Insightful post. I can see where the Western press trots him out like a smiling icon of multicultural, One-World enlightenment; yet he has failed, as you explain it, to rise to an effective leadership responsibility. I don’t know what his faith consists of; could there be a theological belief (in his context) for allowing so much destruction, perhaps the belief that the dead are better off in the next world?
” perhaps the belief that the dead are better off in the next world? “
Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism takes off on all kinds of flights of fantasy that completely depart from the tradition Buddhism ( Theravada ) which the Buddha himself originally taught . One thing is common however ; a near infinite succession of future lives based on our actions and behaviors , incurring positive or negative karma in this lifetime . That the only way out of this cycle of suffering is thru consciously engaging in the spiritual training regimes that lead ultimately to Enlightenment .
H.H. Dalai Lama is 100% completely invested in this belief set and I do not fault him personally . Yet were the rest of humanity to subscribe to these beliefs we would ensure our own extinction , at the hands of those who do not give a rip about any such beliefs and furthermore hold those that do hold such beliefs in complete contempt and feel it behooves them to murder to the point of extinction those that do . A tour through formerly Buddhist areas of India , which I have made several times , shows what happens when a people and a belief set that bases on complete pacifism are confronted by a rapacious ultra proselytic belief set like Islam and muslims . The Buddhists were totally wiped out , or driven away , their temples and stupas destroyed or built over upon . What does this remind you of ? The Temple Mount in Jerusalem ? It’s a common pattern . Islam is the arch enemy of Buddhist and Buddhism . Including the Dalai Lama . He just refuses to see it .