(1) Dalai Lama Virus Conversation: Buddhist Lessons for 'Christian' Faith Healers

The 14th April, 2020, issue of 'Time' magazine carried an article by the spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhist religion entitled "'Prayer Is Not Enough.' The Dalai Lama on Why We Need to Fight Coronavirus With Compassion". Whilst I do not share the Dalai Lama's Buddhist beliefs, he often displays a down-to-earth practical wisdom which many people find attractive and helpful. That is again evident in this article and so, for the next couple of posts, I want to stand very definitely as a Christian whilst taking the Dalai Lama as my conversation partner.

The opening paragraph in his article is fascinating on a number of levels:

"Sometimes friends ask me to help with some problem in the world, using

some “magical powers.” I always tell them that the Dalai Lama has no

magical powers. If I did, I would not feel pain in my legs or a sore throat.

We are all the same as human beings, and we experience the same fears,

the same hopes, the same uncertainties."

First, it highlights how common 'magical thinking' can be among human beings! We know that in the normal course of things there is a pattern of 'cause and affect' - if you want to succeed you have to work, if you want to reap a harvest you must sow the seed. Yet, there are times when we just wish that it could be different. A problem arises and we start to dream up ways that could make it just vanish. We do not want to wait for the slow progress of science to find a vaccine or a cure. We want an instant fix that bypasses all struggle and delay.

Secondly, many people assume that if magic does exist, it is associated with special men and women who are religious or holy, in this case the figure-head of the Tibetan Buddhist faith. Whether it is the witch doctor, the medium, the monk or nun, the medicine man, or the priest, in many cultures 'magic' is assumed to come through spiritual people from a spiritual source. Through ritual interaction with unseen spirit beings or impersonal powers at work in nature, they are able to bend the normal mechanics to a more desirable outcome.

Thirdly, isn’t it refreshing to see a man of such global religious and political status acknowledging his limitations as a human being and as a spiritual leader? He is aging. He gets ill. He feels pain. He has fears, hopes, and uncertainties like everyone else. Being the Dalai Lama does not make him ‘immune’. How can he heal the world's problems if he cannot heal himself? The Dalai Lama's reasoning is sound.

Oh that many professing Christian leaders would show the same humility and insight! You know the kind I am talking about. They claim to be special channels of God's power who are able to heal and deliver at will. Prayer is their magic formula by which they rub God's lamp forcing Him to pop out and grant wishes like a performing genie. Yet their claims can never be substantiated.

Physician heal yourself! I am reminded of an email I once received from a man who ran 'healing meetings' under the auspices of a big city centre church. It read:

"We are looking for volunteers to help with Wednesday's healing meeting

because some of the regular helpers are sick".

The comic absurdity was obviously lost on the sender.

Of course there is a very serious side to this too. A large amount of money often reaches these healers' pockets. They argue that the 'magic' won't work if the sick person lacks faith. If you are not healed it is your own fault. One way to exercise faith is to give your money to support their ‘ministry’. The extravagant wealth of its corrupt proponents is then interpreted as evidence of God's blessing.

This is repulsive when it occurs in affluent western countries but it is utterly abhorrent when it takes place in poorer, developing countries. Zambian pastor Conrad Mbewe has written to point out that the faith healers who claim:

"the power to miraculously heal the sick “in the name of Jesus"... have been

 very loud on radio, on television, on the internet, and on billboards,

despite the lack of verifiable evidence."

Yet in the face of this global Covid-19 pandemic they have gone "deathly quiet, while over 100,000 people have died". He asks:

"What kind of Christian love is this? Surely, this is the time for them to

go to the epicentres of this disease and miraculously heal those who are

on ventilators fighting for their lives. They cannot just go quiet."

Amen! Mbewe then points out how Jesus went to the quarantined lepers and touched them even though they had an incurable disease. Like us, Jesus body aged and experienced pain. Like us, He could feel the pressures of fear and uncertainty. But Jesus was also the Son of God and had a unique relationship with His Heavely Father. At times Jesus healed people even of 'incurable' diseases. This was not because He had access to hidden powers through magic ritual. He did not treat God as a genie in a lamp or a power He could wield. Rather the Bible says that Jesus held lightly to the privileges that were His by right and humbled Himself to obey God and serve other people even to the point of death. He didn't just touch lepers to heal them of leprosy; He also touched sinners to heal them of sin and 'paid the ultimate' price to make this possible.

So-called 'Christian' Faith Healers: the Dalai Lama could behave as you do. He has thousands of people willing to ascribe magical powers to him. But he chooses not take advantage of them in this way. Instead he commends practical compassion because he knows it will do more good than 'magic'. In humbly and publicly acknowledging his limitations and encouraging people to show love is the Dalai Lama not displaying more righteous than you?!

Christian friends: There is wisdom here that applies to us. We too age, get ill, and feel pain. We too experience fear, hope, and uncertainty. We have no 'magic'. God always listens to our prayers and He always answers them. However, let us not fall for the lie or ever give the impression that we can tell God what to do. He is free to answer our prayers in whatever way His infinite wisdom sees best. Sometimes the answer is 'yes', sometimes it is 'no' or 'not yet'. Sometimes He takes the spirit of what we ask and answers it in a better way than we could have imagined. Sometimes, rather than taking our problems away, He gives us the strength and peace to face them. When He does give us that strength and peace it is not for our self-indulgence. It is to free us from self-centred cares and concerns so that we can show His love through our active compassion.

Read part 2 here: https://fidzbit.blogspot.com/2020/04/2-dalai-lama-virus-conversation-prayer.html

Read the rest of Conrad Mbewe's post here: http://www.conradmbewe.com/2020/04/covid-19-series-16-faith-healersthe.html

Read the rest of the Dalai Lama's article here: https://time.com/5820613/dalai-lama-coronavirus-compassion/?fbclid=IwAR3nOxcathkVhy7XaEKg57nlGG-ftNVCcepvd1S9U8MU1s_0YS73Jmj-ynE