Speculations

Atmosphere is something at Lhamo's Croissants,
the importance of atmosphere being something of a new trend in Dharamsala, and a bit more expensive,
which is why you won't find the McLeod Ganj boys sipping chai there.
Besides, it's a bit awkward,
sitting on newfangled orange cushions,
sipping (real filtered) coffee from newfangled painted cups
and forking delicate cakes on newfangled square dishes
when you only make like thirty bucks a month
and still have to bargain hunt for socks and vegetables.
Even flipping through magazines, as I am now,
is a strange thing that requires your eyes to first be opened
to the idea of solitary leisure.

Don't get me wrong -- as a Westerner,
I'm enjoying the luxury, and I get a good hour in (one cuppa coffee, a lemon cake, and one cuppa earl grey tea)
before my solitary leisure is disturbed by a huge American group
who've congregated here at these low tables --
which were constructed, carved, and painted by artisans I know at Norbulingka --
to discuss the issue of Tibet.
I'm still busy flipping through magazines for some photos
that are good for painting
and making notes on safety tips when using oils,
though I find it tempting to comment.
A group of people who've just arrived in Dharamsala,
white-middle-class-college-educated Americans
who mean well but know too little
are spending time at ornate tables speculating on
what Tibetans in exile think versus
what Tibetans from Tibet think versus
what the Dalai Lama thinks versus
what the US government & the international community think
about a Free Tibet and a China they don't know.
They speculate on whether Tibetans want a free Tibet,
whether they have too much blind faith in the Dalai Lama and the middle way,
and whether the Dalai Lama is being pressured to pursue the middle way,
though some admit they don't have a good grasp of Buddhism
(and I add) don't really know what the middle way is,
nor who really the Dalai Lama.

There is not one mention about Tibet within the context and history of imperialism,
not a hint of understanding about this conquest within the context of a degenerate human nature ( it is ignorance that causes us to be born & reborn in the first place)
not a mention of first-hand accounts by Tibetans about living in Tibet or living in exile,
not a grasp, only a small idea about realities in China,
realities of refugee experiences,
the ultimate reality that the Dalai Lama is trying to teach the world to see,
the reality that has nothing to do with nations, political power struggles, or painted coffee cups.

But I can't blame them for not knowing, since they can't know.
And they may have learned some things today
through their speculations and discussions.
And maybe they'll do some things to inform others about the situation.
Maybe too people can lecture about enlightenment,
which they read about in some book by someone equally ignorant,
without having done the work to find what it is.
What a college student discussion.