Tibet Consciousness – Glimpses of Tibetan Identity – Images of Yamdrok Lake
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – THE YAMDROK LAKE – LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW FOR FREEDOM IS NEAR. TIBET’S FREEDOM AS WHITE AS SNOW.
Tibet, known as the Land ofSnows, is a country of immense natural beauty. The landscape is intrinsically linked to the lives of holy enlightened beings and imbued with the mystique of powerful mountain gods and goddesses. There are many places of power and natural beauty in the country and one such place is Yamdrok Yumtso Lake.
Yamdrok Yumtso is a freshwater lake that lies around 90 kilometres to the east of Gyantse and 100 kilometres southwest of Lhasa. The largest lake in all of southern Tibet, it is roughly 638 kilometres2 and its average depth is about 30 metres, although it can reach 60 metres at its deepest. Its waters are a deep turquoise which is where it gets its name — roughly translated as ‘Turquoise Lake of the Upper Pasture‘ — and is fed by numerous streams from the surrounding snow-capped mountains.
Yamdrok Yumtso is considered to be one of the four largest sacred lakes of Tibet, the other three being Lhamo La Tso, Namtso and Manasarovar. According to local legend, the lake is the physical manifestation of the goddess known as Dorje Geg Kyi Tso.
The landscape of Tibet is sacred to the Tibetan people. Just as how mountains are believed to be the homes of gods and goddesses, so are Tibet’s great lakes. As they are considered the earthly abodes of powerful protective deities, Tibet’s lakes are intrinsically invested with spiritual power. Yamdrok Yumtso is one such lake and is believed to have the power to grant divinatory visions to those who meditate upon her serene yet supernatural waters.
Local villagers and high lamas alike make the pilgrimage to her shores, and they can be seen walking along the lake’s shores in prayer. To complete a circumambulation of the lake within seven days is said to purify tremendous amounts of negative karma.
Tibet, known as the Land ofSnows, is a country of immense natural beauty. The landscape is intrinsically linked to the lives of holy enlightened beings and imbued with the mystique of powerful mountain gods and goddesses. There are many places of power and natural beauty in the country and one such place is Yamdrok Yumtso Lake.
Her waters are said to have powerful properties, which include healing diseases, granting long-life and increasing one’s intellect. The lake is so revered that it is said if her waters dry up, the entire land of Tibet will no longer be habitable for humans.
Together with Lhamo La Tso, it is one of two lakes which are said to provide visions that can help locate the reincarnations of high lamas. According to tradition, an appointed search party will travel to the lake to engage in lengthy prayers. Throwing a khata, a Tibetan silk scarf, into the waters along with other ritual objects and medicines, one of the party then has visions. When correctly interpreted, these visions can lead to the successful recognition of a high lama’s reincarnation.
Dorje Geg Kyi Tso, the goddess of Yamdrok Yumtso, is part of a group of such deities known as the Tenma Chunyi, who opposed the growth of Buddhism in Tibet.
The lake and its islands are closely associated with Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava, the great 8th century Indian mahasiddha who was invited to Tibet to tame the local deities that hindered the spread of Buddhism in the country.
Dorje Geg Kyi Tso, the goddess of Yamdrok Yumtso, is part of a group of such deities known as the Tenma Chunyi, who opposed the growth of Buddhism in Tibet.
I am pleased to share pictures of The Yamdrok Lake taken on October 31, 2015. The Lake is covered with fresh snow and its pure whiteness gives me a sense of Hope and my heart tells me that ‘Freedom is Near.’
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, FOR I HEAR THE BELLS OF FREEDOM RINGING, FREEDOM IS NEAR, TIBET BLANKETED BY FREEDOM.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow,
For I hear the Bells of Freedom ringing,
Freedom is Near, Tibet blanketed by Freedom.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
Snow scenery of Yamdrok Lake in Tibet
2015-11-02 10:22 Xinhua Editor:Li Yan 1
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – THE YAMDROK LAKE – LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, FREEDOM IS NEAR, TIBET’S FREEDOM ASWHITE AS SNOW.
Photo taken on Oct. 31 shows the snow scenery at the Yamdrok Lake in Nagarze County of Shannan Prefecture, southwest Tibet.The Yamdrok Lake, about 100 kilometers south of Lhasa, is one of the four holy lakes in Tibet. (Photo: Xinhua/Liu Dongjun)
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Tibet Consciousness – Tibet Climate Action in New Delhi, India. Tibetans protest ahead of Paris Climate Conference.I coined the phrase Whole Action to demand Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet to save Tibet’s Climate.
To protect Tibet’s fragile environment and to preserve Tibet’s delicate ecological balance, people of world have to join hands to defeat Red China’s policies of Imperialism, and Neocolonialism. This problem of environmental degradation needs a comprehensive approach; its political, economic, and social origins demand response for any meaningful action that intends to Save Climate. I coined the phrase Whole Action to demand Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet to save Tibet’s Climate.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA Special Frontier Force
GLACIERHUB
Tibet’s Melting Glaciers; The World’s Leaky Roof
Posted by CHRISTINA LANGONE on Dec 2, 2015
Tibet is often referred to as the roof of the world, since it is the world’s largest and highest plateau. The lead-up to the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris, or COP21, created a push to make Tibet a central part of the discussions, even though it does not have direct representation there. Though some countries, such as Peru and Nepal, incorporate minority peoples into their national delegations at COP21, China has not included Tibetan representation in their delegation. The Climate Action for the Roof of the World campaign is arguing that the COP21 agreement cannot be accomplished, and thus the house cannot be saved, without direct consideration of Tibet.
I coined the phrase Whole Action to demand Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet to save Tibet’s Climate.
This planet is our home and Tibet its roof. We need #climateaction for #Tibet – the #RoofOfTheWorld#COP21#ADP2015https://t.co/5JsgkUwfLb — Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) November 28, 2015 Tibet is not only the highest plateau, with an average elevation of more than 4000 meters above sea level, it is also known as the Third Pole of the world. With 46,000 glaciers, it is the world’s largest concentration of ice after the Arctic region and Antarctica, at the North and South Poles. Two-thirds of those glaciers may be gone by 2050 if the current rate of retreat is sustained.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET CLIMATE ACTION. TIBET HOME FOR 46, 000 GLACIERS AND IS KNOWN AS THIRD POLE OF PLANET EARTH. DEMANDING FREEDOM, PEACE, AND JUSTICE FOR TIBET.
In a press release on the campaign’s website there is a powerful quote from the Dalai Lama: “This blue planet is our only home and Tibet is its roof. As vital as the Arctic and Antarctic, it is the ThirdPole…[t]he Tibetan Plateau needs to be protected, not just for Tibetans but for the environmental health and sustainability of the entire world.” The goal of the campaign is to show the world how environmentally critical and fragile Tibet is.
I coined the phrase Whole Action to demand Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet to save Tibet’s Climate.
NASA photo of Himalayan Mountains and Tibetan Plateau (Courtesy of:NASA)
The Roof of the World campaign highlights a few key points that they feel make the Tibetan plateau crucial to the world’s climate and therefore central to COP21; the glaciers provide water for 1.3 billion people in the surrounding area, it influences the region’s monsoons, and there has been a link made connecting thinning Tibetan snow cover with heat waves in Europe.
The campaigners believe that if the Tibetan ecosystem is to be preserved, the Chinese government needs to enforce their Environmental Protection Law more vigorously and the global community needs to engage in robust climate action. The campaign points out a number of critical areas that need to be addressed in a worldwide: retreating glaciers, permafrost melting, the lack of snow accumulation since the 1950s, and threats from deforestation, mining, and dams as.
I coined the phrase Whole Action to demand Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet to save Tibet’s Climate.
The campaign could be seen as a form of “clicktivism” since it is being introduced to the world by way of social media. There is an online photo challenge where people post photos of themselves with their hands above their heads, forming a “roof,” to show their solidarity with the campaign. There are even pictures of the Dalai Lama getting involved, posting his own roof photo. The Dalai Lama has been actively pursuing climate change action since 2011, so it is notable that this is the campaign he has chosen to support. There is also a Thunderclap organization that attempts to amplify users’ messages through way of active social participation that the Roof of the World campaign has used to spread it’s message. The website itself, though, is full of informative guides to help update those who wish to learn more about Tibet and seems to actively push for action beyond the social media campaign.
