Have been pretty deep in thought lately, mainly about a comment made here last week by a dharmamonkey.com reader regarding the bainian guochi.  Can’t really put my thoughts into words, because I also keep kicking around the little-noticed news that His Holiness may finally return to China in October.

I have to wonder to what extent we, as in, everything encompassed by the term “the West,” have hindered the process.  How have our actions, bent on forcing the Chinese to accept the return of the Dalai Lama, affected the opinion of the Chinese man-on-the-street?  Did we indirectly create a populist appeal that played perfectly and directly into the mind of the Chinese populous?

Something to think about, though I probably won’t write about it, choosing instead to let it inform what I write in the future.