I felt uncomfortable watching the video and images of the Dalai Lama sticking his tongue out to a child and telling them to suck on it. I’m still grossed out thinking about it, even with the hundreds of comments and notes surrounding the incident with offerings of content and explanations. I wasn’t there, I don’t know the Dalai Lama, and I don’t know much about Tibetan culture, so I don’t want to say what it was or wasn’t. However, the story plastered across every homepage of every blog and website has reminded me that all our teachers, idols, and leaders are human and that none of them are perfect.

Most religions and beliefs ask us not to worship people or other idols but to find inspiration from those who appear to be on a positive path. We’re encouraged to seek wisdom from within ourselves and to find guidance in the overarching power that unites us all in this universe. We are taught in most religious teachings that no other person is better than another, and no other earthly being is beneath another. We are asked to be kind and care for one another because we are all equally on the same level.

I grew up Catholic but purposefully studied numerous religions that led to my belief in a higher power energetically connecting each and everything single thing in this universe. A part of this journey evolved from hearing about a local religious leader in my own community getting shuffled around after a scandal and questioning why I had to go through a human being to absolve myself of my sins. The irony of the faulty hierarchy drove me to ask questions, think critically, and explore additional knowledge.

I found on my journey that no one person has it all figured out in life. No one has definitive answers. No one person or being is perfect, and inherently good people still live on a sliding scale of “good and evil.” You can never place all of your trust in one human being. You have to leave room for faults and mistakes that every human falls into at one point or another. You can love everyone and still open your eyes to see that because everything exists in our universe, so does the seemingly bad things.

We do not exist in a world of black and white. Everything exists on a spectrum, and nothing natural can fit inside the proverbial box. We can collect categories like Pokemon,  but they will never accurately define your complete essence. You can’t paint a picture of your soul with one color. You can’t yet record every piece of your mind and quantify it, nor can you duplicate the uniqueness of your body entirely. Even identical twins have different fingerprints. You and your experience are incredibly unique. When you look back on your entire life, you can’t sum it up and say it was all good or all bad. There’s a bit of nuance.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t trust anyone, but that you should approach everyone with the knowledge that they are still human.  They will have strengths and faults and can’t always be predictable. You can follow whoever you want online and gain incite and encouragement from experienced professionals and wise teachers, but the people you look up to and your idols are still human.