Does the Dalai Lama follow Jesus?
In yesterday’s New York Times, the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, called on religious believers of all stripes to “respect, admire and appreciate other traditions.” In doing so, he explained how he has learned from and been inspired by Christianity. He writes: “In my readings of the New Testament, I find myself inspired by Jesus’ acts of compassion. His miracle of the loaves and fishes, his healing and his teaching are all motivated by the desire to relieve suffering.” I am grateful that we live in a place in which people from diverse religious backgrounds can peacefully discuss their differences in the public square. And who doesn’t appreciate the Dalai Lama’s irenic tone in this essay? That being said, the Jesus that the Dalai Lama describes in these few short lines is not the Jesus of the Bible. He contends that the motive of Jesus’ miracles was the desire to relieve human suffering. But I think that the Dalai Lama has distorted the real focus of Jesus’ compassion. Consider for instance
