The Dalai Lama's Cat

by David Michie

“You’re at Dharamsala Telecom. Two calls come in during the morning: one from a customer who accidently overturned a filing cabinet onto his modem, the other from a customer who got so angry with his wife for shopping online that he smashed their modem with a hammer. In both cases, the modems are broken and need to be repaired or replaced. Do you treat both customers the same?” “Of course not!” scowled Raj Goel. “What has that got to do with bowing and scraping to Buddhas?” “Quite a lot.” Lobsang’s easy poise couldn’t have contrasted more starkly with Raj Goel’s prickliness. “I’ll explain why. But those two customers—” “The one was an accident,” the technician interjected, his voice rising. “The other was a deliberate act of vandalism.” “What you’re saying is that intention is more important that an action itself?” “Of course.” “So when a person bows down to a Buddha, what really matters is the intention, not the bowing?”