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Grant Smith's avatar

About the same as idolizing Hilary Clinton or the Kardashians.

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Contrarian 33's avatar

I must say that I am seriously surprised by today's writing not that I have had any reason to consider the Dalai Lama as anything but a religious leader in his own country. A lifetime career it has been

Just one more questionable character in a world full of charlatans and misfits.

So if as stated he is now and has been a paid puppet for the CIA, funded as he appears to have been, I am disappointed, but not surprised in this day and age.

So with my respects to W S Gilbert.....

Things are seldom what they seem. .....Skim milk masquerades as cream

Black sheep dwell in every fold. ...... all that glitters is not gold

I agree, frequently

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Katherine Mulholland's avatar

His dismissive attitude to pedophilia by Buddhist monks as “...nothing new.” disgusted me.

Deborah Parks research article below on "Bringing Child Buddhist Monks into the Alternative Care Conversation: Reflections on an Under-considered Group of Children” shows how abuse of children is endemic in Buddhist religious organisations just as it is in Catholic or other denominations.

https://doi.org/10.1177/23493003211012108

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Andi's avatar

Dalai Lama doesn't represent Buddhism, not even a branch of Buddhism.

Neither in Lamaism, Nor Mahayana or Hinayana. He is an exiled Political Figure heads for purely political activities using so-called religion as a tool.

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Apr 10, 2023
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Ed S.'s avatar

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:9

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Feral Finster's avatar

If I were a human living in a traditional society and I had alternative sexual tastes not necessarily geared towards heterosexual marriage, a monastery would be the perfect place to hide out in plain sight.

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Andrew Thomas's avatar

Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat, he cried. $15K a month from the CIA. Thank you, again, Caitlin. Don’t know how I would have missed a factotum such as that. I guess it must not have had enough ‘resonance’.

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Glen Andersen's avatar

The entire Tibetan system , though rooted in some ok ideas, is quite corrupted. The current Kalu Rinpoche is a young man now, who has criticized the sexual abuse he received as a boy in the monastery system, being “ groomed” for his current job. The entity who held that title last lifetime ( presumably the same being) was accused of a lot of sexual improprieties with women and boys? so maybe that’s just karma... but oh, we mustn’t speak Iill of the holy men.! Trust and practice our own inner knowing and learn to discern truth from lies from that place. Indeed, it’s the only thing that has ever worked, despite the pitfalls, everything else is a trap

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Andi's avatar

Yes. More than corrupted, it's Cruel.

If you do a bit more research on their practices. Five sects in full.

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patrick wey's avatar

'watch out for leaders and parking meters'........dylan 'Revisited' Don't follow leaders

Watch the parkin' meters.......corrected.

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Apr 10, 2023
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patrick wey's avatar

even better....'don't follow'..............words...lol.......but you get the picture.....breathe (-:

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420MedicineMan's avatar

EEWWW thank you for enlightening me to the horror. Well that certainly put a fork in it. All pedos need to go.

Spiritualism and science or scientific method is the way to go.

Any war there is always innocents blood on any perceived side.

I'm lucky I didn't have to fire an angry round.

You're right Caitlin it's up to us, no spaceships coming to save us. ;)

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Nathan Keller's avatar

Go. Now. Out of the house. Find pedo priest. Bloody them you violent dink.

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Dollyboy's avatar

Next time you’re thinking about following someone, maybe check out that guy or gal you see brushing their teeth in the bathroom mirror. I hear really good things about them.

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PhilH's avatar

You’re talking about the crowd that includes Robert DeNiro, who gave his Oscar to Zilensky.

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Boozookee's avatar

Robert De Niro? I think it was Sean Penn. From Google: Why did Sean Penn give Oscar to Zelensky?

Penn has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the illegal Russian invasion and has built a strong relationship with the country's president. Penn presented Zelensky with the statuette as a symbol of his continued support.

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Thierry Bruno's avatar

Sean Penn is one of those big Hollywood assholes who look at their navels from the comfort of their ultra-protected villas, false rebels who are in reality the relays of American imperialism.

And if the Russian invasion is illegal, then what about the actions of the American government for the last thirty years. As McFarlane writes, America "is the Reich without a Führer but with lots of little invisible Fuhrers".

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Third-Eye Roll's avatar

I, too, have been disappointed at the shallowness of the public statements of the Dalai Lama; his analyses seem very generic and devoid of profundity or even insight. In any case, who would have expected this cringy kid encounter? Even so, I'm hoping his apparent disrespect for boundaries goes no deeper, but with all the revelations involving religious institutions, I expect to be disappointed.

On another note, it was about a year ago I learned that Gloria Steinem was a CIA operative, now the Dalai Lama? That spook agency really does have its tentacles in everything.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Partisan Review, and quite a bit of modern art (abstract expressionism, IIRC) was CIA sponsored.

