Living With Buddhist Monks and Nuns: an Intimate View of Religious Life

American students in Nepal find the experience both puzzling and enlightening

Last year, when Michael Naparstek was still a student in Hartford, Conn., he tried to imagine what life would be like in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. He pictured red-robed monks gliding about, lost in thoughts of nirvana. Or perhaps they'd sit still as stones, legs crossed, meditating for hours about the meaning of life.

Surely they wouldn't play soccer in the courtyard. Or sneak out for scooter rides

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