TIBETSPACE

TEN WAYS TO FREE TIBET (1-3)

I continually meet people who want to “do something” about Tibet and the Tibetans.  And who wouldn’t?  An entire people committed, particularly over the last 700 years, to the principles of non-violence, whose homeland has been occupied with varying degrees of brutality over the last half century, and whose leader has become not only an adroit ambassador for his country, but one of the most revered spiritual figures in the world . . . What’s not to like?  And don’t forget:  George Lucas, in Return of the Jedi (1983) had those cute little Ewoks speaking Tibetan. 

So if you google the phrase, “help Tibet,” you’ll get over 8.5 million hits.

Take your pick.  Many of these organizations have made substantial contributions to the Tibetan cause, and there’s a lot you can do that will make a difference.

But having been involved over several decades now, and with dramatically varying degrees of commitment, to understanding what Tibetan culture might reasonably offer Americans, I wanted to offer my own Ten Ways to Free Tibet, and then be done with it.  It’s not a manifesto; it’s not a declaration.  It’s just a list of suggestions that are offered here as tentative answers to persistent questions. 

My working plan:  In this posting I’ll list three suggestions; in the next posting, four; and in the third posting, three, making for a total of ten.  I’ll eventually offer a bit of commentary, a very little commentary, on each item, hoping to provide a picture of the overall conceptual structure that stands behind the entire set of ten.  But for now, here are the first three ways to free Tibet.

1. Set aside 20 minutes and watch the following video. It's a recording of a talk given by Jill Bolte Taylor at a TED Conference on February 27, 2008.  (If you're unfamiliar with TED, correct that problem asap.  Their website contains a library of TED talks, and they're routinely amazing, jaw-dropping, and inspiring.)  Dr. Taylor, a neuroanatomist, suffered a massive brain hemorrhage in the left hemisphere, and her description of this experience lays the scientific groundwork for Americans to approach and potentially understand one of the most important legacies the Tibetan philosophers have left us.  Warning:  Don't even think about starting this video if you don't have twenty minutes to give to it because you'll completely ignore whatever you were supposesd to be doing.
2. Memorize this fact:  Before Western explorers arrived in America and began its colonization, noted anthropologist Henry Dobyns estimated the population of Native Americans to be approximately 10 million.  By the end of the 19th century, the number had dwindled to 250,000.  Over 9 million Native Americans perished as a result of our arrival on these shores.
3. Memorize this quotation by Mahatma Gandhi:  "The outward freedom . . . that we shall attain, will be only in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment" (from The Essential Gandhi, ed. by Louis Fischer with a Preface by Eknath Easwaran,  p. 165.)

So, the first three ways to save Tibet.  Four more in the next posting.  Stay tuned.

THANKS FROM ARCHBISHOP TUTU TO ALL TIBET SUPPORTERS

To all of you who responded to my posting of 24 March, and signed the letter protesting the South African action against the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu has thanked you:

Keep it up. You are the people who make freedom happen.
It warms my heart to see so many of my fellow Nobel Laureates, stars, leaders, and people from around the world put their signature on paper, so to speak, to stand behind our friend the Dalai Lama.

We have just seen a shameful example of South African leaders becoming timid in the face of Chinese 'might' and their own economic interests, and refusing this incredible, peaceful being entry to our county --for a peace conference!

It's an embarrassment that this could happen in a country that has known how dark life can be when your human rights are being smashed. And we, of all people, know what it means when someone in another part of the world stands up for your rights and freedom.

So it's a joyful thing, to turn around and see you -- people from all countries, from all walks of life, who are willing to step forward, put their name down, and say 'wait a minute, I object to this mistreatment!'

It lets me know, once again, that good will ultimately prevail in this world.

Keep it up. You are the people who make freedom happen.

Mary Wald writes further about these issues on The Huffington Post.  She includes comments from Archbishop Tutu as well that she recently received in an email correspondence with him.

The letter is still open for signatures at www.thecommunity.com.  If you haven't signed yet, and you feel inclined to add your voice to the mix, stop by and do so; also send the link to your friends who might be interested.