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Harry's avatar

The biggest impediment to the realization of ultimate Truth except our own egos is the presence of so-called "spiritual gurus." Their teachings bring you as much closer to Truth as that of a thumb-sucking idiot. Their preached "spirituality" should be treated in a similar way you would treat someone saying he saw a real dinosaur.

https://awakes.substack.com/p/on-authentic-spirituality

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Paul Cardin's avatar

Always BEWARE any cult of personality - in particular those foisted upon us by the damaged, psychopathic media. Elon Musk is another case in point

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Valerie's avatar

In some ways I wish I hadn't read that but gave myself a shake and said don't be so bloody naive. and open your eyes. Always believed the Dalai Lama was a force for good but see now it very much depends on who the man is. Thank you Caitlin.

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Wagalamarri (Crow), Wambaya NT's avatar

That image IS creepy . I don’t know wether it’s his generation as my mother tried to kiss me on the lips and I made it very clear that’s inappropriate .🤢

It was her regular behaviour with friends and Elders ... covid changed that practice.

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Andi's avatar

Not only the picture. Read the article further and see what Dalai Lama required the boy to do? Disgusting 🤢

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Wagalamarri (Crow), Wambaya NT's avatar

Additionally, a person I knew back in the day , went to see the Dalai Lama when he toured Australia- not sure which year.

His takeaway from the event was the DL farted really loud and kept on talking.

Go figure!

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El jefe's avatar

It's impossible to talk and fart simultaneously.

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William Paul's avatar

There are about 25 photos of Joe Biden creepily touching minors, and accusations by Tara Reid and other people against our senile groomer warmonger president, and everyone stands up and salutes.

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Jo Waller's avatar

Very interesting. One of the things about spiritual practice is not feeling the need to look up to anyone. We look across.

I have learnt so much from my yoga teacher, but am aware that she's abit of a control freak. I have also gained so much from the works of Zen Buddhist Cheri Huber, especially her book 'There is nothing wrong with you; a guide to going beyond self-hate', though I wouldn't say I look up to her. I really admire her honesty. She writes about her attempted suicide by shooting herself in the stomach as a young woman, but also writes that even after years of awareness practice she is still as depressed as she ever was. Amazing, insightful speaker Gabor Mate 'When the body says No' still admits to needing to 'get over himself', his addictions and medications.

It's not the Dalai Lama that's the problem, although there does seem to be some serious issues with him, it's thinking that any leader is anything more than a journeying, fallible, hurting, flawed, wonderful human, and in putting anyone in positions above the law- such as, facilitated by politicians, the care home and hospital administrators who knowingly allowed Saville access to vulnerable young women, because of his charity work.

We seem to be reaching for leaders in the health freedom and freedom of speech movement. https://georgiedonny.substack.com/p/a-healthy-future-does-not-lie-with we've established that we can't trust politicians, medical dogma, doctors, journalists or the media, we don't need to replace then with any other global medical, health or media establishments.

We just start listening to our guts and bodies and sitting quietly

Jo

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Dr.Who's avatar

The days of Prophets ended 1400+ yrs ago. Every human alive today is fallible. Thats why our hero-worship culture is so dangerous. It puts humans with all their flaws on pedestals they don’t belong. Especially those funded by the alphabets...

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Apr 10, 2023
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Jo Waller's avatar

I absolutely disagree that Mate is blaming the parents. He explains how what happens to the parents, and to their parents before them can get passed down through the generations.

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Apr 10, 2023
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Nathan Keller's avatar

It was guessed that lifetimes of parent stress effectedvtheir children. Mate is lending such voice as he has to underline the old Freudian idea minus blame, be it said, that we cannot shake it without a conscious look. Whic is Freud's despairing position that all we do is a comforting b3cause familiar reenactment of Freud knewx

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Nathan Keller's avatar

-knew not what. But Mate proposes we question our decisions about who do we hate next. And adopt a kind of mea culpa without an audience. In other words we are neurotic characters and better that you be an auntie Mame than an Anti Meme about any hard working person.

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Eric Arnow's avatar

I have a more nuanced view. Years ago, when I was a Zen monk in California, the Dalai Lama came to where I was living and gave what I thought was an inspiring lecture on the Heart Sutra, the most seminal text in Mahayana Buddhism. It's a fact that in the 1950's the Dalai Lama had a good relatiionship with Mao Ze Dong, after visiting Beijing. He has a video or two on YT that talks about this. He felt symbiosis between Buddhism and Communism, and there is evidence for that, too. Where it went wrong was when the CIA stirred up trouble, started a rebellion, which failed due to lack of support of Tibetan people. The CIA 'rescued' him, and he's been a loyal vassal ever since. As for kissing small boys, yeah, totally unacceptable. If he's not to do that with women, and since traditionally homosexuality was forbidden for Buddhist monks, the fact of such rank exploitation by some Buddhist clergy is disgusting.

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Ian Brown's avatar

I think the most charitable thing you can say is that he tried to mainstream Buddhism by massively dumbing it down, and going along to get along with the worst aspects of US foreign policy, having no moral backbone, and being provided a huge platform in the West for his utility against China.

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