--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > There is a unique feature here in Santa Clara, California where I > > > live; a convent pretty much in the center of town, surrounded by > > > adobe walls, about ten feet in height, the grounds sheltered by > > > palms and a large grove of olive trees. There is a long driveway > > > of about 75 yards to the main building, and although I have passed > > > it many times, I've never been able to see anyone within the > > > grounds. No windows are visible from the outside either. It has > > > been around for about one hundred years. Poor bastards. > > > I have no problem with the privacy of ashrams, monasteries, or > > > convents. But those aren't prisons. People can still usually > > > come and go. > > That's the real issue. There is voluntary seculsion and > then there is involuntary confinement. > > But if you think about it, involuntary confinement fits > in *perfectly* with the name and the theme of the course. > Statistics recently released show that the United States > has more of its population confined in prisons than any > other country on the planet. *Any* other country. > Assuming that they are being involutarily kept (and you know what they say about assumption...), sorta like those living involuntarily in exile from Tibet, former home of the failed tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Oh, except that there are what, several hundred pundits here, and several hundred thousand Tibetan exiles, perhaps millions?
Yeah, Tibetan Buddhism sure looks after its people.
