|
Thank you for [1], I found the transcribed interview wonderful. However, I did not read his words as taking "perverse pride in being illiterate" but rather more of being happy with his current situation and not wanting to change it. A few gems from the transcript -
"And as you know, the Dalai Lama, in response to the global times that you and I have been discussing, when he comes to this country, will always tell people, “Please don't become a Buddhist. Stay within your own traditions where your roots are deepest. You can learn some things from Buddhists, Buddhists can learn something from you. But don't too hastily abandon the centuries of tradition sent down you and grab something you don't perhaps imperfectly understand. And I think he brings us back to that wonderful truth, which is also maybe a feature of this age, which is that when a Buddhist and a Christian have a really deep conversation, the Buddhist becomes a better Buddhist the Christian becomes a better Christian." While I don't agree with the Dalai Lama's argument on staying within one's own traditions, a world where talking about religion is not taboo, and deep and respectful conversations between people of different faiths is encouraged, would be so much better than what we have today. "I wondered if, what if spirituality is water, and religion is the cup, you know, which carries it forward, although it may be flawed, and we may drop it and break it" "...is that my education had taught me quite well to talk, but I don't think it had taught me to listen. And my schools had taught me quite well to sort of push myself forward in the world, but it never taught me to erase myself. And the virtues of when I got to Japan, finding that I was essentially an illiterate. I can't read — I can't — to this day, I can't read or write Japanese. And I'm at the mercy of things around me. I can't have the illusion that I'm on top of things." |