Whole Struggle – Tibet struggles for Natural Freedom

Tibet Struggles for Natural Freedom

In my analysis, the Tibetan Resistance Movement can only be described as the Struggle for Natural Freedom. Tibetans resist military occupation of Tibet by a foreign invader for occupation totally undermines the Tibetan National Experience of Natural Freedom that defines the Land and its denizens. Freedom is not viewed as a Political Right. Tibetans cherish Freedom as a Nature’s Gift which no man has the power to trample upon.

Dalai Lama Says Tibet Issue Is No Longer Struggle For Political Independence

Clipped from: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/dalai-lama-says-tibet-issue-is-no-longer-struggle-for-political-independence-2064281

Tibet Issue “No Longer Struggle for Political Independence”: Dalai Lama

Political independence is mainly meant for the happiness of the people, but does it alone guarantee happiness, the Dalai Lama asked.

All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: July 04, 2019 20:11 IST

New Delhi:

The Tibetan issue is no longer a struggle for political independence, the Dalai Lama has said, asserting that there is a need to focus on preservation of Tibet’s cultural, religious and linguistic identity.

Political independence is mainly meant for the happiness of the people, but does it alone guarantee happiness, the Tibetan spiritual leader asked.

“There is a growing feeling among the top leaders in China that their policies have not been able to solve the Tibet issue in the last 70 years. So, they should follow a more realistic approach. Even though Tibet was an independent country, politically China occupies Tibet today,” he told news magazine ”The Week” in an interview.

“Under the given circumstances, I have been saying for some time now that there is a need to focus on preservation of Tibetan culture, religion and identity. It is no longer a struggle for political independence,” he said.

The 14th Dalai Lama left Tibet in 1959 to escape Chinese occupation and has been keeping China on tenterhooks about his successor.

In April this year, at a global conference, he had said people from Tibet have been seeking a mutually acceptable solution to the Tibetan issue with China since 1974 but Beijing considers him a “splittist” though he isn’t one.

The spiritual leader, who turns 84 soon, had said he preferred Tibet remaining with China, with “some kind of a reunion”.

In the interview, given in Himachal Pradesh’s McLeodganj, the Dalai Lama also said if the Tibetan people can preserve their thousands of years old cultural heritage, religion and identity, it will bring them inner peace and happiness.

“For this, I really admire the Indian Union for its unity in diversity. In a similar way, the People’s Republic of China and Tibet can coexist keeping Tibet’s cultural, linguistic and religious identity,” he said.

On a question, about his successor, he said, “I can only be concerned about this life; the next is not my concern. What is important are the teachings, the institution of the Dalai Lama comes after that.

“If reincarnation was so important, then why did the Buddha not have a reincarnation,” adding, “sometimes, I also feel the Lama institution has some connection with the feudal system and is not relevant today”.

The Tibetan spiritual leader recently apologized for his comment on women in a BBC interview, with his office in Dharamshala saying he has always opposed their objectification.

Responding to a question on whether his reincarnation could be a woman, the Nobel Peace Prize winner had joked that she should be attractive.

On a question on India, he said, the rich people in India should pay more attention to the study of Indian philosophy and texts “rather than just uttering ”Ram Ram” and doing puja”.

“It is better to create small libraries and learn about ancient Indian philosophy and psychology than just praying without any knowledge and performing rituals without understanding them,” he said.

On his association with prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he said, “Pandit was very kind to me; he advised me under difficult circumstances. I followed his advice, and it was very practical. I came to India in 1956, during Buddha Jayanti. At that time, many Tibetan officials told me that I should stay in India and not return”.

He said, he returned to Tibet in 1957. “I tried my best (to maintain peace with the Chinese), but after some time… there (were) uprisings. In 1959, things went out of control and I decided to escape from Tibet,” the Dalai Lama added.

“I am grateful to the Indian government (and leaders such as) Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Narasimha Rao and the (later) generation of leaders, and also Indian officials who have been very sympathetic towards Tibet,” he said.

Today, India and Tibet are very close not only for political or economic reasons, but also spiritually and emotionally, he added.

On China calling him a separatist, and his 60th year of exile in India, he said, “Let them (Chinese) say I am a separatist. That will be helpful as I will continue to live in India peacefully”.

“If they sincerely ask me to return – although on many occasions to some Chinese individuals I mentioned that I prefer freedom – and if I return to China, I (will be) put in a big house with no freedom. There is no use. I am happy to live in India for the rest of my life,” the Dalai Lama said.

