Mischievous
Blonde
May 20 2015 The
Endless Further
The
Dalai Lama is in trouble again. This time, in an interview from his
home in India, commenting on the controversy over whether he will
reincarnate or not, he sparked another controversy by saying if he
does come back it might be as a “mischievous blonde woman.” But, he
added, “then her face must be very attractive” or “nobody pay much
attention”.
Some folks have
jumped on this and now he being labeled a sexist.
Two things
people should know about the Dalai Lama: A) his command of the
English language is not that great, and B) he has a sense of
humor.
B is good, he
doesn’t take himself too seriously and he tries to inject some
lightheartedness into what can often be a dry subject, namely
Buddhism. However, because of A, his words sometimes come out wrong
and he is misunderstood.
Here is what I
think happened: A) he was trying to make a joke and he muddled it
up, or B) he was trying to make a sly commentary on the sad fact
that women are still judged by their appearance and he muddled it
up.
But this is what
almost everyone is missing: for the Dalai Lama to suggest that he
could reincarnate as a woman period is a very radical statement.
That’s because the traditional teachings of Buddhism say a woman
can never be enlightened. So, if the next Dalai Lama were a woman
that would more or less tear that idea to sheds.
Gender
inequality is still a problem in Buddhism and instead of nitpicking
perhaps we should be commending the Dalai Lama for striking a blow
against sexism.
Some of the
things written about women in Buddhist literature are rather ugly.
They are objects of scorn, their bodies are unclean, they are evil
and to be avoided, etc. There are positive things said about women,
too; however, the negative remarks stand out as rather large
blemishes. The Dalai Lama addressed this issue in 1997 during his
teachings on Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland at UCLA. He was
discussing a section of the text known as the “Twenty Verses” and
here is an excerpt from my transcript of the teachings:
In the 20 verses [from The Precious Garland] I would like to warn
you about a passage that reads “may all women be reborn as males.”
[Laugher.] When you read that passage it is important to bear in
mind the culture and the context that those kind of sentiments are
being expressed. If we are to take that literally and that
aspiration comes into realization, then it’s going to be rather
silly, because if the entire world is going to be populated by men
then that means the human species is going to end at some point.
[Laugher.] There’s going to be no possibility of procreation.
[Laugher.] So, the point is that if one feels that in the form of a
female existence one can make a great contribution, be more
effective and be of greater service, then reverse the thought and
pray that all men be born as females! [Laugher and
applause.]
In
the Buddhist scriptures, there is another type of sentiment that I
have reflected on: when you read the Buddhist scriptures that deal
with altruism and compassion, there is always a reference to
sentient beings as mother sentient beings, never as father sentient
beings. This suggests that within the Buddhist tradition, women are
seen as the symbol of compassion and affectionate perfection. It is
very rare that a man is the symbol of affection. Women, in the form
of mothers, are also the embodiment of kindness.”