As I mentioned in my last posting, these kinds of off-the-radar actions are extremely important, and even, in my opinion, the driving forces behind political change in the new technological era (witness the Obama campaign).  Here's what I said (and pardon the egocentricity of self-quotation): 

But we can do something off the radar, something in fact, more powerful, more fundamental, and more effective than many of those who are on the radar, under constant scrutiny, can do.  We can transform the fundamental ground of consciousness that in the long run will make the change we envision inevitable.

I mean, we recently signed a letter of protest regarding South Africa's treatment of the Dalai Lama, and within several days, we've got a response in our inboxes from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, thanking us for our commitment. 

You're probably thinking what I'm thinking . . . we're having an effect, anonymously, off-the-radar, working the ground of consciousness.

Thanks for your help.

MORE ESSENTIAL READING FROM JAMYANG NORBU

Many of the readers of this blog regularly visit Jamyang Norbu's blog, Shadow Tibet, and will aready know that Jamyang la has recently posted an essay on the November meeting in Dharamsala.  If you haven't already read  "Making the November Meeting Work," please stop by and have a look at it.  It's always a pleasure to agree with Jamyang la--paraphrasing TS Eliot on Samuel Johnson:  Jamyang la is a dangerous man to disagree with--and in this recent piece, he makes many of the same points I've made in this blog concerning the importance of the upcoming meeting.  Of course, Jamyang la makes his case with far greater knowledge and authority than I am able to do, so many thanks to him for his sharp insights into the Tibetan political process.  As Americans, looking from the outside in, we stand to learn a great deal from columns like these.  Again, many thanks to Jamyang la for his time and effort in writing this piece.

Also, you will learn a great deal as well from the comments added by Jamyang la's readers . . . they are a diverse and opinionated group, so leave time for them too.

'CHINA-WATCH' ADDED TO TIBETSPACE

An article of faith:  I believe that mindlessly opposing China and Tibet damages the Tibetan cause in the long run, while at the same time hindering movements within China for an open society.

Another article of faith:  I also believe that awareness of human rights violations and our capacity to do something constructive about these violations begins with information.  Clear information, divorced from political motivation, broadens our consciousness concerning human suffering.  Period.  And this, in turn, increases our fundamental stores of compassion.  Luckily, there's a one-stop website that will help us with our task of increasing awareness:  Human Rights Watch.  Stop by often, subscribe to its feed, read its stories, imagine that the characters of those stories are your family members. 

The fact that they happen to be other people's family members, after all, is simply an accident of birth.

To add my own small effort to the global project of raising awareness, I have added a new feature to TIBETSPACE that I have named China-Watch.  Here I will post links that highlight China's increasing use of preemptive anger, the kind of anger that gives rise to those ominous pronouncements promising China's stern disapproval if a certain course of action is undertaken by a member of the international community.  Particularly actions regarding Tibet or human rights.

These threats, of course, reveal many things about China's aging leadership:  their paranoia, their bullying mentality, their neurotic obsession with Tibet and His Holiness--particularly with his universal popularity--and their fear of other countries deciding to support many of the concerns that are central to his platform:  human rights, non-violence, egalitarianism, and compassion. 

And of course these domineering qualities are part and parcel of all totalitarian regimes. 

But in this case, one of the victims of Chinese oppression--the Tibetan people--have something that many such victims do not have.  They have an international voice, and it is in the spirit of deepening the context for that voice that I offer China-Watch.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: CHINA STILL DOESN'T LIKE RICHARD GERE (NOR FIAT EITHER)

I missed the little brouhaha this summer that erupted over a television ad that Richard Gere did for Fiat, the Italian automobile company.  (It was lost in the pre-Oympics brouhaha, I suppose.)  I bring it up here simply to enter the evidence on the blogsite:  another form of China's use of "pre-emptive anger" regarding all things Tibetan.  Here's the video:

Of course, China voiced its objection over the commercial--don't Superpowers have better things to do than police commercial television?--and of course Fiat apologized!  (See stories here, here, and here.)  Apologized, but didn't pull the ad.  Fiat wants to expand its operations into China, as does anybody who has ever sold anything to anyone, but they've probably gotten enough positive response to the ad to make their refusal to pull it a safe gamble.

I mention this now because it's relevant to the Nobel Peace Prize selection for 2008.  More on that in my next post.