“Among all civilizations, whether it is Chinese or Egyptian, it is the Indus Valley civilization that has produced the best thinkers and philosophers. I consider Buddhism and Hinduism as twin brother and sister. India’s civilization is something wonderful and should be known for its contribution to the world,” he asserted.

I AM A REFUGEE FINDING HOPE IN THE PERIOD OF DARKNESS.

“We Tibetans are eternally grateful to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas and ever more so to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for being our ray of hope and our source of strength in our times of darkness,” it said.

On behalf of ‘The Living Tibetan Spirits’, I pay my tribute to His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama for giving me hope while I live my Life Under Shadow, envelope of Utter Darkness.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

Tibet’s exile gov’t praises Dalai Lama on his 84th birthday – The Mainichi

Clipped from: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190707/p2g/00m/0in/016000c

File photo taken in April 2019 shows the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama. (Kyodo)

NEW DELHI (Kyodo) — The advisory board of the Tibetan government-in-exile released a statement celebrating the 84th birthday of the Dalai Lama on Saturday.

The statement said that, 60 years into exile, Tibetan cultural identity has been revived and preserved, a full-fledged democratic Central Tibetan Administration has been established, and “the spirit of Tibetans inside and outside Tibet remain strong and united.”

It added that the “Middle Way Approach” in resolving the Tibet issue through dialogue continues to be widely supported by many countries.

Born on July 6, 1935, in northeastern Tibet, the exiled spiritual leader was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, at the age of 2.

In March 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India following a failed Tibetan uprising in 1959 against China’s control of the Buddhist region high in the Himalayas. He later set up the government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent campaign for Tibet democracy and its people’s freedom but China always considers him as a hostile being for splitting Tibet from China. The Chinese government regards him as a dangerous separatist.

Succession plans for the octogenarian have been an issue of interest in recent years.

In April this year, he was discharged from a hospital in India’s capital New Delhi where he had been diagnosed with a chest infection.

THE THREE-DIMENSIONS OF FEMALE REINCARNATION OF THE DALAI LAMA

THE THREE-DIMENSIONS OF FEMALE REINCARNATION OF THE DALAI LAMA DESCRIBE THE IDEALS OF TIBETAN NATIONALISM.

**Tibetan Nationalism is Defined by the Ideals of Truth, Bliss, and Beauty.**

The Female Reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will be a ‘Thing of Beauty’ for it is Beauty accompanied by the Dimensions of Truth and Bliss. Buddha, the Most Compassionate Being has Three Dimensions. These are 1. Satyam (Truth), 2. Shivam (Bliss), and 3. Sundaram (Beauty).

Tibetan Nationalism will always be inspired by the highest ideals of humanity. The Female Reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will bring a Great “Joy Forever.”

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

Special Frontier Force

Dalai Lama ‘deeply sorry’ for remarks about women

Clipped from: https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/world/dalai-lama-deeply-sorry-for-remarks-about-women/ar-AADNkCH

The Dalai Lama has apologized for controversial comments about the possibility of a woman succeeding him.

Speaking to the BBC last month, the Tibetan spiritual leader had said that any future female Dalai Lama should be “attractive”.

But a statement from his office apologized for his words, suggesting it had been a joke.

“He is deeply sorry that people have been hurt by what he said and offers his sincere apologies,” it said.

In the interview, the spiritual leader, who is 84 this week, touched on topics including US President Donald Trump, his dreams of returning to Tibet, and refugees.

However, it was his comments on the prospect of a female Dalai Lama that raised eyebrows.

“If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive,” he said in English, while laughing

The statement apologized for any offence caused and put it down to a misunderstood joke.

The Dalai Lama “has a keen sense of the contradictions between the materialistic, globalized world he encounters on his travels and the complex, more esoteric ideas about reincarnation that are at the heart of Tibetan Buddhist tradition”, the statement said.

“However, it sometimes happens that remarks, which might be amusing in one cultural context, lose their humor in translation when brought into another. He regrets any offence that may have been given.”

Throughout his life, the Dalai Lama has opposed the objectification of women and supported gender equality, it added.

The statement also said comments in which he said refugees in the European Union should ultimately return home “may have been misinterpreted.”

“He certainly appreciates that many of those who leave their countries may not wish or be able to return,” it said,

However, there was no apology for his comments on Mr. Trump who, he said, had a “lack of moral principle.”

