Friday, 11 April 2008

The Wests fascination with the Dalai Lama

by Larro

Everybody has probably heard by now the turmoil going on in Tibet, right? If you don't follow the Olympic torch relay and don't follow international news then I guess you probably haven't heard.

Seems there's been some riots targeted at Han and Chinese sympathetic businesses, etc. Sometime within the last couple months.

Now, this post isn't about the riots. It's about His Holiness. The Supreme Spiritual Leader of the Tibetan people and all of Tibetan Buddhism. He is purported to be an incarnation of the Buddha himself. This post is also about how we in the West seem enamored of His Holiness.

Think about it. It's a theocracy! One god-man makes the rules for all his people. There are some Tibetans who are seeking independence as a republic (which in my opinion is the more rational thing to do than pine over a displaced god-king).

So why are we in the West so sympathetic to this shyster. Even if he believes he is [an] incarnate Buddha; I don't. It's a double standard to support a theocratic regime in the Dalai Lama when we demonize a theocratic regime in Tehran.

So what is it about the Dalai Lama that we in the West feel so sympathetic for him? Because he's peaceful? Maybe. A theocratic regime that poses no threat to our Western interests is a-okay so long as they lie down and be pacified. If not then we can sing along with John McCain: "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran".

Maybe it's because so many people are enamored of their religious leaders (you know, their pastors, reverends, priests, etc) that they feel that these same fools should lead us politically. That we in the West long for a leader of faith. That's really fucked up, but I would wager it's not too far off the mark.
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8 comments:

  1. BEAST FCD12 April 2008 at 06:45

    The Lama class were no better off than the Vatican.

    For centuries, they terrorized the common folks, making them serfs to a parasitic class of priests who do nothing other than chant and fleece off from the common masses.

    The opulence of the Potamala Palace stands testimony to this orgy of theocracy and abuse.

    Beast

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  2. Cayden13 April 2008 at 06:04

    I think the West likes the Dalai Lama because they hate the communist regime in China.

    The outsourcing of many jobs in the West to the cheap labor market in China, coupled with the Chinese's appalling human rights record probably tilted opinion against China even more.

    Like they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

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  3. Unknown13 April 2008 at 08:24

    cayden said..."Like they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

    That's absolutely right. I would add that this has been going on since the start of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union.

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  4. Miao 妙30 April 2008 at 19:40

    Hey,

    Actually Buddhism is really an atheistic school of thought. Therefore it is not so much a type of religion but rather just a system of ideas. Believers in different regions subscribe to different branches of Buddhism, some with supernatural elements. For example, in South-east Asia, Buddhists worship Buddha and the Goddess of Mercy like how Christians worship their God - they pray and they seek blessings in return. But if you inspect the doctrines closely, you'd realise that when Buddhism first originated in India, all the four main schools of Buddhist thought are atheistic in nature. Buddhism does not advocate searching for an almighty, omniscient and omnipotent God - in fact, it encourages one to explore one's own Buddha nature. The Dalai Lama is actually a very open-minded man - he once openly said that if there is any Buddhist belief that does not live up to strict scientific scrutiny, then Buddhism must discard that belief. So if one day physics disproves the possibility of reincarnation 100%, Dalai Lama would be prepared to give up the idea of reincarnation. I think these are probably the reason why Westerners are so sympathetic towards the Dalai Lama: 1) Buddhism, in its most pristine form, is atheistic in nature; 2) the Dalai Lama respects the authority of science; 3) the Dalai Lama is a peaceful and wise man who wants reconciliation, and not violence, with China.

    I am not a Buddhist myself, but I am interested in Buddhist philosophy. I just want to clarify certain popular misconceptions of Buddhism. Sorry for ranting.

    Regards.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown3 May 2008 at 13:11

    http://thomashawk.com/hello/209/1017/1024/Johnny%20Cash%20Finger.jpg

    And PZ Myers, you self-deluded insignificant NUTCASE...

    the ORIGINAL *KING OF TERROR* VIDEO.....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGsOqPDkIZY

    the *MODEL* of mental health:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=zBEbfiaZTfc

    "Look at the ANGLE OF THE KEY....see that, see that...."

    what an idiot this Randi is.....a REAL CRITICAL THINKER....

    Visit:

    http://www.centerforinquiry.net/forums/viewthread/3283/P0/

    to see how we stopped the MILLION DOLLAR PARANORMAL challenge.....
    watch carefully the consequences of Randi's *idea*.....

    For over 40 years James Randi Zwigert (is this even a REAL NAME?) has had total control over who and how the testing was conducted, yet despite all this he has terminated the challenge.

    The ONLY REASON why the challenge was stopped is because he lost and refused to pay.
    Apparently, Randi likes to break the rules when it serves him:

    "14. This prize will continue to be offered until it is awarded. Upon the death of James Randi, the administration of the prize will pass into other hands, and it is intended that it continue in force. "

    Great force.....it's over......

    where is my MILLION DOLLARS, you LITTLE *NO-NAME* FRAUD

    PS: Almost Forgot: Love the IRONY of the *BULLSHIT* sign over Randi's ugly head....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown5 May 2008 at 16:03

    Ignore this Mr. Mabus. I've been hopscotching around the net reading his diatribes and have found only nonsense spasms of thought.

    On the dalai lama?

    Dalai Lama: Stern, not Cuddly

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  7. Anonymous5 August 2008 at 23:51

    I agree. Tibetan Buddhism does differ very much from the "regular" Theravadan Buddhism that is commonly practised in India, Burma, SEA etc (although most Buddhists I know don't know much about Buddhism at all). Anyway, Tibetan Buddhism incorporates many esoteric and local customs, traditions, thoughts etc. On the surface, it does not resemble Buddhism at all. They have different rituals, philosophies, most of them very strange and secretive.

    The West's fascination with the Dalai Lama is very similar to their fascination with Mother Teresa. Both are elevated to "divine" status with plenty of media coverage. People revere them and that's where the danger lies. Mother Teresa herself spent most of her days travelling and not amongst the poor, as shown in the media. Much of her donations has not shown in improvement of facilities or hospitals in Calcutta. It is dangerous when we elevate a human to perfection.

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  8. Anonymous6 August 2008 at 10:43

    YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF SCIENCE ACTUALLY JUST SHOWS YOUR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. SO TELL ME HOW THE EARTH WAS CREATED, HOW IT JUST FLOATS, WHY IS IT CIRCULAR? HOW DID IT ALL START?

    AND LOL NO WE DID NOT EVOLVE FROM MONKEYS, THATS THE STUPIDEST THING IVE EVER HEARD. LIKE I SAID. YOU THINK YOUR KNOWLEDGE CAN PROVE ANYTHING, BUT IT ONLY SHOWS YOUR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. GOD GAVE US TWO BRAIN HEMISPHERES. HE WOULD HAVE JUST LEFT OUT THE RIGHT SIDE IF HE WANTED US ALL TO THINK LOGICALLY ABOUT EVERYTHING.
    LOLOL
    YOU KNOW, SCIENCE HAS BEEN USED TO DISPROVE ALL YOUR "LOGICAL" BELIEFS...OR ATHEISTIC VIEWPOINTS.

    WE HAVE TWO HALVES OF A BRAIN FOR A REASON, SO WE CAN BELIEVE THE UNNATURAL, UNREAL, UNEXPLANABLE THINGS IN CREATION.

    DUH!!

    ReplyDelete