Dal 16 al 26 maggio sarà possibile partecipare ed ascoltare in webcast dal vivo gli insegnamenti, conferenze pubbliche e tavole rotonde di Sua Santità il Dalai Lama in Slovenia, Austria ed Italia. Il

16 maggio dalle 13:30-15:30 Sua Santità terrà una conferenza pubblica dal titolo “Coltivare la pace della mente” a Maribor, Slovenia. Sua Santità parlerà in inglese. Webcast http://www.mariborforpeace.si. .
Il 17 maggio a Maribor, Slovenia dalle 10:00-11:30 Sua Santità presenzierà alla Conferenza sulla Pace sul tema “Perché abbiamo bisogno di dialogo e di solidarietà nella crisi globale?”. Sua Santità parlerà in inglese. Webcast a http://www.mariborforpeace.si .
Il 18-19 Maggio dalle 9:30-11:30 e dalle 13:30-15:30 Sua Santità darà insegnamenti sul “Sutra del Cuore”, “La lampada del sentiero verso l’illuminazione” e “Canzone delle Quattro Consapevolezze” alla Fiera di Klagenfurt in Austria. Il 19 maggio Sua Santità conferirà l’Iniziazione del Buddha della Medicina. Webcast in lingua tedesca a http://religion.orf.at . Per webcast in lingua inglese info http://www.tibetcenter.at/ .
Il 20 maggio dalle 9:30-11:00 alla Fiera di Klagenfurt in Austria Sua Santità terrà una conferenza pubblica dal titolo “L’arte delle felicità”. Sua Santità parlerà in inglese, webcast a http://religion.orf.at
21 maggio dalle 9:30-11:30 a Salisburgo, Austria Sua Santità terrà in inglese il discorso d’apertura sul tema “la pace nel mondo e la responsabilità universale” webcast http://religion.orf.at
Il 21 maggio a Salisburgo dalle 13:30-15:30 Sua Santità parteciperà ad un dialogo interreligioso sul tema “Armonia nella diversità” presso l’Arena Salzburg. Sua Santità parlerà in inglese, webcast a http://religion.orf.at .
Il 22 maggio 9.30 - 11.30 Sua Santità il Dalai Lama, Izzedin Elzin (Imam di Firenze, Presidente di UCOI), Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom (rabbino impegnato nei diritti umani), Bassima Awad (cattolica palestinese, Presidente dell’Istituto di cultura italo palestinese) partecipano al Palasport Carnera di Udine ad un dibattito interreligioso sul tema “Le religioni per la giustizia, la pace e la salvaguardia dell’ambiente vitale” Webcast in Lingua italiana a http://dalaila.ma/JcFcda , in lingua inglese presso http://dalaila.ma/MbywSG
Il 22 maggio, ore 13.30-15.30 al Palasport Carnera di Udine Sua Santità il Dalai Lama e Prof. Vito Mancuso Conferenza “Dall’aggressività e dalle tante forme di violenza alla non violenza attiva e all’amorevole compassione” Webcast in Lingua italiana a http://dalaila.ma/JcFcda , in lingua inglese presso http://dalaila.ma/MbywSG
23 maggio, ore 9.30-11.30 Palasport Carnera di Udine Sua Santità Il Dalai Lama incontra gli studenti dell’Università di Udine e Trieste e terrà una conferenza dal titolo “Per una formazione globale dell’essere umano: spirituale, umanista, scientifica e tecnologica”Webcast in Lingua italiana a http://dalaila.ma/JcFcda , in lingua inglese presso http://dalaila.ma/MbywSG
25 maggio ore 13.30-15.30 alla Stadthalle di Vienna Sua Santità terrà in inglese una conferenza pubblica dal titolo “Oltre la Religione - Etica per il mondo intero”, webcast a http://religion.orf.at
26 maggio 9.30-11.30 & 13:30-15:30 Sua Santità sarà presente al Simposio sul buddismo e la scienza “Mente e Materia - nuovi modelli di realtà” presso l’Università di Vienna, webcast a http://religion.orf.at.

Tibet, cynical Sinicism and the tragedy of self-immolations

In a recent article, Barry Sautman ascribes recent self-immolations in Tibet to a few disgruntled monks at a single monastery.

Their complaints, he says, reflect general social and economic issues rather than a genuine concern for the Tibetan people’s political and religious rights. Sautman borrows liberally from China’s tired propaganda book, which characterises all dissent from China’s occupation of Tibet and the massive human rights abuses against its people in the past half century as the work of terrorists or ‘splitists’. In this view, all dissent is instigated by the Dalai Lama and his ‘clique’, including suitably unidentified foreigners, who aim to restore a feudal theocracy in Tibet — never mind that the Dalai Lama has expressly relinquished his political authority to the fully democratic Tibetan government-in-exile.

The immediate impetus for Sautman’s editorial is that in the past three years 35 Tibetans have chosen to set themselves on fire to protest China’s continuing occupation of Tibet, demand freedom and human rights for Tibetans, and call for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. Of the 19 incidents since January 2012, nine have taken place since the beginning of March. Most happened in historic Tibet, but in late March, Jampel Yeshi, a young Tibetan who fled Tibet in 2006 and lived in exile in India, died after self-immolating amid 600 demonstrators protesting President Hu Jintao’s visit to Delhi, bringing to four the known number of recent attempts at self-immolation by Tibetan exiles.

As for the nature of earlier self-immolation protests, it is true that a simple majority (about 60 per cent) of the incidents took place in and around the Kirti monastery, particularly in Aba (Tibetan: Ngaba), which is now part of the Chinese province of Sichuan. But it is false and misleading to suggest, as Sautman does, that the ‘vast majority’ took place there or, even more to the point, that this somehow shows that the acts do not reflect the sentiment of Tibetans throughout the ‘Tibetan Plateau’. In fact, Tibetan self-immolations have taken place not only in Aba, but 600 miles west in Chamdo (in the ‘Tibet Autonomous Region’), and in Tawu, Kardze, Themchen, Darlak, Machu and Rebkong (all eastern Tibetan areas now incorporated into Chinese provinces).

Doubtless many will find it hard to fathom what could lead people to douse themselves in gasoline and die agonising deaths to make a political or moral statement. But Sautman’s cavalier dismissal of these acts as irrational ‘suicide politics’ is deeply misguided. Tibetans who self-immolate appreciate the consequences, and likely also the futility, of their actions in simple political terms. The real question we need to ask is why these Tibetans have resorted to self-immolation — and why they are doing it now, some 60 years after China invaded and illegally purported to annex Tibet.

About one-third of the Tibetans who have self-immolated were under the age of 30, belying China’s frequent claim that these and other protests against China’s occupation of Tibet are organised in support of the old ‘feudal’ regime of the Tibetan theocratic aristocracy, led by the tyrannical Dalai Lama. It is telling that none of the Tibetan self-immolators have pleaded for the restoration of a feudal theocracy in Tibet. At least two of the self-immolators left behind clear messages that describe their motivations, including their belief in the universal value of and human right to freedom. Jamphel Yeshi, for example, issued a written message of unity declaring that ‘freedom is the basis of happiness for all living beings’.

The real reason for this recent spate of self-immolations is precisely that which Sautman denies. He claims that ‘there is no repression of Tibetans simply for being Tibetan’, and indeed that ‘Tibetans receive a range of preferential policies’. Anyone who has actually travelled in Tibet (and managed to escape the Orwellian eye of China’s police state) knows that this is an utter façade. In practice, China has long treated Tibet and Tibetans in a manner that, for all intents and purposes, cannot be distinguished from how a coloniser treats a colonised people — a tragic irony given China’s own (legitimate) grievances about pre-World War II Western and Japanese colonialism.

True, as Sautman says, China does not oppose religion per se; its interest is only in religious views that threaten the elite’s monopoly on political power. But China’s treatment of the Tibetan people is a special case in this regard. Since China illegally annexed Tibet in 1949–50, the Chinese government has targeted Tibetan Buddhism because, more than any other cultural or historical factor, it — and its personification in the Dalai Lama — binds Tibetans together as a distinct people with a distinct national identity. This threatens China’s efforts to integrate Tibet into the PRC, an objective that China continues to regard as vital to its national pride, historical identity, economy (Tibet has abundant natural resources and territory), political stability, and development.

In one of its more recent attempts to regulate Tibetan Buddhism, China passed a law requiring all tulkus (Tibetans thought to be the reincarnation of famous Buddhist lamas) to apply to the officially atheist Chinese state for a ‘licence’ to reincarnate. The absurdity of such a law might be comical were it not part of a systematic, long-term, and widespread campaign to absorb and Sinicise the nationally, racially, ethnically, linguistically, culturally and religiously distinct people of Tibet. Indeed, some Chinese regard Tibetans as primitive ‘barbarians’ and fail to understand why Tibetans are not grateful for their supposed ‘liberation’ and ‘modernisation’ by China.

In moral terms, it bears emphasising that unlike a suicide attack, self-immolation does not harm others. It respects civilians’ right to life, without distinction. To be clear, this is neither to condone nor to condemn the practice. But self-immolation must be morally distinguished from suicide bombings and attacks on civilians of the occupying state. We would also do well to recall a more recent example of this form of protest: Mohamed Bouazizi literally and figuratively ignited the Arab Spring when he self-immolated in response to repeated harassment by corrupt Tunisian bureaucrats.

Given this precedent, is it any wonder that China has responded to Tibetan self-immolation with escalating brutality, including beatings, torture and ‘patriotic re-education’? The Chinese government has also escalated its propaganda campaign, describing the peaceful protestors as ‘terrorists’, and not only accuses the Dalai Lama of instigating the self-immolations but describes his views as tantamount to ‘Nazi racial policies’. China goes so far as to equate the Dalai Lama’s mere compassion for those who have lost their lives in the self-immolations with ‘the uncontrolled and cruel Nazi during the Second World War’.

In reality, the self-immolations manifest the Tibetan people’s unwavering determination to resist China’s neo-colonial treatment of Tibet for the past half century. At tremendous personal risk, as many as 3000 Tibetans flee their homeland every year as a direct result of China’s oppressive policies. Nothing about ‘Chinese oppression’ deserves the scare quotes in which Sautman places that phrase. If China truly believes that most Tibetans do not feel oppressed by its occupation, why not allow a UN-supervised referendum on Tibet’s status or the wishes of its people? Why not allow journalists, diplomats and scholars to visit Tibetan regions without a Chinese ‘guide’? Tibetans have resorted to self-immolation to demand the fundamental human rights to political and religious freedom and self-determination, and in a desperate attempt to draw the world’s attention to their sadly neglected plight. To trivialise this situation is a shameful blend of political cynicism and neo-colonial Sinicism.

Robert D. Sloane is Professor of Law at the Boston University School of Law, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Tibet Justice Center.

http://tibet.net/2012/05/11/tibet-cynical-sinicism-and-the-tragedy-of-self-immolations/

Soldati cinesi presidiano Lhasa

Le autorità cinesi della Prefettura di Kardze (Provincia del Sichuan) hanno imposto a tutte le Organizzazioni non Governative locali la registrazione presso l’Ufficio Affari Civili della prefettura. Si è appreso che, sulla base di una disposizione emanata nel mese di marzo 2012, è stato proibito a tutti i detenuti delle carceri di Lhasa e dell’intera “Regione Autonoma Tibetana” di incontrare amici e famigliari. Se le nuove disposizioni, decretate il 26 aprile, non saranno rispettate le “organizzazioni sociali” saranno dichiarate illegali. Stessa sorte toccherà alle organizzazioni che, secondo il governo, non risponderanno ai requisiti richiesti per la registrazione. Saranno riconosciute solo le ONG conformi ai criteri di legalità stabiliti dalle autorità della Contea. Il provvedimento è stato adottato in risposta al crescente numero delle associazioni costituitesi nella Prefettura di Kardze e alla loro grande influenza. Fondate dai tibetani, le ONG operano in campo scolastico, religioso, ambientale e sociale. Alcune sono state create per risolvere le dispute tra gli abitanti dei diversi villaggi. Ma per le autorità cinesi ogni attività che coinvolge un gran numero di tibetani è considerata di natura politica e quindi considerata con estremo sospetto. Negli ultimi tre mesi – a metà febbraio, il 2 aprile e il 14 aprile - il Centro Tibetano per i Diritti Umani e la Democrazia ha dato notizia della chiusura, nella Prefettura di Kardze, di tre organizzazioni tibetane che si occupavano rispettivamente di problemi ambientali, della difesa della lingua tibetana all’interno delle scuole e, nel caso della Da-yul Unity Association, di cui abbiamo dato notizia, di dirimere le controversie locali. La polizia intervenne duramente per reprimere le proteste e, a causa degli scontri, molti tibetani furono feriti e ricoverati in ospedale. Trentatre si trovano ancora sotto custodia.  Il provvedimento mira ad incrementare la vigilanza e limitare i movimenti di tutti i prigionieri. Gli avvocati possono incontrare i loro patrocinati solo dopo aver chiesto ed ottenuto il permesso della direzione ed è loro concesso solo un breve colloquio con gli assistiti. Le autorità hanno motivato queste nuove disposizioni affermando che sono state emanate per “la sicurezza degli abitanti di Lhasa”. La maggior parte delle carceri della Regione Autonoma si trovano a nord est di Lhasa. Sono state costruite in gran fretta nel 1983 per la detenzione dei prigionieri politici e dei dissidenti. Fonti: The Tibet Post – Phayul- Italia Tibet

Dall’Ucraina al genocidio culturale del Tibet

Il Fatto Quotidiano di Alessio Liberati | 6 maggio 2012

Le notizie relative allo stato di detenzione di Juliia Timoshenko ed il massacro dei cani per rendere più “confortevole” l’ambiente ai turisti che assisteranno ai prossimi europei di calcio hanno suscitato una grande indignazione e, addirittura, la proposta di boicottare l’importante competizione sportiva. Non sappiamo come finirà, ma è certamente una bella notizia: la possibilità di influenzare e contrastare, tutti insieme, le forme di violenza e di prepotenza, restituendo il giusto spirito e contesto alle competizioni sportive, è una consapevolezza che cresce e che può essere di grande forza. Mi chiedo, però, perché non sia accaduto altrettanto (e non accada per il futuro) per la questione del Tibet (la Cina ha ospitato le Olipiadi nel 2008). Credo che ormai sia da molte parti testimoniato che in Tibet sia in corso un vero e proprio genocidio culturale, in cui persone semplicemente dedite alla meditazione ed alla preghiera – i molti monaci che vivono nei ministeri – sono talmente maltrattati e portati alla disperazione dalle autorità cinesi che, pur di sollevare l’attenzione sul problema, si immolano dandosi fuoco. È già successo decine di volte. I governi, probabilmente in conseguenza del potere economico della Cina e della sua capacità di condizionare le economie mondiali, non sembrano avere la forza (o peggio, l’interesse) a focalizzare l’attenzione sulla questione “Tibet”. Ed allora, forti della consapevolezza che si può condizionare la realtà anche come insieme di cittadini, a prescindere dalle ufficiali posizioni della politica, perché non c’è mai stata, sino ad ora, una indignazione ed una reazione anche solo minimamente paragonabile a quella suscitata dai cani ucraini e dalla biasimevole violenza sulla Juliia Timoshenko? Le migliaia di tibetani valgono meno? Ecco un passo del libro del monaco Palden Gyatso (da Il fuoco sotto la neve, la voce di un monaco perseguitato dall’invasione cinese in Tibet, Sperling paperback, 1997), che rende l’idea di ciò di cui sto parlando: “… <<Confessi?>> latrò Liao.  <<Confessi?>> <<potete farmi quello che volete!>> urlai. Ero fuori di me per la collera, avevo perso il controllo. Le guardie mi legarono dietro la schiena con una corda, poi gettarono l’estremità della corda sopra una trave di legno. Tirarono la corda sollevandomi le braccia, storcendole, quasi strappandole dalle cavità articolari. Urlai. Cominciai a orinare senza controllo. Non riuscivo a sentire altro che le mie urla e le percosse <<potete farmi quello che volete!>> urlai alle guardie (p. 77) (…) Non aspettò la risposta. Staccò il bastone dalla presa e cominciò a premermi sulla carne quel nuovo giocattolo e il mio corpo sussultava ad ogni scossa. Poi, urlando oscenità, mi cacciò il bastone in bocca, lo tolse, menò un altro colpo. Tornò alla parete e scelse un bastone più lungo. Sentii che il corpo si spezzava a metà. Ricordo vagamente che una guardia mi infilò un dito in bocca per estrarmi la lingua ed evitare che soffocassi. Ricordo anche che un agente cinese corse fuori dalla stanza nauseato. Mi torna in mente come fosse ieri lo strazio delle scosse elettriche che mi facevano sussultare, persi i sensi e quando mi ripresi mi trovai in una pozza di vomito e orina. Avevo la bocca gonfia. Quasi non riuscivo ad aprire le mascelle. Con una fitta di dolore sputai fuori qualcosa. Erano tre denti. Ci vollero parecchie settimane perché riuscissi a mangiare di nuovo cibo solido. Con il tempo mi caddero anche tutti gli altri denti (p. 212)”

The Dalai Lama

Chatting with the Dalai Lama

by Paul Wells, Macleans (Canada), Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Dalai Lama was in Ottawa to speak to 7,000 people at the Civic Centre. He did not intend to bring controversy. It follows him anyway. For days there was speculation about whether Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader would meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It would be their first meeting since 2006, when Harper was in the business of snubbing China’s ruling regime and gave His Holiness honorary Canadian citizenship.

Now, Harper is conspicuously in the business of cozying up to China’s rulers. He has steered clear of the ageless Buddhist cleric whose continued existence vexes Beijing. But in the end, wary of upsetting allies who used to like the old, anti-Communist Harper, the prime minister welcomed the Dalai Lama for a private “courtesy visit.”

The next morning as he prepared to address the crowd at the Civic Centre, the Dalai Lama dismissed the whole business with a trademark chuckle. “I don’t think about controversy,” he told Maclean’s. “I think some people, out of their fear or anxiety, create a sort of controversy. To me, no differences: Queen, prime minister, president, beggar, AIDS patient. No differences. So there is no basis for controversy.”

Richard Gere, the Hollywood actor and practicing Buddhist who was travelling with the Dalai Lama, had publicly complained that the meeting wasn’t public. The Dalai Lama disagreed. “No differences” between a public and private meeting, he said. “Meeting. Person to person. That’s important. Talk. I don’t like formality. Formality, no help. Chinese leaders, too much formality. Even to the point of not knowing how to breathe.” That laugh again.

He takes great pleasure in needling Beijing, when stronger emotions do not get the better of him. The International Campaign for Tibet says 34 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2011 to protest conditions there. He still believes he will see Tibet again. He has not been there since 1959. “Of course, situation in Tibet is very sad. Really desperate. But the new generation’s Tibetan spirit is getting stronger, stronger.”

Canada’s role? He has no patience for any notion of isolating China. “It is extremely important, close ties with Chinese government, for economy reasons. It’s mutual benefit. Canada needs Chinese market. China needs Canadian resources.” But also Canadian values. “Western nations, democratic nations, your principles – democracy, freedom, liberty – these must stand firm.”

Harper is still trying to find his way as he engages more closely with China. The political headaches are as potent as the economic payoff. On this Saturday morning, the Dalai Lama sounded like an ally, not another problem. “I think fairly speaking, whom to meet by prime minister is your business, not China’s business. Chinese control over who you can meet, that’s interference into your own affairs. After all, the Canadian government made me honorary citizen of this country. So prime minister meeting another Canadian person.”

How does he feel about his Canadian citizenship? “OK.” A shrug. “I always consider myself a citizen of the world. And then Canadian people, Canadian government decided to give special treatment to me. Happy. And also: Canadians, land of snow. We Tibetans: also land of snow.”

http://tibet.net/2012/05/04/chatting-with-the-dalai-lama/

Dall'inizio del 2012 sono 35 i tibetani che si sono auto-immolati per criticare la dittatura di Pechino e chiedere il ritorno del Dalai Lama in Tibet.

Sichuan, condanne fino all’ergastolo per 16 giovani tibetani, monaci e laici
La sentenza del tribunale risale al 26 aprile. I giovani erano stati arrestati durante le manifestazioni di Drango e Kardze (Sichuan) del 23 gennaio scorso. La corte non ha ancora fornito i dettagli della sentenza. Uno dei giovani, Sonam Lhundup, 30 anni, dovrà scontare il carcere a vita.

Drango (AsiaNews) - Una corte del Sichuan ha condannato a pesanti pene detentive16 tibetani, monaci e laici, arrestati durante le proteste del 23 gennaio nelle contee di Drango e Kardze (Sichuan, Prefettura autonoma del Tibet) contro il dominio comunista, costate sei morti e decine di feriti. Il tribunale ha emesso la sentenza il 26 aprile scorso, ma la notizia è stata diffusa solo di recente. Le pene vanno dai nove anni di carcere fino all’ergastolo. La corte non ha ancora reso noti i capi di accusa contro i condannati, che hanno un età compresa fra i 20 e i 30 anni. Le manifestazioni erano state organizzate dopo una serie di uccisioni sommarie di monaci da parte della polizia e l’autoimmolazione di giovani religiosi per la fine della repressione e il ritorno del Dalai Lama. Sonam Lhundup, 30 anni, dovrà scontare il carcere a vita; il ventenne Kuntho 14 anni; i fratelli Jebay e Wangcheng Tsering, del villaggio di Gyephen Likhokma, sono stati condannati a 12 e nove anni di reclusione; Kundup, monaco poco più che trentenne, è stato condannato a 11 anni. Pene pesanti anche per Sonam Dhargyal, punito con 10 anni di carcere, e Poma Woesel che dovrà passare cinque anni in detenzione. Altri cinque tibetani, hanno subito condanne dai 10 ai 15 anni. Pochi mesi di detenzione invece per Choenam, Azi Shopo, Neyandak, Phurwa Tsering e Wanhtse. Nonostante, le numerose proteste e i continui appelli di organizzazioni e Paesi stranieri, la polizia cinese continua ad arrestare e a sequestrare chiunque manifesti dissenso. In questi mesi, Pechino ha aumentato la sua stretta conto il popolo tibetano, che secondo gli esperti sta subendo una vera e propria colonizzazione. Le restrizioni cinesi comprendono il divieto di insegnare la lingua e la religione tibetana; l’imposizione di politiche di sviluppo inappropriate, tutte a favore dell’etnia han e attacchi continuati e di diverso tipo all’elite culturale e intellettuale del Tibet. Negli ultimi mesi decine di giovani tibetani, monaci e laici, hanno scelto l’autoimmolazione come gesto estremo di protesta contro il governo cinese. Dall’inizio del 2012 sono 35 i tibetani che si sono auto-immolati per criticare la dittatura di Pechino e chiedere il ritorno del Dalai Lama in Tibet. (N.C.)

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking in Ottawa Canada

Ottawa, Canada, 28 April 2012 - On his last full day in Ottawa during this visit, His Holiness the Dalai Lama began his program with an audience to the Tibetan community held in the Assembly Hall of the Ottawa Civic Center, the venue of the morning public talk. Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay, Tashi Namgyal and Norbu Tsering, both members of the Tibetan Parliament from North America, were among those who received him at the venue.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to the Tibetan community at the Assembly Hall of the Ottawa Civic Center in Ottawa, Canada, on April 28, 2012. Photo/Fred Cattroll

In his remarks His Holiness talked about the changes in the Tibetan political system since his last visit to Canada and the devolution of his authority. He said this is implementation of his desire for a democratic system since his childhood and not because, as some say, of his fear of something like that happened in Tunisia. His Holiness said that the Tibetan struggle is for the rights of the Tibetan people. He recalled how one Chinese official told a Tibetan delegation that included Kasur P.T. Takla, His Holiness’ younger brother Lobsang Samten, and Kasur Juchen Thubten Namgyal, that the Tibetan struggle was dependent on just one individual and that when he was gone that is the end.  His Holiness said the situation is not like this.  He said that with the recent development the democratically elected leadership has assumed full political authority. He said Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay has been good in assuming his responsibility and seems to be planning ahead.

His Holiness said the new generation of Tibetans in exile, including those in Canada, has great determination and sincerity.  Those younger generations of Tibetans in Tibet, even though they grew up under the Chinese Communist Party, have great courage and sincerity.
His Holiness said he told some friends that the Tibetan spirit is derived from Buddhism, which is more than 2000 years old, and is also gaining increasing attention.  On the other hand, the Chinese Communist Party is based on Marxism, which is around 200 years old and its image is getting worse day by day.  Therefore, Tibetan spirit will outlive the Chinese Communist Party.
President Hu Jintao has talked about a harmonious society, which is great, said His Holiness adding that for harmony trust was needed, which in turn is generated by equality. He said that it is a matter of time before changes occur in China.
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Looking from one perspective, His Holiness said that 53-54 years of the Tibetan struggle is a long time in terms of an individual.  Both Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay and Speaker Penpa Tsering, who are at the helm of the Tibetan leadership, have been born and brought up in India, he said. During this period, the Tibetans in Tibet have continued to maintain their determination.
His Holiness said that while changes will certainly occur in China, the Tibetans should also bear in mind the adage to “Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”

His Holiness said there are reasons why Tibetans can have pride in themselves. Even before the invention of the current Tibetan script during the time of King Songtsen Gampo, he said there was a script called Shangshung Maryig.
Talking about the richness of the Tibetan language, His Holiness said the most complete Buddhist scriptures are found in Tibetan.  His Holiness said he referred to the Tibetan Buddhist culture is the common wealth of the world.  He advised the Tibetans to really study their Tibetan culture. He said families with children should strive to speak the Tibetan language at home.  His Holiness told the gathering about a Tibetan girl in Chicago who was one of the winners of an essay contest.  He said that she had been born in India and spoke Tibetan well. He said it was admirable that she competed with many other students to become a winner and this showed that Tibetans have the ability.
His Holiness concluded his remarks by giving the Tibetans the good news that his most recent medical checkup at Mayo Clinic showed his health was good and there was no change in his physical condition since he started his annual checkup seven years back.
Thereafter, His Holiness gave an interview to Canada’s national weekly current affairs magazine Macleans columnist Paul Wells.
Before His Holiness entered the Arena to give his talk on “Ethics for the Whole World,” Mr. Nima Dorjee of the Canada Tibet Committee and the head of its Project Tibet Society informed the gathering about a project to resettle 1000 Tibetans currently sheltering in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh to India. The Government of Canada is facilitating the immigration of these Tibetans. Part of the proceeds of the event will go towards this project, said Mr. Dorjee while mentioning His Holiness’ principle of not benefitting in any way from such events connected with him.
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Actor Richard Gere introduces His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the audience at the start of His Holiness’s talk in Ottawa, Canada, on April 28, 2012. Photo/Fred Cattroll

long time friend of the Tibetan people, Richard Gere, introduced His Holiness. Referring to His Holiness’ positive attributes, he said that he did not think there was anyone like him in our lifetime.
In his remarks, His Holiness talked about how the 20th century was a century of violence and bloodshed (according to some historians, about 200 million people were killed through violence) and how people’s attitude changed in the latter part of the century.  He said from an attitude of citizens supporting war efforts in the post Vietnam War period, people have realized that wars and violence bring more suffering. Therefore, in the wake of the Iraq war, people from Australia to the United States came out publicly to launch campaigns against wars.
His Holiness talked about the efforts of individuals like Nelson Mandela and Archbishop in bringing about a change in South Africa through their move for reconciliation in the society.  He said that such kind of reconciliation effort was needed in North Africa.
His Holiness also mentioned the change in people’s attitude about relationship between science and religion. He said that previously many people believed that science and spiritually were different and had no meeting points. Now more scientists are find about human brain and the connection to emotions.
He added that in this 21st century we are continuing with the change that we have seen in the latter part of the 20th century. Therefore, there are reasons to be optimistic, he added. His Holiness said that we have to look to the future, not the past. He added that while there is guarantee about the future yet it is open.  He said the future depends on the present and so we must utilize the present properly. If we make plan with vision and determination, he said this century could be a century of peace. He said there is the possibility of seeing a demilitarized world in this period.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking during his talk “Ethics for the Whole World” in Ottawa, Canada, on April 28, 2012. Photo/Fred Cattroll

is Holiness said the materialization of this possibility depends on the younger generation. We have to develop the concept of the oneness of humanity he said, adding that too much self-centered attitude leads to fear, anger and anxiety. He said that constant fear, anger and hatred were every bad for our health.
His Holiness said that warm heartedness was the key factor for success life. He suggested a universal way to cultivate these inner values saying that although a religion may be widely practiced it would not be universal.
His Holiness then answered questioned gathered from the public. When asked for advice on parenting and how to bring up a one year old child with strong moral values, His Holiness emphasized on the importance of showing maximum affection to young children. But he joked that since he had no experience of raising a child he could not say more.
Another question was about making the global community more compassionate. His Holiness responded by saying that the modern education system was inadequate for the all round development of an individual. He said that there was the need to introduce education on warm heartedness in the curriculum, from Kindergarten to University level.  He talked about experimental research being conducted in universities such as University of Wisconsin, Madison; Emory University; and Stanford University on the training of mind, mindfulness and compassion.  His Holiness suggested that if there was interest among the people here they could experiment on this in one school at first, see the result and expand accordingly.
There was a question by a supporter of Tibet who felt that no difference was being made and wanted advice on what to do about it. His Holiness said that some changes were taking place.  He talked about the moral support to the detained Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo. He said although there may not be immediate results impact was being made.  His Holiness told the gathering that he had heard about some Chinese demonstrating outside the venue of the public talk.  He said he welcomed these Chinese enjoying Canada’s freedom and hope that such freedom exists in China.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama answers questions from the audience during his talk “Ethics for the Whole World” in Ottawa, Canada, on April 28, 2012. Photo/Fred Cattroll

is Holiness asked the people not to be discouraged.  He gave his own experience of having to shoulder political responsibility when he was 16 thus losing his freedom, then having to learn the art of hypocrisy while co-existing with the Chinese for nine years. He said it was only in April 1959, when he arrived in India that he was liberated from having to be hypocritical.  Since 1959, he had become a refugee even as things inside Tibet continued to be bad.
But there is no reason to feel hopeless, he said. His Holiness said that the Tibetan struggle was one between the power of truth, power of compassion and the power of gun, power of hate. In the short run, he said the power of gun might dominate but in the long run the power of truth will win.
His Holiness said that foolish local officials who sought recourse to force and repression to deal with matters that they did not like caused the seriousness of the situation in Tibet.  However, he said the more suppression is used the stronger is the Tibetan spirit.
His Holiness talked about the increasing support for Tibet among Chinese intellectuals who understood the reality of the situation.  He reiterated that the Tibetans were not seeking separation but meaningful autonomy, and that economically it was in Tibet’s own interest to remain with the People’s Republic of China. He said the 1.3 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality. And then once the Chinese people know the reality, the 1.3 billion of Chinese people have the ability to judge what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, censorship is immoral, he said adding that China must practice transparency and the Chinese judiciary must be independent and up to international standard. Once China becomes more open, transparent, and without censorship it would be beneficial for all. His Holiness said therefore support should be extended for the freedom of the 1.3 billion people in China.
After answering a question about compassion and how it could be cultivated, His Holiness hosted a lunch for parliamentarians participating in the 6th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet.
Following lunch, His Holiness met with the media. In his initial remarks, he spoke about his two commitments of promotion of human values and promotion of religious harmony, and the important role of the media in looking into issues to have a clean society, healthy society, healthy politician, healthy businessmen, etc.  He said previously he had a third commitment on the issue of Tibet, but that he had handed over this responsibility to the elected political leader and pointed to Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay who was present in the room.
The first question was about what His Holiness had told Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during their meeting on April 27, 2012.
His Holiness said that he had thanked the Prime Minister for accepting another 1000 Tibetans on top of the Tibetans who have already been resettled here. He said originally we had hoped to bring Tibetans from Nepal for this resettlement, but that there was some difficulties from the Nepalese Government side. Therefore, we had decided to bring over Tibetans from India who were not properly settled, he said.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to members of the media in Ottawa, Canada, on April 28, 2012. Photo/Fred Cattroll

