Disarming the smile

China unhappy at Cameron's meeting with Dalai Lama

The Guardian, 15 May 2012

This I have heard, that the Dalai Lama

is the reincarnation of Gautama,

the Buddha, who in his original life

claimed nothing survives the miracle of its birth

but dies in becoming the very next moment,

and in any case was anatta, soulless,

inessential, pure process, a stream

of consciousness tumbling down a mountain.

So if I were David Cameron

I'd ask the grinning Tibetan who he thinks he is,

once when he comes in and again when he leaves,

and if his replies are both times the same

in more than just name,

and he says he's the Buddha or stakes a claim

to the sangha, recite him the dharma

then send him packing to China.

(c) 2012 Andy Hickmott