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By Grant Lawrence
Audience member: “Can you give us an example of a leader we should look up to as a positive influence?”
Dalai Lama (after thinking for a few seconds): “President Bush. I met him personally and liked him very much. He was honest and straightforward, and that is very important. I may not have agreed with all his policies, but I thought he was very honest and a very good leader.”
The Dalai Lama has been shown to be something of a showman and a likely CIA stooge. He has previously gone on record supporting "just" wars like the one in Iraq and the War on Terror.
Unfortunately the Dalai Lama has put his own cause above the cause of humanity. The Dalai gets a great deal of US support (likely financial) for his continued discrediting of the Chinese government on the issues of Tibet. In 2007, Bush presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Medal of Freedom for his support of US policies around the world.
The people of Tibet and their treatment are an important issue. However, the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and all of those countries suffering under the policies of Global Empire (globalization) are no less important.
The Dalai Lama's words are beautiful and his smile is pleasant, but his moral character is lacking. The Dalai Lama writes (if in fact he writes all of his books) about the need for compassion and the negation of selfishness. However, the Dalai Lama has demonstrated an inability to feel or care for other oppressed peoples besides Tibetans.
Real compassion for all people would have meant that the Dalai Lama would have made strong statements against aggressive wars for resources and strategic positioning for empire. Abandoning selflessness would have meant that the Dalai Lama would recognize that the struggles of the Tibetan people should be aligned with the struggles of all oppressed peoples.
One could argue that the Dalai Lama is goofy and incapable of understanding the massive evil of the military industrial complex. But the Dalai Lama is astute at promoting his himself and his cause, therefore it is highly unlikely that the Dalai is a fool. Rather his survival and that of his particular branch of Buddhism has much to do with his intelligence and abilities.
Humanity is in dire need of real moral courage and compassion. Sadly the Dalai Lama has shown himself to be a better showman than person.His words and actions at such a critical time in human history will likely create an unhelpful Karma for himself (if you believe in what he preaches). But more importantly for the world, the Dalai Lama is promoting a Karma (war) that will likely mean that many continue to suffer around the world.
The Dalai Lama has a great Karmic responsibility for his actions.
