I guess he felt the hot breath of Pope Francis close behind him in the race for "most enlightened spiritual leader", and had to make a move.

yeah. Me too.

But you knew that.

'a Machination of the Father of Lies, meant to deceive the children of God'. Hot air, hot breath, either way it is superstitious anti gay hate speech.
Dali Lama gives his blessing, Francis gives condemnation. Today, Francis continues his silence about the anti gay pogrom laws Uganda. Uganda is 42% Catholic, yet Francis has not offered so much as a word of objection to this atrocity.

And the Papal representative in Uganda has spoken out against the law. And still seems to be in his office (while a number of reactionary priests have been sacked). I suspect that this is the best way to handle the situation.

And he seems to be evolving on gay marriage - I read that he said that civil unions might be OK?

I'm not defending the Pope's positions; rather, I'm defending the positive changes that I perceive to be happening, and his skill at moving the Church to something much closer to what we want.

so i was wondering if that meant the pope has finally spoken about these issues.

I was making a funny that wasn't.

fodder for humor. Claiming that the world's most famous anti marriage equality leader is in favor of marriage equality is disgusting, not 'a funny' but an expression of either ignorance or contempt for those attacked by Francis.

on the issue. Twenty+ years ago he disappointed many American Buddhists when he said homosexuality was not a good thing.

This was back during the height of the AIDS crisis, and many American gay men were turning to Buddhism for a more welcoming spirituality. I was heartbroken to see an interview with the Dalai Lhama in which he spoke out they, saying it was not right. As much as I loved Buddhism, I stayed away from fully embracing it due to that teaching. Now I may finally commit.

He's a politician, after all, too. The people I knew were nothing of that sort. So yeah, that being the case, it's nice he came around.

the bad outweighs the good. Sometimes people just have to be shown when they are doing something wrong and sometimes it takes some time to correct the attitude. But yes by far and wide I would say Buddhists are usually very open minded, tolerant, and compassionate.

I'm a guy, and I like to objectify women as much as anybody, but I want a peer relationship, not "submission". I don't need anybody to "submit" to me.

No sex during the day, no oral sex etc.

Unless they don't want to, I suppose. But I have to say I don't get that.

an open mind

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. Although His Holiness describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk, the lineage of the Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet.

.....


Prayer and Dedication for the long life of H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

In this holy Land surrounded by snow mountains,
You are the source of all benefit and happiness
May your lotus feet, O powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso
Remain in this world until the end of existence.
H.H. the 1st Dalai Lama H.H. the 1st Dalai Lama
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

I'm mean honestly, right or wrong why should I give a crap about what he says?

Perhaps we should apply it to you, too?

Actually, yeah, let's forget about you...

It's rather tepid, actually. Maybe we will know more, in context, when the interview actually airs on the 10th.

Also from the article:

Well, props to HHTDL for coming around long after millions of less transcendently wise people had reached the same conclusion,,I guess.

His whole schtick is top-notch wisdom suitable for Hallmark cards and internet memes. If it takes him twenty years to get to what is, after all, simply a reasonable and common sense position, then I'm less convinced of the transcendent wisdom so commonly attributed to him.

I get that people are annoyed about past insults, but the best revenge is living well, to rub their noses in it, politely, not grovelling over past wrongs. Let them grind their teeth. Focus on Russia, or Africa.

I'm not a fan of his particularly, my understanding of Buddhism does not support big shots or any sort. But I do support Tibetan self-determination, and he has a political role to play too.

My take is that his position as spiritual leader holds him to a higher standard than if he were elected mayor of a small town, for instance. So it seems reasonable to expect a more impressive insight than this utterly conventional, mainstream and 20-years-late endorsement.

As I say, I'm not a fan of his. I just think it's better to say "Good Job" when they say/do the right thing, and move on, it encourages others to speak up too, a positive response.

Regardless of how long it took for him to get it together on this issue, maybe his example will steer his admirers in the right direction.

That is where I'm coming from. I see that the dam is busted on LGBT issues, we have real movement now, and I want that momentum to continue. Let's "git 'er done". So when some old mossback like me comes around, I'd let them. The taboo around LGBT sex is broken, that is a big deal.