Watch: ‘Dalai Lama reaffirms belief female successor would have to be attractive’ (The Independent)

**Tibetan Nationalism is inspired by the Ideals of Truth, Bliss, and Beauty.**

TIBETAN EXISTENCE. TO TWEET OR NOT TO TWEET IS THE QUESTION

TIBETAN EXISTENCE. TO TWEET OR NOT TO TWEET IS THE QUESTION FOR THE FUTURE DALAI LAMA

“To be, or not to be – that is the question.” Tibetan Existence is truly endangered by relentless, brutal military occupation since 1950. Tibetans face just one question. The question is, “How to Oppose the Occupation of Tibet?” Nothing else really matters. To tweet or not to tweet is the question for the future Dalai Lama.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

Special Frontier Force

Twitter is canceling the Dalai Lama because he said a female successor should be ‘attractive’

Tanya Edwards

Yahoo Lifestyle June 29, 2019

Clipped from: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/dalai-lama-successor-sexist-comment-165529899.html

The fourteenth Dalai Lama (83 years) and the spiritual guru of the Buddhists from Tibet (Photo by Pallava Bagla/Corbis via Getty Images)

The Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the 14th person to hold the title, made waves this week when he said his successor, if a woman, needs to be physically attractive.

Rajini Vaidyanathan

✔ @BBCRajiniV

This was perhaps the most surprising moment in the interview. I asked the Dalai Lama if he stood by his earlier comment that if his successor was female, she should be attractive.

He said he did. Watch here:#DalaiLama #BBCDalaiLama.

10:41 AM – Jun 27, 2019

“You once said that you would be open to a female successor,” BBC News reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan asked the religious leader, in a video interview published Thursday on Twitter.

“That’s also possible,” the Dalai Lama confirmed.

“You also told one of my colleagues that, that female must be attractive, otherwise it’s not much use,” she continued. “…Can you see why that comment upset a lot of women?”

The Dalai Lama answered, “If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive.” If not, “people, I think prefer, not see her, that face.”

The reporter asked, “It’s about who you are inside, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I think both,” he said. “Real beauty is inner beauty, that’s true. But we’re human beings. I think the appearance is also important.”

The religious leader also suggested that most people would prefer not to look at a “dead face” and argued that women in the public eye should wear makeup.

People took issue with his comments, calling his holiness “canceled.”

Author Jessica Valenti tweeted that this moment was “about as 2019 as it gets.”

Others just felt disappointed.

Some called out what they felt was the absurdity of his comments and made jokes.

One person even suggested singer and icon Dolly Parton step into the role.

These weren’t the only remarks the Dalai Lama made that raised eyebrows this week. He also told the BBC that European nations should be obliged to take in those who are fleeing their home countries, but that those people should ultimately be taught skills and return home, saying, “European countries should take these refugees and give them education and training, and the aim is – return to their own land with certain skills.”

He continued, “But the whole of Europe [will] eventually become Muslim country – impossible. Or African country, also impossible.”

BLESSINGS OF PEACE TO KOREA

BLESSINGS OF PEACE TO KOREA

The spread of Communism to mainland China initiated ‘The Cold War in Asia’. People of the Korean Peninsula are fully entitled to their Freedom and the Blessings of Peace.

In my analysis, things in Asia will change if and only if China grants full, and “meaningful” autonomy to Tibetans who lost their freedom due to China’s military conquest of Tibet in 1950.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

Trump touts Kim meeting at DMZ as ‘legendary,’ but little has changed

By Eli Stokols and Victoria Kim

Jun 30, 2019 | 9:00 AM

| Seoul

President Trump arrives to speak to troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea on Sunday shortly after a historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the DMZ. (Susan Walsh / AP)

Moments before his meeting with Kim Jong Un, as President Trump stared into North Korea for the first time, he still nursed a familiar grievance: The media don’t appreciate his accomplishments.

Standing atop an observation point on the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone, Trump listened as a general briefed him on the military significance of the location. Then he gave his own assessment, in which he played a central role.

“There was great conflict here prior to our meeting in Singapore,” Trump said, referring to his first summit with Kim last year. “Tremendous conflict and death, all around them. And it’s now been extremely peaceful. It’s been a whole different world.”

“I say that for the press,” he went on. “They have no appreciation for what is being done, none. There was great conflict here prior to our meeting in Singapore. After our first summit, all of the danger went away.”

Trump called his impromptu meeting with Kim, in which he became the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea, “historic” and “very legendary.”

Foreign policy analysts were less impressed.

“It’s only ‘historic’ if it leads to de-nuke negotiations, a verifiable agreement and a peace treaty,” said Victor Cha, a former national security council official who served as President George W. Bush’s envoy to North Korea. “Otherwise it’s just some nice pics and pageantry.”

