When the Dalai Lama attends the National Prayer Breakfast this Thursday, it will not only be an implicit endorsement of the Tibetan Buddhist leader's stand against China in the name of religious freedom, but also an acknowledgment that Buddhism is firmly established as one strand among many in the tapestry of American spiritual diversity.
Yet it might also serve as a reminder that a religion now considered universally benign once endured suspicion, vocal protest and even government surveillance -- much as Islam has in recent years.
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