We just returned from a long morning session at the Seeds of Compassion, the final day of such events held in Seattle. The highlight was the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu joking with one another. The playful personality of the Dalai Lama, so evident in his autobiography, came shining through. Unfortunately, it was very hard to understand some of the DL’s comments due to poor acoustics and his extremely deep, low voice. Even in this company, the most engaging speaker of the group was Rabbi David Rosen (Chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations), about whom I would love to know more. After the panel, the Seattle Symphony’s Pacific Northwest Community Orchestra gave a fantastic performance of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy with a 600 member orchestra and choir.

Chinese officials appropriate the “suicide bomber” label. Reminting the oppression of Tibetans in the currency of the war against terror, with a threat of “suicide squads,” they may hope to gain western support for whatever tactics they will employ next. This certainly goes against a discussion in the recent entertaining survey of evolutionary psychology, Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, which posits that most suicide bombers are the product of cultures which enshrine the custom of one man taking many wives, leaving a large pool of frustrated young men who believe their best reproductive chances lie with a plenitude of maidens who are only available in the afterlife. The jarring concept of Buddhist “suicide squads” makes no sense except as propaganda. On the other hand, given the Chinese suppression and interference in the practice of Buddhism in Tibet, the culture of peace seems like an inevitable casualty.