Samantha Vinograd, who served on the national security council under President Obama, said Trump had effectively moved his own goalposts backward, tacitly walking away from his initial demand for complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“By shaking hands with Kim Jong Un at the DMZ with no preconditions attached, he’s really signaling that his metric for success at this point is the status quo, which is no long-range missile tests and no nuclear tests,” but North Korea keeping its nuclear arsenal, she said.

“Kim has no reason to denuclearize, but every reason to push Trump for what he’s wanted all along, phased sanctions relief.”

“North Korea under Trump is a normalized, nuclear power.”

A year after Trump’s first meeting with Kim, in Singapore, North Korea remains a dangerous adversary. Kim’s government has continued to develop its nuclear stockpile, which is larger and more powerful now than when Trump took office.

The North Koreans have stopped testing long-range missiles that have potential to reach U.S. territory, but have not dismantled them and continue to test missiles that appear designed to evade U.S. defenses and could threaten Japan and South Korea.

And even some of Trump’s top advisors doubt the North Koreans will ever agree to the U.S. demand that they give up the nuclear weapons that generations of the Kim family have pursued as the ultimate guarantee of their rule.

The practical upshot of Trump’s 53-minute meeting with Kim was an agreement to restart nuclear talks. The two sides would resume working-level discussions, Trump said — effectively a return to where negotiations stood 15 months ago.

“We are going to have teams, they are going to meet over the next weeks, they are going to start a process, and we will see what happens,” he said.

Trump meets Kim Jong Un at DMZ and becomes first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea

By Eli Stokols and Victoria Kim

Jun 29, 2019 | 11:55 PM

Trump did not say if he and Kim discussed the economic sanctions that severely restrict North Korea’s exports and bar key imports, including oil. So far, the U.S. has said those won’t be lifted unless North Korea denuclearizes. Trump indicated the sanctions could be part of talks as negotiations resume.

“Sanctions remain, yes, but at some point, during the negotiations, things can happen,” he said. “At some point, look, I’m looking forward to taking them off.”

That’s a softer stance than Trump took at his previous meeting with Kim in Hanoi, when he walked out after Kim made an offer to dismantle only one part of the North’s extensive complex of nuclear facilities. At those talks, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and national security advisor John Bolton, who are more hawkish toward North Korea than the president, were involved.

Bolton was far away, en route to a meeting in Mongolia on Sunday when Trump and Kim met. Pompeo accompanied Trump to South Korea, and the president’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joined him in crossing the border into North Korea, an experience that Ivanka Trump later called “surreal.”

Pompeo told reporters traveling with him that if Trump’s action was a gamble, “it worked.”

“The president, by getting together with Chairman Kim today, broke through and was able to get us the opportunity to get back to the negotiating table,” he said. “It’s good for North Korea, it’s good for America, good for the world.”

Pompeo said he expected the working-level talks to begin around mid-July in a place to be determined. The U.S. delegation will be led by special representative Stephen Biegun, and the North Korean side will be represented by a foreign ministry official, possibly the foreign minister, Pompeo said.

For Trump, however, the details of denuclearization talks took second place to shaping public perceptions of his unorthodox diplomacy.

He boasted that “tremendous things are happening,” and even as he insisted, he’s in no hurry to cement a final agreement, he continued to carp at the media for refusing to join in the hagiography he relishes.

In his own version of the story, the Korean peninsula was “a fiery mess” until his election, which has brought about “two and a half years of peace.”

“You don’t report it accurately, but that’s OK,” Trump said to reporters after his talk with Kim had concluded. “Someday history will record it accurately.”

Trump’s political opponents took a more skeptical view.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said on Twitter that while Trump and Kim met, “North Korea continues to build nuclear weapons. Another typical Trump ‘show.'”

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, interviewed on CNN, said Trump’s diplomacy with North Korea had little to show for itself.

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“We’ve seen a history here,” she said. “Donald Trump announces these summits, and nothing really comes out of it.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, by contrast, who has staked his presidency on improving relations with North Korea, appeared eager to stoke Trump’s assessment of his role.

“I’d like to pay my tribute to the creative and bold approach that President Trump has demonstrated,” Moon said, after waiting in a separate room at the DMZ as Trump and Kim met.

“This has presented a big hope for the 80 million Korean people as well as the people of the whole world.”

The intensity with which the president tried to drive home his preferred narrative only highlighted how much he felt the need to do so — to proclaim a version of events that offers more than the reality that, after three meetings, North Korea continues to be a nuclear state, one that Trump himself has now legitimized on the world stage.

