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One day the sun will rise again over Tibet, says His Holiness

By Jane Cook: 27 December 2013

Heavy Chinese security forces and police deployed in Lhasa City, Tibet, on 26 Dcember 2013. Photo: TPI

By Jane Cook: 26 December 2013

Dharamshala: - The Chinese authorities have stepped up security in Lhasa, the capital of tibet during an annual Buddhist festival on Thursday and Friday.

Tibetans commemorate Je Tsogkhapa’s death anniversary on 24th and 25th day of the 10th lunar month. The festival, Butter Lamp Festival, dates back to the 15th century, when residents would light butter lamps in honor of nirvana or the enlightenment day of the Gelukpa school founder of Tibetan Buddhism - Je Tsongkhapa.

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Special prayer service for Tsultrim Gyatso

Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India, 26 December 2013: - The issue of Tibet is a struggle between the power of truth and the power of the gun, one day the sun will rise over Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said during his teaching in Bylakuppe, South India on 27 December 2013.

“We’ve been in exile for nearly 60 years, and for more than 60 years we’ve faced oppression. Yet the Tibetan spirit is still very strong. We have attracted support from many Chinese writers and intellectuals, who have expressed themselves in 200 articles published in China and 800 published elsewhere,” the spiritual leader of Tibet said.

The 78-year-old Nobel Peace laureate said that “they support our Middle Way Approach, which doesn’t seek to give defeat to one side and victory to the other. We’re seeking mutual benefit. The strength and integrity of the Tibetan spirit remains. One day the sun will rise again over Tibet.”

His Holiness added: “Tibet has been fragmented since 9th century, but today what unites the country and its people is Buddhism; not a political unity. The scriptures can be reorganized according to Buddhist science, philosophy and religion. While the religious section is really only of interest to Buddhists, Buddhist science and philosophy can be of benefit to the whole world. His Holiness explained that a book of Buddhist science has been compiled that will be published in the new year.”

“When 13th Dalai Lama sent some Tibetans to England to be educated, the project was not a success because the abbots were opposed. They said that Westerners were our enemies and yet look where everybody runs to now if they get the chance. We made mistakes,” he added.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama began the second day of his Stages of the Path teachings. “The root of enlightenment is compassion,” he continued, “and different traditions emphasise compassion, but here we are talking about great compassion which is combined with insight into emptiness. Because we experience suffering of different degrees of intensity, we need to recognise its causes

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the second day of his teachings at Sera Jey Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 26, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

and see if we can overcome them. This is the context in which we cultivate great compassion with the intention of liberating all sentient beings and relieving them of their suffering.”

He advised that we develop understanding through study, reflection and meditation. Bodhisattvas with sharp faculties cultivate the practice of exchanging self and others, about which there is no greater text than Shantideva’s ‘Guide to the

Monk sets himself on fire in Tibet to protest China’s rule: Toll hits 124

Speaker Penpa Tsering with Mr Kevin Lindsay, Commissioner of Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Photo: CTA/DIIR

Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’.

Tibetan Buddhists study logic and epistemology and are the only Buddhist tradition to do so. This is particularly true of Sakyas and Gelugpas. They rigorously study the writings of 17 Nalanda masters, which is how they preserve and promote the Nalanda tradition. This is what they have been doing in the Three Seats (Sera, Drepung and Ganden).

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Tibetans to see first Christmas in Vancouver

G21 from Tenzin Gang heading to Vancouver area at Toronto Pearson Airport being received by Project Tibet Society , Toronto Chapter. Photo: TPI

By Jake Thomas: 13 December 2013.

By Kathryn Middel - Katzenmeye: 16 December 2013

Hundreds of Tibetans gathered at the main temple here Monday, 27 December to offer prayers and solidarity with all those Tibetans who have self-immolated to protest against China’s repressive rule in Tibet.

The official prayer service, was presided over by Kirti Rinpoche, the head of Kirti Monastery. Senior officials include Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay and P- 7......

Dharamshala: – The first displaced Tibetans to settle in British Columbia under Canada’s Tibetan resettlement program arrived in Vancouver and Victoria on Saturday, 14 December.

At both airports, they were greeted by private sponsors and Tibet supporters.

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Tibet advocates deliver petition to W.H.O. Office

Seventh Tibetan Lawyers Training Begins

Tsultrim Gyatso setting himself ablaze and the last-words left carefully before his self-immolation protest. Photo: TPI

By Yeshe Choesang: 19 December 2013

Photo 1: Chief Justice Commissioner Ngawang Phelgyal Gyechen (C) with Justice Commissioner Tsering Dhondup (R) and Ngawang Choedak(L) at the inaugural of the 7th lawyers training,27 December 2013.

Photo 2: Participants and resource persons (seated front) at the inaugural ceremony of the 10-day training. Photo: CTA/DIIR

By Jane Cook: 27 December 2013.

Dharamshala: - A ten-day Tibetan lawyers training organised by the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration began today at the College for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarha, near Dharamshala.

According to a CAT report, over 35 Tibetan teachers from branch schools of Tibetan Children’s Village, Sambhota Tibetan schools, Tibetan Homes Foundation as well as schools from Nepal are attending the training.

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Dharamshala: - Emerging reports coming out of Tibet say a Tibetan Buddhist monk has set himself on fire in an apparent protest against Chinese repressive policies in Tibet on December 19, has passed away.

“The latest report coming out of the north-eastern region of Tibet confirm that Tsultrim Gyatso, aged a r o u n d 4 1 s e t h i m s e l f i n A m c h o k t o w n s h i p , Ts o e C o u n t y, ( C h i n e s e : G a n n a n Ti b e t a n A u t o n o m o u s Prefectures, southwest of Gansu Province) Amdho region of eastern Tibet, on Thursday evening, (2.45pm local time), 19 December, 2013.

“He died in his fiery protest. Local Tibetans took his body inside his room in the monastery soon after the incident.

Local Tibetans, including over 400 monks were gathered at the monastery to offer traditional prayer services,” report to TPI news said, citing sources in the region.

In a note he wrote the words: ‘Where do I express the “Sufferings” of the six million Tibetans?’

‘Can you see it? Can you hear me? China took away our every treasures,’when I think these “Sorrows,” my tears fall.’

In the note, he also called for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and for the release of 11th Panchen Lama.

“For the end of sufferings of the six million Tibetan people, I set my body on fire as an offering of light.”

The burning protest by Tseten brought to 124, the verified number of self-immolations since the wave of burnings began in 2009 in protest against Chinese repressive rule and of them 106 were reportedly passed-away from their severe burn injuries.

The Tibetan self-immolators called for freedom for Tibetan people and the return of the spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet. The Central Tibetan Administration based in India has consistently appealed to and discouraged Tibetans from drastic action, including self-immolation, as a form of protest. The blame as well as the solution for the selfimmolations lies with the Chinese government.

Tibet activist Jigme Ugen paying surprise visit to W.H.O., Washington, Monday, December 30, 2013. Photo: TPI

By Choneyi Sangpo: 31 December 2013

Washington DC – Tibetan activists submitted a petition with over 1,600 signatures to the World Health Organization’s offices in Washington, DC, demanding the global health group approve a Tibetan refugee hospital’s selection as a recipient of a public health award.

The Delek Hospital, a leading medical institution in India that treats thousands of TB patients, was to be awarded the $65,000 Kochon Prize by the Stop-TB Partnership for its outstanding work. The award only needed the approval of WHO as a formality. However, days before the award was to be presented to Dr. Tseten Sadutsang, Chinese diplomats had stormed into the offices of Stop-TB Partnership and objected to the award. Then for the first time since the founding of P- 7...... the award, the WHO refused to give its approval.

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Filmmaker to debut lives Tibet freedom film since exile, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama.

China’s Tibet policy continued attempt at Erasing Tibetan language and identity

How China use its own language in Tibet and abroad.

How China use its own language in Tibet and abroad.

Bilingual billboards, license plates, road signs, tickets, name plates, storefronts and more have disappeared over recent years.

31 December 2013

Dharamshala: - Facts show that there has been real “cultural genocide” in Tibet over the last 60 years. With the Tibetan heritage and its rich contribution to humanity endangered and disappearing, we must make every effort to advance the preservation of the Tibetan language, literature and culture through speaking, writing and creating of the Tibetan language.

In world history, language is maintained as a matter of national identity, defining a culture.

The current genocide of the Tibetan language by the Chinese government aims to make Chinese children out of Tibetan children.

Buddhism and culture in Tibet depend on the rich and developed language that we call Tibetan. Standard Tibetan is based on the speech of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa and also Ü-Tsang dialect belonging to the Central Tibetan languages. For this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Central Tibetan. It is in turn one of several branches of the Tibetan languages, the others being Kham (Tibetan: Kham kad) and Amdo (Tibetan: Amdo kad).

Written Standard Tibetan is based on Classical Tibetan and is highly conservative.

In October 2010, thousands of Tibetan middle

and primary school students from four different places in north-eastern Tibet have been taking to the streets to demonstrate. They all had one simple goal: to speak up for the Tibetan language.

Many Tibetan intellectuals around the world expressed their fears for Tibetan students protesting Chinese education reforms that aim to slowly eradicate Tibetan language, a medium of instruction in their schools. These series of protests swept across Tibet in reac­tion to the Chinese government’s stated inten­tion to curb or elim­i­nate the use of the Tibetan lan­guage in Tibetan schools.

After the largest protests in Tibet since the March 2008 upris­ing, China has said that Tibet will come out with a regulation to standardize the usage of Tibetan language, which will help its popularization.

Tibetans need to be able to preserve their language because it is about the issue of solidifying their cultural identity. It is clear that the Chinese authorities do not accept Tibetan as a mother tongue and the authorities think that academic reform is only a solution to solve this issue in Tibet, thus adhering to USSR dictators theory of “to destroy a nation, we must first destroy the language of the nation.”

Most of the world’s languages are spoken by relatively few people; the median number of speakers of a language is 5,000-6,000. There are fewer than 300 languages with more than 1 million native users; half of all languages have fewer than 10,000 users, and a quarter of the world’s spoken languages and most of the sign languages have fewer than 1,000 users. More than 80% of the world’s languages exist only in one country.

So, Tibetan language is one of the latest facing linguistical genocide.

The racism by the Chinese communist regime is continuous and abuses the rights of native Tibetan speakers and other nationalities, such as those in east Turkestan and Inner Mongolia .The Chinese Government is guilty of “Language Genocide” against the Tibetans for breaching articles of the United Nations Genocide Convention. The Convention defines genocide as any of a number of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Therefore, the Tibetan people can bring the Chinese Government to justice by complaining in International Court over the injustice done by China for not complying with the UN Articles and the “Genocide of the Tibetan Language”.

