Althouse: "I told that reporter, if female Dalai Lama come, the face must be very, very

September 23, 2015

"I told that reporter, if female Dalai Lama come, the face must be very, very — should be very attractive."

"If female Dalai Lama come, then that female must be attractive. Otherwise not much use."

Is the Dalai Lama joking?

"No, I meant it, true."

55 comments:

Amexpat said...: To a large extent, inner beauty manifests itself in outer attractiveness.; 9/23/15, 1:16 PM
Rob said...: He meant her persona.; 9/23/15, 1:20 PM
the gold digger said...: In my Shakespeare class in college, the professor asked us to cast "Othello" as a movie.

Everyone wanted to put someone ugly in the role of Iago.

The prof said no, not someone ugly as Iago (can't remember any names) but someone handsome, like Robert Redford. (This was when Redford was handsome.)

"Evil is seductive," he said. "It's beautiful. If it were not beautiful - if it warned us - then nobody would fall for it."; 9/23/15, 1:22 PM
traditionalguy said...: Another leadership job meant to be Fiorino's bites the dust.; 9/23/15, 1:22 PM
rehajm said...: Clearly with this Lama some things are lost in translation.; 9/23/15, 1:27 PM
pm317 said...: That dirty old man...or sexist pig or lost in translation.; 9/23/15, 1:35 PM
Dave D said...: "Big Hitter.....the Dalai Lama.; 9/23/15, 1:37 PM
Real American said...: Undeniable truth #24: Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to
the mainstream of society.

get over it.; 9/23/15, 1:40 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: If people get mad, he can say, "I meant countenance."; 9/23/15, 1:43 PM
mikee said...: The current incarnation is not half bad, now that I look at him.

Maybe he knows that looks help with the public when a spiritual leader has no actual power.; 9/23/15, 2:01 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Is your mama a Lama?; 9/23/15, 2:03 PM
hombre said...: He knows the age of idolatry when he sees it. I'm surprised he didn't nominate Beyoncé, although she's probably too old.; 9/23/15, 2:04 PM
Wilbur said...: When I hear or read the words "Dalai Lama" the first thing I think of is Caddyshack. Much like Dave D., I suspect.; 9/23/15, 2:06 PM
Unknown said...: Cue the Lazlo.; 9/23/15, 2:06 PM
Louis said...: A friendly face is an attractive face; 9/23/15, 2:14 PM
richlb said...: Binder-full of women.; 9/23/15, 2:36 PM
n.n said...: He can only retreat in the face of overwhelming bigotry. They will flog him to within an inch of his dignity before permitting him to save face. He will never again be able to show his face in polite company. The mask has been removed from his persecutors and revealed their dark countenance.; 9/23/15, 3:07 PM
Achilles said...: Does this mean we have to hate him? I am waiting for the PC thought matters to tell me how to think. Especially the ugly females.; 9/23/15, 3:11 PM
Nichevo said...: As usual, Althouse, you do not understand, and what you do not understand you condemn.; 9/23/15, 3:12 PM
cubanbob said...: If female Dalai Lama come, then that female must be attractive. Otherwise not much use."

Is the Dalai Lama joking?

"No, I meant it, true." "

And the problem with that is? Has anyone seen a representation of Jesus that shows a rather unattractive man? Or Mary as terribly unattractive? Or Mohamed for that matter?; 9/23/15, 3:24 PM
Achilles said...: As a 5'7" tall male who was stuck in the back of the room during math class every year because I was beyond the subject matter and spent my college career being called a Nazi and a misogynist i really don't have any time for whiny women in this country whoes biggest complaint is someone calling them ugly.

These women need to take a field trip to Afghanistan and see what true repression is. Then maybe they will grow up and be able to see past themselves for once.; 9/23/15, 3:25 PM
CJinPA said...: So the last post featured a link to Bill Murray doing what amounted to his Carl Spangler character from "Caddy Shack."

And now, the Dalai Lama, the subject of one Spangler's funniest lines from the film.

That's beautiful. Like a sexy, female Dalai Lama.; 9/23/15, 3:39 PM
Anonymous said...: @cubanbob

Jesus was not supposed to be attractive according to the prophecy of Isaiah 53:3. The idea was that people shouldn't be drawn to him because of outer beauty, but must see beyond that to properly Recognize. It is pretty infantile that westerners have surfer Jesus everywhere, when you think about it.

