Dalai Lama visits disaster-hit area
MIYAGI —
Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, on Saturday visited survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster at Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
The Dalai Lama, who has been in Japan since last week, took part in a memorial service at Saiko temple for victims of the disaster and offered prayers with about 1,000 people who lost loved ones.
The Tibetan spiritual leader said that he hoped they could turn their grief into a power for reconstruction. He expressed his hope that they will draw on their inner strength to rebuild their communities for future generations.
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1
nandakandamanda
Saw this on TV. Refreshing. The people seemed genuinely glad to have him there with them.
He must have been happy to be there in a purely spiritual role for once, not surrounded by politically motivated forces tugging him or pushing him this way and that..
-2
darkbob
A purely spiritual role you say? Excuse my cynicism but this bloke is very political and interested primarily in the survival of Lamaism in Tibet. He shrugs off the dark truth that the Lamas held the place to ransom in a similar way Catholics once did with Europe in the Middle Ages; primarily through fear of the afterlife bogymen and exorbitant taxes. A nice enough bloke, I agree, but without doubt a political one.
-1
Photoman333
Darkbob - have you ever met him much less spent time with him. I have, and you're way wrong.
0
BurakuminDes
@ darkbob - Richard Gere and all the Tibetan Buddhist celebs in Hollywood are gonna be real angry with you, Bro! LOL! This bloke is pretty much similar to the pope fella - he opposes abortion and homosexuals. Relic of the past. They should get together! How much cash is he donating to the people who need it up here in Tohoku, by the way?
-1
darkbob
Des, as I've said, he's a good man in my opinion but he's also not telling the full story. Either about the medieval condition the Lamas kept the country in for hundreds of years, the deep schisms, sometimes violence between feuding Lama sects and only fessed up on the notorious problems of sexual abuse by Lamas against gullible Western female believers. These are serious issues but the Hollywood set don't want to hear it. It's all 'compassion' and I say; show me where this compassion is? They have a few hospices here and there but primarily it's identical to the Roman Catholic Church and riddled with mumbo-jumbo. More to do with shamanism than anything else. Nice bloke though, but that's all he is; just a bloke.
-1
darkbob
If he's against abortion and homosexuality he's correct. People of that persuasion shouldn't be harassed or discriminated agains but neither should they be elevated as is their wish. It's good to see him in this area giving a bit of a hand but make no mistake, he's a political representative of his culture and its survival. They'll do well with the Hollywood set. Plenty of money from them for sure.
0
BurakuminDes
@ darkbob - each to his/her own I say. Intelligent and educated adults don't need "moral guardians" in the form of religious leaders telling them how to act. That goes for the "pope", Lama and Islamic leaders...
0
darkbob
Des, if you think you can navigate this thing called 'life' without a guide, you do that. I know with absolute certainty you can't.
1
BurakuminDes
@ darkbob - actually, I do not need any "religious guide". Too intelligent and independent to be brainwashed like so many people, luckily! Family, friends, experience and reason are my guides, no mumbo-jumbo superstition for me I'm afraid! Good luck to anyone out there that feels they need religious "leaders" to guide them.
0
darkbob
Des, that's now quite what I meant. Anyway, the best to you.
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