Platitudes of the Dalai Lama (he's as enlightening as Lisa Simpson)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | May 28 2002 | Chris McGillion

[dead]

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten at the Buddhist Temple.

[Paul Atreides]

No wonder Richard Gere loves him. Any time Gere veers off a script, he descends into incoherent babbling.

[End Times Sentinel]

Your typical Western “Buddhist” (read: liberal with empty spiritual life) reminds me a lot of the typical American “muslim” (read: inmate). Both seem to be drawn to the religion because of it’s fashionable trappings- “buddhists" get to meditate in inappropriate places and speak in pedantic platitudes; muslims get to assume a cool new name and get a goofy hat. Neither of them seem to regard anything beyond the most basic understanding of the religion as necessary.

It’s a sad cry for attention which is generally heard by others to mean “I’m an idiot.”

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[Kenny Bunk]

Well Gere does have a point besides the one lacking in his wits: the Friendly Sons of Wal-Mart ought to leave Tibet alone. The Chinese occupation of Tibet is brutal in the extreme.

If the Platitudinous Dalai Lama were living in his own home, he would be a great deal less boring to some of us than he is now. We could still keep up with Tibet through the National Geographic.

[Kenny Bunk]

Well Gere does have a point besides the one lacking in his wits: the Friendly Sons of Wal-Mart ought to leave Tibet alone. The Chinese occupation of Tibet is brutal in the extreme.

If the Platitudinous Dalai Lama were living in his own home, he would be a great deal less boring to some of us than he is now. We could still keep up with Tibet through the National Geographic.

[Prodigal Daughter]

And yet Western culture stands for just about everything a Buddhist is supposed to renounce.

And if you read Freedom in Exile, he does renounce us.

[B Knotts]

Algore getting in touch with his "innate spiritual nature."

[avg_freeper]

This is nothing! You should try to caddy for him:

So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself.

Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one---big hitter, the Lama---long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says?

"Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-galunga".

So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consiousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

[Billthedrill]

Well, on the one hand you'll find relatively few Buddhists flying airliners into occupied buildings, but I've always felt that there's something lacking in image in a religion of passivity and contemplation, a certain vigor, a certain elan, that could be relatively easily addressed by a Torquemada in a saffron robe. One thing about it - no one expects a Buddhist Inquisition!

[Dasaji]

I am not sure what the intent is in the posting of this article on Free Republic. (and the ensuing responses that seem to bring the name Richard Gere into it...One man is not representative of a religion because of his choice of that religion - otherwise the name Jim Baker - and Tammy Fae - could make Christianity sound like a farce as well.)

Sometimes wisdom and enlightenment are as simple as the words spoken by a child. Because they are spoken by the Dalai Lama, this journalist decides to slam him. Sounds to me like he is stuck in Judgment, is clueless about Enlightenment and should probably stick to writing about subjects of which he is aware and knowledgeable. (Like the Simpsons.)

[Larry Lucido]

I went to a Buddhist hot dog vendor and asked him to make me one with everything.

When I asked for change for my $20.00, he said "Son, change must come from within."

[dead]

I am not sure what the intent is in the posting of this article on Free Republic.

To prompt responses that agree with, disagree with, or otherwise discuss the points raised, as is the purpose of posting every other article on Free Republic.

The discussion of religion, media, and the popular culture is relevant to the purposes of this forum, hence their inclusion in the topic list.

[mutchdutch]

When I was in Mongolia, my interpreter said buddism was picked by the leaders to placate a very warlike society........ seems to work????? They were rediscovering their buddism and ghengis kahn after 70 years of communist rule in which the communist tried to destory both........ wonder which will float to the top?????

[dead]

Yeah, we got a pool... and a pond... a pond and a pool.

Pond'd be good for you.

[Fedupwithit]

"he's a big hitter, the Lama..."

: )

[Savage Beast]

One cannot know from reading this whether Chris McGillion is incapable of understanding what the Dalai Lama is saying or whether he just hasn't made the effort. Everything he has attributed to the Dalai Lama makes a lot more sense than anything McGillion himself has said. Either he's dumb, or he doesn't want to understand.

[N. Theknow]

The Dalai Lama seeks to excite the "innate spiritual nature" of people so that they might choose kindness and affection in their relations to others rather than anger, hatred or the temptation to exploit.

I love you,
You love me,
We're a happy family...

[headsonpikes]

The Mongolians are searching for their inner Genghis Khan????

Let's hope they go with the buddhist thing, instead. ;^)

[RooRoobird14]

My 14 year old niece who lives in Oakland said she decided to become a Bhuddist because "I don't have to do anything" to be one.

This is no joke. LOL, out of the mouths of babes as they say.

[Savage Beast]

Post #10: I agree with you, Das.