Dear Tell All: I read Rational Rodney's complaint about Madison's misguided love for the Dalai Lama during his recent visit ("The Dalai Lama Is a Bore," 5/24/2013). I agree that he's boring, having heard him countless times. All the religions teach love, compassion and forgiveness, by the way. I have a Ph.D. in the subject, for what it is worth, and I happen to know that the Gelugpa Order deems anything too "in-depth" as improper teaching for the commoners. That's how they view us: We are not ready yet.
One person I know was disgruntled that he paid $75 and could not even really see or hear the Dalai Lama. What happened to the Buddha's insistence on freely offering teachings?
Many do not know that the Dalai Lama disapproves of gay sex, oral sex and anal sex for Buddhists. "A sexual act is deemed proper when the couples use the organs intended for sexual intercourse and nothing else," he has said. Except in extreme circumstances, he is also anti-abortion, and I won't have the space to go into the second-class status for women in his order.
Furthermore, many do not know of the Dalai Lama's crackdown on the Shugden believers. Many were kicked out of his monastic tradition for practicing this worship (see YouTube for some ugly incidents). The famous scholar Georges Dreyfus once told a conference that the Dalai Lama's sect throws in prison those with a divergent philosophy from the official one.
The same Madison liberals who may have a distaste for the pope love the Dalai Lama. Feudal theocracy is similar everywhere, and the classic Dalai Lama's government in Tibet was brutal feudalism. He is, in essence, a Buddhist pope.
I could go on, but you have a short column. I will pray for your condescending forgiveness, as you were so kind to forgive Rational Rodney for being critical of this Dalai Lama who is beyond criticism.
Dr. J
Dear Dr. J: I cop to being condescending toward Rational Rodney, but that's because he did little more than call the Dalai Lama "boring." You provide a more serious critique here. Any readers out there who want to defend His Holiness?
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