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Why is the Dalai Lama always male?
This may be a REAL newbie question, and maybe it's not even really worth asking, but I've often wondered why the Dalai Lama is always a male.
I have my own ideas about this, but I'd really like to hear from people far more knowledgeable than me.
Love and light,
Heather
I have my own ideas about this, but I'd really like to hear from people far more knowledgeable than me.
Love and light,
Heather
0
Comments
http://www.progressive.org/mag_intv0106
What the Dalai lama says to western people about equality is very different to what he says back home.
i was kidding......
:rolleyes:
Traditions cling to themselves as if they've always existed and have always been that way... much as a person clings to themselves. Was there nothing before?
It's fascinating. But all the magical thinking in the world doesn't change the fact that they are taking a small boy and forcing him into a life of celebate religious study and ceremony.
Tibetans are no more backwards in their civil rights efforts than anyone else.
The Dalai Lama is no longer the acting head of state for Tibet, though I think it could be important to have a Tibetan Dalai Lama for at least one more generation, with Tibetan culture on the verge of extinction under Chinese rule, and the very real need to hold the Tibetan people together through the upcoming trials.
There is nothing particularly wrong with a Dalai Lama being Tibetan (or male), and it shouldn't matter - what should matter is that the incarnation be someone best able to carry the work forward. There shouldn't need to be a symbolic female or non-Tibetan any more than there should need to be a male Tibetan; what matters is the dharma and the future Dalai Lama's (if there will be one at all) ability to enrich it.
There are still many, many important and precious dharma teachers in Tibetan society, and if having another Tibetan Dalai Lama helps to foster that connection and continue to bring that form of Buddhist knowledge to the world before it's lost forever, then I am all for it. At the same time, if a Western female Dalai Lama accomplishes that same work, I'm all for it.
There is not just the Tibetan community outside of Tibet to consider, but the millions inside Tibet. Their needs are also paramount. Under the shadow of Chinese occupation, they've not been able to see first-hand the advances made in Dharamsala and elsewhere with democratic structures and less-traditional leaders. If one more Tibetan Dalai Lama is beneficial to those inside Tibet, to hopefully get us through to some resolution on Tibet, that alone is reason enough to consider it worthwhile.
Personally, I feel it would be beneficial for the dharma if the next Dalai Lama were Tibetan--male or female--because the knowledge that remains to be spread from the current Tibetan teachers (both male and female) is still so untapped. If there could be another Great Bridge (like HHDL the 14th, and the 13th, and the current Karmapa Lama), I personally feel that would be the most beneficial thing in our current situation.
My guess is that the Karmapa Lama will be the acting figure, taking the foremost role until the next Dalai Lama is of age. Sadly the Panchen Lama is out of the picture, though I would give anything to be wrong. That poor child. I really feel he is not alive. I hate to say it, but that's my belief. If he is alive, he will have been raised under the most intense brainwashing imaginable; however, the very fact that China erected a false Panchen Lama is a sad indication Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is probably not here. I pray to be wrong.
...it could happen...
What I think the problem is that there's never a question. The people who deal with the reincarnation and tracking down of the next Dalai Lama probably never ask themselves whether it's going to be a male or female, they just presume male because that's what it's been traditionally. Without the question being raised, there's no problem raised. If people start asking these types of questions and put them forth, if they're serious about it, then it will have to be answered. Otherwise they'll just keep on keepin' on as they ever have been.
Personally, I thought Pat Schroeder would have made a great President, having served on Congressional Defense committees, and all, but the media nailed her when she shed a tear, once. Can't have the President doing that (though US Presidents have). OK, back to topic.
And Hillary Clinton probably would've made a good President, or maybe even will... she's already been in the midst of it when Bill was President, but probably wouldn't get impeached for sex in the oval office and lying about it.
Then get some!:) It's for sale!!!
As far as we know, the DL is still considering his options.
That DL, you never know what he'll do (or won't do) next. Such a character!
I think things (and attitudes) are changing though.
But it's certainly possible to be a good person and act compassionately - no question there. His hands are tied, though; he's told what to do and when to do it, by a political party. He is not really acting in his own capacity. He has to just try to weather things as they are, which includes having protectors Photoshopped into ones portraits without warning: (http://theshugdengroup.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/the-panchen-lama-dorje-shugden-china/)
I feel for the boy, and wish him all the best. The last Panchen Lama China sponsored by China, after all, spoke out in the end, and paid for it with his life.
