Dalai Lama misses sex, shoots guns

news.com.au ^ | 7/29/03 | Ruth Gledhill

[adam_az]

THE Dalai Lama has admitted that, in a lifetime dedicated to celibacy and non-violence, he has missed out on sex and that he shoots at hawks in anger.

Asked in an interview what experiences he had missed that ordinary people had not, he pointed towards his groin and laughed, saying: "I obviously missed this."

He was not sorry, however: "For monks and nuns, the practice of celibacy is not just a rule. Our target is to try and reduce negative emotions. Sexual desire and attachment are enjoyable, but act as a basis to anger, hatred and jealousy."

He was not convinced that he would have made a good father, admitting to having a bad temper. That temper led him to aim his air rifle at hawks, he told Conrad Kiechel, international editorial director of Reader's Digest.

"I feed birds, peaceful birds. I'm non-violent, but if a hawk comes when I'm feeding birds, I lose my temper and get my air rifle." He did not shoot to kill, "only to scare the hawks".

Speaking in Dharamsala, India, where he has lived since China put down a Tibetan uprising against communist rule, he admitted to having enjoyed spending time with Mao Zedong.

"At official dinners he made me sit beside him and treated me like his son, sometimes feeding me with his chopsticks.

"I was afraid that since he coughed so much I would catch something. He was no doubt a great revolutionary, but at the same time, his behaviour was often that of a peasant."

He said there was a softening towards Tibet by the current Chinese regime.

[adam_az]

He also eats meat - I remember a flap a few years ago where Vegetarians got mad at him...

The Dalai Lama was in France and was being recieved by Chirac for dinner. They prepared a specialty Vegetarian meal for him, but he asked to be served the same food as everyone else, instead. The Dalai Lama's money quote: "I'm a monk, not a vegetarian!"

I have a great deal of respect for him, don't let the Richard Geres and other assorted nutjobs liking for him turn you away.

[Incorrigible]

FYI

Dalai Lama misses sex, shoots guns (Cool!)

[adam_az]

oopsie! dupesie.

[freedomlover]

This is my rifle, this is my gun . . .

[onedoug]

"Long driver, the Lama."

[Sabatier]

Thanks for that story. I admire his honesty. What the Chinese have done in Tibet is a crime against humanity.

[Ancesthntr]

"I feed birds, peaceful birds. I'm non-violent, but if a hawk comes when I'm feeding birds, I lose my temper and get my air rifle." He did not shoot to kill, "only to scare the hawks".

How do you scare an animal with an air rifle? Sheesh, if you want to get their attention, shoot a .30-06 into the vicinity, or better yet a Barrett .50.

Of course, shooting one of the things and leaving is dead body there will grab the attention of its buddies... .

[First Amendment]

The Dalai Lama was in France and was being recieved by Chirac for dinner. They prepared a specialty Vegetarian meal for him, but he asked to be served the same food as everyone else, instead. The Dalai Lama's money quote: "I'm a monk, not a vegetarian!"

I'm amazed, if that is true. The whole mission of Buddha was to stop animal killing (and eating) in the name of religion. At the time Buddha came, many people in India were using the excuse of animal sacrifice (allowable in certain rituals to the demigods) to wantonly kill and eat animals. So Buddha's mission was to stop the killing and eating of animals, especially in the name of following religious rituals. So for a follower of Buddha to eat meat is totally hypocritical. I do hope this isn't true....

But it isn't rare for followers of various religions to not actually follow the rules, unfortunately.

[adam_az]

Actually the Buddhist/Vegetarian connection is largely a myth. While many Buddhists are vegetarians, Buddhist scripture does not mention vegetarianism:

http://www.emahofoundation.org/teachings/zr_q&a.htm

Q: I am new to Buddhism and would like to know if it is necessary to be a vegetarian to be a Buddhist?

Rinpoche: It is not a must to be a vegetarian to be a Buddhist. It is a matter of personal choice. Buddhist scripture is unclear regarding the matter, and it has been a topic of debate for many. For monks and nuns, it has always been customary to accept and eat anything that people offer. In addition, in many parts of Tibet, it is difficult or impossible to grow crops, so people's survival depends on protein from yaks and sheep. It is not appropriate to order that an animal be killed just for food. Rather, it is important to use all of the animal so as not waste it. If you eat meat, it is good to take a moment to recognize that you are eating a sentient being, remember that animal with kindness, and pray that the sentient being gets a good rebirth.


