A reader writes:

Regarding your post on the Dalai Lama visit to Seattle, as a Buddhist-turned-Catholic, I know a bit about this subject. Not only are Washington taxpayers funding a trip to see this religious figure, they are subsidizing and indirectly supporting practices that most Catholics would find gravely objectionable.

I would urge you to read through this expose called "The Shadow of the Dalai Lama" (table of contents here). It will take you at least a couple of hours to get through this, but I guarantee after you look at the TOC and find a topic that jumps out at you, you'll keep digging for more and you won't like what you find. Even though you might not agree with the conclusions of the authors in many cases, the information they present is well-documented and factual. You'll get enough information that you'll never look at the Dalai Lama the same way again.

Most people, including most Buddhists, really have no idea about the complexity behind the mystery religion of Tibetan Buddhism (more appropriately named *Vajrayana*). Once you and your readers dig into this subject, they'll be like most Buddhists who realize that the invoice due does not equal the bill of goods originally sold. After all, isn't it supposed to be about peace, non-violence, equality, meditation, inclusion, dissolution of the self-centered ego, the oneness/interconnectedness of everything in the universe? In many ways, it is ... but this exposes just how much more comes wrapped in that package.

You can put my knowledge of the Dalai Lama in a thimble, so I'll take your word for it as a former Buddhist that it's not wise to believe the hype (which I seldom do in any case).