Isaiah 53:3
Isaiah spake of one who had "no form nor comeliness"-"no beauty that we should desire him"-"despised and rejected of men", and "as one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we esteemed him not."; 9/23/15, 3:43 PM
Farmer said...: If you believe in karma you believe that everything is a result of past-life actions. Including physical appearance. An unattractive lama suggest someone karmically unfit for the job.; 9/23/15, 3:47 PM
Sebastian said...: I'm going to have to meditate on this.

OK, having meditated, I think he's right

It's PC to like the DL but the DL is not PC.; 9/23/15, 3:48 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/23/15, 3:54 PM
Anonymous said...: I've written this before, but in the Unmistaken Child, a documentary about a youngish monk's search for a reincarnation of a new lama, the Dalai Lama signs this kid's life away like so much paperwork with a completely different persona (distracted, officious) than we are used to in the west. It's very hard to take him seriously after seeing it.; 9/23/15, 3:55 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Well, hello, Dalai
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, Dalai.......I can tell, Dalai
You're still glowin'...you're still crowin'...you're still goin' strong.

Oh, please, whatever-It-is-that-passes-for-God-in-Buddhism, please don't let the next Dalai Lama come back as Barbra Streisand!; 9/23/15, 3:57 PM
J Lee said...: Even at this moment, the New York Post is preparing its "Hello Dalai!" headline for when the first female Lama arrives.; 9/23/15, 3:58 PM
Unknown said...: The closest thing there is to a female Dalai Lama is probably Ammachi (little mother). She's always pictured with him and the Pope at various religious/spiritual shindigs. She's not super attractive, rather maternal, yet has managed to do a lot of good anyway building hospitals and whatnot.

So basically he's full of shit.; 9/23/15, 4:05 PM
YoungHegelian said...: On a more serious note, remember that Tibetan Buddhism is a religious tradition rich in hundreds of years of traditions & texts. The Dalai Lama may be referencing a Tibetan Buddhist doctrine or tradition or prophecy that states that, should a woman ever become the Dalai Lama she will be beautiful. Needless to say, he knows & may reference traditions unknown to all but other educated Tibetan Buddhists or scholars.

To give an example from Christianity, which I know a lot better, think how much Marian theology you have to know before you can understand the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa comes from the line in the Song of Songs "I am black, but comely, oh ye daughters of Jerusalem" because the Church read the Song of Songs as allegorical of, among other things, the Virgin Mary's acceptance of the Incarnation. If you didn't know this history, the reaction would be "A black Madonna? In Poland?", "Song of Songs?", "What?" We may have an analogous situation here.; 9/23/15, 4:26 PM
lowercase said...: It's funny, I wasn't really susceptible to male beauty until I did acid in my early 20s. After that it was a whole new world. It's not that I couldn't like men that weren't beautiful, but if there was a beautiful one I liked the desire/attachment was so much more severe, almost to the point of pain; so from that point on there would always be something missing, otherwise.

Donald Trump, for example, has no idea the amount of female forgiveness of his looks he benefits from every moment of the day. He gets to think he's attractive because maybe he was a younger man. This is a joke to anyone who really feels male attractiveness.; 9/23/15, 4:30 PM
harrogate said...: Big fan of lightweight religion, overall. Especially when it's compared and contrasted with "heavyweight religion."

I am not Heavyweight Laslo.; 9/23/15, 4:31 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Are nominations still open?; 9/23/15, 4:34 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: "If female Dalai Lama come, then that female must be attractive. Otherwise not much use."

Preach it, brother. In fact, as long as she's attractive I don't care if she comes or not.; 9/23/15, 4:34 PM
tim maguire said...: Worth noting: there has only ever been 1 Dalai Lama, the same person continually reborn. And the Dalai Lama has some control over the circumstances of his rebirth. So when he says a female Dalai Lama would need to be attractive, he is necessarily picturing himself as a beautiful woman.

He's not sexist, he's transsexual (or transgender, I can't keep the labels straight).; 9/23/15, 4:47 PM
rehajm said...: Achilles said...
Does this mean we have to hate him? I am waiting for the PC thought matters to tell me how to think. Especially the ugly females.

They say you must love the socialist Pope.

Right up until they realize they haven't turned him on the abortion thing.; 9/23/15, 4:47 PM
BN said...: So how does the position of dolly lama differ from any other job for a woman then? Let's ask the pope about how attractive the first woman pope needs to be.

Actually, that's not funny.

