A couple of weeks ago, the internet burst into frenzied outrage because of a video clip that had gone viral. It showed the Dalai Lama, seated in front of a large audience, being approached by a little kid who wanted a hug. The Dalai Lama hugged him and then proceeded to ask the little boy to suck his tongue. It made uncomfortable watching. The boy looked confused and terrified. The people in the audience seemed to be mostly laughing.
It was a difficult video to make sense of. I am not a religious person and I find it difficult to respect people, especially men, who have been given the roles they play. Even so, I found myself trying to figure out a comment to write and not being sure of any of the words that came my way. Two things happened the following day. One, the Dalai Lama published a note expressing his regret about the incident. Two, many people of Tibetan origin wrote that much of what we saw in that video was part of Tibetan culture. I don’t know what to believe. And so, I am a little relieved that I did not comment about this, one way or the other.