Kim has taken maximum advantage of Trump’s willingness to meet. At the DMZ, a coterie of North Korean state media accompanied him. They jostled with American and South Korean journalists to capture images of Kim once again walking shoulder to shoulder with Trump and the U.S. president stepping across the border.

The images and video from the meeting will boost Kim domestically, making up for the embarrassment he suffered after returning from February’s summit in Hanoi empty-handed.

Before heading to the DMZ, Trump bristled when asked what Kim had done in the four months since then to deserve another face-to-face meeting with the president.

Reminded by a reporter that Kim has continued to launch short-range missiles in recent months, Trump brushed off the tests.

“Small missiles,” he said. “Every country tests.”

Asked by another reporter if he was able to determine whether Kim had executed his former lead negotiator, which some South Korean media had reported, Trump couldn’t say for sure the status of the North Korean team.

“I can tell you the main person is [alive], we know that, and I would hope the rest are too,” he said. “I would really hope that the rest are too.”

At the end of his three-day Asia trip, before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Trump found a receptive audience for his version of events when he addressed troops at Osan Air Base in Seoul.

Using Marine One as a backdrop, Trump began his remarks by recounting his meeting with Kim, repeating his claim that the meeting came together in a day after he suggested the DMZ rendezvous in a tweet Saturday morning and again celebrating his handshake diplomacy as a major breakthrough.

“I actually stepped into North Korea and they say it’s a very historic moment,” Trump said.

Treating the speech to troops much like a campaign rally, Trump bashed Democrats, cursed and used a familiar and suspicious trope — claiming that some unidentified people had been deeply moved by his presence.

“Many people, I noticed, from Korea were literally in tears,” Trump said.

Staff writers Laura J. King and Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.

THE DALAI LAMA ON TRUMP

I am a Refugee hosting ‘The Living Tibetan Spirits’ in my consciousness. I am disappointed with President Trump’s “Keep America First Policy” for he placed the Great Tibet Problem on ‘The Back Burner’.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

The Dalai Lama on Trump, women and going home – BBC News

Clipped from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48772175

He is, without a doubt, one of the best-known people on the planet. In an age where celebrity is worshipped, the Dalai Lama is a faith leader who has become a spiritual superstar.

As he approaches his 84th birthday, the monk who has handed out millions of handshakes and crafted as many inspirational quotes, is candid and at times shocking.

I met him at his residence high in the mountains, in the town of McLeod-Ganj near Dharamshala in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

For a man so revered – seen as superhuman by many – he was refreshingly down to Earth. As he entered the room wearing his trademark red robes, assisted by his aides, he emanated the air of an approachable Clark Kent rather than an unearthly Superman.

And yet this is a man who has met world leaders and shared stages with pop stars and actors. A man who has long been a thorn in China’s side.

“One Chinese official once called me a demon,” he said laughing, before raising his hands to his head to mimic horns. “When I first heard that, my response was – yes, I’m a demon with horns.”

“I pity their ignorance, their political thinking is very narrow minded,” he added as he chuckled.

Image caption The view from the Dalai Lama’s residence in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh

The grudge with China is longstanding and has defined his entire life. The Dalai Lama was forced to flee his home of Tibet in 1959 after China sent troops into the region.

He sought refuge in India and for six decades has been living in exile in Dharamsala along with some 10,000 Tibetans. His monastery – which overlooks the snow-capped peaks of the Dhauladhar range in the Himalayas – is breathtakingly beautiful. But the view is bittersweet.

His life’s cause – to return home – remains a distant dream, even if he insists it may yet happen. “The Tibetan people have trust in me, they ask me [to] come to Tibet,” he says.

But in the next breath he adds that India has also become his “spiritual home”. An implicit acceptance, perhaps, that his goal of an autonomous Tibet is far from reality.

While he “formally” stepped down from political responsibilities in 2011, as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people he has continued to be their figurehead.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Chinese troops stand guard near the Tibet border in 1959

There haven’t been talks between his representatives and China for many years.

The Dalai Lama told me China’s President Xi Jinping had yet to ask him for a meeting. He did tell me that he had had some discussions with retired Chinese officials in the past few years, but none of these seem to have moved the dial.

In the 1950s, when China first sent troops in, Tibet was poor. Now it is an economic behemoth and its growing influence has in many ways overshadowed the Dalai Lama’s cause.

There was a time when the Dalai Lama was the toast of capitals around the world as US presidents lined up to meet him. George W Bush famously presented him with the Congressional gold medal while Barack Obama met him on several occasions, including in Delhi in 2017 after he left office.