China says its constitution gives ethnic groups the right to give priority to their own language in education and daily use. The use of the Tibetan language, an official language in the Tibet Autonomous Region, is also mentioned as mandatory in public places. However, bilingual billboards, license plates, road signs, storefronts and more have disappeared over recent years.

Particularly name plates and official conference banners only display the standard written Chinese during the most major government meetings in the region.

Moreover, the use of Tibetan language is rarely seen while driving along the highway or sitting in a bus station, airport or train station.

Because the standard spoken and written Chinese language is widely used in Tibetan textbooks, billboards and official documents are no longer written in Tibetan.

The Chinese Government should treat all citizens equally within the law and without any discrimination. Every citizen in China has a right to be protected under the law, and equal protection should be applied to all against any discrimination. We must make every effort to ensure that international communities do not allow the Chinese Government to abuse Tibetans by branding them for “inciting activities to split the nation.”

The vitality of the Tibetan language coupled with linguistic pride represents so much hope for endangered languages. Language is more than just a means of expression. It is also a way of looking at the world and many applaud the efforts of those keeping the transmission alive in Tibet. Language is the dispository of culture. If you lose that, you could lose everything.

The Tibetan language is magnificent, powerful and interesting in its own right. But what’s more, knowledge of Tibetan not only contributes significantly to world peace and harmony, but also one’s Dharma study and practice. In fact, to study Tibetan is to practice the soul of Buddhism, which many scientists potentially have an important and productive influence on through modern science.

To conclude, we know that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. So everyone should be entitled to all the rights and freedoms and enjoy them without division and distinction of any type, in regard to race, color or national origin as in written articles of the Chinese constitution. Genocide of the Tibetan Language is abuse and a humiliation against the Tibetans and humanity in general.

The Chinese communist authorities in Tibet do not accept and respect the Tibetan language as a mother tongue; this means that the authorities act like USSR dictators, who prohibited the languages to be used in the occupied states.

Tibetans strongly believe this is a big mistake and ignorance and neglect to put other factors aside such as freedom of speech, and other fundamental rights such as education.

By Matlock Mercury: 27 December 2013

London, 27 December, 2013: - A Baslow-born filmmaker who documented the journey of two children escaping Tibet is to hold Derbyshire’s first screening of the film.

Nick Gray’s film Escape from Tibet follows 11-year-old Tenzin and his brother Pasang, 19, as they negotiate the Himalayas in a bid to escape Chinese oppression in their homeland.

The film was commissioned by ITV and shown in 1995. But Nick has now written a book about their

“I have taken the story up and down the country, and people are moved by how the lives of Pasang and Tenzin have turned out” said Nick, who now lives in Lincoln.

“When the documentary was shown on television, it made an immediate impact. Several viewers offered help to the brothers, and sponsors came forward to pay for Pasang and Tenzin to visit England to learn English.

“It was wonderful to see their joy when they flew in an airplane for the first time, and witness their arrival in the West.”

They now live in London, sending home money to help their family.

Nick added: “Only now are they willing for this story to be told in book form, an authentic record of what refugees, even though children, will attempt in order to achieve freedom from oppression.”

On February 7, Nick will be showing Escape from Tibet at the Winding Wheel and talking about his new book.

“It’s great for me to go back to the Winding Wheel, where I used to go to Panto. I am very fond of the area.”

Mao’s legacy in Tibet: Another Cultural Revolution?

1967, During Chinese Cultural Revolution, Tibetan temples, monasteries, libraries, and scared monuments destroyed or made into state museums. Photo: Media file

By Tsering Tsomo: 31 December 2013

Dharamshala: - On 26 December 2013, China held a grand celebration to commemorate the 120th birthday of Mao Zedong. This involves a careful balance for Xi Jinping and other members of the Chinese Communist Party, who hope to exploit Mao Zedong’s rhetoric and status without endorsing his policies or ideology, both of which are contrary to the PRC’s current policies and announced reforms.

In Tibet, there is no contradiction between Mao Zedong’s legacy and his policies. Both were brutal and led to mass arrests, death, and destruction in Tibet. While the PRC quietly distanced itself from some of Mao Zedong’s worst policies after his death in 1976, many continue to cast a shadow over Tibet.

For the next 26 years since PRC’s invasion of Tibet in 1949, Tibetans were subjected to horrific, inhumane conditions. On 23 May 1980, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) publicly apologized for the failed policies that made conditions in Tibet worse than in 1959 and that the then-party general secretary Hu Yaobang accused the Chinese cadres of throwing the money entrusted to them to help Tibetans into the Lhasa River. Despite this acknowledgement, many of the most brutal and destructive policies from Mao’s rule still continue today.

Most importantly, Mao Zedong was responsible for the invasion of Tibet in 1949. Before the Chinese invasion, Tibet was an independent, neighboring state that had aided Mao Zedong and his fledgling fellow communists during the Long March. During the Chinese invasion, thousands of Tibetans died as they attempted to flee from the People’s Liberation Army.

Tibetans are subjected to mass arrests based on fictitious charges. Like when Mao was alive, arrested Tibetans are tortured. The most notorious method of torture from the 1950s, still in practice today in Tibet, is the use of positional torture techniques. These involve, among other things, tying a detainee’s hands behind his back and then suspending the detainee from the ceiling.

Often Tibetans are subjected to torture during “interrogation” sessions where their inquisitors ask the same questions they have for over 60 years.

Like under Mao Zedong, the PRC is convinced that the spontaneous protests against the Chinese government are instigated and organized by the “Dalai clique” or “hostile foreign forces”. In the 37 years since Mao Zedong’s death Chinese officials still fail to recognize that ordinary Tibetans are not happy with PRC’s policies and treatment.

When Mao Zedong ruled the PRC he created

forced labor camps both as a judicial and extrajudicial form of punishment based on the Soviet Union’s gulags. Referred to as Reform Through Labor (Ch: laogai) and Re-education Through Labor (Ch: laojiao) respectively, by the time the PRC celebrates Mao Zedong’s birthday both of these infamous, antiquated, and brutal methods of punishment will still exist in the PRC. Only recently, has the PRC pledged to abolish Reeducation Through Labor. Today, the detainees in the PRC’s forced labor camps are fed black tea and watery vegetable soup, so diluted the vegetables do not add any flavor to the water. This is the same diet the prisoners ate when tens of millions of Tibetans and Chinese were starving to death during the man-made “Great Chinese Famine.”

Now, with Mao’s birthday celebrations some in the PRC are attempting to turn one of these spectacular disasters that defined Mao Zedong’s time as president of China, into a less dramatic event by claiming that “only” millions of people starved to death.

In Tibet, the worst part of Mao Zedong’s rule was when the Cultural Revolution plunged “Tibet into the deepest hell.” During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong encouraged people to destroy the “Four Old”: old customs, habits, beliefs and ideas.

This threw all of the PRC into chaos but was felt particularly hard in Tibet, which can trace its society back to thousands of years. Irreplaceable ancient medical and religious texts were destroyed.

Religious symbols were publicly destroyed and then the remnants were blown up. Sacred wooden blocks were turned into farming implement. The sayings of Mao Zedong were carved into mountainsides over Buddhists prayers. The Cultural Revolution ended with Mao Zedong’s death in 1976. By the end of the Cultural Revolution more than 6,000 monasteries had been destroyed, only 12 were left standing. In short, Mao attempted to take the Buddha’s place as ‘god’ in Tibet. This was reinforced many years later

by Zhang Qingli, the former controversial hardline party secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region who had said in 2008 that the “CCP is the real Buddha for Tibetans.”

Mao Zedong’s policies were not only the direct cause of the invasion of Tibet, the starvation of the Tibetan people, and destruction of Tibetan Buddhist relics. Mao Zedong’s policies also set the precedent for the dismal human rights abuses that are still occurring in Tibet today. As the PRC begins to implement reforms and move away from Mao Zedong’s actual policies in the PRC, it should also abandon those policies in Tibet, where, over the past 64 years, they have proven destructive and ineffective.

exile news 31 December 2013 3 Take courage from Je Rinpoche’s advice: Spiritual leader of Tibet Tibetan Career Centre Completes 2nd and inclusive. He wrote within the context of the Training Course for Hair Dressing general structure of Buddhism, not in relation to The Tibet Post International

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Tibetan and Buddhists from Taiwan welcoming His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his arrival in the Tibetan settlement at Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 24, 2013. Photo: TPI/Una Tsai

By Jane Cook: 27 December 2013

Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India, 24 December 2013 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama set off from Bengaluru for Bylakuppe early this morning.

Making good time, his party stopped for a break on the way at Mandya and before setting out again spoke to members of the press.

His Holiness told them he was going to the Tibetan settlement at Bylakuppe to continue a set of Buddhist teachings he began last year. These teachings, the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment derive from instructions given in Tibet by the Indian master Dipankara Atisha. He expects upwards of 10,000 monastics to attend, as well as Tibetan and foreign lay people.

He told the journalists that Tibetans remain hugely grateful to former Chief Minister of Mysore state, as it then was, Siddavanahalli Nijalingappa, who was instrumental in Tibetans being offered land on which they re-established themselves in agricultural communities. In addition to that, Tibetans have been able to re-establish several of the great monastic universities that are currently international centres of learning, attracting students from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, the Russian Mongolian Republics and other parts of Asia in addition to Tibetans.

Arriving about midday at Sera Monastery, His Holiness was welcomed by the Ganden Tri Rinpoche, Jangtse and Sharpa Chojeys and the Sera Abbots. After paying his respects before the array of sacred images he took his seat before the throne. The Prayer for the Flourishing of the Dharma, an invocation to the 16 Arhats was recited while tea and sweet rice were distributed. His Holiness addressed the assembly: “We’ve gathered here for the teaching of the Stages of the Path. My greetings to all of you, abbots, ex-abbots, monastic officials and others.

Apparently 1000 foreigners have registered to come too. After this I’ll be visiting schools and universities near Bangalore and then going to Coimbatore to attend a ceremony concerning Swami Vivekananda. I’ll also visit a Hindu practitioner who has kept silent for 27 years, a practice that requires impressive mindfulness and

determination. I tried to remain silent once for a week in retreat and often had the urge to speak.

“I’m pleased to see our monasteries here are still keeping their studies and practice in the traditional way. Bylakuppe is the oldest and one of the biggest settlements. Those of the older generation who set it up were not very educated, but they underwent great hardship to establish farms. The new generation at present have education and we need to see how we can improve and benefit from their skills. Settlement leaders today shouldn’t just follow what has been done before, they should consult the people to discover what’s needed and make changes where necessary. “ He said that monastic institutions like this have engaged in study of the Buddha’s teachings as preserved in the Three Collections and the practice of the Three Higher Trainings. They have thereby preserved the scriptural and experiential tradition during very trying times.