His Holiness said he had also thanked the Prime Minister who had, despite some inconveniences (the close economic ties with the People’s Republic of China), the courage to have the meeting. That is important, His Holiness said adding that while business and economy were one thing, the value of democracy was another. He said he thought Prime Minister Harper had managed it very well; while maintaining close relations with China, at the same time standing firm on his own democratic values.
His Holiness joked that as an honorary citizen of Canada, he had called him “my Prime Minister.”
Another question was about any advice His Holiness had given to the Prime Minster. His Holiness responded that the Prime Minister had asked about overall suggestions.  He said that the Prime Minister is an experienced leader. He said he had mentioned about an occasion in Japan many years ago when some young politicians wanted his suggestions. His Holiness had responded to them then that potential leaders, they should carry all their work transparently and consistently. These are important qualities as they bring trust from the voters and so even from the viewpoint of elections, honesty was important, His Holiness said.
Asked about his view on Canada, His Holiness said he thought the country was advancing well economically. Having a small population compared to the area it had good potential for the future he said adding that to give a more thorough answer he would need to spend more time to study the situation in Canada.
His Holiness then referred to the situation of the native people in Canada, the First Nation, and thought that they may have progressed slower than some other people, like the indigenous people in Australia or the Maori people in New Zealand who are highly developed in education field, etc. His Holiness added that he however did not know this in detail.
To a question about the dialogue process with China, His Holiness said in one aspect there has been no improvement in the situation inside Tibet. But on another aspect, support has increased from Chinese people, mainly the intellectuals, Chinese students and as also those involved in the struggle for openness and democracy, he said. His Holiness added that we have solidarity with these people and many of them show us the spirit of solidarity. He said a number of Chinese are now getting better knowledge of the reality of Tibet and the present difficulties through Twitter etc. Once they get more awareness, automatically they show sympathy and concern and solidarity, he said.
His Holiness said that he considered that in the long run the people were more important than the government. Therefore, while there are difficulties with the Chinese Government, but at the Chinese people’s level we have really built healthy, closer feeling, he said. His Holiness said our nonviolence approach makes tremendous impact on their mind. And also we are not seeking separation or independence despite our past history, but we are looking forward. He said that Tibet is materially backward and so for our own interest it is better to remain within China as this is much helpful for development. But there was the need for meaningful autonomy so that we can protect our own culture, our own language, and our own environment, he added.
On a question about his views on the cut in Canada’s foreign aid, His Holiness first joked that despite being an honorary citizen, he was a foreigner and the Canadians should think over this and raise the issue. He said basically we are all living on one planet and it was natural to help each other and to take care, both at the global level and the national level. He said he had always been concerned about the gap between the rich and the poor, at the global level as well as the national level.
Asked about ways to approach corruption in Mexico, His Holiness said Mexico is a democratic country and its citizens should make their concerns known and the government should be made accountable. He however cautioned against becoming discouraged and hopeless as that would really be a failure. He said merely complaining about problems without facing them would not lead to any solution.  His Holiness talked about the Tibetan people’s perseverance despite difficulties and cited a Tibetan adage,  “nine times failure, nine times effort.”
On a question on taking up environmental concerns, His Holiness said from his own experience, in the early 1960s he had no idea of the meaning of ecology. Then after meeting scientists and ecologists, etc, he had developed real concern. He said education, including by the media, could help. He said the Rio summit more or less failed, while the Copenhagen summit failed because national interest was considered more important while global interest was not considered an emergency. That was a mistake, he said adding that global warming is a concern for everybody. So big nations should give priority to the global issue and then to their national issue. He, however, said now more and more people are seriously talking about these things, which was positive.
Asked about his views on the worldwide Occupy movement, His Holiness said basically there was the need to bring issues of concern to greater awareness of the general public, including leaders. If people remained silent, he said the concerned authorities might not pay attention. He recalled participating in a meeting in New Delhi, India on the difficulties of the poorer section of society during which some people were talking of a demonstration. He said at that time he had told them that if they organize well he might even join the demonstration for the poorer people.
His Holiness said the method should be non-violent as they will then have more sympathizers. He added that if the motivation was good, and the end was justified, but if the method was too negative then even sympathizers may feel disaffected and disillusioned.
His Holiness left for the airport following the press meet to begin his return journey to India.  His Holiness had arrived in Honolulu on April 13, 2012 and had spoken at six universities in Honolulu, San Diego, Chicago and Ottawa, in addition to participating in a Nobel Peace Laureates’ Summit and giving a Buddhist initiation.

http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/789-his-holiness-shares-his-thought-on-building-a-positive-world

His Holiness the Dalai Lama inaugurates World Parliamentarian’s Convention on Tibet, meets Canadian PM

Ottawa, Canada, 27, April 2012 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama began his program in Ottawa on April 27th by giving interviews to Graham Richardson of CTV Ottawa and Campbell Clark of Globe & Mail newspaper.  They asked about His Holiness’ message to Canadians, how the West should deal with China, future of the world, technology, temptations, and succession issue. Thereafter, His Holiness left for the University of Ottawa to speak to the students and staff on the topic of Education of the Heart.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at the University of Ottawa on April 27, 2012. Photo/Don Loga

His Holiness talked about the fundamental sameness of humanity and that all human beings have the same desire for a happy life and the right to it.  However, there is a misconception among some people that becoming rich would help one reach the goal of being happy.  He added that mental attitude is more important for a happy life.

His Holiness emphasized the importance of a secular approach to developing inner values saying that doing this not through preaching or meditation, but through awareness helps one in the long run.

Following his initial remarks, His Holiness responded to questions selected from the students and staff. On being asked about one step to being ethical, His Holiness talked about using common sense to do deeper analysis.  He said these days universities in the United States were experimenting on projects relating to awareness training.

When asked for advice to young people today, His Holiness said any decision that an individual wishes to take should be done using a realistic method.  He said unrealistic method would fail to bring satisfactory results and that too much expectation does not enable one to see reality.

His Holiness was asked whether compassion would make the Chinese authorities respect the dignity of the Tibetan people. He said that he differentiated between the Chinese Government and the people.  He said more and more Chinese people were understanding the reality of the Tibetan issue, particularly because the struggle was non-violent and the approach was the Middle Way.  Since our struggle is between the power of compassion and the power of gun, there is some effect on the Chinese, he said.

Another students wondered who His Holiness’ inspiration was given that he was an inspiration to millions of people.  His Holiness said that his real influence was the Buddha and then Indian Buddhist masters of the Nalanda tradition, including Nagarjuna, Arya Asanga (although not that much) and Shantideva.

Following his remarks, a representative of the students expressed gratitude for His Holiness coming to their university and said they were inspired by his message of compassion.

After lunch at his hotel, His Holiness left for the venue of the sixth world Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet.  He first met members of the Canadian Parliamentary Friends of Tibet.  He appreciated their concern and said although he had retired, he would like to thank them on behalf of the six million Tibetans.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is welcomed by Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney to the “World Parliamentarians’ Conventions on Tibet” conference in Ottawa, Canada, on April 27, 2012. Photo/Reuters

Thereafter, he went to address the inaugural session of the 6th World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet (WPCT). Senator Consiglio Di Nino, Chair of the Canadian Parliamentary Friends of Tibet, welcomed His Holiness and the participants. Thereafter, Mr Jason T. Kenney, Canada’s current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, welcomed His Holiness and informed of the Canadian Government’s pride at the contribution of Canadians of Tibetan origin to the social fabric of the nation.  He also talked about a new office of religious freedom that Canada was establishing.  He said Canada continued to encourage a positive dialogue on the Tibetan issue.

Democratic Leader in the United States Congress, Nancy Pelosi, who was to participate in the convention, had to cancel at the last minute on account of a crucial vote scheduled today. Her aide Jonathan Stivers read her message. Congresswoman Pelosi called for the need of a multilateral approach on the Tibetan issue and said His Holiness is the greatest voice for democracy.

Speaker Penpa Tsering of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile speaking at the “World Parliamentarians’ Conventions on Tibet” conference in Ottawa, Canada, on April 27, 2012. Photo/tibetonline.tv

Speaker Penpa Tsering of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile spoke next and welcomed everyone as a co-host of the convention.  He remembered Mr. Brij Bhushan Tiwari, an MP from India, who was to attend the convention but had passed away a few days before. He appreciated Canada’s pluralism and multiculturalism and said that is a lesson that China should learn from Canada.  He also spoke of the need to strengthen the International Network of Parliamentarians (InPat).
Then Mr. Thomas Mann, Member of the European Parliament and a co-chair of InPat introduced His Holiness by saying that today people have come to appreciate the wisdom of His Holiness’ devolution of his authority. He added that the 150 members of InPat fully support the non-violent struggle of the Tibetan people and the Middle Way Approach. He thanked His Holiness for his inspiration and vision.
His Holiness then addressed the gathering.  He said he regarded all the participants of the Convention (some of whom are old friends while other are new) as directly supporters of truth.  He said although he had the same face as during the last convention, this time he no longer had the temporal responsibility.  His Holiness joked saying that the “small” fourteenth Dalai Lama had ended a tradition established by the Great Fifth Dalai Lama.  He said that the world belongs to humanity. Canada belongs to the Canadian people and not to the political parties. Tibet, he said, did not belong to the Dalai Lama, but belongs to the six million Tibetans. His Holiness then gave the history of the devolution of his authority, from 2001 when he had become semi-retired to 2011 with the election of Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay and his complete retirement. Pointing to both Dr. Lobsang Sangay and Speaker Penpa Tsering who were on the stage, His Holiness said they are both from the new generation, having been born and educated in India.
His Holiness said he was now devoting his time to his two commitments, that of promotion of human values and promotion of religious harmony.
His Holiness then shared his views on two issues for the consideration of the gathering.  First was the issue of Tibetan environment, which he said had an impact beyond Tibet.  He said this this issue was greater than the political issue of Tibet. The political issue can be resolved but the environment once damaged cannot be recovered, he said. Second was the issue of Tibetan cultural heritage.  He said that the preservation of the Tibetan Buddhist culture was in the interest of not only the Tibetans but for the wider world.  He added that even non-Buddhist find value in the Tibetan Buddhist culture, recalling a statement by a Scientist at a Mind & Life conference who wished that the Tibetan debating system could be utilized for modern studies.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama addressing the “World Parliamentarians’ Conventions on Tibet” conference in Ottawa, Canada, on April 27, 2012. Photo/tibetonline.tv

His Holiness made a distinction between Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhist culture.  Tibetan Buddhism was of concern to Buddhists, he said, while Tibetan Buddhist culture was for the wider community. He referred to the Tibetan Buddhist culture as a culture of peace, non-violence and of compassion.
Talking of the Tibetan struggle, His Holiness said that one the one hand the situation in Tibet is serious. The rich ancient cultural heritage was facing threat, he said. The more the Tibetan people demonstrate, the more the Chinese authorities suppress, torture and arrest, he said.  On the other hand, the Tibetan spirit continues to be strong, he said, adding that this was specially so among the younger generation. He added that the more the Chinese authorities suppress, the stronger is the spirit of the Tibetan people.

Delegates attending the “World Parliamentarians’ Conventions on Tibet” conference in Ottawa, Canada, on April 27, 2012. Photo/tibetonline.tv

Referring also to the situation of the Uyghur and the Mongol people also, His Holiness said that suppression would not bring about unity.

His Holiness asked the supporters of Tibet not to be discouraged.  He said not only the present generation of Tibetans, but even the coming generation will remember their support.

Mr. Matteo Mecacci, MP from Italy and a co-chair of InPat, thanked His Holiness for his presence.  He concluded by saying that if you support dictatorships abroad you are killing democracy at home.  Senator Di Nino recognized Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay who was also on the stage and said that he would be addressing the gathering in the next panel.

His Holiness then went to Parliament Hill where he addressed an event to mark the launch of intercultural harmony program by Mossaic with the support of the Canadian Government.  The program aims to promote dialogue between Canadian Tibetans and Canadian Chinese on issues of concern to them relating to Tibet and China.  Senator Di Nino said at the event that this was the continuation of a process started some years back.  In his remarks, His Holiness reiterated his message of the oneness of humanity saying that issues arise when there was too much stress on the secondary level of identity be it racial or otherwise.  His Holiness talked about his effort to reach out to the Chinese people, the developments following the 2008 demonstrations in Tibet and how we needed to differentiate between Chinese government and people. He repeated that while his faith in the Chinese Government is shaken, but he had not lost hope on the Chinese people. His Holiness also talked about the need for China to open up and allow freedom to the people.  He said the 1.3 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality. And then once the Chinese people know the reality, the 1.3 billion of Chinese people have the ability to judge what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, censorship is immoral, he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 27, 2012. Photo/Andrew MacDougall

Following this event, His Holiness had a separate meeting with Minister Jason Kenney. He then had a meeting with Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper before returning to his hotel.

On April 28, 2012, His Holiness will address a public talk and will be departing Canada at the conclusion of his trip.

http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/788-his-holiness-inaugurates-world-parliamentarians-convention-on-tibet-meets-canadian-pm

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4908 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4940 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4940#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:23:09 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4940

His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Ottawa

Dalai Lama mocks China’s interest in naming his successor

by Campbell Clark, Globe and Mail, Published Friday, Apr. 27, 2012.

In the political dispute over the future of Tibet, the reincarnation of a spiritual leader – the Dalai Lama – looms as the focal point of a tug-of-war with Beijing.

Concerned with restraining a nationalist movement by controlling its living symbol, the Communist Party has proclaimed its right to approve the naming of the next incarnation, traditionally identified as a young child after his predecessor’s death.
At 76 years old, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, counters Beijing’s claims that they have the right to identify his successor with laughter and mocking jest.“It is quite strange – as non-believers, totally non-believers, atheists – showing interest about reincarnation,” the Dalai Lama said in an interview in Ottawa.

“I jokingly tell them: In order to be involved in my reincarnation, firstly, they should accept Buddhism. Or religion. Or Buddhism. Then they should recognize Chairman Mao Zedong’s reincarnation. Deng Xiaopeng’s reincarnation. Then, they have reason to show some interest about the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation. Otherwise, nonsense!”

This, after all, has to do with the reincarnation of a spiritual leader that Beijing has called a “wolf in monk’s clothing” and criticized as a deceitful separatist. The Dalai Lama has called for Tibetan autonomy within China.

His meetings with foreign leaders, like the brief encounter he held with Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday, always hold the risk of offending the sensitivities of a rising China.

Despite the laughter with which the Buddhist leader punctuates sentences, the Dalai Lama’s succession is no trivial matter to Tibetans or to China’s leadership. Already, he has formally retired as political leader of Tibetans in exile, passing that mantle to elected secular leaders last year. But the leader of Tibet’s largest Buddhist sect remains a potent symbol inside Tibet, and a powerful magnet for support around the world.

He has left the manner of his own spiritual succession mysterious, suggesting at times that he might be the last Dalai Lama, or that he might identify a successor while he still lives, raising consternation among some followers.

In Ottawa to attend the World Parliamentary Conference on Tibet and deliver a public speech, he offered no clarity on how it will happen: “It is an open question,” he told The Globe and Mail.

The Tibetan cause he has led is in a period of transition, however. Last year, he handed over political leadership, ending forever, he said Friday, the centuries-old tradition of temporal Tibetan leadership by the Dalai Lama.

And the rise of China, and its influence in the world, is having an impact. Other countries sometimes fear to offer support for Tibet, he said, out of concern for economic relations with China.

In 2007, Mr. Harper’s first meeting with the Dalai Lama – complete with a Tibetan flag on view in the Prime Minister’s Office – raised the ire of China and caused a chill in Ottawa-Beijing relations.

This time, Mr. Harper’s brief meeting with the Dalai Lama, described as a private courtesy call with a “spiritual leader,” was described as slight backtracking by Richard Gere, the actor and pro-Tibet campaigner who opened the Ottawa conference.

The Dalai Lama, however, congratulated Mr. Harper.

“Of course, my main purpose is not to meet with government leaders,” he said. “But I’m very happy that the Prime Minister – despite some inconvenience – he stands firmly on principle.”

It remains a question whether such stands from the outside world will ever lead to Tibetan autonomy, however. In exile since 1959, the Dalai Lama warned Friday that Tibet’s environment is being ravaged and its ancient culture is at risk of being destroyed.

Inside Tibet, things are getting worse, he said, but the hope is that the spirit of Tibetans remains strong.

What is also important, he said, is the private sympathy many Chinese intellectuals now feel – and the signs of some concern for Tibet among government leaders who are more open-minded. Hard-liners who believe in tight control will not succeed forever, he argued.

“I think they believe every problem can be solved by force, by guns. That’s old thinking. During civil war, or revolutionary movements, maybe. In peacetime, I think that kind of thinking is out of date.” http://tibet.net/2012/04/30/dalai-lama-mocks-chinas-interest-in-naming-his-successor/

Una recente manifestazione a Roma per i diritti umani in Tibet

L’International Campaign for Tibet denuncia: “Dall’invasione comunista non è cambiato nulla: Pechino vuole distruggere la lingua, la cultura e soprattutto la religione tibetana”. Nel frattempo il Partito manda a Hong Kong il falso Panchen Lama (che parla di “società armoniosa”) mentre il vero Panchen compie 23 anni: è agli arresti dal 1995.

Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Le autorità cinesi “stanno commettendo un genocidio culturale” in Tibet tramite politiche che gettano i presupposti per la completa, sistematica distruzione del popolo tibetano. Lo scrive in un lungo rapporto l’International Campaign for Tibet (Ict), una organizzazione non governativa che monitora la situazione della regione. Nel testo gli autori chiedono alla comunità internazionale di “agire con rapidità” per interrompere la repressione in atto. Le restrizioni cinesi comprendono il divieto di insegnare la lingua e la religione tibetana; l’imposizione di politiche di sviluppo inappropriate, tutte a favore dell’etnia han e attacchi continuati e di diverso tipo all’elite culturale e intellettuale del Tibet. Secondo il testo - intitolato “Sessant’anni di dominio cinese: verso il genocidio culturale in Tibet” - i tibetani “sono sottoposti a discriminazioni continue a causa della loro etnia, religione e credo politico”. A sostegno delle proprie tesi, gli autori citano il rapporto pubblicato nei primi anni Sessanta del secolo scorso dalla Commissione internazionale dei giuristi, un gruppo di eminenti avvocati e giudici con base a Ginevra, che analizzarono il Tibet post-invasione da parte dell’Esercito di liberazione popolare. I giuristi scrissero all’epoca che “i comunisti mettono in atto in Tibet degli atti di genocidio, nel tentativo di distruggere i tibetani come gruppo religioso”. Il più importante (e pericoloso) tentativo di distruzione della cultura tibetana operato da Pechino riguarda la distruzione del buddismo locale, guidato dal Dalai Lama. Secondo la tradizione, esiste una linea politico-religiosa ininterrotta da 5 secoli in cui si alternano il Dalai Lama (la figura più importante del buddismo della sciarpa gialla) e il Panchen Lama, suo consigliere e tutore. La Cina ha rapito nel 1995 Gedhun Choekyi, il Panchen Lama riconosciuto dal Dalai, e lo ha rimpiazzato con Gyaincain Norbu, un proprio burattino. A tre giorni dal compleanno del vero Panchen Lama, che ha compiuto 23 anni e vive sin dal rapimento in una località segreta, Norbu è stato inviato dalle autorità comuniste a Hong Kong per partecipare al Forum mondiale del buddismo. È la prima volta che il giovane, molto contestato dai fedeli, si sposta dalla Cina continentale. Il suo intervento al Forum è stato incentrato sulla “armonia nella società”, ovvero il leitmotiv del presidente comunista Hu Jintao.

Il 17mo Karmapa Lama

Il governo indiano ammette l’errore e chiude le indagini contro il “numero 3″ del buddismo tibetano, accusato in dicembre di “essere una spia al soldo della Cina”. Soddisfazione nel mondo della diaspora: “Sapevamo che era del tutto innocente”.

Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Il governo indiano ha ritirato tutte le accuse presentate in dicembre contro il Karmapa Lama, “numero 3″ del buddismo tibetano e probabile guida dei fedeli della “sciarpa gialla” dopo la morte del Dalai Lama. Le autorità dello Stato settentrionale dell’Himachal Pradesh avevano aperto un’inchiesta contro il religioso per “cospirazione” e “truffa”, ma molti avevano visto dietro le accuse la mano di Pechino, che cerca di spezzare la continuità religiosa del buddismo tibetano.

Alla fine del 2011, grazie a una soffiata anonima, gli agenti di polizia locale avevano perquisito il monastero di Gyuto a Dharamsala, dove risiede il 26enne leader del “sentiero del Diamante”. All’interno avevano trovato circa 1 milione di dollari in varie valute, comprese gli yuan cinesi: la scoperta aveva fatto gridare allo scandalo, e diversi media indiani avevano definito il Karmapa Lama “una spia al soldo della Cina”.

Subito dopo il sequestro, il leader religioso aveva ammesso la presenza del denaro ma aveva specificato che si trattava di “donazioni, che arrivano a me da ogni parte del mondo. Sono pronto ad ammettere che qualcosa è andato storto nella gestione finanziaria di questi fondi, ma non me ne sono mai occupato io. Il mio ruolo è del tutto religioso, non affronto queste questioni”. S. P. Singh, dirigente del ministero dell’Interno statale, dice: “Abbiamo deciso di ritirare tutte le accuse. La polizia e gli investigatori governativi hanno fatto molto bene il proprio lavoro e non hanno trovato alcuna prova reale per portare avanti un’indagine”. Soddisfazione anche da parte dello staff della 17esima reincarnazione del Karmapa: “Abbiamo sempre avuto fiducia nella giustizia indiana, sapevamo che Sua Santità non sarebbe stato coinvolto”.

Riconosciuto sia da Pechino che dal Dalai Lama, il giovane Ogyen Trinley Dorje è molto amato dai suoi fedeli. Dopo una rocambolesca fuga in motocicletta, a 14 anni ha lasciato il Tibet per raggiungere la diaspora tibetana in esilio. Da allora si è dedicato in maniera esclusiva all’insegnamento religioso, ma negli ultimi anni ha iniziato ad affiancare il 76enne Nobel per la Pace in alcuni interventi su questioni pubbliche e politiche.

Secondo diversi analisti e molte fonti locali, a lui sarà affidato il compito di guidare la comunità del buddismo tibetano dopo la morte del Dalai Lama. Con il Panchen Lama (numero 2 della gerarchia) sequestrato dalle autorità di Pechino, infatti, rimane soltanto lui della discendenza originaria riconosciuta da Tenzin Gyatso.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: “Master Shantideva said there being no reason to feel sad if there is a way to overcome a challenge, and there being no use to feel sad if there is no way to overcome it”.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama first gave an interview to Piers Morgan of CNN, who began by asking His Holiness about his health given his medical check up.  His Holiness responded by saying that for the last seven years he has been having his annual check up at Mayo Clinic and that his basic physical condition is good.  His Holiness also answered questions about future of world peace, his views on the United States and President Obama, the self-immolations in Tibet, China’s future, vegetarianism, movies, music, etc.  This will be aired on Piers Morgan Tonight on April 25, 2012 night.

Thereafter, His Holiness met with the newly appointed President of Mind & Life Institute, Mr. Arthur Zajonc, and with its board of directors.His Holiness then went to participate in panel discussion on Resilience through Mindfulness organized by Mayo Clinic.
Dr. John Noseworthy, president and CEO of Mayo Clinic, welcomed His Holiness. Thereafter, Dr. Amit Sood, chair of the Mayo Mind Body Medicine Initiative, spoke about their Resilience education and training program and its positive impact on patients.  The Mayo Mind Body Medicine team has developed innovative practice models including meditation, and stress management and resiliency training programs, and integrated them into clinical practice at Mayo Clinic. He said the patients were trained about compassion, gratitude and morality.  Dr. Sood’s co-moderator was Dr. Daniel Goleman, Board Member of Mind & Life Institute. The panelists were Ms. Carla Paonessa, Mayo Clinic Leadership Board in Arizona, and Ms. Sherry Chesak, a nursing education specialist at Mayo Clinic.In his initial remarks, His Holiness spoke of the importance of generating compassion by drawing attention to the need to adopt a proper approach in realizing goals of the training.  He said enthusiasm must be accompanied by intelligence and note merely be blind faith. Quoting a Buddhist scripture, His Holiness said one should check whether one’s goals are realistic or not.  He said in order to have a realistic goal, one needs to understand reality for which the mind must be calm. He added that to have a calm mind, compassion was important. Compassion opens your heart, His Holiness said, adding that fear, anger, hatred, etc. narrows the mind.

During the discussion stage, when asked how he was able to keep his resilience despite the very many challenges he had to face, His Holiness said it was by being realistic.  He quoted Buddhist Master Shantideva about there being no reason to feel sad if there is a way to overcome a challenge, and there being no use to feel sad if there is no way to overcome it.  When asked whether during his experience with the Chinese he was in any danger of losing compassion towards them, His Holiness detailed his feelings following reports of the Tibetan demonstrations in Lhasa on March 10, 2008. He said he was filled with anxiety upon learning of the situation in Tibet. In the subsequent days and weeks His Holiness did a specific Buddhist practice known as “the practice of giving and taking” (tong len); visualizing the Chinese as people with the same kind of desire to be happy and avoid suffering and having a sense of concern for their negative action.  His Holiness added that such an approach may not be effective in resolving the problem, but it does help one to maintain a calm mind.  He talked about his having serious intestinal problem resulting in physical pain during his travel to Bodh Gaya. As he was rushed back to the state capital Patna, His Holiness said as the state was one of the poorer regions, he noticed impoverished children as well as a poor person lying on a cot.  This enabled him to practice his giving and taking and also it did not take away his physical pain his mental anxiety was reduced, he said.

When asked to suggest for ways to grow compassion in others, His Holiness said that modern life has become very materialistic and that people were more concerned about external development.  He said the modern education system was also oriented towards materialism.  Therefore, there was the need to promote inner values through education.

In response to a question about how to generate compassion towards others who may be suffering and not to feel helpless, His Holiness said compassion could be at two levels.  At one level, one might become aware of another’s suffering and becoming concerned.  At another level, one not only feels compassionate and concerned about the suffering of others but also wants to do something help overcome that.  He said having the first level alone might lead to a sense of helplessness, but practicing the second level of compassion and thinking of ways to overcome the suffering of others would give new energy.  His Holiness added that as human beings all of us have the capacity to rise up to this level of compassion.

Another question was about finding a meaning in suffering. His Holiness said that every suffering has a cause.  He recalled some senior Tibetan monks coming to him at one time to seek his blessings to relieve some pain. His Holiness said that he had told them that as Buddhists our practice is to understand that life is full of suffering. However, since the monks are not able to get that understanding from their mental training, he had joked that their physical bodies are stepping in to send this message.

When asked about how to overcome challenges in the meditation process, His Holiness said that there were two types of meditation; analytical and single-pointed concentration. He said he treated the analytical meditation as more important as he is involved in this process in his daily life.  He said he had not been able to involve in serious single-pointed meditation for sheer lack of time.

His Holiness was asked how one could learn to bear the burden of others without feeling overwhelmed.  He responded that if one feels the work has been beneficial and meaningful, then there is no reason to feel discouraged.  He said sometimes one might make years of effort ultimately resulting in nothing, but if the action has been done with the right motivation, there is no need to regret. He added that eventually any positive action would have beneficial consequences, sometimes visible and sometimes not visible.

His Holiness was informed about the feedback received from a patient (who had only three more months to live) about why she had not been aware of the resilience program earlier.  He said that whether in the case of that individual or society in general negligence could be the issue that leads us to think of such programs only in times of adversity.

Summing up the feelings engendered by the discussions, His Holiness felt that there seems to be general agreement that inner values were important.  He urged the people to think over this and said that it is our common responsibility to promote these values, beginning within a family then sharing with other families and expanding it further. He concluded that this was the way to change the society.

President Noseworthy concluded the session by appreciating the contribution of the panelist and thanking His Holiness for sharing his thoughts on the principles of mindfulness.

In the afternoon, six young recipients of Mind & Life Institute’s Francisco J. Varela Research Awards presented their findings from pilot projects to His Holiness in a session entitled “Latest Findings in Contemplative Neuroscience.” The young scientists were Thorsten Barnhofer, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London (on effect of mind training on depression); Willoughby Britton, Brown Univeristy Medical School (on the nature and phenomenology of meditation-related difficulties); Norm Farb, Rothman Research Institute(on distinct brain systems supporting conscious experience); Baljinder Sahdra, University of Western Sydney, Australia(on effect of nonattachment); David Vago, Harvard Medical School(on process models for specific meditative practices that cultivate mindfulness); and Helen Weng, University of Wisconsin, Madison(on the effects of compassion meditation ontraining on the brain and altruistic behavior).  Dr. Richard Davidson moderated the session with Dr. Thupten Jinpa.

The Varela Awards were established in 2004 as a companion program to the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute and have been a critical element in supporting the development of the Contemplative Sciences. Since inception, at least 62 articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals by Varela Awardees, with at least 14 additional articles under review and 46 in preparation.

His Holiness then left Rochester for Chicago, IL, for his next leg of the current tour.  On His Holiness’ arrival in Chicago airport, Mr. Tashi Tsering Phuri, President of Chicago TIBETcenter, and officials of Nobel Peace Laureates Summit and Loyola University received him.  His Holiness will be participating in events connected with the Nobel Peace Laureates Summit on April 25, 2012.

http://tibet.net/2012/04/25/his-holiness-shares-views-on-mindfulness-at-mayo-clinic-discussion/

Sua Santità il Dalai Lama: “E' arrivato il momento per la Cina di interrogarsi sulle reali cause che portano i tibetani a sacrificare le loro vite”.

