tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13617569.post114451037938794239..comments2024-03-06T05:17:31.852-07:00Comments on Integral Options Cafe: Intolerance Of and In Buddhismwilliam harrymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06981478282688361274noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13617569.post-1149818902467021522006-06-08T19:08:00.000-07:002006-06-08T19:08:00.000-07:00His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyat...His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, incarnation of previous Dalai Lamas (or maybe not, who can prove?), is, after all, just like Shakyamuni and every other soul on the planet, a fallible, imperfect human being. I still think he's the bee's knees. He totally 'gets it,' as far as spiritual development is concerned, but don't ask a monk to talk to you about sex :)<BR/><BR/>But seriously, Kai and Bill, I'm with you - his view is almost certainly a function of his upbringing in the area. People need to recognize that the condemnation of homosexual behavior is pretty cross-cultural and it's a strong perception that is going to take a very long time to change. Also keep in mind that the Dalai Lama is from a different generation as well as a totally different continent.<BR/><BR/>ShannonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13617569.post-1144554316830604372006-04-08T20:45:00.000-07:002006-04-08T20:45:00.000-07:00I agree completely.I was pretty bummed when I foun...I agree completely.<BR/><BR/>I was pretty bummed when I found out His Holiness teaches that same-sex love is wrong in Buddhism. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed a part of the religious tradition more than his particular belief.<BR/><BR/>He never goes out of his way to condemn homosexuality, but he won't shy away from the subject when it comes up.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I agree with what you said.<BR/><BR/>Peace,<BR/>Billwilliam harrymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06981478282688361274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13617569.post-1144549339068288652006-04-08T19:22:00.000-07:002006-04-08T19:22:00.000-07:00I keep thinking of how this question of meme devel...I keep thinking of how this question of meme development is probably so much more complex than we quite realize. I was dismayed when I first heard of the Dalai Lama's take on homosexuality. I was distraught, really, since I'd always thought he was the bee's knees. Then I got some perspective (that word again!). I think--almost irrevocably--where we are raised, and how we are raised shapes certain of our views, installs (permanent) blinkers in a sense. Sometimes when I am abroad, for example, I'm amazed at how seemingly intrinsically the people have a much better sense of how to prioritize life: the French, the Cubans, for example, care so much more for their friends and families than we do: we cherish busyness, and working, and "productiveness." I think Wilber, so brilliant, so wise, in so many different ways, is rather a dunce on feminism and sexism. I am shocked at times at how Black friends, intimately conversant in the workings of racism against Blacks, cannot abstract that insight into an understanding of racism against any other race. On and on it goes. Finally I decided this is simply the truth of manifest existence: no matter how wise, how enlightened, how educated and intrinsically intelligent, there will always be vast areas in which one (we) are a moron. This awareness helps me strive more mightily against my own idiocies.<BR/><BR/>Kai in NYCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com