Dalai Lama: The tongue in everyone’s mouth

By Ismael Cala

After the worldwide commotion and the strong questioning of the video released this weekend in which Tenzin Gyatso, better known as the Dalai Lama (spiritual leader of the Buddhist religion), kisses a child on the mouth and then asks him to suck his language, we must make space for reflection on such a delicate subject.

It is impossible to deny how disturbing and inappropriate the whole situation was for our Western minds (especially due to the evident discomfort of the young man) and although some people went so far as to say that it is a form of greeting typical of Tibetan culture, the truth is It is that we are quite sensitive to complaints of pedophilia within different religions (not only in the Catholic religion, since in 2018 events of this type were also made public in Tibetan Buddhism). We are quick to judge but there are several points to take into account in this case.

First of all, we must understand that the formation of a person like the Dalai Lama is far from being similar to ours. The selection of him as spiritual leader took place when he was just a child (5 years old) and since then, he has been isolated and has had an upbringing based on compassion and unconditional love. It is a conditioning that is not at all contaminated with our gaze. From the Dalai Lama’s mindset and purity of soul, this was a playful and innocent gesture, but for most of us who have seen this, it was over the top.

Although through his official spokesmen, he has recognized that it was a mistake and has shown repentance, which we celebrate, this totally unfortunate event should not detract from his career as a spiritual leader, it was not in vain that he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his constant fight for freedom that has benefited so many children in his culture.

Sometimes we forget that these figures of authority or high hierarchy are also human beings and as such, they can have wrong acts that generate controversy or indignation.

Just as a couple of years ago, the Dalai Lama indicated - half jokingly, half seriously - that if his successor were a woman, “she should be attractive”, Pope Francis was also in the eye of the hurricane when he got upset and hit a woman. woman in his hand when she grabbed him roughly.

To learn more about the Dalai Lama’s personality and connect with his particular form of humor and innocence, I invite you to watch the documentary available on Netflix called Mission Joy where he was interviewed by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu (another Nobel Peace Prize winner).

A few days after going to India, precisely to Daramsala (residence of this spiritual leader) where he lives his exile since he escaped from Tibet, I invite you to look at this episode with eyes of compassion and neutrality.