Dalai Lama was leading his country during the rigors of World War II, he was in Beijing for a year in 1954; he was up against Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai from the time that he was fifteen. So he's no newcomer or naive when it comes to politics.

Dalai Lama is transforming those criteria - and the whole way of conducting politics. He's conducting politics in a much deeper way than most politicians are able to. He's the only politician I know of who's a monk. The Pope, of course, is in a similar position, but the Pope isn't in the same way leading a country of many million people.

I remember many years ago, I asked [Dalai Lama] about exile and he said: "Well, exile is good because it's brought me and my people closer to reality," and reality is almost a shrine before which he sits. Exile brings us up against the wall and forces us to rise to the challenge of the moment.

I'm one of those perverse people who likes being alone. I always took myself to be a community of one. That's what I am comfortable with.

That's the great advantage of being a foreigner: you're not paying your dues, but you are getting all the benefits.

In an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow.

Finding a sanctuary, a place apart from time, is not so different from finding a faith.