by Paul Brian Campbell, SJ  

This image of a Dalai Lama was drawn by the 17th century scholar, Athanasius Kircher, S.J.

In answer to the observation that some people say they do not meditate because they are too busy, the Dalai Lama told the following story:

A monk keeps promising his student that he will take him on a picnic but is always too busy to do so. One day they see a procession carrying a corpse.

“Where is he going?” the monk asks his student.

“On a picnic.”