Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

early eighties. In an interview in 1996, for example, he described with a grin the goddess Tara as the
“first feminist of Buddhism” (Dalai Lama XIV, 1996b, p. 76). In answer to the question as to why
Shakyamuni was so disdainful of women, he replied: „2500 years ago when Buddha lived in India he
gave preference to men. Had he lived today in Europe as a blonde male he would have perhaps given
his preference to women” (Tibetan Review, March 1988, p. 17). His Holiness now even goes so far as
to believe it possible that a future Dalai Lama could be incarnated in the form of a woman. “In theory
there is nothing against it” (Tricycle, 1995, V (1), p. 39; see also Dalai Lama XIV, 1996b, p. 99). In
1997 he even enigmatically prophesied that he would soon appear in a female form: “The next Dalai
Lama could also be a girl” (Tagesanzeiger, June 27, 1995).
According to our analysis of Tantrism, we must regard such charming flattery of the female sex as at
the very least a non-committal, albeit extremely lucrative embellishment. But they are more likely to
be a deliberately employed manipulation, so as to draw attention away from the monstrosities of the
tantric ritual system. Perhaps they are themselves a method (upaya) with which to appropriate the
“gynergy” of the women so charmed. After all, something like that need not only take place through
the sexual act . There are descriptions in the lower tantras of how the yogi can obtain the feminine
“elixir” even through a smile, an erotic look or a tender touch alone.
It has struck many who have attended a teaching by the Dalai Lama that he keeps a constant and
charming eye contact with women from the audience, and is in fact discussed in the internet: “Now it
is quite possible”, Richard P. Hayes writes there regarding the “flirts” of the Kundun, “that he was
making a fully conscious effort to make eye-contact with women to build up their self-esteem and
sense of self-worth out of a compassionate response to the ego crushing situations that women usually
face in the world. It is equally possible that he was unconsciously seeking out women's faces because
he finds them attractive. And it could well be the he finds women attractive because they trigger his
Anima complex in some way” (Hayes, Newsgroup 11). Hayes is right in his final sentence when he
equates the female anima with the tantric maha mudra (the “inner woman”). With his flirts the
Kundun enchants the women and at the same time drinks their “gynergy”.
The role of women in the sacred center of Tibetan Buddhism can only change if there were to be a
fundamental rejection of the tantric mysteries, but to date we have not found the slightest indication
that the Kundun wants to terminate in any manner his androcentric tradition which at heart consists in
the sacrifice of the feminine.
Nevertheless, he amazingly succeeds in awakening the impression — even among critical feminists
— that he is essentially a reformer, willing and open to modern emancipatory influences. It seems the
promised changes have only not come about because, as the victim of a traditional environment, his
hands are tied (Gross, 1993, p. 35). This pious wishful notion proves nothing more than the
fascination that the great “manipulator of erotic love” from the “roof of the world” exercise over his
female public. His charming magic in the meantime enables him to enthuse and activate a whole army
of women for his Tibetan politics in the most varied nations of the world.
The “Ganachakra” of Hollywood
Relaxed and carefree, with a certain spiritual sex appeal, the Kundun enjoys all his encounters with
western women. As the world press confirms, the “modest monk” from Dharamsala counts as one of
the greatest charmers among the current crop of politicians and religious leaders. „Any woman”,
Hicks and Chogyam write in their biography of the Dalai Lama, „who has had been fortunate enough