Dagli Stati Uniti, dove si trova in questi giorni, il Dalai Lama ha commentato la drammatica situazione tibetana. Il 22 aprile, parlando a un gruppo di 500 studenti cinesi, il leader spirituale tibetano, dopo aver ribadito che l’unione con la Cina è nell’interesse dei tibetani – ma solo in presenza di una reale autonomia - ha affermato tra l’altro che all’epoca della Rivoluzione Culturale i funzionari cinesi in Tibet affermarono che avrebbero annientato la lingua e la cultura tibetana nell’arco di una quindicina d’anni. Questa politica, ha affermato il Dalai Lama, è stata la causa scatenante delle dimostrazioni del 2008 e di quelle che si sono succedute ma i cinesi, volendo trovare un capro espiatorio, hanno accusato la mia persona di essere il mandante delle proteste. Per questo, ha aggiunto, ho perso ogni fiducia nel governo di Pechino, anche se continuo fermamente a credere nel popolo cinese. “Per trent’anni” – ha affermato – “ho fatto del mio meglio per trovare una soluzione al problema tibetano, ma i funzionari del Fronte Unito per il Lavoro hanno completamente travisato le mie intenzioni”. Interrogato sulla tragedia delle auto immolazioni, il Dalai Lama ha preferito astenersi dal commentare questo argomento per i suoi forti connotati politici. Il 17 aprile, nello stato delle Hawaii, il Dalai Lama ha però definito le immolazioni “un fatto molto triste” la cui responsabilità è da attribuirsi al governo cinese che occupa il paese da oltre cinquant’anni. Ha inoltre affermato che è arrivato il momento per la Cina di interrogarsi sulle reali cause che portano i tibetani a sacrificare le loro vite. In un’intervista televisiva il leader spirituale tibetano ha, infatti, affermato che la responsabilità dell’attuale ondata di auto immolazioni in Tibet è da imputarsi alla politica “totalitaria, cieca e irrealistica” della Repubblica Popolare Cinese e, di conseguenza, spetta alla stessa Cina riflettere seriamente sulle conseguenze del suo operato.

Fonti: The Tibet Post – TCHRD – Phayul – Italia Tibet

È stata data ufficialmente notizia della morte di Choephag Kyab e di Sonam, i due giovani tibetani immolatisi con il fuoco a Zamthang, località a sud est di Ngaba, il giorno 19 aprile. Intanto arrivano dal Tibet notizie di nuovi pestaggi, arresti, espulsioni di monaci dai monasteri e chiusure di scuole e istituzioni tibetane. Il Centro Tibetano per i Diritti Umani e la Democrazia ha reso noto che il 14 aprile, circa 250 tibetani residenti nel villaggio di Da-Yul (nella Contea di Kardze) sono stati arrestati per aver protestato contro la chiusura di una organizzazione locale, la Da-yul Thundin Tsogpa”, letteralmente “l’Associazione per l’Unità di Da-yul”.

L’organizzazione, che dal 2008 riunisce gli abitanti di tredici villaggi aiutandoli a risolvere dispute locali e a cementarne l’unità, è stata accusata dalle autorità cinesi di svolgere attività politiche e per questo definita “illegale”. L’ingiunzione di chiusura immediata ha causato il risentimento della popolazione locale che è scesa in piazza. Un gruppo di oltre trecento poliziotti è subito arrivato dalla vicina Kardze e ha arrestato il leader dell’organizzazione assieme a 250 tibetani. Questa misura ha scatenato nuove proteste e la polizia è intervenuta pesantemente picchiando i manifestanti: almeno dieci tibetani sono stati ricoverati all’ospedale. Il giorno successivo, 15 aprile, almeno duemila tibetani sono scesi in piazza chiedendo il rilascio di tutti gli arrestati. La loro richiesta è stata esaudita anche se solo parzialmente: trentatré tibetani restano in carcere. Il 5 aprile almeno sessanta tibetani sono stati tratti in arresto a Jalsa, nella Contea di Lithang, per aver protestato contro il programma di rieducazione patriottica imposto dalle autorità cinesi che imponeva a monaci e laici di denunciare il Dalai Lama come ispiratore delle rivolte. Quaranta tibetani sono stati deportati a Lithang, altri venti sono stati trattenuti a Jalsa ma non si hanno loro notizie.

Il 20 aprile è stata data ufficialmente notizia della morte di Choephag Kyab e di Sonam, i due giovani tibetani immolatisi con il fuoco a Zamthang, località a sud est di Ngaba, il giorno 19 aprile. I due ragazzi, nei loro vent’anni e uniti da legami di parentela, si sono dati fuoco nelle vicinanze del locale monastero di Jonang Zamthang Gonchen. I residenti hanno impedito alle forze dell’ordine di impadronirsi dei due cadaveri che sono stati portati all’interno dell’istituto religioso. Le autorità hanno ordinato che fossero cremati la sera stessa.

Fonti: The Tibet Post – TCHRD – Phayul – Italia Tibet

The Year of the Stray Dog

By Yan Lianke

BEIJING — Old habits die hard. Despite leaving my home in the countryside more than 30 years ago, I never feel that the first of January marks the start of a new year. In my hometown, the true beginning of a new year is the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year.
The year 2011 for me was as long and dark as a tunnel without light.
My dark 2011 started with my son’s search for a job. He had finished his studies in Britain and returned to China armed with a master’s degree in law. He believes that to make a difference in China he must start his career as a public servant within the legal system. However, because he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, it is almost impossible for him to sit for the national civil service exam to get the job he wants.
He considered joining the Communist Party more than once when he was an undergraduate. I talked him out of it every time, saying, “Do people have to be party members to get on in this life?” As a father, my son’s experience makes me feel I should kneel down in front of the party leaders and beg them to give young people who are not party members the same career opportunities it gives to those who have joined.The darkness of 2011 continued. My latest work, “Four Books” — a novel that directly confronts the Chinese people’s traumatic experiences during the Great Leap Forward of the late 1950s and the subsequent famine — was rejected by almost 20 publishing houses. The reasons I was given were all along the same lines: Anyone who dares to publish my book in China is certain to be closed down.
The novel took me 20 years to plan and two years to write. It is important to me as a writer, and I know it will be an important contribution to Chinese literature. However, I am fully aware of the realities of publishing in China, so I have no choice but to accept the fate of my book. All I can do is sigh.
COMPOUNDING the nightmare of my book’s nonpublication in China was the forced demolition of my house for a road-widening project in Beijing. It came like a hurricane. No one bothered to show the evicted residents in my neighborhood any official documents relating to the project; the non-negotiable compensation was set at a flat 500,000 yuan (about $79,000) per household, regardless of the area of the land or the original construction cost. The residents were told, “Whoever cooperates with the government will be further rewarded 700,000 yuan.” That’s approximately $190,000 in total. This seemingly large sum in fact is only enough to buy a toilet in a good neighborhood in today’s Beijing.
The conflict between the residents and the demolition crew was intense. Residents pledged to defend their properties and dignity with their lives.
The battle raged for months. One day the wall surrounding the neighborhood compound was demolished at dawn. Some elderly battle-weary residents had to be rushed to the hospital. Then came news of a series of “burglaries” in the compound, which everyone knew was a tactic intended to intimidate residents. Reporting the burglaries to the police was as meaningless as an elementary school student reporting a lost pencil.
On Nov. 30, one day before the forced demolition deadline, I wrote a petition to the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu Jintao, and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and posted it on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, urging an end to the game of cat-and-mouse played with people whose houses were about to be demolished. I knew the letter would not reach its intended recipients, but I hoped it would attract enough attention to pressure the local government to avoid bloodshed during the demolition.
My letter was widely reposted and spread nationwide almost instantly. Still, it had no more impact than a whisper in the wind.

AT ABOUT 5 a.m. on Dec. 2, a group of uniformed men and women wearing helmets broke into my neighbor’s house through a window. After having told the intruders that he objected to the demolition, my neighbor was taken away and locked up. A few large pieces of furniture were moved outside and his house was bulldozed. He later recalled that when he was taken away that morning, he saw more than 200 people, all uniformed and wearing helmets, surrounding his house.
In December, more than 30 families were finally coerced into agreeing to the demolition. That marked the end of my dark 2011. The experience made me realize that in reality the dignity of a citizen and a writer is no more significant than a hungry dog begging its master for food; in reality, the rights a citizen can actually enjoy are no more than the air a person can hold in his hand.
I wanted to cry. Sometimes I imagine it would be a great privilege to be able to cry aloud in Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing.

People live like dogs in this society. I dream of being able to bark out loud in my books, and of turning my barking into exquisite music. This strange life and this strange dream keep me alive, and sometimes even give me confidence. At the same time, I am constantly disheartened.
Emotionally exhausted, I longed to leave the dark Beijing of 2011 behind me and go home. I longed for a new beginning in 2012 — a new beginning in my hometown, to be with my mother, to be with my relatives, to let their simple warmth take away the coldness, anxiety and fear that had enveloped me in the dark tunnel of 2011.
I WENT home. For 10 days I spent all my time with my 80-year-old mother, my elder brother and his wife and my nieces in our hometown of Songxian, in Western Henan province. We talked about the past, told jokes and played mahjong. Not a single word about my writing or my unhappiness was mentioned. It was as if we all lived perfect lives.
All I could see was bright sunlight. All I could feel was the love of my close relatives. For 10 days, we sat in front of the TV. We watched silly soap operas and the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. The TV programs were mediocre, but the love of my family pushed away the darkness of 2011. I felt safe.
On the eve of the Lunar New Year we ate a traditional meal of dumplings together. Mother gave me a portion of her dumplings to show her love. A few wisps of white hair fell onto a face that was beaming with happiness. “Our country is rich now. Isn’t it wonderful!” she said. “We can now have meat-filled dumplings, as often as we ate wild grass when we were poor.”
My elder brother was a postman who rode a bicycle to deliver letters all his working life. He is now retired and drives a car I bought with royalties from my books. “Why do people hate the government?” he asked me while driving to visit a relative in a remote mountain village. “Our lives are good. Isn’t that enough?”
My two elder sisters are farmers. They loved the soap opera about a wise Qing dynasty emperor who treated his subjects well. My sisters want me to write a soap opera script like that to garner fame and fortune. Just one successful soap opera would let the whole family bask in glory, they said.
I don’t know if my family truly believes these things, or whether they were just trying to comfort me. I don’t know if their newly acquired wealth makes the Chinese people truly believe that warm clothes and a full stomach are more important than rights and dignity. Or did they always think that a plate of dumplings and a bit of money in their pockets are more useful than rights and dignity?
I didn’t ask and didn’t really want to delve into it because I know there’s no clear-cut answer. As for myself, I’d rather uphold my dignity even if it means dying of starvation. This belief is in my blood. It is supposed to be the guiding principle for all men of letters, but for many in today’s China it is no more than gibberish. Why am I complaining? If even men of letters choose a bit of food and a little money over dignity, how can I criticize my less-educated relatives?
THE SIXTH day of the Lunar New Year is an auspicious day to travel. It was time to leave. All my relatives came out to say goodbye. Mother was in tears as always on such occasions. She was quiet until the last moment.
“Make friends with people in power,” she whispered in my ear. “Don’t do anything to annoy them.”
My brother sent me a text message after I left. “I didn’t say this to you because it was a festive time. Remember: Never do anything to annoy the government, no matter what.”
My nephew accompanied me to the nearby highway entrance ramp. “My mother asked me to tell you,” said the boy hesitantly, “Look after your health. Don’t write too much, and if you really must write, then write something that praises the government and the nation. Don’t become foolish with age.”
I nodded.
“Tell your grandma, uncle and your mother: Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. My writing is going well. I’m doing well. Apart from acquiring some wrinkles and white hair, nothing bad will happen to me.” I drove away.
As I drove, tears streamed down my face for no apparent reason. I just wanted to cry. Was it for my mother, my brother, my relatives and the strangers who forget about their dignity as long as they have enough to eat? Or for people like me who worship rights and dignity but live the life of a stray dog? I don’t know. I just wanted to cry out loud.
I pulled over and let my tears flow — down my face and in my heart. After a long while, after my tears dried, I started the car again. I was on my way back to Beijing, panting and anxious, like a stray dog lost in a dark tunnel.
Yan Lianke is a Chinese writer of novels and short stories based in Beijing. His works include “The Dream of Ding Village,” about the blood-selling scandal in his home province of Henan. This article was translated from the Chinese by Jane Weizhen Pan and Martin Merz.

http://tibet.net/2012/04/23/the-year-of-the-stray-dog-by-yan-lianke/

His Holiness the Dalai Lama addresses a gathering of Chinese scholars and students in Rochester, Minnesota, on April 22, 2012. Photo/Shenphen Sangpo

His Holiness began by talking about everyone of them being the same human being from the one blue planet.  He said if we have such a mindset then we will not see any need to involve in cheating, etc.  His Holiness said Han and Tibetans have sufficient reason to fight. Historically, he said for the past 1000 years or so Tibetan and Chinese emperors specially have had a close relationship, including marital ties.  He said the ties have sometimes been happy ones and at other times problematic.

He said throughout the world things are changing referring to how the European Union has evolved.  In the Tibetan case, the Tibetans have a distinct identity, including our own language and written script, which is closer to the Indian Devnagri script, he said.  We must, however, think of the reality, he said. His Holiness said it is in the Tibetan people’s own interest to remain within the People’s Republic of China.  However, there should be meaningful autonomy, he said.
His Holiness said the 17 Point Agreement that Tibet had signed with China was in the spirit of one country, two systems. He talked about his visit to China in 1954-55 and his meetings with Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi (who he called as his immediate boss), Zhou Enlai. Etc. His Holiness said he had much interest in Marxism and had expressed his desired to the Chinese Communist Party, but was asked to wait.  He added that although he considers himself a Marxist, he is not a Leninist. He talked about Mao’s interest in Tibet and how he even asked His Holiness to be in direct touch with him.  Subsequently, in 1956, when His Holiness was in India Zhou Enlai and He Long had come on a visit there to meet with Indian officials and also with him. He said that Zhao had a message from Chairman Mao saying that the controversial reforms campaign in Tibet would be postponed for six years, and if needed would be postponed further.  Zhao also told His Holiness as well as the Indian government officials that the Tibetan case is something unique. Gradually, however, Chairman Mao’s own thinking went extreme leftist and the result was the Cultural Revolution.
In Tibet, His Holiness said that some local officials had made a pledge during the Cultural Revolution period that they would exterminate the Tibetan language within 15 years.  He also talked about Chinese Party Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region, Chen Kuiyuan, banning the study of classical Tibetan texts in Tibet University in Lhasa.
His Holiness said all these were the cause for the 2008 protests in Tibet.  But the Chinese authorities wanted to find a scapegoat and blamed him. He said after the protests in Tibet wherever he went in Europe, the United States, Australia, including here in Rochester, there were demonstrations by Chinese students.
His Holiness had subsequently said that on account of the way the Chinese leadership has been approaching the Tibetan issue, his faith in the Chinese Government had grown thinner although his faith in the Chinese people remained strong.
He said he had told a Chinese friend from Beijing that he had tried his best to work for a solution for the Tibetan issue for the past 30 years but that the Chinese United Front has destroyed his spirit.  He said that since 2001 he had become semi retired following the direct election of Tibetan leadership. Following the devolution of authority in 2011, His Holiness said the new political leadership had happily and gladly supported the Middle Way Approach.
H

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is welcomed by well-wishers on his arrival in Rochester, Minnesota, on April 22, 2012. Photo/ShenphenSangpo

is Holiness said China was aspiring to be a super power and if this was done with joy with liberty and freedom, the Tibetan people will feel proud to join. He said so far China is a close and secret society and unpredictable. Thus, neighbors like India, Japan and even Vietnam a Communist country are suspicious. China needs to open up, he said.  His Holiness said the Chinese students are in the United State a free society and so should be able to see for themselves the reality.
He said in the United States, even President Clinton had to undergo legal process when he was in a problem.  Similarly, in Taiwan former President Chen Shuibian came under judicial investigation.  His Holiness said he had written to President Chen then saying that as a friend, he was sad to learn of his situation but on the other hand the development is a testimony to democracy.
Thereafter, His Holiness answered questions from the people, including about Chinese traditional medicine, role of Karma in human development, etc. He clarified some of the misconceptions, including about him being recognized as a reincarnation by the Kuomintang Chinese Government, and Tibetans demanding “Great Tibet.” One Chinese said he was sorry for the self-immolations in Tibet and asked about it.  His Holiness said self-immolations have taken place not just among Tibetans, but also among Chinese, Vietnamese and even in the former Czechoslovakia. He said these are the result of people who are in a desperate situation but who do not want to harm others.
He said the development is terrible and very sad, and said that there needs to be thorough investigations into their causes.  He said these people are not drunk or committing self-immolation on account of a personal tragedy. The Chinese leadership must inquire thoroughly, he said. His Holiness said that the issue is sensitive political point and so since he had already retired he did not want to comment more than this.
His Holiness also responded to a comment about the Chinese attitude towards the 2008 Tibetan protest in the light of the Olympics. He said that he had actually supported the Olympics for China and this was recognized by a member of the Olympics Committee has having impacted his decision.
His Holiness said the People’s Republic of China belongs to its 1.3 billion citizens, who have the right to know the truth and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, he called for transparency saying censorship is immoral.
Members of the Tibetan community in Minnesota, including students, have been involved in a dialogue process with Chinese students and scholars in the area. Some of them were present at the discussion with His Holiness. The Chinese participants subsequently had a discussion session with Mr. Tsegyam Ngapa, Secretary to His Holiness, and Mr. Kunga Tashi, Chinese Liaison Officer at the Office of Tibet in New York.
His Holiness will undergo routine check up during his stay in Rochester. On April 24, 2012, he will join a panel discussion on resilience through mindfulness at the Mayo Clinic.  Among the panelists are John Noseworthy, M.D., president and CEO, Mayo Clinic; Amit Sood, M.D., Mayo Clinic; Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., Mind & Life Institute; Carla Paonessa, Mayo Clinic Leadership Board, Mayo Clinic Arizona; and Sherry Chesak, Mayo Clinic.

http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/793-his-holiness-speaks-to-chinese-students-in-rochester-mn

L’Associazione Italia-Tibet e la Comunità Tibetana in Italia hanno indetto una campagna di solidarietà e di raccolta firme a favore della liberazione di quattro prigionieri politici tibetani. Chiediamo la scarcerazione dell’XI Panchen Lama, di Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, di Dhondup Wanchen e di Jigme Guri. La campagna è ufficialmente lanciata oggi Sabato 21 aprile, a Milano, Piazza S. Babila, dove è allestito, dalle ore 14.00 alle ore 20.00, un banchetto con materiale informativo e i moduli per la raccolta delle firme

FIRMA ANCHE TU!

Invitiamo i simpatizzanti della causa tibetana a scaricare e stampare i moduli sotto riportati e a partecipare alla campagna raccogliendo le firme tra amici e conoscenti. Le firme raccolte dovranno essere inviate entro la fine del mese di giugno 2012 a: Associazione Italia-Tibet, Via Pinturicchio 25, 20133 Milano.

I quattro moduli per la raccolta firme

Liberazione dell’XI Panchen Lama: nato il 25 aprile 1989 e rapito nel 1995, all’età di 6 anni, dopo il suo riconoscimento da parte del Dalai Lama come reincarnazione del X Panchen Lama, fu all’epoca definito da Amnesty International “il più giovane prigioniero politico del mondo”. Non si hanno più sue notizie. Il 25 aprile compirà 23 anni.

SCARICA IL MODULO

Liberazione di Tenzin Delek Rinpoche: condannato all’ergastolo il 7 aprile 2002 con l’accusa di aver compiuto attività separatiste, ha sempre protestato la sua innocenza. E’ in carcere da 10 anni.

SCARICA IL MODULO

Liberazione di Dhondup Wanchen: regista tibetano arrestato nel 2008 per aver girato un filmato in cui intervista i suoi connazionali sulla situazione del Tibet occupato. E’ in carcere da 6 anni.

SCARICA IL MODULO

Liberazione di Jigme Guri: assistente del regista Dhondup Wanchen, arrestato e torturato nel 2008, è stato nuovamente arrestato nel gennaio 2011 per aver denunciato in un video le torture che gli erano state inflitte. E’ accusato di attività separatiste.

SCARICA IL MODULO

Grazie per la vostra partecipazione e il vostro sostegno

Associazione Italia-Tibet - Comunità Tibetana in Italia - Onlus

Well-wishers greet His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his arrival at his hotel in Long Beach, California, on April 20, 2012. Photo/Max Roper

Long Beach, California, USA, 20 April 2012 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama left San Diego on April 20th morning arriving in Long Beach a little after 8:00 am to continue with his visit to Southern California.  The Abbot of Gaden Shartse, Jangchup Choeden, and officials of the Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling Center, the host of his visit, received him at the airport. At the hotel, members of the Tibetan community in Southern California as well as of the GSTDL Center had gathered to receive him. Before a gathering of the press, the Mayor of Long Beach City, Bob Foster, welcomed His Holiness and announced that a tree will be planted in Long Beach in his honor. Then State Senator Lou Correa informed His Holiness of how he had read many of his books as a young boy and admired his thoughts. The Senator also presented to His Holiness a plaque of appreciation as a humble symbol of the people of Orange County, in which Long Beach is located. In his remarks to the press, His Holiness said wherever he went he talked about his two commitments of promoting human values and promoting religious harmony and understanding.  He said at the human level he was no one special and the same as any other human being.  He believed that man being a social animal; an individual’s interest depends on that of the rest of the world. He said the basic human nature is that of compassion, and being gentle. He said there was the need to create awareness of the fact that the ultimate source of a successful life and a happy life is within us. He said his number two commitment related to religion. He said all the major world religious traditions have different approach, but the essential message is the same, i.e. the practice of love, tolerance, contentment, etc. Talking about the service of the religious community to society, His Holiness said Christians have made the greatest contribution in the field of education and health. However, only in the past, even today, religion sometimes causes division. His Holiness then referred to the situation in India where he said even a child understands the co-existence of the different religious traditions there.  Talking about respecting other religious traditions, His Holiness recalled an Australian Christian leader who introduced him as being a good Christian at a public meeting. His Holiness said he had in turn called the Reverend a good Buddhist.  His Holiness said that he believed he has been able to make a small contribution in promoting inter religious harmony. His Holiness said previous he had his third commitment concerning Tibet, but since 2001 after having an elected leadership they took major decisions and his position became that of being semi retired. He said in 2011 the term of the elected leader ended and elections took place. He said he observed the active involvement of the Tibetan community in the process and thought about devolving his political authority so that he could have complete retirement.  Subsequently, on May 29, 2011 he had signed a legislation handing over the political authority to the elected leadership. Therefore, in certain matters, he said he was now freer. His Holiness said the reason he mentioned these issues is because he felt the media also had a role in creating awareness about them. Emphasizing that the media had a special role His Holiness repeated his assertion that the media should have a long nose like an elephant that can smell not only in the front but also in the back. He said the media should point out if religious people were acting hypocritically and do not practice properly. He said the case was similar with politicians, pointing to the Long Beach Mayor and the State Senator present in the room.
A journalist asked how should the media maintain a balance when the people seem to want bad news. His Holiness said while reporting bad news the media could also highlight the potential of hope.  He added that tragic news could also be an opportunity to introduce care. He felt that the reason why the Buddha taught suffering as the first of the four Noble truths was not to demoralize the people. Rather, he said that if people realize suffering then naturally nobody wants to suffer and so will look for a remedy. In response to a question about cultivating a peaceful mind, His Holiness talked about the connection between the mind and the body. He said the mental system, like the physical in that if the basic health condition is weak then even small viruses can affect it. He said therefore there was the need to build a healthy mental state, in the form of moral ethics.  He said doing this through a religious approach makes it limited and creates borders.  He talked about the age-old tradition of secularism in India where there is respect for all religious believers as well as non-believers. He felt this could be promoted through common experience, by using common sense and looking at scientific findings.  His Holiness said these days scientists are beginning to feel that emotion is important and that a calm mind was helpful for good health.  His Holiness recalled attending a conference in San Francisco on youth violence the conclusion of which was that this came about on account of a lack of affection. His Holiness talked about incorporating the study of moral ethics in the education system and said in the next few years we will develop a plan on how to do this. The next question was the news from Tibet about yet another two Tibetans having committing self-immolations and how His Holiness saw the overall issue of self-immolations in Tibet.  His Holiness said that the development was very sad.  The issue is very political.  However, he said soon after the first such incidents he was in Japan and had then called for the concerned people to do a thorough investigation into the real cause.  He talked about incidents of self-immolation in Vietnam and China, too, where during the Cultural Revolution an abbot of a monastery had committed self-immolation when the Red Guards were trying to destroy the monastery. His Holiness also recalled visiting the site of a self-immolation by Jan Palach, a student in Czechoslovakia. His Holiness said there were some who feel that the self-immolations have occurred all of a sudden. He said it was not so and that it was directly related to more than two decades of policies by local Chinese authorities.  The tightening of control in monasteries and schools (one hard lined Chinese Party Secretary banned the teaching of classical Tibetan text in Tibet University in Lhasa), effort to start political education in monasteries, etc. made some Tibetans say that there was a sort of semi Cultural Revolution taking place.  He said further tightening of control and suppression has been the immediate cause of the 2008 demonstrations in Tibet. His Holiness also said in recent times the Chinese authorities have called for launching a war against “splittism” and asked if, as the Chinese claim, it is just “a handful of splittists” why would there be the need of a war? His Holiness said in the late 1950s there have been a lot of suffering in Tibet and a Chinese writer was coming out soon with a new book showing the finding that half a million Tibetans have been killed or died of torture. He said Tibetans have our own language and culture, which are the sources of the Tibetan spirit.  He said the Chinese leadership is targeting that.
His Holiness, however, said fortunately Chinese Prime Minister has been talking about the need for political reform, repeating the same during a press conference after this year’s National People’s Congress session.  A few days after Wen’s statement, action was taken against the hardliner Bo Xilai. His Holiness said may be the open-minded leaders could be getting the upper hand.
To a question about the possibility of 15th Dalai Lama not being there, His Holiness joked about being asked this question in Newark. He joked that at that time he had removed his glasses, looked straight at the journalist who asked the question asking whether any hurry was needed by looking at his face.  His Holiness mentioned a statement that he had issued in September 2011 outlining his thoughts on his reincarnation.  He said Tibetan spiritual leaders have been meeting several times and during some meetings the issue of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation has been raised.  He said in his statement he had clarified that when he reaches around 89 or 90 years old he would convene a meeting of concerned people to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. He said actually he had said as early as 1969 that if the majority of the people feel that the Dalai Lama institution was not needed, it could end. He joked that it may not be a bad idea if the institution stopped when the 14th Dalai Lama is very popular. Another journalist asked about North Korea and what His Holiness would do if he were invited to that country. His Holiness replied that if some serious and sincere invitation came he would consider that. Thereafter, His Holiness went to the Long Beach Arena to perform the preparatory ritual for the Yamantaka Initiations.  From there he addressed a gathering at a luncheon for supporters of the event and talked about the linguistic ability of Shartse Abbot Jangchup Choeden who can speak Hindi, English, Chinese, etc. His Holiness also talked positively about the late Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen, the founder of Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling Center, as a good scholar but also “a little bit naughty.” He said that Geshe Gyeltsen and Geshe Lhundup Sopa (in Madison) were among the top scholars. His Holiness said he had initially planned on bestowing the Yamantaka Initiation last year but had to cancel it after he was indisposed on his way here. Therefore, he had promised the Abbot that he would bestow it this time.  His Holiness thanked the supporters of the event and joked that he was extending the thanks for the fund being raised by others. In the afternoon, His Holiness conducted the Tagon (preliminary preparatory teachings) of the Yamantaka Empowerment. He gave a commentary on The Song of the Four Mindfulnesses, Causing the Rain of Achievements to Fall by the Seventh Dalai Lama.
Speaking about the Yamantaka empowerment His Holiness said he had received it first from Taktra Rinpoche, one of his tutors, and later from Ling Rinpoche (also his tutor). However, he had begun Yamantaka practice when he was quite young, mainly to improve the sharpness of mind.  He added that people who did this practice saw changes within a short period of time.
His Holiness will bestow the initiations in the morning on April 21, 2012. In the afternoon, he will give a public talk, “Peace in Troubled Times.”

http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/791-his-holiness-arrives-in-long-beach-and-begins-yamantaka-initiations

http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/791-his-holiness-arrives-in-long-beach-and-begins-yamantaka-initiations

Sua Santità il Dalai Lama

Long Beach (California), 21 apr. (TMNews) - Il Dalai Lama si è detto dispiaciuto per l’ondata di immolazioni tibetane degli ultimi mesi, con 34 casi dall’inizio del 2011: “E’ un fatto molto triste, ma allo stesso tempo si tratta di una questione molto politica e preferisco non commentare”.
Il leader spirituale tibetano - in visita negli Stati Uniti - ha tuttavia aggiunto di vedere dei segni di riforma politica in Cina: le dichiarazioni rese il mese scorso dal premier cinese Wen Jiabao mostrano a suo dire che Pechino non ha altra scelta che quella di procedere a delle riforme strutturali e politiche. (fonte Afp)

Una scuola per bambini in Tibet

Sichuan, chiusa a forza una scuola di tibetano
Le autorità temono e proibiscono ogni forma di insegnamento autonomo: in Tibet e nelle province cinesi a maggioranza tibetana si deve parlare e scrivere in mandarino. Arrestati il preside e un insegnante: la scuola era aperta da più di 20 anni. Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Le autorità cinesi della contea di Kardze, nella provincia del Sichuan, hanno chiuso con la forza una scuola che insegnava ai giovani in lingua tibetana. Il direttore e un insegnante sono stati arrestati e portati in una località sconosciuta. Secondo Pechino, l’insegnamento del tibetano - la lingua ma anche la cultura, la musica e la storia - è un crimine paragonabile all’indipendentismo. Alcune fonti confermano l’accaduto. Lo scorso 2 aprile, ma la notizia si è appresa solo ora, un gruppo di agenti in divisa si è recato presso la scuola Khadrok Jamtse Rokten e ne ha ordinato la chiusura. Alle proteste del preside Nyendak e del maestro Yama Tsering hanno tirato fuori le armi. L’istituto opera sul territorio da più di 20 anni ed è finanziato del tutto dai locali. Subito dopo la chiusura, le autorità hanno inviato a tutte le famiglie della zona l’ordine di inviare i propri figli (maggiori di 7 anni di età) presso la scuola governativa della municipalità di Kardze. Inoltre, tutti sono stati avvertiti di “gravi conseguenze” in caso di riapertura clandestina della scuola. Pechino considera da tempo la libertà di istruzione una minaccia per il proprio dominio sul Tibet. Sin dall’invasione del 1949, il governo centrale ha imposto ai tibetani di leggere, scrivere e lavorare in cinese mandarino. Lo scopo è quello di stroncare sul nascere ogni possibile spirito indipendentista.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama holding the University of San Diego’s Medal of Peace presented to him before his talk in San Diego on 18 April 2012/Photo/Tim Mantoani

San Diego: On his final full day in San Diego during this visit, on April 19, 2012 His Holiness continued with his theme of compassion without borders and spoke to a sold out crowd of 13000 people at the San Diego State University on upholding universal ethics and compassion.  He also participated in a discussion on neuroscience and the emerging mind with scientists. In the morning, His Holiness visited the Viejas Arena of San Diego State University and gave an interview to Maureen Cavanaugh of KPBS, the San Diego affiliate of Public Broadcasting Service. He responded to questions relating to compassion in the American society and on his devolution of political authority.  This is being broadcast later in the day. Thereafter, His Holiness entered the stage of the arena to a thunderous welcome from the people. Dr. Elliot Hirshman, President of San Diego State University, welcomed His Holiness to the event.  Thereafter, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders presented His Holiness with the Key to the City. In a brief remark, the Mayor said, “Throughout his teachings, His Holiness encourages all of us to strive for a better future, through peace and compassion for others. With this key, we offer His Holiness a promise to keep working for a brighter tomorrow.” The Mayor said that His Holiness’ message of compassion and peace resonates with the citizens of his city.

