This weekend, Times questioner Deborah Solomon looked to Buddhist expert and official Friend of the Dalai Lama Robert Thurman for answers. Below are our favorite three:

As a Buddhist, how do you reconcile your pacifism with the roles your daughter Uma has played in films like Quentin Tarantino’s bloody “Kill Bill”? Quentin is kind of obsessed, he’s a wild guy. But he is very brilliant. We trust that his motive is to show people the foolishness of violence rather than to glorify it. I hope that’s true.

What do you think about when you meditate? Usually, some form of trying to excavate any kind of negative thing cycling in the mind and turn it toward the positive. For example, when I am annoyed with Dick Cheney, I meditate on how Dick Cheney was my mother in a previous life and nursed me at his breast.

You mean you fantasize about being breast-fed by Dick Cheney? It’s a fantasy of releasing fear and developing affection. It’s a way of coming back to feeling grateful toward him and seeing his positive side, finding the mother in Dick Cheney.

Go ahead. We challenge you to get that image out of your head. Try imagining Harrison Ford having sex with Calista Flockhart. That might help.

Questions for Robert Thurman: Seeing the Light [NYT]
Update: Columbia's Bwog has created a visual for your viewing terror.