they believe, or how they have trained their minds. It took a long time, and many examples, for me to understand how important this is to him and what a central place it has in his vision of Tibet and Tibetan history.

     "We cannot discuss Tibetan history without an understanding of this," the Dalai Lama said.

     As a journalist, I sometimes found his inclination to speak about the world from the uncommon viewpoint frustrating. This inclination shaped his thoughts, even about simple things. On one occasion, I asked him to talk about the importance of the Potala, which I saw as one of the most significant symbols of the Tibetan nation.

     He looked at me blankly. "It's just a building," he shrugged with a small laugh.

     It was as if he was being too literal, or that he resisted all metaphor. This was not the first time he had frustrated the journalist in me with this kind of response. Unlike Tibetans who meet the Dalai Lama—so reverential that they cannot contradict him or have an open dialogue with him—I could not restrain the anger in my voice. "What do you mean, it's just a building? It has been the symbol of the Tibetan nation for three hundred years. Was it 'just a building' to the young Tibetan who was arrested and beaten after he strapped explosives to his body in 1999 and tried to pull down the Chinese flag in front of the Potala?"

     He looked at me gravely. "No, you are right. It was not just a building to
him."

     The Dalai Lama then proceeded to describe the construction of the Potala in detail. As he talked for half an hour, it became an amazing display of his trained memory. Historic eras and temple names flew off his lips without any hesitation, from a man who had told me he didn't know much about history.

     When he was finished, he looked at me and said, "But still, for someone who has trained his mind, the Potala is still just a building. Meditation is not a philosophy; it is a technique to develop that type of attitude, detachment."

     He had answered the question as I thought it should be, yet I could not let go entirely of my annoyance with his detachment.