[Buddha-l] authoritarianism, totalitarianism, religions

[Christopher Fynn]

Dan Lusthaus wrote:

> Members of an e-list such as buddha-hell must have a certain affection and
> fondness for Buddhism, or they wouldn't continue to loiter in its nether
> regions. That fondness inclines one to be defensive of that which one
> idealizes. Conversely, one finds it deeply disturbing to learn unpleasant
> truths about one's idols. A century ago reports like the one above were
> being published and disseminated in Japan -- except they weren't about Irish
> reformatories, they were about Tibetan monasteries, where pederasty (and
> other problems) was institutionalized to a degree that Japanese traveling to
> Tibet were scandalized and troubled -- not that the Japanese clergy has
> lacked in major scandals and outrageous abuses and misbehaviors over the
> centuries as well. Even so, what they saw in Tibet disturbed them.

Boys were often enrolled in Tibetan monasteries as young as five or six 
- in many parts of Tibet they were even conscripted.

Unfortunately pederasty and other abuses are still rife in a number of 
Tibetan monasteries in India and Nepal where poor himalayan families 
send their sons, often at a very young age. I have heard some of 
disturbing first hand accounts of this ~ including a couple concerning
western "tulkus" left in such institutions by their unsuspecting 
parents.

I suspect this must also go on in some other Buddhist countries where 
young novices are enrolled in monasteries.

I've not looked into it myself, but I have been told by a reliable 
source that Tsongkhapa is sometimes criticised by other writers for 
mildly defending such practices in one of his commentaries on the vinaya.

- Chris