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

arbitrarily adopted his former identity, rather he was able to appeal to the confirmation of Penor
Rinpoche, the head of the Nyingmapa school. This “revelation” raised many questions and some
confusion among western Buddhists. There was speculation on the Internet as to whether Seagal had
purchased the “incarnation title”, whether this was not an act of religious political propaganda
designed to exploit the actor’s popularity, and much more. For others the incident was more
embarrassing, since Seagal appeared in monastic robes shortly after his recognition. When he was in
Bodh Gaya in India at the beginning of the year 1997, he sat down upon the place where the historical
Buddha experienced enlightenment, “giving his blessings to hundreds of baffled Tibetan
monks” (Time, September 8, 1997, p. 65).
The action films in which Seagal plays the lead are considered the most brutal of the genre. “Scenes
in which he rams a knife through his opponent’s ear into his brain or tears out his larynx”, says the
journalist H. Timmerberg, “captivate through their apparent authenticity. He fights dispassionately,
one could say he fights coldly, and when he kills neither hate nor anger are to be read in his eyes, at
best contempt and a trace of amusement. Precisely the eyes of a killer, or the look of a Samurai. It
could be both” (Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin No. 28, July 16, 1999). Timmerberg also characterizes
the star as “ a grand master in the art of killing”. Admittedly, in his last two film to Seagal has made
an effort to appear a bit more well-mannered, but it is not his religious obligations which have
compelled him to do so. At least, this was the opinion of his master, Penor Rinpoche: “Some people
think Steven Seagal cannot be a true Buddhist because he makes brutal films. This is not the case.
Such films are pure entertainment and have nothing to do with that which is true and important. In the
view of Buddhism compassionate beings reincarnate in every kind of life so as to help their fellow
people. Seen thus, of course a holy person can be an action star” (Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin No.
28, July 16, 1999). Penor further informed the surprised journalist that tulkus (the reincarnations of
high lamas) liked to watch vampire films.
At the major Kalachakra event conducted this year (1999) by the Dalai Lama in Bloomington (USA),
Seagal was the shooting star. He is said to had donated a meal for over a thousand participants there.
This time Richard Gere, the “god-king’s” second big draw, was not head of the celebrity bill. In fact,
the two Buddhist stars cannot stand one another.
Such a sensational and liberal spread of incarnations in the West could, however, be of harm to the
whole idea in future. The system has after all not just its strengths but also its weaknesses, which lie
above all in the minority of the incarnated child, of whom one does not know exactly what will later
happen with him, and who remains incapable of acting until his coming of age. Appointments by the
Dalai Lama would probably be a much more effective means of ensuring his centralist power. In fact,
there are for this reason discussions in the circles surrounding him about whether the reincarnation of
monks is at all sensible. It would be better to give up the whole tulku system, Dahyb Kyabgö
Rinpoche wrote in the Tibetan Review, since it has led to an uncontrollable inflation in the number of
monastic reincarnations (Tibetan Review, July 1994, p. 13).
At times the Kundun has also speculated in public about whether it would not be politically more
clever to name a successor rather than embodying himself anew. But he has not committed himself.
At a conference of 350 tulkus in the year 1989 he announced that he would under no circumstance
reincarnate in the territory under the control of the Chinese (Tibetan Review, January 1989, p. 5).
In all, the Dalai Lama is interested in a well-functioning incarnation elite, very small in number,