From Prayer Flags to Barbed Wire: a Week in Dharamsala
While still in the US, Kevin clued me into the Dalai Lama's public event schedule. I am not a practicing Buddhist nor do I fully understand the dharma of the Buddha, but I have a great reverence for the 14th Dalai Lama, his resilience and wisdom. So when he announced a public teaching in October, I decided to go. It would be my first trip outside of Delhi and a welcome change of pace. In 2014, I first became exposed to Buddhism and the plight of the Tibetan people while trekking in Nepal. Growing up I had seen the "Free Tibet" bumper stickers and flags, not knowing the relevance it had in our global politics or culture. Until this week I had no knowledge of the continued struggles of Tibetan refugees and the current levels of oppression in Lhasa. It's easy for me, as a westerner, to isolate foreign conflict into a box that doesn't "involve" me, however as His Holiness reminded us today, there is no individual or intrinsic existence. M