GlacierHub’s managing editor, Ben Orlove, who is currently in Paris for the COP, met a colleague there who is familiar with Tibet. This source, whose anonymity we are maintaining, states “Tibet.net is directly funded by the Tibetan exile government [in Dharamsala, India]. The website is from Tibet Policy Institute.” The source added that it serves as a lobby group, and that a number of academics find that Tibet Policy Institute is at times unbalanced and extreme with the information on Tibet’s climate and environment. The source adds, “Tibet Policy Institute never claimed to be in the forefront of research on original Tibetan research and their job is to lobby and they are good at making information digestible and engaging for the public.”
The COP21 will begin December 7 and will bring together world leaders with the goal of a global climate agreement. Tibet is not on the agenda, but the Roof of the World Campaign hopes to make Tibet more of a focal point in the coming weeks.
Tibet’s Melting Glaciers; The World’s Leaky Roof
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET CLIMATE ACTION LAUNCHED BY CENTRAL TIBETAN ADMINISTRATION. DEMANDING FREEDOM, PEACE, AND JUSTICE IN TIBET.TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET CLIMATE ACTION. TIBETANS DEMAND FREEDOM, PEACE, AND JUSTICE FOR TIBET.Tibet Consciousness – Tibet Climate Action – Tibet Third Pole of Blue Planet. Demanding Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet.On tibet3rdpole.orgTibet Consciousness – Tibet Climate Action. To Save ‘The Roof of the World’, demanding Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet.I coined the phrase Whole Action to demand Freedom, Peace, and Justice for Tibet to save Tibet’s Climate.
Whole Hegemonist – The Future of Red China’s Expansionism – Beijing Doomed.
Hegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries.
Hegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries. The 17-Point Plan or Agreement of March 1953 sets the tone for Communist China’s Expansionist Doctrine
Red China heralded her hegemonistic policy in 1949 when she announced to the world that she would use military force to occupy Tibet which declared full independence on February 13, 1913. In October 1950, Red China attacked Tibet overcoming weak Tibetan resistance and occupied 965, 000 square miles of Tibetan territory which now represents one quarter of Red China’s landmass. This Tibetan territory includes entire Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and regions found in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Red China’s policy of Hegemonism is nothing new. Red China will prevail with her military aggression in South China Sea if Red China is not evicted from Tibet.
Hegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries. The 17-Point Plan or Agreement of March 1953 sets the tone for Communist China’s Expansionist Doctrine
I submit that we need not always Fight a War to Win a War. At Special Frontier Force, I am known as ‘Doomsayer of Doom Dooma’. I am claiming that we will Win our War against Tibet’s military occupation without fighting a War with Red China for I predict ‘Beijing Is Doomed’ and Red China set herself on irreversible path of Self-Destruction.
Hegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries. The 17-Point Plan or Agreement of March 1953 sets the tone for Communist China’s Expansionist Doctrine
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162, USA Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
Hegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries. The 17-Point Plan or Agreement of March 1953 sets the tone for Communist China’s Expansionist Doctrine
If you haven’t heard of “HEGEMON” and you’re a geostrategy enthusiast, you’re missing out on a very interesting experience. Developed by the Potomac Foundation, the multiplayer game allows users to take on the identities of different countries, complete with resources and political agendas.
Before you write it off as yet another game imitating life, consider this: Hegemon has quickly become a favorite with strategists and academicians who use the simulation to test different approaches and evaluate results.
Players can take on the roles of the United States, China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region; from budgeting and strategizing to managing military and technological needs, the ‘game’ involves enacting real-world geopolitical relationships on-screen. Perhaps the most interesting implication of the game is that it allows users to test the waters, so as to speak, on the South China Sea issue. And the revelations are rather edifying.
China could gain a hegemony on the South China Sea
As per an article first published in the Lowy Interpreter, China could gain and sustain a hegemony on the South China Sea without every actually having to resort to armed conflict. The South China Sea issue has been in the news frequently over the past year owing to a rise in hostile disputes over territory between the various claimants. China, most noticeably, has ‘reclaimed’ several territories and undertaken construction operations on the same, much to the chagrin of other stakeholders. As of this past month, the state has halted its actions in the region in keeping with an international effort to resolve the dispute peacefully. However, as the game has revealed, there are other ways in which the state could monopolize the region. Here are some possible outcomes to mull over.
#1 You Don’t Need To Fight A War To Win A War
A very big part of war strategy is avoiding war altogether. You must prepare to excel at the worst, but still keep it from happening at any cost. In the game, only 50% of the region takes to violence across a span of two decades. Instead, the more probable outcome is that countries turn to brokering agreements. It’s interesting to note that the matter of who plays the game affects what the outcome is: military personnel are more likely to opt for confrontational tactics while academics are more prone to choosing the non-combative options.
#2 The Role Of Russia
While Russia isn’t a claimant in the South China Sea issue, or even a regional stakeholder, the state does exert a considerable amount of influence on the area’s security and stability. Alliances and enmities with Russia can go a long way towards affecting the regional balance of power. History has proven that power in geopolitical conflicts is best consolidated through a formidable military presence in the region in question, and the fact that Russia is a significant contributor to the international weapons market all but guarantees Moscow a say-so in the South China Sea issue.
#3 What Would Vietnam Do?
Vietnam makes for a very interesting entry point into the South China Sea dispute because the state is a claimant in the territorial conflict and clearly opposed to Chinese monopoly in the greater South Asian region, but it still continues to be something of a wild card. The country has a land border in common with Beijing, so it serves Vietnam’s security interests to maintain peaceful ties with China. One probable outcome, as we see played out in Hegemon only too often, is that Hanoi is likely to forsake a portion of its stakes in the South China Sea issue in exchange for a decreased Chinese military presence at its borders.
#4 Diplomacy & Perseverance
Many real-world experts have argued that China will seek to avoid open confrontation simply because the costs of war are too high and the state has identified another means to the same end: diplomatic channels. China currently enjoys a position of enviable influence in the region. The current geopolitical landscape of South Asia is marked by an eagerness to either ally with China or, at the very least, avoid an armed conflict with the state. Analysts argue that by simply waiting it out China stands to gain more. As such, if China were to solidify its identity as the dominant regional power it would serve a severe blow to the United States’ ‘pivot to Asia’ strategy.
#5 Deterrence or Destruction?
Yet others argue that even if China were to persevere at the long game, there is no guarantee that other Asian states will concede to its hegemony in the region. China has a historical rival in Japan, and if things were to come to a head, the latter is most likely to align with the United States in an effort to maintain the status quo in Asia. In this case, the arms race and support gathering may result in a more pronounced divide than ever before, and scholars warn that the world might soon be looking at another iteration of the Cold War.
Interesting though it is to see how closely the game imitates real life and vice-versa, theorists will argue against basing actual strategy on gameplay simply because two crucial elements- the stakes involved and the time in hand- do not represent real-time situations accurately. Defeat in a game and defeat on a battlefield are two very different experiences indeed. And while overnight developments are not completely unheard of in military history, most issues develop gradually and decision-makers have months, even years, to chart the most preferred course of action.
So, while geostrategy buffs can definitely learn a thing or two about the South China Sea issue from Hegemon, and maybe even test-drive a few theories, the real world is, as they say, a totally different ballgame.
,Hegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries. The 17-Point Plan or Agreement of March 1953 sets the tone for Communist China’s Expansionist Doctrine
About the author
BRINDA BANERJEE
Brinda Banerjee is a researcher working on security, armed conflict and military policies. She holds a Bachelor’s in Journalism (with Honors), a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in state responses to internal conflict. Brinda writes extensively about current events, conflict resolution and geopolitical dynamics in the modern world.
Hegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries. The 17-Point Plan or Agreement of March 1953 sets the tone for Communist China’s Expansionist DoctrineHegemony refers to dominance of one nation over others. Hegemonism is the policy or practice of a nation in aggressively expanding its influence over other countries. The 17-Point Plan or Agreement of March 1953 sets the tone for Communist China’s Expansionist Doctrine
79th Independence Day of India – Whole Measurement of Life Journey
Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Naya Bharat, Nation First, Always First.Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Naya Bharat, Nation First, Always First.
Bharat, India is celebrating its 79th Independence Day, Azadi ka Mahotsav on Friday, August 15, 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Rajghat and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi as the celebrations started. The prime minister then proceeded to the Red Fort where he remembered those who laid their lives for India’s Independence.
Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Naya Bharat. Nation First, Always First.
Indian Independence – A Measure of My Life
The Celebration of First Independence Day of Bharat, India on August 15, 1947. I record major events of my life in relation to India’s independence on August 15, 1947. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948 and my life’s journey became associated with the story of this young nation.
I record major events of my life in relation to India’s independence on August 15, 1947. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948 and my life’s journey became associated with the story of this young nation.
25th INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY MEDAL – 1972
Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Nation First, Always First. 25th Independence Anniversary Medal. Indian Independence-A Measure of my Life.
This medal was awarded to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Indian independence in 1972. The medal was awarded to all members of the armed forces, paramilitary forces, and police forces who were serving on 15 August 1972. This medal gives me an opportunity to remember the twenty-fifth year of my life. I was then serving in Special Frontier Force-Establishment No. 22-Vikas Regiment on deputation from the Indian Army in the rank of a Captain and was posted at a Unit called Delta or D-Sector located in the North-East Frontier Agency, now Arunachal Pradesh. We all had a very good reason to rejoice on that day. India scored a major victory in the India-Pakistan War of 1971 and we took pride in the fact that we had a role in shaping that epic event in India’s military history.
OPERATION EAGLE 1971-72-THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS – LIBERATION WAR OF BANGLADESH:
Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Nation First, Always First. Operation Eagle 1971-1972. THE MILITARY VICTORY IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS-THE CELEBRATION OF 25th INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARYBharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Nation First, Always First. Operation Eagle 1971-72,the India-Pakistan War of 1971 and the Liberation of Bangladesh are very significant achievements of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. As I was then serving in Special Frontier Force, Establishment 22 (now the Vikas Regiment) under the Cabinet Secretariat, I had direct and personal understanding of Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy initiatives. She approved our military Operation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In the conduct of this clandestine military operation, we faced a very critical moment and it demanded the Prime Minister’s approval for deploying aircraft in enemy territory, a decision that she alone can make. While awaiting her decision, I carried out a difficult war casualty evacuation mission to overcome the challenge posed by the lack of airlift facility. The importance of this situation could be understood as it required the Prime Minister’s intervention. I am now asking the Government of India to recognize my GALLANT response in enemy’s territory without any concern for my personal safety.Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Nation First, Always First. Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands (December 1985 to December 1989) – Lieutenant General TS Oberoi, PVSM, VrC., former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Headquarters Southern Command, Pune, former Inspector General, Special Frontier Force, former Commandant, Headquarters Establishment No. 22. He is the tall person in this photo wearing dark brown turban. I knew him since 1971. Under his able leadership, the Liberation of Bangladesh commenced during November 1971. Apart from his military wisdom, he took a good care of all men under his Command. While I was proceeding to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, he individually greeted all the members of my team and delayed the departure of aircraft to make sure that a hot breakfast was served to all the men boarding the aircraft. He paid personal attention to all the aspects of the military mission to secure the well-being of men apart from achieving success in accomplishing the military task. The sense of warmth he radiated is easily felt when we meet him in person. His grandson provided me the link to this photo. Photo Credit – Trishna-Ajay-Picasa Web Album.Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day.Naya Bharat. Nation First, Always First. The remarks made by Lieutenant Colonel B K Narayan of Special Frontier Force on May 13, 1972 in my Annual Confidential Report for 1971-72 are as follows:”A very conscientious and Tough MO who worked hard during the Bangladesh Ops. He did very well and showed Maturity which was beyond the call of duty. I have recommended this Officer for a gallantry award for which he deserves eminently. He is physically Tough and cheerful. Is a fresh entrant with less than 2 years of Service and yet he displayed capability and confidence.Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Naya Bharat. Nation First, Always First. Operation Eagle 1971/72. Remarks of Former Inspector General of Special Frontier Force, Lieutenant General T S Oberoi, PVSM, VrC, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief,Headquarters Southern Command Pune 411001.He remarked about my participation in the India-Pakistan War of 1971.
Dr. R. R. Narasimham (Rebbapragada Rudra Narasimham), B.Sc., M.B.B.S.,
Personal Number. MR-03277K , Rank. Major, Branch. Army Medical Corps/Direct Permanent Regular Commission
Personal Number. MS-8466, Rank. Captain, Branch. Army Medical Corps/Short Service Regular Commission
Medical Officer, South Column, Operation Eagle
Headquarters Establishment No. 22 C/O 56 APO
Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Naya Bharat, Nation First, Always First.Bharat Darshan. Friday, August 15, 2025. Bharat, India celebrates 79th Independence Day. Naya Bharat. Nation First, Always First. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the National Flag hoisting Ceremony at Red Fort, New Delhi, India. Bharat Darshan. August 15, 2025. Bharat, India Celebrates 79th Independence Day. Nation First, Always First. President Droupadi Murmu addressed the Nation on the eve of the Independence Day Celebration. Operation Sindoor will go down in history as an example in humanity’s fight against terrorism.
Tibet Consciousness – The Politics of Religious Festivals
Red China orchestrates the observance of a few religious festivals to manipulate Tibetans to adapt a lifestyle in which State controls religious traditions of people.
In Occupied Tibet, Red China uses religion as a political weapon or tool to extend her Colonialist domination of Tibet and to subjugate Tibetans. Red China encourages religious groups such as Shugden and the followers of Communist Panchen Lama to counter the influence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the true representative of Tibetan Identity. Red China orchestrates the observance of a few religious festivals to manipulate Tibetans to adapt a lifestyle in which State controls religious traditions of people.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
TIMES OF INDIA
In Tibet, festivals serve a political purpose
Edward Wong Horse festivals on the Tibetan plateau are not just about equestrian prowess — they are political affairs with a propaganda goal for China. | NYT News Service | Dec 20, 2015, 11.02 AM IST
Red China orchestrates the observance of a few religious festivals to manipulate Tibetans to adapt a lifestyle in which State controls religious traditions of people.
Tibetan horsemen display their skills at a government-organized horse festival in Yushu, China, July 26, 2015….
BATANG GRASSLANDS, Tibet: Women came in finery, wearing bright silk dresses, silver belts and necklaces with turquoise and coral. Men sauntered across the field in boots and cowboy hats. Some nomads had ridden motorcycles for days from valleys in Sichuan Province.
They came to this green-carpeted plain for the annual Tibetan horse festival, three days of horse racing, yak riding and archery.
But Tibet being Chinese-ruled Tibet, the Himalayan rodeo also had a display of martial force.
On the second morning, between races beneath an azure sky, two dozen ethnic Han members of a Chinese paramilitary unit marched through the middle of the race grounds. They held batons and wore helmets and black body armor over green camouflage fatigues. An officer with a walkie-talkie barked orders.
As they walked once around the oval track, the mostly Tibetan audience stayed quiet. Then the soldiers marched off. Minutes later, the next race began, with young jockeys clinging to galloping steeds that kicked up clouds of dust.
Tibetan people watch an acrobatics show at a government-organized horse festival in Yushu, China. (NYT photo)
These days, horse festivals on the Tibetan plateau are not just about equestrian prowess. They are political affairs with a propaganda goal — Chinese officials hold them to signal to people here and abroad that traditional Tibetan culture is thriving, contrary to what the Dalai Lama and other critics say.
The image of Tibetans showcased by the festival is one that China has long promoted of its ethnic minorities, that of dancing, singing, happy-go-lucky, costume-wearing, loyal citizens of the nation. But there are dissonant notes, including the presence of Han soldiers, who have been posted to horse festivals across the plateau since a Tibetan rebellion in 2008.
“Many people might think Tibet is developing well and in the right direction after watching the horse race,” said Tashi Wangchuk, 30, a businessman in Yushu who is fighting to preserve Tibetan culture. “The government holds this kind of big horse-racing festival to advertise Tibetan people’s lifestyle to the outside world — that our life is very happy and joyful.”
Red China orchestrates the observance of a few religious festivals to manipulate Tibetans to adapt a lifestyle in which State controls religious traditions of people.
Men perform traditional Tibetan dances at a government-organized horse festival in Yushu. (NYT photo)
The government promotes this image, he said, even as it restricts the teaching of Tibetan language, tries to control Buddhism and presses Tibetans to assimilate into the dominant Han culture.
