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May 26th, 2010
09:16 AM ET
The Dalai Lama is wrong
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN I am a big fan of the Dalai Lama. I love his trademark smile and I hate the fact that I missed his talks this week in New York City. But I cannot say either "Amen" or "Om" to the shopworn clichés that he trots out in the New York Times in “Many Faiths, One Truth.” Recalling the Apostle Paul—“When I was a child, I spoke like a child”—the Dalai Lama begins by copping to youthful naivete. “When I was a boy in Tibet, I felt that my own Buddhist religion must be the best,” he writes, “and that other faiths were somehow inferior.” However, just as Paul, upon becoming a man, “put away childish things,” the Dalai Lama now sees his youthful exclusivism as both naïve and dangerous. There is “one truth” behind the “many faiths,” and that core truth, he argues, is compassion. Like the Dalai Lama, who writes of how he was influenced by Thomas Merton, I believe we can learn greatly from other religions. I too hope for tolerance and harmony in our interreligious interactions. I am convinced, however, that true tolerance and lasting harmony must be built on reality, not fantasy. Religious exclusivism is dangerous and naïve. But so too is pretend pluralism. The cause of religious harmony is not advanced in the least by the shibboleth that all religions are different paths up the same mountain. If you ask religious universalists what lies at the top of the mountain, the answers they will give you are not one but many. Gandhi and philosopher of religion Huston Smith say that at the top there is the same universal God. But when others describe this religious mountaintop they invariably give voice to their own particular beliefs and biases. Followers of the Dalai Lama revere him as a reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. So it should not be surprising that he sees compassion at the heart of all religions. But this is a parochial perspective, not a universal one. And like any form of pretend pluralism it threatens to blind us both to the particular dangers of individual religious traditions and to their unique beauties. To be sure, all religions preach compassion. But it is false to claim that compassion is the reason for being of the great religions. Jesus did not die on a cross in order to teach us to help old ladies across the street. The Jewish milieu in which he was raised already knew that. And as the Dalai Lama points out, so did the rest of the world’s religions. Jesus came, according to most Christian thinkers, to stamp out sin and pave the path to salvation. Similarly, the Buddha did not sit down under a Bo tree in India in order to teach us not to kill our brothers. The Hindu milieu in which he was raised already knew that too. He came, according to most Buddhist thinkers, to stamp out suffering and pave the path to nirvana. As I argue in my new book, "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World—and Why Their Differences Matter," religion is an immensely powerful force both personally and politically. So if we want to understand the world we must understand the world's religions. This includes reckoning with both similarities and differences, and with the capacity of each of the great religions to do both good and evil. I know that when it comes to the Dalai Lama we are all supposed to bow and scrape. So I am happy to applaud his project to find “common ground” across the world’s religions. But I also know that the Buddha said to worship no man. And I cannot agree with the Dalai Lama’s claim that “the essential message of all religions is very much the same.” The Dalai Lama was doubtless naïve when, as a boy, and before learning about other religions, he arrived at the conclusion that only his religion was true. But it is no advance out of innocence to make the equally fantastic claim that all the religions are at heart vehicles for compassion. If we are to build a world of interreligious harmony, or even a world of interreligious détente, it will have to be constructed on a foundation of adult experience rather than youthful naivete. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero. soundoff (633 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.
About 10 or so years ago I happened to hear an interview with this unassuming fellow the Dalia Lama and he was asked by the interviewer what the most important one thing to strive for in life? His answer was simply to have a kind heart. I was struck by the simplicity of his answer. He didn't quote any Buddhist doctrine or dogma as perhaps could be expected and yet his message was for any and all people everywhere regardless of religious belief or background. This man spoke TRUE WISDOM.
I once came to know a very beautiful singer, songwriter and musician who came and lived in my house, bringing only his old guitar and sleeping bag. He was a rockn’ roll star performing on stage for thousands and thousands of people. (Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson from Canned Heat). When not in concert or in the recording studio, he refused to perform for people who of course always asked him to play and sing for them, but he would play together with anyone who wanted to play with him. No matter what their style of music was. His own tradition was blues, but to Alan, two humans could always play together independent of what music tradition they came from.