Ms. Lauren Powell Jobs, in her introduction of His Holiness, said his message was that altruism to our spiritual wellbeing is a civic responsibility.  She termed His Holiness a religious leader who includes and not excludes. She applauded the approach of His Holiness and the Tibetan people even in the face of “terrible experience of oppression that continues even to this day.”His Holiness then began his talk on “Upholding Universal Ethics and Compassion in Challenging Times”

His Holiness said he usually began by calling everyone brothers and sisters, through which he wanted to indicate that we are truly the same human being.  He said we have the same potential for construction and destruction.  He said fear, jealousy, anger, frustrations, etc. ultimately bring destructive action, both physical and verbal.

His Holiness said the seed of compassion was in each and every individual.  He said even animals like cats, dogs and birds respond to affections shown to them.  He added that kittens and puppies could respond these form of biological compassion. He talked about newborn puppies whose eyes may not be opened but nevertheless looks for the nipples of their mother and feel happy once they find them and start consuming the milk. He said turtles might be an exception as the mothers don’t care for the eggs once they are hatched. With alligators, His Holiness said that he had noticed that the mother would watch from a distance as her egg hatches.  These show that compassion was needed when life begins, he said, adding that compassion was essential even at the time life ends.  He said showing of closeness feeling at the time of a person’s death will ease the process for the person and that money, power , fame, etc. are of no use at that stage.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama answering a question from the audience during his talk at San Diego State University on 19 April 2012/Photo/Tim Mantoana

His Holiness said from his own experience he knows that an affectionate feeling shown by others has a positive feeling in oneself. He talked about his experience with doctors saying some doctors merely seem to treat patients without much of a personal feeling. At such time, he said he gets the feeling that the doctor may merely be performing an experiment on him.

His Holiness suggested generating a feeling of oneness and recalled a chant that he had heard in Hawaii recently, the meaning of which was explained to him as being. “Your bone is my bone, your blood is my blood.” He said this was very meaningful and said that we need to have the feeling that “your life is my life, your health is my health.” He added that such an attitude was very useful.

Explaining that compassion was something that needed to be cultivated by oneself, His Holiness talked about his growing awareness of western societies since his first travel to Europe in 1973. He said Tibetans had the impression that Europe was highly developed. In fact, those Tibetans who settled in Switzerland in the early 1960s expressed that the country was indeed paradise.  But through his subsequent travels to Europe, the United States, Canada, etc., he became aware of another reality that was beneath the beautiful surface. He learnt about problems of stress, alcohol, drugs, etc.

His Holiness said the situation in these countries clearly indicated that material development alone cannot bring about inner peace.  He added that physical comfort couldn’t subdue mental affliction.  On the other hand, if one is mentally calm, this can subdue any physical pain.

His Holiness also talked about the situation of gap between the rich and the poor throughout the world.  He said during his visits to Africa and Latin America, he could see this condition.  He said one of the issues affecting the world is corruption, which he said is the new cancer.

He said these problems come about because of a lack of self-discipline and training in moral ethics.  Although there are people who say that moral ethics should be based on religion, His Holiness said such a situation would have limited effect as no one religion can claim universal acceptance.  Since the problem, is universal, he said that we need to look for a universal solution.  His suggestion was to look for an approach that is not grounded in religion.  He said this was not a new idea as it has been a part of ancient Indian thoughts. He talked about the secularism that was promoted by India and that this did not mean being against religion.

San Diego State University’s Viejas Arena, the venue for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s talk in San Diego on 19 April 2012/Photo/Tim Mantoana

He said that children interact with each other without any thoughts of their respective background or social conditions. But as one grows up one begins to be taught about backgrounds and the earlier feeling of oneness becomes dormant.

Instead different feelings grow. He talked about the importance for people to make a distinction between these feelings. Competition in the sense of wanting to excel and to be at the top was good, but extreme competition that makes one desire worse outcome for others while wanting good for oneself was negative. Similarly, if one had extreme self-centered ego that disregarded other’s feelings it was negative while a sense of strong self in order to serve other people with infinite altruism is positive.

He said the feeling of desire that is mixed with attachment was destructive and shortsighted. Also, anger that comes out of a sense of concern for the wellbeing of others was positive while anger born out of ill feeling was negative.

His Holiness said people could understand the importance of the need to promote compassion through common experience, use of their common sense and through scientific findings about the connection between a healthy body and a healthy mind.  He said calm mind could only be developed through warm heartedness.

His Holiness talked about the importance of training the mind in this and to remove grounds for fear.  Some fear, he said, would be valid and gave the example of people living in Dharamsala being afraid of earthquake as it is in the earthquake zone. Under such a situation the fear leads people to take precaution, he said.  His Holiness also talked about his visits to China and India in the 1950s and being nervous then while meeting the leaders in these countries. However, subsequently through increased familiarity as well as through training he was able to overcome the nervousness, he said.  His Holiness said his tradition of dedicating his body, speech and action to the wellbeing of others every morning was helpful in transforming his mental state.

His Holiness said we needed to go away from the old concept of differentiating between me and others or we and they. Instead we need to think of a concept of Big We, with the entire seven billion people of the world being part of that.

His Holiness then answered some questions.  When asked how could an individual make a difference in this world, His Holiness said change occurs because of the combination of effort by individuals. We need to think along these lines and to know that an individual’s effort can multiply.  He said Jesus, Buddha and Mahavira, etc. were all individuals, who were able to make a difference.

A questioner asked about the most important thing to achieve in life. His Holiness responded by saying that in terms of the humanity in general, it would be a peaceful life.  At the individual level, he said that those believing in theistic religion would want to go to heaven. Since he is a Buddhist, His Holiness said many Tibetans would like to achieve Buddhahood in three years, which is unrealistic. But he said he was realistic and was striving to achieve the same in eons.

Asked about the biggest inspirations in his life, His Holiness said since he is a Buddhist he may be prejudiced, but the Buddha is his inspiration. In modern times, he said Mahatma Gandhi is his inspiration adding that he had not met Gandhi, except in a dream. He added that he also admired Vaclav Havel, Mother Teresa, and Thomas Merton.

At the end His Holiness stressed on the people gathered to strive to cultivate warm-heartedness and a sense of global responsibility. He said those people below 30 years or so have the opportunity to make the 21st century a better century.

Thereafter, as per the tradition established by His Holiness with events connected with him, the organizers made a financial statement. He said no public fund was used to bear the expenses connected with the visit. The total income as of April 17, 2012 from the events was $ 574,000 and the expenses to date were $527,000. The organizing committee’s representative made it clear that His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama does not charge a speaking engagement fee and no aspect of His Holiness’ visit is being used to profit financially. He added that any funds raised through sponsorships and tickets sales will be used only to cover expenses for the events. Any surplus fund from the events will be disbursed to national and international charitable organizations. The organizers presented Ven. Tenzin Dhonden, Chair of the Organizing Committee, with a citation appreciating his contribution.

Following lunch, His Holiness met a group of people from the Kumeyaay tribe of Native American people. They performed some songs and dances to welcome His Holiness in their tradition.  They also expressed their understanding of and support for the Tibetan people based on their own experience with their homeland in the United States. His Holiness advised them on the importance of getting good modern education and at the same time preserving their culture and language. He suggested that they think of devising a written script to promote and preserve their culture and language.  He also said people could learn from the Māori people of New Zealand as they are the most advanced among indigenous people.

Thereafter, His Holiness went to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and participated in a discussion with scientists titled, “Neuroscience and the Emerging Mind: A Conversation on Human Consciousness and Compassion.”

Members of the Native American Kumeyaay tribe perform traditional song and dance for His Holiness the Dalai Lama in San Diego, on 19 April 2012/Photo/Tim Mantoani

This panel discussion was a collaborative effort between the three San Diego universities to engage His Holiness in a conversation on human consciousness, from both scientific and philosophical perspectives.

His co-panelists were Dr. Jennifer Thomas, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University;  Dr. V.S. Ramachandran, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego; and Dr. Larry Hinman, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of San Diego.

In his welcome remarks, Dr. William Mobley, Neuroscience Department Chair, UC San Diego, said, “Much has been written and said of this extraordinary man, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.  That many dimensions of human experience that have engaged His Holiness is well known.  But it is in the juxtaposing his experiences and titles that one begins to understand him.

“He is called the Reincarnation of the Compassionate Buddha – but he thinks of himself a simple monk.”
“He is a spiritual leader, but also a powerful advocate for scientific research.”

“He is a man of peace, but also a man who relentlessly pursues justice.”
“A person of this place and time, but equally a man for all places and all times.”

He referred to His Holiness’ relationship with Prof. Bob Livingston, his predecessor at University of California, San Diego.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and fellow panelists during their discussion at the Scripps Institution in San Diego, on 19 April 2012/Photo/Tim Mantoani

Dr. Mobley also recognized Dr. Thupten Jinpa Langri as “a dear friend and colleague.”

His Holiness and the scientists engaged in a very deep discussion about the nature of brain during different aspects of human action and emotion.

His Holiness departs San Diego for Long Beach on April 20, 2012 morning to begin his programs there with the Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling.

http://tibet.net/2012/04/20/his-holiness-speaks-on-upholding-universal-ethics-and-compassion/

In reports coming out of Tibet, two more Tibetans set their bodies on fire today in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet. The two lay Tibetans are being identified as Choephag Kyab and Sonam from the Zamthang region of Ngaba, eastern Tibet. Exile sources say that the two set themselves of fire at around 1 pm (local time). No further details are available on the condition of the two Tibetan youths, both in their early 20s. The continuing wave of self-immolations in Tibet has witnessed 35 Tibetans set their bodies on fire demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet. Speaking to reporters earlier this week in Hawaii, the Dalai Lama had called for an investigation into the “real causes” of the self-immolations in Tibet. “Now the time comes for the Chinese authority to investigate what are the real causes,” the Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters. On February 19, Nangdrol, 18 had set himself on fire in Zamthang, raising slogans calling for the ‘long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’ and ‘freedom for Tibet.’ He passed away at the site of his protest. Reacting to the recently released video clip showing Chinese security personnel pushing down and kicking a Tibetan self-immolator while still on fire, Tenzin Chokyi, the general secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress told Phayul that the “absolute barbarism” displayed by the Chinese authorities will “only fuel more resentment and opposition” against the regime. “Seeing their sacrifice only reinforces our determination to work for a free Tibet more resolutely and strongly,” Chokyi said.

Font: Phayul[Thursday, April 19, 2012 13:52]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking with members of the media in San Diego on April 17, 2012. Photo.Tim Mantoani

In his opening statement, His Holiness outlined his two commitments of promoting human values and promoting religious harmony and understanding.  Talking about his third commitment concerning Tibet, His Holiness explained that in 2011 there was a change by which he devolved his political authority to an elected Tibetan leadership.

His Holiness said it is his basic belief that the world belongs to humanity and each country belongs to its people, and not to religious leaders kings, queens, emperors or political parties.  He said he had said on another occasion that America belongs to the over 300 million American people and not to the Republican or the Democratic parties.

He said from his days as a teenager, he had voiced his feeling that the governmental system in Tibet had lot of drawbacks. He said he had assumed temporal responsibility in 1950 and in 1952 established a Reforms Committee and started some reform.  He, however, added that this was not very successful because China wanted reforms according to its own agenda.His Holiness said that after 1959 he came to India a free country and was able to work on the democratization of the Tibetan society.  He said in 2001 Tibetans began directly electing a leader and he had maintained that he had become semi-retired then.  He said he had then expressed his desire to have complete retirement and after seeing the enthusiasm of the Tibetan people during the elections (for the Kalon Tripa, the Chairman of the Tibetan Cabinet) in 2010 he thought it was the right time to devolve all his political authority to the elected leadership. This happened in 2011.

On the issue of promoting inner values, His Holiness pointed to the theme of his visit to San Diego (that was printed on a banner behind the stage) and said there was the need for people to cultivate compassion without borders. He said compassion with borders was at the biological level and related to one’s concern for one’s family, etc.  However, this type of compassion could be taken as the seed and using human intelligence and applying scientific findings people could strive for compassion without borders,

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking with members of the media in San Diego on April 17, 2012. Photo.Tim Mantoani

He said one could generate this feeling by having the mindset that just as one wanted happiness and love for oneself others, too, have the same desire. Through this show of concern for the wellbeing of others one can eventually expand to concern for even one’s enemy.

On the commitment to promote religious harmony, His Holiness said this was a level of him being a Buddhist.  He said in India, beside the homegrown religions many other religious traditions co-exist. Therefore, India is a living example of the ability of different religious communities living together with mutual respect and for mutual benefit.

His Holiness said he would remain committed to these two commitments till his death. He explained that the reason why he was expanding on these points was because the media too had a role in promoting awareness of these. People need to realize that the real source of happiness was within them and not depended on power or money.  His Holiness said that while the media ought to report on negative developments, they also needed to talk about the above issues, particularly since in a democracy the media had an important role.

When asked for his views on a photo in the LA Times showing American soldiers with dead Afghans, His Holiness reiterated his basic opposition to the use of force saying it cannot be a solution.  He then talked about the importance of Ahimsa and non-violence and how non-violence is a realistic approach towards resolution of issues.  He said force could have unpredictable outcomes.

When asked about the absence of reports concerning Chinese protest over his visit this time indicated any improvement (in the Tibetan relationship with the Chinese authorities), His Holiness replied in the negative and suggested that the media should conduct deeper investigations on these.

Following this meeting with the press, His Holiness went to the venue of the panel discussion “The Global Impact of Climate Change: Balance Through Universal Responsibility, Compassion and Human Consciousness.”

UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox made a welcome remark in which she expressed her school’s appreciation of His Holiness’ presence. She said he was the first Nobel laureate to be recognized for his concern for the global environment.

His Holiness was introduced by Mr. Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, who gave highlights of his life, including some of the international awards bestowed upon him.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with fellow panelists at the panel discussion on climate change held at UCSD in San Diego, on April 17, 2012. Photo/Tim Mantoani

The panel discussion began thereafter. His Holiness’ co-panelists were Prof. Richard C. J. Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and Prof. Veerabhadran Ramanathan  Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, and Director, Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego

Prof. Somerville outlined the challenges of reducing the world’s emissions. He referred to His Holiness’ observation that nations were giving priority to their own individual interests than for the global interest on matters of the environment.

Prof. Ramanathan outlined his views on how much of the world’s population were unintentionally contributing to the pollution of the climate through use of wood stoves, etc. He highlighted His Holiness devoting an entire section to environment in his book, Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World, and how compassion without borders was a solution.

In his remarks, His Holiness spoke of his experience at learning about the importance of the environment.  He said growing up in Tibet he had no idea about environment pollution.  He talked about the cleanliness of the Tibetan environment by giving the example of Tibetan travellers having no hesitation in drinking water from the streams when they were thirsty.  They had no idea that water can be polluted.  After coming to India, His Holiness heard from people about how water from a river could not be consumed and that was a bit of surprise to him.

Subsequently, His Holiness said he had contact with scientists and had a special personal interest in the issue of environment. He said this is now the question of the survival of the planet and not just of an individual.

He said so far this blue planet is our only home and we need to take care of it.  He said people have immediate reaction when being confronted with photos or news concerning violence, bloodshed, war, starvation, etc. However, the problem of climate change was somewhat invisible and it would be too late if the situation became such that people would have to wear masks in urban areas or be confronted with lung problems, etc. as a result of environmental damage.

University of California San Diego, venue for the panel discussion with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in San Diego on April 17, 2012. Photo/Tim Mantoani

His Holiness said there was the need to create awareness over the issue of environment and climate change and that the scientists have a pertinent role in it. His Holiness suggested a worldwide movement like that of the Copenhagen summit on environmental awareness. He added that it was shortsighted of those countries that kept their national interest above that of the global interest concerning the environment. He talked about the situation in Mongolia where the use of coal by families was leading to health dangers. Drawing a connection between economic development and environmental damage, His Holiness said in countries like China and India on account of lack of modern facilities people are resorting to cutting of trees for fuel.

His Holiness said his effort is to draw attention to the fact that the world is interdependent and that each individual’s future is dependent on that of others. Therefore, there was the need for cooperation and the realization of a sense of global responsibility.  His Holiness emphasized on the importance of trust in this saying that without trust there cannot be friendship and that without friendship, there will be extreme self-centered attitude. He said people needed to realize that it was in their own interest to take care of others.  He said there was the need to generate a feeling of oneness of humanity and have some kind of concern for the wellbeing of the rest of humanity and the rest of sentient beings.

Here His Holiness said his interpreter Thupten Jinpa la reminded him that one of his friends, Prof. Bob Livingston, was from UC San Diego. He said Prof. Livingston was very much concerned about the future of the world and had launched effort for peace and against nuclear weapons.

Thereafter the panel took questions gathered from the public. To a question about changing the mindset of the political leaders on environment, His Holiness said that a drawback of modern education was that it was oriented toward material concerns and did not deal with inner peace.  Explaining the historical development that led to a neglect of moral ethics education, His Holiness said there was the need for a well-balanced education that incorporated both material and internal values. He said the media also had a role in this. Through these we can nurture a new generation of future leaders who will have a better appreciation of issues like climate change.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with fellow panelists at the panel discussion on climate change held at UCSD in San Diego, on April 17, 2012. Photo/Tim Mantoani

When asked on the best approach when people refused to accept the very existence of environmental problems, His Holiness said that it would depend on the mental attitude one had towards such people.  He said when he was confronted with such a situation he would respect their view but at the same time be forthright in arguing his case. He gave the example of Buddhist masters from Nalanda who resorted to frank discussions, including using harsh words, but at the same time having deep respect for those holding opposite views. His Holiness said that we need to realize that there will be difference of views and quoted Prof Bob Livingston as telling him that the six billion people in this world would have six billion views.

His Holiness also said that the Buddha had given contradictory teachings deliberately to complement with the diverse mental dispositions of his disciples. His Holiness said after having done this, the best approach is for people to recall the verse of a Buddhist master who said that if the problem can be resolved there was nothing to worry about and if the problem cannot be resolved there was no use worrying about it.

His Holiness stressed on the importance of research and analysis and the need to look at reality at many levels. He said jokingly that even if one intended to harm someone, it would be more effective if one has done research, knows the reality and has understood the weak spot of one’s target.

He spoke about his respect for science and scientists.  He said scientists were open minded and had skepticism. He said skepticism would lead to questions, which will lead to research, which in turn will lead to analysis and the generation of answers.

When asked whether they were optimistic about positive development on the environment front, all the panelists said they were.

Following lunch, His Holiness went to the University of San Diego  to deliver the Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture on Cultivating Peace and Justice. He went on stage of the Jenny Craig Pavilion as Spanish Classical guitarist Pablo Sainz Villegas was performing to the public. The guitarist greeted His Holiness and played a number for His Holiness.

Pam Omidyar introduces  His Holiness the Dalai Lama before his talk at the University of San Diego on April 17, 2012. Photo/Tim Mantoani

Thereafter, Dr. Mary E. Lyons, President of University of San Diego, spoke about the mission of the school and presented its Medal of Peace saying by working for justice His Holiness is a living witness to the greatest aspirations of the University.

Pam Omidyar, co-founder of Omidyar Network, then introduced His Holiness. Giving His Holiness’ bio, she said his life was dedicated to harmonious living and shared understanding of religious harmony.

His Holiness began his talk by thanking the University for its medal saying he felt very honored to receive it.  He said he was just another human being and looked upon the medal as some kind of recognition for his small contribution for serving humanity.

His Holiness said he was encouraged to see that in different countries there was increasing voice about compassion, peace and nonviolence. He said it was not just in words but that people were also making efforts in these fields.

He said the question was to know the real meaning of peace. If peace, he added, was the mere absence of violence, then there could be situations where such kind of peace may prevail, but without any justice.  Therefore, he said that genuine peace must come through inner peace and warm-heartedness.  His Holiness talked about the demarcation of lines between non-violence and violence action and said action could be physical, verbal and mental. Non-violence is the expression of warm-heartedness and it was only through genuine concern for the well being of others that justice will be served, he said. Any action that is harmful in the long run is unjust, he said.

His Holiness then talked about the two kinds of compassion. He said the biological compassion is something that is present not just in human beings but also among mammals, birds, dogs, cats, etc. He said it occurs in situation where the survival of the youngster is dependent on the sense of care from parents. His Holiness said he wonders whether this sort of compassion is present in turtles as the mother just lays eggs on the shore and do not have any connection with the offspring thereafter.  His Holiness said during an earlier visit to Hawaii he had suggested conducting research on this attitude of the turtles by identifying a hatched turtle and pairing it to its mother to see if there was any indication of filial affection.  His Holiness felt there might not be because turtles are emotionally not equipped to take care of their offspring.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at the University of San Diego on April 17, 2012. Photo/Tim Mantoani

He said biological compassion is limited and biased.  On the other hand compassion without borders was something that could be cultivated through the training of the mind. He said scientifically too brain plasticity shows the possibility of changing the mind.  He said there is a connection between the physical health and mental state. A hopeful and fresh mental state is of immense benefit for health, he said. On the contrary, demoralization is bad for health.

His Holiness said he was encouraged that educational institutions were starting to study mind and its impact on the body.  He mentioned University of Wisconsin in Madison, Emory University and Stanford University as among those conducting experiments in this field.  He suggested that pilot projects could be start to teach children from the Kindergarten level about inner peace as this is the real foundation to build a better 21st century.  He said there is connection between a healthy mind and a healthy body.

His Holiness concluded by saying if people found something useful from his speech they could think over them On the other hand, he said if they did not find anything then it does not matter.  He joked that in any case he was leaving San Diego the day after tomorrow but that the people’s problem would remain with them.  He added that he had great hope from the United States and India. America, he said, is materially well off and is the greatest democratic country. India, he said, is the most populous democracy.

During the Question & Answer session, His Holiness responded to queries about simple ways to cultivate compassion on a daily basis. His Holiness suggested that people could visualize the person most difficult to deal with, get angry with this person, and then begin to analyze. He said one would then get a new realization.  For Buddhists, he said, everything is relative and there is no absolute good or bad. When asked why one should feel compassion for those who do not have remorse after committing a crime, His Holiness said that is all the more reason to be compassionate when we look at it from the perspective of the oneness of humanity.

Another questioner wanted to know about His Holiness’ most difficult challenges. He responded by talking about his experience of life under the Chinese.  He said at the age of 16 he had lost his freedom and for the next nine years of life under “Chinese Communist brothers and sisters were a little difficult.”  He said between 1951 and 1959 life under the Chinese also made him learn to act hypocritically. But in April 1959 after arriving in India he was liberated from the practice of  hypocrisy.

He talked about his visit to China in 1954-55 coming back to Tibet more hopeful. He said he had in fact met the Chinese general on his return to Tibet from China and when asked about his impression, he had responded that when he left for China he suspicion and fear but that now he did not have them.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama answering questions from the audience during his talk at the University of San Diego on April 17, 2012. The University’s Medal Of Peace presented to His Holiness is on the table to the right.  Photo/Tim Mantoani

However, things became difficult in Tibet from the end of 1955 to the beginning of 1956 and that he was filled with lot of anxiety and worry. He said in particular being a Tibetan, he understood the plight of his people and wanted to side with their concerns. But at the same time he had no choice but to try to adjust with the Chinese. Ultimately, there was no way but to escape from Tibet, he said.

His Holiness said that on March 10, 2008 when he heard of the demonstrations in Tibet, he got the same feeling of anxiety and hopelessness that he had on March 10, 1959.

He said under such an experience he visualized the Chinese hardliners and practice the “taking and giving” form of visualization.  He visualized taking the anger, fear and distrust of the Chinese and giving them in return patience, forgiveness and compassion.  He said while this did not necessarily solve the problem it did help him maintain the calmness of his mind.

He then talked about meeting a Tibetan monk who had been in prison for 18 years since 1959. When he subsequently spoke to this monk upon his release and coming over to India His Holiness said he had asked him the most dangerous thing that he had faced while in prison.  His Holiness said he thought the monk would rely something like fearing about being killed but the monk replied that he had feared losing his compassion for the Chinese.

When asked what problems should be receiving attention, His Holiness said there were plenty these days. He identified Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Tibetan issue as some. He, however, said there was good news, too. He talked about the change in the situation in Burma and said he had learnt today that Aung San Suu Kyi might be able to travel outside Burma. Also, overall humanity was becoming more civilized.

Upon being asked whether he was optimistic or not, he responded that it was far better to remain optimistic.  If one is optimistic, he said that one would try to find ways to overcome challenges. On the other hand being pessimistic meant that one feels there is going to be 100 per cent failure and thus not make any effort.
On April 19, 2012 morning, His Holiness will give a public talk on Upholding Universal Ethics and Compassion in Challenging Times at the San Diego State University. In the afternoon, he will participate in a panel discussion on Neuroscience and the Emerging Mind: A Conversation on Human Consciousness and Compassion.   http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/789-his-holiness-dwells-on-connections-between-inner-development-and-climate-change-peace–justice

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his talk at the University of San Diego on April 18, where he was presented with the University’s Medal of Peace/OHHDL Photo

San Diego: On his first day in San Diego on April 18, 2012 morning, His Holiness participated in a panel discussion on
climate change in which he reiterated his call for countries to place global interest of environmental concern first before any other national interests.  In the afternoon, His Holiness spoke to a packed stadium on the connection between peace, justice and inner development. His Holiness’ first went to the University of California San Diego where he was received by its Chancellor, Dr. Marye Anne Fox. Accompanied by the Chancellor, His Holiness met with the media. In his opening statement, His Holiness outlined his two commitments of promoting human values and promoting religious harmony and understanding.  Talking about his third commitment concerning Tibet, His Holiness explained that in 2011 there was a change by which he devolved his political authority to an elected Tibetan leadership. His Holiness said it is his basic belief that the world belongs to humanity and each country belongs to its people, and not to religious leaders kings, queens, emperors or political parties.  He said he had said on another occasion that America belongs to the over 300 million American people and not to the Republican or the Democratic parties.He said from his days as a teenager, he had voiced his feeling that the governmental system in Tibet had lot of drawbacks. He said he had assumed temporal responsibility in 1950 and in 1952 established a Reforms Committee and started some reform.  He, however, added that this was not very successful because China wanted reforms according to its own agenda.

His Holiness said that after 1959 he came to India a free country and was able to work on the democratization of the Tibetan society.  He said in 2001 Tibetans began directly electing a leader and he had maintained that he had become semi-retired then.  He said he had then expressed his desire to have complete retirement and after seeing the enthusiasm of the Tibetan people during the elections (for the Kalon Tripa, the Chairman of the Tibetan Cabinet) in 2010 he thought it was the right time to devolve all his political authority to the elected leadership. This happened in 2011.

On the issue of promoting inner values, His Holiness pointed to the theme of his visit to San Diego (that was printed on a banner behind the stage) and said there was the need for people to cultivate compassion without borders. He said compassion with borders was at the biological level and related to one’s concern for one’s family, etc.  However, this type of compassion could be taken as the seed and using human intelligence and applying scientific findings people could strive for compassion without borders,

He said one could generate this feeling by having the mindset that just as one wanted happiness and love for oneself others, too, have the same desire. Through this show of concern for the wellbeing of others one can eventually expand to concern for even one’s enemy.

On the commitment to promote religious harmony, His Holiness said this was a level of him being a Buddhist.  He said in India, beside the homegrown religions many other religious traditions co-exist. Therefore, India is a living example of the ability of different religious communities living together with mutual respect and for mutual benefit.

His Holiness said he would remain committed to these two commitments till his death. He explained that the reason why he was expanding on these points was because the media too had a role in promoting awareness of these. People need to realize that the real source of happiness was within them and not depended on power or money.  His Holiness said that while the media ought to report on negative developments, they also needed to talk about the above issues, particularly since in a democracy the media had an important role.

When asked for his views on a photo in the LA Times showing American soldiers with dead Afghans, His Holiness reiterated his basic opposition to the use of force saying it cannot be a solution.  He then talked about the importance of Ahimsa and non-violence and how non-violence is a realistic approach towards resolution of issues.  He said force could have unpredictable outcomes.

When asked about the absence of reports concerning Chinese protest over his visit this time indicated any improvement (in the Tibetan relationship with the Chinese authorities), His Holiness replied in the negative and suggested that the media should conduct deeper investigations on these.

Following this meeting with the press, His Holiness went to the venue of the panel discussion “The Global Impact of Climate Change: Balance Through Universal Responsibility, Compassion and Human Consciousness.”

UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox made a welcome remark in which she expressed her school’s appreciation of His Holiness’ presence. She said he was the first Nobel laureate to be recognized for his concern for the global environment.

His Holiness was introduced by Mr. Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, who gave highlights of his life, including some of the international awards bestowed upon him.

The panel discussion began thereafter. His Holiness’ co-panelists were Prof. Richard C. J. Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and Prof. Veerabhadran Ramanathan  Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, and Director, Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego

Prof. Somerville outlined the challenges of reducing the world’s emissions. He referred to His Holiness’ observation that nations were giving priority to their own individual interests than for the global interest on matters of the environment.

Prof. Ramanathan outlined his views on how much of the world’s population were unintentionally contributing to the pollution of the climate through use of wood stoves, etc. He highlighted His Holiness devoting an entire section to environment in his book, Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World, and how compassion without borders was a solution.

In his remarks, His Holiness spoke of his experience at learning about the importance of the environment.  He said growing up in Tibet he had no idea about environment pollution.  He talked about the cleanliness of the Tibetan environment by giving the example of Tibetan travellers having no hesitation in drinking water from the streams when they were thirsty.  They had no idea that water can be polluted.  After coming to India, His Holiness heard from people about how water from a river could not be consumed and that was a bit of surprise to him.

Subsequently, His Holiness said he had contact with scientists and had a special personal interest in the issue of environment. He said this is now the question of the survival of the planet and not just of an individual.

He said so far this blue planet is our only home and we need to take care of it.  He said people have immediate reaction when being confronted with photos or news concerning violence, bloodshed, war, starvation, etc. However, the problem of climate change was somewhat invisible and it would be too late if the situation became such that people would have to wear masks in urban areas or be confronted with lung problems, etc. as a result of environmental damage.

His Holiness said there was the need to create awareness over the issue of environment and climate change and that the scientists have a pertinent role in it. His Holiness suggested a worldwide movement like that of the Copenhagen summit on environmental awareness. He added that it was shortsighted of those countries that kept their national interest above that of the global interest concerning the environment. He talked about the situation in Mongolia where the use of coal by families was leading to health dangers. Drawing a connection between economic development and environmental damage, His Holiness said in countries like China and India on account of lack of modern facilities people are resorting to cutting of trees for fuel.

His Holiness said his effort is to draw attention to the fact that the world is interdependent and that each individual’s future is dependent on that of others. Therefore, there was the need for cooperation and the realization of a sense of global responsibility.  His Holiness emphasized on the importance of trust in this saying that without trust there cannot be friendship and that without friendship, there will be extreme self-centered attitude. He said people needed to realize that it was in their own interest to take care of others.  He said there was the need to generate a feeling of oneness of humanity and have some kind of concern for the wellbeing of the rest of humanity and the rest of sentient beings.

Here His Holiness said his interpreter Thupten Jinpa la reminded him that one of his friends, Prof. Bob Livingston, was from UC San Diego. He said Prof. Livingston was very much concerned about the future of the world and had launched effort for peace and against nuclear weapons.

