| @Peter Duong, That one book is about what lies beneath. It is easy to be seduced by words of peace. You can have the eight fold noble paths and four noble truths but for all the dharma, actions ought to speak louder than words. Is compassion that is professed shown? Is love manifested? WJS mentioned in his current blog entry, “When people's life is not in the control of human, religion is the very powerful to help people.” Yes, it is powerful to help them cope because they believe it is their karma; they are suffering the consequences of their incorrect thoughts, incorrect actions, incorrect speech, incorrect understanding. In other words, grit your teeth and get along with your samsara. Go on your grueling pilgrimage, donate your silver and preferably gold to the more enlightened ones reborn as lamas, for it is also their lot in life to enjoy these. Que sera sera. A powerful opiate it is. So ironically, the mother who prays for her child’s safety also has no second thoughts about a 2 year pilgrimage to Lhasa, fully prostrating at every other step with her child begging on the way. It is a very powerful imagery. It makes you think. It makes you wonder at the stronghold their religion has in their lives; body, mind, soul and spirit. A total submission. Can the non- Tibetans who go on ‘pilgrimages’ ever be at the same point of total submission and extreme vulnerability to manipulation? To be meek fodder for greed and cruelty? Can you? You may find it spiritual, but if it happens to me, I might as well not live. Is there even the notion of free will? Yes, the sand mandalas are beautiful as art and so are the Tibetan sculptures. I can appreciate them for their texture, form and colours, I can even marvel at the artist’s skill and analyze the way the artist expresses his world view (even if I don’t agree with his world view). I love art, I love architecture. But what happens when art is debased by the way it is used as a tool for manipulation in Tibetan Buddhism? To put it mildly, it is not amusing. It happened in the past, may not be happening now, but will it happen in the future? Perhaps reformation (like the Protestant reformation) is in order? Will it be tolerated by the Dalai Lama, given that there is already suppression of internal dissent? As long as Buddhocracy is upheld, there is no running away from abuses. *** Pardon me; I need to go to sleep. Too much caffeine, that’s why I am up at this hour, but now fatigue is setting in. Discuss later. |
Grace Wang Called a Traitor