DALAI LAMA'S DILEMMA & A TRACT OUTREACH

"His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama", the exiled head of state and spiritual leader of Tibet, came to town this past weekend. His reasons for being in Ottawa, as is for every place he visits, are both political and spiritual. He refers to himself as a simple Buddhist monk and has countless political and religious supporters and devotees (high profile and non) around the globe.

At the age of two, Tenzin Gyatso was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are regarded as enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.

A promoter of world peace, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He has gained the respect of political and spiritual leaders around the world and is loved by millions who adhere to his messages of love, peace, tolerance, compassion, forgiveness, contentment and self discipline.

Among other things, the Dalai Lama states that one of the major commitments his life is guided by is the fostering of inter-religious harmony.

The ads pointing to his visit and public speech in Ottawa claim: "His words will speak to you. His words will speak through you. His words will live on inside you."

That may be so, but the biblical truth of the matter is this: his words will not save you. His words will not save anyone. His words will not mean a hill of beans on the coming Day of Judgment when all of us, including the Dalai Lamas of the past, present, future and their followers, will stand before the one true God of heaven and the universe, our Creator, to give an account for our lives here on earth.

The Word that does save, however, is the Word revealed to us in the Bible: Jesus Christ. (See John 1:1)

And here is where the Dalai Lama and his followers draw the line. For Buddhists, one one side, Jesus is highly respected as a great teacher, a great master, a great man. But on the other side He is disregarded as who He revealed Himself to be, namely, God.

Jesus is disregarded as Lord and Saviour of the world who came to earth in human flesh to take upon Himself the punishment of death on a cross for the sins of mankind, as a sacrificial substitute making forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God and eternal life in heaven possible for those who believe in the gospel, repent and put their trust in Christ alone for their salvation.

Buddhism, as is all religions aside from 'biblical Christianity', (not to be mistaken with 'apostate Christianity', for one example: the Roman Catholic Church) is a false religion. It preaches a different gospel. A gospel that touches the heart but in the end destroys the soul. The Bible warns of those that preach a different gospel:

"Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned." - Galatians 1:7-8

The Dalai Lama is a universalist. He believes that all religions point to the same means to a common end. His quest, however, in promoting religious harmony around the world is a damning message that should be avoided like the plague. The Dalai Lama may mean well in his mission because he is sincere, but in light of God's holy word, the Bible, he is sincerely wrong. And eternity is a long, long time to be wrong.

Hence, the need to do something to reach some of his devout followers and those who are curious with the one and only true gospel. The gospel that tells of God's remedy for man's dilemma, including that of the Dalai Lama.

Five members of our evangelism team from Emmanuel Baptist Church, led by Elder Denis Pomerleau, set out on a cold and windy Saturday morning to distribute gospel tracts to the throngs of people making their way into the Civic Centre to hear the Dalai Lama's public speech.

(Kim and I were hoping to but were not able to attend this outreach event.)

Here is Denis' report along with some photos taken with a camera he borrowed from me that will soon be seeing the recycling bin for obvious reasons.

"It was another cold morning and another opportunity to pass out gospel tracts and represent Christ. On this occassion our destination would be the Civic Centre where the Dalai Lama was to make his appearance and give a message...indoors of course. From all around many followers, religious folk, and curiosity seekers flowed into the Centre in order to take part in this much anticipated event. Five of us armed with gospel literature arrived early and positioned ourselves outside along both corridors that led to the entrances of the building. 

"Our group was divided into pairs with the fifth member operating the camera, which by the way was her first attempt at filming. (Later we learned that the camera worked best with the lens cap off, something that comes with experience I guess).  

"Clearly the flow of traffic increased as the start time of the conference drew closer.  At one point, suddenly hundreds of people poured out from the lower part of the buidling, so that we were just barely able to keep up with this sudden surge of people, as they happily received our literature.  When the frenzy ended, we had only a few tracts left from the one thousand that we started with. It was time to go. 

"We rejoiced in the fact that before the conference began and anything was even said the only true message that has eternal significance had already been placed in the hands of many who attended that morning." 


It is imperative that Christians make every effort possible to reach the lost with the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, especially at places where religion and spirituality are the main focus of the event. 


There are countless different religions in the world but only ONE truth. If you are reading this and you are offended by this claim, then you must turn your blame onto Jesus, the Son of God, as it is He who proclaimed:


"I am the way, and the the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." - John 14:6


Glory to God for the team that, out of a spirit of compassion, took an hour and half out of their busy lives to hand out gospel tracts in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord, for the sake of over 1,000 misguided souls.