Thereafter the panel took questions gathered from the public. To a question about changing the mindset of the political leaders on environment, His Holiness said that a drawback of modern education was that it was oriented toward material concerns and did not deal with inner peace.  Explaining the historical development that led to a neglect of moral ethics education, His Holiness said there was the need for a well-balanced education that incorporated both material and internal values. He said the media also had a role in this. Through these we can nurture a new generation of future leaders who will have a better appreciation of issues like climate change.

When asked on the best approach when people refused to accept the very existence of environmental problems, His Holiness said that it would depend on the mental attitude one had towards such people.  He said when he was confronted with such a situation he would respect their view but at the same time be forthright in arguing his case. He gave the example of Buddhist masters from Nalanda who resorted to frank discussions, including using harsh words, but at the same time having deep respect for those holding opposite views. His Holiness said that we need to realize that there will be difference of views and quoted Prof Bob Livingston as telling him that the six billion people in this world would have six billion views.

His Holiness also said that the Buddha had given contradictory teachings deliberately to complement with the diverse mental dispositions of his disciples. His Holiness said after having done this, the best approach is for people to recall the verse of a Buddhist master who said that if the problem can be resolved there was nothing to worry about and if the problem cannot be resolved there was no use worrying about it.

His Holiness stressed on the importance of research and analysis and the need to look at reality at many levels. He said jokingly that even if one intended to harm someone, it would be more effective if one has done research, knows the reality and has understood the weak spot of one’s target.

He spoke about his respect for science and scientists.  He said scientists were open minded and had skepticism. He said skepticism would lead to questions, which will lead to research, which in turn will lead to analysis and the generation of answers.

When asked whether they were optimistic about positive development on the environment front, all the panelists said they were.

Following lunch, His Holiness went to the University of San Diego  to deliver the Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture on Cultivating Peace and Justice. He went on stage of the Jenny Craig Pavilion as Spanish Classical guitarist Pablo Sainz Villegas was performing to the public. The guitarist greeted His Holiness and played a number for His Holiness.

Thereafter, Dr. Mary E. Lyons, President of University of San Diego, spoke about the mission of the school and presented its Medal of Peace saying by working for justice His Holiness is a living witness to the greatest aspirations of the University.

Pam Omidyar, co-founder of Omidyar Network, then introduced His Holiness. Giving His Holiness’ bio, she said his life was dedicated to harmonious living and shared understanding of religious harmony.

His Holiness began his talk by thanking the University for its medal saying he felt very honored to receive it.  He said he was just another human being and looked upon the medal as some kind of recognition for his small contribution for serving humanity.

His Holiness said he was encouraged to see that in different countries there was increasing voice about compassion, peace and nonviolence. He said it was not just in words but that people were also making efforts in these fields.

He said the question was to know the real meaning of peace. If peace, he added, was the mere absence of violence, then there could be situations where such kind of peace may prevail, but without any justice.  Therefore, he said that genuine peace must come through inner peace and warm-heartedness.  His Holiness talked about the demarcation of lines between non-violence and violence action and said action could be physical, verbal and mental. Non-violence is the expression of warm-heartedness and it was only through genuine concern for the well being of others that justice will be served, he said. Any action that is harmful in the long run is unjust, he said.

His Holiness then talked about the two kinds of compassion. He said the biological compassion is something that is present not just in human beings but also among mammals, birds, dogs, cats, etc. He said it occurs in situation where the survival of the youngster is dependent on the sense of care from parents. His Holiness said he wonders whether this sort of compassion is present in turtles as the mother just lays eggs on the shore and do not have any connection with the offspring thereafter.  His Holiness said during an earlier visit to Hawaii he had suggested conducting research on this attitude of the turtles by identifying a hatched turtle and pairing it to its mother to see if there was any indication of filial affection.  His Holiness felt there might not be because turtles are emotionally not equipped to take care of their offspring.

He said biological compassion is limited and biased.  On the other hand compassion without borders was something that could be cultivated through the training of the mind. He said scientifically too brain plasticity shows the possibility of changing the mind.  He said there is a connection between the physical health and mental state. A hopeful and fresh mental state is of immense benefit for health, he said. On the contrary, demoralization is bad for health.

His Holiness said he was encouraged that educational institutions were starting to study mind and its impact on the body.  He mentioned University of Wisconsin in Madison, Emory University and Stanford University as among those conducting experiments in this field.  He suggested that pilot projects could be start to teach children from the Kindergarten level about inner peace as this is the real foundation to build a better 21st century.  He said there is connection between a healthy mind and a healthy body.

His Holiness concluded by saying if people found something useful from his speech they could think over them On the other hand, he said if they did not find anything then it does not matter.  He joked that in any case he was leaving San Diego the day after tomorrow but that the people’s problem would remain with them.  He added that he had great hope from the United States and India. America, he said, is materially well off and is the greatest democratic country. India, he said, is the most populous democracy.

During the Question & Answer session, His Holiness responded to queries about simple ways to cultivate compassion on a daily basis. His Holiness suggested that people could visualize the person most difficult to deal with, get angry with this person, and then begin to analyze. He said one would then get a new realization.  For Buddhists, he said, everything is relative and there is no absolute good or bad. When asked why one should feel compassion for those who do not have remorse after committing a crime, His Holiness said that is all the more reason to be compassionate when we look at it from the perspective of the oneness of humanity.

Another questioner wanted to know about His Holiness’ most difficult challenges. He responded by talking about his experience of life under the Chinese.  He said at the age of 16 he had lost his freedom and for the next nine years of life under “Chinese Communist brothers and sisters were a little difficult.”  He said between 1951 and 1959 life under the Chinese also made him learn to act hypocritically. But in April 1959 after arriving in India he was liberated from the practice of  hypocrisy.

He talked about his visit to China in 1954-55 coming back to Tibet more hopeful. He said he had in fact met the Chinese general on his return to Tibet from China and when asked about his impression, he had responded that when he left for China he suspicion and fear but that now he did not have them.

However, things became difficult in Tibet from the end of 1955 to the beginning of 1956 and that he was filled with lot of anxiety and worry. He said in particular being a Tibetan, he understood the plight of his people and wanted to side with their concerns. But at the same time he had no choice but to try to adjust with the Chinese. Ultimately, there was no way but to escape from Tibet, he said.

His Holiness said that on March 10, 2008 when he heard of the demonstrations in Tibet, he got the same feeling of anxiety and hopelessness that he had on March 10, 1959.

He said under such an experience he visualized the Chinese hardliners and practice the “taking and giving” form of visualization.  He visualized taking the anger, fear and distrust of the Chinese and giving them in return patience, forgiveness and compassion.  He said while this did not necessarily solve the problem it did help him maintain the calmness of his mind.

He then talked about meeting a Tibetan monk who had been in prison for 18 years since 1959. When he subsequently spoke to this monk upon his release and coming over to India His Holiness said he had asked him the most dangerous thing that he had faced while in prison.  His Holiness said he thought the monk would rely something like fearing about being killed but the monk replied that he had feared losing his compassion for the Chinese.

When asked what problems should be receiving attention, His Holiness said there were plenty these days. He identified Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Tibetan issue as some. He, however, said there was good news, too. He talked about the change in the situation in Burma and said he had learnt today that Aung San Suu Kyi might be able to travel outside Burma. Also, overall humanity was becoming more civilized.

Upon being asked whether he was optimistic or not, he responded that it was far better to remain optimistic.  If one is optimistic, he said that one would try to find ways to overcome challenges. On the other hand being pessimistic meant that one feels there is going to be 100 per cent failure and thus not make any effort.

On April 19, 2012 morning, His Holiness will give a public talk on Upholding Universal Ethics and Compassion in Challenging Times at the San Diego State University. In the afternoon, he will participate in a panel discussion on Neuroscience and the Emerging Mind: A Conversation on Human Consciousness and Compassion. http://tibet.net/2012/04/19/his-holiness-dwells-on-connections-between-inner-development-and-climate-change-peace-justice/

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4769 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4755 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4755#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:37:45 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4755 Gli abitanti del villaggio Adhue decidono di manifestare contro i funzionari comunisti locali, che volevano premiare due loro colleghi accusati di aver rubato i fondi destinati alla popolazione. La Polizia armata del popolo ha represso con la forza bruta una manifestazione pacifica di tibetani che dimostravano contro il governo della Prefettura autonoma di Qiang, nella provincia del Sichuan, colpevole di aver premiato due funzionari locali che avevano rubato i fondi destinati alla popolazione. Circa un centinaio i feriti: alcuni sono molto gravi. Lo scorso 14 aprile, un gruppo di dirigenti comunisti della Contea di Ngaba si è recato in visita presso il villaggio Adhue per premiare in maniera pubblica due funzionari del posto, accusati dalla popolazione di aver sottratto fondi destinati alla costruzione di case popolari. Nel corso della visita, i funzionari della Contea hanno anche annunciato che i due sarebbero stati premiati per il loro “buon lavoro”. A questo annuncio, i tibetani presenti hanno espresso il loro disappunto; subito dopo sono arrivati circa 10 camion della polizia. Scesi in terra gli agenti, insieme ai loro capi, hanno iniziato a percuotere la folla: i camion si sono allontanati con i funzionari della Contea. Tra i 15 e i 20 manifestanti sono stati arrestati: tre sono stati identificati come Tenzin Tsering, Tsenor e Tsamchen del villaggio Tsosum. Di loro al momento non si sa nulla. Dopo le proteste del 2008, il governo locale si è appropriato di una grande area di proprietà dei residenti nota come “Omaylue”, utilizzata per preghiere comunitarie e per le festività buddiste: alcuni locali avevano protestato ma erano stati isolati. Il governo aveva promesso di costruire sul luogo un ospizio per gli anziani, mentre oggi vi sorge una grande caserma della polizia. Per evitare altre proteste, il governo ha costruito nei pressi di “Omaylue” - sempre sui terreni della comunità - una serie di piccole abitazioni “da destinare al popolo”. Solo dopo la costruzione i residenti hanno scoperto che avrebbero dovuto pagare per ottenere una casa, di fatto per saldare i conti scoperti dalle tangenti dei due dirigenti. Il Tibet è sin dal 2008 teatro di continue violenze contro la popolazione. Il governo centrale ha autorizzato l’uso della forza per reprimere le proteste dei locali, che chiedono libertà religiosa e autonomia culturale. Secondo Pechino essi sono invece aizzati dal Dalai Lama e dalla sua “cricca”, che vogliono distruggere l’unità cinese. Le proteste contro la corruzione del Partito e del governo sono oramai una costante in tutto il Paese. (di Nirmala Carvalho, AsiaNews)

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and fellow panelists at the East West Center at the University of Hawaii, venue for the Hawaiian cultural panel entitled “The Importance of Native Intelligence in Modern Times” held on April 15, 2012. Photo/JHook/Civic Beat

Thereafter, His Holiness went to the East West Center where Mr. R. Brian Tsujimura Chairman of the Board of Governor of the Center, received him.  As His Holiness entered the venue of the panel discussion, he was welcomed with traditional Hawaiian chants.  His Holiness inquired about the meaning of the chant before going to the stage.

The topic of the panel discussion was “the Importance of Native Intelligence in Modern Times, and His Holiness’ co-panelists were Dr. Pualani Kanahele, writer and expert on Hawaiian cultural practices and Mr. Nainoa Thompson, President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. The discussion was moderated by Mr. John De Fries, president of Friends of the Future that focuses on Native Hawaiian cultural practices. He began by requesting His Holiness to share his experience after a day and a half’s stay in Hawaii this time. His Holiness responded by saying that at the level of a human being, he was impressed with the smile of the Hawaiian people, both old and young.  He then expanded on his view on culture saying that it was an evolutionary one. In Tibet, the Tibetan culture evolved on account of the particular environment there and similarly in Hawaii its culture evolved with its connection to the sea.  He said in general a small community that has not had an easy life develops a sense of community heritage unlike developed urban areas where people are almost becoming like parts of a machine. His Holiness said that it was good that the Hawaiian people were able to keep alive their culture.

Some of the audence members attending the Hawaiian cultural panel entitled “The Importance of Native Intelligence in Modern Times” held on April 15, 2012. Photo/Jhook/Civic Beat

Thereafter, the two co-panelists talked about their own experience in what the Hawaiian culture meant to them and the challenges they see their community facing. The moderator talked about the research that Dr. Pualani Kanahele had undertaken among which was the finding that there were more than 400 names for cloud in the Hawaiian language.

The moderator then requested His Holiness to explain if there was any relation between his concept of a universal responsibility and the discussion they were having.  His Holiness said that universal responsibility was at a different level, at the level of humanity.  He said it meant developing a sense of oneness of humanity, without letting the difference in nationality, color, race, religion, etc., divide the people.  He said that he found this spirit of oneness among scientists irrespective of their background. Similarly, it was also present in the religious tradition, too. His Holiness felt that if people only thought of the “small we” then problem would arise. Instead they should think about the “big we” that that is global, he said.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is presented with traditional canoe paddles during the Hawaiian panel entitled “The Importance of Native Intelligence in Modern Times” held on April 15, 2012. Photo/Jhook/Civic Beat

His Holiness suggested that the Hawaiian people could preserve their culture while not looking at modern technological development as totally a negative thing.  Technological development has brought comfort while culture was more related with the mind, he said.  He said certain cultural heritage were useful and needed to be preserved. Some other cultural values may not be any use in daily life now and could
be put in museum.

At the end of the discussion, Mr. Nainoa Thompson presented His Holiness with a specially commissioned paddle. Appreciating the gift, His Holiness said it was symbolic as a Buddhist text compared the precious human life to that of a boat, which was to be used as a vehicle to cross the ocean of suffering.

In the afternoon, His Holiness made brief remarks at the luncheon for dignitary and partners.  Hawaii’s Governor, Neil Abercrombie, greeted His Holiness and presented him with a proclamation declaring April 15, 2012 as “Dalai Lama Day.”  Among others present at the luncheon were Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and former Hawaii governor George Ariyoshi.

In his remarks, His Holiness referred to the presence of Governor Abercrombie who is a former member of Congress and acknowledged the support of the United States Senate and House of Representatives to Tibet. He said this support was a source of hope to the Tibetan people.  He then said if we look at the Tibetan problem at a local level then the situation may appear to be hopeless, but from a wider perspective there was hope.  He said the Tibetan Buddhist culture, which he termed a culture of peace, culture of compassion, and culture of non-violence, was something worthwhile to be preserved for the benefit of the world.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama greets Governor Neil Abercrombie and his wife, Dr. Nancie Caraway, following the Hawaiian cultural panel held at the University of Hawaii on April 15, 2012. Photo/Eye of the Islands Photographer

He said the environmental aspect of the Tibetan issue that needed to be paid close attention recalling that some Chinese scientists have termed Tibet as a Third Pole.

His Holiness, therefore, suggested that he referred to those who supported the Tibetan issue as not being “pro-Tibet” but being “pro-justice.” He talked about the difference between the power of truth and power of gun. He said the power of gun was only short term and limited whereas the power of truth was always there and for the long run.  He talked about increasing interest in Tibet among Chinese people many of
who were interested in the Tibetan Buddhist culture.  He said that historically Tibetans have our own language, script and geographically separate and racially different (from the Chinese).  Tibet was materially backward and all Tibetans want modernism. Therefore, he felt that the Chinese authorities should look at the example of India where diverse linguistic and cultural communities exists in different parts of the country without any risk of separation. His Holiness however blamed the narrow-minded Chinese leftist policies that were the cause for the continued problem in Tibet.

His Holiness also talked about his democratization of the Tibetan community in exile. He said that in 2001 Tibetans began a period of directly elected leadership with Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche being elected for two terms.  He said he had then become semi-retired. He then felt the situation encouraging and said that in 2011 he had voluntarily, happily and proudly handed over his legitimate political authority to the elected Tibetan leadership.  He said now the small Tibetan community in exile was more advanced than China in terms of democratic administration and suggested that we could be a small example (to China.).

Thereafter, His Holiness went to the Stan Sheriff Center, venue of his Public Talk, “Advancing Peace through the Power of Aloha.” Singer songwriter Michael McDonald, formerly of The Doobie Brothers, and Hawaiian musician Henry Kapono were performing ”What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love” to the audience as His Holiness walked
on the stage. His Holiness greeted Governor Neil Abercrombie who drew his attention to the sister of President Barack Obama, Maya Soetoro-Ng, among the audience.

Pierre Omidyar introduces His Holiness the Dalai Lama before HIs Holiness’s talk at the  Universiy of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center on April 15, 2012. Photo/Eye of the Island Photography

A video of an especially composed music by Jake Shimabukuro, ukulele virtuoso, was played. Thereafter, Mr. Kelvin Taketa of the Hawaii Community Foundation welcomed everyone and hoped that the people gathered here would find inspiration from the event.  Mr. Pierre Omidyar then introduced His Holiness. Relating a brief biography of His Holiness, he said he had to flee Tibet in 1959, the same year as Hawaii entered into statehood. He said His Holiness inspires everyone through the example of his life. He then explained the philosophy of the spirit of Aloha as being that of kindness, unity, joyfulness, humility and patience. He added that those familiar with His Holiness’ messages would see the similarity. He added that for the people of Hawaii His Holiness was an embodiment of the spirit of Aloha.

His Holiness began his talk by highlighting the fact that everyone gathered here the same human being, mentally, emotionally and physically. He said this kind of mental thinking was helpful in bringing together people.

His Holiness said although he had been to Hawaii a few times, this time he was able to speak to a large number of people. He said he found his program with student yesterday meaningful.

His Holiness said that prior to being explained the deeper meaning of Aloha he did not have much understanding of the concept.  He said although the term appeared simple the challenge was in implementing the real meaning of the concept.

He said basically everyone wanted happiness and that was his or her right.  He said all living things, including trees and plants, have the right to survive.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking during his talk ‘Advancing Peace through the Power of Aloha’ held at the University of Hawaii on April 15, 2012. Photo/JHook/Civic Beat

He then said he wanted to explain his thought by talking about happiness and joyfulness as being results, which depend on certain causes. He said at the human level, joyfulness and happiness entirely depends on ones own action, physical, verbal and mental. He said the mental action is the key factor.

His Holiness said that in order to have a successful life, attention needed to be paid to education or training. But education itself is not the goal. He said if one wanted good health, taking medicine or some vitamins were causes for positive results.

Therefore, His Holiness said that generating wrong causes and expecting positive results was unrealistic. Talking about his own experience, His Holiness sai although he began his study around the age of six or seven, he had no interest in study till the age of 13.  However, it was only later in his life that he found the knowledge gained from his study immensely helpful for cultivating peace of mind.

His Holiness said it was essential to have realistic goals. He recalled an event in the Indian State of Bihar where the Chief Minister said at a function that he was hopeful that the state would develop on account of the blessings of the Buddha. When the turn came for His Holiness to speak then, he said he told the Chief Minister, whom he knew well, that if the state’s success depended merely on the Buddha’s blessings it should have developed a long time back as the Buddha was there more than 2000 years back.  He said it was essential that the Buddha’s blessings should be channeled through the action of the Chief Minister.  His Holiness said that prosperity has to come through action, not prayers.

Therefore, world peace must come through inner peace, His Holiness said. He added that at the individual level, a healthy body was very much linked to a healthy mind. His Holiness recalled a meeting with an American scientist a few years in Stockholm, Sweden who told him that when we develop anger, the object of anger appears very negative.  The scientist had added that actually, 90 percent of that negativeness is mental projection.  His Holiness said that Buddhism also talked about a similar state.

His Holiness said that people should try to develop proper mental attitude through training of the mind. He said any decision under strong emotion often becomes wrong as much emotion is actually biased.

University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center, venue for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s talk entitled ‘Advancing through the Power of Aloha’ held on April 15, 2012. Photo/JHook/Civic Beat

His Holiness cited the case of the global economic crisis. He said he had asked some people to explain how things went wrong because people involved in the business were supposed to be experts. His Holiness said he received the response that it was account of too much greed. Too much greed is an unrealistic desire, he said. He was also told that too much speculation and lack of a holistic view were also responsible for the crisis. These were all related to the mind, he added.

Here His Holiness talked about President George W. Bush. He said he really love him and that he is a really nice person. His Holiness said during the Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony, he was walking hand in hand with President Bush and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. President Bush had mentioned that they (the democrats) were always creating problems for him but that today they were peaceful.  His Holiness said although he loved and respected President Bush, it did not mean that he agreed fully with the President’s policies. His Holiness said he had mentioned this to the President himself. His Holiness said President Bush’ motivation concerning Iraq was very good: to bring democracy and rule of law. However, the method became unrealistic and so failed to achieve that noble goal.

His Holiness said the real basis of inner peace was warm-heartedness. Once we develop warm-heartedness, that kind of attitude, automatically develops respect, he said. He said fear brings about distrust and that love and compassion help dispel distrust. He said once anxiety is reduced and distrust reduced, one develops more compassionate feeling toward others.

He said love, compassion, affection are at two levels. One level is biological and is biased. His Holiness said that type of compassion could be taken as the seed and then utilizing human intelligence, using our common sense, and most important, through scientific findings, one can work on inner peace. That is realistic compassion and is unbiased, and also brings good health, he said. This can begin at the family level and then at the level of the community.

Some of the more than 9,500 audience members listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center before his talk on April 15, 2012. Photo/JHook/Civic Beat

His Holiness said all major religious traditions carry this practice, but now we need to find an approach that is universal. He talked about his friend, Richard Moore, who lost his sight to a rubber bullet shot by a British soldier. However, he did not have any anger or hatred towards the perpetrator and in fact went on to establish friendship with the soldier.  His Holiness that Richard Moore wasn’t really religious but had developed this kind of attitude as a human being.  His Holiness said he always described him as his hero. He added that human beings have that kind of ability. These positive mental attitudes are not based on religious belief, he said adding that he usually called this secular ethics. He said many people essentially are non-believers. He said therefore we need a universal way to approach this universal value. If we rely on a particular religious faith, it will never be universal, he said.

His Holiness said the 20th century was a wonderful century, but it was a century of bloodshed. He said that we needed to try to build this century as a century of dialogue and peace.  His Holiness said that this does not mean that there would not be any problems in this century. Touching on the back of his head where the brain is located, His Holiness said as long as it was active there would be problems.  He added that we must find ways to tackle these problems, not through the use of force, but through talk, with respect, listen to others’ point of view.

His Holiness said Hawaii’s small community could make a contribution through the spirit of Aloha. It could start a pilot project in one school to incorporate education about the value of non-violence in the curriculum. He said then after five years, it could examine the experiment and expand accordingly. That’s the way to change the way of thinking in our society, he said. Through that way you can build a happy, peaceful society. The initiative must come from the individual, he added.

He said human beings create the problems in this world and so human beings themselves should find the solution.  He asked the people not to feel helplessness. He asked them to help create inner peace and to share the feeling with more people, including friends and enemies. That’s the way to transform our world, he said.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama answering question after his talk ‘Advancing Peace through the power of Aloha’ held at the university of Hawaii on April 15, 2012. Photo/JHook/Civic Beat

Thereafter, His Holiness answered some questions submitted to the organizers. To a question on how to handle a situation where one is making effort for peace but others don’t seem to reciprocate.  His Holiness said it was important to bear in mind that the effort for peace was there because there were problems. One should not lose hope but continue with one’s efforts.  That way one could influence others, he said. His Holiness talked about his experience with his gall bladder surgery where because of complications it took more time than scheduled. However, his recovery was fast and the doctor had called him “young patient.” He said the doctor had told him that his physical condition was that of a person younger than his age. His Holiness felt this could be because of his inner mental calmness.

To another question about repentance and forgiveness, His Holiness said one should no to differentiate between forgiveness and “forgetness.” He said if one forgets then there is nothing to forgive. Forgiveness, however, does not been one should accept the wrongdoing. Here he asked the people to make a distinction between the action and the actor.

Another question asked how indigenous communities who have become strangers in their own land and are surrounded by their oppressors act. His Holiness said people have every right to preserve their identity.  But there was also the need to take a look at the reality of the situation. In the case of Tibetans, His Holiness said we have adopted the Middle Way, which is non-extreme, practical and realistic. He said there was the need to think broadly. He said today’s world has become such that it was unrealistic to think of remaining isolated.

When asked how happy can one be, His Holiness said that happiness could be at different levels, one at the level where even animals experience it and another at a higher level.

He said there was a need to take a multi-dimensional look at any development to get a complete perspective. He gave the examples of the Tibetan people. He said although he lost his country and the people were undergoing a tragedy, yet there was a positive aspect to the development. He said it opened the Tibetan people’s eyes. Personally, too, His Holiness said the development led to his spending the past 53 years in exile, in India, and he had got the best of experience in this period.

Similarly, presently Tibetans are located in the Tibet Autonomous Region as well as the provinces in Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai, he said. On account of the Chinese policies, Tibetans in all these regions have developed a sense of unity.

A group of young children perform the hula after His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s talk at the University of Hawaii on April 15, 2012. Photo/JHook/Civic Beat

Following the talk a group of children performed a graceful Hula dance, surrounding the area where His Holiness was sitting. Thereafter, Mr. Kelvin Taketa said that in the spirit of transparency he wanted to inform the public that income from the event went to bear the cost related to it. He said His Holiness does not take speaking fees or financially benefit in other ways

The event concluded with Hawaii’s Governor Abercrombie coming on stage to present a souvenir of a paddle to His Holiness on behalf of the people of Hawaii. Mr. Pierre Omidyar also presented His Holiness with a wooden drum on behalf of the Pillars of Peace Hawaii.
On April 16, 2012, His Holiness will be addressing students in a local high school on the subject of compassion.  http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/786-his-holiness-talks-about-preserving-culture-and-promoting-peace-in-todays-world

Sua Santità il Dalai Lama benedice Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lettera di Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Miei carissimi amici, benefattori, studenti, staff dell’FPMT, preziosi come la gemma che esaudisce i desideri,

Non potete immaginare quante puje siano state fatte, in seguito al mio ictus, in Tibet, in India e in tutto il mondo; il numero di puje che sono state fatte è incredibile, così come le centinaia, migliaia, milioni di mantra di Padmasambhava e Om Mani Padme Hum recitati in Tibet e in altri paesi, da singoli individui, gruppi e centri. E poi specialmente le liberazioni di animali sono state così numerose in Tibet e in altri luoghi, e naturalmente questa è una cosa molto positiva, perché fa sì che gli animali non soffrano e non vengano uccisi.

Quando ero in ospedale ho visto un programma su animali che venivano venduti per essere uccisi in Indonesia e in altri paesi (commercio di animali vivi); non so da quanto questa cosa vada avanti, sicuramente da molto tempo.

Alla televisione ho visto le capre che aspettavano in fila, dentro recinti di legno; non mostrava come venivano uccise, ma mostrava una mucca su una piattaforma, con la testa legata, tirata giù per essere uccisa. La mucca non voleva muoversi e l’uomo la tirava.

Ho pensato che non ho il potere di fermare tutte queste uccisioni, ma quello che posso fare è cercare di ispirare le persone perché diventino vegetariane; da allora, qualsiasi insegnamento stia dando, anche se di tantra, sto provando a parlare alle persone dell’importanza di diventare vegetariani, di evitare la carne, o di mangiare meno carne, in modo che meno animali vengano uccisi. Sto cercando di fare questo.

Ad esempio, una persona in Vietnam è diventata vegetariana perché ha saputo che ero malato, e una studentessa del Centro Buddhista Amitabha di Singapore ha preso i precetti Mahayana per tutta la vita dopo aver saputo che ero malato, e anche un carcerato negli Stati Uniti ha smesso di mangiare carne. Sono davvero, davvero incredibili! Sono molto, molto dispiaciuto che neppure gli abati dei grandi monasteri e gli alti funzionari del Governo Tibetano, quando si ammalano o muoiono, ricevano così tante puje. Invece io, che non sono nessuno, che non ho istruzione, né in questa vita né nelle vite passate, come una vecchia mucca che non riesce neppure a masticare bene l’erba, che ha difficoltà a beneficiare gli altri… in tutto il mondo singoli individui, e anche centri, hanno fatto così tante puje… e ogni monaco del Monastero di Nalanda ha recitato 1000 volte il mantra lungo di Namgyalma; questo è veramente incredibile, incredibilmente potente, d’ora in poi avranno così tanto potere di aiutare gli altri, è una cosa così rara da farsi.

Davvero le parole non bastano per ringraziare tutti, anche quelli che hanno recitato solo qualche preghiera, con un cuore positivo, e quindi con le mani giunte al cuore, vi ringrazio veramente. Quindi ora cercherò di essere di beneficio, con le due o tre parole di Dharma che conosco, solo ripetendole, come un registratore, cercherò il più possibile di aiutare gli altri.

Per me questa esperienza è stata come imparare il Lam-rim, che è il cuore del Dharma, il cuore del Kangyur e del Tengyur. Capire realmente che il karma è certo – una volta che la virtù è stata creata e dedicata all’illuminazione, sigillata con la vacuità e non distrutta dall’eresia o dalla rabbia, e una volta che la non virtù è stata creata e non è stata purificata, allora è certo che se ne dovrà sperimentare il risultato.

E poi il karma si espande – anche se il karma creato è molto piccolo, il risultato si espande. Per esempio, secondo la storia della vita del Re Ashoka, quando era un bambino e stava giocando con la sabbia, né offrì una manciata al Buddha, visualizzando però che era oro, e quindi creò realmente il merito di aver realmente offerto dell’oro nella ciotola da mendicante del Buddha. Nella vita successiva rinacque come un Re del Dharma, era molto ricco e fu in grado di costruire dieci milioni di stupa in un giorno. Questo è meraviglioso, meraviglioso… gli incredibili meriti che è stato in grado di raccogliere.

Questo vale anche per il karma negativo. Quindi è molto importante abbandonare il più possibile anche il più piccolo karma negativo e praticare il più possibile anche il più piccolo karma positivo. E’ importante impegnarsi veramente in questo modo.

Poi, se la causa è stata creata si sperimenterà il risultato di questo karma, il risultato non andrà mai perso, non importa quanti miliardi di anni prima sia stato creato, comunque il risultato dovrà essere sperimentato. Per esempio possiamo vedere questo nelle nostre vite, magari qualcuno è bellissimo, pieno di salute, e all’improvviso il suo intero corpo cambia completamente, e diventa malato. Questa persona si può domandare cosa sia successo, e può non aver fatto niente di negativo in questa vita, e quindi perché adesso deve sperimentare tutto questo dolore? Questo è il risultato di karma creato o in questa vita o miliardi e miliardi di eoni fa. Non bisogna fare riferimento solo a questa vita, questo è sciocco. Abbiamo creato così tanto karma da vite senza inizio che non possiamo aver già finito di sperimentarne i risultati.

Quindi, il karma creato non va mai perso – non importa quanto piccolo sia, il risultato non va mai perso. Questo è stato veramente un insegnamento importante per me.

Vi prego tutti voi, carissimi, preziosi come la gemma che esaudisce i desideri, per favore rallegratevi dell’incredibile, incredibile merito che è stato creato, per favore rallegratevi di tutte le puje che sono state fatte da ogni singolo individuo, o in gruppo, e per favore rallegratevi di tutte le persone che hanno dedicato le loro vite all’FPMT, tutti i direttori e lo staff che hanno sacrificato le loro vite per tanti anni, che hanno completamente sacrificato il loro tempo più prezioso, così come di tutti coloro che hanno fatto delle pratiche, anche delle semplici buone preghiere, per l’organizzazione, coloro che si sono fatti carico di così tante difficoltà. Queste sono vere azioni di bodhisattva, questa è la vera pratica del guru yoga, l’aver lavorato o praticato, pensando al

Guru, e aver quindi realizzato i consigli di Sua Santità il Dalai Lama, aver realizzato i desideri di tutti i Buddha e bodhisattva, compiacendoli avendo beneficiato gli esseri senzienti, seguendo gli insegnamenti del Buddha, studiandoli e anche mettendoli in pratica.

