Most of the people I talk to are not going to go off and live in a cave. Why should they? So I talk about how people can stop separating dharma practice - going on retreats, going to dharma centers, hearing talks, reading books - from their ordinary life.

I think it's a meritorious action to become a monk, provided that your motivation is pure.

If nuns begin getting more empowered, where does that leave us?

In the texts, and as His Holiness the Dalai Lama reminds us, we should check the person's behavior not when they're sitting on a big throne, but behind the scenes. How do they treat ordinary people - not the big sponsors - but just ordinary people who are of no particular importance to them.

The thing to do in this lifetime is to create more merit.

If we want to be musicians, dancers or sportspeople, we can download a certain amount and watch DVDs and read books, but in the end we need someone to assess us and give us personal instruction. The two go together.

In our endless past lives, we've all done everything, you name it, we've done it. Good, bad, intermediate.