[Avodah] FW: Chinese repression in Tibet - al pi Torah?

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Apr 09, 2008 at 09:37:38AM +0300, Eli Turkel wrote:
: If they were doing the same against buddhism then it would be true.
: However, going from the Dalai Lama to bringing fruit to an idol is
: hardly akirat AZ

Just to clear up the metzi'us:

The Dalai Lama is Buddhist. So, they aren't suppressing his religion in
favor of Buddhism.

Buddhists don't bring fruit to idols. In fact, they don't believe
they have a deity. I think that in our definition of terms, they are
panentheists -- they believe that all of the universe is Divine, but G-d
is greater than the universe. They believe in something called Buddha
nature, which all things have, and it's only an illusion that anything
else exists.

It sounds so much like the panentheism and acosmism (as RJJBaker called
it) of the Tanya, I can't see how "Buddha nature" wouldn't qualify
lehalakhah as monotheism.

If they bring fruit as a tribute to some effigy, it's not alst believing
that the Buddha was a god.

I do think many Chinese engage in ancestor worship, which may also
include such tributes.

The Chinese gov't is Communist, which means that while they have a
political interest in eliminating Tibet's religion and separateness,
they would replace it with atheism.

So from my understanding of the metzi'us, it's arguably the replacement
of monotheism with atheism.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Like a bird, man can reach undreamed-of
micha at aishdas.org        heights as long as he works his wings.
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Fax: (270) 514-1507      he plummets downward.   - Rav Yisrael Salanter