The Art of War « Brian Browne Walker

The Art of War

The Dalai

Lama had an

excellent sense of humor,

which I’d suspected from his books, but

seeing his comic timing in action was delightful.

He acknowledged that Buddha sometimes seemed to

give disparate teachings and began chuckling as he

said “Perhaps Buddha — with respect — ” and here

he shook his pressed hands behind his shoulder

at the giant tapestry of a blue Buddha —

“sometimes may forget what he said one

morning, so say something different

the next. Or perhaps — with

respect — Buddha was

drunk!” Everyone

laughed.

He became

serious again. “No,” he said. “It

is because one philosophy is not enough.

We need all variety. If your tradition

is Christianity, good. If your

tradition is Islam,

good.”

Towards

the end of his time,

while talking about anger,

he leaned forward a bit. “We know,

real troublemaker,” his voice was

low, conspiratorial, as he

pointed to his own

chest, “is

here.”

Nightmare Brunette