False: The Dalai Lama did *not* compare Donald Trump to Hitler

False: The Dalai Lama did *not* compare Donald Trump to Hitler October 17, 2016

On Friday the website Religiousmind.com published a story claiming that “Dalai Lama Says Trump is a Threat to Humanity, Says He Is Worse Than Hitler.”

In the story the Dalai Lama is quoted as saying that “I see another Hitler in the making… If American people vote for Trump, it will be the end of great American civilization.”

The quotes claim to come from the Dalai Lama’s recent teachings in Zurich, Switzerland.

However, no such comments were made. Some further searching of google turned up no other reports on the Dalai Lama speaking about Donald Trump in the last few days.

Instead, the Dalai Lama talked about bringing Buddhism into the 21st century and specific topics from the following texts:

  • Kamalashila’s The Middling States of Meditation (gomrimbarpa)
  • Nagarjuna’s The Precious Garland of the Middle Way (umarinchentrengwa)
  • 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva (gyal-sey lag-len so-dhunma)

It might fit your political leanings to share news of him denouncing the Republican candidate, but it doesn’t fit reality.

The Dalai Lama did, however, offer a comical impression of Donald Trump last month for British TV host Piers Morgan, and said in March that [his] “personal criticism looks a little cheap” in an interview with Dan Harris.

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