Letters to the Editor
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I think Salon could do better
First off. Anyone with an understanding of Buddhism knows the Dalai Lama is not a God. This is a western term put upon highly revered individuals westerners cannot understand. The Dalai Lama was chosen as the spiritual leader of Tibet and the embodiment of compassion, most political decisions being made by the many councils at the time he was still in Lhasa but his advice was always sought as his take was always thought to be the most compassionate position. He was thrust into the position of political leader in exile when his life was threatened as the Communist Chinese violently invaded and took over Lhasa but as he is completely banned from his native country and the Chinese leaders have yet to allow him an audience, his influence is tempered by the Chinese who are strangling the native Tibetans of their property, beliefs, and way of life.
Two, Christopher Hitchens is not known to be the most balanced or stable people and I would think Salon would know better than to present his half read view of the Dalai Lama's stand, in 98, on India's nuclear tests. Here is what the Dalai Lama actually said:
DHARAMSALA, May 15: Tibetan temporal head Dalai Lama today said as long as some of the major world powers continued to possess nuclear weapons, it was not right to outrightly condemn India's nuclear tests.
``After all India is a large country with its own security perceptions'', he said in his views on nuclear tests conducted by India at Pokhran recently.However, the Dalai Lama said he was saddened to hear about the series of nuclear tests conducted by India.
In his views on India's nuclear tests here today, he said he had always been against the existence and stockpiling of any weapons of mass destruction and had consistently called for the need for efforts to ban nuclear and other weapons with the objective of achieving de-militarisation, ultimately leading to a nuclear-free world. He strongly endorsed the call made by the People's Republic of China, made some years ago, for a ban on nuclear weapons by all countries.
The Tibetan spiritual leader hoped that a situation could be created in that part of the world where countries like India did not need to seek the nuclear option, and instead could concentrate their resources and talents on economic advancement of their people.
Third, Shoko Asahara was a devout Buddhist and head of the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan and as an individual gave his Holiness a large donation. This had occurred long before the Aum Shinrikyo cult had harmed anyone. Should we condemn the pope for receiving funds from those yet to go mad?
I found many parts of this article thought provoking but some sections seem like someone's personal screed against The Dalai Lama. I hope those yet to understand what Tibetan Buddhism represents and brings to those that understand it's message, are not turned away by the misrepresentations (I'd tried to point out above) in this article. I hope Salon will work to do better editing and research before allowing such embarrassingly inflammatory "journalism" to ruin their reputation as being a truth teller, ahead of the curve and vital to it's readers.