“So much of our lives is controlled by the government,” said a Tibetan man from Sichuan. “This festival is no different.”
The festival here celebrates the Kham culture of eastern Tibet. Kham, a region of valleys, ravines and hillside monasteries, was traditionally home to Tibet’s fiercest warriors. Although they were conquered in 1950 by the People’s Liberation Army, the people of Kham have remained feisty. Many took part in the 2008 uprising that spread from Lhasa across the plateau, and there have been self-immolations protesting Chinese rule in recent years. On July 9, only two weeks before the horse festival, a young monk in Yushu died after setting fire to himself.
The first of the recent government-run Kham festivals was held in the Yushu area of Qinghai Province in 1994 in an effort to “establish Khampa culture as an international brand, to continue the traditional friendship and to promote mutual development,” according to an official Yushu County news website.
Four counties took turns hosting it every four years. Recently, they began holding the festival annually, with Yushu hosting it both last year and this year, in part to show that the town has recovered from a 2010 earthquake that killed at least 3,000 people.
The opening ceremony was held in town. Most residents could not get tickets because the event was limited to officials and government employees. Mr. Tashi said that had been the case last year, too.
“In this way, they ensure that only reliable people can go,” he said.
The grasslands where the main events were held are by an airport about a half-hour drive south of Yushu. On the road there, Chinese flags fluttered from posts, and President Xi Jinping smiled at travelers from a billboard.
Many people drove motorcycles or sport-utility vehicles. Some held tailgate parties in the parking fields. Entrepreneurs sold steamed buns, watermelon slices, bottled water and yak meat from the backs of their cars.
In the crowd, too, were monks liberated that day from the obligations of monastery rituals. “You don’t want to miss it,” said one, Phuntsok.
There were dance performances daily. The number that closed the first day’s events featured a wide circle of dancing Khampa men who wore traditional black robes and red tassels in their hair. The same men returned for a campfire performance at the festival’s end.
Horse acrobatics on Day 2 opened with a Khampa man on a galloping horse holding aloft the red flag of the People’s Republic. Tibetan music played over loudspeakers. Other riders followed, one by one. Some shot at a bull’s-eye with a rifle while on a moving horse; others bent to the ground to pick up a white scarf as they raced past.
Most of the announcements were made by a woman speaking Chinese rather than Tibetan, even though the only ethnic Han attending were a handful of journalists, photographers and tourists. They were ushered to front-row seats so they could get good photos.
Wrestling matches had been scheduled next. But in the late afternoon, an announcer said the event had been canceled. People jeered.
“They treat us like their children, but this is our land,” one man said.
Police officers in black uniforms, most of them Tibetan, told spectators to go home and pointed to the main road back to town, which soon began filling with cars.
Lian Xiangmin, a senior researcher at the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing, said in an interview later that “there is nothing traditional about this horse festival,” adding, “It’s a tourism event organized by local governments.”
In the early days of Communist rule, horse festivals were local affairs that had minimal government input, if any, said Tsering Woeser, a Tibetan writer. During the decade-long Cultural Revolution that began in 1966, the festivals shut down. When that period ended, local governments revived the festivals and maintained control over many.
“The political connotation of the government-held festivals was very strong,” Ms. Woeser said. “For example, the once-famous horse festival in Litang was chosen to be held on Aug. 1, which is the day to celebrate the founding of the People’s Liberation Army.”
The Litang festival in Sichuan has been canceled since 2007, when a former nomad and father of 11, Runggye Adak, delivered an impromptu speech at the festival calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. Police officers later arrested him, and only this July was he released.
“From the outside, if people see there’s such a horse festival or event, the world thinks this area is very open and free,” Mr. Tashi said. “But it’s not like that.”
Red China orchestrates the observance of a few religious festivals to manipulate Tibetans to adapt a lifestyle in which State controls religious traditions of people.
Lhasa is the cultural and historical Capital of the Land of Tibet. The reincarnation of the Spirit of Dalai Lama may happen at a place according to the manner chosen by the present Dalai Lama. The child, a male or a female could take birth inside occupied territory of Tibet or in a place where Tibetan exiles currently live. United States and India must demand to establish their Consular Services at Lhasa to protect the cultural and religious rights and practices of Tibetans and of Tibetan Buddhism.
Tibetan Buddhism is comprised of four main schools: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug. Each school has its own unique lineage, philosophical emphasis, and practices, while all sharing the common goal of liberation from suffering.
The Four Schools:
Nyingma (Ancient School):The oldest of the four, Nyingma emphasizes the early translations of Buddhist texts from India into Tibetan. It is known for its emphasis on Dzogchen (Great Perfection) practice, which is considered the highest and most direct path to enlightenment.
Kagyu (Oral Transmission School):Kagyu emphasizes the lineage of oral instructions passed down from teacher to student, particularly the Mahamudra (Great Seal) teachings. The Kagyu school is known for its practice of meditation and its focus on direct experience of reality.
Sakya (Pale Earth School):Sakya is known for its emphasis on the philosophical teachings of the Bodhisattva path, particularly the union of sutrayana (teachings on emptiness) and tantrayana (teachings on skillful means). The Sakya school is also known for its scholarly approach to Buddhism.
Gelug (Virtuous Ones School):Gelug emphasizes monastic discipline, scholarship, and rigorous debate. The Gelug school is known for its emphasis on the sutra path and its systematic approach to Buddhist philosophy. The Gelug school was founded by Je Tsongkhapa in the 14th century and is often associated with the Dalai Lamas.
Key Differences:
While all four schools share the common goal of liberation and the path of the Bodhisattva, they differ in their emphasis and specific practices. Nyingma emphasizes Dzogchen, Kagyu emphasizes Mahamudra, Sakya emphasizes the union of sutra and tantra, and Gelug emphasizes monastic discipline and scholarship.
Special Frontier Force extends appreciation and gives thanks to Culture24 Reporter for publishing an interesting story on Wellcome Museum, London hosting Exhibition on Body, Mind, Meditation in Tantric Buddhism.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TANTRIC BUDDHISM – BODY, MIND AND MEDITATION METHODOLOGY AT LUKHANG TEMPLE, LHASA.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA
Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
CULTURE 24
Tibet’s Secret Temple: Wellcome opens Body, Mind and Meditation in Tantric Buddhism exhibition
By Culture24 Reporter | 18 November 2015
the lukhang temple lhasa murals
Inspired by a series of intricate murals adorning the walls of the Lukhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, the Wellcome’s new exhibition illuminates the secrets of the temple once used exclusively by Tibet’s Dalai Lamas
Lukhang means ˜Temple to the Serpent Spirits” and refers to its origins in a vision that came to Tibet’s Fifth Dalai Lama (1617 – 1682). A serpent-like water deity called a lu appeared to him during his meditations and warned that construction of the Potala Palace was disturbing the subterranean realm of the lu.
In an act of reconciliation, the Fifth Dalai Lama vowed to build a temple to appease the lu once the Potala Palace was completed. This promise was fulfilled during the lifetime of the Sixth Dalai Lama (1683 – 1706) who made the resulting island temple his primary residence.
Once there, he satisfied his controversial preference for romantic trysts and poetic composition over affairs of state. Over succeeding centuries the Lukhang continued to serve Tibet’s Dalai Lamas as a place of spiritual inspiration and contemplative retreat.
The wall paintings in the Lukhang’s uppermost chamber illustrate Dzogchen, or Great Perfection, teachings of the eighth-century Tantric master Padmasambhava.
The wall paintings in the Lukhang’s uppermost chamber illustrate Dzogchen, or Great Perfection, teachings of the eighth-century Tantric master Padmasambhava. These teachings were revealed in a text by Orgyen Pema Lingpa (1450 – 1521), an enlightened Tantric master from Bhutan who was a direct ancestor of Tibet’s Sixth Dalai Lama.
The Lukhang murals are believed to have been commissioned by Desi Sangye Gyatso (1653 -1705), the acting governor of Tibet between the death of the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1682 and the enthronement of the Sixth Dalai Lama in 1697.
In the same period, Sangye Gyatso also commissioned a series of 79 scroll paintings outlining Tibetan medicine’s understanding of the human body and approach to optimal health.
TIBET AWARENESS – DALAI LAMA’S WELCOME TO BRITISH BUDDHISTS IN SEPTEMBER 1922.