“You have worked hard, but we should also remember those who made a great contribution here who have passed away. We’ll remember their kindness in setting up this settlement from generation to generation.

“We also have Tulkus, a tradition that began with the Karmapa and Samding Dorje Phagmo. They have long commanded great respect. As Je Tsongkhapa noted in his Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path a Lama should have qualities of learning, knowledge and the experience.”

From the Sera Lachi Temple, His Holiness travelled the short distance to Sera Mey Monastery, where he will be staying for the first week, after which he’ll go to stay in Sera Jey. The teachings will begin tomorrow on the Sera Jey courtyard.

“As I often say, I know you’ve had difficult times in Sera Mey and Ganden Shartse, but the majority of you monks made the right decision by applying your common sense and employing your intelligence.

Once again I’d like to thank you. This issue is not somehow about me, but about preserving the path taught by Je Tsongkhapa, which is a complete path of method and wisdom. His writing and presentation were unique because he based them on the writings of Nagarjuna and his followers. They are thorough

Tibetans mourn 124th self-immolation

By Cameron Hickert: 23 December 2013

Dharamshala: – In a ritual that has become all-toofamiliar for this small mountain community, mourners from Dharamshala gathered in the town’s Main Square on Thursday, 19 December to honor Tsultrim Gyatso, who self-immolated in Tibet earlier that day.

As is now customary, the community began its candlelight vigil by circumnavigating the town’s central temple twice. More than 100 participants then gathered beneath traditional prayer flags, chanting songs and “Free Tibet” slogans as the flames illuminated their faces. Vigil attendee Gyaltsen – whose cousin self-immolated last year – echoed the event’s overall somber sentiment but expressed the Tibet movement’s hope. “I feel very sad... [but also] inspired because they (the self-immolators) have so much courage. This shows they have hope in us. No one would die for a hopeless country.”

Speeches at the event were issued by various Tibetan activists including Students for a Free Tibet: India’s Program Director Tenzin Jigdal, the International Tibet Network’s Asia Regional Coordinator Lobsang Tseten, and longtime Tibetan activist and writer Tenzin Tsundue.

Mr Jigdal addressed not only Tibetans in his speech, but also spoke to foreign individuals acting in solidarity with the Tibet movement. He stated, “To non-Tibetans, today you have joined with us to speak on behalf of Tibetans inside Tibet; tomorrow, tell your friends, family, and heads of parliament... ‘Free Tibet!’”

Solidarity candle light vigil for Pawo Tsultrim Gyatso jointly organized by Rtyc Dhasa, Rtwa Dhasa and SFT India. Photo: TPI

According to sources within Tibet, Mr Gyatso, aged 42, passed away while protesting against Chinese human rights violations. His demonstration called for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and the release of the 11th Panchen Lama. In a note the monk from Amchok monastery authored, he asked, “Where do I express the ‘Sufferings’ of the six million Tibetans? Can you see it? Can you hear me?” He continued, “China took away our every treasures (sic), when I think of these ‘Sorrows,’ my tears fall.” Sources reported that after the immolation, approximately 400 monks gathered at the monastery to offer traditional rituals for the deceased.

The candlelight vigil for the 124th self-immolation in Tibet since 2009 was organized by multiple Dharamshala-based organizations. These included the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, and Students for a Free Tibet: India.

practice intended for some select individual.

“There were monasteries where people said, ‘We’re really happy that His Holiness could visit but he’s accompanied by a demon.’ So we really need to preserve the pure tradition of Je Rinpoche that was praised by great scholars like Taktsang Lotsawa, who was critical in the beginning, but admiring in the end. Je Rinpoche’s view and his practice of Guhyasamaja, Chakrasamvara and Vajrabhairava were flawless, but the practice of Dolgyal spoils that tradition. It’s a flaw. Of course, for a time I did it too. But I realised my error and saw the truth of what the Fifth Dalai Lama had to say.

“We speak of the spiritual master, meditational deity and protector as being Manjushri, but Dolgyal is just a fierce mundane spirit, which is how Trijang Rinpoche used to refer to him. Trijang Rinpoche treated him like a servant not as an object of refuge.

“Of course, when it comes to the practice of the Dharma, you have a right to do what you want, but you shouldn’t be hypocritical about it, for example, telling me to my face that you don’t do it, but keeping it up behind my back. What’s more you won’t feel comfortable when faced with the Tibetan public. When I visited those who remain in Shartse they told me they belonged to the new Dokhang and I told them, ‘You are not the new ones, they are!”

His Holiness concluded by saying: “Be happy and take courage from Je Rinpoche’s advice, “In the beginning I studied, the teachings dawned on me as instructions and I practised day and night.”

This is what to do.

By Yeshe Choesang: 27 December 2013

Dharamshala, December 23, 2013: - The Dharamshala-based Tibetan Career Centre (TCC) held a brief convocation ceremony at the Kashag Secretariat hall Monday for the second batch of the Jawed Habib certified hairdressing training course.

According to the CTA, the chief guest at the convocation ceremony was Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay. Other guests include Home Secretary Khorlatsang Sonam Topgyal, Joint Secretary Palden Dhondup and Mr Passang, acting principal of Centre for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarha.

Twenty-one Tibetan youths have enrolled for the three-month hair dressing course which completed on 20 December. Except for three trainees who discontinued for personal reasons, the remaining trainees completed the course and was awarded the course certificate today

by Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay.

Speaking to the trainees, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay spoke about the importance of cultivating good work ethics and enthusiasm while pursuing our careers. He said that building a good relationship based on trust and mutual respect with clients is effective in increasing your sales worth.

Sikyong urged them to practice humility, integrity and the values espoused by His Holiness the Dalai Lama wherever our professional careers take us. He said these

Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay speaking during the convocation ceremony on 23 December. Photo: TPI/Choneyi

three traits define the Tibetan people to the outside world.

He also said that the Central Tibetan Administration would provide soft loans and other assistance for business start-ups. It is being done through the Department of Home and Finance to encourage entrepreneurship and bolster employment among Tibetan youths, he said.

The Tibetan Career Centre is a joint venture of the Department of Home, Central Tibetan Administration and TechnoServe. It was established with the aim of empowering Tibetan youths through appropriate career guidance and promotion and support of self managed enterprises.

TCC also imparts career counselling to motivate Tibetan youth to engage in diverse economic activities through skill trainings and workshops.

Sikyong Inaugurates Tibetan Students’ Leadership Summit

by Yeshe Choesang: 27 December 2013

Dharamshala, December 26, 2013: Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, who is also the Education Kalon Thursday inaugurated a seven-day summit to impart leadership qualities to top Tibetan students of class X from across India and Nepal at the Lower TCV school in Dharamshala.

According to a CTA report, over 300 students comprising equal numbers of boys and girls, from 31 Tibetan schools are attending the leadership summit being organised by the Department of Education, Central TibetanAdministration.

Addressing the summit, Sikyong said “humility, integrity and hard work are the keys to a successful leadership.”

“Class X is a critical juncture in a student’s life where one has to decide their stream before venturing to pursue their prospective careers,” Sikyong said. Therefore, we specifically invited class X students to develop their confidence and help them in making the right decision, he said.

Sikyong spoke about the need to develop selfconfidence and a positive attitude in life. “We Tibetans have the bad habit of believing that someone else will come and pave the way for us, be it career counselings, scholarships, or even immigration. We can not afford to do that any more.

Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay (left) and Education Secretary Ngodup Tsering at the inaugural of the leadership summit on 26 December 2013. Photo: CTA/DIIR

We have to be self-reliant and solve our problems ourselves,” he said.

Speaking on education, Sikyong said that the 14th Kashag prioritises education as one of the most important component of its policies. “We have rolled out various scholarships and introduced many new educational schemes to improve the quality of our education,” he said.

“Moreover, education is the only vehicle that will amplify the efforts of the Tibetans living in the free world for the benefit of the majority Tibetans living under Chinese repression inside Tibet,” he said, reminding that Tibetan students are studying not only for their careers but also for a cause.

Sikyong also spoke about the importance of ethics and openness, the need to venture outside of our comfort zones and embrace new, transformational ideas to expand their outlook and knowledge.

Education Secretary Ngodup Tsering, in his speech, urged the students to utilise the training opportunity to develop themselves for future leadership roles in the Tibetan community. “You are the future leaders of Tibet,” he told the students, adding, “an all-round education and growth of these children would worry China more than anything”.

The seven-day workshop will conclude on 2 January 2014. The first session of the seven-day summit was conducted by Sikyong himself, followed by a lengthy question-answer session.

Other resource persons include Penpa Tsering, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Ven. Geshe Lhakdor, Director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Mr Thubten Samphel, Executive Director of the Tibet Policy Institute. They will speak on a wide-range of subjects such as ‘Evolution of Tibetan Democracy’, ‘How to Become a 21st century Buddhist, ‘The Practice of Non-violence’, ‘The Current Political Situation in Tibet’.

The summit also include an interactive session among former recipients of Gaden Phodrang scholarship and the participants.

Tibetan library honors esteemed Indian professor

by Kathryn Middel - Katzenmeyer: 17 December 2013

Bangalore: - Mr. Dhondup, the administrator of Tibetan Youth Hostel in Bangalore, met Dr. Sriprakash K.S, Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences is the parent body under which all the medical and paramedical colleges of Karnataka State are affiliated.

According to the CTA, hundreds of Tibetan students are pursuing nursing and medical courses in Karnataka. Hence, his meeting with the ViceChancellor was in tune with his efforts to meet top echelons of various universities to request possible admission assistance for Tibetan students.

During the course of the meeting, he sought all possible assistance from Vice-Chancellor Dr Sriprakash K.S. concerning Tibetan students studying in various colleges affiliated to the university and those seeking new admission. “The vice-chancellor has assured me that he would look into the requests and expressed his willingness to visit TCV Youth Hostel at some point in future,” Mr Dhondup said.

He also discussed the issue of Tibet particularly the urgent situation prevailing inside Tibet.

A day earlier he met Dr. Lawrence D’souza, Director of St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, one of the top medical colleges in India. They discussed prospects for Tibetan students aspiring to pursue medical studies in the college.

