Posted by Iansf on November 23, 2005, at 16:56:33
In reply to DL would undergo surgery, posted by pseudoname on November 19, 2005, at 19:20:19
I think the Dalai Lama has a different conception of being human than most people, at least most Westerners, do. A major underlying tenet of Buddhism is that all life is an illusion and that the individual self is an illusion within an illusion. The loss of autonomy means little when you view things this way.
Also, Tibet is still a feudal society - and was even more so when the Dalai Lama fled to escape imprisonment by the Chinese. He was raised in a fairly autocratic environment, where the religious hierarchy held great power to determine individual lives. A great deal of his thinking continues to reflect the (in my opinion dangerous) belief that religious leaders always have the best interest of the people in mind.
poster:Iansf
thread:579264
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051119/msgs/581645.html