I watched this interview . I have met the Dalai Lama once and followed his life story for a long long time . I know the entire modern history of Tibet and understand quite a bit about Vajrayana Buddhism .
I was totally dismayed by H.H.’s entire take on Islam and the Islamist terrorism the world is forced to deal with today . Completely clueless .
In Tibet , when brave Khampa were fighting the invading Mao armies , he did nothing . Finally he fled . 10’s of 1000’s of Tibetans died badly . Not his fault but it should have set off a light in his mind about the nature of genuine evil in humanity . He continues too insist there is no true evil in humanity . This is such a dangerous view .
ANY mindful Buddhist should have acknowledged what has happened to them since the days of the first pre-Mughal , Turkic invasions of India and the mass slaughter and displacement of all Buddhists . Culminating in the modern era , the destruction of Bamiyan and the murder of Buddhists by moslems in Thailand , Burma , and Bangladesh .They even tried to blow uo the MahaBodhi stupa in Bodh Gaya . He faces two great and evil threats ; the atheistic and anti-Tibetan Chinese and the advance f radical Buddhist murdering Islam . He is dealing with neither . But he will die chuckling .
You might google the Aussie newsreader telling the Dalai Lama a joke about the Dalai Lama going into a pizza shop and asking,
“Can you make me one with everything?”
The Dalai Lama’s response had this guy sinking through the floor.
Insightful post. I can see where the Western press trots him out like a smiling icon of multicultural, One-World enlightenment; yet he has failed, as you explain it, to rise to an effective leadership responsibility. I don’t know what his faith consists of; could there be a theological belief (in his context) for allowing so much destruction, perhaps the belief that the dead are better off in the next world?