Following a Path
Speaking in Ann Arbor, Michigan, over the weekend, His Holiness the Dalai Lama told his audience to embrace their own religious traditions. Niraj Warikoo writes for the Detroit Free Press:
"I always believe since all different traditions have some potential to bring inner peace, inner value ... it is important to keep one's own tradition," he said, urging the crowd to practice the religion they were raised in and not convert, because all traditions, he said, have something to offer.
The Dalai Lama has given similar advice to his audiences many times. I fear it comes across as "one religion is as good as another," and I doubt His Holiness really believes that.
However, from a Buddhist perspective, the karma of a sincere spiritual quest eventually will lead to the Dharma -- if not in this life, then in future lives. Sincere practice is more important than doctrinal orthodoxy.
Most sects of Buddhism discourage aggressive proselytizing. We respect other religions and what they have to teach. Not everyone needs to be a Buddhist. A person who is sincerely practicing another religion is learning what he needs to learn at this point in his spiritual development.
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Comments
I respect His Holiness immensely, but on the point that people should “practice the religion they were raised in and not convert”, I have to disagree in the strongest terms - because I was indoctrinated into Catholicism and it isn’t fair to expect anyone to settle for a religion that dysfunctional when there are such better paths out there.
My Buddhist teacher, Chen-chi Chang, said to me back in the early 60’s: Buddhism tells you to choose your religion and follow it until you no longer need it, or when it no longer serves you - then find something else. (Chen-chi followed Tibetan Buddhism, and translated Milarepa’s Hundred Thousand Songs)