I really appreciate your input Louise, you've helped me see this issue a bit more clearly.
My reasons for struggling with these questions aren't because I am preoccupied with the opinions of others but rather when considering a response to a recent post by triforkids, I realized that I didn't really know how much "truth" there was in the common perception of concepts like Karma and Dharma, here in the west.
I suspected that such a compassionate and rational philosophy could not support the ideas I wrote about and I am glad to learn that those suspicions were well founded.
Strangely enough, when I initially looked at Buddhism in my youth, I refused to accept the concept that life is suffering. In fact, I told people that were it not for this one fundamental point, I would have embraced Buddhism fully. At that time, my outlook was so completely positive that the suggestion that life is suffering seemed entirely counter-intuitive and misleading.
While writing my letter to the Dalai Lama, I realized that the universe has gone to great lengths to teach me the truth of this fact which I had previously rejected so completely.
Perhaps it is time for me take another look at these questions...I think I'll start by reading Herman Hesse's Sidhartha once again. This was where my journey on this path started many years ago and I like the cyclical symmetry of starting again at the beginning.
Thanks again for your insights,
Chris
