On Sunday, the Dalai Lama came to UBC, where he spoke in front of 12,000 people at the Chan Centre. As would be expected, his audience was an easy one. He regurgitated their already held opinions with non-controversial one-liners. What he didn’t offer were real solutions, unless you think that embracing the concept of the whole world as “We” (his words) is going to sell peace to Kim Jong-il and the other card-carrying Bond-villains of globalization.

Look, he’s an alright guy with pretty good intentions. We’re not denying this. He’s certainly not doing the world any big disservice. But for all the attention he gets, which is a lot, it’d be nice to see Mr Gyatso say something that’s not entirely obvious. Instead, he spews fluff. He acts less like an intellectual, and more like Oprah or Bono. Okay, he’s nowhere near as annoying as Bono, but the point stands: his advice lacks substance.

Now, some have praised the Dalai Lama for the very thing that we are criticizing: the simplicity of his message. They see him as symbolic. The problem is, he’s preaching to the converted—especially here in Vancouver—so what exactly does he accomplish by being symbolic? Perhaps being model for a set of abstract ideals, but it’s hard to define in tangible terms. He’s not fixing any problem, nor is he mobilizing masses, as, let’s say, Gandhi did.

Ultimately, people listen to him because of who he is, not because of what he’s saying. Do a bit of research and you’ll discover that he’s held some pretty naïve positions. The guy’s not exactly pro-choice. Not to mention his condemnation of masturbation, oral sex, anal sex and consequently homosexuality—though admittedly, he says these things are only wrong from a “Buddhist” point of view. Nonetheless, these views, which he holds personally, are problematic, and we’re not afraid to say it. Hell, in many ways, the average UBC student is more enlightened than this guy.

So then, why did 12,000 of us show up earlier this week? Perhaps we just wanted to say that we were there, that we saw the man-cum-reincarnated-leader, flesh and blood.

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