The West's infatuation with Buddhism.....I would tend to agree that Buddhism is probably the best large scale 'organized religion' in existence for a great variety of reasoning.
But I find it so quaint how Americans universally have this belief that Himalayan/Tibetan Buddhism - is like some kind of epitomical pinnacle of Buddhism.
I seriously doubt any of these people who consider Himalayan Tantric Buddhism to be so advanced, have read much about it, as if they were to they'd find it the most backwards form of Buddhism, like left back in the middle ages (or earlier) being one good way to put it...full of monsters and demons and all sorts of fun stuff.
Like a supreme Pope though not only spiritual but also political leader - His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who's current incarnation was born under special signs indicating he is indeed the reincarnation of the last Dalai Lama - reigns incarnate as the other most holy man in the world besides that one whom who sits in Rome whom it's fashionable here for the cool people to hate.
This one, when not out being worshiped and giving his 'peace' talks geared specifically to whichever group he may be speaking to at the venue, sits in his spiritualist/political headquarters in Dharamasala, India part of the time, and has also been now made an honorary citizen of the city of Paris http://bit.ly/4S9HiW
I love the way his anti-homosexual stance is so carefully kept from the West and Americans. Which of whom here, are the type of American who would go for this shit and also be likely pretty pro-gay. So we have a potential problem here. Now when asked directly (which I'm sure they try and avoid the subject at all costs when here in the West) he is of course of the loving ideology that 'homosexuals should be loved, yes' (the man's no fool) - but sorry there is still a zero-tolerance policy for anyone actually acting upon such desires. And heterosexuals, you are not on any kind of path to Nirvana, being butterflies, or whatever spiritual thing you have going in your head, if you're engaging in oral sex, by the way.
Yes I'm sorry to say, but in some....actually a great - many ways, Eastern spirituality really becomes quite rather more constricting than we all thought it was, once you actually bother looking into it.
(So it's good that none of the people over here really bother much, a trait not unlike the Christians with their dogmatic beliefs.)
Now in the name of book sales and maximizing popularity, His Holiness' books published in the U.S. are censored of the anti-homosexuality 'teachings', which the Dalai Lama, though believing and preaching this dogma himself as a core part of necessary human behavior, actually acquiesces to his American Publishers for their reasons and goes right ahead and removes these things - so Americans are actually getting a watered down censored version of the true ultimate Buddhism and important lessons the Dalai Lama has for mankind. I think this is really beautifully poignant.
Now I would have more...WAY MORE respect for the man if he refused to acquiesce to his U.S. publishers, but that he does actually go ahead and preach a watered down and false doctrine in the name of higher book sales and increased popularity in the West, I find particularly disgusting.
This stuff is all out there and you'd think anyone who was actually into this shit would be finding it in this day of information age where there's just little excuse here, I'm sorry.
I published this article on my FB page recently with a sarcastic note about how much I loved the Dalai Lama: http://bit.ly/5Sl3fJ
and indeed how cute was it that it got some thumbs up from some fellow Americans.....whom I later asked, did you read that? Did you realize that was a sarcastic joke on my part? Of course they did not. They were just all thumbs up for the "Dalai Lama" ...Even I am stunned, by the lack of.......something major within the minds of the majority of the populace, some of my own friends included.
I want to detail a cute little conversation I had with a newly met FB friend who is so in love with Spiritualism (in his own words I improvise not)
.......he wrote me an introductory email of hello.
I wrote him:
I noticed in your Twitter you follow and are followed by the Dalai Lama.
You should read the article when you have a chance, [http://bit.ly/5Sl3fJ] I posted link to on my page recently. And let me know.
He wrote back: .......But I do follow the Dalai Lama, I love how his meditations move you to such great places :) I love spirituality, not organized religions or anything, just universal spirituality..
My return: I take it from your response that you didn't read the article on the Dalai Lama I mentioned to you and was curious on your opinion of.
His return: Love the Dalai Lama lots also,.....
My answer to that: "Love the Dalai Lama lots also, "
...I actually can't stand the Dalai Lama and all the stuff over and around him. You seem to have totally missed what I was communicating in both my mails.
...and that was the last I heard from that cuddly bunny.
.....And that, an example of the knowledge and attempts at any kind of knowledge, by an American, about anything - be they a born again Christian or an Eastern Spiritualist - there seems to be something rational lacking somewhere, am I wrong?
-update-
I showed this page to that FB person whom I attempted to get the opinion of a gay male follower of the Dalai Lama which would have been quite interesting.
So his reaction to seeing the above was about what I expected.
-This page is full of erroneous information - but when I ask him for an example of that he is unable to come up with anything.
-I am in need spiritual guidance. I asked him for suggestions but did not get anything back on that one either.
-A fascinating ascertain that I do not understand polytheism. This would indeed probably explain a lot, I most certainly concur.
update February 2, 2010
A reply I wrote to a correspondent re: The Dalai'Man
****
I really appreciated your thoughts and observations on Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai'Man.
And you make such a good point and I wish more people realized this - He has not come to all this stuff on his own. His wise sayings and peace philosophies and such - he has had a life time of learning, these philosophies and the ways of writing them out and the latter probably comes from very western influences.
I get the feeling that people both in the east and west, so in need for a higher entity to look up to, as it was ingrained deeply in our genetics during our evolution when we evolved our religious thought processes for necessary coping mechanisms, understandably at the time though now not only no longer needed but detrimental - that people are want to give him credit for all these things very personally without the realization of how much he has learned all this stuff and how to present it from others and a life time of the position he'd been sat in.
