Dalai Lama stresses a need to find spirituality beyond religion

[Himu]

 

http://io9.com/5942616/dalai-lama-tells-his-facebook-friends-that-religion-is-no-longer-adequate

[Barry Egan]

Sounds good bro. 

[Himu]

I'm just amazed that a spiritual leader would even say this. The Dalai Lama has said similar statements before but never in this manner.

[Barry Egan]

Is it that uncommon?  I feel like spiritual leaders make distinctions between organized religion and true spirituality all the time.  I'm sure Eckhart Tolles said stuff like this before.  Also a good many existential philosophers.

[Himu]

Well, I create a divide between a religious leader like the Dalai Lama, and say, philosophers. Though the lines can be somewhat shaky and even semi-blurry. To me, this is like the Pope rising up and saying that we need a better way to express spirituality beyond religion (and by extension, Christ). While Eckhart Tolles is a "spiritual leader", he's not like, a major leader of a major religion like the Dalai Lama.

[Barry Egan]

Yea, well Buddhism on the whole has a healthier relationship to its own dogmas then other religions (with many exceptions of course).  This is definitely the type of thing you would never ever hear from the Pope.  I think there's definitely precedence for statements like these within Buddhism, probably dating back to Buddha himself.