Rising out of a copse of willows on an island beneath the Dalai Lama’s Potala Palace, the Lukhang could originally only be reached by boat.
The temple’s symmetrical design and ascending levels form a three-dimensional mandala, a Buddhist representation of the integral harmony of the cosmos and the human psyche.
This ideal of harmony is further reflected in the Lukhang’s integration of three distinct architectural styles Tibetan, Chinese and Mongolian representing Tibet’s complex political alliances at the turn of the 17th century.
The Lukhang’s lower level, built in Tibetan style, honours the elemental, serpentine forces of nature that Tibetans call lu. The temple’s second storey, in Chinese style, houses a shrine to the mythical Lord of the lu, flanked by statues of the Sixth Dalai Lama and Padmasambhava, the revered Indian master who introduced Tantric Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century.
A sweeping Mongolian-style roof shelters the meditation chamber on the Lukhang’s uppermost floor and its wall paintings depicting advanced practices of Tantric yoga and Great Perfection teachings on the essence of enlightenment.
A thousand-armed statue of Avalokites´vara, the embodiment of universal compassion that Tibet’s Dalai Lamas are said to represent, stands at the heart of the once-secret chamber.
Tantra arose in medieval India as a cultural movement that sought to reconcile spirituality with sensory experience and the creative imagination. With the Sanskrit root tan, meaning to expand, and tra, meaning methodology, Buddhist texts called Tantras expanded the scope of existing Buddhist doctrines and extended their applicability beyond monastic institutions.
The core texts of Tantric Buddhism appeared in India between the eighth and 11th centuries. The anonymously authored works modulate Buddhism’s earlier emphasis on life’s inevitable dissatisfactions and promote actively cultivating joy and compassion.
Unbound from Buddhism’s originally ascetic character, the indestructible vehicle of Vajrayana (or Tantric) Buddhism offered a means for positive change in individual and collective lives. To that end, Tantric deities were not conceived as objects of worship but as representations of the human potential to transcend egocentric concerns and embody universal qualities of wisdom and compassion.
The Tantric journey depicted in the Lukhang murals encompasses rapture, terror and self-transcendence. The murals and the following rooms present specific methods used in Tantric Buddhism for freeing the mind from its limitations and embracing all experience with insight and compassion.
The daemonic divine
Tibetan monasteries typically include chapels dedicated to wrathful guardian deities representing wisdom and compassion in dynamic form. As can be seen on this panel, the doors leading into the Lukhang’s ground-floor chapel are adorned with intertwining lu volatile serpent spirits that also signify untamed energies of human consciousness.
The Tantric Buddhist deity visible at the shrine beyond Senge Dra rides on a snow lion and, wielding a ritual trident, both subdues and illuminates the psychic forces that the lu embody.
Pilgrims in Tibet typically pay homage to these integral forces of mind and body in their journey towards a state of being beyond self-identification, suffering and strife.
Beyond Tibetan Buddhism’s outward forms lies a hidden world of yogic practices that cultivate subtle awareness through physical exercises, breath control and focused visualisation.
Based on Tantric principles of bringing all aspects of experience onto the spiritual path, practices of Tibetan yoga range from masked dance ceremonies to sequenced exercises that concentrate attention, energy and sensation in the body’s central core to induce self-transcendent awareness.
YOGAS OF FIRE AND LIGHT
In Tibetan Buddhism, the physically demanding practices of trul khor commonly precede more subtle Tantric practices undertaken during states of waking, sexual union, sleeping, dreaming and dying.
The so-called Six Yogas are designed to cultivate lucid awareness within all phases of human experience and, as shown in the photograph on this panel, to focus energy and concentration in the heart centre.
Visualising the body as a translucent network of energy channels (Illusory Body Yoga), practitioners engage in the Yoga of Inner Fire (tummo) to increase vitality and sensation.
The Yoga of Radiant Light and the Yoga of Conscious Dreaming are practised while sleeping and reveal possibilities that normal waking consciousness obscures.
The Yoga of Transitional States (bardo) prepares practitioners for the possibility of psychological continuity after death, and the Yoga of Transference (powa) offers a method of projecting the mind into a paradisiacal Buddha Realm at the moment of death.
The supplementary Yoga of Union, practiced either with a real or visualised partner, further enhances subjective states of bliss and luminosity.
Mindfulness, meditation and beyond
The Tibetan word for meditation is gom, meaning mindfulness of one’s inherent Buddha nature, a self-transcendent state of empathy, insight and spontaneous altruism.
Although Tantric Buddhism includes a multitude of meditation techniques, the Lukhang murals reveal a system of mental cultivation called Dzogchen, or Great Perfection, that was introduced in Tibet in the eighth century by Padmasambhava.
Based on present moment awareness of the mind’s intrinsic freedom from discursive thought processes and conditioned behaviour, Dzogchen is presented as the innate human potential to live beyond limiting beliefs or psychological stress.
When integrated into all aspects of one’s experience, Dzogchen is upheld as the culmination of the spiritual path in which mind and body, reason and intuition, and intention and application function in unison.
Although physical yoga, breathing practices and mindfulness training help to align the mind with its fundamental nature, Dzogchen ultimately does not require them.
Padmasambhava described Dzogchen as the mind looking directly into its own essence, a seamless continuum of perceiver, perceived and the act of perception. This open presence and non-dual awareness at the heart of Tantric Buddhism is vividly illustrated throughout the Lukhang murals.
Tibetan Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness today
The Tibetan Buddhist teachings depicted on the walls of the Lukhang are widely practised today both within and outside of Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism’s diverse approaches to mental cultivation are also the subject of scientific investigations into their potential impact on physiological and psychological health and the enhancement of human potential.
The health benefits of diverse meditation practices from an array of Asian Buddhist lineages awakened the interest of Western scientists in the 1960s, when fascination with Eastern spiritual traditions was burgeoning in the West.
Collaborations between Tibetan Buddhism and Western science began after the (current) Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s first visit to the USA in 1979.
His interest in science coupled with his willingness to allow Tibetan Buddhist monks to participate in scientific experiments encouraged a range of investigations into the neurological correlates of meditation, which continue to this day through initiatives of the Mind and Life Institute and related organisations.
The health benefits of mindfulness, a practice central to all Buddhist lineages, have also been the subject of scientific research in the past 35 years, which has led to the development of a variety of stress-reduction programmes.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, for example, has become a clinical tool recognised by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for the treatment of anxiety and depression.
With the encouragement of the Dalai Lama, scientists are beginning to investigate the reputed physiological and cognitive benefits of Tibet’s once highly secret Tantric yogas of breath control and dynamic movement, as illustrated in the Lukhang murals.
Tibet’s Secret Temple: Body, Mind and Meditation in Tantric Buddhism is at the Wellcome Collection, London from November 19 2015 to February 28 2016.
“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.”
It was Yesterday or the day before, Red China attacked and occupied Tibet. I am not sure about my Tomorrow. I live Today. I have the chance to Believe. I have the chance to Hope. Today gives me the chance to express my Love. For I live Today, I Believe, I Hope, and I share my Love. I am seeking the Compassion of Lord Avalokitesvara to uplift Tibetans from pain and misery caused by military occupation of Tibet. While patience and perseverance provide the ability called endurance, it will not be enough to change the nature of Red China’s tyranny. I am seeking the Uplifting Power of Compassion to act as a Physical Force to move Red China’s military personnel out of Tibet without giving them any reason to experience pain or suffering.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
DALAI LAMA’S WISDOM INSPIRES 2016
Ed Nakfoor, Business columnist 10:39 a.m. EST December 30, 2015
Ed Nakfoor
This is not one of those year-in-review columns. No rehashing of 2015 musings. No nostalgic look at what was or what could have been. No fixation on missed opportunities and lessons learned. While history is a wonderful teacher, better to not dwell there.
Conversely, this is not a column about predictions for 2016. I do not own a crystal ball, divining rod, dream catcher or any such tool to chart a course for success at work, with school or in life.
After all, even the wisest among us, with a track record of solid forecasts, can see them crumble when winds of unpredictability are whipped into a frenzy. Rather, my message is focused less on the year ahead and more on the next few minutes, few hours … a day at most.
Originally … My original idea was the annual “Merry Christmas” versus “Happy Holidays” dust up. I even wrote about 100 words before I shifted gears: This was no frog in her throat. But something was there, preventing the words from forming. Finally, she coaxed them from her lips: “Have a happy holiday.”
