Lecture 'Buddhism in the West' by Ole Nydahl

c0mpliant

I just came back from a lecture that was on tonight in the National College of Ireland given by Ole Nydahl. I saw the posters around town for it while I was walking home and had some spare time and my interest in Buddhism convinced me to go.

Now I've been intrigued by Buddhism for a long time and I thought I knew what I was going into. And sure enough for 2 hours it was. I found many of the things he spoke of as insightful and I will be googling them later. However something very unusual happened at the end.

We started moving on towards the meditation stage of the lecture and he started talking about the refuge he was offering and how even if you were to go to another religion this blessing would follow you...except if you went to Islam...if you go to Islam, apparently that is unforgivable.

Now I found this extremely odd, fair enough if he wanted to say if you go to a group that advocates violence, that would be one thing, but he was just out and out condemning the entire religion. A woman who was there began to challenge him on this before I could wrap my head around the bizarre nature of what had just been said (aka, she was quicker off the mark than me). After listening to part of what the woman was saying (something towards "are you saying that a quarter of the world's population corrupted?") he started opening dismissing her saying that he knew better that her, period. This after he had only 30 minutes before said that we are all equal irregardless of anything else. I couldn't sit there and receive this blessing from someone with this attitude so I got up and walked out. One other person that was at the lecture also walked out and we spoke briefly about it outside, we were both in shock at what he said, how he spoke to the woman and how dismissive he was of the entire Islamic faith.

My question is, does this man have much of a following? Or would he be considered something of a fringe member?

Blackhorse Slim

There are many diifferent types of Buddhism. I would have no use for a blessing, Buddhist or otherwise. But I can't claim to speak for anyone else.

Lab_Mouse

he is considered a bit un-orthodox in his teachings and sometimes is not PC!(which i find unusual for a lama)
As for his stance on Islam he has been critised a fair bit.
Here's a section from wikipedia about him and Islam:

There is some criticism regarding Nydahl's stance towards Islam. Statements, like calling Allah a "terrible god",[11] is seen by some as inappropriate for a Buddhist Lama.[8][10] Nydahl emphasizes that he does not make political comments in his capacity as a Lama, but as a “responsible, thinking human being”, and that no one can make statements like that based on being Buddhist, since Buddha Shakyamuni did not comment on religions founded centuries after his death.[19] His stance is directed towards traditional Islam, and does not include Sufism, the inner, mystical dimension of Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith, a post-Islamic religion.[11] In his criticism Nydahl especially emphasizes the importance of protecting free speech and women's rights.[11][20]

c0mpliant

I'm not surprised he's caused controversy. I also see from that page that there is some controversy surrounding whether he is an official lama or not

Actually not that I think about it, he did mention something during the lecture about when people "fail to walk the right path, such as when you're politically correct"
I thought he was making a joke but apparently he wasn't

RossFixxxed

Woah that's not right. I wouldn't be too inclined to follow someone like that. No Buddhist should be making comments like that, sweeping generalisations etc.

The core teachings are the point, and people will try to dance and sing and put up bells and whistles which really detract from the point of the whole thing.

Any buddhist I've spoken to would have no place for blessings etc either, just here and now.

Blackhorse Slim

RossFixxxed wrote: »

No Buddhist should be making comments like that, sweeping generalisations etc.

Asiaprod

He is very controversial. I for one have no real belief in him. Anyone who decides to skydive in the Lotus position and ends up causing himself serious injuries does not sound very enlightened and is not someone I would choose to follow.

Buddhism teaches respect for others, that includes respect for the religious choice of others. That also includes not speaking disrespectfully of their Gods. That does not imply that one should believe in the said God(s), remember that there are Atheist and Agnostic Buddhists too.

Sorry you had such a bad experience, thank Buddha we are not all like him. Keep seeking, there are many other worth while teachers out there.:)

I was considering going out of my way to make this lecture, I'm certainly glad I didn't Might have been a shouting match in that case! :eek:

RossFixxxed

Blackhorse Slim wrote: »

Sometimes Ross is reaching out to pinch your nose!

KevinVonSpiel

RossFixxxed wrote: »

Sometimes Ross is reaching out to pinch your nose!

Good catch!

RossFixxxed

Whew! Saved myself on that one

Ah I'm no expert, that would get in the way!