Happy Birthday your Holiness Karmapa

On the 24th of June His Holiness Karmapa celebrated his 27th birthday.

Long life your Holiness.

Tibet is closed

News has just come to hand that Tibet is closed for an indefinite period to western tourists.

Why?  Because the Chinese don't want westerners to see the truth and are afraid an immolation will take place in front of their eyes.

For more information, please visit this link.

Tibet is closed.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

I haven't posted in a very long time so I'm sorry for my lack of content to anyone out there who actually reads this.

It's been a big year for Tibet,  so many self-immolation's, so many lives taken for the Tibetan cause.

Now the authorities are only issuing permits for six or more people per group and all passengers must come from the same country, otherwise, no permit.  

But the good news is that the Kalon Tripa, Dr Lobsang Sangay, is coming to Australia!  If you are interested in hearing him speak, visit the Australia Tibet Council website for more information.

Anyway, in my return to blogging, I have decided to share a wonderful image of the great Chogyam Trungpa.  I saw a film about him recently titled "Crazy Wisdom".  If you have the opportunity to see it, please do so, it's amazing.

May Tibet be free again one day soon.

Tibet on fire

It is with great sadness to report that there have been three more self-immolation's in the past three days.

The latest immolation occurred yesterday by a 18 year old man in the nomadic area of Ngaba.  Earlier, a middle aged Tibetan woman and a young Tibetan girl had both succumbed to their injuries incurred after setting themselves alight.

For more details on this story, please visit this link from Radio Free Asia.

Such radical political action is a cause for great sadness to those who sacrifice their lives and to their families and friends they leave behind, yet at the same time, it sends a powerful message the Chinese government and the international community that Tibetans demand their political, cultural and spiritual freedom.

To those who have died for the Tibetan cause, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families and to you I say, Om Mani Padme Hung.

Things to ponder when contemplating travel in Tibet

Losar Delek!

This is the greeting Tibetans give at the time of Losar or Tibetan New Year.  Sadly, this year Tibetan New Year has been marred by a spate of immolations by monks, nuns and lay people resulting in an intense crack-down by Chinese authorities and the subsequent deaths of Tibetan protestors.

I have just read an article by Bhaskar Roy from the Eurasia Review website on Chinese policy in Tibet.  It is sobering but worth reading.

If you are contemplating travel to beautiful Tibet, be mindful of what is really going on there for Tibetans in their own country.

Here is a link to the article:

Can China Eradicate Faith of Tibetans?

Some images from my last trip in 2011

 Going through my photos recently I was struck at the beauty of Tibet, the colours, the light, the textures. 

While away, I'm never happy with the images I take on my small digital camera, they always seem to miss something of what it is I'm seeing and experiencing.  So I get home, show them to friends who are interested and then forget about them. 

 A lot of the 'not being happy' with my images is trying to look at them in the camera's small view finder but with the strong glare of the Tibetan sun, I can never really tell if they are over-exposed or blurred.  But I have re-visited my photos this week and am pleasantly surprised by what I see so I wanted to share some of them with you.

 The murals you see above and below are painted on the walls of Ronghpu Monastery which is near the base of Mount Everest.  Many mountain climbers visited the monastery during the 1920's and it was the Lama of Ronghpu who gave Tenzing Norgay his name as a young child.

His Holiness Karmapa: Statement on the situation in Tibet

Statement from the Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

(6 February, 2012, Bodh Gaya)

Reports have just emerged that three more Tibetans set themselves ablaze within a single day in eastern Tibet. This comes shortly after four Tibetans immolated themselves and others died in demonstrations in Tibet during the month of January. As tensions escalate, instead of showing concern and trying to understand the causes of the situation, the Chinese authorities respond with increasing force and oppression. Each new report of a Tibetan death brings me immense pain and sadness; three in a single day is more than the heart can bear. I pray that these sacrifices have not been in vain, but will yield a change in policy that will bring our Tibetan brothers and sisters relief.
 
Having been given the name Karmapa, I belong to a 900 year old reincarnation lineage that has historically avoided any political engagement, a tradition I have no intention of changing. And yet as a Tibetan, I have great sympathy and affection for the Tibetan people and I have great misgivings about remaining silent while they are in pain. Their welfare is my greatest concern.
 
Tibetan demonstrations and self-immolations are a symptom of deep but unacknowledged dissatisfaction. If Tibetans were given a genuine opportunity to lead their lives as they wished, preserving their language, religion and culture, they would neither be demonstrating nor sacrificing their lives.

Since 1959, we Tibetans have faced unimaginable loss, yet we have found benefit in adversity. Many of us rediscovered our true identity as Tibetans. We rediscovered a sense of national unity among the people of the three provinces of Tibet. And we came to value a unifying leader, in the person of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. These factors have given us all great grounds for hope.

China speaks of having brought development to Tibet, and when I lived there it was materially comfortable. Yet prosperity and development have not benefited Tibetans in the ways that they consider most valuable. Material comfort counts for little without inner contentment. Tibetans live with the constant suspicion that they will be forced to act against their conscience and denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Chinese authorities persistently portray His Holiness as the enemy. They have rebuffed his repeated efforts to find a peaceful and negotiated solution to the Tibetan-Chinese problem. They dismiss the heartfelt faith and loyalty with which the Tibetan people universally regard His Holiness. Even Tibetans born in Tibet decades after His Holiness the Dalai Lama had gone into exile still regard him as their guide and refuge not only for this life, but for life after life. Therefore, constantly depicting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in hostile terms is an affront that benefits no one. In fact, striking at the heart of Tibetan faith damages the prospect of winning Tibetans' trust. This is neither effective nor wise.

I call on the authorities in Beijing to see past the veneer of wellbeing that local officials present. Acknowledging the real human distress of Tibetans in Tibet and taking full responsibility for what is happening there would lay a wise basis for building mutual trust between Tibetans and the Chinese government. Rather than treating this as an issue of political opposition, it would be far more effective for Chinese authorities to treat this as a matter of basic human welfare.

In these difficult times, I urge Tibetans in Tibet: Stay true to yourselves, keep your equanimity in the face of hardship and remain focused on the long term. Always bear in mind that your lives have great value, as human beings and as Tibetans.

With the prospect of the Tibetan New Year in sight, I offer my prayers that Tibetans, our Chinese brothers and sisters, and our friends and supporters across India and around the world may find lasting happiness and true peace. May the New Year usher in an era of harmony, characterized by love and respect for each other and for the earth that is our common home.


Ogyen Trinley Dorje,
17th Gyalwang Karmapa