Following his early death in 1970, Alan Wilson’s humble (and stunning!) example has always had a great place in my memory. And I believe, it is the same for lovers of the experience of the oneness of all things created. People who are trapped in the different words and traditions of religions think that the religions are different. And in a way, they are right, because that’s their experience. But those who know the oneness, don’t think so. Or rather, they know it is not so.
Alan’s example says it all, because you can excel in one music tradition and still know the oneness of all music. In the same way, true lovers of the experience of oneness know the oneness of all people – and religions. If you don’t know, it’s your loss. And really not worth writing an article, or even a whole book about. If you don’t know today, you can get to know tomorrow. That’s called hope.
What a true vision of compassion – sitting down and making music together, no matter what your tradition. Not letting the notes get in the way.
This is one subject every one has an opinion on......
Mind you no facts, just opinions. And you know the thing about opinions? They are a dime, a dozen.
I once came to know a very beautiful singer, songwriter and musician who came and lived in my house, bringing only his old guitar and sleeping bag. He was a rock'n roll star performing on stage for thousands and thousands of people. (Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson from Canned Heat). When not in concert or in the recording studio, he refused to perform for people who of course always asked him to play and sing for them, but he would play together with anyone who wanted to play with him. No matter what their style of music was. His own tradition was blues, but still to him all music was one. And so, to Alan, two humans could always play together independent of what music tradition they came from.
Following his early death in 1970, Alan Wilson’s humble (and stunning!) example has always had a great place in my memory. And I believe, it is the same for lovers of the one experience of the oneness of all. People who are trapped in the different words and traditions of religions think that the religions are different. And in a way, they are right, because that’s their experience. But those who know the oneness of all, don’t think so. Or rather, they know it is not so.
Alan’s example says it all, because knowing the oneness of music, you can still excel in one particular tradition but it won’t limit your perception and ability to share with people of other traditions. The true lovers of music know the oneness of music. The true lovers of oneness know the oneness of all people – and religions. And so, if you don’t know the oneness, your loss, but please, don’t try to teach because you have missed the essential element.
the vast majority of religions have a divine and castle like dreams after you die or a reward for one's "suffering". Now, the Bible talks about a God that is going to "destroy" the Earth (the bad people) and will leave the rest (the good ones) to replenish it. It's simple but it makes more sense. After all, He could kill millions of people (because He knows their heart and minds) and no one can point a finger to Him or say He was wrong in His judgment. It will be very naive to think that we (humans) can solve the problems on our own: we have had our chance for thousand of years and frankly, we are making it worst as the time goes by; just as God predicted we'll do thousand of years before. Millions of people are in the right path, but only God will put them together as a group and have them live the lives that He meant to be.
i just want to say sorry to him
The true goal of the various religions was never, and is still not, about compassion. It has always been to control the masses. Religion has always been the tool of the highest ranking members of society to goad the rest of society into subservient behavior. And in cases where these ranking members have selfish motives, cruel and barbaric followers can be goaded into committing unspeakable horrors. Take Al Qaeda and the crusaders, for example.
What all the books of faith preach is Love and what is love but compassion and respect.
It seems the bigger picture was ignored the real words are inspiration and truth.
Unfortuantely the author of this article has a rather shallow interpretation of what the Dalai Lama is saying, which whilst simple at one level, also reaches very deep. Compassion IS the path which Jesus died o9n the cross for, and compassion IS the means of attaining enlightenment and eradicating suffering. Unfortunately Mr Prothero focuses too much on the word, which has an inherent cultural bias, rather than the universal meaning that sits beneath it.
As Westerners, we intellectualise too much, particularly for faith, religion, spirituality, etc. I too think the author is missing the point, or a point at least. The Dalai Lama is not wrong, and your intellectual argument is not wholly incorrect, either. However, the issues are huge, far too large to convincingly discuss in a single interview – I believe the Dalai Lama has studied his entire life – and I would argue that the author is involved in the age old tradition of talking up only one aspect of an issue. Useful? Perhaps in an intellectual sense, yes, somewhat.
