Row over Dalai Lama's visit to Britain

• By Tom Peterkin Telegraph Last Updated: 12:41PM BST 20/05/2008

The Dalai Lama arrives in Britain today amid controversy over Gordon Brown's failure to meet the exiled Tibetan leader in Downing Street.
 

The Dalai Lama arrives at Heathrow airport, London, to begin his eleven day visit to Britain

His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso will meet the Prime Minister during his 11-day visit but he will be received at Lambeth Palace, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, instead of Number 10.

Dalai Lama's visit to the UK

• By Jill McGivering, World affairs correspondent, BBC News 04:15 GMT, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 05:15 UK

The Dalai Lama is starting a 10-day visit to the UK. His tour comes against the backdrop of a tense relationship between Tibet and China.

The timing of the Dalai Lama's visit is critical. The violent protests which erupted just over two months ago thrust Tibet back into the international spotlight.

China is now also in mourning for the earthquake victims as well as preparing to host the Olympic Games, a matter of intense domestic pride.

As it takes its place on the world stage, Beijing is eager to avoid diplomatic embarrassment.

The Fool or The Jester

is one of the 78 cards in a Tarot deck. It is one of the 22 Trump cards that make up the Major Arcana.

The Fool is titled Le Mat in the Tarot of Marseilles, and Il Matto in most Italian language tarot decks. These archaic words mean "the madman" or "the beggar".

The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. The sun shining behind him represents the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance. On his back are all the possessions he might need. In his hand there is a flower, showing his appreciation of beauty. He is frequently accompanied by a dog, sometimes seen as his animal desires, sometimes as the call of the "real world", nipping at his heels and distracting him. He is seemingly unconcerned that he is standing on a precipice, apparently about to leap, engaged in the supremest act of idiocy or trust.

The number 0 is a perfect significator for the Fool, which can become anything when he reaches his destination. Zero plus anything equals the same thing. Zero times anything equals zero. Zero is nothing, a lack of hard substance, and as such it may reflect a non-issue or lack of cohesiveness for the subject at hand.

In many esoteric systems of interpretation, the Fool is usually interpreted as the protagonist of a story, and the Major Arcana is the path the Fool takes through the great mysteries of life and the main human archetypes. This path is known traditionally in Tarot as the Fool´s Journey.

John Row performing "Elemental" for the first time at the opening of an exhibition of paintings by Melody Anne Lee.