*****
But I find it so quaint how Americans universally have this belief that Himalayan/Tibetan Buddhism - is like some kind of epitomical pinnacle of Buddhism.
I seriously doubt any of these people who consider Himalayan Tantric Buddhism to be so advanced, have read much about it, as if they were to they'd find it the most backwards form of Buddhism, like left back in the middle ages (or earlier) being one good way to put it...full of monsters and demons and all sorts of fun stuff.
Like a supreme Pope though not only spiritual but also political leader - His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who's current incarnation was born under special signs indicating he is indeed the reincarnation of the last Dalai Lama - reigns incarnate as the other most holy man in the world besides that one whom who sits in Rome whom it's fashionable here for the cool people to hate.
This one, when not out being worshiped and giving his 'peace' talks geared specifically to whichever group he may be speaking to at the venue, sits in his spiritualist/political headquarters in Dharamasala, India part of the time, and has also been now made an honorary citizen of the city of Paris http://bit.ly/4S9HiW
I love the way his anti-homosexual stance is so carefully kept from the West and Americans. Which of whom here, are the type of American who would go for this shit and also be likely pretty pro-gay. So we have a potential problem here. Now when asked directly (which I'm sure they try and avoid the subject at all costs when here in the West) he is of course of the loving ideology that 'homosexuals should be loved, yes' (the man's no fool) - but sorry there is still a zero-tolerance policy for anyone actually acting upon such desires. And heterosexuals, you are not on any kind of path to Nirvana, being butterflies, or whatever spiritual thing you have going in your head, if you're engaging in oral sex, by the way.
Yes I'm sorry to say, but in some....actually a great - many ways, Eastern spirituality really becomes quite rather more constricting than we all thought it was, once you actually bother looking into it.
(So it's good that none of the people over here really bother much, a trait not unlike the Christians with their dogmatic beliefs.)
Now in the name of book sales and maximizing popularity, His Holiness' books published in the U.S. are censored of the anti-homosexuality 'teachings', which the Dalai Lama, though believing and preaching this dogma himself as a core part of necessary human behavior, actually acquiesces to his American Publishers for their reasons and goes right ahead and removes these things - so Americans are actually getting a watered down censored version of the true ultimate Buddhism and important lessons the Dalai Lama has for mankind. I think this is really beautifully poignant.
Now I would have more...WAY MORE respect for the man if he refused to acquiesce to his U.S. publishers, but that he does actually go ahead and preach a watered down and false doctrine in the name of higher book sales and increased popularity in the West, I find particularly disgusting.
This stuff is all out there and you'd think anyone who was actually into this shit would be finding it in this day of information age where there's just little excuse here, I'm sorry.
I published this article on my FB page recently with a sarcastic note about how much I loved the Dalai Lama: http://bit.ly/5Sl3fJ
and indeed how cute was it that it got some thumbs up from some fellow Americans.....whom I later asked, did you read that? Did you realize that was a sarcastic joke on my part? Of course they did not. They were just all thumbs up for the "Dalai Lama" ...Even I am stunned, by the lack of.......something major within the minds of the majority of the populace, some of my own friends included.
I want to detail a cute little conversation I had with a newly met FB friend who is so in love with Spiritualism (in his own words I improvise not)
.......he wrote me an introductory email of hello.
I wrote him:
I noticed in your Twitter you follow and are followed by the Dalai Lama.
You should read the article when you have a chance, [http://bit.ly/5Sl3fJ] I posted link to on my page recently. And let me know.
He wrote back: .......But I do follow the Dalai Lama, I love how his meditations move you to such great places :) I love spirituality, not organized religions or anything, just universal spirituality..
My return: I take it from your response that you didn't read the article on the Dalai Lama I mentioned to you and was curious on your opinion of.
His return: Love the Dalai Lama lots also,.....
My answer to that: "Love the Dalai Lama lots also, "
...I actually can't stand the Dalai Lama and all the stuff over and around him. You seem to have totally missed what I was communicating in both my mails.
...and that was the last I heard from that cuddly bunny.
.....And that, an example of the knowledge and attempts at any kind of knowledge, by an American, about anything - be they a born again Christian or an Eastern Spiritualist - there seems to be something rational lacking somewhere, am I wrong?
-update-
I showed this page to that FB person whom I attempted to get the opinion of a gay male follower of the Dalai Lama which would have been quite interesting.
So his reaction to seeing the above was about what I expected.
-This page is full of erroneous information - but when I ask him for an example of that he is unable to come up with anything.
-I am in need spiritual guidance. I asked him for suggestions but did not get anything back on that one either.
-A fascinating ascertain that I do not understand polytheism. This would indeed probably explain a lot, I most certainly concur.
update February 2, 2010
A reply I wrote to a correspondent re: The Dalai'Man
****
I really appreciated your thoughts and observations on Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai'Man.
And you make such a good point and I wish more people realized this - He has not come to all this stuff on his own. His wise sayings and peace philosophies and such - he has had a life time of learning, these philosophies and the ways of writing them out and the latter probably comes from very western influences.
I get the feeling that people both in the east and west, so in need for a higher entity to look up to, as it was ingrained deeply in our genetics during our evolution when we evolved our religious thought processes for necessary coping mechanisms, understandably at the time though now not only no longer needed but detrimental - that people are want to give him credit for all these things very personally without the realization of how much he has learned all this stuff and how to present it from others and a life time of the position he'd been sat in.
*****
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