But relations with the current occupant of the White House are very different. Despite being open to a meeting with President Donald Trump, the Dalai Lama told me that Mr. Trump, who is close to China’s Xi, had never asked for one.

The Dalai Lama’s advancing years may have curtailed his foreign travel schedule, but the spiritual leader says he hasn’t received a call from Mr. Trump either.

In a scathing assessment, he said the 45th president’s time in office was defined by a “lack of moral principle”, a contrast to remarks made in 2016 when he said he had “no worries” about a Trump presidency.

“When he became president, he expressed America first. That is wrong,” the Dalai Lama told me.

The withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and the migrant crisis are two big areas of concern. “When I saw pictures of some of those young children, I was sad,” he said of the situation at the US-Mexico border. “America… should take a global responsibility.”

The Dalai Lama is keen to separate his relationship with the president, or lack of one, with that of other American politicians. He highlights the vice-president’s support for the Tibetan people and the backing he has enjoyed from politicians in both houses of Congress.

President Trump’s apparent snub is reflective of the wider pressure Beijing can exert on those who engage with the Dalai Lama.

In 2012, China temporarily froze relations with the UK after David Cameron met him and. last year, the Indian government cancelled its plans for a celebration to mark 60 years of his exile, for fear it would upset Beijing.

Image copyright PA Image caption David Cameron meets the Dalai Lama in 2008

The Dalai Lama’s world view is inherently global. When we discuss Brexit, he tells me that he is “an admirer of the European Union” pointing out that global partnerships have been key in avoiding major conflicts.

But the world’s most famous refugee has some surprising views on immigration.

In a speech last year, he said that refugees to the European Union should ultimately return home, adding that “Europe is for Europeans”, a statement he stood by when I challenged him on it.

“European countries should take these refugees and give them education and training, and the aim is return to their own land with certain skills,” he said.

The Dalai Lama believes the end game should be to rebuild the countries people have fled. But with some 70 million people displaced across the world according to the latest figures, what if people want to stay?

“A limited number is OK, but the whole of Europe [will] eventually become Muslim country, African country – impossible,” he said. A controversial viewpoint, and a reminder that while the Dalai Lama is a spiritual figurehead, he is also a politician with views and opinions like everyone else.

Image caption The Dalai Lama’s monastery overlooks the snow-capped peaks of the Dhauladhar range in the Himalayas

Later in our conversation I also challenged him on another remark he made in 2015, when he said if he was followed by a female Dalai Lama, she would have to be attractive.

In another surprise, he reaffirmed his belief that beauty matters as much as brains. “If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive,” he told me while laughing.

His message seemed at odds for a man who preaches a message of tolerance and inner confidence, but the Dalai Lama told me that in Buddhist literature both inner and outer beauty matter. He also said that equality was important and was keen to stress that he supported women’s rights and equal pay in the workplace.

As the interview ended, I was struck by how unexpectedly frank our discussion had been, which reminded me of something the Dalai Lama had told me earlier in the day.

One advantage of not being able to return home to Tibet, he said, was that India is a free country where he can express himself openly.

The Dalai Lama’s message of unity is universal – but for a man famed for his compassion, he can also be controversial.

Follow Rajini on twitter – @BBCRajiniv

I AM A REFUGEE. WHAT IS MY FINAL DESTINATION?

I am a Refugee for I host ‘The Living Tibetan Spirits’, the Spirits of young Tibetan Soldiers who gave their precious lives while dreaming about ‘Freedom’ in Occupied Tibet.

For I am a Refugee, I am not entitled to the benefits entitled to the citizens of my host nation. I am in the search of my Final Destination where I can die with Peace and Dignity. My host nation is Free and yet as a Refugee I live under terms and conditions imposed on my existence as a Refugee. What is the Choice I can make? The options are, 1. Labor until Death in the host nation, and 2. Peaceful Death in the Enemy’s Prison.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

INDIA – TIBET – CHINA Dalai Lama says he would like to return to Tibet before he dies

Clipped from: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Dalai-Lama-says-he-would-like-to-return-to-Tibet-before-he-dies-47397.html

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism fled Lhasa during the 1959 uprising. Beijing considers him a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. Like Xi Jinping, Donald Trump never asked to meet him.

Dharamshala (AsiaNews/Agencies) – “The Tibetan people have trust in me, they ask me [to] come to Tibet,” said the Dalai Lama in an interview with the BBC.

Speaking with the journalist, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism talked about his desire to return to Lhasa before he dies. He was forced to abandon the Potala Palace (his official residence) during the Tibetan uprising against Chinese military rule in 1959.