Mr Dhondup has made several field visits to colleges in various cities like Chennai, Vijayawada,

Photo 1: A vast collection of Professor Sharma’s books on display at the event. Photo 2: Professor Samdhong Rinpoche (left) and Professor Furqan Qamar (centre) and Professor Sharma (right) releasing the hindi tramslation of ‘The Good Heart’ a book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Also seen: Geshe Lhakdor, Director of LTWA (far left). Photo: CTA

Hyderabad, Trichy, Mangalore and Mysore. He met the principals and senior faculty members of these colleges to discuss and address issues related to students’ admission and welfare.

“We als try to inculcate the values of our traditional Tibetan knowledge to our Tibetan youths. We organised a public talk on “Role And Duties Of College Students” by Kalon

Trisur Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche in August.

Similarly, we conducted several religious talks on fundamental Buddhist understanding in some of the nursing colleges in Bangalore from scholars like Ven. Khangser Rinpoche, Buddhist philosophy professor in Sera University and Geshe Dorji Damdul, former English translator of His Holiness The Dalai Lama,” he said.

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TPI NEWS

31 December 2013

TIBET NEWS

Tibetan Buddhist scholar beaten to death in police custody

Senior Buddhist master and scholar Ngawang Jamyang. Photo: TPI

By Yeshe Choesang: 20 December 2013

Dharamshala: - China’s relentless crackdown in Diru (Ch: Biru) County in the name of Xi Jinping’s ‘mass line’ policy has claimed another Tibetan life, even as sources from Tibet continue to report on increasing number of arbitrary arrests and secret detention.

According to a report the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a senior Tibetan Buddhist scholar known for his keen intelligence and mediation skills died while being detained in police custody. Ngawang Jamphel, 45, was among the three monks from Tarmoe Monastery who were detained on 23 November 2013 while on a vacation in Lhasa. The second monk has now been identified as Kelsang Choklang (see photo) while the identity of the third monk remains unknown as he continues to be secretly detained. Kelsang Choklang’s whereabouts remain unknown.

The report said that on 17 December 2013, less than a month after his secret detention, Buddhist scholar and master Ngawang Jamphel died following which the police lost no time in handing over the body to Ngawang Jamphel’s family. “It was clear that Ngawang Jamyang was beaten to death while in secret detention. He was a healthy, robust man when he left his monastery to visit Lhasa, said the source.

Ngawang Jamphel has become the latest addition to the long and growing list of well-informed and educated Tibetans who are being targeted by Chinese authorities. Other sources in Diru told TCHRD that since 2008, Chinese authorities have systematically targeted educated Tibetans, thus silencing the most articulate voices representing the suffering and aspirations of the Tibetan people. For instance, Topden, the nomad and writer from Diru who was sentenced to five years in prison for writing a poem had written about the arrests of educated Tibetans: “By arresting all educated Tibetans/ Freedom of mind, body and speech is denied.”

The source said family members took Ngawang Jamphel’s body to the cremation ground at Sera Monastery in Lhasa. Prayers and other rituals are being organized at the deceased’s home in Diru County.

The source also said that the police have threatened the deceased’s family not to speak about Ngawang Jamphel’s death to others. “They [police] have issued threats that the family would meet the same fate if the news about the custodial death get out of Tibet.”

After their arrest, a large number of troops descended on Tarmoe Monastery, and armed police undertook forcible searches all over the monastery including Ngawang Jamphel’s residence from where the police seized two laptops, said the source.

Ngawang Jamphel born in 1968 in Yulto Tho Village in Tsachu Township, Diru County. In 1987, he became a monk and joined Tarmoe Monastery in his hometown. In 1989, he left for India to pursue further studies at Sera Je Monastery in south India. He had also worked as a personal assistant of Shabdung Rinpoche Tenzin Khedup, a highly-respected reincarnated lama from Diru who now lives in exile in India. For 19 years, he engaged in vigorous study of both Buddhism and modern sciences. He was a first-rate student at his monastery and managed to perform better than most monks during exams. During his Geshe Karampa (equivalent to Bachelor’s degree in Buddhism) exams, he secured second and third positions in two consecutive years. In 2007, he returned to Tibet.

In 2008, he was imprisoned for two years on charges of “leaking state secrets”. After release, he worked for sometime as a teacher of Buddhist Dialectics at Choeling Monastery. At Tarmoe Monastery, which has now been temporarily closed due to crackdown since 23 November 2013, Ngawang Jamphel founded a Buddhist Dialectics class where both monastic and lay people could attend and learn. He used to give free teachings on Tibetan Buddhism and culture to monks and local Tibetans. He is known for his numerous social welfare activities such as helping to peacefully mediate between disputes and helping local Tibetans particularly the youngsters to shun harmful habits such as gambling.

Ngawang Jamphel, Kelsang Choklang and an unidentified monk from Tarmoe Monastery from Diru disappeared in late November 2013 following their arrest in Lhasa where they were spending their holidays.

At the moment, Tarmoe monastery and nearby villages have been surrounded by Chinese security forces. The monastery is closed indefinitely. Local Tibetans fear that after Ngawang Jamphel death, it would be difficult for Tarmoe Moanstery to function as efficiently as before. “He [Ngawang Jamphel] was the most efficient administrator, teacher and a very conscientious person. Tarmoe would never

be the same again without him,” the source told TCHRD quoting local Tibetans.

The Chinese security forces have also surrounded Rabten and Drong Na monasteries in Diru, and have detained eight monks belonging to Rabten Monastery, who had earlier studied in Pelyul, Sershul, and Serthar Buddhist institutes in Kham province (Sichuan).

In fact since last month, the provincial and county authorities have increased the number of local cadres [who have been decreed to work with the masses], thus stepping up government propaganda and repression in the area.

The source said that Chinese authorities are of the view that Diru suffers from the lack of political stability and that if Di Ru county is not pacified, it will have its ‘negative’ impacts on other Tibetan areas.

The source further said that the Chinese authorities, as a result, assert that Tibetans in Diru must be subjected to ‘re-education campaigns’ day in and day out. Towards this end, the authorities have organized meetings and issued orders to the monks belonging to various monasteries in Diru to return to their homelands from their study centers outside of Diru, in provinces like Qinghai and Sichuan.

Further, the monks who once studied in India and in the provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan are subjected to intense ‘re-education’ sessions.

The monks of the Tarmoe monastery have returned to their homes for a one-month winter holiday. The Chinese cadres therefore had to interrogate the few remaining monastic staffs at the monastery such as the caretaker and watchmen regarding the whereabouts of the monks.

The cadres also issued the following orders to the monastic staffs: To recall the monks back to the monastery To expel monks who are less than 17 years old from the monastery To handover the keys of the rooms of the monks When the few remaining monks at the monastery refused to handover the keys saying they didn’t possess them, the security forces surrounded the monastery and barged into the rooms by breaking up the locks. The security forces then confiscated laptops/computers and other items from the rooms of the monks.

The security forces also surrounded the villages and families of the monks; some of the security forces wearing dark uniforms barged into the houses [of monks’ family homes], confiscating items such as mobile phones, satellite dishes, small boxes, photographs, old knives and other miscellaneous items.

When the local cadres ordered the monastic staffs to open the doors of the monks’ rooms, they responded by stating that they would open them up only when the security forces release the monks and local Tibetans who were earlier detained for no particular reason.

In the last three months, a few hundred Tibetans from Diru have been arrested and sentenced to prison. Many of them have disappeared.

The source said local Tibetans in Diru consider 2013 the worst year as far as Chinese oppression is concerned. Such intense Chinese repression has never been seen in the area since 1969, when many Tibetans from Di Ru, Khyungpo Tengchen, Chagra Palbar and other areas were massacred by the Chinese troops.

Indian leaders call on European Union to stand up for Tibet

By Yeshe Choesang: 30 December 2013

Delhi, December 26, 2013: - As a result of the lobby campaign carried out today in the Indian Capital by 33 Tibetan women participants of the 4th Tibetan Women’s Advanced Leadership Training (TWALT), an undertaking of Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA), leading Indian politicians and advocates of Supreme Court of India signed the petition urging the Spanish Government and the European Union to stand up for Tibet and to maintain judicial independence of Tibet lawsuit from political interference.

Influential signatories from the lobby campaign include: Shri Bhakta Charan Das, Lok Sabha Member of Parliament representing Congress party, Shri Inder Singh Nomdhan, an independent Lok Sabha Member of Parliament, Smt Meenakshi Lakhi, Politician, Lawyer and National Spokesperson for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shri Dig Vijay Singh, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and General Secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC), Shri James Sangma, Member of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Chief Whip of Opposition and General Secretary of National People’s Party

Indian leaders urge Spanish Government to maintain judicial independence of Tibet lawsuit from political interference.

Photo: TPI

(NPP), Shri Manoj K Jha, Senior Leader and Spokesperson of Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD), Shri Jaydev Ranade, security and intelligence expert and former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, Shri Puran Mal Saini, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Shri Ranbir Yadav, Advocate, Supreme Court of India.

The signature campaign started by International Tibet Network and Comité de Apoyo al Tíbet (CAT) is underway. It expresses deep concern over the Spanish government’s plan to limit the independence of Spain’s judiciary, in a move that

could lead to a ground-breaking Tibet lawsuit, which implicates Chinese leaders, being shut down.

The petition reminds Spain of its universal duty to prevent and punish the most egregious human rights violations in Tibet, as offenses against all humanity.

It appeals the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to adhere to the democratic principles upon which Spain and the rest of the European Union is founded and stand fast in support of judicial independence from political interference.

The Indian political figures, intellectuals and advocates joined the global call urging the European Union to Stand Up for Tibet and to stand with Spain in resisting China’s unacceptable pressure against an impartial criminal investigation, and to support the internationally recognized human rights standards that these Tibet lawsuits are investigating.

The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) is the second largest Tibetan Non Governmental Organization (NGO) based in exile India and the only Women’s NGO in Tibetan history. We are today a 16,000 member organization with 56 chapters in four continents- Asia, US. Europe and Australia. TWA’s slogan is ‘Advocacy for Home, Action in Exile.’

The Tibet Post International

Tibet Crackdown: Three Tibetan sent to prison for up to 13 years

By Yeshe Choesang: 23 December 2013

Dharamshala: - Chinese authorities have sentenced three Tibetan men to prison on charges of “attempting to split the Chinese nation” in the troubled Driru (Ch: Biru) County in Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region.

According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), among the sentenced was Tibetan singer Trinley Tsekar, 22, who was imprisoned for nine years. Two other Tibetans, Choekyap and Tselha were also sentenced on same charges as Trinley Tsekar.

Choekyap was sentenced to 13 years while Tselha was given three years’ prison term.

Tibetan singer Trinley Tsekar was arrested at around 20 November while he was on his way to the local driving school to get his driver’s license. Choekyab and Tselha were also arrested in the third week of November 2013.

