Literary Discussions

Last week I spent half the day in the 4 story Barnes & Noble Bookstore at Union Sq. in the coffee shop with an excellent book on the Chinese Communist Party ... I shared a table with a man in his late 20s raised in Tibet, fluent in Mandarin, Tibetan, Hindi, and English, who lived a few years in India.  His name is Tenzin (the first name of Dalai Lama ) - we spoke for four hours about Buddhism and Bon (the precursor to Buddhism in Tibet) as well as Chinese Communism and life in the Tibetan diaspora. We were amazed to realize how much we share in common and see eye-to-eye and how difficult or impossible it is for those who do not share our experiences to even understand the issues or questions much less attempt answers. I see pluralism/multiculturalism/syncretism as a good and the opposite as a disease but perhaps a disease which of necessity afflicts some.