    But he chose to be silence. He failed his own philosophy.
     
  15. DJPoopypants

    DJPoopypants New Member

    Hmmmm - so its his job to tell a bunch of western christians/agnostocs/athiests what they want to hear? Perhaps saying something shocking would be better, so that those listening have to think, instead of hearing reassuring soothing words.

    "But at the FleetCenter, when asked about the US invasion of Iraq, he said simply: "It is too early to say what will happen. Wait a few years. That is my opinion." And in a March 11 official statement on the same issue, he said, "All we can do is pray for the gradual end to the tradition of wars," adding, "I don’t know whether our prayers will be of any practical help." Some might call this passivity."

    Hardly silence. Not scathing criticism (which some would want to hear) - but that's hardly ever been his style. Even without a full picture of the context of this conversation - I still believe it shows the reporter's stupidity at not comprehending Buddhist beliefs - which are not the same as Jesus's "turn the other cheek" style non-violence and moralistic chastisement.

    Look - the dalai lama wants 2 things - no repression of traditional tibetan buddhist teachings (which contain thousands of years of intellectual teachings to help people escape the cycle of rebirth and suffering) - which really is a means to an end for helping the entire world escape the cycle of suffering and rebirth.

    Would it shock you to know that he is sadder for the "souls" of the leaders who start wars - than he does for the innocent civilians killed and maimed? I cannot see inside his mind, but that is consistent with many Buddhist perspectives. The innocent may be closer to nirvana. The violent killers have set themselves back for thousands of years. Which means thousands of years more suffering for, you guessed it, the Dalai Lama.


    He only failed to reaffirm your misinterpretation of his teachings.
     
  16. monop_poly

    monop_poly Member

    May 17, 2002
    Chicago
    To whom does he pray?
     
  17. DJPoopypants

    DJPoopypants New Member

    Bodhisatvas? Animalistic spirits? John Ashcroft?
     
  18. Garcia

    Garcia Member

    Dec 14, 1999
    Castro Castro
    With a thread title like, "Why won’t the Dalai Lama pick a fight?" who would have thought otherwise?
     
  19. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    D'oh!
     
  20. argentine soccer fan

    Staff Member

    Jan 18, 2001
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Why won't the Dalai Lama pick a fight?

    Gee, Just a guess, but maybe because he is a practicing Buddhist?

    PS: I just read what Poopypant had to say and from the little I know about Buddhism, (reading Buddhist literature occasionally when I visit hotels in Asia and talking to Buddhists), I believe he is right about the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is not interested in helping people with their temporal problems. He is interested in enlightment for all our beings. Even for those of us at Bigsoccer who fight over what he would consider meaningless ideologies, and who call each other names.

    That is why the Tibetans, if they want to be recognized and to fight for their rights, need a political leader who is not a religious leader. Somebody who can lead them in non-spiritual matters.

    And BTW: (A bit off topic) I have heard the Dalai Lama say that he is convinced that Jesus Christ is a reincarnation of Buddha. I wonder what the Catholic Church and the conservative evangelicals make of that.
     
  21. monop_poly

    monop_poly Member

    May 17, 2002
    Chicago
    Re: Why won't the Dalai Lama pick a fight?

    We think he commits blasphemy and teaches a false religion.

    Thus, my question: to whom does the Lama pray? My limited knowledge of Buddhism is that it does not recognize a god separate from nature, so of what use is a prayer? I can tell him that a prayer to a God he does not believe in will be ineffective.
     
  22. sebakoole

    sebakoole New Member

    Jul 11, 2002
    Re: Why won't the Dalai Lama pick a fight?

    I'm much more familiar with theravada buddhism than I am with the Tibetan school so I can't be certain, but I would guess that the Dalai Lama would not separate those two points. A core teaching of all buddhist sects is that enlightenment is the elimination of suffering. We suffer in the here and now, so our suffering is very much a temporal problem.
     
  23. sebakoole

    sebakoole New Member

    Jul 11, 2002
    Re: Re: Why won't the Dalai Lama pick a fight?

    You're right, buddhists don't recognize a god at all. Not that they are atheists, the buddha just called the question of "Does God exist?" a question not tending toward edification, i.e. the answer does nothing to help us eliminate suffering.

    Again, I'm not familiar enough with Tibetan buddhism to know for certain, but based on my understanding of theravada buddhism I'm wondering if he's not using the word "pray" as shorthand for metta meditation which is also called lovingkindness meditation. It's like a prayer in that there are words (unlike silent meditation) but it's not a prayer in the christian sense of petitioning God.
     
  24. verybdog

    verybdog New Member

    Jun 29, 2001
    Houyhnhnms
    I would call Dalai Lama a "paper Gandhi", as in the sense of "paper tiger."
     
  25. DJPoopypants

    DJPoopypants New Member

    Yeah, I'm no expert on the subject, but they definitely have no god like we would understand it.

    But there are as many different Buddhisms as Christian denominations - and as unified as the Russian Orthodox are to the Mormons are to Southern baptists.

    Some buddhists believe that there can be a step between humanity and nirvana - that some almost enlightened spirits can be around to help alleviate suffering - kinda like the Dalai or Panchen Lamas (except they get reborn). Kinda akin to saints, who have not yet entered into Nirvana. I believe they are referred to as Bodhisatvas. Maybe that's what he was kinda referring to.
     

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