The Book of Joy

white marble, with black nails sticking out of the palms of the hands.
There was also a statue of the Madonna. “Now this is a black Madonna
from Mexico.” The statue was of Mary wearing a golden robe and crown
and holding a golden orb of the world. On her lap was a small baby Jesus.
“Mary is the symbol of love,” the Dalai Lama said, gesturing at the
statue with the same open palm of the sandalwood Buddha. “It’s
wonderful.”
There was also a deep blue globe nested in a golden stand, a sacred
symbol perhaps of another kind, and a tangible reminder of the Buddhist
understanding of interdependence. The Dalai Lama’s prayer practice and
concern, like the Archbishop’s, enveloped the whole world.
The Dalai Lama showed the Archbishop over to a heavily cushioned
beige chair with a high-winged back. The Archbishop wore a navy blue
Tibetan shirt with the button in the corner, near the shoulder, which made
the shirt seem like a pouch into which he had been snugly fit. A skilled
tailor, Lama Tenzin’s father had specially made it for him as a gift. The
Archbishop sat down, his small frame practically disappearing into the
large chair.
The rest of us began to sit down on the floor, and the Dalai Lama
asked whether we wanted chairs, but we said we were quite happy.
“Originally I also used to sit on the floor,” the Dalai Lama said. “But I
started to have this problem with my knees. So now I prefer like this.” He
gestured to a wide chair draped in a red velvety fabric. He pulled his
robes up a little and sat down. Behind him a yellow, red, and green
thangka hung on the wall. In front of him was a low wooden table with a
stack of Buddhist texts, shaped like horizontal literary blocks. Two long
thin lamps, sentinels on either side of the table, likely lit the table and the
long Tibetan scriptures in the early mornings when the Dalai Lama began
his practice. A pot of pink tulips and a gold-colored bowl for ceremonial
rice throwing added some color. Finally, two slender tablets also stood on
the crowded table, one to display the weather and the other to listen to
BBC News.
“Because of our program, today I started my meditation at 2:30.”
“Hmm,” the Archbishop said, perhaps still marveling at this very