The Lama roadshow arrives - Stanhope too busy

No problems with him flying to spread the word, or utilising the odd chauffeured Merc in his travels, but I think usage of a Rolls Royce in an area where your “people” are living as refugees in poverty is a touch inappropriate for someone espousing such noble sentiments.

Given the nature of the roads etc up there, surely he could at least make do with a Land Rover or some such?

Fair enough, but if I was a poor monk I’d be more concerned about the “star” of Half Past Dead and Hard to Kill Steven Segal being made a sacred vessel or “tulku” of Tibetan Buddhism.

There’s an interesting article about the Lama here http://www.salon.com/news/1998/07/13news.html

As a ‘simple monk’ the DL has taken a vow of simplicity, not one of eschewing cars or airplanes or other developments that are part and parcel of the modern world. It is likely that the Mercedes in which he was seen being ferried around in India or the chopper that he flew across Canberra in were provided for by his supporters. The Dalai Lama has a message to get out to the world (ie the situation in Tibet) and I imagine that the majority of Tibetans monks and nuns, both in Tibet and in exile, don’t begrudge the fact that their spiritual leader is in demand around the world and to get to these engagements he will have to utilise planes and cars, luxury or otherwise.

Well if i was a poor monk trying to do the best I could in tough conditions with little money somewhere in asia or on the subcontinent and then I saw the leader of my belief system flying around in planes getting driven around in fancy cars – I would probably feel a bit jaded because it doesn’t really seem like he is living the monk life.

Um… he did fly here in a big shiny jet plane, not? True, they are rather expensive and tend to use quite a bit of fuel. Ah, is that a contradiction? No, I wouldn’t have thought so…

i agree mutley.. it is pretty symbolic – these guys are supposed to promote living a life without material possesion for the sake of mental health.. and here he is driving around in something very material, whether he owns it or not he is promoting it.

Jenna – Um pretty damn sure it was him considering I could see him through the slightly open window, and all the Tibetans in exile in Dharasalam were lining the streets.

The Secretary – I didn’t ask to see the rego papers for the Rollers, my bad. But I’d say it’s a bit of a stretch for someone to claim they are “but a simple monk” in a situation such as this.

Mutley: Are you sure that the DL actually owned the gold mercs? I doubt that he does. And even if they were owned by someone else, is there a problem with him being driven around in them? It doesn’t seem like a hypocritical action as I’m not aware of any Buddhist teachings on this matter.

i read a funny article on bono lat week.

he was at one of those ‘no child in africa shall live in poverty’ conventions in scotland, and at the podium about to say something of great significance.

he asked for total silence.

he then started slowly clapping his hands, once every few seconds.

after a few claps he said ‘every time i clap my hands, a child somewhere in africa dies’.

at which point a scotsman shouted out:

‘well stop clapping your hands you bastard!’

Stanhope’s only a big man when it suits him.

To be realistic, trade with China benefits Australia (and the ACT) more than worrying about what some silly old Tibetan bastard has got to say anyway.

The Dalai Lama and Bono should be banished to a small island somewhere.

Bill Stefaniak
(Hi Gazza!)
Fix your fracking clock! Your press release just now reads Date : Thursday, 6 December 2007

Bonfire, for those of us who believe Oscar Wilde was a person of substance (it’s possible to be both witty AND wise, you know), calling the Dalai Lama a modern-day one is quite a recommendation.

However, I doubt he’s as funny…

Maybe they should drive him around in a little red car with his head sticking out the back window. Heh.

Mutley, you’ve got the wrong rabbi. You’re thinking of the Bagwanna or whatever his name was.

I always thought he was pretty impressive until I saw the conditions his people were living in in India, whilst he was driven around in a fleet of gold Rolls Royces.

Just another religious hypocrite.

Preaching peace and harmony has more substance that preaching war which many of our politicians seems to do. I know who I’d rather listen to!

he is a great man – exactly how ?

a life full of pithy quotes makes him a modern day oscar wilde, not a person of any substance.

Given that most of this countries income is currently coming from China, it seems like an uncharacteristically pragmatic approach to me.

Bill Stefaniak put out a highly valid press release regarding the matter here:

http://www.canberraliberals.org.au/default.cfm?action=news_detail&ID=7150

I saw him today in the Committee Room at Parliament House. His speech was mostly about clarifying his stance on Sino-Tibetan relations, and his responses to some glib and/or asinine questions such as “What’s the secret to happiness” and “What’s your view on climate change” were predictably uninformative.

One Buddhist student asked why he wasn’t visiting the temple in Canberra as he had in previous years – the reply was that he was too busy, which led me to believe his visit this time is political in nature rather than one aimed at imparting wisdom to the masses. Still, it’s a pity he couldn’t spend even a few hours with the Buddhists in Canberra.

Well so what?

Rumour has it that DL plays a mighty mean axe.

apparently this is true – the organisers have no t-shirts or carrybags because the chinese supplier refused to print the dalai lamas image.

Although I found the Australian Tour DVD I couldn’t find where to buy the tour t-shirts?

I’m glad it’s becoming like that, in some ways. It makes it harder to ignore him, and what he represents.

Is he in the red car?