"To be sure, all religions preach compassion. But it is false to claim that compassion is the reason for being of the great religions. Superman did not die at the hands of Doomsday in order to teach us to help old ladies across the street. The Jewish milieu in which he was raised already knew that. And as the Dalai Lama points out, so did the rest of the world’s religions. Superman came, according to most Comic Book thinkers, to stamp out sin and pave the path to salvation"
And that is why the Dalai Lama is who he is and you, Stephen Prothero, are you.
btw, nice plug for you book.
In an attempt to drum up interest for your book, you (the writer of the article) try to take down one of the better people in this world. If everyone knows already that they should be compassionate, we wouldn't live in a world we live in now.
Thumbs up, sir! I will gladly skip your book!
I actually do think that most everyone DOES know they are supposed to be compasionate (excluding people who are mentally ill). We CHOOSE to ignore our compasionate feelings/actions in favor of feeding our selfishness and sense of self superiority.
Clearly the author made a very bad publication for his book with this stupid essay
Thanks for shamelessly plugging your book, but I have no interest in buying it after reading this rubbish. What you term "exclusivism" is simply a fact of life. Your nonsensical wish that all religions might be equally valid, motivated not by a religious experience or feeling but rather by your neo-liberal ideology, is in sharp contrast to the realities most of us can see all around us. It is simply a fact of life that parts of our world are "exclusivist." You can whine all you want about the fact that there is only one universal constant of gravity, and how it is exclusivist, naïve, and dangerous for anyone to believe that the universal constant of gravity can only be 6.67 x 10^(-13), but you'd look like a moron. In this example, you can doubtless see that calling a fact of life exclusivist is ridiculous, but I submit to you that it is just the same with your views on religious universalism, but you can't see it because you're too blinded by your ideology, which causes a stubborn refusal to let a true religious experience alter your viewpoints. It's really a shame someone printed multiple copies of rubbish like the blog entry above. I sincerely hope for your sake that, before you die, you open your eyes to the truth around you, the truth that can be seen a million times a day through the beauty of creation and the miracles of life and science: the truth that is the fact that God exists, that he is one, and that there is only one path to him, just as there is only one universal constant of gravity.
I'm not a fan of this article. Calling the Dalai Lama wrong and naive because he thinks all religions have one thing in common? Come on...of course religions have differences, if they didn't there would only be one religion. However, to make a big deal and criticize the Dalai Lama for thinking all religions, in their most basic belief, have compassion is just idiotic. I've never studied a religion that says "hate your neighbor" nor did I learn in Sunday School a song that said "Jesus hates me, this I know...for some guy in an opinion article told me so"...
All religion I've studied promotes love, peace, equality...it's the followers who ignore that and we end up with things like the Westboro Baptist Church, the KKK, and the Taliban...
you said, Dalai Lama is the incarnation of Buddha of compassion that means he is no ordinary man, in fact Buddha in human form. so he is worth of worshiping. But then you also said ' Buddha said worship no man'. Here you meant Dalai Lama like a common human being and not worth of worshiping like what Buddha said. it seems you have two tongue, saying two different things.
Strange, but true that what you are blaming the Dali Lama for doing, is the same that you are doing. You consider him to be wrong, when in fact he is right. Let's look at Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, Buddhism and even Hinduism. To reach nirvana or heaven requires an individual to be compassionate in many ways. Sometimes these ways are not deliberately spelled out, but they are there. Before we are adults we are taught as children to care for ourselves and the next person. I f we are not taught this early on then catastrophe can be expected later in life. If you can't care, then how in reality can you reason? All beginnings start and grow from some type of sturdy base. If the base is week, then latter you can expect it to shatter like glass. My friend compassion is at the top of that mountain. Look closer at everyday life and tell me what you really find. Look closely at the mistakes many adults have and will make and you honestly tell me that they didn't stem from somebody ignoring the feelings and well being of another.
I am not claiming any perspective you critique is infallible, intellectually, but your understanding is less than shallow. Use caution when propping up your own faith at the expense of a myriad of cultures and beliefs you do not begin to understand.
What we seek is true happiness and that is what on that mountain. That is what we want.
H.H Dalai Lama’s message. Get the point!