When your five-year-old child asks what happened to the Twin Towers, what do you say?

It's hard enough explaining the sad or bad things that happen in everyday life, but how do you explain true tragedy to a young one?

When our son, Rafael, asked what happened at the World Trade Center, we were momentarily at a loss. Fortunately, my husband has been talking to our sons about their connection to the greater world as explained in Buddhist teachings, and was able to use those lessons to help comprehend the uncomprehendable.

People like the WTC bombers and the man who shot up the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., we explained, are lonely and feel disconnected from greater society. They don't understand, like Rafael does, that he is a part of everything and everything is part of him.