A nome di tutti i Buddha e bodhisattva, di Sua Santità il Dalai Lama, di Lama Yeshe, di ogni singolo essere senziente e della mia piccola persona - vi ringrazio con il cuore, con le mani giunte, anche la mano destra che dopo l’ictus non sta in alto molto bene, ma comunque tenendole giunte insieme, con tutte le mie dieci dita, vi ringrazio tutti ogni giorno, ora, minuto e secondo, grazie davvero.

Per favore vivete sempre con bodhicitta, vivete la felicità del Dharma con bodhicitta.

Lama Zopa

Fonte: FPMT Annual review 2011: Cherishing life http://www.fpmt.org/images/stories/development/FPMTAnnualReview2011.pdf

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4737 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4790 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4790#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:20:45 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4790

His Holiness the Dalai Lama wearing a traditional ceremonial hat at the Bishop Museum on Oahu, Hawaii, on April 14, 2012. Photo/Brian Tseng/Civic Beat

Honolulu, Hawaii, 14 April 2012 - Today His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke about Educating the Heart to around 9.500 students of Hawaii advising them about the importance of inner mental development for a wholesome education. As he left the hotel for his engagement, he gave a brief audience to the small Tibetan community in Hawaii in the hotel’s lobby. His Holiness inquired about the profession the people were involved in and told them not to forget their Tibetan identity.  He stressed on the importance of preservation of the Tibetan culture and pointing to a person who was from Ladakh, he said that the Ladakhis had done much in this effort. Thereafter, His Holiness went to the Bishop Museum, the largest museum in the state and the premier natural and cultural history institution in the Pacific. On his arrival, he was welcomed with a special chant.  Young children of the ‘Aha Pūnana Leo Honolulu, an institution set up to promote Hawaii’s culture, sang a song of welcome. Thereafter, His Holiness went through the museum’s exhibitions. The Museum was established to house the collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha family of Hawaii. It has since expanded to include artifacts, documents and photographs about Hawai‘i and other Pacific island cultures. His Holiness asked about possible influence from other countries in Hawaii’s culture. At the end of his tour, His Holiness was presented with a traditional ceremonial hat (which he wore on his head mentioning that it seemed similar to Tibetan monastic hats), as well as a scarf specially woven by the staff of the museum.
In brief remarks at the museum, His Holiness appreciated the gifts saying he looked upon them as the Hawaii people’s acceptance of him as part of their community. He said this was a great honor. He referred to the Hawaiian people as an ancient people with cultural heritage, including language.  His Holiness said that during his travels to Latin America and Europe, he noticed that the indigenous people there were very determined to keep their culture and language.  He said that in a similar way the Tibetan people had the same spirit. His Holiness said that today the world was much civilized. He said most indigenous culture, including that of the Native Americans and the Japanese follower of Shintoism, had close feeling toward nature.  He said that this was important adding that the technologically developed people should learn from this tradition and know that we cannot control nature or that we are above nature.  He said people needed to realize that our survival depends on nature. His Holiness also emphasized that the preservation of one’s own language was very essential.  He said language was particularly essential for a living culture saying that museums were more for dead culture.  His Holiness also said that additionally there was the need for a written script as mere oral linguistic tradition was not stable.
His Holiness said that hearing about the struggle of the people of Hawaii in a way reminded him that we Tibetans also were carrying on a similar struggle.
His Holiness then went to the ‘Iolani Palace, the official residence of King Kalākaua and Queen Lili’uokalani, who were the last in a long line of ruling Hawaiian royalty, where he was welcomed by Princess Abigail Hawananakoa. He spent some time with the Princes inquiring about the origin and nature of the belief traditions among different communities in Hawaii.
Thereafter, His Holiness went to the East-West Center and was received by its President, Charles Morrison.  He had lunch together with some of the event organizers.
His Holiness then went to the Stan Sheriff Center, a multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which is the venue of his talk to the students.  At the Center, the University’s Chancellor, Virginia Hinshaw, and executive director of the Hawai’I Association of Independent Schools, Robert Witt, received him. As he entered the stage, Jack Johnson, an American folk rock musician, was performing a song.  His Holiness greeted the singer and patted his knee much to the amusement of the gathering. In his welcome address, Mr. Kelvin Taketa of the Hawaii Community Foundation said that there was hope that so many students had decided to spend a Saturday afternoon to attend the event. He talked about the inspiration behind the initiative of the event and introduced Mrs. Pam Omidyar.  Mrs. Omidyar gave a brief biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thanked him for an inspiration and a role model for peace.
His Holiness began his remarks by making the case that we were all same as humans, mentally, emotionally and physically.  He recalled that some of the students who welcomed him on his arrival in Honolulu yesterday looked like Tibetans and so even physically there was the sameness.
He said everyone had the desire to achieve a happy life and that this was a basic right.  He said the very purpose of life was to achieve happiness and joyfulness.  However, happiness should not be understood merely at the level of physical happiness, he said.  Physical happiness might sometimes bring about mental satisfaction, which in turn brings inner peace.
He said happiness at the sensorial level was a physical one but mental happiness was superior and more effective.  He explained this by saying that while physical ailment can be cured by mental peace, mental disturbance cannot be subdued at the physical level.  He thus said there was the need to pay serious attention to mental happiness.  His Holiness recalled being in the house of a rich American many years back and while using the rest room, he happened to peep into the medicine cabinet and found some tranquilizers. He said that this indicate that wealth was not in itself a solution for mental happiness. However, His Holiness said that while there was much research about the external material reality, modern education had not paid adequate attention to the mental, emotional development until now.  He said this clearly showed that modern education failed to reduce the gap between reality and appearance in terms of happiness.
Talking about mental happiness, His Holiness said the real destroyer of inner peace were things like fear and distrust. He said distrust leads to fear, which in turn leader to frustration and to anger. These lead to violence and applied at both the national level as well as the family level.  He said trying to tackle these challenges through violence was not a winnable one and that only through non-violence could we approach them.
His Holiness said that here he was sharing his views based on his experience. However, although his experience was primarily through his Buddhist education, His Holiness said that he was approaching the issue at the human level, without touch the religion.

His Holiness then explained his concept of secular ethics saying that he subscribed to the definition of secularism as promoted by ancient Indian thoughts, namely respect for all religions, including respect to non-believers.  He said secular ethics should be approached through common sense and common ethics and based on scientific findings. He explained research that showed that when people were calm the left side of the brain was more active while the right side became more active when people were filled with anger or hatred, etc.
His Holiness touched on the need to have more self-confidence with a sense of concern for other’s feelings as a way to reduce fear.  He also talked about having respect for others, including one’s enemies saying this was not submitting to injustice. He then explained the nature of compassion and how it was at two levels, one biological and limited and the other unconditional.
He called for awareness on the value of inner positive thoughts and that this could be achieved through prayers but through warm-heartedness.  His Holiness said that in this world some portion of the seven billion human beings did not practice the teachings of their religions although they consider themselves as believers.

Here he talked about the situation in India saying that although he love and respected India the attitude of some people who did ritual prayers but involved themselves in cheating in their daily lives.  His Holiness said the people should either worship god and practice his teachings or worship money and do what ever they want. There was no third way, he added.  As an aside, His Holiness mentioned here that when he had called himself a son of India some years back, some Chinese journalists questioned him on this thinking that he was making a political statement. However, he had explained his reason saying that mentally every portion of his brain was filled with the ancient Indian thoughts of the Nalanda tradition. He said physically, his body was sustained for more that five decades by Indian rice and dal (lentils) and by chapatti (Indian bread). His Holiness thought the Chinese journalists seemed to understand the context thereafter.
His Holiness then talked about his three commitments. He explained the first one by saying it was for promotion of non-violence and peace. He said this commitment was at the human level and that there was the need to develop positive mental attitude. He said his second commitment was for promotion of religious harmony and this was at the level of him being a Buddhist. He said all religions have the same message despite having philosophical differences.  They all aimed at making good human beings.  His Holiness said his third commitment was on the Tibetan struggle. He said after having transferred his temporal authority to an elected Tibetan leadership last year, he felt a little free on this now.
His Holiness then encouraged the students to think about ways to make life more peaceful. He said most of the students might be below the age of 30 and so belong to the 21st century. He said his generation belonged to the 20th century that had passed. He said it was up to the new generation to shape the 21st century into a peaceful one knowing that the 20th century was a violent one. His Holiness explained that wanting the 21st century to be one of peace does not mean there will not be any problems.  However, there will be better ways to approach these problems, through dialogue and mutual respect.  Therefore, the young students should realize that they have a heavy responsibility, he concluded.

His Holiness then answered some questions, selected from among 2000 that were received online.  To a question on what made him laugh, His Holiness responded that he did not laugh when he was alone for that would make people feel that he was mad. His laughter came through his interaction with people, their friendship and gesture. He said a smile has no barrier of language or culture.
When asked what he found most peaceful about Hawaii, he said that although he had been here a few times, this time it has been just a day and a half. In order to understand Hawaii properly and to differentiate between appearance and reality he would have to spend a longer period of time. Nevertheless, His Holiness said he was struck by Hawaii’s culture and heritage. He said it seemed very peaceful and closely connected with nature. He said this was important because nature creates humanity and if it is disturbed there would be problems of ecology, drinking water, Tsunami, etc.
To another question on how to approach the issue of showing compassion when there was no reciprocity, His Holiness recalled his explanation of two levels of compassions. He said in the compassion at the limited biological level, there might be problems, but genuine compassion was not dependent on the reaction of the other side or the expectation of something in return.
His Holiness said that human beings by nature have the capacity to be good without any conditions. He talked about the childhood stage when children interacted with each other at the same level without any consideration of background. Here he recalled the kindness of his mother, which spoiled him as a child, he said.
He said among students there was the need to develop a genuine sense of companionship. He competition was good if it is at the level of wanting to excel oneself and striving for that. However, extreme competition, which he defined as wanting to excel and in the process creating hindrance for others, was to be avoided.  He advised the students to generate a sense of brotherhood and trust in their classrooms as such attitudes as bullying and fighting creates a negative atmosphere.
Following his remarks, three students sang an auspicious song. Thereafter, His Holiness was presented with a Hawaiin conchshell.  This concluded His Holiness’ program for the day. On April 15, His Holiness will participate in a panel discussion on “The Importance of Native Intelligence in Modern Times” and give a public talk about “Advancing Peace through the Power of Aloha” at the University of Hawaii. http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/785-his-holiness-talks-about-educating-the-heart-in-honolulu

E’ accaduto nella notte tra il 2 e il 3 aprile ma la notizia è stata data i giorni successivi e ripresa con nuovi particolari l’11 aprile dal sito tibetano Tibet Post. Dhondup Phuntsok, un tibetano di 26 anni si è immolato a Calcutta saltando dal ponte Howrah e gettandosi nel Gange. Sconvolto dalla notizia dell’immolazione di Jamphel Yeshi, a New Delhi, Dhondup, prima di compiere l’atto estremo ha scritto di suo pugno un messaggio in cui solleva i suoi amici e compatrioti tibetani da ogni responsabilità legata al suo gesto. “E’ una mia personale decisione” – scrive Dhondup Phuntsok – “Qualsiasi conseguenza possa derivare da quanto compirò questa notte, non preoccupatevi, nessuno di voi è coinvolto, cancellerò tutti i numeri dal mio cellulare così nessuno sarà contattato se dovessi essere preso mentre compio quanto ho deciso o durante le indagini della polizia; ripeto, non preoccupatevi, siate certi delle mie parole”. “Tibet libero”, conclude il messaggio. Il suo corpo è stato ripescato dal Gange il 6 aprile: indossava una Tshirt con la scritta Free Tibet.Nato a Darjeeeling, dove aveva compiuto i suoi studi, Dhondup si era trasferito a Calcutta con la famiglia. Così parla di lui Tenzin Tsundue, scrittore e Presidente della sezione regionale del Tibetan Youth Congress: “Non l’avevo mai incontrato personalmente ma ricevevo spesso suoi messaggi e telefonate nelle quali discutevamo sui modi migliori per sensibilizzare la comunità tibetana in India sul problema del Tibet”.

Dopo i trentaquattro casi di immolazione con il fuoco, Dhondup ha sacrificato la sua vita gettandosi nel fiume. Il suo gesto non è il solo. Richiama infatti alla memoria quello di Tashi Sangpo, ventotto anni, residente nel monastero di Golok Ragya, nella contea di Machen, regione del Qinghai, che il 21 marzo 2009 si è tolto la vita gettandosi nel fiume Machu. Nei giorni precedenti il 10 marzo, nel monastero, da giorni sotto il costante controllo della polizia, erano stati trovati numerosi volantini di protesta e una grande bandiera tibetana era stata fatta sventolare sul tetto della principale sala di preghiera. Alcuni monaci erano stati arrestati e il monastero completamente isolato. Le forze di sicurezza avevano affermato di aver trovato sia i volantini sia la bandiera nella stanza di Tashi Sangpo. Il giovane monaco, in segno di protesta e piuttosto che subire l’arresto, si era allontanato dal monastero e si era suicidato gettandosi nel fiume. Non appena si è diffusa la notizia della sua morte, gli abitanti di Ragya erano scesi nelle strade con bandiere e striscioni, al grido di “Indipendenza per il Tibet” e “Lunga vita al Dalai Lama”. Fonte: Italia Tibet - The Tibet Post -

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4741 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4750 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4750#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:01:01 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4750

Palden Choetso, self-immolated 3 November 2011

Self-immolation as protest in tibet

Guest Editors: Carole McGranahan (University of Colorado) and Ralph Litzinger (Duke University)

Tibet has no history of self-immolation as sacrifice, religious offering, or political protest. Yet, in the last year alone, roughly thirty-five Tibetans have set themselves on fire. The overwhelming majority of self-immolators are inside Tibet, in the People’s Republic of China, and almost exclusively in northwestern Sichuan and southeastern Qinghai provinces (corresponding to the Tibetan regions of northern Kham and southern Amdo). In this special issue of Cultural Anthropology, we collectively ask why. Why are so many Tibetans resorting to the singular act of setting the body on fire? What combination of cultural, historical, political, and/or religious reasons inspire these acts?

Most of the self-immolators have been young Buddhist monks (or former monks), men in their teens and early twenties, but nuns have also immolated, as have both male and female laypeople. One of the self-immolators was a tulku/sprul ku, a respected Buddhist reincarnate lama in his forties. Two earlier Tibetan self-immolations are notable: Thubten Ngodup who in 1998 was the first Tibetan to self-immolate as a form of political protest, and Tapey who self-immolated in February 2009 following massive protests in Tibet the year before. In the spring of 2008, protests rocked the Tibetan Plateau. These were the largest, most widespread protests in Tibet since 1959 when the Dalai Lama escaped to India. For a brief while, Tibet captured the world’s attention. The protests and accompanying violence received widespread coverage inside and outside of China. The media attention eventually moved on to the devastating earthquake in Sichuan and then the summer Olympics in Beijing. Much of the world might have turned their attention elsewhere, but Tibetans did not. Contributors to this special issue know from fieldwork, travel, and correspondence that things remained tense in many Tibetan areas. If we knew this, though, we did not know that a new form of protest was in the works. We did not anticipate these dozens of self-immolations. No one saw this coming.

As we compiled this issue over the last two months, the frequency of the self-immolations increased. Updating the numbers, however, did not necessarily put us closer to comprehending the acts. How does one write about self-immolation—an act that is simultaneously politically charged, emotionally fraught, visually graphic, individually grounded, collectively felt—and what does one write? How do we intellectually make sense of these self-immolations, and how do we do so while writing in the moment, but writing from the outside?

There are no anthropologists in the self-immolation zone right now. Nor are there any foreign or Chinese journalists. These areas of Tibet are closed. As a result, there is neither on-the-ground, first-hand ethnographic research nor professional media coverage of the self-immolations inside Tibet. If anthropologists usually conduct in-depth, in-person fieldwork followed by reflection and analysis, in this instance we are unable to for political reasons. We simply do not have access to the area. Monasteries and towns linked to self-immolations were locked-down, and military troops rolled into these places, ostensibly to “protect the people” and secure “social order.” Information and images coming out were initially exclusively via Tibetans sending them out to the exile community. The global media could not get to Tibet, and the Chinese media was noticeably silent; Time magazine declared the Tibetan self-immolations the n. 1 most under-reported story of 2011.

Foreign journalists began to sneak into closed areas to cover the story, but the self-immolations did not make the front page of the New York Times until Jamphel Yeshi set himself on fire on 26 March 2012 in New Delhi. Photographers from Reuters and the Associated Press were on the scene, and shot haunting, powerful images of his self-immolation. They were immediately published around the world. While the self-immolations are now an active media story, as well as scholarly and governmental concern, we still do not know how or when this series of self-immolations will end.

We turn now to the essays, a combination of poignant reflections on the impossibility yet necessity of interpretation, focused analyses of possible ways of making sense of self-immolation, and efforts to speak to broader audiences, to translate ethnographic knowing into meaningful commentary on life and death, on the all-too-real deaths of over thirty Tibetans. Each of these essays was difficult for their author to write, and we gratefully acknowledge their willingness to write about a difficult topic involving political risk.

http://culanth.org/?q=node%2F526

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4750 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4822 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4822#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:04:30 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4822 With the new media, the Tibetan issue is now known worldwide

By RS Kalha, Former Secretary, MEA (Tehelka)

MOST PEOPLE in India, when they saw Jamphel Yeshi, a 27 year old Tibetan set himself on fire to protest the arrival in India of the Chinese leader Hu Jintao, could not but have pondered over the sad fate that has befallen a forgotten people. Yeshi was an activist with the Tibetan Youth Organisation who before self-immolating, left a poignant note that read, “The fact that the Tibetan people are setting themselves on fire in this 21st century is to let the world know about their suffering.” Yeshi is not alone, for the figure of Tibetan self-immolations in China has crossed over 30. But is the world listening?Predictably, as if on cue, the Chinese authorities put the blame on the Dalai Lama and accused him of ‘masterminding’ the series of self immolations. The Chinese officials ‘complimented’ the Indian authorities for their ‘handling’ of the situation. Apart from officials, not many in India would be enthused to receive such a compliment! And yet the Chinese refuse to take a second look at what is actually causing such unrest in Tibet. Areas inhabited by Tibetans are under harsh security cover. Many new road checkpoints have been built, manned by heavily armed paramilitary police wearing flak jackets and often carrying small fire extinguishers. The Chinese have also instituted ‘monastic management’ plans with the attempt to control religious life. In addition, over a million national flags and Mao portraits have been distributed, with the latter being compulsory to hang in monasteries. Such heavy-handedness is causing great disaffection amongst the general Tibetan population.

The Tibetans are a gentle people. Before Buddhism arrived in Tibet from India during the 11th century, the Tibetans were animist by religion, savage by nature, revelling in military exploits. Buddhism changed all that, for it preaches against killing any living being and the Tibetans. Its soldiers faded away and Tibet thereafter never threatened anyone. Sadly for the Tibetans, no country has spoken up for them or for their obvious suffering. When a Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bonazizi self immolated in Tunis on 17 December 2010 he actually helped launch the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ which led to widespread changes in the Arab World. Unfortunately for Jamphel Yeshi, nothing similar seems to have happened. While most are demonstrably anxious about the killings in Syria and the blood bath that followed the defeat of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, few if any are prepared to shed a tear for the hapless Tibetans. Even the UNHRC has failed to notice any human rights violation.

The reasons are not far to seek. No one wishes to annoy the Chinese. China is a permanent member of the UNCS. It is the second largest economy in the world. Its military power is growing steadily. Recently the US was pushed into taking a review of its military posture to meet the growing Chinese military strength. While recognising that the two countries have a stake in the maintenance of stability in East Asia and in building a
‘co-operative’ relationship, the review demanded that China must ‘clarify its strategic intentions’ in order to avoid friction in the region. What was left unsaid was whether China would ‘co-operate’ with the US as it pursues its policies in the region or adopts a strategic profile hostile to US interests.

However, all is not lost for the Tibetans. With the evolution of the new media, the suffering of the Tibetans is now known worldwide. As more such self-immolations take place, the revulsion for Chinese policies in Tibet will grow exponentially. It is time for the Chinese leadership to take note.

http://tibet.net/2012/04/11/all-is-not-lost-for-tibetans/

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

Il 7 aprile 2002, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, un monaco di Lithang, una contea della prefettura di Kardze, provincia del Sichuan, fu arrestato con l’accusa di aver compiuto attentati e attività separatiste e fu condannato alla pena capitale. Con lui fu arrestato anche Lobsang Dhondup, un ex monaco la cui esecuzione fu immediata. La condanna di Tenzin Rinpoche fu commutata, nel dicembre 2009, nel carcere a vita. Ricorre quindi in questi giorni il 10° anniversario dell’arresto e della sua illegale detenzione: Tenzin Delek Rinpoche ha, infatti, sempre protestato la sua totale innocenza ed estraneità ai fatti imputatigli. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche era molto stimato e godeva di grande prestigio tra i membri della sua comunità per l’incessante impegno con cui si batteva per la preservazione dell’identità culturale tibetana nella regione. Era, di conseguenza, inviso al potere cinese e tenuto sotto stretto controllo dalle autorità locali. Accusato di essere l’autore di un’esplosione avvenuta a Chengdu nel 2002, fu arrestato e torturato. L’esecuzione della sua condanna a morte fu sospesa per due anni e fu commutata nel carcere a vita dopo i processi di primo e secondo grado. Sappiamo che le sue condizioni di salute non sono buone. In questo decimo anniversario della sua detenzione si moltiplicano le campagne e gli appelli alla dirigenza cinese per la sua liberazione. Invitiamo i lettori ad aderire alla campagna promossa da International Tibet Network sottoscrivendo la lettera-appello diretta a Liu Qibao, Segretario del Partito della Provincia del Sichuan, in cui si chiede il rilascio di Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. La lettera al sito:

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5380/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1349

Gli eventi

Dopo un processo farsa e un procedimento d’appello altrettanto privo di ogni garanzia legale, il 26 gennaio 2003 furono confermate le condanne a morte del monaco tibetano Tenzin Delek Rinpoche e del suo assistente Lobsang Dhondup. La sentenza fu emessa dalla Intermediate People’s Court in Kardze, nella provincia del Sichuan. Kardze appartiene all’area storicamente indicata come Kham, regione orientale del Tibet, che nello smembramento seguito all’occupazione del Paese delle Nevi è stato incluso nella provincia cinese del Sichuan. Il 2 dicembre la Corte ha condannato Dhondup alla pena capitale con esecuzione immediata e Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche alla pena capitale con una sospensione di due anni dell’esecuzione.

Lobsang Dondrub fu condannato a morte perché riconosciuto colpevole di attentati, incitazione al separatismo e possesso illegale di armi e munizioni. L’esecuzione di Lohsang Dondrub avvenne il 26 gennaio 2003. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche fu condannato alla pena capitale con una sospensione di due anni dell’esecuzione. I due tibetani furono accusati dell’esplosione causata da una bomba deposta in Tianfu, una delle piazze principali di Chengdu il 3 aprile 2002. Secondo gli investigatori, Lobsang Dondrub fu visto fuggire dalla piazza dopo aver causato l’esplosione. La polizia inoltre avrebbe accertato che i due tibetani sarebbero stati coinvolti anche in altri attacchi avvenuti a Dartsedo e nella contea di Lithang, e che volantini incitanti alla “separazione fra il Tibet e la madrepatria” furono ogni volta trovati sui luoghi delle esplosioni. Gli attentati causarono una vittima, ma il rapporto della polizia non indicherebbe prove evidenti che legherebbero i due tibetani agli attentati.

Le date

Al termine del processo d’appello,Tenzin Delek Rinpoche è stato condannato al carcere a vita. Trasferito dal carcere di Chuandong a quello di Mianyang (nella provincia del Sichuan), sappiamo che le sue condizioni di salute non sono buone: soffre di alta pressione e, a causa delle torture cui è stato sottoposto prima del processo, ha problemi cardiaci e polmonari. Continua a proclamare la sua innocenza.

Fonte http://www.italiatibet.org/

Tibetan herder Gatou used to live a nomadic life on the grasslands of the Tibetan plateau before he was rehoused under a controversial Chinese government scheme.

Now he inhabits one of scores of small brick houses that have sprung up in incongruously neat rows in the rugged and mountainous terrain of the Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China.

“They are giving us houses for free, with electricity,” Gatou, who like many Tibetans only goes by one name, told AFP at a prayer festival he has organised for his community, his brown eyes beaming from a dark tanned face.

“Most people welcome this. But they are also making people settle down in fixed homes, which does not conform with the traditional lives of herders.”

China has invested billions of dollars into resettling Tibetan herders, who have for centuries led a nomadic life, moving regularly to seek fresh grazing for their animals.Beijing says the policy is aimed at improving nomads’ living standards, creating markets for their livestock and the traditional herbal medicines they gather and curbing rampant environmental degradation on the roof of the world.

But while some Tibetans welcome the changes, many worry about the disappearance of a lifestyle that has endured for hundreds of years, and see the resettlements as part of a broader erosion of Tibetan culture in China.

Kate Saunders, spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet pressure group, told AFP the policy appeared to be aimed largely at bringing nomadic populations traditionally free of government interference under control.

“These policies give the authorities greater administrative control over people’s movements and lifestyle,” she said.

Herders also complain of being forced to sell their livestock, of unfulfilled government promises of jobs, schools and medical facilities, and of corruption in the settlement scheme.

“They promised me a job if I sold my herds and settled down,” said a former nomad in his 40s who identified himself as Norbu.

“But I can only find seasonal work and I can never make enough money to support my family. I feel cheated,” he told AFP.

The resettlements into exclusively Tibetan neighbourhoods are ostensibly voluntary, but activists say there is plenty of government pressure.

Simmering resentments have fed into rising tensions in China’s Tibetan-inhabited areas, where anger at Beijing’s rule has sparked a series of self-immolations by Tibetan Buddhists over the past year.

Stephanie Brigden, head of the rights group Free Tibet, has described the policy as “one of the greatest expulsions of a people from their land in history,” and said there is no doubt it has fuelled the protests in Tibet.

It is hard to know exactly how many Tibetan herders have been resettled. The UN cited recent Chinese reports saying between 50 and 80 percent of the 2.25 million nomads on the Tibetan plateau were being “progressively relocated.”

The UN Human Rights Council in January urged China to “suspend the non-voluntary resettlement of nomadic herders from their traditional lands.”

China should “examine all available options, including recent strategies of sustainable management of marginal pastures,” and allow herders more say in how they seek out their livelihoods, it said.

The United Nations says the settlement programme covers the Tibetan Autonomous Region and Tibetan-inhabited areas in Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces, although policies differ widely from one area to another.

Gatou said those rehoused herders who have been able to keep their animals and still have access to grasslands were now enjoying better lives, although unemployment was turning some settlements into shanty towns.

“Things are changing quickly on the Tibetan plateau,” Gatou told AFP as he fiddled with his mobile phone and looked out over a line of cars and motorbikes parked next to a quiet meadow below snow-capped peaks.

“Not even a decade ago, most people travelling in those cars would have been on horseback.” http://tibet.net/2012/04/10/chinas-tibetan-herders-face-uncertain-future/;

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_784501.html

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4723 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4721 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4721#comments Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:37:00 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4721 Tibetan arrested for sighting His Holiness’ vision in moon

The Chinese government has forbidden Tibetans living in Tibet from keeping their most-revered spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s photos in homes, monasteries, to name a few. An act of defiance from Tibetans definitely leave them in facing the inevitable consequences. But now, for Tibetans, even seeking just a vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the moon has become an punishable act. A report coming out of Tibet say Phurbu Namgyal, a 20-year-old youth from Lhundup district near Tibet’s capital Lhasa, saw reflection of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the moon recently. He confided his experience to his friends while working together at a club house in Lhasa. He told them that if someone gazes at the night sky one can see His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the moon. All of them then started looking at the sky to see the vision outside the club. The police from the public security bureau knew about this and arbitrarily picked up Phurbu Namgyal alleging him for committing an illegal act. His whereabouts and well-being remain unknown. http://tibet.net/2012/04/10/tibetan-arrested-for-sighting-his-holiness-reflection-in-moon/

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

Dharamshala: - A worldwide signature campaign launched by Students for a Free Tibet-India on Saturday, April 7,  is calling on China to release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, the imprisoned Buddhist leader of Tibet. Over 45,000 signatures were already registered on websites such as www.freetenzin.org according to campaigners who have said the Buddhist leader is innocent. “Today, April 7, 2012, marks the 10th year of injustice of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s imprisonment, Students for a free Tibet network everywhere, we’re launching a petition campaign to highlight his cause. So far, website such as http://freetenzin.org, we have managed to collect over 45,000 signatures and we will be forward more signatures, all will be deliver to Mr. Zhou Yongkhang, who was Sichuan party secretary when Rinpoche was arrested on false allegation in 2002,” said Tenzin Jigdal, program director for Students for a Free Tibet-India.

“10 years too long; Tibetans escalate campaign for release of innocent Buddhist leader on anniversary of his arrest. Top Chinese official Zhou Yongkhang targeted for his rile in Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s imprisonment,” said in a statement released by Student for a Free Tibet-India.

“On the 10th- year anniversary of this arrest, Tibetans and their supporters worldwide have wowed to escalate the campaign for the release of Tenzin Deleks Rinpoche, a highly revered Buddhist leader framed and subsequently imprisoned by Chinese authorities for crimes he did not commit. This week thousands of letters appealing for his release have sent to Zhou Yongkhang, the politburo Standing Committee member who is currently facing speculation of a connection to the Bo Xilai scandal that rocked China last month. Zhou was Sichuan Party secretary in 2002 when Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was arrested for this alleged involvement in a series of explosions in Chengdu; allegations that are unproven to this day,” the statement added.In a global campaign effort today, students for a free Tibet-India is gathering signatures in McLeod Gan and several other Indian cities for a worldwide petition demanding Rinpoche’s immediate and unconditional release.

“On this day 10 yeast ago, Chinese authorities arrested Tenzin Delek Rinpoche for the simple fact that he was a Tibetans whose influence was growing because of this social work and community leadership. Rinpoche was since been a prisoner of the Chinese state, and every day he spends in prison is one day too many,” said Tenzin Dolkar, Grassroots Coordinator of Students for a free Tibet-India.

Zhuo Yongkhang served as the party secretary of Sichuan from 1999 to 2002, during which time Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was arrested and sentenced to death in a closed-door trial on bombing charges. After a high-profile global campaign to save this life, China commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2004. Shortly after Tenzin Delek’s conviction Zhou was promoted as Minister of Public Security. In his current position head of the powerful Central Political and Legislative Committee, Zhou oversees China’s security forces and law enforcement institutions and has the authority to order Tenzin Delek’s release.