MIRACLE IN MONDGOD?

As you're anxiously awaiting the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, you might want to consider what's been happening at the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Mondgod, South India.  (Drepung Loseling is currently the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the world, named for its famous predecessor in Tibet.) 

The first thing you need to know is that the Gaden Tripa (holder of the Ganden throne) is the title of the spiritual leader of the Gelugpa order of Tibetan Buddhism (the Dalai Lama is the temporal leader of the Gelugpas, and hence is of a higher order politically,  and hence, more visible in the public eye, but a notch below the Gaden Tripa in spiritual terms.)  Because the position is not an incarnation, but an office awarded both by reputation and examination, and because they serve for set terms, there have been many more of Gaden Tripas than Dalai Lamas.  The current holder is the 101st in the line.

The second thing you need to know is that the 100th Gaden Tripa, Lobsang Nyima, died on September 14 of this year.  Except that he didn't.  Not exactly.  He entered on that day a state of advanced meditation known as thukdam in the Tibetan tradition.  It is during this state that advanced meditators, accomplished practitioners who have, in effect, practiced dying for years, are able to meditate on the "clear light stage," and oversee the dissolution of mind and body as they prepare for their next incarnation. 

And here's where things get interesting from the Western perspective.  In South India, with its substantial humidity and, at best, temperate climate, Lobsang Nyima's body remained pliable and undecayed for 18 days as he practiced his meditative exercises.  Of course, from the Western perspective, he died on September 14--no observable heart beat, no observable respiration, no ocular activity.  But no decay, no odor, no slumping, no rigor mortis.  For 18 days.  There's the rub.

Personally, I have little trouble accepting thukdam as a spiritual fact, a phenomenon that's still in the cue of Facts To Be Proven Within the Narrow Spectrum of Western Empiricism.  Also, I met Lobsang Nyima in May, 2007, when he was very old and somewhat ill; he was an extraordinary person, and that was apparent even to me, with my set of dull Western receptors. 

Lobsang Nyima's thukdam has caused quite a stir within the monastic community at Drepung Loseling Monastery, and Geshe Dorjee, here in Fayetteville has kept me informed of its progress over the past three weeks.  (Nyima was one of Geshe Dorjee's teachers, and always spoke of him with that deepest fondness that Tibetans reserve solely for their most influential teachers.) 

Various doctors, of course, have congregated around Lobsang Nyima recently, briefs are being written, and you can read a fuller report here.  For more on this particular holder of the throne, click here.

Finally--while Tibetans are deeply impressed by this accomplishment, they don't view it as a miracle, by any stretch of the imagination.  It's closer to how we view Gebreselassie's latest world record in the marathon--a feat reserved for the few, one that demands enormous discipline and ability, but one that is clearly within the realm of our fundamental potential.  Inspiring, in a word.

There's a big difference between the unreachable miraculous and the achievable inspiring.  Let's concentrate on the latter, as we anticipate the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

LHAMO POSTS: TIBETAN WOMEN AT THE FOREFRONT . . . AGAIN

Another posting arrived from Lhamo, our tireless correspondent in Dharamsala.  Again, we are indebted to her for taking time out of her busy day to keep us informed of what's happening within the Tibetan community in India.  This piece is particularly enlightening regarding the ways in which Tibetan women have responded to the task of survival in their host country (see my recent posting on this subject).  It also announces a world wide, 12-hour fast on August 30 in support of the Tibetans.  More here later.


With the Olympics in full swing, and with the rising status of China, and with the odds overwhelmingly against them, Tibetan women in Dharamsala seeking every opportunity to garner support for their cause and for their imperiled culture today, August 16, celebrated the Rakhi Purnima festival.

Raksha Bandhan (the bond of protection) is a Hindu festival, which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. The sister ties a rakhi (a holy thread) on her brother's wrist expressing her love and seeking his protection, while the brother accepts the responsibility with a vow to protect his sister for the rest of her life.

In a somewhat unusual scene, Tibetan women, clad in green chupas (Tibetan national dress) could be seen in the streets of Dharamsala today, buying sweets and eyeing the Indian shops that displayed their colorful rakhis.