Since then, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, has found refuge in Dharamshala (India) along with another 10,000 Tibetan Buddhists who live their Himalayan exile in Arunachal Pradesh.

In the interview the Dalai Lama describes India, the country that welcomed him, his “spiritual home”. Grateful for the hospitality he received, he notes that one advantage of not being able to return home to Tibet is that India is a free country where he can express himself openly.

Although he has often tried to engage Beijing in dialogue, to safeguard the autonomy of Tibetan religion and culture threatened by a “cultural genocide”, the Chinese Communist Party has always branded him a “dangerous” separatist seeking Tibetan independence.

In order to return to Tibet, he gave up his political role in 2011 to remain only as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. But the Chinese Communist Party continues to view him as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

At the age of 84, he enjoys good health, although he needs an assistant to walk. In April, Tibetan Buddhists all over the world were concerned for several days after his sudden hospitalization in a Delhi hospital for a lung infection.

In addition to going home to Tibet, the Dalai discussed various topics in the BBC interview: Brexit, migrants, a female Dalai Lama woman who should be “more attractive” than a man.

He also voiced strong criticism of US President Donald Trump who, in his view, lacks “moral principle”. The slogan (America First) that allowed him to win “is wrong”. The US leader, he noted, like Xi Jinping, never asked to meet him.

Whole Awareness -Blessings of Mount Chomolhari

Tibet Awareness – Blessings of Mount Chomolhari proclaim Tibet is Never a Part of China

Tibet Awareness – Blessings of Mount Chomolhari proclaim Tibet is Never a Part of China

Wetland scenery near Mount Chomolhari in Shigatse, Tsang Province, Tibet

A local villager herds sheep at a wetland near Mount Chomolhari in Tsang Province, Dromo County of Shigatse City, Tibet, June 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

The photo was taken on June 20, 2019, shows the scenery of Mount Chomolhari and a village in Tsang Province, Dromo County of Shigatse City, Tibet. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

The photo was taken on June 20, 2019, shows the scenery of Mount Chomolhari and wetland in Tsang Province, Dromo County of Shigatse City, Tibet. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Horses search for food at a wetland near Mount Chomolhari in Tsang Province, Dromo County of Shigatse City, Tibet. The photo was taken on June 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Herds of cattle walk across a wetland near Mount Chomolhari in Tsang Province, Dromo County of Shigatse City, Tibet. The photo was taken on June 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BLESSINGS OF MOUNT CHOMOLHARI. TIBET IS NEVER A PART OF CHINA

BLESSINGS OF MOUNT CHOMOLHARI, YADONG COUNTY, TIBET

Blessings of Mount Chomolhari, Tsang Province, Shigatse City, Tibet. Never a part of China. The military conquest and occupation of Tibet will never alter the history of this Land and its inhabitants.

Wetland scenery near Mount Chomolhari in Shigatse, Tsang Province, Tibet

WELCOME TO THE SUMMER SEASON 2019. WHOLE MECHANICS-WHOLE DYNAMICS

WELCOME TO THE SUMMER SEASON 2019. WHOLE MECHANICS-WHOLE DYNAMICS

On Friday, June 21, 2019, I celebrate the Summer Solstice, the beginning of the Summer Season sharing my thoughts on this celestial event.

The Man’s experience of Day and Night, and of the changing Seasons are not determined by the true or real motions of Sun in the Milky Way Galaxy. The experience of the Summer Season is not on account of planet Earth’s proximity to Sun during its circular orbit around Sun.

I apply Pure Reasoning, or the Doctrine of Rationalism to formulate my concepts of Whole Mechanics and Whole Dynamics. In practical terms, the Geocentric Theory is valid for it accounts for the experience of Day and Night, and of the changing Seasons. Most importantly, the Man needs the experience of his existence on the surface of a Flat Disc with an overhead arched dome called Sky or Heaven where he observes the apparent motions of Sun, stars, and planets.

Hello, Summer! Today’s Solstice Marks Season’s Beginning | Space

Clipped from: https://www.space.com/june-solstice-northern-summer-2019.html

The Earth as seen from space during a solstice on June 21, 2011.

Summer will officially arrive in the Northern Hemisphere today (June 21), marking the longest day, the shortest night and the beginning of summer.

