If It Is on the National Register of Historic Places, It’s Significant
For the information of your readers, as well as Tom Danehy: The city of Tucson does not arbitrarily decide whether a building such as the Marist College is historic or not (Aug. 16). That determination is made by applying federal criteria.
To be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a building or other cultural resource must be nominated via a detailed proposal which must in turn pass a rigorous state and federal review.
We can argue about where the funding for preservation should come from, but the building’s historic and cultural significance is not in dispute.
I wonder why Mr. Danehy did not contact Tucson’s Historic Preservation Office for this information, and relied instead on an adobe contractor he apparently picked out of the phone book.
Laura Tabili
Comments From Readers at TucsonWeekly.com
Regarding “Buddha in the Desert” (Sept. 6):
Please research what Buddhism is about, and the fact that a Buddhist monk cannot be married or have a “partner.” Buddhism is a religion founded more than 2,600 years ago by the Buddha. The image of the Buddha is sacred to Buddhists, and the cover page is disrespectful, showing the Buddha in the dirt, with dirt on his face, and words on his face. You misspelled “Buddha,” and I ask you to apologize to Buddhists for this image and publish a retraction of… saying that Roach and his followers are Buddhists. … Roach and his followers are calling themselves Buddhists, but they are not.
—Buddhist_in_Tucson
There are con men and women in all religions. There are cults that pretend to have a spiritual aspect, but are only there to prey on others. This was one of those instances. A threat to the “future of American Buddhism”? Not hardly, since there is no “American Buddhism.” There are only students of the Buddha’s teachings. Regarding your cover, we should respect all religions. This was not one of those occasions for you.
Jack Ferguson
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2012.
I have no idea who “Buddhist in Tucson” is or might be but there is no dogma in Buddhism that covers all or even most Buddhists. Buddhism is essentially egalitarian in nature and is not a universally organized religion. There is absolutely no restriction as to whether or not a Buddhist may be married. A monk usually adopts the “precepts” which state that he (or nowadays she) may not engage in “sexual misconduct” (2nd Paramita.) Tibetan lamas and tulkus and even rinpoches, for example, may be married if they so desire and lose none of their supposed authority.
No one determines who is or who is not a Buddhist. There is no pope or Sanhedrin. Not even the Dalai Lama is necessarily recognized as a spiritual leader by followers of non-Tibetan Buddhist congregations and is certainly not infallible. To many, such as myself, he is but a very nice man with loads of wisdom.
As someone who has studied Buddhism for going on sixty years or so and who has occasionally practiced elements of it, I find the tut-tutting an amusing misconception of the nature and practice of Buddhism but then the use of concepts is one of the troubling issues in Buddhist practice and thought.
Whatever you said doesn’t negate the fact that Michael Roach has been claiming for years to be part of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism of which the Dalai Lama has been the spiritual leader and that he lied about being legally married to Ms. McNally, among other things. By refusing to shed his maroon and gold robes, letting his hair grow long, wearing jewelry, and not being celibate he was impersonating someone he was not. Whether or not someone claims to be a Buddhist monk or a police officer, that sort of thing is usually frowned upon, especially when people are persuaded to give money to and/or perform services for the impersonator.
he was caught screwing a student,claimed it wasn’t really sex because she was the reincarnation of Vavindi Yogini (sp) He then pushed his students to treat her like a goddess.They ate her toe nails as offerings and danced with weapons after spilling blood..how fucked up is that?