Beyond the lamasery walls, he closely examined the surrounding culture. In addition to the local Tartar tribes, he spent time with nomadic bandits originally from Mongolia. He further traveled up and down the Chinese coast exploring villages and cities, delving into the fabric of the nation. And everywhere he went, one question was uppermost in his mind: “Why?” Why so much human suffering and misery? Why was man, with all his ancient wisdom and knowledge accumulated in learned texts and temples, unable to solve such basic problems as war, insanity and unhappiness?