She was not speaking to me. Rather, she was extending tidings of the season to the person with whom I was meeting. If my eyes did not roll then my sigh was weighted with disappointment; it was a few weeks ago so the details are a bit fuzzy. Regardless, merely the thought of it annoys me. After all, if the wisher of holiday cheer knew the other woman why not simply say “Merry Christmas?”
And with that I have officially entered the culture wars.
The issue is tiring. And so very silly, really. When the debate about the red Starbucks cup was in full throttle last month we discussed its news coverage in class. “Unbelievable,” I said, “the world is quite literally on fire and we’re debating the Christmas-worthiness of a cup.”
Although I do find it curious we do not have this conversation when the spring holidays arrive, clustered as they typically are; however in 2016 Easter, Passover, Greek Easter … the arrival of spring … are spaced far enough apart we do not have to contemplate an all-inclusive greeting for fear of committing what is fast becoming a crime against humanity: unwitting foot-in-mouth offense.
Presently … Set to resume writing on Christmas Eve morning, though, I customarily scanned the news as the coffee brewed. Following a week of “best of” and “top stories” of 2015 I anticipated those headlines would have made their way to less prominent positions in the papers. Alas, not the case.
And so was born my message. Actually, it is borrowed from the Dalai Lama but the words came to mind as I dismissed the paper with a flourish.
“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.” I first read that on a framed canvas hanging in a friend’s kitchen. And I think of it often when frustration sets in, or my confidence takes a tumble, when the grip of writer’s block squeezes ever stronger, or as I gaze at the calendar wondering what is to come.
As I spend my few weeks off from school updating one syllabus and developing a new one for the upcoming winter term I think of that quote. As I sift through notes from last semester and scraps of paper on which I jotted ideas to create the best possible class I recall those words. Even as I write this wondering how readers will receive it and what my next topic will be I cannot help but remember this truism.
Indeed, recall rather than ruminate on the past, and prepare for but do not become preoccupied with the future. Instead, think of 2016 as simply a collection of days. Each taken one at a time.
Ed Nakfoor is visiting assistant professor of journalism at Oakland University.
“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.”
Tibet Consciousness – The Complex Relations between Tibet, Taiwan and the United States
Tibet represents one-quarter of Red China’s landmass. Tibet is about 965, 000 square miles in area and it includes Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and Tibetan territory found in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces.
Tibet represents one-quarter of Red China’s landmass. Tibet is about 965, 000 square miles in area and it includes Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and Tibetan territory found in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces. Tibet is apparently three times larger than Texas (Area. 267, 338 square miles), the largest state in the coterminous United States. Tibet is by far the largest nation in Asia when compared to Red China’s regional neighbors like Taiwan (Area. 13, 885 square miles), Philippines (Area. 115, 830 square miles), Japan (Area. 142, 811 square miles), Malaysia (Area. 128, 430 square miles), Vietnam (Area. 125, 622 square miles), Indonesia (Area. 741, 096 square miles), and Brunei (Area. 2, 228 square miles). Taiwan has population of about 23, 434, 000 people and ranks No. 54 among 196 countries.
United States policy towards Tibet is flawed for it failed to take into account the size of Tibetan territory and its geopolitical importance to hold the Balance of Power in Asia. It is encouraging to note Taiwan’s support for Free Tibet. The resolution of Tibet-China Border dispute will help to resolve all other border disputes of China and its regional neighbors.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
United States policy towards Tibet is flawed for it failed to take into account the size of Tibetan territory and its geopolitical importance to hold the Balance of Power in Asia.
The Republic of China (ROC)
The term “Republic of China” (ROC) refers to the government that ruled mainland China from 1912 to 1949. This era, also known as the Republican Era, saw the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of a republic based on Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People. After a period of internal struggles including warlordism and a civil war between the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the ROC government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 following the Communist victory on the mainland.
Since then, the Republic of China has continued to exist on Taiwan and its surrounding islands (Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu), while the Communist Party established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on mainland China. Both the ROC and the PRC claim to be the legitimate government of all of China.
The resolution of Tibet-China Border dispute will help to resolve all other border disputes of China and its regional neighbors.
THE DIPLOMAT
It is encouraging to note Taiwan’s support for Free Tibet. The resolution of Tibet-China Border dispute will help to resolve all other border disputes of China and its regional neighbors.
A pro-Tibet rally in Taipei Image Credit: REUTERS/Pichi Chuang
TIBET, TAIWAN AND CHINA – A COMPLEX NEXUS
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET, TAIWAN, AND UNITED STATES RELATIONS. TAIWAN FOR FREE TIBET. FREE TIBET RALLY, CHIANG KAI SHEK MEMORIAL SQUARE, TAIPEI, TAIWAN.
Recent developments in cross-strait relations raise interesting questions for Tibet’s leadership in exile.
By Tshering Chonzom Bhutia for The Diplomat November 24, 2015
The historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is relevant to the Tibet issue in many ways. In 1979, when the post-Mao Chinese leadership decided to “solve old problems,” Tibet and Taiwan were both on the list. After having reached out to the Dalai Lama through his brother in 1978, Beijing turned its attention to Taiwan. “A Message to Compatriots in Taiwan” was issued by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on January 1, 1979 that sought to end the military confrontation across the straits and resolve the crisis through dialogue. This marked a shift in Beijing’s Taiwan policy from “military liberation of Taiwan” to “peaceful reunification of the motherland.”
Later, in September 1981, Beijing issued a “Nine Point Proposal” to Taiwan. It was enunciated by Ye Jianying, the then NPC Standing Committee chairman, which promised the island a “high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region,” retention of its armed forces, socio-economic system, way of life, and cultural and economic relations with foreign countries, and non-interference in its local affairs. Later, Deng suggested that this proposal could also be considered as “one country, two systems.” This was the first (p.23) time that such a concept was put forward. It was later formalized during the second session of the sixth NPC in 1984.
On July 28, 1981, about two months before the proposal to Taiwan, Beijing had issued a “Five Point Proposal to the Dalai Lama.” It basically echoed Chinese concerns in mid-1981 about how to achieve the return of the Dalai Lama and “his followers.” Since Beijing was not comfortable with the idea of having the Dalai Lama live in the Tibetan region (point four) – possibly fearing that his presence there might evoke nationalist sentiment – it was proposed that he return, but reside in Beijing. The Dalai Lama was promised that he would “enjoy the same political status and living conditions as he had before 1959,” while the returnees were promised better jobs and living conditions. This was nowhere close to what the Tibetans had in mind. Even though the Dalai Lama had decided by the early 1970s that he would not seek independence/separation from China, the Five Point Proposal was not an acceptable proposition, for it sought to reduce the Tibet issue to that of the Dalai Lama.
Meanwhile, Taiwan too had rejected the Nine Point proposal put forward by Beijing. Interestingly, the Tibetan delegates during the talks in 1982 argued that if Taiwan was being offered such concessions, then the same or greater concessions should be granted to Tibet, given the fact that the Tibetans were different from the Chinese in race, culture, religion, customs, language, natural habitat, and history.
INCOMPARABLE
Tibet and Taiwan were incomparable for Beijing, which argued, “Tibet has already been liberated 33 years ago and decisions have already been made. Because Taiwan is not liberated that is the reason why we presented these nine-point offer. It is not the case for Tibet.” For that matter, without bringing up Taiwan, in its White Paper on Tibet in 2004, “Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet,” Beijing rightly alleged that the Dalai Lama was seeking “one country, two systems…after the model of Hong Kong and Macao.” Such an “argument [was] totally untenable” according to China. A similar argument was made:
“The situation in Tibet is entirely different from that in Hong Kong and Macao. The Hong Kong and Macao issue was a product of imperialist aggression against China; it was an issue of China’s resumption of exercise of its sovereignty. Since ancient times Tibet has been an inseparable part of Chinese territory, where the Central Government has always exercised effective sovereign jurisdiction over the region. So the issue of resuming exercise of sovereignty does not exist.”
The differences in Beijing’s approach to the Tibetans on the one hand and to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan on the other, has not gone unnoticed among the Tibetan leadership. The Tibetan leader, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, in an interview with the World Policy Institute in 2012 wondered whether Beijing’s discriminatory approach owed to the fact that the Tibetans are “racially different” from the Han Chinese?