(from the about page: Ven. ZaChoeje Rinpoche is Emaho's spiritual advisor. In 1984 His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama recognized him as the sixth reincarnation of ZaChoeje Rinpoche, one of the highest Buddhist Lamas of Eastern Tibet. At the age of 16, Rinpoche entered Drepung Loseling Monastery and after 10 years of studies, graduated with the esteemed Geshe Lharampa degree, equal to a Ph.D suma cum laude in Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche then entered the Gyumed Tantric Monastery for further study.)

[First Amendment]

Who is Emaho? And is that the Rinpoche who has spent a lot of time in the US and was having sex with women students? I am not being challenging, I know that there was one Rinpoche who was a real exploiter.
Mys sister has been been practicing Tibetan Buddhism for years, goes and stays in a monastery in Nepal, and they are all vegetarians there. Buddha's prinicple teaching was ahimsa, which means nonviolence or harm to any living being, and the most traditional followers of Buddhism have at least recognized the importance of not participating in the killing on animals, and the strict ones have always practiced it.

[Djarum]

Buddha's prinicple teaching was ahimsa, which means nonviolence or harm to any living being, and the most traditional followers of Buddhism have at least recognized the importance of not participating in the killing on animals, and the strict ones have always practiced it.

I always found this hypocritical. Why is only the life of sentient beings protected? It's brain worship, the same line of thinking that is used to justify abortion.

[First Amendment]

Sentient beings means conscious or living, IOW not dead matter such as stones or dirt. Of course in dirt there are living beings but that can't be helped. A good way to explain it is the difference between a live tree and dead lumber. It doesn't have anything to do with how high the level of awareness is.
That would be the reason non-hypocritical Buddhists don't kill spiders or ants, they put them outside.
Jains also have this rule. And Hindus should and often do.

[St.Chuck]

He also eats meat - I remember a flap a few years ago where Vegetarians got mad at him...

That reminds me of a lecture the poet, Gary Snyder (Japhy Rider for Kerouac readers) gave at a college several years ago. I guess he's something of a Buddhist, and when a young coed asked him during the Q&A period about his diet, he replied that he ate whatever he was served, and yes, that included meat. This was very troubling to the young woman, because later on she asked him again about his diet and about his sincerity and so forth. Well, he got impatient with her and finally told her, "Look, sometimes I even subscribe to the maxim of my redneck friends,"If it ain't meat, it wadn't meant to be eat.""With that the young woman finally sat down shell-shocked, her preconceptions about Bhuddism thoroughly demolished. I had to leave the lecture hall so I could howl with laughter. I have never been so tickled before or since.

[Djarum]

It doesn't have anything to do with how high the level of awareness is.

Then why is it acceptable to take a plant's life for food but not a cow's? That was my point.

[First Amendment]

Because plants are meant to be food. The point is silly because it's perfectly easy to live and be a vegetarian but no one would live if they ate nothing. Senseless.

[ElectricRook]

Lets see... Eats whats put in front of him. Knows women are dangerous, appreciates quality firearms. Uses force to defend what he treasures.

Shoot, that Dalai Lama guy might be alright after all. Might even be a Freeper.

[First Amendment]

That reminds me of a lecture the poet, Gary Snyder (Japhy Rider for Kerouac readers) gave at a college several years ago. I guess he's something of a Buddhist

Let's say he imagines he's something of a Buddhist. To actually be a Buddhist means a life of strict sense control and renunciation.

[ElectricRook]

Plants are food for herbavores.

Prey are food for predators.

Humans have many characteristics of predators. We look like predators, we think like predators, we act like predators.

Some humans are in fact almost strict carnivores. Most of the rest of us are omnivores. Some are strict vegatarians, usually in select environments, or supplimented by modern transportation, and food processing.

[First Amendment]

Actually humans have more of the herbivore kind of teeth, herbivore saliva, and digestive systems. Carnivores have more tearing teeth, stronger enzymes in the saliva, and a much shorter intestine so the flesh gets ejeted from the GI tract before it rots. Humans have a much longer GI tract, suitable for digesting plant food.

[Djarum]

Because plants are meant to be food. The point is silly because it's perfectly easy to live and be a vegetarian but no one would live if they ate nothing. Senseless.

Why are plants meant to be food? They are living, just as sentient beings are.