According to today’s N Y Times “President Obama welcomed the Dalai Lama to the White House on Friday morning, provoking a sharp rebuke from the Chinese government, which warned that the meeting would severely damage relations between Washington and Beijing.”
I will never understand the Chinese hatred for a man who has always shown compassion and empathy to those around him. They may hate organized religion in a communist state, but the Dalai Lama has not aspired to head a religious state in China or anywhere else.He was born into his cosmic role and since a young age has been trained to spread the word of the Buddha and his eight fold path.
There is a far greater cause for misunderstanding between the self-made man who heads the vast entitlements and forces of a great nation, and the childhood priest who has his robe and little else. There is a far greater inequality here between the ruler and the learned man, both peace prize winners, but of different pursuits. The inequalities that Obama spoke about have grown not reduced and despite the best efforts; there is less compassion and empathy, for the pain and suffering of others. The path that the Dalai Lama speaks about is one of detachment, renunciation and  nirvana.
According to a study carried out at Berkley in a rigged game of monopoly, the winners exhibited signs of posture changing to becoming excited and showing signs of victory, eating more and later claiming their wisdom had helped them win a clearly rigged game. They were trying to answer the question “Does money make you mean?” and answered affirmatively. It raises one’s self interest and sense of entitlement.
In other studies they have shown time and again that when inequality goes down; we have greater social mobility, better economic growth, a more engaged community life leading to increases in social harmony allowing innovation to flourish, and even reduced cases of obesity and drug abuse.
From the meeting of these two great leaders we do not expect world changing announcements, but how I wish we did. If they can resolve their extreme positions and come to a harmonious meeting of the minds, then I guess we all have a lot of hope for the future of mankind. How do we make the self-interested and the entitled to change and part with their wealth for a more equal society? Obama who is the most powerful man in the world is a prisoner to his own state has great external power. Dalai Lama on the other hand is free from the karma of lifetimes and shows the old new way and has great internal power. How does a stateless man state, that compassion and empathy for all living creatures is our prime dharma, while the most powerful man agrees with him that it is also the right thing to do. I guess we are all Pharsiees now and the death of grace is upon us!