Dalai Lama Blunder
At one time I considered Dalai Lama to be a truly a God’s man – meaning he looked all the creation to be his beloved creation., he did not differentiate between one human and the other. I thought he was a pluralist, that is one who respects the otherness of the other and believes we are all one large family as eloquently mentioned in all religions. Years of reading about him had made me drop him like a hot potato a few years back. Here is Page 143 from the book American Muslim Agenda – a book about building cohesive societies.
A few points:
- Lama said Europe is for Europeans – how idiotic can he be, then India is for Indians, should he be kicked out? Of course not, but for Lama to utter that non-sense is wrong.
- He also made misogynistic comments. I will give him the leeway, many religious men from all faiths have two mouths – they say women are equal while discounting a woman standing next to them.
- He had problems with religious conversions. Everyone should have a problem with forced and coerced conversions. However, everyone should have the freedom to convert, it is an endorsement of free will. We change spouses, clothes, vehicles, jobs, and field of professionalism, what is wrong with religion. People should be free to weigh all the options.
- Buddhism is not God-centered, but God to me means the energy that runs the universe, and hence I thought Dalai Lama was a God’s man. You don’t have to believe in the dished-out version of God to be a God’s man. God is a general term for the energy that drives the universe and keeps in balance. Even an Atheist can be called God’s man under this broad definition.
Here is an excerpt from Page 143 of the book American Muslim Agenda, written six months ago before the Dalai Lama’s blunder.
“It does not matter to me if you believe in one god, two Gods, many Gods, or no God. But if you think you are accountable to someone or the other, your behavior toward fellow beings will change in creating a peaceful world. That someone or the other could be your conscience or God. I must acknowledge here that as of today, among all the living humans whom I know in the whole wide world, Pope Francis is one of the most inclusive of all human beings. He is indeed a God’s man, and he has an inclusive vision. Like Jesus, he has embraced all humanity without discrimination. I have written an article calling him my Imam. I was looking up at Dalai Lama and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; both have failed miserably with their built-in prejudices against fellow humans. A man of God cannot be prejudiced and he or she is above the fray. The following Islamic value is for those who want to understand the oneness of God, that is, tawhid in the Quran. By the way, the Baha’i tradition has the most convincing explanations about tawhid. I learned about it, explaining to my radio audiences when the Baha’i representative could not make it to my radio show.
How Does Tawhid Affect Our Attitude and Contribute to Building Cohesive Societies? “References –
Dalai Lama’s quotes from BBC link below
The Dalai Lama on Trump, women and going home
Hope;
We still have God’s men on the earth – my favorite Godman is Pope Francis and I wrote an article calling Pope Francis as my Imam.
Mike Ghouse, Public Speaker, author, and consultant
President: www.CenterforPluralism.com
Author: www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com
Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/