This week I will experience an earthquake and a hurricane.
Is there karma here? Am I (are we) being sent a message?
I only think of this because when I covered the Dalai Lama in May, a journalist from Japan was also there and he asked His Holiness about the recent tsunami, “did the people of Japan do something to bring this on ourselves?”
I thought it was a fascinating question and one I would never have thought of. But as a Buddhist, the journalist was himself soul searching how such a catastrophe could befall a people.
The Dalai Lama gave a characteristically in depth, if rambling, response. No, it wasn’t the fault of the Japanese people, I recall him discerning, but calamities are a time to reflect on our interactions with each other and our spirituality, in the context of promoting a peaceful world.
If Hurricane Irene climbs the East Coast as violently as the experts predict, I hope what follows in her wake is a time of neighbor helping neighbor, repairing and rebuilding with integrity, and a new commitment by all to the people and values that matter most.