But poor men and homely women do got it harder no matter what. It does make them stronger though. So there's that goin for them. Might come in handy in a state of nirvana. I wouldn't know.; 9/23/15, 5:03 PM
BN said...: The meaning of life, eh?; 9/23/15, 5:19 PM
n.n said...: 1 Dalai Lama, the same person continually reborn

That's a good point. He is expressing a desire about his own existence. Not transgenderism, but reincarnation.; 9/23/15, 5:49 PM
el polacko said...: this current 'dalai lama' is a greeting-card-sentiment-spouting moron. that anyone listens to his nonsense is the true mystery.; 9/23/15, 6:05 PM
AlbertAnonymous said...: What did the Dalai Lama say to the hot dog vendor?; 9/23/15, 6:54 PM
Fernandinande said...: The guy's over 500 years old, give 'im a break.; 9/23/15, 7:01 PM
Fernandinande said...: AlbertAnonymous said...
What did the Dalai Lama say to the hot dog vendor?

"Make me one with everything." I'll be here all week.

Vendor: "That'll be $2.50."
Lama hands him $10, then waits for his change. And waits.
Lama: "Where's my change?"
Vendor: "Change must come from within."; 9/23/15, 7:05 PM
MathMom said...: Achilles at 3:25 pm:

These women need to take a field trip to Afghanistan and see what true repression is. Then maybe they will grow up and be able to see past themselves for once.

You have stated the very reason I am not a feminist. I lived in Saudi Arabia 11 years, where women can't drive, have to wear a bag, and are sold by their fathers into marriage before they shame the family by an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. I NEVER see the likes of Hillary Clinton going head to head with anyone who REALLY oppresses women, and Western feminists have nothing to complain about, no matter how their lives pan out.

You are absolutely right.; 9/23/15, 7:42 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: He is Laslo.; 9/23/15, 7:47 PM
Craig Landon said...: The Dalai Lama as a personage has been so far off my radar for so long he could be channeling the thoughts of Hugh Hefner and I wouldn't know the difference.; 9/23/15, 7:50 PM
Nichevo said...: Perhaps he meant that it's hard to be a woman, he may have felt that it is a disadvantage for his end, to be a woman, and he may believe that physical beauty and a woman is an asset and perhaps she feels this would be necessary to compensate for the disadvantage of being a woman. This female second banana is she accused of miracles or rebirth?

There's nothing more sure in life than that both Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina wish they had great charismatic compelling physical beauty right now in addition to their other advantages. Guaranteed. Far more than any GOP or even any Dem male, except maybe Bernie, Carson though I insult him, and Trump.

Trump has the residual self-image of himself as in that 1980s NYT spread, so his armor is impenetrable. Althouse, where do you think you would have gotten in life if you looked like Hillary Clinton looks? Deny it, I dare you.; 9/23/15, 7:59 PM
themightypuck said...: Is this a wink to a Pope free zone.; 9/23/15, 8:29 PM
Carnifex said...: Unknown said--"The closest thing there is to a female Dalai Lama is probably Ammachi (little mother)."

He's right. I get hot for the milf's And a Milfy Lama speaks to my inner... hell, I don't know I'm a Catlicker.; 9/23/15, 9:56 PM
Chuck said...: Lama; big hitter. Long.

No fat chicks.; 9/23/15, 10:18 PM
Unknown said...: And she gotta have big tits.
- Cheech and Chong; 9/24/15, 5:13 AM
cf said...: Ok, wait.

THE dahlai lama is a BoddhiSattva. A Boddhi Sattva is a thickening of the Boddhi, which is the EverPresent Pull of the Good aiways calling out to us.

The Boddhi force is Beyond all form and seeing, but we are Form and must understand things fullest by giving Form to the substance of a Thickening of the Calling to Good that is a BoddhiSattva.

And so, it takes on Form, like Quan Yin is a form that conveys gentle strength and power. We can tune in better to the powerful flow available to us through the boddhisattva energy by containing a vision, a form of that energy.

So The BoddhiSattva Avilokitesvara suggests the appropriate Form of his qualities in womanly expression would be a most beautiful woman.

I am glad to contEmplate on such a form as this.

Godspeed, america; 9/24/15, 5:58 AM
Jaq said...: Well we know when there is a finally a female Dr Who, she will be attractive.; 9/24/15, 7:17 AM
JackOfClubs said...: cubanbob said...
Has anyone seen a representation of Jesus that shows a rather unattractive man? 9/23/15, 3:24 PM

Uh...yeah?; 9/24/15, 1:58 PM