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https://theconversation.com/the-dalai-lama-is-a-cisgender-man-yet-he-has-an-unexpected-connection-to-the-trans-community-260106>
"Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, turns 90 this week – a milestone that’s
reigniting speculation over his eventual successor.
While the Dalai Lama is the face of Buddhism to many people across the world,
he is actually the head of just one tradition within Tibetan Buddhism known as
the Gelug school.
Tibetans believe the Dalai Lama to be the manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, the
bodhisattva of compassion, and the “one who hears the cries of the world”.
Avalokiteśvara is prayed to across Asia, and is known as Chenrezig in Tibet,
Guanyin in China, and Kannon or Kanzeon in Japan.
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person, or a mythic representation of a person,
who denies themselves enlightenment until all beings can achieve enlightenment.
Avalokiteśvara appears to living beings in whatever form could best save them.
Although Avalokiteśvara originated in India as a man, they can be depicted as
either a man, woman, or non-binary being. This gender fluidity has led to them
being revered as a trans icon in the West.
I have spent the past five years investigating the lives of queer Buddhists in
Australia. As part of this research, I have surveyed and interviewed 109
LGBTQIA+ Buddhist Australians.
The words of these individuals, and my own experience as a genderqueer Buddhist
person, reveal how the Dalai Lama emerges an an unlikely inspiration for
individuals sharing a trans and Buddhist identity."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
