General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Dalai Lama, a sordid history of Nazi Mentors and forgiving Fascists [View all]magical thyme
(14,881 posts)...the Dalai Lama said, "in the Pinochet case, as an individual, now old," it might be best to forgive him, the Nobel laureate told reporters in Santiago. "I think forgiveness is important, but forgiveness does not mean to forget about what happened."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/1999/04/11/pinochet990411.html
"But let us return to Heinrich Harrer. War broke out while he was still in India and the young German was interned by the British. It was not until 1944 that he was able to flee to Tibet with a comrade. Coincidence or fate led to his acting as the young Dalai Lamas personal tutor until the early 50s, and teaching him about all the wonders of western civilization and introducing him to the English language as well. It is very likely that his lessons were tainted by the contemporary zeitgeist which had swept through Hitlers Germany, and not by the British attitudes of the envoy Hugh Richardson, also present in Lhasa. This led in fact to some problems at the court of the young god-king and the English were not happy about his contact to Harrer. But there are nevertheless no grounds for describing the lessons the former SS member gave his divine pupil as fascist, particularly since they were primarily given after the end of the World War II. In 1952 His Holinesss German teacher returned to Europe."
The movie "Seven Years in Tibet" was based on Harrer's experience. That is how a brownshirt became a "mentor" (really, a tutor) to the Dalai Lama when he was 9 years old. http://zenbuddhism.tribe.net/thread/4597a19e-c253-4589-acf7-9f8a98965c2d
The movie "Seven Years in Tibet" was based on Harrer's experience. That is how a brownshirt became a "mentor" (really, a tutor) to the Dalai Lama when he was 9 years old, and taught him about the world outside of Lhasa until he was 16. Isolated in the Himalayas, it seems unlikely the Buddhist monks were totally aware of what was going on in Europe.
The Dalai Lama is considered the incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion, and therefore treats his people and his oppressors with kindness and compassion. Essentially it is his job as Dalai Lama to forgive. That includes the Chinese who took over his homeland and killed his fellow monks and Tibetans.