This 1998 Ottawa Citizen article is in response to a 1998 article by columnist Christopher Hitchens, recently circulated on the Internet (May 2000). Alfred Webre EcoNews Service Vancouver, BC ===== http://www.tibet.ca/wtnarchive/1998/10/2_1.html 1. Defending the Dalai Lama (OC) Ottawa Citizen, Thursday, October 01, 1998 by Brian J. Given We have become so accustomed to learning that our cultural icons, the Presidents and Priests, have feet of clay that we are perversely pleased when yet another role model is caught in flagrente delecto with the alter boys or interns. It is hardly surprising, that the Dalai Lama of Tibet should be the subject of an attempt at expose' (Behind The Dalai Lama's Smile. (Sept. 17:A15). Unfortunately Mr. Hitchens' pique overcomes his reason and his article is polemic more than critique. I have conducted research, over a period of 15 years, among Tibetan refugees and western-born Tibetan Buddhists in India and Canada. For Tibetans the Dalai Lama is the symbolic embodiment of their nation and for most non-Tibetans the Dalai Lama's credibility is the credibility of the Tibetan cause itself so Hitchens ill-informed comments should be answered. First, he tells his readers that the Dalai Lama supported India's nuclear tests. The Tibetan leader was responding to a journalist's question in Madison Wisconsin on May 13. What he said was that the tests saddened him and that he supported complete nuclear disarmament. He did say, however, that it is undemocratic for a few nuclear powers, in condemning India, to ask others not to indulge in actions that they are, themselves, undertaking. Christopher Hitchens thinks that the Dalai Lama's meeting with Shoko Asahara, whose followers later perpetrated the Tokyo nerve gas murders, is evidence of some sinister side of the Tibetan leader. The obvious explanation, and the correct one, is that meetings with the Dalai Lama are widely available. The officials who make his appointments in India cannot conduct international investigations before granting audiences. Ironically, Hitchens is angry that the Dalai Lama may not have been omniscient! Next the article blames the Dalai Lama for the fact that another Lama has recognized action film hero Steven Seagal as a minor reincarnation. The Dalai Lama is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and Seagal was recognized as a reincarnated Lama (the Tibetan term is "Tulku") by Penor Rinpoche, who is head of the Nyingma school. Many Buddhists did wonder at the Rinpoche's choice of Tulkus but none think the Dalai Lama had anything to do with it. Hitchens raises the issue of Dorje Shugden (not Hitchens' "Dorge") and echoes the complaints of a small group of followers of this ancient "wrathful protector" deity. Shugden is a beatified former antagonist of a former Dalai Lama, often worshipped for material benefit and this controversy has quietly existed for centuries in Tibet. What has changed is that some western followers of Shugden and a few Tibetan supporters, with considerable resources at their disposal, have used the Dalai Lama's advice that the worship of Shugden is harmful to argue that he is suppressing freedom of religion. Practitioners of Dorje Shugden are terrorized by tales of what will happen to them if they don't refrain from receiving other religious instruction, including from the Dalai Lama. He responded to the evidence that the followers of Shugden were teaching religious intolerance by stating that this practice was harmful and asking Tibetans to refrain from it. It is true that a few people in some of the refugee communities in India were overly aggressive in their attempts to discourage this practice which many Tibetans believe harms the Dalai Lama, shortening his life. There were only a few incidents and there is no reason to believe that they were part of any centrally organized campaign. Hitchens piece echoes very closely the text of a book published by the Dorje Shugden International Coalition as part of their European-based campaign against the Dalai Lama. Had Hitchens researched the issue he would have discovered that the Dalai Lama's advice about Shugden was intended to preserve, rather than to diminish, freedom of religion. The article criticizes the Dalai Lama for teaching Tibetan Buddhist doctrine on sexual misconduct. It is ethnocentric to condemn the most important Tibetan spiritual authority for stating Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, regarding one of the Five Precepts, when asked by a reporter. Hitchens also berates the media for its reportage about a "mere mortal who, at the very least, proclaims the nonsense of reincarnation..." The ancient Buddhist doctrines on death and rebirth were not invented by the Dalai Lama. Anyone has the right to believe or not to believe that an incredible carpenter can be the Son of God or that our mind-continuum takes form after form on the path to enlightenment. Hitchens refers to a "Hollywood cult that almost exceeds the power of Scientology itself." Any theme Hollywood embraces becomes simplified and trendy. However, Tibetans have worked with non-Tibetans, ever since China's invasion (1949-59), to build a well-informed base of over 100 Tibet Support Groups in 64 countries and most were around before Hollywood discovered Tibet. Prior to his exile in 1959 and for the 39 years afterward the Dalai Lama and his followers have opted for the "middle way" of non-violence which won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Hitchens complains that the Dalai Lama benefits from "modern PR" such that "his words and actions are judged by his reputation, rather than the other way about." If world opinion judges Tibetans and their leader in light of their consistent moderate behavior and philosophy it is because they have earned that consideration. The Dalai Lama assures us that he is indeed a "mere mortal." He is also a very good man. He and the Tibetan refugee community have earned our respect the hard way, by their conduct. They deserve better than simplistic adulation based on our need for Shangrila or cranky and inaccurate expose. Brian J. Given is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, a member of the College of the Humanities at Carleton University and a Research Consultant to the Canada Tibet Committee. He is currently writing a book about the Tibetan-Canadian refugee communities. _________ earthradioTV.com - Alternative News Forum for ecology, politics & consciousness. 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