A source with contacts in Driru said all three of them had been charged of instigating one of the year’s largest protests against Chinese mining activities at the sacred Naglha Dzamba Mountain in Diru County.

Soon after their arrest, they were taken to a prison in Nagchu where they were secretly held for some time. Around the second week of December 2013, they were taken back to a prison in Driru County. A little later on 19 December 2013, the County People’s Court in Driru sentenced them to prison on charges related to “separatist activities”.

In May 2013, about 5000 Tibetans protested against attempts by a Chinese company to build roads and set up power lines at the sacred mountain on the pretext of building

Choekyab, Trinley Tsekar, (Singer) and Tselha (Former policeman). Photo: TPI

hydroelectric projects. Protests also broke out in 2010 against China’s attempts to mine the sacred mountain.

Due to persistent protests and petitioning

by Tibetans, recently local authorities claimed that the Ngalha Dzamba Mountain has now been included in the list of the government’s ‘cultural and environment preservation’ areas and the authorities also praised the protesters for expressing their concern for the environment.

However, the source said that the Chinese authorities had lied to local Tibetans when they pretended to commiserate with the antimining protesters and the claim that Ngalha Dzamba Mountain had been marked as ‘cultural and environment preservation’ area was used to fool the Tibetans.

Both Trinley Tsekar and Choekyab hail from Serkhang Village in Driru Township. Tselha is a former policeman from Village No. 5. No additional details are immediately available on Tselha and Choekyab.

Local Tibetans in Driru fear that many more Tibetans have been secretly sentenced or are in danger of getting imprisoned on false charges without any access to due legal process or a fair trial, according to the source.

Chinese Embassy “intimidated” by Human Rights Day vigil

By Kathryn Middel: 02 December 2013

Dharamshala: - Chinese officials in London said they felt “intimidated” by activists holding a candlelight vigil outside the Chinese Embassy to mark Human Rights Day on 10 December. The Embassy refused to accept a giant postcard calling on the Chinese government to make immediate reforms to improve human rights for all of its citizens.

The vigil was held to remember all human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience who sacrificed their freedom and lives to promote and protect the human rights of those living under the Chinese Communist Party’s regime in East Turkestan, Tibet and across China. The vigil was organized by Chinese Uyghur & Tibetan Solidarity UK, a coalition of organizations and activists of which Tibet Society is a founding member.

At the start of the vigil, organizers were informed by police that they would not be allowed onto Embassy property to deliver a giant postcard addressed to the Chinese Ambassador. The police said they had been informed that Chinese officials felt “intimidated” by the presence of human rights activists and supporters, and had been instructed not to let anyone approach the front entrance.

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Paul Golding, Campaigns Coordinator of Tibet Society, told those gathered for the vigil, “The admission that we intimidate the Chinese Embassy officials, shows not only have they noted our presence, but are embarrassed by the vigil and fear the truth - the truth of the Chinese government’s appalling human rights record and oppressive policies in Tibet and East Turkestan.”

The focal point of the vigil was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with participants reading out selected Articles from the Declaration and related case information of 9 prisoners of conscience.

The giant postcard refused by the Embassy consisted of a word-cloud image made from key words in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a message to the Chinese ambassador.

During the vigil, supporters chanted slogans of freedom, human rights and democracy in Chinese, Uyghur, Tibetan and English, as a show of solidarity for all oppressed people living under Chinese Communist Party rule.

The vigil concluded with the reading of a quote from the late Nelson Mandela: “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

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Dr Franz Pahl Mr Thomas Kemeil Mr Shalinder Kumar Ven Thupten Yarphel

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Former speaker of South Tyrol, Italy A software engineer, Austria A professional graphic designer, India A Tibetan writer, India

Editor in Chief Mr Yeshe Choesang Chinese Editor Miss Keary Huang Tibetan Editor Choneyi Sangpo Photographer Artemas Liu Layout & Design Choneyi Sangpo Distributor Mr Tashi Contributors to this editon Keary Huang Taiwan

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Artemas Liu Taiwan Jane Cook UK Kathryn Middel - Katzenmeyer USA James Dunn UK Thomas Jake Finland Yeshe Choesang India Choenyi Sangpo India Himalayan Literacy Trust (Head Office) Room #1 Top Floor, New Varuni House Temple Road, McLeod Ganj: 176219 Dharamshala, Distt. Kangra H.P., India

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31 December 2013 H.H the Dalai lama 5 Free media is essential for democracy: Spiritual leader of Tibet Nobel Peace Prize Laureates remember Nelson Mandela

The Tibet Post International

TPI NEWS

By Yeshe Choesang: 25 December 2013

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Russian journalists during their interview in New Delhi, India on December 20, 2013. Photo/ Igor/SaveTibetRussia

New Delhi, India, 22 December 2013 - “The purpose of this kind of teaching is to understand the Dharma, which can help us learn to transform our minds,” began His Holiness the Dalai Lama this morning. “And this is a class or lecture I’m giving. Listen, try to understand and then try to apply what you’ve understood.

I’m not here to give blessings! We’ll have a question and answer session. Please don’t talk too long and try to frame your question clearly.

You have a right to ask what you like and I reserve the right whether and how to answer.”

The first question was about Nikolas Roerich and agni yoga. His Holiness said he was aware of Roerich because there is a gallery of his paintings near Kullu, not far from Dharamsala, but he knew nothing about agni yoga. The next was about how the emptiness of the five aggregates refers to the emptiness of phenomena. His Holiness explained that of the aggregates, form is physical, while feelings and so forth are mental. He remarked that we can also talk about the emptiness of compounded and uncompounded phenomena.

When a Ukrainian told him that yesterday he and 20 of his compatriots had decided to become Buddhists, His Holiness said that he usually draws a distinction between religion and culture. Belief in Buddhism is a matter of individual choice, but Buddhist culture relates to a community.

“Whether you follow the Buddhist path is up to you. If you feel it’s useful to you, that’s fine. You don’t need a grand lama wearing a peculiar hat to perform a ceremony to mark the occasion. If you feel drawn to it, that’s sufficient. I often say that it is generally safer if people follow the culture and religion they were born to. But nevertheless, there seem to be many people who feel the Buddhist path may be more effective. If you want to take up the practice of Buddhism, that’s fine, but you should retain respect for your traditional religion.”

A woman who has observed that in some places Buddhist cemeteries are in much worse shape than Russian Orthodox ones wanted to know what His Holiness thought about it. He told her that the important thing is to lead a meaningful life and what happens to a dead body is not so important for Buddhists. He pointed out that here in India Hindus cremate, but he came across an interesting alternative method in Nagpur that had been established

by Baba Amte. This involved wrapping the corpse in a shroud and burying it directly in the ground without a coffin. A tree is planted at the spot. Baba Amte’s reasoning was that the body that rots in the ground does some good and the tree can function as a living memorial.

His Holiness remarked that if more people did this it would have a positive ecological effect.

The audience applauded.

Another question concerned dealing with people who regard kindness and patience as signs of weakness. In his reply, His Holiness repeated that it’s important to distinguish between agent and action. People make mistakes when driven by anger.

“We need to forgive the person who has acted against us, while condemning his or her actions.

What we usually do is to become angry with the person. The issue of Tibet may show us a clear example. Tibetans have suffered unbearable atrocities, which we are opposed to, but we

nevertheless need to cultivate compassion for their perpetrators.”

“What do you think is most difficult for a modern and contemporary Buddhist?”

His Holiness replied that he didn’t think there was much difference between ancient and modern Buddhists. External things may have changed, but our minds and emotions remain the same. This is why he considers Buddhism relevant to someone in today’s world.

Turning back to Chapter 5 of the ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’, he quoted the Buddha as saying that the unruly mind is our foe, while a disciplined mind is a friend who will bring us happiness. He mentioned that in relation to the practice of the Dharma a lama or spiritual master is important. If you keep good company, you pick up good habits.

Because what we seek is happiness, we rely on a spiritual master who shows the path.

“If we don’t seize the opportunity now, we’ll regret it later. Buddhism is not about filling people with fear, but taking the opportunity. Unfortunately, in Tibet people often misapprehended what was important about a lama, being more impressed by his grandeur and the size of his caravan. With someone like Dza Patrul Rinpoche who lived simply like a mendicant, people underestimated his true quality.”

Chuckling, His Holiness said we don’t hear anything about the Nalanda masters’ secretaries or treasurers. We shouldn’t let ourselves get confused about what a good teacher is. Je Tsongkhapa asked “If you can’t tame your own mind, how can you expect to tame others’?”

His Holiness told a story about Dromtonpa’s passing away. He had laid his head in Potowa’s lap when Potowa began to weep and one of his tears fell onto Drom’s cheek. He asked, “What’s wrong?” and Potowa replied, “So far I have relied on you, who will I rely on now?” and Dromtonpa told him from now on he should regard the scriptures as his teacher.

Regarding what is to be adopted and what abandoned, His Holiness said we need an understanding based on reason and logic.

We need to see the pros and cons of different courses of action; we need to understand their consequences. And having understood; we need to develop a wish to put these practices into effect.

After lunch, there were more questions and answers. There was a question about a Buryat lama’s body that has remained fresh long after he died. His Holiness acknowledged that this does happen and even among Christian adepts too. He said there were cases in Tibet of old chortens crumbling away to reveal a fresh looking body inside.

When a woman told him her grandson had hanged himself and asked what would happen to him, His Holiness commiserated saying it was very sad and noted that there seems to have been an increase in suicide across the world. He suggested it indicates a lack of love and compassion in our societies, which is all the more reason for promoting these qualities.

“From a Buddhist point of view, as his grandmother you have a strong connection with him, much as a teacher has with a disciple. If you say some prayers and perform wholesome actions, it can help him. Do the practice of taking refuge and generating the awakening mind on his behalf. Visualize the

Buddha and recite his mantra. You can recite Om mani padme hum too. Whatever merit you create dedicate it for your grandson to have a happy future and to come into contact with the Dharma.”

A man from Ukraine said that there are many young people out on the street facing danger. What can be done? His Holiness responded that this was a political question and since 2011 he has completely retired from political responsibility.

“However, he said, “to answer your question properly, let me come to Ukraine and study the situation properly. Then I can tell you.” The audience applauded.

“I always say that the world belongs to humanity and each country belongs to its people, not to their rulers. The best way to govern a country is democracy. Government in which the leadership is accountable to the public is best. And the public should have the ability to dismiss their leaders. In this context a free media is essential. I encourage the media to have a long nose to sniff out what’s going on in the open and behind the scenes. Then inform the public of the reality.

But you must be honest.”