“Zhou boosted his career by overseeing the politically motivated arrest and imprisonment of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a strong advocate of Tibetan cultural and religious rights. Zhou may sit at the top of China’s authoritarian hierarchy but he will face escalating global pressure and scrutiny until he orders the release of Tenzin Delek. This innocent monk should suffer one more day in prison,” said Tenzin Jigdal. Tenzin Delek is innocent, Zhou Yongkhang is the real criminal responsible for the outright repression of an innocent Tibetan monk, we demand this injustice immediately rectified.

Due to the torture and abuse Tenzin Deleks has suffered in prison, his health has deteriorated in the past ten years. He suffers from a heat conditions and high blood pressure for which he is not receiving medical attention. Rinpoche’s relatives, students, and local Tibetans are actively petitioning for the release of their beloved and respected Buddhist leader. In 2009, in a remarkable act of support and bravery, 40,000 Tibetans inside Tibet signed petitions demanding justice for their Buddhist leader.

“The global petition for the release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche comes as protests inside Tibet are intensifying with thousands of Tibetans taking to the streets since January 2012. These demonstrations are part of an unprecedented wave of political protests, including 33 Tibetans who self-immolated since 2009 in an effort to bring international attention tot the oppressive realities inside Tibet,” it further stated. “Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is known for his dedication to preserving Tibetan religion and culture and protecting the environment. He built many schools, monasteries, and orphanages in his area, and is an advocate of the Dalai Lama’s philosophy of nonviolence. Because of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s influence in his community and his efforts to preserve Tibetan identity, he was an obstacle to the Chinese authorities’ control in the region. Over the course of a decade, he was the target of harassment, intimidation, and control by Chinese officials.”

Overview
Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a highly respected Buddhist spiritual leader from Lithang county, eastern Tibet, was sentenced to death on December 2nd, 2002 on charges of involvement in a series of unsolved explosions. His co-defendant, Lobsang Dhondup, was executed shortly after. Thousands of people around the world advocated for the release of Tenzin Delek and after years of intense campaigning, his sentence was finally commuted to life imprisonment in 2005. Human rights organizations around the world believe he was framed because he is viewed by the Chinese government as a threat to their control of Tibet. The Chinese government did not present credible evidence against Tenzin Delek Rinpoche or any of the Tibetans detained in connection with this case. They were denied access to independent lawyers and did not have a fair trial. Now, ten years after his arrest, he is still serving a life sentence for crimes he did not commit.

http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/international/2448-global-signature-campaigns-calling-for-release-of-tenzin-delek

Alice Project Bodhgaya

ALICEPROJECT  - UNIVERSAL EDUCATION SCHOOL SARNATH
PH- 0091-542-2595062 Mobi- 09415291478 FAX-2585380; e-mail v_giacomin@hotmail.com; Web. www.aliceproject.org; Web: www.aliceproject.info

Dear friends,

I realized that many of you did not know that we have opened the school for local children in Bodhgaya (Barbatta, Dandawa villages). As you know, we were compelled to shut down the school due to economic problems (our main sponsor from Germany was a victim of the economical crisis on 2008). We then closed the school when the senior students were ready for class X exams. We got very positive results: all the students brilliantly passed the exams (60% First Division). One student was first among all the students of the District. For one year we kept the school closed. Then, we decided to open the hostel part of the school for Chakma students. Our Bodhgaya school is recognized by Indian Government (Sanskrit Board) from class IX to class XII and B.A. (University).  Now it is the Exam Centre for Sanskrit students from several Indian States.  So, we decided to accept only students for Senior High School and Degree College. The first batch of 25 Chakma students (class IX) arrived in 2009, from Arunachal Pradesh. Now we have 52 resident Chakma students studying in class IX, X and XI. (We will write a new newsletter about Chakmas and their sponsors). At this time there were no local children in our school. Before Kalachakra Initiation, our President, Tenzin Tsewang, met His Holiness The Dalai Lama (who is the Patron of Alice Project) in South India and talked about our Educational Project and our successful results. When His Holiness came to know that there was not an Alice Project school for local children in Bodhgaya, He asked our President to open again the school and He promised to support it.

Without delay, we opened the admission for primary school children. The response from the villagers was enthusiastic. To avoid the previous mistakes (almost free of cost education), we are charging 50 rupees monthly, as fees. We realized that it is totally wrong to give something to the kids or their families as charity. They will grow with “beggar mentality” and, of course, they will not respect the “donors”. Nothing should be “free of cost”. What if the families cannot afford to pay 50 Rs.?  In these cases, we offer to the parents jobs in our construction project.

We inaugurated the new school, for 220 children, two months ago. Ten teachers have been employed.

During the Kalachakra Initiation, on a special auspicious day, His Holiness’s Secretary called our President informing him to collect H.H. donation for the new school.

Needless to say we are delighted not only with the donation, but mainly for the direct interest H.H. has for our school.

Now we have found more friends who have promised to support the new Bodhgaya School. Amongst these are our friends Camilla and Lorenzo, from the Italian Onlus Associazione Anjali who are currently working as volunteers at the Aghor Foundation, in Varanasi. They have kindly offered the smart board and also a contribution for printing new books for the Bodhgaya children, beside teaching religious anthropoly at Sarnath School.

Your advice and contribution of any kind are welcome so that this  new “His Holiness Bodhgaya School” becomes a pilot Centre for Spiritual Education integrated with traditional instruction.

Valentino Giacomin

Ps. I am sorry and I apologize if I did mistakes on sending this mail-newsletter. If someone does not want to receive any  more our mail-newsletter, please, let me know.

La polizia fronteggia una protesta di tibetani

Pechino lancia la campagna “colpisci duro” nella P.A. di Kanlho e detta le condizioni per la ripresa dei negoziati.

Le autorità cinesi della Prefettura Autonoma Tibetana di Kanlho, situata nella Provincia nord-orientale del Gansu, hanno lanciato a partire dallo scorso 9 marzo una campagna mirata a far sì che la popolazione riferisca alle autorità ogni notizia relativa ad attività ritenute illecite, sovversive e di minaccia alla “stabilità sociale e l’unità nazionale”. Il bando, scritto in lingua tibetana e cinese, è stato affisso sui muri di tutte case, per le strade e perfino sui tronchi degli alberi. Tutte le otto Contee della Prefettura sono state teatro, a partire dal 2008, di numerose manifestazioni di protesta culminate nell’auto immolazione della studentessa diciottenne Tsering Kyi avvenuta nella Contea di Machu il 3 marzo 2012. Nella notifica dell’Ufficio di Pubblica Sicurezza della Prefettura di Kanlho si legge che, per mantenere e promuovere una “Kanlho armoniosa”, la Sicurezza colpirà duramente chiunque creerà attriti tra le differenti etnie, favorirà il separatismo etnico e minaccerà l’unità nazionale. Colpirà inoltre chiunque, con parole, scritti, filmati o partecipando o promuovendo organizzazioni illegali metterà in discussione la stabilità sociale. Saranno perseguiti coloro che diffonderanno notizie attraversi siti internet, cellulari o telefoni fissi e coloro che compiranno attività illegali, quali pestaggi, incendi, furti o danneggiamenti. A chi denuncerà tali attività “criminali” è garantita la protezione personale, l’anonimato e una ricompensa non inferiore ai 5.000 Yuan.

Lunedì 2 aprile, il quotidiano di stato cinese China Daily ha pubblicato un articolo, ripreso dal quotidiano on line indiano Daily News and Analysis, in cui, sotto il titolo “Dharamsala non può rappresentare il popolo tibetano” Pechino detta le condizioni per la ripresa del dialogo con gli inviati del Dalai Lama. Qu Xing, presidente dell’Istituto Cinese per gli Studi Internazionali, afferma che la Cina è pronta a riprendere la serie dei colloqui iniziati nel 2002 con i rappresentanti del Dalai Lama a patto che quest’ultimo rinunci a voler esercitare la sua autorità su tutte le quattro province del Tibet (Sichuan, Qinnghai, Gansu e Yunnan) e non chieda il ritiro delle truppe dell’esercito cinese da quei territori. Secondo Qu Xing, queste richieste sembrerebbero contraddire la politica autonomista del Dalai Lama ed avallare, al contrario, una richiesta di indipendenza.

L’articolo del China Daily afferma che “il governo cinese ha sempre dato prova di buona volontà organizzando le visite dei rappresentanti privati del Dalai Lama anche dopo le manifestazioni del marzo 2008”. A chiarimento del titolo, viene specificato che “né Dharamsala né alcun altro insediamento di esuli possiede un territorio, presupposto indispensabile per qualificarlo come stato sovrano”.

Fonti: Centro Tibetano per i Diritti Umani e la Democrazia – Daily News and Analysis http://www.italiatibet.org/

I Premi Nobel per la Pace per il Tibet

A group of 12 Nobel Peace Laureates - including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, and President Jose Ramos Horta - today sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging him to “respect the dignity of the Tibetan people” and open “meaningful dialogue” with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders. The letter is in response to the recent spate of self-immolations of Tibetans protesting the repression of the Tibetan people.
Full text of letter:
President Hu Jintao,
The People’s Republic of China
Bejiing, China
Dear Mr. President:
The people of Tibet wish to be heard. They have long sought meaningful autonomy, and chosen negotiation and friendly help as their means of attaining it. They now turn to protest. The international community is concerned by the drastic expressions of resentment by the people of Tibet through self-immolation. The Chinese government should hear their voices, understand their grievances and find a non-violent solution. That solution is offered by our friend and brother His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has never sought separatism, and has always chosen a peaceful path. We strongly urge the Chinese government to seize the opportunity he provides for a meaningful dialogue. Once formed, this channel should remain open, active and productive. It should address issues that are at the heart of the current tension, respecting the dignity of the Tibetan people and the integrity of China
Specifically, we are respectfully requesting that the Chinese government release all those who have been arbitrarily detained; cease the intimidation, harassment and detention of peaceful protestors; allow unrestricted access for journalists, foreign diplomats, and international organizations to Tibet; and respect religious freedom.
It is especially important to understand that the international community will be reassured if your government would allow members of the press and United Nations Human Rights investigators full access within Tibet. Without that access, progress is unlikely and an opportunity may be lost.
Sincerely,
Desmond Tutu
Jody Williams
Rigoberta Menchu Tum
Jose Ramos Horta
Leymah Gbowee
Adolfo Perez Esquivel
Shirin Ebadi
Lech Walesa
Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Jon Hume
Betty Williams
Carlos Belo

http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/international/2443-world-nobel-laureates-urge-president-hu-for-dialogue-on-tibet

Lhasa presidiata dalle truppe cinesi

Condannato a 2 anni un abate buddista: lavorava per combattere l’analfabetismo.
Khenpo Gyewala guidava il monastero Gyegyel Zogchen e aveva fondato una scuola elementare per i tibetani. Dopo 20 giorni di arresto (illegale) è stato condannato per “attività anti-statale”: la sua sparizione ha provocato un infarto alla sorella, che è morta. Il presidente del Parlamento tibetano ad AsiaNews: “Violenze e arresti sono ormai la norma. Ma noi continuiamo sulla strada indicata dal Dalai Lama”. Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Dopo 20 giorni di detenzione forzata, l’abate del monastero Gyegyel Zogchen è stato condannato a due anni di detenzione per “attività anti-statale”. Il religioso, Khenpo Gyewala, è molto noto e rispettato per il suo lavoro a favore dell’istruzione e per la libertà religiosa del Tibet: dopo il suo arresto, la polizia gli ha impedito di contattare la sua famiglia e una sorella, Boyang, è morta di infarto per la preoccupazione. Khenpo è “sparito” l’8 marzo insieme ad altri 13 tibetani (rilasciati il 25 marzo): l’arresto, senza alcuna base legale, è avvenuto nella contea di Zatoe, nella provincia del Qinghai. Alcune fonti raccontano al Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy che un parente dell’abate è stato convocato lo scorso 28 marzo dalla polizia della contea e ha potuto parlare con il religioso per 3 minuti via telefono. Prima di dargli la linea, i poliziotti hanno avvertito il parente di non parlare della sorella morta. Durante il colloquio Khenpo ha chiesto al suo parente di “controllare la scuola Monsel”, l’istituto da lui fondato per combattere l’analfabetismo fra i tibetani. L’abate ha poi aggiunto di aver subito “enormi difficoltà” durante la sua detenzione, che “si sono interrotte” dopo la sentenza. Tuttavia, il monaco non ha saputo dire in quale carcere si trovi e nemmeno la provincia. La Cina continua a rispondere con il pugno di ferro alle richieste di autonomia e libertà religiosa dei tibetani. Lo scorso 22 marzo, le autorità comuniste hanno condannato 11 tibetani coinvolte in marce pacifiche di proteste a pene detentive che vanno dai 3 ai 13 anni di prigione per “aver incitato disordini sociali”. Le proteste di Drango e Sertha, avvenute il 23 e il 24 gennaio scorso, sono state represse nel sangue. Penpa Tsering, presidente del Parlamento tibetano in esilio a Dharamsala, commenta ad AsiaNews: “Gli arresti e le condanne sono diventate una costante, nella storia del Tibet. Il nostro popolo ha il diritto di protestare e lo fa in maniera pacifica: Pechino, però, non ha intenzione di ascoltare la nostra voce. Noi continuiamo sulla strada indicata dal Dalai Lama: cercare l’autonomia religiosa e culturale senza ricorrere alla violenza. La Cina ne pratica anche troppa”.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche e Lama Yeshe in meditazione nel 1969

Cari amici

Il Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoce sta andando bene, progredisce lentamente, ma è normale data la situazione. La cosa principale è che ci siano ancora progressi. Rinpoce è più indipendente, usa di più la mano destra, la gamba destra è più forte, abbiamo solo bisogno di concentrarci su come agire correttamente. Rinpoce parla in modo chiaro in tibetano, in inglese, se non si sforza, vi è un leggero farfugliamento. Ma quando Rinpoce insegna e si concentra sulla pronuncia è chiaro. La pressione arteriosa e la glicemia (il livello dello zucchero nel sangue) sono buoni data la situazione di Rinpoce e i medici sono soddisfatti. Rinpoce non desidera assumere le medicine occidentali a lungo, se possibile, dobbiamo quindi trovare altri metodi associati ad un corretto stile di vita!

Grazie a tutti per tutto il vostro sostegno e la vostra gentilezza.

Roger

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4672 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4986 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4986#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:27:10 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4986 Tutti i monasteri tibetani finiscono sotto il controllo del governo cinese

Il Potala a Lhasa, dove risiedeva il Dalai Lama prima dell'esilio in India

Pechino invia 20mila uomini “per parlare con le persone”. Ma la tensione è crescente: altri due monaci si danno fuoco. Di Ilaria Maria Sala, La Stampa.

Il tetto del mondo è in fiamme: ieri, altri due giovani tibetani si sono immolati, bevendo cherosene e poi dandosi fuoco. Sono Thenpa Dhargyal, di 22 anni, e Chime Palden, di 21, entrambi monaci al monastero di Kirti, nella regione di Ngaba (Aba in cinese) parte delle zone tibetane del Sichuan.
Mentre bruciavano, secondo quanto dichiarato da testimoni che hanno inviato informazioni a gruppi di tibetani in esilio in India, i due hanno gridato slogan anti-cinesi e chiesto il ritorno del Dalai Lama. La tragedia di ieri ha portato a 33 le immolazioni, iniziate lo scorso anno. Altri due tibetani, invece, si sono dati fuoco in India, un rituale che si ripete ormai sempre più frequentemente e che lascia sbigottiti, ma che non sta avendo altro risultato se non quello di falciare giovani vite.Da parte dei quadri dirigenti cinesi la risposta alle immolazioni sembra essere solo quella di una linea ancora più dura per il controllo capillare dell’altipiano e dei suoi templi. Le poche persone che sono riuscite ad evadere i controlli e ad arrivare nelle regioni cinesi del Tibet parlano di uno stato di semi-legge marziale, con poliziotti armati agli angoli delle strade – e da qualche mese, dotati anche di un estintore.
Avere notizie precise, verificabili, e costanti dal Tibet è divenuto ancor più difficile che averle dalla Corea del Nord. Ma l’insistenza con cui Pechino rifiuta alla stampa e agli osservatori internazionali di recarsi sull’altipiano per vedere con i propri occhi quello che vi sta avvenendo è la più grossa ammissione del fatto che la situazione sia grave.
Le statistiche mostrano che lo scorso anno quasi 9 milioni di turisti si sono recati in Tibet, ma si tratta quasi esclusivamente di turisti cinesi. Secondo notizie riportate da Human Rights Watch, da marzo tutti i templi sono stati messi sotto al controllo diretto di funzionari governativi, che per la prima volta nella storia non sono più gestiti dai monaci stessi.
Dalla violenta rivolta anti-cinese scoppiata poco prima dei Giochi olimpici di Pechino, nel 2008, ad oggi, i templi avevano un’autonomia ridotta, e i monaci dovevano accettare un regolamento imposto dalle autorità, ma la gestione nominale delle istituzioni religiose restava loro. Non più. Ci sono 1787 monasteri autorizzati ad operare in Tibet (sia nella Regione Autonoma che nelle zone tibetane sotto altre regioni, quali il Qinghai, il Sichuan, lo Yunnan e il Gansu), e i controlli in tutti questi sono ormai divenuti parte della vita quotidiana. E fonti ufficiali hanno anche confermato
l’invio di 20.000 membri del Partito e del governo in 5.000 villaggi tibetani – per «parlare con le persone e capire i loro problemi», secondo gli uni, per aumentare i controlli e rendere ancora più insopportabile la situazione, secondo gli altri.
La stampa cinese intanto, tutta sotto il controllo di vari organi di governo e ministeri, sembra funzionare in un universo parallelo, e riporta giorno notizie positive dal tetto del mondo: i tibetani festeggiano l’anniversario della «liberazione dei servi» e la «fine del feudalesimo», ovvero, il «53° anniversario della fine della teocrazia in Tibet».
L’economia cresce, i nomadi di ieri sono i motociclisti di oggi. E i giovani che si danno alle fiamme sono «terroristi», istigati dalla «cricca del Dalai» (per una forma di spregio tutta sua, la propaganda cinese non usa la parola «lama» parlando della massima carica spirituale tibetana, in esilio in India dal 1959).Intanto, Pechino continua a cercare di stimolare l’economia tibetana, convinta che lo scontento sarà sopito dalla materialità. Una politica portata avanti a tappeto, come sono solite fare le autorità cinesi, e che ha risvolti perfino divertenti: «Mio padre è un alto funzionario nel ministero delle ferrovie nel Xinjiang», dice una giovane cinese che lasceremo anonima, «e ha ricevuto una direttiva che richiede a tutti di sostenere l’economia tibetana. Così, per Capodanno cinese, il ministero delle ferrovie ha regalato a tutti i suoi dipendenti una cassa di birra del Tibet». Ma per i 33 giovani che hanno preferito l’abbraccio delle fiamme alla vita sotto il controllo cinese, la prosperità economica dell’altipiano ha un prezzo troppo alto. http://www3.lastampa.it/esteri/sezioni/articolo/lstp/448498/

Chime Palden, 21 anni recentemente immolatosi per il Tibet

Venerdì 30 marzo, attorno alle 12.30 (ora locale) altri due giovani monaci si sono immolati con il fuoco. E’ accaduto a Barkham, nella Prefettura Autonoma di Ngaba, (provincia cinese del Sichuan). Sono Tenpa Dhargyal, 22 anni, e Chime Palden, 21 anni. Entrambi risiedevano dal 2009 nel monastero di Gyalrong Tsodun Kirti, un istituto religioso che conta trecento monaci situato a 82 chilometri dalla città. Appena si è diffusa la notizia della doppia immolazione, alcuni confratelli, su tre pulmini, hanno cercato di raggiungere Barkham ma la polizia cinese ha impedito loro di entrare in città, costringendoli a tornare indietro. I due monaci erano ancora vivi quando sono stati portati via dalle autorità che non hanno fatto sapere dove li hanno ricoverati. La polizia ha messo in stato di fermo coloro che hanno assistito al gesto. La città è stata blindata dalle autorità governative per evitare manifestazioni da parte della popolazione. Tenpa e Chime erano nati entrambi nel villaggio di Khorlachang, Contea di Barkham, Predettura Autonoma Tibetana di Ngaba, nella provincia del Sichuan. Tenpa Dargyal aveva fatto parte, dal 2003 al 2009, del monastero di Kirti che aveva poi lasciato per proseguire gli studi al monastero di Tsodun. Chime Palden, nel 2009, aveva studiato per alcuni mesi presso il monastero di Kirti ma nel 2010, mentre si stava recando a Lhasa, era stato fermato e punito con trenta giorni di carcere in quanto la polizia aveva trovato sul suo telefono cellulare una fotografia del Dalai Lama, quella della bandiera tibetana e la canzone “Unità”, del cantante tibetano Sherten. A Dharamsala, il 31 marzo, migliaia di tibetani hanno reso omaggio alla salma di Jamphel Jeshi, immolatosi a Delhi il 27 marzo. Il suo corpo, avvolto nella bandiera tibetana è stato portato nello Tsuglagkhang, il tempio principale, per il servizio funebre officiato dal Tibetan Youth Congress alla presenza dell’Amministrazione Centrale Tibetana. Fonte Italia-Tibet

Self-immolations reflect rising Tibetan anger

By Simon Denyer, Washington Post

DHARMSALA, India — He walked three times around the rural monastery he had attended as a small child, cycled into town and had a simple vegetarian meal with a friend. Then 22-year-old Lobsang Jamyang excused himself to go to the bathroom.

Inside, he doused himself with gasoline. When he emerged, he was already in flames.

Jamyang then ran a few yards to the intersection at the center of the eastern Tibetan town of Ngaba, faced its huge main Kirti monastery and shouted slogans calling for Tibetan independence from China and for the return of the Dalai Lama, the region’s exiled religious leader.

In the tense and heavily militarized town, police first kicked him and beat him with clubs spiked with nails before dousing the flames, according to witness reports compiled by refugee groups here in the Indian hill town of Dharmsala.Jamyang was one of more than 33 Tibetans who have set themselves on fire in a recent wave of copycat acts of resistance against Chinese rule. The self-immolations are a reaction to what many Tibetans see as a systematic attempt to destroy their culture, silence their voices and erase their identity — a Chinese crackdown that has dramatically intensified since protests swept across the region in 2008.

Before he died, Jamyang had given the friend he lunched with three messages, said a close friend. One was that Tibetans in his village should work harder to preserve their language against the onslaught of Mandarin; the second was that a couple in his village who had recently divorced should reunite.

“The third message was that Tibetans should be very strong to face China, that Tibetans should not be cowards and should not remain silent,” said the friend, who fled his homeland for Dharmsala but remains in touch with local people. Today, Dharmsala is home to thousands of Tibetans, grouped around the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 as an uprising there was ruthlessly crushed.

In the spring of 2008, as the Beijing Olympics approached, Tibet was once again engulfed in protests and riots in which hundreds were killed and thousands were arrested. The response has been brutal, human rights groups say.

A program to resettle Tibet’s nomads into apartments or cinder-block houses and fence off their vast grasslands has gathered pace, the replacement of Tibetan by Chinese as a medium of instruction in schools has been expanded, and government control over Tibet’s Buddhist monasteries, the center of religious and cultural life, has been tightened.

Yet the crackdown seems to have fueled a renewed sense of Tibetan national identity, according to refugees who have fled the region recently for Dharmsala and those like teacher Kelsang Nyima, who returned to his Tibetan village in the Chinese province of Qinghai this year to visit relatives.

“When I left Tibet in 1998, there was not that much conversation about Tibetan nationalism, although some people talked of the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” he said. “This time I can strongly feel the growing sense of nationalism among Tibetans. It is a huge change.”

Once a week, all across this vast Himalayan plateau, Tibetans wear traditional dress, speak only in Tibetan and avoid shops run by Han Chinese, a protest known as “White Wednesday.”

Scores of writers, intellectuals and artists were arrested in 2008 for overtly political work, but in a powerful resurgence of Tibetan culture, others have doggedly continued. Their messages of freedom and yearning for the return of the Dalai Lama are concealed in subtle metaphors that escape the wrath of Chinese officials.

Others yearn for a more overt expression of their feelings, an expression that has been closed off by China.

The monks’ statement

In February 2009, a young monk called Tapey from the Kirti monastery, among the most influential in the east of the Tibetan region, set himself alight carrying a homemade Tibetan flag and a picture of the Dalai Lama. He was fatally shot by police.

The monastery, in the Chinese province of Sichuan, had been under growing official scrutiny since 1997, its monks subject to intense sessions of “patriotic reeducation” and those deemed insufficiently enthusiastic thrown out of the order, said Lobsang Yeshi, a monk who has since fled to India but has remained in contact with his old friends.

“The three main monasteries in [the Tibetan capital] Lhasa were the center of Tibetan Buddhism, but now they are more or less for tourists,” he said. “But Kirti monastery is one of the few large monasteries that is still struggling to some extent. The Chinese see it as a threat to their control, and they are trying to eliminate it.”

The monks were divided on how to respond. The older ones, who had lived through the Cultural Revolution, when the monasteries of Tibet were largely destroyed and emptied, “who knew what the Chinese were capable of,” argued for cooperation, said Yeshi, while the younger ones urged resistance.

The 2008 protests effectively ended the debate. Yeshi said that at least 30 people lost their lives in Ngaba, and many monks were detained for their role in the uprising. When a second self-immolation followed in March 2011, the Chinese response was dramatic.

The monastery was sealed off and 300 monks were arrested. Villagers surrounding the monastery in an attempt to protect its occupants were beaten and carried off by the truckload. The teachers and two friends of the monk who set himself afire were sentenced to a decade or more in jail for homicide.

But instead of stopping the immolations, it has only encouraged more, 20 from Ngaba alone, most of them monks or former monks, but also two nuns and two lay Tibetans.

Today, the town feels like a military camp, sealed off by soldiers, barricades and barbed wire on every block, said 26-year-old nomadic herdsman Sugney Kyab, who arrived in Dharmsala this month after a harrowing escape over the Himalayas.

“When we hear about the immolations we feel very helpless, all we can do is cry,” he said. “We have no voice, we can’t even make a phone call, it is so suffocating.”

Kyab and other refugees said the immolators had become heroes to Tibetans, their acts “a clear expression that we can no longer live under Chinese rule.”

It is also, say increasing numbers of young Tibetan refugees, a sign of the failure of the Dalai Lama’s “middle way,” a two-decade-long attempt to conciliate the Chinese and negotiate with them, an avoidance of any talk of independence in favor of a vaguely defined call for autonomy within China.

Exiles’ anguished appeals

China’s response to the self-immolations has been to blame the Dalai Lama, with one state-run Web site recently accusing him of wanting to impose “Nazi” racial policies inside Tibet and build a “ ‘Berlin Wall’ of ethnic segregation and confrontation.”

The middle way, it said, was strikingly “similar to the Holocaust committed by Hitler on the Jewish.”

The Dalai Lama has said that he does not condone the immolations, but he has largely removed himself from the debate since he retired from politics last year in favor of a democratically elected exiled administration headed by Lobsang Sangay, a former Harvard professor.

With Sangay reduced to seemingly impotent appeals to Tibetans not to take such “drastic” actions, the exile community in Dharmsala, which did so much to keep Tibet in the public eye during the dark years of China’s Cultural Revolution, has been reduced to the role of anguished spectator as Tibetans inside their homeland take up the mantle of resistance.

Jamyang, who came from a desperately poor nomadic family, became a monk at age 5, but at 10 he left to attend a Tibetan school. Just five years later, with his family facing financial problems, he was forced to leave.

His friend remembered him as someone who loved lying in the grass and playing as his family’s sheep and yak grazed.

“That was very funny to me when I reflect on his life,” the friend said.

But if Jamyang was passionate about Tibet’s rolling grasslands, over the years he also became passionate about politics, joining an association in his village trying to preserve the Tibetan language, a move that earned him trouble with the authorities.

In 2008, when the protests erupted, he warned his brothers that he was going to do something unique.

“His brothers took it as if he was just boasting,” the friend said. “But what I would like to mention is that he is very passionate about whatever he does.”

http://tibet.net/2012/04/02/self-immolations-reflect-rising-tibetan-anger/

Il fuoco dei monaci tibetani nel buio del mondo; di Enzo Bianchi. La Stampa 31/3/2012.

Ancora un monaco tibetano che muore dopo essersi dato fuoco per denunciare il pugno di ferro della Cina contro il popolo e le tradizioni religiose tibetane. Ancora un giro di vite di funzionari ed esercito per controllare, prevenire e reprimere espressioni di dissenso che scaturiscono dai monasteri buddisti. Ancora una volta le fiamme dell’immolazione che non riescono ad accendere la solidarietà di quanti potrebbero e dovrebbero alzare la voce in difesa degli indifesi. Diventiamo sempre più sordi e muti di fronte all’oppressione operata dal più forte, dal troppo forte contro il più debole, il troppo debole, l’inerme. Eppure, la disarmante testimonianza di chi usa violenza contro se stesso per denunciare quella compiuta quotidianamente contro il proprio popolo non cessa di gridare: con più si cerca di soffocarla e con più la brace coperta dalle ceneri lascia sprigionare l’ardore di chi sa di battersi per una causa giusta. E per la medesima causa si battono anche i tantissimi giovani che, senza arrivare all’immolazione finale, non cessano di ingrossare le fila dei monasteri buddhisti in Tibet. Cosa li spinge, per un periodo di tempo o per la vita intera, in luoghi sorvegliati come prigioni e in condizioni di vita durissime? Cosa anima la loro ricerca interiore, cosa la tiene in comunione profonda con l’anelito di un popolo? Il desiderio di vivere secondo il sentiero buddhista, una via «monastica» nella sua essenza e struttura, sognando la sopravvivenza e la rinascita di una società dove tutti dovrebbero poter incontrare sul proprio cammino i monaci che, in silenzio, nella fiducia e nell’abbandono alla generosità dell’altro, chiedono quotidianamente per strada una ciotola di riso, nutrimento per loro sì, ma soprattutto occasione per il donatore di perseguire la rettitudine della propria vita. Anche quando questo rapporto con il popolo è coartato e reso impossibile, in realtà la relazione si mantiene viva: i tibetani sanno di poter contare sui monaci, sulla loro capacità di soffrire anche per gli altri, di tener desta una lingua e una cultura, di gridare con voce più forte del silenzio loro imposto, di dare la vita per gli altri fino alle estreme conseguenze.
Per questo i monaci incutono sempre timore ai potenti di turno; per questo sono controllati, osteggiati, oppressi; per questo si fan sparire le tracce del loro sacrificio, si nega al monastero di appartenenza o ai parenti il corpo di chi si è immolato, si cerca in ogni modo di spezzare il legame di solidarietà tra monaci e popolazione della regione. Il monachesimo, non solo quello buddhista, è da sempre, per sua natura elemento che si colloca ai margini e al cuore della società in cui vive: separato nei luoghi e nei modi di vivere, ma unito a tutti nella tensione spirituale, nella ricerca di senso, nella lotta al dolore, nella libertà di porsi al servizio dell’altro. Noi, storditi più che distratti da interessi economici e politici, vorremmo che calasse il buio sul martirio del popolo tibetano, che nessuno disturbasse i manovratori, che non troppa luce illuminasse la negazione dei diritti umani. Il silenzio orante dei monasteri e le grida in fiamme delle torce umane squarciano questo buio, disturbano i nostri affari, illuminano la nostra meschinità. Ancora una volta chi più appare fuori dal mondo ce ne narra la realtà più scomoda. http://www.lastampa.it/_web/cmstp/tmplRubriche/editoriali/gEditoriali.asp?ID_blog=25&ID_articolo=9947

Like a butter lamp in the wind

March 31, 2012 11:41 am. By Amitava Sanyal, Hindustan Times

By all accounts, Jamphel Yeshi was an ordinary man. His father, a farmer in the Sichuan province of east Tibet, passed away when Jamphel was young. At 22, to obey his mother’s wishes Jamphel used up some savings to bribe Chinese officials and cross over to India, leaving behind three brothers and a sister. In India he joined a four-year course at the Tibetan Transit School in Dharamsala. As a part of the course, he came to Delhi to learn computers at an academy in Pitampura. In recent months Jamphel, who had turned 27, was based in Majnu ka Tila, the Tibetan settlement in north Delhi, and was helping other newcomers with translations and finding their way around Delhi.His friends and relatives remember Jamphel as a bookish man who was better informed on Buddhist scriptures and Tibetan history than most others around him. They say he didn’t have much interest in films or music, and if there was something he couldn’t do without, it was tsampa, the barley-flour mix, and tingmo, the steamed bun. His passion was in drawing friends and acquaintances into debates on Buddhism and politics.On the night of March 25, he told an old friend that he would switch off his mobile the next day at the demonstrations against visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao. On Monday, at half past noon, he poured petrol and set himself on fire before anyone near him could react. As the fire engulfed him, he ran for about 100 metres before collapsing. He was brought to hospital with 98% burns. At 7.30 am on Wednesday, Jamphel breathed his last.

