The Dalai Lama is scheduled to speak to the Wisconsin legislature Wednesday. Maybe he should talk to Reggie White first.
White, the Baptist minister and football superstar, was invited to address that august body in March, as a sort of courtesy to a celebrity. Apparently legislators figured that White would limit himself to a few pleasantries, maybe throw in a “Praise the Lord!” Then everybody could give a loud whoop for the Green Bay Packers and go home.
Instead White scandalized the legislature with an hourlong sermon.
Some of the scandal grew out of White’s racial characterizations, which were, at best, clumsy. But what really riled the legislators was White’s passionate preaching about homosexuality, which he and many other Christians believe is a sin.
The pols wanted good old Reggie, the Minister of Defense, the smiling icon who plugs Campbell’s Soup and creams Bears quarterbacks.
Instead they got religion, fervent and impolite.
So now the Wisconsin lawmakers have lined up perhaps the only religious figure with a more cuddly public persona than Reggie, the Dalai Lama. But he’s not quite what he first appears, either.
In his frequent visits to the United States, the Dalai Lama has been hailed as the environmental lama, the underdog lama, the non-violent lama, the Hollywood lama and the interfaith lama, all in one shiny package.”
In 1996, when the Dalai Lama came to the Medinah Temple in Chicago, lines of admirers stretched around the block. Some were Tibetan immigrants, and some were Buddhist converts. But it seemed that a larger part of the audience were “lifestyle Buddhists,” curious New Agers and people who thought it would be so cool to see Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama on the same stage.
The Dalai Lama met their every expectation. “Be a nice person. Be a good person,” he told the crowd with a smile.
But in his own culture, the Dalai Lama is both the spiritual leader of an ancient religion and the political leader of the Tibetan government that was chased into India by the Chinese 40 years ago.
And when he arrived in New York last week for this latest visit to America, he quickly found himself in a cross-fire between his political and religious detractors.
On the political side, some exiled Tibetans are growing restless with the Dalai Lama’s non-violent approach to China. A few have defied the Dalai Lama and undertaken hunger strikes; one monk set himself on fire.
The larger flap surrounds an issue of faith.
For 300 years, some Tibetan Buddhists have worshipped Dorje Shugden, a figure sometimes called a protector spirit or oracle or god. The Dalai Lama himself worshipped Dorje Shugden as a young man.
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But he decided that Dorje Shugden is an evil spirit and in 1996 banned such worship. This opened a rift between the mainstream of Tibetan Buddhism represented by the Dalai Lama and a certain group of monks and their followers.
Even as the Dalai Lama visited Chicago in 1996, dark intimations were beginning to fly back and forth. Violence has been attributed–but never proved– to followers on both sides of the religious issue. And when the Dorje Shugden monks decided to picket the Dalai Lama in New York last week, the issue went public.
For Americans who thought the Dalai Lama’s religion began and ended with friendly platitudes, all this talk of good and evil spirits, protectors and oracles, must be a little jarring. Where does Richard Gere stand on this?
I personally have a hard time taking a position for or against Dorje Shugden. But I have to admit that the whole controversy gives me a higher opinion of the Dalai Lama. The episode points out that the Dalai Lama, right or wrong, stands for something more sophisticated and significant than “Be a nice person.” He believes deeply enough that he is willing to alienate people whose support is important to his political cause.
It might be more pleasant to believe that the Dalai Lama and Reggie White and religion in general add up to “Have a nice day!” But if there is a higher good than simply getting along, then maybe it is worth trying to hear and understand the rest of what they have to say.
The Dalai Lama probably won’t preach to the Wisconsin legislature about the dangers of Dorje Shugden. Even if he did, he could get away with it, since few legislators in Wisconsin count on the Tibetan Gelugpa monastic vote.
But if he doesn’t get the chance to talk to Reggie White before his speech, here’s my advice: Before you get into any messy stuff, open with a nod to the local deity.
“Go Packers!”
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