Originally intending to stay for three weeks, she spent a year travelling the country, savouring its gorgeous mountain landscapes and bearing witness to its dreadful poverty. While in Nepal, she encountered Tibetan exiles, who discussed their Buddhist approach to living, as well as the way their people have suffered at the hands of the Chinese who annexed Tibet in 1950. As a result of the time she spent with the Tibetans, she decided to come back to McGill to further her studies. Her thesis involves comparing Jewish death rituals with the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Tibetans are very strict about avoiding anger and about being non-violent.
Anger only perpetuates violence in their view.
When Jews look back, it's with a great deal of anger. There is also a deep pride in their identity and a fierce determination that the Holocaust will never happen again. A longtime fitness buff, Sasson works at the Snowdon YM-YWHA as a personal trainer. One day she caught sight of a boxer working on his technique with his coach. I thought boxing was just violent craziness, but there was an intriguing calmness to what they were doing.