Buddha's way.WHEN ASKED TO SUM UP BUDDHA'S TEACHING IN ONE WORD, the great 20th-century teacher the Karmapa responded, "Change." The idea that truth and change are not enemies but friends is pervasive in Buddhist thought. It extends even to the ongoing evaluation of Buddhist tradition itself--as was demonstrated June when the Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (dä`lī lä`mə) [Tibetan,=oceanic teacher], title of the leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Believed like his predecessors to be the incarnation of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, 1935–, of Tibet, a worldwide spokesman for Buddha's way, was questioned about Buddhist teaching on homosexuality. In his own writings the Dalai Lama has defined sexual misconduct as behavior not conducive to full awakening, freedom, and peace of mind. When asked about homosexual behavior, the Dalai Lama, with no personal animosity toward gay people, has responded that Buddhist tradition also considers as sexual misconduct sexual misconduct Professional ethics Any behavior that violates a health professional's ethics through sexual contact of physician and his/her Pt. See Professional boundaries. certain "inappropriate partners, organs, times, and places." Inappropriate partners, he has explained, include men for men and women for women. Organs "not intended for sex" are the mouth, anus, and "using one's hand." Like the Buddha himself, however, the Dalai Lama encourages Buddhist practitioners to question the truth and consequences of all traditional "Be a lamp unto un·to prep. 1. To. 2. Until: a fast unto death. 3. By: a place unto itself, quite unlike its surroundings. your self," the Buddha instructed. In Buddha's way, moral ethics are not dictated from God in heaven. A supposedly infallible in·fal·li·ble adj. 1. Incapable of erring: an infallible guide; an infallible source of information. 2. spiritual authority, such as the Catholic pope, does not exist--not even in the person of the Dalai Lama. Participating in a June 11 meeting with the Dalai Lama and six other gay and lesbian scholars and activists, I asked him directly, "If the Buddha is our teacher, where and when did he teach that homosexual partners are inappropriate, that homosexual behavior is sexual misconduct?" The Dalai Lama candidly can·did adj. 1. Free from prejudice; impartial. 2. Characterized by openness and sincerity of expression; unreservedly straightforward: In private, I gave them my candid opinion. responded, "I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. ." Lourdes Arguelles, a Cuban-born lesbian Buddhist, asked, "What is the origin of the teachings on inappropriate organs?" Again he replied, "I don't know." (Can you imagine the pope saying "I don't know" to such questions?) It's clear that since the Dalai Lama was unable to provide a foundation for these doctrines, they are, to say the least, questionable. He went on to say that some sexual-misconduct codes may have been left over from ancient India Ancient India may refer to:
the social mores of that time. While honoring Buddhist tradition, he called for a deeper investigation of the origin of Buddhist scriptural scrip·tur·al adj. 1. Of or relating to writing; written. 2. often Scriptural Of, relating to, based on, or contained in the Scriptures. teachings on sexual conduct. Avidly interested in science, he noted that homosexual behavior occurs among animals. Tinku Ali Ishtiaq, a Muslim from Bangladesh and a board member of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, piped up, "Yes! Even among intelligent animals!" The Dalai Lama laughed heartily. He then urged us to take our questions and concerns to the world's Buddhist communities and leaders. Soon after our meeting the Dalai Lama issued a press release from the Office of Tibet opposing "violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation" and urging "full recognition of human rights for all." Traditional Buddhist teaching on sexual misconduct has not yet changed. We cannot control religious tradition and politics. We cannot control psychological and physical violence born of delusion delusion, false belief based upon a misinterpretation of reality. It is not, like a hallucination, a false sensory perception, or like an illusion, a distorted perception. . But Buddha's way is not about the control of suffering; it's about responding honestly, with open awareness to suffering. Our only freedom as human beings is in the fullness and integrity of our response. When one perceives or finds harm or unfair discrimination embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. in a spiritual tradition, one shouldn't walk away. No one can hide on a meditation cushion or in a pew or in another branch of the same tradition, particularly a tradition emphasizing the interrelatedness in·ter·re·late tr. & intr.v. in·ter·re·lat·ed, in·ter·re·lat·ing, in·ter·re·lates To place in or come into mutual relationship. in of all beings. We can only be in the truth of who we are and respond from this truth. Peskind is coordinator of the San Francisco-based Buddhist AIDS Project. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion