Letters to the Editor
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my sympathies to you, Mr Bayard
While no writer can be expected to know everything,
it would be wise to choose topics with which
one has a high degree of knowledge and familiarity.
You show by your comments that you have little
knowledge about the basis on which the Dalai Lama
rests his stances and his comments: the Buddhist understanding of reality, a profound, vast and subtle understanding of the way in which phenomena do exist, as well as the ways in which they appear to us, tweaked by our habitual, personal patterns of perception.
So, by not placing a solid context of knowledge
under your story, your piece is simply an explanation of why you think your opinions are right, while those of a person who has won respect throughout the world, who is known for kindness and authenticity, who is humble and honest, who has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, are wrong.
I do not intend any personal disrespect to you,
but I certainly know whose opinions I feel more comfortable in
trusting.
This is not the forum to go into a scholarly analysis relating the points you make to that sub-structure
of philosophy and refuting your shaky conclusions, (another whole article at least. I want to, however,stand up and be counted as a free-thinking, non-groupie, intelligent and informed person who finds your piece a sad projection of a mind
that has confused cynicism with intelligence.
Were there values worth allowing oneself to be seduced,
would they not be those espoused by the Dalai Lama? humility,
ethical behavior, compassion, wisdom and an understanding of
the way our behaviors affect one another. I opt for a world created by those values and commit myself to contributing to it, rather than staying on the sidelines making skeptical observations.
Thank you.