Dalai Lama Lite
September 23, 2003
Patrick French on the merchandising of His Holiness:
But the risk of the Dalai Lama's ever growing celebrity is that it distorts what he really represents, namely an ancient cultural tradition that is not always appealing to the Western world. In short, the Dalai Lama - or a simplified version of him - has been appropriated by the American people over the last decade.
The Dalai Lama has become whoever we want him to be, a cuddly projection of our hopes and dreams... In reality, Tibetan Buddhism is not a values-free system oriented around smiles and a warm heart. It is a religion with tough ethical underpinnings that sometimes get lost in translation.
File under: Dharma
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