Dalai Lama's 80th birthday invites celebration and contemplation
laugh, his
face lighting up in a beatific smile, it is easy to forget the cascade
of disasters endured by the Tibetan Buddhist movement over the course of
his life. Yet the list is long, and growing longer, as an ascendant
China consolidates control over Tibet.
"I don't consider China powerful at all,'' he said during an
interview at the sprawling complex of Buddhist temples here. "They may
be powerful in their economics and weapons, but in terms of moral
principles, they are very weak. The whole society is full of suspicion
and full of distrust."
Looming over any discussion of Tibet is a simple actuarial fact: The Dalai Lama is in his final decades of life. At some point, Tibetan Buddhists will be faced with the loss of a man who has been revered as both a secular and spiritual leader and has given their Free Tibet movement a sense of moral authority throughout the world.
That has set in motion in recent months a scramble for succession of a uniquely Buddhist variety, because the Dalai Lama's successor is by tradition the reincarnation of his holiness. In March, the Chinese government once again signaled its intention to have a role in designating the legitimate heir, a plan that prompted the Dalai Lama to suggest that he may break with tradition and appoint his own successor or that he may not be reincarnated at all.
"Reincarnation is not the business of the communists,'' he said.
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Born on July 6, 1935, the 14th Dalai Lama began life as Lhamo Dondrub in a village in China's Qinghai province. As the story goes, the deceased 13th Dalai Lama was found with his head turned in that direction and a search party was sent to identify his reincarnation. They were delighted to find a precocious toddler who could correctly identify the Dalai Lama's walking stick, rosary and drum.
He was brought to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, at age 4 and assumed rule over Tibet as a 15-year-old in 1950.
end quote from:
Dalai Lama's 80th birthday invites celebration and contemplation
This is a really refreshing way to look at things. Just like we consider ISIS to be morally bankrupt, so in it's own way China is also morally bankrupt just in a slightly different way, so I agree with this statement. However, to a greater or lesser degree even all democracies are somewhat morally bankrupt too. It's all a matter of degree. So, there are many shades of Gray depending upon your preferences to what nation you prefer to live in, if you are educated or rich enough to be able to freely choose in the first place.
Looming over any discussion of Tibet is a simple actuarial fact: The Dalai Lama is in his final decades of life. At some point, Tibetan Buddhists will be faced with the loss of a man who has been revered as both a secular and spiritual leader and has given their Free Tibet movement a sense of moral authority throughout the world.
That has set in motion in recent months a scramble for succession of a uniquely Buddhist variety, because the Dalai Lama's successor is by tradition the reincarnation of his holiness. In March, the Chinese government once again signaled its intention to have a role in designating the legitimate heir, a plan that prompted the Dalai Lama to suggest that he may break with tradition and appoint his own successor or that he may not be reincarnated at all.
"Reincarnation is not the business of the communists,'' he said.
+++
Born on July 6, 1935, the 14th Dalai Lama began life as Lhamo Dondrub in a village in China's Qinghai province. As the story goes, the deceased 13th Dalai Lama was found with his head turned in that direction and a search party was sent to identify his reincarnation. They were delighted to find a precocious toddler who could correctly identify the Dalai Lama's walking stick, rosary and drum.
He was brought to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, at age 4 and assumed rule over Tibet as a 15-year-old in 1950.
end quote from:
Dalai Lama's 80th birthday invites celebration and contemplation
This is a really refreshing way to look at things. Just like we consider ISIS to be morally bankrupt, so in it's own way China is also morally bankrupt just in a slightly different way, so I agree with this statement. However, to a greater or lesser degree even all democracies are somewhat morally bankrupt too. It's all a matter of degree. So, there are many shades of Gray depending upon your preferences to what nation you prefer to live in, if you are educated or rich enough to be able to freely choose in the first place.
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