At this point a man took the microphone and explained that his colleague was offering His Holiness a set of monastic robes with prayers for his long life and the hope that he’ll be able to visit Kalmykia again. They were followed by another man who expressed thanks on behalf of the Kalmyk people and his own family for His Holiness having given teachings. He asked him to excuse their mistakes, but repeated the invitation to visit Kalmykia, saying that they had a longstanding connection.

“Firstly,” His Holiness replied, “I have been to Kalmykia three times already and I noticed how well you have maintained your Buddhist traditions. These days there are students studying with us here in India. Telo Rinpoche’s parents originally came from Kalmykia and he can help promote Buddhist understanding among you.”

Another woman said her son had gone missing and she was at a loss about how to find him. His Holiness told her he had no special power to see where he could be and advised her to consult the police, whose job it is to protect citizens.

The instruction in the text about only giving teachings as appropriate to the listeners’ aptitude prompted His Holiness to explain that Buddhism’s three vehicles, the fundamental vehicle, the great vehicle and the secret mantra vehicle are not exclusive of each other. Secret mantra is not unrelated to the great vehicle and the great vehicle is not unrelated to the fundamental vehicle.

As he began to read Chapter 6 about Patience, His Holiness remarked how important it is, because the main obstacle to cherishing others is hatred and anger. He quoted his American psychiatrist friend Aaron Beck who says that 90% of our sense of anger and attachment is mental projection.

“Attachment and jealousy don’t have the same power to uproot virtue. But the moment anger arises in us it has the potential to destroy the good we may have accumulated. We can see this clearly if we observe ourselves. What’s more scientists say anger weakens our immune system. The remedy is to relax. This is not just a matter of relaxing physically. It’s necessary to relax the mind too. When the mind is full of anger, it’s completely distracted and your intelligence becomes blind. We need to address anger by examining what gives rise to it and trying to avert that cause.”

At the end of a long afternoon, His Holiness announced that tomorrow he will give an Akshobhya empowerment preceded by lay persons’ vows and bodhisattva vows. Because this involves establishing a relationship between student and lama, he suggested that it would be better if anyone who persists in propitiating the malevolent spirit Dolgyal or Gyalpo Shugden were not to attend. He acknowledged doing the practice himself until he recognised the truth of the 5th Dalai Lama’s assessment that Dolgyal is a perfidious spirit born of wrong prayers who harms beings and the Dharma.

Proceedings tomorrow will begin early.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mary Robinson, Sir Richard Branson, Reverend Mpho Tutu and CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Photo: Media File

By Kathryn Middel - Katzenmeyer: 20 December 2013

Dharamshala: - On 13 December, PeaceJam’s One Billion Acts of Peace campaign based in Johannesburg hosted a 20-minute digital conversation via Google+ Hangouts On Air between Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Reverend Mpho Tutu, former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, and Sir Richard Branson to honor the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. His Holiness and Archbishop Tutu took questions from the public.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who was the moderator, asked: “Your Holiness the Dalai Lama, one of the things often said about Nelson Mandela was his willingness to forgive those who had oppressed and those who had imprisoned him for 27 years. Where do you think that ability to forgive come from and is that something everybody can do in their life?”

In his response, His Holiness said: “Every human being has the potential. We grew up with tremendous affection of a mother.

On top of that, Nelson Mandela practiced religious faith. Throughout his freedom and political struggle, I believe his main conviction came from his faith. I think my friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu followed the same principle. Mandela has strictly followed the Mahatma Gandhi’s path of nonviolence. As he is no longer with us, his spirit should be within us and pass on to the younger generation. I expressed my sadness over his demise but I do not think that is enough. This sadness must be transformed into willpower to practice and hand over his legacy for future.”

When asked what he would like to be remembered about the late president, the Archbishop replied that South Africans specifically, will always acknowledge that “...[Mandela] was a man who cared. He cared about us. He helped our country not go up in flames. He urged his people to forgive, to work for reconciliation.” People will always

remember “his compassion [and] his caring about other people.”

Cooper then went on to ask what kind of man Nelson Mandela was, one-on-one. The Archbishop’s daughter, Reverend Mpho Tutu responded saying, “I think the most striking thing about him was his humility. He had an incredible dignity in his manner and his carriage...he was not pompous at all. He was an incredibly gracious and gentle man.”

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, and Sir Richard Branson also joined the conversation.

On being asked by Anderson Cooper what legacy of Nelson Mandela people should pass on to the future generation as mentioned by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the two said: “Mandela’s life is his legacy, which embodies struggle against injustice and indomitable spirit to speak out for the marginalized people.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama met late South African President Nelson Mandela in 1996 and 2004. Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero and global icon of peace and reconciliation, passed away on 6 December at the age of 95.

As the whole world praised Mandela for his commitment to the principles of human rights, freedom, peace and democracy, the Chinese president Xi Jinping praised him as “an accomplished politician of global standing,” while state-owned China Central Television described him as “an old friend of China”.

This was to be a precursor for the following day’s censorship — which banned coverage referencing “freedom”,“democracy”, Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize and foreign policy hot topics Tibet and Taiwan.

While President Xi Jinping did not attend Mandela’s funeral himself, his Vice President Li Yunchao did, and was booed by crowds as he made his memorial speech.

Mr Xi commented on Mandela’s bright smile, called him a “towering figure” and “an old friend of China”. There was no mention of “freedom” or “democracy”.

International Human Rights Day: Australian Senator raises Tibet issue

Australian Senator Lisa Singh with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Photo: Media File

By Cameron Hickert: 16 December 2013

Dharamshala: – “We should not only acknowledge but also commit to act on their behalf.” These were the words of Australian Senator Lisa Singh on 10 December’s International Human Rights Day as she pressed the global community to work for Tibetans living under Chinese rule.

In her statement on the 24th anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Nobel Peace Prize, Sen Singh reminded her audience of the promises China made in 2009 to improve human rights within its borders. “Sadly, from all reports the overall human rights situation in China, particularly in Tibet and also against the Uygur people, has continued to deteriorate over the last four years.”

She continued, “Repressive policies and the continuous suppression of fundamental human rights are causing immense suffering. Tibetans have peacefully struggled and held hope of obtaining freedom – freedom of religion, freedom to celebrate their culture and language, and freedom of expression.”

Sen Singh’s statement also cited “the desperation and repression of those in Tibet” that so many self-immolations demonstrate. If these acts in themselves were not enough of a shock, the MP from Tasmania also noted, “recent reports confirm friends and relatives of self-immolators are now being subject to sentencing by Chinese authorities for alleged association with the self-immolators.”

She closed by praising the Dalai Lama’s ongoing peaceful struggle and urging global governments – including Australia’s – to recognize the injustices and move forward with meaningful action.

The Australian Labor Party senator has developed enduring ties with the Tibet issue. According to her website, “Lisa has always been a strong advocate for human rights throughout her career.” She is involved in the Australia Tibet Council and – as a member of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet – joined Australian Green Party MP Larissa Waters in visiting Dharamshala in July of 2012. During this trip, she pledged to support the peaceful Tibetan movement.

6 •

TPI NEWS

31 December 2013

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International 7 TPI NEWS Tibetans, Uyghurs call for end to North Korea more accessible to int’l journalists than Tibet China’s Confucius Institutes 31 December 2013

The Tibet Post International

By Yeshe Choesang: 26 December 2013

Tibetans and supporters in Canada commemorated Human Rights Day by holding protests and vigils to call on the Chinese government to end its repression in Tibet. Photo: TPI

Toronto, December 23, 2013- The Canadian Association of University Teachers last week passed a resolution calling on all universities across Canada to end their ties with Confucius Institutes.

Confucius Institutes in various universities around the world are operated by the Chinese Communist Government, using ‘cultural exchanges’ and ‘exhibitions’ as part of their soft-power tactics to spread propaganda.

In their statement1 released on December 17, the CAUT executive James Turk said, “Confucius Institutes are essentially political arms of the Chinese government.” “Simply put, Confucius Institutes are owned and operated by an authoritarian government and beholden to its politics,” Turk stated.

“Our educators here in Canada play a vital role in influencing the future of this nation, especially in terms of integrity, policies, and values.” said Urgyen Badheytsang, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet Canada. He added, “By calling on all

universities to end ties with Confucius Institutes, the Canadian Association of University Teachers have shown that they intend to uphold these values, values of the true north.”

“I am deeply inspired by this action by the association of university teachers,” said Norbu Tsering, North American MP of the Tibetan Government in Exile based in Dharamshala.

“We have to look for and challenge all forms of oppression, both outside and ones that threaten to make their way into Canada.”

Kayum Masimov, President of the Uyghur Canadian Society noted, “China today is a recently extended land-based empire which is struggling to justify itself, its repressive policies against its own citizen and especially towards its ethnic minorities. Canadian institutions should not be complicit in cooperating with the overseas branch of the Communist regime. Any association with the Confucius Institute is a stain on academic reputation and international standing of Canada” Earlier this year in February, McMaster University in Ontario shut down their Confucius Institute for concerns about possible human rights violations and discriminatory hiring practices.

Students for a Free Tibet Canada and the Uyghur Canadian Society are members of the Coalition for Human Rights in China, a coalition of 15 Canadian organizations dedicated to ensuring there is strong attention to human rights in Canada’s relationship with China.

One day the sun will ......

Tibetans to see first......

“I remember the early days when you were staying in bamboo huts with the cool breeze blowing through. In those days Gyen Pema Gyaltsen, Khensur Lobsang Wangchuk from Sera and Shargo Khen, Gyen Nyima worked incredibly hard to ensure that we could provide a monastic education,” His Holiness added.

“They were great masters and their students too were exceptional. The situation was such that I wanted to join you myself, but alas I had no time. Later, there was a period when there were monks coming out of Tibet, who strengthened the classes. Some of them returned to their native places in Tibet and worked to develop education there, this we can think of as a great contribution to the Dharma. Now that there are fewer qualified teachers than there were, all of you have to work hard and I’d like to express my gratitude to you.”

His Holiness said that wherever he is in the world, he feels confident that the study of classic Buddhist texts is going on in the Three Seats.

Speaking of the importance of study and practice, His Holiness quoted Dromtonpa who said he studied while he practised and practised while he studied. He did not study first and practice later.

His Holiness spoke of a Ladakhi friend who asserted that after three years cultivating concentration in retreat, his intelligence had declined. Others have reported similar experiences and His Holiness wonders if they properly understood subtle laxity and excitement in meditation.

Repeating Je Rinpoche’s qualm, “If you can’t tame your own mind, how can you help others tame theirs prompted His Holiness to report that in Chengdu there are many so-called lamas prepared to sell the Dharma, their primary interest being money and sex.

