HHDL in Portugal

Simonthepilgrim

"It will be safer to keep one's own religion as changing faith might create confusion in personal life. If necessary one should change only after serious and fuller knowledge. It is unhealthy and you should not loose respect for your previous faith although it might not be relevant to you but you must understand that it is helping millions of others."

Words of Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama at his first teaching in Lisbon this week.

bushinoki

Although, Simon, much as I respect my former faith now, it is very human to go through what I did, which is a complete rejection of it. Probably necessary psychologically as you need to sever the bonds of one faith to grow in another.

ajani_mgo

I don't know, Simon - what was the context in which he mentioned those words?

In the case of Buddhism, I seem to think that many are first attracted to Buddhism, finding some sort of resonance with it, as I did, but lacking a proper understanding still that can only be gained via practice. If the non-understanding of Buddhism is key to HHDL's words, then maybe he has some reason to say so - after all, one can quit his old religion to embrace Buddhism totally (the alternative perhaps being he can integrate Buddhism), but the understanding will not be whole.

Yet come again, who actually gains a correct understanding of Buddhism upon first try actually? Maybe it has to do with settlement after the initial confusion. Again, the validity of his words would depend on context, maybe I interpreted it wrongly.

Brigid

I love that HHDL said that. I've read similar quotations from him before.