TIBET – TAIWAN RELATIONS
Meanwhile, following a changing of the guard in Taiwanese leadership and politics starting from the early 1990s, Beijing’s two primary opponents, the Tibetans and the Taiwanese, began to coalesce. Prior to 1992, Tibet-Taiwan relations were almost non-existent, and what exchange existed was in fact quite contentious. One factor was the role played by Taiwan’s Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC), an agency set up under the Kuomintang (KMT) government to administer Republican China’s sovereignty over Tibet. The Tibetan government in exile always held that the MTAC had for a very long time been funding “conflicts and discords in the Tibetan community.” Since 1992, after relations began to normalize, the Dalai Lama has travelled three times to Taiwan, in March 1997, March 2001, and September 2009. The first trip was during the tenure of President Lee Teng-hui, the second was after the victory of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) under the leadership of President Chen Shui-bian, and the third was right after the KMT had been reelected to power under President Ma Ying-jeou. All visits evoked fierce condemnation from China.
The Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan in 1997 resulted in Beijing adding a third precondition to restarting the Sino-Tibetan talks: “As long as the Dalai Lama makes a public commitment that Tibet is an inalienable part of China and Taiwan is a province of China, then the door to dialogue and negotiation is open.” Beijing’s reformulation of the preconditions to include Taiwan was perhaps its response to the increasing closeness in Taiwan-Tibet relations. A symposium on “International Relations vs Tibetan Issue” organized jointly by the International Relations College of Peking University and China’s Tibet on September 10, 2000, dismissed the coming together of Tibetans and Taiwanese as meaningless, though it agreed that “it deserves our close attention” (China’s Tibet 2000).
But is this coalescing of Tibet-Taiwan forces meant to counter Beijing? At least the Dalai Lama’s strategic imperative for building a coalition with the Taiwanese seems to be limited in its scope and goals. Even though it may be considered as an attempt at building coalition, it did not necessarily mean that the Dalai Lama was contravening his position on dialogue with China through the middle way approach. For instance, in his March 10 statement in 1994, when the Tibetans had just begun stabilizing relations with Taiwan, the Dalai Lama had argued that better relations with the “Chinese living in free countries, especially in Taiwan” would help in explaining the Tibetan situation to them, which he hoped “will gradually percolate to China.”
A similar view was expressed in 1997, when he said that the Taiwan trip might serve “as a gesture of reconciliation.” An additional reason was “to stop the misdeeds of these people forthwith.” The Dalai Lama was referring to the secret agreement signed between the exile organization Chushi Gangdruk and Taiwan on March 31, 1994, without consulting the exile leadership. By the terms of the agreement, the Taiwanese are reported to have promised that once China is “unified under a free, democratic system” they would guarantee “rights of self-governance for Tibet” and recognize the Dalai Lama as “the political and religious leader of the Tibetan people.” The Tibetan leadership in exile were probably concerned because the agreement not only questioned the authority of the exile government to represent the Tibetans in exile, but also had the potential to give rise to a trend of separate agreements by groups with either the PRC or the ROC/Taiwan. The seriousness of the issue is evident in the fact that a referendum was held in exile on the matter.
According to a source in Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, the possibility of establishing bilateral diplomatic relations between Taipei and the Central Tibetan Administration was raised by the Taiwanese during the visit of the Dalai Lama to Taiwan in March 1997, but both sides decided to shelve the matter for fear that the PRC authorities would accuse them of “cooperating in activities to split the Chinese motherland.” The same source said that an invitation to the Dalai Lama to attend Chen Shui-bian’s inauguration in 2000 did not materialize because the Dalai Lama did not want to provoke Beijing.
These inhibitions were later cast aside somewhat as Taiwan set up the Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation in January 2003, with a view to phasing out the Mongolian Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC). Though this foundation was touted as “a nongovernmental agency charged with handling relations with the Tibetan government-in-exile,” its launch was presided over by President Chen Shui-bian himself. The leader openly invited the “Tibetan government in exile to join Taiwan in defying China,” thus suggesting a DPP-led Taiwan’s interest in forming a coalition with the Tibetans. The Tibetan leadership in exile seems to have been wary, given that talks were ongoing with Beijing on an annual basis since 2002. The then Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche, for instance, distanced the Dharamsala establishment from the Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation by commenting that it had no role in the founding of the foundation. Taiwan has also yet to do away with the MTAC, since the DPP lost power to the KMT in 2008. In fact, increasingly, the body has come under fire for focusing on relations with the Inner Mongolia and Tibetan regions in China, for its lack of engagement with the Tibetan exile government, and for “failing to provide any report on alleged Chinese human rights violations in Tibet.” This again is owing to Taiwan’s own political dynamics, as much of the aforementioned criticism of the MTAC has come from DPP legislators. Taiwan’s KMT leader Ma Ying-jeou has focused his attention on normalization of cross-strait economic relations under his policy of “Three Nos”: No unification, No independence and No use of force.
If the DPP is triumphant in the upcoming Taiwan elections, Taiwan’s ties with the Tibetan government in exile are bound to increase. The MTAC may be dissolved, as previously planned. Might Taiwan even consider making a formal statement on the status of Tibet? If so, it would be interesting to see Beijing’s response, and the implications for Sino-Tibetan relations. To recall, the Dalai Lama’s trip to Taiwan in 1997 coincided with the opening of informal channels of communication between the exiled Tibetan leadership and Beijing. The 2001 visit was followed by the opening of formal talks in 2002. By this logic, perhaps it is time for the Dalai Lama to make a fourth visit to Taiwan. Earlier in the year, that is in March 2015, a 12-member Taiwanese delegation met with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala and presented him with an invitation from “15 Taiwanese civic organizations,” to which the Dalai Lama readily gave consent. As we have seen though, the visits also led to the addition of Taiwan to the list of preconditions Beijing set for the restart of a Sino-Tibetan dialogue.
Historically, while Beijing’s outreach to the Tibetans preceded its formal outreach to Taiwan, contemporaneously, Sino-Tibetan talks have lagged far behind. The last round of formal meetings between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and Chinese leaders were held in 2010. How likely is a meeting between Xi Jinping and the Dalai Lama, similar to the one between Xi and Ma? Not very.
One problem is the proliferation over the past few years of the Chinese bureaucracy overseeing Tibet. For a long time, Beijing’s lack of insight into Tibet and the misrepresentation of the ground reality by local leaders were considered key reasons for the failure of Beijing’s Tibet policy. Increasingly, though, bureaucratization and the creation of groups with a vested interest in the status quo are seen as a major hurdle to any substantive talks. Still, many in the Dharamsala establishment seem optimistic that Xi will be able to overcome this hurdle and initiate a major breakthrough on Tibet in his second term when he has consolidated his position.
In late 1978, when Deng decided to get in touch with the Dalai Lama’s brother Gyalo Thondup to discuss the Tibet issue, he may have wanted to make Tibet an example of Chinese sincerity in resolving its outstanding issues. Certainly, the Tibetan delegates who went to Beijing for talks in 1982 were reported to have felt this way. Yang Jingren, the Chinese interlocutor to the talks, is reported to have conveyed to the Tibetan delegates China’s interest in solving the Tibetan problem as an important step to normalizing relations with India.
So, we see an interesting nexus of issues and imperatives that Beijing may be looking at, and, if not, then the Tibetans have been pushing China to consider the links. For example, the Dalai Lama in his March 10 statements of 1994 and 1996 suggested that successful negotiations on Tibet would positively influence sentiment in Hong Kong and Taiwan towards China. These statements were made at a time when the Sino-Tibetan talks had reached a stalemate and all communication had ceased between the two sides. When the announcement of the Xi-Ma meeting in Singapore was made, the Tibetan leadership in exile is likely to have assessed it positively and as an affirmation of their belief in Xi. As to whether that assessment is justified, only Xi can tell.
Tshering Chonzom Bhutia is an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, in Delhi, India.