Such complaints are not confined to Asia; His Holiness recalled a Western Buddhist Teachers conference in the 1990s in Dharamsala at which complaints were aired about misbehaviour among Tibetan and Zen teachers.

At the time he asked what he could do about it: “The Buddha has given clear advice, if these people won’t heed him, why should they listen to me?”

He said that if directly reprimanding them was ineffective, they should be exposed in the media. This or that lama’s misbehaviour should be made clear. If necessary the matter could be taken to court. He recalled a legal challenge that had been made in the US courts and one of the lama’s students pleading that the Dharma would be damaged if he was punished or imprisoned.

His Holiness made it clear that far from damaging the Dharma such an approach would purify it. He reiterated the option to use publicity to expose such errors. He also pointed out that in Tibetan society people take it for granted that lamas and tulkus have understanding and realisation. The clear advice in the Stages of the Path texts is to check and examine their qualities.

When His Holiness completed his reading of ‘Essence of Refined Gold’, which is a commentary on Je Tsongkhapa’s ‘Lines of Experience’, he began the ‘Gomchen Lamrim’ by Ngawang Drakpa, which is a concise rendering of the approach of Je Rinpoche’s ‘Middle Stages of the Path’.

They were all part of a Canadian public policy that aims to “...bring 1,000 displaced Tibetans from the Arunachal Pradesh region of India before May 2015,” said Nima Dorjee, president of Project Tibet Society. This policy followed a 2007 appeal by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The first two groups selected to resettle in Canada arrived in Toronto and Ottawa Friday, Nov. 29. Others selected will arrive in Calgary sometime in January.

“I am absolutely confident that given the opportunity they will succeed here, they will do fantastically well,” Dorjee said.

continued from Front-Page......

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No Lunar New Year celebrations for ‘mourning’ Tibetans, Dharamshala, India. Photo: TPI

By Yeshe Choesang: 27 December 2013

Dharamshala: - North Korea has a reputation as one of the most difficult places for outsiders to visit -- and for international journalists, it’s one of the hardest places from which to report. But there’s a place that allows even fewer foreign reporters than North Korea does: the China-controlled Tibet.

That’s according to Tibet scholar Carole McGranahan, who is a professor of the University of Colorado at Boulder and who made the point during a recent lecture at Yale University, video of which is embedded below. McGranahan discussed the rising trend of Tibetan self-immolations – a form of political protest against Chinese rule – and the challenge of understanding Tibet’s turmoil.

Beijing’s near-total isolation of Tibet, though, makes it awfully difficult for the outside world to see or understand what’s happening there.

Presumably, that’s part of the point; Chinese rule in Tibet can be shockingly severe, as can the ongoing

Tibet and current campaigns: What is going wrong?

By James Dunn: 31 December 2013

Security deployment......

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Activities during the festival include religious gatherings, blowing holly horns, lighting butter lamps, burning juniper branches and circumnambulating the temples or monasteries.

Tibetans believe that starting from this day, everyone becomes one year older.

“Heavy policemen and army in plain clothes have been deployed on the rooftops of Ramoche Tsuglagkhang and Jokhang, two most sacred Buddhist temples in Tibet,” sources told The Tibet Post International.

Lawyers training......

Speaking at the inaugural session, Chief Justice Commissioner Ngawang Phelgyal Gyechen spoke in detail about the evolution of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission and the role it played in sustaining the rule of law in the Tibetan community.

“Since it formally came into existence on 11th March 1992, the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission has conducted various trainings to produce more number of Tibetans with lawyer’s qualification,” he said adding, so far, we have produced over 118 qualified Tibetan lawyers through our training programmes.

“Due to our present circumstances, we don’t necessarily need LLB or LLM qualifications to be a Tibetan lawyer, an intense training on the Tibetan charter, the code of judiciary, the code of civil procedure and the evidence act will suffice,” he said.

“The training is being held for teachers this year as they play a vital role in educating our children. If our teachers are qualified in our judicial system, it will simultaneously create more awareness about the Tibetan judiciary in the younger generation,” he said.

The training will conclude on 5 January 2014. Resource persons include the Chief Justice Commissioner, Justice Commissioners Tsering Dhondup and Ngawang Choedak and local Tibetan Justice Commissioners.

The Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission (TSJC) is the highest judicial organ and one of the three most important pillars of the Tibetan democratic administration in exile or the Central Tibetan Administration.

Under the provision of the Article 67 of the Tibetan Charter, the TSJC drafted the Code of Judiciary, the Code of Civil Procedure and the Evidence Act; these were enacted into law on 28 March 1996, with the approval of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

efforts to assimilate Tibetan people and culture into the rest of China.

Starting at about 15:00 into the video, McGranahan discusses one of the major challenges facing an anthropologist like herself who wants to study Tibet: simply getting information. She can’t go herself unless she sneaks in, which is risky; she can’t “call up friends in Tibet” without “putting them at risk,” she says; Tibetans living in exile face the same problem.

The comparison to North Korea is not an invalid one. The Chinese government, by and large, has not been anywhere near as severe or restrictive as North Korea’s since leader Mao Zedong died in 1977. The two countries are just on very different paths, and being a journalist in most of China is much freer than being a journalist in North Korea. But within Tibet, some of China’s old, totalitarian-tinged habits can still come through. The irony is that, in recent years, North Korea has been opening itself up to foreign journalists – albeit under extremely tight restrictions

– as China has closed them off from Tibet.

The Associated Press even has a tiny bureau in Pyongyang; a deal with the devil, some critics charge, but if nothing else it produces an awful lot of very good photos of life in North Korea.

There is nothing close to an analogous foreign media presence in Tibet. Sometimes the best we can do is satellite images, taken from thousands of miles away in space.

“There have been a handful, a very small handful, of journalists who’ve managed to get in and do some reporting,” McGranahan says. “But in general, the line that I like to use is that there are more foreign journalists right now in North Korea than there are in Tibet.”

The Chinese authorities have stepped up their persecution of independent Tibetan news providers in recent years, arresting Tibetans who are frequent information sources for external observers on the pretext that they carried out political activities aimed at destroying social stability and dividing the Chinese homeland.

“Every arrest of a Tibetan who tried to inform his peers and the outside world about the dramatic situation in Tibet plunges the region further into isolation,” Reporters Without Borders (RWB) said in a statement on 16 October 2013.

“Instead of trying to turn Tibet into an information black hole, the Chinese authorities must put an immediate stop to these arbitrary arrests and release those detained without delay. We urge the international community to forcefully condemn their detention,” said RWB. The Paris-based watchdog: “There can be no justification for remaining silent in the face of these flagrant violations of freedom of information, not even the ‘respect for sovereignty’ that the Chinese government repeatedly cites in response to criticism of its repressive and discriminatory policies towards Tibetans.”

China is once again among the Reporters Without Borders’ list of “Enemies of the Internet” and is ranked 173rd out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

James Dunn. Photo: TPI

London: - Anyone who was on Facebook and has links to the Tibetan cause will have seen the petition on Avaaz that was being shared and signed all around the world last month. While it reached a hugely impressive million signature it was hollow to this editor. While a million people have taken to social media and signed the petition it does not effect Tibet in the long run and in fact it highlights what is going wrong with the Tibetan cause.

A million signatures does not equate to a million people on the streets speaking up for those who cannot speak out. Nor does it represent a million people willing to take to the streets in the future

because of it. The petition itself is highly simple in it signing, making it easy yes, but it’s ease has resulted in it’s number. I tweeted the fact that it only took one minute to fill in, that was the selling point.

The undeniable fact is that this petition failed in it’s aims. It hoped to get the United Nations’ members to vote no to allowing China into it’s Human Rights Council and to get the media’s attention. While the petition reached its million the UN did not take note, it almost unanimously voted in favour of letting China join the council. China got more votes to join the Human Rights Council than France and the UK did when they attempted entry in the past. China received 176 of 192 votes and all they needed was 97. The media also took little notice showing the steadfast stance that most media outlets take when it comes to China and Tibet.

The thing that most worries me is the loss of focus in the Tibetan cause created by the sheer volume of Tibetan organisations, who for the most part sing from the same hymn sheet in the aim for increasing well-being for Tibetans. However, a new campaign by some Tibetan organisation aiming to stop Intercontinental building a hotel in Lhasa really drives home this loss of focus.

We as Tibetan supporters are become less in numbers, it is a simple fact. The reason for this is to me because of campaigns such as these, focussing less on the plight of Tibetans who need our help and more on big business taking advantage of the opportunity to make money. There will always be companies such as Intercontinental who will aim to profit from loss, it’s sadly in human nature. For an outsider going on to Free Tibet’s website or picking up leaflets printed

Tibet advocates deliver petition ...... continued from Front-Page......

“I was shocked to find out how the Chinese government flexes its political muscle deep within the seemingly apolitical World Health Organization,” said Dr. Kunchok Dorjee, who directed the Tibetan TB program at Delek Hospital. “The Stop TB Partnership had already selected Delek Hospital to receive the $65,000 award, which could easily help the hospital treat a few hundred TB patients.”

On Monday morning, Tibetan activist Jigme Ugen walked into the World Health Organization offices in Washington, DC. Though he was denied entry at first, he refused to leave the building. After several hours of negotiation, he was finally allowed to meet with a senior member who agreed to accept the petition on behalf of Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO.

“As refugees who escaped political and religious oppression at home, Tibetans in exile fit the category perfectly,” said Jigme Ugen, who is one of the most well known Tibetan activists in exile.

“There is no organization more fit to receive this award than the Delek Hospital, which has saved hundreds of lives in the Tibetan refugee community and the local Indian community.”

Tibetans in exile have one of the highest rates of tuberculosis in the world. Their status as refugees – which causes poverty, malnutrition, over-crowding and migration – exacerbates this problem. The abnormal rate of TB among Tibetans is directly linked to China’s oppression in Tibet which turned the Tibetans into refugees in the first place. Ironically, China’s political meddling is now stopping these very Tibetans from curing their TB problem!

by Students for a Free Tibet and seeing information about Intercontinental makes me mad at the company not sympathetic for the Tibetan cause.

The self-immolations that have left us all shaken have been shied away from by NGO’s as they see it as a too delicate topic, but the 124 who took such a sacrifice did it for the Tibetan cause and using their names and faces is a way of remembering them and honouring their dying wish. They died striving for basic freedoms in Tibet not to stop someone putting up a hotel. Putting the opinions of whether selfimmolations are ethical or not surely hiding them from history is a worse act?