Here's a perhaps unexpected picture of HH the 10th, taken about four weeks before Lanchow was evacuated - I doubt my 8 year old dad knew at the time he was being overflown by a much more famous boy, nor suspected he himself would be thrown into the cargo hold of a similar (the same?) aircraft to escape Mao's forces in August:
Things do not stay the same forever yes he may be being used by the Communist party primarily to try and maintain harmony ( However Unsuccessful ) but don't forget he is still young and coming into his own being, I foresee he shall be able to benefit many sentient beings in the future regardless of whether certain people decide to photoshop a protector behind him or not it doesn't matter. Buddha's manifest in a variety of ways to help others.
I always find it interesting as to how due to politics the chinese Karmapa is welcomed with open arms while the one traditionally chosen is rejected due to his lack of political connections ( But funnily enough still engages in the activities of a Buddha ) But again it is not unheard of for Buddha's to manifest in many forms for the benefit of others.
"Any person who does not realise that he has the Buddha-Nature is a woman. If he does so realise, he is a man. If any woman knows that she has the Buddha-Nature, she is a man" (Mahaparinirvana Sutra).
So here is a man (Chöying Drôlma):
The Dalai Lama: Up to now, most of the abbots in the nunneries are males. Now, there will be well-qualified female abbots within the nunnery community itself. Then, if a female lama passes away and she’s been a good scholar and practitioner, it is quite possible that the reincarnation will be a female, too. So, I think, that in the twenty-second century, there will be more female reincarnations at female institutions. Then there’ll be competition between male lama institutions and female lama institutions. It’ll be a positive sort of competition. [Laughs]
...
As early as 1969, I made an official statement that the very institution of the Dalai Lama, whether it should continue or not, is up to the people. Second, in 1992, I made clear that when the day of our return—with a certain degree of freedom—comes, I’ll hand over all my political authority to the local Tibetan government. Hopefully, that government should be a democratic, elected government. And even while we have remained outside Tibet—for the last forty-six years—we have undertaken strong efforts at democratization. In the last four years, we have established an elected political leadership. Since then, I have been in a position of semi-retirement. Once the day of our return comes, I will go into complete retirement.
There will be no political role for the Dalai Lama. This will be true not only for me but for any future Dalai Lama.
Q: And you have said that the next Dalai Lama will be discovered outside China.
The Dalai Lama: As I’ve said earlier, whether this institution will continue depends on the people. Under the best of circumstances, I think that the institution should continue. First, the maintenance of the institution is important. Then, there is the personal history. Both options should be kept open. If the Tibetan people want another reincarnation, then logically while we’re outside, the successor should be someone who can carry out this task, which has not yet been accomplished by the previous Dalai Lama. That means that he must come in a free country. But the Chinese government will also appoint a Dalai Lama. So there’ll be two Dalai Lamas. One Dalai Lama—the Chinese official Dalai Lama—the Tibetan people will have no faith in. Even the ordinary Chinese will have no faith in him. He’ll be a false Dalai Lama. Sometimes our Chinese brothers and sisters have different calculations. [Laughs]
http://www.progressive.org/mag_intv0106
Buddhism for the most part is male dominated, and yes, even chauvinism lives within the ranks of the religion, hence the comment to the blog. There are some Buddhists who say that the only way to attain enlightenment is to be reborn as a male, and in the Vinaya, the monastic code of conduct, women have more vows than men…yes, that is all true. It is also true that Buddhist leaders in Asian countries are almost always men.
It will take a while for things to be more balanced, given that, for example, Western women have only been formally educated in significant numbers since the 19th century, and many not until th 20th. I don't mean they aren't immediately capable, simply that it takes time for any society to shift centuries of momentum.
As for Buddhism, it may be slightly more accurate to say it appears to be male-dominated; if you look more closely, you find centuries of quiet female leadership. This phenomenon, in fact, holds true for many cultures and vocations throughout history - men may have been in the news, but that doesn't mean there were no female forces.
Of course today there is increasingly prominent female leadership in Buddhism; I remember when Ani Choying Drolma came to sing and teach, she sat up high and Geshe Lhundup Sopa, Yangsi Rinpoche, and other geshes sat low; no one had any issues with it, even though she was only in her 30s! The times they are a-changing.
I think there shouldn't be any rush, just as there shouldn't be any discouragement of existing, accomplished female teachers. We want great, gifted teachers; it doesn't really matter what ethnic group or sex they appear to be in this lifetime.