It is encouraging to note Taiwan’s support for Free Tibet. The resolution of Tibet-China Border dispute will help to resolve all other border disputes of China and its regional neighbors.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET, TAIWAN, AND UNITED STATES. TAIWAN FOR FREE TIBET. DALAI LAMA’S VISIT TO TAIWAN IN 2001.It is encouraging to note Taiwan’s support for Free Tibet. The resolution of Tibet-China Border dispute will help to resolve all other border disputes of China and its regional neighbors.Tibet Consciousness – Taiwan for Free Tibet. Dalai Lama praying for village destroyed by typhoon Morakot.Tibet Consciousness – Taiwan For Tibet. Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan.TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TAIWAN FOR FREE TIBET. RALLY IN TAIPEI TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR FREE TIBET.It is encouraging to note Taiwan’s support for Free Tibet. The resolution of Tibet-China Border dispute will help to resolve all other border disputes of China and its regional neighbors.TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TAIWAN FOR FREE TIBET. PRO-TIBET RALLY IN TAIPEI ON TIBETAN NATIONAL UPRISING DAY, MARCH 10, 2013.It is encouraging to note Taiwan’s support for Free Tibet. The resolution of Tibet-China Border dispute will help to resolve all other border disputes of China and its regional neighbors.
Tibet Consciousness – Art and Reality of Tibetan Suffering
TIBET AWARENESS – TIBET BURNING – CAMPAIGN TO SAVE TIBET.
It is not easy to visualize the reality of Tibetan pain and suffering by using the power of imagination. Some artists have ventured to capture this reality using their artistic talent to transform pictures into short films. World has to honor the memories of these Tibetans who gave their precious lives to get our attention to their pain and suffering.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
ODISHA SUN TIMES
Art for a Tibetan cause
New Delhi, Dec 17: A video, “Funeral #1” follows Ani Palden Choetso, a Buddhist nun and her trail of self-immolation on a street corner in Tawu town in eastern Tibet.
The eight-minute footage, smuggled out of Tibet, shows Choetso standing rock still, engulfed in flames, before collapsing. Later, a crowd gathers and prevents security officials from taking her body away. It shows her funeral at the local monastery, where thousands hold a sombre candlelight vigil. Two days later, a hurriedly filmed mobile phone video shows soldiers attacking the monastery.
The video is a part of a of mixed media installations and video works of the exhibition “Burning Against the Dying of the Light”, by veteran film makers Ritu Sarin and Tensing Sonam, who are also the founders of the Dharamshala International Film Festival. On display at Khoj Studios, the exhibition brings forth the struggle of a land that those living in exile in India and elsewhere still hope to return to.
“We had a lot of footage lying around for many years. We decided to put together a show because it will help the Tibetan struggle to move in the right direction, said Sarin, who along with Sonam made the Tibetan feature film, “Dreaming Lhasa”, that premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
“Burning Against the Dying of the Light” – also the centrepiece of the show – examines the recent self-immolation protests in Tibet. A number of these fiery protests have been captured on mobile phones and, at great risk to the sender, secretly made available to the outside world. These bring home in graphic and horrific detail, the physical reality of self-immolations. In this, the Wheel of Light and Darkness is created like a mixed-media sculpture.
Then there is the “Funeral #2” video which had made headlines in the capital three years ago. It follows the self-immolation and cremation of Jamphel Yeshi who set himself alight during a peaceful demonstration in the heart of Delhi on March 26, 2012.
Another work, “Nets in the Sky, Traps on the Ground, Video, printed material” is a series of Orwellian phrases taken from official Chinese documents that describe some of the many control mechanisms and restrictive measures aimed at Tibetans will be projected on the walls and ceiling.
“Memorial”, a mixed-media installation, consists of a recreation of the self-immolator, Jamphel Yeshi’s sleeping area in his rented room in Majnu ka Tila, the Tibetan refugee settlement in Delhi, exactly as he left it on the morning of his self-immolation.
The “Taking Tiger Mountain by Storm” video installation, being shown for the first time, redeploys recently acquired Chinese police footage of a large-scale raid on a small village in Central Tibet, converting it from a security apparatus archival record to a parody of what Communism means today in Tibet.
“Two Friends” is a 10-minute-long single-channel video of Ngawang Norphel, 22, and Tenzin Khedup, 24, both monks, who took a vow to die together.
Apart from these works, the “Stranger in My Native Land” documentary by Tenzing Sonam, a poignant and personal account of his first visit to his homeland, is also being shown.
The show is on at Khoj Studios, S-17, Khirkee Extension till December 31 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (IANS)
Whole Suffering – Sixth Self Immolation Tibet in 2015
Tibet Consciousness – Tibet Under Occupation is No Man’s Land
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – OCCUPIED TIBET – NO MAN’S LAND. NOTES FROM TSERING WANGMO DHOMPA.
The loss of natural freedom in Occupied Tibet has alienated Tibetans from their own Land. Tibet is the natural home for Tibetans and they have a natural right to reclaim Tibet as their own.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment
NOTES FROM NO MAN’S LAND
By Shevlin Sebastian
Published: 02nd January 2016 10:00 PM
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – OCCUPIED TIBET – NO MAN’S LAND. NOTES FROM TSERING WANGMO DHOMPA.
Tsering Wangmo Dhompa | Albin Mathew
In 1994, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa went from Kathmandu to Nangchen in East Tibet, to meet her aunt Parchen, as well as her cousins. Her aunt had recently been freed after being imprisoned for 20 years. Her husband had been a part of the resistance movement against the Chinese. He was killed and Parchen was jailed, for being his wife.
And very often, they would do physical labour. One day, the authorities made the prisoners dig a part of a hillside. As Parchen was doing so, she saw several dogs running around. And she thought, ‘‘How lucky the dogs were.’’
“It was a moving moment for me,” says Tsering, the first female Tibetan poet writing in English. “Parchen did not feel bitter. She would laugh and sometimes cry when she recounted her experiences.”
Later, when Tsering went to Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, she was taken aback by the presence of a large number of policemen and the near-total surveillance. “That feeling of always being watched is a terrifying experience,” she says.
In Lhasa, today, the Chinese outnumber the Tibetans. The younger Tibetans have no option, but to study at Chinese universities. “Unfortunately, they feel marginalised, because they are not treated as equals,” says Tsering, whose parents fled to India in 1959. “But such experiences have helped them to develop a sense of identity.”
Later, Tsering made three more trips to Tibet, the last being in 2009. Her sojourns laid the seeds for her well-received non-fiction book, A Home in Tibet (2013). “While growing up, I read books on Tibet, but they were by Westerners,” she says. “I wanted to read a book by a Tibetan who lived outside, but could also be on the inside. So I thought I would write such a book targeted towards young Tibetans in exile.”
Here is an extract which reflects the pain of exile: ‘‘The flowers in Tibet were always taller, more fragrant and vivid. My mother’s descriptions, imprecise but unchanging, from year to year, had led me to an inevitable acceptance that her past was unequalled by our present lives. She would tell me of the knee-deep fields of purple, red and white, that over time served to create an idea of her fatherland, as a riotous garden. ’’
Tsering had recently come to Kochi, at the invitation of the Kochi chapter of Friends of Tibet, to interact with literature students at the St. Albert’s and Union Christian colleges. She read a few of her poems, and gave them an idea of life in Tibet. “The students asked many questions, because it was so far outside their experience,” she says.
One experience which all of them did not have is to live without a country. “To be stateless is painful,” says Tsering. “Initially, when I wanted to travel to the US, I had to apply for an identity certificate.” This is not a passport, but is recognised internationally. However, an explanation has to be given to every immigration officer about it. In India, Tsering had a refugee card which is issued by the Central government.
But Tsering has no problems living in India. “I was treated very well,” she says. “In my school [Wynberg Allen school at Mussoorie], and college [Lady Shri Ram at Delhi], I have never experienced any discrimination. But the sense of not being at home is an inner feeling. This happens, regardless of where you live.”
Today, Tsering is a naturalised US citizen and lives in San Francisco. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz. And her subject is Tibetan nationalism and identity. Tsering has published three books of poetry: Rules of the House, (a finalist for the 2003 Asian Literary Awards), My Rice Tastes Like the Lake, and In the Absent Everyday.
“In my poetry, I have always returned to the idea of place, memory and storytelling,” she says. “Stories help people, who are stateless, to experience a sense of place.”
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – OCCUPIED TIBET – NO MAN’S LAND. NOTES FROM TSERING WANGMO DHOMPA.TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – OCCUPIED TIBET – NO MAN’S LAND – NOTES FROM TSERING WANGMO DHOMPA.TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – OCCUPIED TIBET – NO MAN’S LAND. CRY OF THE SAINTS. A CALL FOR HELP.
Whole Dude - Whole Concept 