Media all around the world printed about the immolations, with the names and faces of those who died for the Tibetan cause for all to see and learn about. It is not the big companies that will make someone who does not know about Tibet stop and ask questions but the face of Lobsang Kalsang or the many others who we have lost. The personal story of one has always had a greater effect than just a number. We can relate to Palden Choetso; she had a mother and a father, she had dreams and inspirations, she had a smile, a laugh.

Personally as a journalist, someone who is suppose to be unaffected by the world unfurling and failing us, I admit that when I lie in bed at night I see the faces of those who have died in such a painful and horrific manner. I think of what led them to drinking gasoline and stepping into the excruciating last minutes of their lives. I know that this effects everyone in the Tibetan community and I also know that by using their names and faces we can keep their memories and aspirations for Tibet alive.

Prayer service......

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members of the Tibetan Parliament in exile.

Prayers were offered for Tsultrim Gyatso, a 43-year-old monk Achok Monastery in Labrang Tashikhyil, who died after setting himself on fire 19 December.

“124 Tibetans have self-immolated in Tibet since 2009. 124 is neither simply a number nor a list of names. They are human beings just like any one of us who will wish to live a complete life, if given a choice,” said Dr Lobsang Sangay.

“Political repression, cultural assimilation, social discrimination, economic marginalisation, environmental destruction and lack of religious freedom are the primary factors driving Tibetans to self-immolation. The only way to end this brutal and grave situation is for China to change its current hardline Tibet policy by respecting the aspirations of the Tibetan people,” Sikyong added.

8

TPI NEWS

The Tibet Post International back page focus Tibetan school official meets ViceSecular ethics are important today: Spiritual leader of Tibet Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University when things go wrong for us, it is usually because

31 December 2013

By Cameron Hickert: 24 December 2013

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the first day of his three day teaching at the request of a group from Russia in New Delhi, India on December 21, 2013. Photo/Kate Surzhok

New Delhi, India 21, December 2013: – The skies over Delhi were misty and grey as His Holiness the Dalai Lama set out this morning to drive to the Kempinski Hotel where he was to resume teaching a group he had begun to lecture last year. 1300 Russians, 20 Chinese, and approximately 120 Tibetans and other foreigners awaited him quietly, their faces smiling in rapt anticipation. Having greeted the audience and the Lamas sitting around the throne, His Holiness took his seat.

“Because it is you who are acquainted with your own mind,” he began, “it is you who can best

judge whether there has been any change or not.

If you dedicate yourself to helping others, you’ll be happier. I myself try to imbue my life with spiritual practice and although change doesn’t occur overnight, if you look back over some years, you should be able to see some improvement.”

His Holiness stated that different spiritual traditions, even different schools of Buddhism, may propound diverse philosophical views, but they convey a common message of love and compassion.

However, altruism is something even those not spiritually inclined require. Therefore, secular ethics are important today. The spiritual leader argued that

of our self-centered attitude. “Warm-heartedness is the root of happiness and it’s the basis of secular ethics. This is not about the next life, nirvana, God or the Buddha; it’s about how to be happy in this life, now. This is why wherever I go I talk about secular ethics. As for me, I don’t think I’m anything special. If I dwell on being the Dalai Lama, it creates a sense of distance between me and others. I prefer to be open and honest and to think of myself as the same as everyone else.”

He quoted the Buddhist monk Shantideva as saying that unless we exchange our happiness with others, we won’t be happy. He continued to note that we can develop and enhance the sense of affection with which we are biologically equipped by using our intelligence.

The Buddha taught that an ordinary person can transform his mind by training it to realize Buddhahood. His Holiness revealed how humans need a means to achieve the transformation necessary to overcome disturbing emotions: we must employ our own thoughts to change the mind itself. The Buddhist conception of way the mind works provides a basis for dialogue with modern scientists, the Dalai Lama stated.

His Holiness advised, “If you have bodhichitta (the pursuit of an enlightened mind), you’ll be totally dedicated to the benefit and welfare of other beings...

The greatest impact this practice has had on me has been on my peace of mind. I make no claims to have realized emptiness or to have cultivated bodhichitta, but I have some understanding of emptiness and it is acquaintance with bodhichitta that has given me courage and self-confidence. It’s very, very helpful.”

My book is my own personal experience

By Choneyi Sangpo: 31 December 2013

Tibet Post: Please introduce yourself.

Kunsang Dolma: I am from Amdo, from a village called Maktangcun near Guinan. I only went to school up to 3rd class. After that I had to leave school to help my mother with work on the farm. At age fifteen, I went to become a Buddhist nun. Three years later I escaped into India in 1999. I studied at the Tibetan Transit School for four years and was no longer a nun when I left school. After 2004 I met my husband, Evan, then in 2005 we married and went to America, in Maine. I didn’t see my family in Tibet again until 2010.

Tibet Post: Why did you write your book?

Kunsang Dolma: I didn’t plan to write a book, but after I my daughters were born I thought if I wrote down my story they would learn form it. Because I am a woman I had experience with sexual violence, so I wanted my kids to be able to learn from that.

With each story we wrote down, I felt releif from no longer holding these things back. I had never told anyone about my experiences before that. I starting thinking about how many women in our community are in the same situation, and thought it might help them let go of the pain they’ve been holding in too if my story came out.

Tibet Post: When will the Tibetan translation of your book be ready?

Kunsang Dolma: A Tibetan in Australia, Gonpo Sonam, is translating it. He has finished four or five chapters but I don’t know when he is going to be finished.

Tibet Post: What do people in the West think about your book?

Kunsang Dolma: In the West, not so many people know much about Tibet. A lot of people don’t even know China is controling Tibet, that we don’t even have our own country. My book starts with my parents’ experiences during the Chinese occupation of Tibet, goes through how I escaped into India, and talks about refugee life. Many Western people are happy to learn about Tibetan culture and what is happening in Tibet. Some Westerners who do know a little about Tibet only know the Shangri-la image, that everyone is a spiritual Buddhist and a great person just like the Dalai Lama, so they are glad to find out the whole story about both the good and the bad.

Tibet Post: What do Tibetan readers think?

Kunsang Dolma: A lot of people are supportive, the people who support my book think it’s good for the whole truth to come out. Other people are against it, they say I’m letting out Tibetan secrets that will make Tibet look bad to Westerners. They don’t want the West to find out anything different from the Shangri-la image. My book talks about violence and sexual abuse, which these people want to hide, but if we pretend these things aren’t going on we can’t cover up the truth forever. When Western people figure out that we are hiding the truth from them

Kunsang Dolma. Photo: TPI/Choneyi Sangpo

it will only make us look worse. For example, if we are good friends and I found out you are hiding something from me I wouldn’t be happy with you.

Tibet Post: Why is you book named A Hundred Thousand White Stones?

Kunsang Dolma: Two of my brothers are twins.

Just before I left home, one died and the other one became very depressed. After 2010 when I went to visit my family a lama said the living twin needed to collect a hundred thousand white stones for a special ceremony to improve his life. The whole family worked together picking up tiny white stones for days, that story is in the book. I thought it was nice, and also for me my journey has been like this, slowly getting closer to my goal one tiny piece at a time.

Tibet Post: Do you plan to write a second book?

Kunsang Dolma: Yes, I am working on a second book. The first one is only my story coming out. I didn’t put much emotion in the first time, it wasn’t

easy for me to let the story out at all. In the second book I’m looking at dealing with my emotions and the healing process after trauma. Hopefully people can learn something useful from my experience.

Tibet Post: Is the book in more of a Western style or a Tibetan style?

Kunsang Dolma: Western memoirs are more honest and straightforward, we don’t have much like that. In my book, I include experiences like my father being an alcoholic and beating us often.

Some Tibetan readers think I slapped my father by bringing up these things in the book. People see that and just focus on the negative details, they’re shocked and can’t even see the whole story because they aren’t used to straightforward memoirs like in the West. Also, some people think I married a Western person then turned around and made Tibetan men look bad. Really, my book is my own personal experience, there’s nothing in it about making anyone look bad.

I’ve heard people say my family must have no idea I wrote this book because it has both the good times and bad times, and I guess people think we are supposed to hide the bad times. Actually, when I was originally thinking this could be a book I asked my family what they thought. At first they were confused, they didn’t have any experience with this kind of book. After I explained the details they were happy for me to have a book, my brothers kept asking me if I was able to get it published or not.

I am very excited that one day they will be able to read it in Tibetan. When my father listened to my interview with Radio Free Asia him and me both felt sad and cried. Later, he told me everything I talked about was the truth and that’s all that matters.

Mr. Dhondup, the administrator of Tibetan youth Hostel in Bangalore with Dr. Sriprakash K.S. Vice – Chancellor of RGUH, on 21 December. Photo: TPI

By Jane Cook: 25 December 2013

Bangalore: - Mr. Dhondup, the administrator of Tibetan Youth Hostel in Bangalore, met Dr. Sriprakash K.S, Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences is the parent body under which all the medical and paramedical colleges of Karnataka State are affiliated.

According to the CTA, hundreds of Tibetan students are pursuing nursing and medical courses in Karnataka. Hence, his meeting with the ViceChancellor was in tune with his efforts to meet top echelons of various universities to request possible admission assistance for Tibetan students.

During the course of the meeting, he sought all possible assistance from Vice-Chancellor Dr Sriprakash K.S. concerning Tibetan students studying in various colleges affiliated to the university and those seeking new admission. “The vice-chancellor has assured me that he would look into the requests and expressed his willingness to visit TCV Youth Hostel at some point in future,” Mr Dhondup said.

He also discussed the issue of Tibet particularly the

urgent situation prevailing inside Tibet.

A day earlier he met Dr. Lawrence D’souza, Director of St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, one of the top medical colleges in India. They discussed prospects for Tibetan students aspiring to pursue medical studies in the college.

Mr Dhondup has made several field visits to colleges in various cities like Chennai, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Trichy, Mangalore and Mysore. He met the principals and senior faculty members of these colleges to discuss and address issues related to students’ admission and welfare.

“We als try to inculcate the values of our traditional Tibetan knowledge to our Tibetan youths. We organised a public talk on “Role And Duties Of College Students” by Kalon Trisur Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche in August. Similarly, we conducted several religious talks on fundamental Buddhist understanding in some of the nursing colleges in Bangalore from scholars like Ven. Khangser Rinpoche, Buddhist philosophy professor in Sera University and Geshe Dorji Damdul, former English translator of His Holiness The Dalai Lama,” he said.

Zurich: The political leader of the exile Central Tibetan Administration in India, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, arrived in Switzerland on April 10 for a 12-day visit.

Dr Sangay was scheduled to address the Swiss Tibetan community on April 14 in Fribourg, where His Holiness the Dalai Lama was also set to give a teaching. From April 20 to 21, the Sikyong

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