"We are tying rakhis on the wrists of our Indian brothers today" said Kelsang Youdon, the president of the regional Tibetan Women's Association here. "India has been a big brother to us since the time of the Buddha and the Mahatma. Today, the situation in Tibet is grave, and we need our big brother's support."

In a modest symbolic ceremony held at the courtyard of Tsuklagkhang (the main Tibetan temple) here, the members of RTWA tied the sacred thread of rakhi around the wrist of Indian brothers and in turn appealed them to help their sisters, who are living a life of utter hopelessness under the Chinese rule.  Members of the local taxi and auto unions also participated in the celebration.

Describing India as “peace-loving, non-violent and the biggest democratic country in the world, Kelsang urged India to support the Tibetan cause more openly.

Meanwhile in Delhi, after the second batch of six men were forced to the hospital on August 14, the Tibetan Youth Congress has today launched the third batch of hunger strikers without food and water.  The third group of fasting Tibetans include Dhondup Tsering, 63,  Tsering Tashi, 21,  Thupten Tsewang, 20, Jampa Kelsang, 33,  Nawang Samten, 26, and Tashi Gyamtso, 31.

The Tibetan Solidarity Committee—comprised of the Kashag and the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile--on the other hand has decided to hold a worldwide mass prayer and fast on 30th August.

Kalon Tripa, the chairman of the Tibetan Cabinet has also issued a personal request to all Tibetans and Tibet supporters to observe this 12-hour symbolic fast and prayer on 30th August 2008 for world peace and, particularly, for the departed souls of the Tibetan people in recent months in Tibet.

"We consider this as an extremely important non-violent action taken by Tibetans under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a very critical period for Tibet, particularly the post-Olympic period," says Kalon Tripa.

"I personally request you and your organization to kindly participate in this fast and prayer and encourage many other people to join us in this effort to reduce our own defilements and to create wisdom and compassion in the minds of the oppressor."

The Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas will certainly support and participate in this action.

WATCH THIS VIDEO

This video runs for just over 48 minutes, has been viewed widely in Europe, and contains both well known and unseen footage.  Watch it in short sessions, watch it all at once, watch it when you have the time, but please watch it.

WELCOME TANG DANHONG TO THE DIALOGUE--A HAN CHINESE WHO UNDERSTANDS THE TIBETAN SITUATION

Last week, Grace Wang made the headlines of The New York Times at Duke University when she attempted to interject the spirit of dialogue into the vitriolic debates occurring on her campus between the Tibetan supporters and the Chinese.  Welcome now, Tang Danhong, a Han Chinese and filmmaker currently living in Israel.  Her essay, which originally appeared on her Chinese-language blog and is now available here at the Tibetan Women's Association website, is a model in many ways.  It's a moving appeal for human equality coming from someone with first-hand experience of the struggle from both the Tibetan and the Chinese sides.  We can only hope that more people like Tang Danhong will step forward and let their voices be heard.

POPE BENEDICT MAKES A PLEA FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Pope Benedict said in a speech to the United Nations that all nations have a duty to protect people from human rights violations and humanitarian crises. If states are unable to guarantee such protection, he said, then the international community must intervene. 

He added that supporting human rights remains the most effective way to eliminate inequalities between countries and social groups, and to increase security.  It is important, of course, that a man of the Pope's spiritual prominence--MSNBC and CNN covered him 24/7 in one of the oddest obsessions I've seen on those two cable networks--speak out on human rights.  In doing so, he joins the distinguished company of the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu, and we might hope that he also encouraged a percentage of the Roman Catholic audience seriously to consider the problem in Tibet if they had not done so before.

When it comes to spreading information about the problem in Tibet, enough is never enough.  I was asked to speak last night at a human rights rally on the Tibetan situation; after my speech, a student, expressing concern over China's policies, confessed that he had no idea that the Tibetans were suffering and that the Chinese were engaging in these oppressive policies.

OK, now he knows. 

And he signed a petition.

Another student asked that I post the speech here, but instead of taking up blog-space to do so, I've posted it to the right under "Compassion Watch" as "Human rights speech at the University of Arkansas."  That's a downloadable Word document; to view it online, go to MINDSPACE and look under "Wisdom & Method."