Crouching Tiger / Hidden Agenda

Ok. I am so sorry it has taken me this long to post something about Mumbai (Bombay). Though, if you want the truth… ”No, Derek, we want you to lie to us.” Well, there wasn’t that much to report about anyway. I mean, the stuff I wrote in the article was true. I meant every word. So, for His Holiness Karmapa and related news it was a success. However, if there is one thing I have learned it is that there are two things you can always count on no matter what corner of the globe you travel to. Women will always be capricious enigmas, and politicians will always be deceitful characters disguised as friendly neighbors concerned about your well being. “The First International Buddhist Conference” turned out not to be a “first” at all. It may have been the first time a politician in India has used Buddhism to appeal to a certain demographic, but certainly not the “first” international Buddhist conference. In fact, for an “international” conference there were quite a lot of Indian spectators, as opposed to the assumed multinational audience they would have you believe was going to be there. The President of the organizing committee, Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar, strategically designed this event to gather influential and wealthy citizens from all over India in order to persuade them to vote in his favor on a few amendments he has been trying to pass through the Indian Congress. The panel for the “First International Buddhist Conference” was stacked with Indian parliament members and various state level politicians. Many of the guest speakers were actually Hindu. Yet, they were standing at the podium addressing the audience of over 1000 Buddhists about the importance of following the Buddha Dharma and the example of Lord Buddha. Knowing that if they were to mention the very famous Bharatna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, a founding father of India who converted to Buddhism in 1956, they would secure the support of the many thousands of followers Dr. Ambedkar has had since his movement began in the 1950’s. In the same sneaky way a young man in puberty pretends to yawn in order to slide his arm around his date in the movie theatre, these slick political fat cats from Delhi spoke extensively for two days on a variety of topics surrounding Buddhism and world peace while steering the topic ever so slowly from peaceful Buddhism to political activism. I have to hand it to them. They are quite good at what they do. Besides, you cannot blame the politicians for being politicians. Actually, the sad part is how easily the people attending the conference were duped into accepting these brainwashing techniques without the slightest struggle. I guess it just goes to show that as long as there are sheep there will always be shepherds.