I'm not a teacher (at least, not of literature), but I wonder whether
there is any mileage in starting at the end. I believe (though again I'm
not a Buddhist either) that the Lama becomes a Boddhisatva, one who
achieves full enlightment but who voluntarily turns back form nirvana into
the world of illusion to help his fellow-creatures. The type is the
Chinese mercy goddess Kuan-Yin. One could I think treat Kim as much as the
story of the lama (he appears on both the first and last pages) as more
orthodoxly. I would be interested to know if today's students regard him
as saintly or just as a silly old man.
Michael Healy
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