Dalai Lama supports China hosting Olympic games

Thursday 10th April, 03:55 PM JST

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15 Comments

some14some at 09:17 AM JST - 10th April

what's the significance? One of the transit passengers at Narita and to Press he can talk from anywhere.
GrouchyGaijin at 09:27 AM JST - 10th April

Namaste, Your Holiness. Bon Voyage!
greenteaonsens at 10:53 AM JST - 10th April

China's gonna be so pissed about this! Don't eat any frozen gyoza for a few years...
OssanII at 11:07 AM JST - 10th April

The man's just passing through. China needs to stop getting it's panties in a knot very time his name comes up. Their efforts to paint him as the big bad violent leader of separatism has failed miserably.
Alfie_in_Tokyo at 01:26 PM JST - 10th April

Well, the DL did have one or two notable Japanese disciples in the recent past....
illsayit at 09:44 PM JST - 10th April

I think China is happy with this, the Dalai Lama has not asked anything of Japan either. Japan can feel kinda special really, not that they could actually do anything, right! What a smart move!
gmygmygmy at 11:26 PM JST - 10th April

Even the Dalai Lama says Tibet is part of China. He is now a homeless dog and a terrorist.
Jyan_Bon at 01:32 AM JST - 11th April

Chinese government's lap dogs must learn how to win the hearts of international observers in CIVILIZED MANNER. Learn a few from Dalai Lama.
OssanII at 04:18 AM JST - 11th April

The Dalai Lama has far more respect from the people of the world than any member of the Chinese government.
some14some at 06:32 AM JST - 11th April

It appears that GWB's "war on terror" has either strengthened China or weakened Dalai Lama.
archiebald at 10:18 AM JST - 11th April

What are you talking about?

Free Tibet from these fascist bully boys now!!!
Kwaabish at 10:34 AM JST - 11th April

I would have thought that the Dalai Lama's popularity is still rising and the CCP's has been in a free fall the last several months.
muchogrande at 12:14 PM JST - 11th April

The CCP and the Dalai Lama, no one voted for either of em.
gmygmygmy at 04:22 PM JST - 11th April

Dalai had accepted $1 million donation from a Japanese.

The cult leader Shoko Asahara claimed that it was "the 14th Dalai Lama who personally led him into the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism" and that he could shorten the time needed for one to become a Buddha from 2,000-3,000 years to just 10 years, urging people to ditch the ascetic practices advocated by Buddhism and follow his sect tenets to merrily achieve longevity and even to become a Buddha. The 14th Dalai Lama kept writing certificates or letters of recommendation for Shoko Asahara to the authorities of Tokyo, hailing Shoko Asahara as "a very capable religious teacher" and hoping the authorities would "allow the Aum Shinrikyo Sect to be exempted from tax payments and propagandize its credo. The German weekly Focus reported that without the support of the 14th Dalai Lama, it would have been absolutely impossible for Shoko Asahara to build up his sect empire and, within a short period of very few years, gain status as a cult leader in Japan. In other words, it is the 14th Dalai Lama's all-out "support" that turned Shoko Asahara, a swindler and a mountebank, into "a religious teacher".

It was because of the 14th Dalai Lama who persistently supported and trumpeted Shoko Asahara that the Aum Shinrikyo cult could acquire the privilege of "tax exemption" and accumulated funds to bankroll his cruel evil doing against the Japanese people. In the Spring of 1995, Shoko Asahara organized a terrorist attack by discharging poisonous gas in Tokyo's subway, killing 12 people and injuring 5,000 others. The event sparked indignation from the Japanese people. In October of the same year, Shoko Asahara and his die-hard followers stood public trial in a local court of Tokyo and were punished in line with laws.

Even at this moment, the 14th Dalai Lama who claimed to be a "human rights fighter" still spoke plausibly to the Kyodo News Service that Shoko Asahara remained his friend and that he still thought what the Aum Shinrikyo cult preached was in accordance with Buddhist doctrines. It was the support and connivance of the 14th Dalai Lama who took the foe for his friend that made Asahara feel secure in the knowledge that he had strong backing. The evil cult continued to do evils under the guise of constantly-changed names and leaders. Eventually in 1999, the Japanese Senate completed the legislative procedures against evil cults including the Aum Shinrikyo. The Tokyo authorities also took a number of measures to crack down on the leaders of the evil cult.

Why would the 14th Dalai Lama openly violate the teachings of Sakyamuni that urge his followers to get rid of demons and uphold truth and laws to favor Aum Shinrikyo? Why would he flout the tenets of Buddhism urging the masses not to do evils but to do good deeds? The 14th Dalai Lama had confessed in a letter to the cult, appreciating the Aum Shinrikyo Sect for its "generous donation to our Buddhist collective in exile". Aha, it turned out to be that the "leader" even bartered away the sacred tenet of Buddhism as a cheap bargaining chip in money deals.

It is the 14th Dalai Lama's own deeds that have step by step betrayed his real intentions and political ambitions put under the guise of Buddhism and peace. A weekly newspaper in Manila commented it was a pity that the 14th Dalai Lama wore the cassock of a Lama but played political tricks, spoke of the pursuit of freedom through peaceful means but harbored in mind the vain attempt of restoring the past feudal rule of Lamaism. Even catholic senator P. Santorum of the United States couldn't help exclaiming that such conduct reflected a subdued religious sentiment. He held that to establish a society respecting life, cracking down upon crimes and promoting dignity of mankind, efforts must be made to prevent religion from being individualized. It appears that many people of insight across the world have recognized the tricks of the 14th Dalai Lama in using Tibetan Buddhism to engage in political activities and have stayed on high alert to and repulsed the deed of the Dalai Lama.
Seiharinokaze at 07:57 PM JST - 11th April

Why would the 14th Dalai Lama openly violate the teachings of Sakyamuni that urge his followers to get rid of demons and uphold truth and laws to favor Aum Shinrikyo? Why would he flout the tenets of Buddhism urging the masses not to do evils but to do good deeds?

Your remark should be addressed to Asahara and his followers rather than to the Dalai Lama. There were some renowned scholars on religion in Japan too who once said something affirmative about Aum's teachings. Asahara was even considered to have attained some level of yogic discipline and consciousness. It's not easy to explore the depth of human souls. "We should fully probe that. It’s not good to put an end to it by simply sentencing them to die." as Murakami Haruki says. Quick categorical judgement will often get nowhere only to be once in a while put to some political use.