By then Jamphel Yeshi was no longer an ordinary man. With his extraordinary and sad act, he became the 31st Tibetan since February 27, 2009, to have self-immolated in protest against the Chinese ruling in Tibet. He managed to re-sharpen the world’s focus on the floundering freedom struggle. A note dated March 16, addressed to “fellow Tibetans of the three provinces” and found in Jamphel’s room, reads: “Without freedom, six million Tibetans are like a butter lamp in the world, without direction.”

We must remember that it was one act of immolation in Tunisia — by 26-year-old street hawker Mohamed Bouazizi in December 2010 — that lit the fire of the Arab Spring. Jamphel also joins the league of extraordinary people such as Nhat Chi Mai, the 34-year-old Buddhist monk in Saigon whose act in 1967 made many in the West question their countries’ Vietnam policy.

In India, immolation by one Chinnas-wamy in Trichy highlighted the Tamil agitation against the ‘imposition’ of Hindi through the passing of the Official Lan-guages Act in 1963. During the past week, Bhojya Naik and Rajamouli set themse-lves on fire in support of statehood for Telangana.

No one has claimed a programme of indoctrination behind these acts. History has treated most of them as singular acts of courage in which these people chose not to harm anyone else. Yes, they did it in a dramatic manner to attract attention to a cause that others have then reinforced using the images. But to claim that Jamphel was directly instigated by the Dalai Lama, as several Chinese officials have done, is absurd and paranoid. Jamphel was an educated Tibetan who, like so many others, was getting increasingly frustrated at being trapped between the Dalai Lama’s soft Middle Way and the hardening Chinese stance. As he saw the notion of freedom drifting farther away from his grasp, he took an extreme step to vent his frustration. No one could tell him what to do.

Forget for a moment the Dalai Lama’s official proscription against self-immolation. Take on board the observation that Tenzin Gaytso, the current Dalai Lama, is a man known for a sense of playful mischief. But then also see a Buddhist monk who has been praying for peace almost all his life. You may not believe in it, but it’s his life’s work. Then to suggest that he is capable of instigating such violent actions seems absurd. It just doesn’t fit.

http://tibet.net/2012/03/31/like-a-butter-lamp-in-the-wind/

http://www.corriere.it/salute/12_marzo_31/meditazione-problemi-psichici-diodoro_1e4d92b4-2194-11e1-97f3-fb4c853f7d5d.shtml

Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity

Judson A. Brewer^a,¹, Patrick D. Worhunsky^a, Jeremy R. Gray^b, Yi-Yuan Tang^c, Jochen Weber^d, and Hedy Kober^a

Author Affiliations

1. ^aDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511;
2. ^bDepartment of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510;
3. ^cDepartment of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403; and
4. ^dDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027

1. Edited by Marcus E. Raichle, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, and approved October 4, 2011 (received for review July 22, 2011)

PNAS December 13, 2011 vol. 108 no. 50 20254-20259

Abstract

Meditation Keeps the Mind on Track

Meditation diminishes activity in areas of the brain associated with mind-wandering, researchers found. Compared with novice meditators, experienced study participants had significant deactivation in parts of the brain associated with the “default mode network” — areas linked with attentional lapses and anxiety, Judson Brewer, MD, of Yale University, and colleagues reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Practiced meditators also reported less mind-wandering during meditation than did their less experienced counterparts, the researchers found. Aside from attention lapses and anxiety, the “default mode network,” or DMN, has also been associated with certain conditions, including ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease. Conversely, mindfulness training has been shown to benefit certain conditions, such as pain, substance use disorders, anxiety, and depression. o to assess whether mindfulness-based meditation can reduce activity along this brain axis, the researchers analyzed both experienced meditators and controls who’d never practiced the technique. The researchers used functional MRI to assess brain activation during both a resting state and a meditation period in 12 experienced mindfulness meditation practitioners and 13 controls. Groups attempted three different types of meditation: concentration, loving-kindness, and choiceless awareness. Concentration is intended to prevent practitioners from engaging with their preoccupations; loving-kindness focuses on fostering acceptance; and choiceless awareness allows for focusing on whatever arises in the conscious field of awareness at any moment. Brewer and colleagues found that experienced meditators reported less mind-wandering during meditation than did controls, which was true across groups. At the same time, they generally saw less activation in the main nodes of the DMN — the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate corticies — in experienced meditators than in controls. While there was significantly less activation in the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and in the superior, middle, and medial temporal gyri and uncus, the trend toward diminished activation in the medial prefrontal cortex was not significant, they noted. With regard to the specific types of meditation, the researchers found less activation in experienced meditators than in controls in the following regions:

• Concentration: posterior cingulate cortex, left angular gyrus

• Loving-kindness: posterior cingulate cortex, inferior parietal lobule, and inferior temporal gyrus extending into hippocampal formations, amygdala, and uncus

• Choiceless awareness: superior and medial temporal gyrus

When using the posterior cingulate cortex as a seed region, the researchers saw significant differences in connectivity patterns with several other brain regions, notably the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, for experienced meditators compared with controls. And when using the medial prefrontal cortex as the seed region, they found increased connectivity with the fusiform gyrus, the inferior temporal and parahippocampal gyri, and the left posterior insula.
These patterns held during the resting-state baseline period as well, the researchers said, suggesting that meditation practice “may transform the resting-state experience into one that resembles a meditative state, and, as such, is a more present-centered default mode.” The researchers concluded that the overall results “support the hypothesis that alterations in the DMN are related to reduction in mind-wandering.” Though the study was limited by a small sample size, the researchers concluded that the findings may have a host of clinical implications, including treatment of conditions linked with dysfunction of these areas, such as ADHD or Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.panoramavital.com/nt-1-40/Meditation-Keeps-the-Mind-on-Track

Meditation Shuts Down Parts of the Brain

People who have been practicing meditation for many years seem to be able to shutdown certain parts of their brains, investigators from the Yale University say. Interestingly, these areas are exactly those involved in underlying conditions such as autism and schizophrenia, among others.

The same ability was not detected in practitioners who have been meditated for only short or medium periods of time. This suggests that the ability to tune out certain portions of the brain is hard-won, and requires a lot of practice to get the hang of.

The Yale team adds that the brain areas experienced practitioners targeted are also the ones involved in lucid daydreaming. This may help explain how these individuals remain calm and focused even after hours of meditation.

A region of the brain called the default mode network was found to be directly affected by meditation. Those with a lot of experience and practice were able to turn this network on and off as they pleased.

The reason why this discovery is so important is because this particular region plays a very important role in underlying lapse of attention. Additionally, neuroscientists have indicated in past studies that it plays a role in the development of several mental disorders.

These include, among other, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety, in addition to Alzheimer’s Disease, a neurodegenerative form of dementia. Apparently, the DMN plays a role in controlling the buildup of beta amyloid proteins in the brain, molecules that underly AD development.

Details of the new research will be published in an upcoming issue of the esteemed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The work was led by Yale assistant professor of psychiatry Judson A. Brewer, MD, PD. He was also the lead author of the science paper.

“Meditation has been shown to help in variety of health problems, such as helping people quit smoking, cope with cancer, and even prevent psoriasis,” the investigator says. The team carried out the new study using a brain imaging method called functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).

The technique works by analyzing blood flow distribution patterns throughout the brain. If a certain region is more active, then it will receive more blood, and this will show on the scans. Conversely, inactive areas appear as dark spots in the data.
“Meditation’s ability to help people stay in the moment has been part of philosophical and contemplative practices for thousands of years,” Brewer says.

“Conversely, the hallmarks of many forms of mental illness is a preoccupation with one’s own thoughts, a condition meditation seems to affect. This gives us some nice cues as to the neural mechanisms of how it might be working clinically,” he concludes, quoted by PsychCentral.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Meditation-Shuts-Down-Parts-of-the-Brain-236058.shtml

Tibet orientale: due monaci buddisti si autoimmolano in Sichuan. Ngaba, due monaci tibetani Tenpa Dhargyal e Chime Palden si danno fuoco. La polizia blocca i soccorsi. La doppia autoimmolazione è avvenuta a Barkham (Contea di Ngaba, Sichuan). I due erano entrambi del monastero di Kirti. Dopo il gesto le autorità hanno portato i corpi in un luogo segreto. Dubbi sulle loro condizioni di salute. Lhasa (AsiaNews) - Continuano le auto-immolazioni dei tibetani per il ritorno del Dalai Lama e la fine dell’occupazione cinese. Due giovani monaci si sono dati fuoco a Barkham contea di Ngaba, nella zona orientale tibetana, compresa nella provincia cinese del Sichuan. Essi sono Tenpa Dhargyal, 22 anni, originario del villaggio di Leko Tsang, e Chime Palden, 21 anni, del villaggio Yesti Tsang. Entrambi risiedono dal 2009 nel monastero di Kirti a 80 km dalla città. I due giovani erano studenti dello stesso monastero e uno di loro, Choemi Palten, era stato arrestato dalla polizia nel 2010 per aver salvato sul suo telefonino una canzone tibetana e perché trovato in possesso di alcune foto del Dalai Lama. Appena si è diffusa la notizia della doppia immolazione, alcuni confratelli si sono precipitati a Barkham, ma la polizia cinese ha impedito loro di entrare in città, costringendoli a tornare indietro. I due monaci erano ancora vivi quando sono stati portati via dalle autorità, che però non hanno comunicato il luogo di detenzione e se verranno curati o lasciati morire. La polizia ha messo in stato di fermo coloro che hanno assistito al gesto. In seguito all’autoimmolazione, le autorità hanno blindato la città per evitare manifestazioni da parte della popolazione. Lo scorso 29 marzo,  Lobsang Sherab anch’egli monaco di Kirti, è morto dopo essersi dato fuoco nella cittadina di Chara (Contea di Ngaba). Solo in un anno più di 24 tibetani (almeno 27 dal 2009), fra cui moltissimi giovani, hanno scelto di darsi fuoco. Tutti hanno voluto manifestare contro lo stretto controllo imposto da Pechino, che sorveglia anche la pratica del culto, l’apertura e la chiusura dei monasteri, e per chiedere il ritorno del leader spirituale dei tibetani. Di contro, il Dalai Lama ha sempre sottolineato di “non incoraggiare” queste forme estreme di protesta, ma ha elogiato il “coraggio” di quanti compiono l’estremo gesto, frutto del “genocidio culturale” che è in atto in Tibet ad opera della Cina. (N.C.)

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4598 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4633 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4633#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:32:30 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4633

Sua Santità il Dalai Lama è stato insignito col premio Templeton per il suo lavoro relativo a scienza e religione.

New York (New York, Usa), 29 mar. (LaPresse /AP) - Il Dalai Lama ha vinto il premio Templeton 2012, uno dei più importanti riconoscimenti religiosi al mondo. Il leader spirituale del buddismo tibetano è stato premiato per il suo lavoro relativo a scienza e religione, per cui si è aggiudicato l’onorificenza dalla fondazione John Templeton assieme a una somma di denaro di 1,7 milioni di dollari. Il Dalai Lama è il fondatore del centro Mind & Life, istituto per la ricerca della scienza e del buddismo. Una serie di suoi interventi a conferenze della Stanford University ha portato inoltre alla creazione del Centro per la formazione e la ricerca della compassione e dell’altruismo, che riunisce scienziati e studiosi di religione. Il riconoscimento sarà consegnato il 14 maggio durante una cerimonia ufficiale a Londra. Il leader 76enne vive in esilio in India e ha vinto il premio Nobel per la pace nel 1989 per aver sostenuto la liberazione nonviolenta del Tibet.

The Dalai Lama Wins 2012 Templeton Prize

West Conshohocken, Pa, USA, 29 March 2012 - The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader whose long-standing engagement with multiple dimensions of science and with people far beyond his own religious traditions has made him an incomparable global voice for universal ethics, nonviolence, and harmony among world religions, has won the 2012 Templeton Prize.
For decades, Tenzin Gyatso, 76, the 14th Dalai Lama – a lineage believed by followers to be the reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist leader who epitomized compassion – has vigorously focused on the connections between the investigative traditions of science and Buddhism as a way to better understand and advance what both disciplines might offer the world.
Specifically, he encourages serious scientific investigative reviews of the power of compassion and its broad potential to address the world’s fundamental problems – a theme at the core of his teachings and a cornerstone of his immense popularity.
Within that search, the “big questions” he raises – such as “Can compassion be trained or taught?” – reflect the deep interest of the founder of the Templeton Prize, the late Sir John Templeton, in seeking to bring scientific methods to the study of spiritual claims and thus foster the spiritual progress that the Prize has recognized for the past 40 years.
The announcement was made this morning online at www.templetonprize.org, via email to journalists, and on Twitter via @TempletonPrize by the Templeton Prize office of the John Templeton Foundation in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
The Prize will be presented to the Dalai Lama at a ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on the afternoon of Monday, May 14. A news conference with the 2012 Prize Laureate will precede the ceremony. Both events will be webcast live at www.templetonprize.org and to global media on a pool basis. Photography from the events will also be pooled.
Valued at £1.1 million (about $1.7 million or €1.3 million), the prize is the world’s largest annual monetary award given to an individual and honors a living person who has made exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.
The announcement praised the Dalai Lama for his life’s work in building bridges of trust in accord with the yearnings of countless millions of people around the globe who have been drawn by the charismatic icon’s appeal to compassion and understanding for all.
“With an increasing reliance on technological advances to solve the world’s problems, humanity also seeks the reassurance that only a spiritual quest can answer,” said Dr. John M. Templeton, Jr., president and chairman of the John Templeton Foundation and son of the late Prize founder. “The Dalai Lama offers a universal voice of compassion underpinned by a love and respect for spiritually relevant scientific research that centers on every single human being.”
He also noted that the Dalai Lama’s remarkable record of intellectual, moral and spiritual innovations is clearly recognized by the nine Prize judges, who represent a wide range of disciplines, cultures and religious traditions. The Prize judges evaluate – independently of each other – typically 15 to 20 nominated candidates each year and then individually submit separate ballots – from which a tally then determines the selection of each year’s Laureate.
The Dalai Lama responded to the prize in the humble style that has become his signature. “When I heard today your decision to give me this quite famous award, I really felt this is another sign of recognition about my little service to humanity, mainly nonviolence and unity around different religious traditions,” he said in a video available at www.templetonprize.org.
In other brief videos on the Prize website, the Dalai Lama elaborates on key issues including his call for humanity to embrace compassion as a path to peace, both personally and on a global scale. “You can develop genuine sense of concern of well-being of others, including your enemy,” he states in one video. “That kind of compassion – unbiased, unlimited – needs training, awareness.”

The Right Reverend Michael Colclough, Canon Pastor at St. Paul’s Cathedral, welcomed this event: “A non-violent voice of peace and reason in a calamitous world, the Dalai Lama represents core values cherished by many different faiths. The award of the Templeton Prize to the Dalai Lama under the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral will be a reminder that working towards peace and harmony is a practical and spiritual challenge to all faith communities.”
The Dalai Lama is no stranger to honors and accolades, with scores to his name. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy of nonviolence as the path to liberation for Tibet. He becomes the second Templeton Prize Laureate to have also received the Nobel Peace Prize; Mother Teresa received the first Templeton Prize in 1973, six years before her Nobel.
In concert with his efforts to achieve peace for Tibet, the Dalai Lama’s extensive travels have promoted cross-cultural understanding with other religions and with disciplines as varied as astrophysics, quantum mechanics, neurobiology, and behavioral science.
He often notes that the rigorous commitment of Buddhists to meditative investment and reflection similarly follows the strict rules of investigation, proof and evidence required of science.
Among his most successful efforts is the Mind & Life Institute, co-founded in 1987 to create collaborative research between science and Buddhism. The Institute hosts conferences on subjects such as contemplative science, destructive and healing emotions, and consciousness and death. While initially beginning as quiet academic affairs, they have evolved into enormously popular public events.
In 2005, after a series of dialogues at Stanford University among the Dalai Lama, scientists in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and medicine, and contemplative scholars, the university became the home of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. The interdisciplinary discourse recognized that engagement between cognitive sciences and Buddhist contemplative traditions could contribute to understanding of the human mind and emotion. The center now supports and conducts rigorous scientific studies of compassion and altruistic behavior.
Many of these conferences have led to popular best sellers written or co-written by the Dalai Lama, including “The Art of Happiness” (1998), “The Universe in a Single Atom” (2005), and “The Dalai Lama at MIT” (2006). All told, he has authored or co-authored more than 70 books.

http://dalailama.com/news/post/781-the-dalai-lama-wins-2012-templeton-prize

By divesting political powers specifically invested in the person of the Dalai Lama to the new elected leadership, Tenzin Gyatso has already sent a strong signal to China that he would remain only a spiritual face of Tibet who has no intentions of controlling the lives of close to six million Tibetans.

By Mayank Chhaya; India Vision (An Informative site on India)

History beckons China’s President Hu Jintao during his India visit if he sheds entrenched antipathies and chooses to directly engage the Dalai Lama with a specific intention of initiating the process of resolving the festering problem of the Tibetan region that is in turmoil and have been aflame with self-immolations, that spread to Delhi Monday with a 26-year-old youth setting himself on fire.

Although Hu is visiting to attend the 4th summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) on March 29, its sidelines are fraught with an opportunity for him to make a statesmen-like gesture by meeting the Dalai Lama.

With 29 self-immolations in the past one year of which 22 have been fatal and seven in the past three weeks alone, Hu could soothe the growing unrest in a region which he once controlled with an iron fist as the political commissar of the People’s Liberation Army units. He was also the Communist Party’s Regional Committee Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) in 1988. If there is one individual in the Chinese establishment who could make a bold gesture on Tibet, it is Hu. Seven years younger than the Dalai Lama, President Hu has the political and administrative weight to break some outdated moulds and at least initiate the process of direct engagement with the Tibetan leader. Realistically, there is no prospect of the meeting taking place of course, but that is precisely where it requires the Chinese leader to do something entirely unexpected. Starting later this year and over a period of six months Hu is expected to give up at least two of his three powerful positions as president of the People’s Republic of China, chair of the Central Military Commission, and party secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There could not be a more opportune time for him to exercise gumption.

While Hu is not known for dramatic gestures and has distinguished himself throughout his long career as a low-key and solidly grounded political figure, there is nothing intrinsic reason to stop him from doing something out of the ordinary. No one expects a single Chinese leader, even someone of Hu’s unquestionable consequence, to even begin to wind down decades of Sino-Tibetan animus. However, from all indications Tibet appears only tenuously welded to China; and the rash of self-immolations are seen to incinerate Beijing’s idea of harmony.

The self-immolation of 26-year-old exiled Tibetan activist Jamphel Yeshi on the streets of Delhi in the run-up to the Hu visit this week serves as a macabre reminder to both the Chinese leader and India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that things can go out of control very quickly. China has officially described the Tibetan self-immolators as “terrorists” acting under a pernicious external influence. The description might satisfy the narrow official purpose of how to treat this deeply disturbing means of protest, but it is unlikely to address the broader challenge of putting a lid on the growing restiveness. It is in this context that President Hu should seek out the Dalai Lama for a one-on-one meeting.

Over the last six decades Beijing has with some manifest success pushed Tibet into a tight territorial and cultural integration but frequent outbursts of protests over the years have shown the assimilation is nowhere close to being as harmonious as it would have the world believe. With the Dalai Lama having long emphasized meaningful autonomy for Tibet within China as opposed to complete independence and steadfastly pursued a peaceful and nonviolent middle-path, it is time for Beijing to yield some ground rather than sticking to its tired out of hand rejection of the Tibetan leader.

President Hu ought to be aware of the rise of a youthful and genuinely independent and democratic polity under Lobsang Sangay as the Tibetan prime minister-in-exile. By divesting political powers specifically invested in the person of the Dalai Lama to the new elected leadership, Tenzin Gyatso has already sent a strong signal to China that he would remain only a spiritual face of Tibet who has no intentions of controlling the lives of close to six million Tibetans.

From the Indian perspective the Hu visit also offers Manmohan Singh an extraordinary opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the decades-old problem. Perhaps the Indian prime minister too can spend some of his own political capital on bringing Hu and the Dalai Lama together.

http://tibet.net/2012/03/29/historic-opportunity-for-hu-jintao-to-engage-dalai-lama/

L’ultimo rogo ieri sera, nella cittadina di Chara. Il giovane è morto sul posto e la polizia cinese ha sequestrato il cadavere, blindando tutta l’area. Chiuse le attività commerciali. Direttrice di Free Tibet: il sacrificio dei tibetani per la libertà, nel silenzio assordante della comunità internazionale. Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Un  monaco 20enne è morto ieri dopo essersi dato fuoco, nell’ultimo atto di una lunga scia di immolazioni che stanno caratterizzando la “Primavera tibetana”. Fonti locali raccontano che alle 7.10 di sera il giovane monaco Lobsang Sherab si è auto-immolato nella cittadina di Chara, contea di Ngaba, nella zona orientale tibetana, compresa nella provincia cinese del Sichuan. Prima di darsi fuoco, il 20enne appartenente al monastero di Kirti - teatro di numerose proteste e roghi negli ultimi mesi - ha lanciato slogan contro le politiche “discriminatorie” di Pechino nei confronti dei tibetani; egli è morto sul colpo. Lobsang Sherab era stato ordinato monaco all’età di nove anni nel monastero di Gendun-Tempheling nel villaggio di Raru per poi trasferirsi nell’ottobre scorso nel Collegio di Dialettica nel monastero di Kirti. Fonti locali riferiscono che “due tibetani presenti nella zona hanno cercato di rimuovere il cadavere”, ma sono intervenute le forze di sicurezza cinesi “che hanno impedito loro di prendere il corpo, portandoselo via”. Gli agenti hanno anche ordinato la chiusura dei negozi e delle attività commerciali nell’area per “motivi precauzionali”. Quella di ieri sera è la seconda auto-immolazione nella cittadina di Chara, circa 70 km da Ngaba, in questo mese. Il 5 marzo scorso un 18enne di nome Dorjee si è dato fuoco ed è morto. La polizia ha imposto uno stretto controllo e non restituirà il cadavere alla famiglia per la celebrazione dei funerali. Fonti locali confermano la situazione di tensione e non escludono il ripetersi di altri episodi simili nell’immediato futuro. Interpellata da AsiaNews Stephanie Brigen, direttrice di Free Tibet, afferma che “più di 30 tibetani si sono dati fuoco per la libertà” e molte “migliaia stanno scendendo in piazza”. Collegandosi ai movimenti pro-democrazia nei Paesi arabi e nel nord Africa, l’attivista aggiunge che ha preso il via la “Primavera tibetana”, mentre “la comunità internazionale è muta: quanti altri tibetani - si chiede - dovranno sacrificare ancora la propria vita, perché la comunità internazionale rompa il silenzio?”. Solo lo scorso anno più di 24 tibetani (almeno 27 dal 2009), fra cui moltissimi giovani, hanno scelto di auto-immolarsi per manifestare contro lo stretto controllo imposto da Pechino, che sorveglia anche la pratica del culto e dispone l’apertura e la chiusura dei monasteri, e per chiedere il ritorno del leader spirituale dei tibetani. Di contro, il Dalai Lama ha sempre sottolineato di “non incoraggiare” queste forme estreme di protesta, ma ha elogiato il “coraggio” di quanti compiono l’estremo gesto, frutto del “genocidio culturale” che è in atto in Tibet ad opera della Cina. (NC)

]]> http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?feed=rss2&p=4591 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4578 http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4578#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:39:44 +0000 admin http://www.sangye.it/dalailamanews/?p=4578

The 20-year old Tibetan Lobsang Sherab set himself on fire. Situation in Ngaba region currently remains tense as Beijing continues to heighten its crackdowns, arbitrary beatings and detentions in Ngaba

A 20-year old Tibetan set himself on fire Wednesday evening around 7:10 pm in Changsha township of Ngaba in eastern Tibet (Chinese: Aba County, Aba Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province). Lobsang Sherab, a monk of restive Kirti monastery died as a result of self-immolation protest against China, says spokesperson of Kirti monastery in India. Chinese paramilitary troops reportedly took his body despite pleas by Tibetan crowds to have it send to his family. Sherab is known to have ordained as a monk at the age of nine at Gendun-Tempheling monastery in Raru village. In October last year, he joined Ngaba’s Kirti monastery’s dialectic college. Reports say heavy Chinese security forces have been deployed at the Changsha township after the self-immolation.

Crackdown in Ngaba

The latest self-immolation from Tibet comes amid series of self-immolations by Tibetan monks and nuns from Tibetan regions, mostly from Ngaba.China has worsened crackdown in the Tibetan area of Ngaba following the self-immolation and death of a young Kirti monk called Phuntsog on March 16, 2011.

In the aftermath of Phuntsog’s protest and subsequent show of solidarity by the monks at Kirti monastery, the authorities launched a stringent patriotic education campaign at Kirti monastery, according to Kirti monks in exile.

In April 2011, Chinese authorities seized more than 300 protesting monks from the Kirti monastery, one of the most important religious institutions in the area. Beijing at the time denied involvement in the disappearances, before later admitting the monks were undergoing enforced “legal education” at undisclosed locations.

Situation in Ngaba region currently remains tense as Beijing continues to heighten its crackdowns, arbitrary beatings and detentions in Ngaba.

Wave of Self-Immolations

Since March 2011, more than eighteen Tibetans are known to have self-immolated from the restive Ngaba region. Thirty nuns, monks and other people have set themselves on fire in Tibetan areas since last March, demanding the return of the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.

Beijing has repeatedly accused the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama of inciting Tibetan self-immolations.

On Monday, the exiled Tibetan administration rejected allegations by Beijing that blamed Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama of orchestrating the self-immolations. The exiled administration blamed Chinese repression for the spate of Tibetan self-immolations that shows few signs of abating.

Situation in Ngaba region currently remains tense as Beijing continues to heighten its crackdowns, arbitrary beatings and detentions in Ngaba

http://www.voanews.com/tibetan-english/news/Self-Immolations-Continue-in-Restive-Ngaba-Tibetan-Monk-Dies-in-Self-Immolation-Protest-144666915.html

Press Release - Taking opportunity of the visit of President Hu Jintao of PRC to India to take part in the 4th BRICS Summit, the Tibetan Parliament in Exile wish to remind all the BRICS members that the situation in Tibet continue to deteriorate and China continue to implement inhuman brutal methods to suppress the peaceful Tibetans inside Tibet. So far 30 Tibetans have self immolated in Tibet out of which 22 have succumbed to their injuries. Three more Tibetans self immolated in India and Nepal, the latest being Jampel Yeshi who burnt himself on the 26th of this month in New Delhi and died this morning. 8 others were killed by indiscriminate police firings in Tibet. We urge the BRICS leaders to raise the Issue of Tibet with President Hu Jintao along with Syria and Iran.Today, on the day when President Hu Jintao is here in India, Tibetans in Tibet are being forced to celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the so called ‘Liberation of one million uprising serfs’. The so called liberation drowned the Tibetans in the darkest period of our history. Neither can we accept it nor can we forget the brutality unleashed on us in the last so many decades.

The root cause of the Tibetans being driven to such drastic acts lies solely in the policies and programs of the Chinese government in the last more than 60 years, aimed at eradication of the Tibetan national identity. Moreover, during Hu Jintao’s tenure in Tibet as the Communist Party Secretary, he was responsible for imposing Martial Law in Tibet in 1989, followed by a hard-line policy towards the Tibet issue in general and His Holiness the Dalai Lama in particular since 1995.

The Chinese leadership lead by President Hu Jintao in the last 9 years of his tenure witnessed heightened tension in the national minority regions including Tibet. 2008 demonstrations in all the Tibetan areas and the self immolations that have escalated in the recent past and troubles in other national minority areas are pointers to this fact. The local Chinese authorities resort to various brutal means under the conviction that they do not have to worry about the backing of the central leadership without the slightest regard for the sentiment and the aspiration of the Tibetan people.

Chinese leadership including the top leaders blames His Holiness the Dalai Lama or the Tibetans in exile for instigating such actions inside. Neither does the Chinese leadership engage in constructive dialogue nor do they try to understand and fulfill the wishes and aspiration of the Tibetan people. The reality of the situation is that the Chinese leadership neither has the political will nor the courage to resolve the Tibetan issue. Therefore, they have forever tried to find an enemy, whether it is the Tibetans in exile or the ‘western forces’ for any movement inside Tibet. We have a transparent democratic system functioning in Dharamsala and have always offered open invitation for the Chinese authorities to look into our documents.

The adverse consequences of the wrong policies and tactics have been proven time and again by the Tibetans even after 60 years of indoctrination, if the legitimate concerns of the Tibetans are not addressed. It is in the hands of the Chinese leadership to save the Tibetan lives and find a lasting solution to the Tibetan issue. We remain committed to non-violence and the Middle Way Approach to find a mutually beneficial negotiated solution to our issue.

Since Hu Jintao was responsible for creating such a mess of the minority nationalities in the last few decades, and now during the remaining period of his Presidency, it should be his responsibility to resolve these issues too. Otherwise President Hu Jintao will go down as one of the most irresponsible leaders in Chinese history.

While reiterating the demands that we have put forward to President Hu Jintao earlier in our open letter and the unanimous resolutions that the Tibetan Parliament in Exile adopted at the just concluded session, we urge President Hu Jintao to take up the following immediately:

1. Allow independent fact finding delegations and media to visit Tibet to assess the ground reality.

2. Allow His Holiness the Dalai Lama to visit China and Tibet.

3. Remove the huge military deployment in Tibet to de-escalate the heightened situation inside Tibet. Look into the causes of people’s disaffection and give them more freedom.

4. Start negotiation with the Tibetan leadership to find a mutually beneficial and lasting solution to the issue of Tibet.

Tibetan Parliament in Exile                    Dated: 28th march 2012
Dharamsala India