Tenzin Wangmo

The aging of the world's population has brought with it a set of challenges. Baby boomers in the Western world, who have lived through several cycles of change, are about to experience another transformation — the automation of in-home geriatric care. Equipping a home with interconnected gadgets and with robots that incorporate artificial intelligence seems increasingly possible. Such devices, connected to a wireless network and the Internet, can observe, communicate, and also assist caregivers, providing support to an elderly person as they age in their own home. These technologies have the potential to improve care for those suffering from various maladies, including dementia. Seniors may be more accepting of robots and gadgets if such devices enable them to remain in their home despite deficits related to aging. However, as bioethics has often demonstrated, it is important to critically analyze the implications of using these devices, as is proposed in this book.

A prince must capture and bring back to his country a wily zombie--but will the zombie's magical powers prove too great for the prince? In this series of tales, a prince must capture and bring back to his country a zombie who is endowed with magical powers--but in order to succeed, he must keep himself from speaking even one word to the zombie. The zombie is wily, and during the long journey he recounts fascinating tales to the prince, who is carrying him in a sack on his back. Spellbound by the stories, the prince is drawn into making some comment on them. But the very moment he opens his mouth, the zombie escapes, and the prince has to go back to India to catch the zombie all over again. This same scenario occurs over and over, tale after tale, journey after journey--until the prince truly learns his lesson. These zombie stories, known as the Vetalapancavimsati in Sanskrit, are engrossing teaching tales that originated in ancient India but have become popular in the Buddhist culture of Tibet, as well as in other Asian cultures. This Tibetan version of the stories conveys the values of Buddhism, particularly those related to karma (the laws of cause and effect), happiness, and suffering. Through these tales, the reader learns that Buddhism is a path of knowledge that leads to liberation from suffering.