The June solstice will occur at 11:54 a.m. EDT (1554 GMT), as the sun reaches the point at which it is farthest north of the celestial equator. To be more precise, when the solstice occurs, the sun will appear to shine directly overhead for a viewer stationed on the Tropic of Cancer (latitude 23.5 degrees north) in the western Atlantic Ocean, roughly 600 miles (965 kilometers) to the northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

From midnorthern latitudes, we can never see the sun directly overhead, but the same principle holds. For example, as seen from Philadelphia at 1:02 p.m. EDT on solstice day, the sun will attain its highest point in the sky for this entire year, standing 74 degrees above the southern horizon.

To gauge how high that is, your clenched fist held at arm’s length measures roughly 10 degrees, so from the City of Brotherly Love, the sun will appear to climb more than “seven fists” above the southern horizon. And since the sun will appear to describe such a high arc across the sky, daylight will be at its longest extreme, lasting 15 hours and 1 minute.

Twilight zones

But this doesn’t mean we can stargaze for the remaining 9 hours, because we also need to take twilight into consideration. Around the time of the June solstice at latitude 40 degrees north, morning and evening twilight each last 2 hours, so the sky is fully dark for only 5 hours.

Farther north, twilight lasts even longer. At 45 degrees, it lingers for 2.5 hours, and at 50 degrees, twilight persists through the night; the sky never gets completely dark. In contrast, heading south, twilight is shorter. At latitude 30, it lasts 96 minutes, while at the latitude of San Juan, it lingers for only 80 minutes. This phenomenon is why travelers from the northern U.S. who visit the Caribbean at this time of year get surprised at how quickly it gets dark after sunset compared to back home.

Incidentally, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset do not coincide with the summer solstice. The former occurred on June 14, while the latter does not come until June 27.

So far, so good

Some people think the Earth is at the closest point to the sun in its orbit at this time of year, but it is just the opposite. On July 4, at 6:11 p.m. EDT (2211 GMT), we’ll be at the point in our orbit farthest from the sun (called aphelion), 94,513,221 miles (152,104,285 km).

Conversely, back on Jan. 3, Earth was at perihelion, the point in its orbit closest to the sun. The difference in distance between these two extremes measures 3,109,667 miles (5,004,524 km), or 3.3% of the average distance between the sun and Earth. That small change leads to a difference of nearly 7% in the radiant heat received by the Earth.

Theoretically, for the Northern Hemisphere, the difference in the distance to the sun tends to warm our winters and cool our summers. But, the preponderance of large land masses in the Northern Hemisphere outweighs this effect, making our winters colder and summers hotter than those of the Southern Hemisphere.

Interestingly, it would be a much different story if we were on Mars. Compared to our nearly circular orbit, the orbit of Mars is noticeably more eccentric (elliptical). When Mars arrives at aphelion, the planet is receiving only 69% as much sunlight as it does at perihelion. This situation creates a seasonal asymmetry on Mars; the Martian southern hemisphere always suffers greater extremes between summer and winter than the northern hemisphere does.

After Aug. 7, it “gets late early”

After the sun arrives at its solstice point, it will begin to migrate back toward the south, and the amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere will decrease. Consider this: After today, the duration of daylight will not increase again until two days before Christmas.

But if you think about it, the length of daylight has been rather substantial since about the middle of May. And the lowering of the sun’s path in the sky and the diminishing of the daylight hours in the coming days and weeks will be rather subtle, at least initially, during the first half or so of summer.

The traditional midpoint of the summer season is Aug. 1 which is marked on some Christian calendars as Lammas Day. The name is derived from the Old English “loaf-mass,” because it was once observed as a harvest festival. But summer’s true midpoint — the moment that comes exactly between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox in 2019 — will not occur until Aug. 7 at 7:52 a.m. EDT (1152 GMT). On that day, again, as seen from Philadelphia, the sun will set at 8:08 p.m., with the loss of daylight since June 21 amounting to just 57 minutes.

But in the second half of summer, the effects of the southward shift of the sun’s direct rays become much more noticeable. When autumn officially arrives, on Sept. 23, the sun for Philadelphians will set at 6:56 p.m., while the city will have lost 2 full hours of daylight since Aug. 7.

When he occasionally played left field during his Hall of Fame career with the Yankees, Yogi Berra would say that he didn’t mind the outfield, except for one thing: During August and September, as the shadows across the ball field progressively lengthened, it got increasingly difficult for him to see a baseball hit in his direction. Berra might not have been able to explain the science of why the altitude of the sun lowered so perceptibly during the latter half of the summer, but, as only he could do, he was able to sum it all up in a simple Yogism: “It gets late early out there.”

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers’ Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for Verizon FiOS1 News in New York’s lower Hudson Valley. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.