The Open Road by Pico Iyer

I'm not particularly religious, so it's not Dalai Lama who got me to read this. Instead, I've read Pico Iyer on his website and the occasional article he contributes for newspapers. I share his sentiment on the importance of quietness in this disquiet world.

I've never given a thought to Tibet other than it being a tourist destination that perhaps requires you to have an oxygen cylinder. I never knew Tibetans could hardly call Tibet their home, or that they could not live as their ancesters have. I'm not going into the politics of things because it's beyond me. Dalai Lama and his exiled government live now in Dharamsala, India. It's quite surprising India has given refuge to them and had not incurred the wrath of China. (Or have they?) 

Pico Iyer started off early with a conversation with a reporter who commented that Dalai Lama seemed to be not the brightest bulb in the room. I guess common sense does not count as brilliance. That's what I think of the Dalai Lama. He has the simplest answers to the most complicated questions. But simplest answers are hardly ever easy.

 

Religion and life can be contradicting. Buddhism teaches us forgiveness, while life throws darts at us from different directions. How do we not hate the dart thrower? How do we reconcile our learnings of Buddhism with the realism of life? Even Dalai Lama does not have the answer. "I don't know." is a phrase he frequently uses. It is difficult, but we move on, and hopefully we'll see the light someday. I believe we carry around this baggage all the time throughout our lives. And for me, I just want it to be small and light.