All leaders are under increased scrutiny - it is part of the inherent nature of being a leader. That attention, however, is not why leaders need to be careful to ensure all their actions are, as far as is humanly possible, proper, appropriate and “right”: leaders need to do so because they are leaders.
The Dalai Lama has been living in the West for decades - decades during which the world has seen the exposure of widespread CSA within pseudo-christian churches and the endemic cover ups of same, decades during which the Dalai Lama has been previously criticised for an outdated sexist remark ... and decades during which the Dalai Lama has also spread spiritual awareness. There is, therefore, no excuse, in my opinion, for the Dalai Lama’s behaviour in asking a small boy who had come to him for a hug to “suck his tongue” - see here (TND) and here (TG).
The Dalai Lama should have known that was wrong - no matter whether or not it was innocently intended, as claimed, and definitely no matter whether those there considered anything wrong or not (just ask those who experienced CSA at the hands of pseudo-christians about bystanders who did nothing); there was an imbalance of power in the situation, and the request had nothing to do with the Tibetan tradition of sticking tongues out in greeting (such is done by having the tongues go down towards the chin, not straight out, incidentally).
Has this damaged the Tibetan Buddhist religion? That is irrelevant to the issue of right and wrong, but no, not in my opinion - not really, as it will likely lead to people doing more thinking for themselves, and not considering a person/idea that is possibly seen as “exotic” as being automatically more likely to be right as a result of that.
Does this further illustrate the danger of leadership that is inherited/assigned and for life rather than selected on merit?
Yes.
PS - After publishing the above, I came across:
- https://medium.com/change-your-mind/my-ex-spiritual-teacher-is-a-fraud-a50be59442e1; and
- https://medium.com/the-no%C3%B6sphere/its-no-wonder-why-organised-religion-is-a-breeding-ground-for-predatory-men-7a324f2f46c6.
PPS - I have also come across this YouTube video (found via this post - near the end), which argues that there were mistranslations and misunderstanding of cultural traditions involved. That may well be so, but there is also a need to understand the cultures of the nations that this was taking place in, and would be communicated to. I'm not in a position to comment about claims that the viral video was edited maliciously: that may be so, but I was working off the media reporting and my knowledge of non-Tibetan cultures and spiritual leadership.
Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.
