Tathagata

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. - Heraclitus...

Dhammachari Subhuti from the United Kingdom paying tribute to Buddha at Siddhartha Buddha Vihar in Gulbarga on Sunday.

When you give a shilling to a beggar - do you realize that you are giving it to yourself? When you help a lame dog over a stile - do you realize that you yourself are being helped? When you kick a man when he is down - do you realize that you are kicking yourself? Give him another kick - if you deserve it! - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei...

First, if you're ever called upon to write an opinion piece for a newspaper, do a little fact-checking first. Andy Lamey's basic premise in "Stop the lama love-in" is that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is failing as the leader of the Tibetan liberation movement and should step aside. However, one could question whether His Holiness has ever functioned as anything resembling a leader of a "Tibetan liberation movement."

His role at this point is hard to pin down, I admit. The Dalai Lama is no longer a head of state, even a head of state in exile, except in a figurative sense. The Tibetan government in exile is now headed by the prime minister of an elected parliament, and His Holiness has stepped away from running a government. Further, the many pro-Tibet activists around the globe don't take orders from the Dalai Lama and often do not agree with him.

Yes, he has failed at winning any freedom for Tibet. But the Dalai Lama's "middle way" strategy is completely rational, especially given that China has the largest standing army in the world and Tibet is, um, Tibet. Armed rebellion would almost certainly end in a bloodbath.

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Dalai Lama: Too Dogmatic, or Not Dogmatic Enough? originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 21:47:04.

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