The Dalai Lama and Sexual Minorities: A Personal View

According to Buddhist Tradition: Sexual Minority Buddhists and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct

Updated article by Steve Peskind bublished on Heartland.SG

According to Buddhist Tradition: Sexual Minority Buddhists and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct” copyright Steve Peskind, 1999 (The original version of this newly revised and edited article appeared in the Shambhala Sun Magazine, May, 1998.) This article may be re-printed in publication with permission of the writer.

June 11, 1997: Leaving the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco, having just met with the Dalai Lama, the words, “according to Buddhist tradition” reverberated in my head. Stepping out into the June sunlight, I felt tired, calm, enormously grateful–and disappointed. I was grateful for the Dalai Lama’s willingness to meet with gays and lesbians to discuss their concerns about Buddhist teachings on sexual misconduct, and for the press release from the Office of Tibet supporting human rights “regardless of sexual orientation.” But I was disappointed that he chose not to speak personally and directly, beyond Buddhist “tradition”, to the real harm of some of these traditional misconduct teachings, and their irrelevance for modern Buddhists and others. I wondered, does the Dalai Lama, who many consider the embodiment of Avalokiteshvara, who “hears the cries of all sentient beings and responds skillfully,” really hear the cries of sexual minority Buddhists?

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P.S. As a Tibetan, it was painful to read this article. I began to wonder, should these Western Buddhists really ought to ask these questions to His Holiness? On second thought, may be it is something that needs to be dealt with - atleast at some point.