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

His Holiness the Karmapa teaching in Bodh Gaya

Tashidelek,

For those of you familiar with my blog you will know that I am a student of His Holiness the Karmapa and so from time to time I will announce events relating to His Holiness.

Today he is to be giving the first of a series of Dharma talks to the Kagyu Gunchoe Sangha in Bodh Gaya, India.

If you are interested in viewing these talks live, please click on this link: Live Webcast

 To those of you perhaps unfamiliar to Buddhism, the word Sangha is a Pali term which translates roughly as 'community' or 'assembly'.  The Sangha in this context refers to the annual gathering of monks for the Kagyu Gunchoe, or winter debates.  Each year monks from the various Kagyu philosophical disciplines meet for three weeks of rigorous and often lively debates.

Traditionally the debates are overseen by His Holiness the Karmapa who listens in on random debates and provides opinions, suggestions and corrections where needed.

Monastic debates are fascinating, I first saw debating on a television documentary and was captivated by the zeal and passion displayed by the monks.  I have since witnessed it at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, see my post from the 28th November 2011 and the image of a Sera monk engaged in a debate. I also saw debating at His Holiness the Dalia Lama's Temple in Dharamsala though I enjoyed the Sera Monastery atmosphere more.  If you've not seen debating before, watch the video below, these monks are from Sera Monastery.  The monks who are standing and clapping are presenting the monks sitting with a philosophical question and when he claps his hand, it is to accentuate the point he is making.  I have seen very 'heated' debates and those monks who are presenting a good argument can often attract many monks into the debate.