Bush: The Path to Enlightenment

Next Tuesday, George Bush has agreed to meet with the Dalai Lama. He does this a day before the Dalai Lama is scheduled to receive the Congressional Gold Medal and despite the fact that China has issued a formal complaint. You can view the entire article concerning this event here.

So why does a President who has enjoyed the support of the extreme religious right and has been called the Crusader in Chief, meet with the spiritual, and arguably, political leader of Buddhism? To get the answer, let's take a quick look at Buddhism.

Buddhism teaches that all phenomena is empty. This concept, known as Sunyata or 'emptiness', is a key feature of Mahayana Buddhism. When one has mastered the realization of emptiness, it equates to the experience of Nirvana.

I think perhaps this is the reason that the Dalai Lama agrees to meet with George W. Bush. Let's face it, if the ultimate goal of Buddhism is the realization of emptiness, then every time the Dalai Lama looks at Dubbya, he realizes that true emptiness is a mere few inches behind those vacuous eyes.

Come to think of it. George Bush’s brain, or lack thereof, is the epitome of emptiness. He is the living embodiment of Sunyata and the path to Nirvana!