Farewell, Year of the Rat

Today marks the beginning of the Tibetan New Year, and the Year of the Rat has mercifully passed. In Tibetan culture, rats are the animals who know how to get their little paws on all the treasures. We’re on to the Year of the Ox, inspired by a more thoughtful, steady animal, so the signs are auspicious.

The New Year is normally a time of celebration, but dampened this time around by the brutal Chinese crackdown on a recent wave of peaceful protest in Tibet. Last night at New York’s Tibet House, people gathered to hear Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman discuss teachings that provide solace in times of turmoil…