Dalai llama ask a child to suck his tongue

Funny you how some people are wearing masks but he kisses a little boy on the lips. I'd be doing some tests if I were the parents.

He doesn't kiss him for a long time. As soon as their lips touch, or almost touch, he pulls away. He does tell him to suck his tongue, then sticks out his tongue and holds his head to the child's head, the tongue goes nowhere near the child's mouth. It's weird, but I think misguided rather than perverted.

I think it feels really shocking to us as there’s so much which isn’t a cultural norm here.

Kissing on the lips is normal in some cultures, including kissing children. Sticking out your tongue is also a cultural norm in countries like Tibet.

I think it’s a really ill-judged, silly joke that seems much worse to us because of cultural differences.

The Dalai Lana was up on a platform and well aware he’s being filmed. If he’s a sexual predator he’s done a fucking fantastic job of keeping any hint of it hidden for 87 years - but now suddenly he can’t contain an urge to ask a child to suck his tongue?! It doesn’t make sense.

The child is reluctant - his mum asked the Dalai Lama if the child could go on stage to greet him. I think it’s like when you were told to kiss an aged relative you didn’t really know as a child.

To be clear, I’m not some kind of paedo apologist. But you can tell from the reaction in the room that it’s just a joke. The Dalai Lama isn’t about to start abusing children on camera (unless the dementia theory is correct but I don’t believe so). He’s always been known for having a somewhat outrageous sense of humour for a spiritual leader and I think this was just a spectacularly bad example of it.

He’s not immune to a healthy dose of misogyny though - some of his previous comments have been disappointing.

If he has lost so much self-awareness that he did this in public then imagine how much of it he would have done in private and how many children may have been victims with parents completely in awe of the perpetrator who wouldn't believe them. I would say that this is the tip of a giant iceberg.

He abused a child in public and before the global media. He not only abused the child he took away their ability to have ownership over their own life by handing the incident over for public consumption.

The whole thing is disgusting. It needs no excuses or explanation it just needs support for the child and the man to be stripped of his position.

Sadly, as with the Catholic church, any religious system involving people swearing to celibacy can attract these sickos because it is very easy for them to shun sexual advances from other adults.

Who the hell are the 7% voting YABU? 😬

Of course YANBU. Who cares if he has dementia or not? He acted in a nasty and abusive way to a young child. He needs to be removed from his post. Abuse is abuse, no matter what the perpetrator's intention is. If the DL is not fit for 'office' it's time for him to retreat to a nice shady tree and drink tee for the rest of his days, without any minors in the vicinity. Bleurg. .

What context you are looking for?

This is the reason I don't believe in ANY bloody religion, god or any religion leader.

This idiot should go to prison.

Disgusting.

I have a lot of Buddhist family and friends and this has totally triggered me. There have always been rumours circulating about him being unsaintly but this is something much more serious altogether and doesn't have an alternative explanation for me. I don't know what steps will be taken but I think it would have gone viral if the Pope did it and the conspiracy therorists would gleefully celebrate. However, a lot of important people in the world hang onto the DL's every word and their lack of reaction has been disappointing.

It’s not a joke though. He’s deadly serious.

As commonground says: But it becomes deathly silent and eyes averted when things change to what I can only describe as 'lingering'. I mean, the 'suck my tongue' is appalling on its own, but the cognitive shift in the DL's demeanour is plain to see and it becomes voyeuristic and very uncomfortable.

Stop minimising sexual abuse.

@L3ThirtySeven

He wasn't essential kidnapped, as a child,

With his family permission he went away to live in Monks monastery, he revealed himself as a child to be re incarnation or channelling the deceased former Dalmi Lama
It's a tradition in that culture that every so often they go into a villages ect to see who possess the spirit of deceased Dalma in a precocious manner,
Like when they say a child has been here before,
Or
This child is an old soul ect type of thing

Given his age I agree it could possibly be dementia. Inappropriate sexual behaviour is a common symptom and Ive seen it myself many times as a former nurse.

It doesn't make it right though. He should step down immediately.

Urgh, I have seen the video on Twitter (posted by someone who said it was just 'playfulness').

It's revolting, actually.

At first there's laughter when they are goofing about with the kiss on the cheek and his advisors are watching. But it becomes deathly silent and eyes averted when things change to what I can only describe as 'lingering'. I mean, the 'suck my tongue' is appalling on its own, but the cognitive shift in the DL's demeanour is plain to see and it becomes voyeuristic and very uncomfortable.

I wish I hadn't seen it, tbh so won't link. Apologies if my description triggers, but really no wider context of this clip can excuse it.

He said it was a joke as he likes to make jokes... I'm obviously 100% against it, joke or no joke, still absolutely wrong.

BUT, the kissing thing... I'm on the fence about. I went to Morocco a few weeks back, and a random guy went up to a random kid on the street who was with his mum and kissed him on the lips... In our culture this would see the man locked up, but she was fine with it. Could this bit simply be a cultural difference?

Why on earth would you want anyone to suck your tongue?

None of us actually KNOW whether the Dali Lama is a paedophile, or has a dementia. I truly hope that it is the latter.

What we should all agree about, is that he must NEVER be in a public situation like that again.

I do hope that having withdrawn him from the public eye, he is investigated, and if not found to have dementia, he will face criminal proceedings* *just like everyone else who behaves in such a manner, should.

Sorry, @FuchsAndMöhr , that should be - I knew people like @L3ThirtySeven would rush to report your post because of the home truths in it, but you were right!

@L3ThirtySeven would rush to report your post because of the home truths in it, but you were right!

All of this.

100% agree.

In recent times, we've had a Pope stepping down, so I guess a Dalai Lama could voluntarily step down as well, even if it would be very unusual. I've just been looking at the stats and it has been suggested that around 4% of people in the general population, mostly men, have paedophilic urges. That is more than I realised.

Changes in someone's brain with age might have a disinhibiting effect such that people act on their urges. Of course, I can't know if this applies to the Dalai Lama.

It seems sensible for religious leaders to retire at a normal retirement age.

@Flowerly well said

What that video shows is the abuse of a minor, very clearly. Whether you believe that the man has dementia or not, what that video shows is an abusive act.

How interesting that, before they can condemn it, certain posters want more evidence, more footage, posit theories that China have mocked this up, post links to dementia websites - all rather than come out and condemn this for the abuse that it is. How/why it happened is almost irrelevant but these people are clearly struggling to see what is in front of their eyes.

And we wonder that raped women struggle to be believed, that the victims of grooming gangs are gaslit and disbelieved, that Savile's victims were slated for compromising the name of a good man who did so much for charity. This was captured on film and it's the same appalling script time after time. Grim as fuck.

@rumpsteak
Well, the pope is the one that gets to be carried about on the throne, isn’t he? 🙄

It’s not my job to trawl through a website looking for things that you want to invent to say he has dementia.

Do your own dirty work.