3 ms·
He's a Nobel Peace Laureate and recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal. He's been meditating on compassion and the self for several hours a day for 77 years
by curo 11y ago
He's a Nobel Peace Laureate and recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal. He's been meditating on compassion and the self for several hours a day for 77 years (since he was 2), almost 200,000 hours of meditation. He's authored over 50 books. And he's a very charismatic, joyful, warm spirit--I saw him speak and I can see why many want to learn from and emulate him.
But I guess that's a question you can ask of any posting on HN, "why should I care about so-and-so's opinion, daily routine, life, etc?" So perhaps the burden is on the person asking to question to say why we shouldn't care.
Also, I would say that the Dalai Lama's teachings aren't meant to be intellectually rich. He does have a high regard for science, but I wouldn't say his teachings are intellectual. They are practical and meant to help you observe the world without the intellect.
- torgoguys 11y agoThank you. Somebody willing to work at answering the question. Those are some possible reasons. Not good enough for me in this case, but definitely worth pointing out. I've seen him in person too. Yes, charismatic. I don't think it is my burden to say that you shouldn't, because it is fine with me that you do care. Obviously lots of people care about him. The whole point of my questioning is to get at, "why?" I don't know and so I ask the question. Really, no other motive. He seems to transcend and earn respect from people outside of his religion in a way that other spiritual leaders do not. I want to understand that.
- andrepd 11y agoI think it mostly has to do with Buddhism being seen by the majority of people, especially in the western world, as an oriental philosophy and less as a religion like Christianity or Islam. So people outside of Buddhism feel sympathetic to the Dalai Lama and Buddhism in general, in a way that, for instance, an Islamic does not feel for the Pope. It also helps that his messages are in general agreeable. The whole peace and meditation and good-will stuff has a very low potential for controversy. EDIT: Also let me add that I don't see why you are being buried. You aren't being disrespectful or rude or in anyway breaking the guidelines by asking these questions. You even stated in the first post that you if you came across as snarky it wasn't intended.
- 4ad 11y ago> Nobel Peace Laureate That is not a very compelling argument: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_controversies#Peace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_controversies#Peac...