On February 12 we went as a group again to Mcleod Ganj. This time we were lucky enough to have a meeting arranged with the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile, Samdhong Rinpoche. An interesting rhetoric accompanies the Tibetan government’s existence in India because it resides under the Indian government and thus cannot really be a government. Because of this it is technically not referred to as the Tibetan Gov’t in Exile but rather the Central Tibetan Agency (CTA). For the same reason they refer to what would otherwise be ministries as the department of health, education, finance, etc.
Samdhong Rinpoche has been the PM for almost a decade I believe, and his term ends in 2011. The election of the next PM is a very important issue for the Tibetan community because they will be in charge of the Sino-Tibetan “negotiations” that have not been so productive. While it would have been interesting to hear his opinion, we did not discuss the election with Rinpoche and instead he spoke to us about the history of Tibet and China and then we were able to ask him several questions we had decided upon as a group earlier. This has been our general protocol with the important figures we’ve been meeting so that we make the best out of the limited time we have with them.
We spoke to Samdhong Rinpoche for over an hour and his secretary peeked his head in several times to signal that it was time to go. The history of Sino-Tibetan relations is very useful to know when looking at the modern day issue but it’s fairly extensive and wouldn’t be interesting to read on this blog (hopefully this isn't already a problem!)—nor would the mistakes I’d make be fair to any readers. We read Melvyn Goldstein’s The Snow Lion and the Dragon for one class and it’s very useful as a historical source on the issue. However, it must be understood that he tends to be a supporter of China--this is prevalent in his writing if you read it--and because of this and criticism of His Holiness, his writing is almost entirely unavailable in the area as a common "ban" agreement. While there are many Tibetans disheveled by the current unsuccessful approach to China, in general, most Tibetans do not appreciate criticism of the Dalai Lama because of how sacred and important he is to the entire community.
The Tibetan government had their 9th round of talks with the People's Republic of China (PRC) after the uprisings in Tibet in 2008. We read the general memorandum for Tibetan autonomy generated by the CTA that gets presented to the Chinese government each time, but Rinpoche told us that they had added two points that the public domain had not yet been informed of. They were:
1) Calling for an investigation into the condition of Tibetans inside Tibet. If they are truly happy then the whole issue for autonomy can be dropped. The happiness of the Tibetan people is the main issue of the CTA. It is necessary for a third-party to perform this investigation so that is impartial.
2) Calling for an investigation into the claim of the Chinese government that the Dalai Lama is responsible for the uprisings and unrest in Tibet. If this is not the case then the accusation must be dropped (it is often used as reason to avoid cooperation with the CTA).
Now, the previous 8 talks have achieved no progress in the CTA’s push for autonomy. Both governments have made their conditions clear and has continued in their refusal for compromise (autonomy is of course already a compromise for the CTA but not enough for the PRC). The main point of contention is that the CTA calls for autonomy while the PRC demands total integration into the motherland. The Tibetan strategy translates to the "Middle Way Approach," and has been developing for the past few decades. Tibetan demands changed from total independence to a cooperative autonomy inside of China. However, China is still unwilling to concede, as the Tibetan region is about a third of China’s territory. Interestingly enough, the translation for what the PRC's calls their approach is "time waiting" or "time extending." Additionally, any talk of a third party becoming involved tends to infuriate the Chinese government because they continue to insist this is only between a country and its territory. Of course, the most likely way for the Tibetan cause to succeed is international support. For many years that hope was focused on the US, but Tibet received only sentimental and congressional backing, and no usable political support. It is clear with China being as economically powerful as they are today and the US economy being so weak, that it’s a conflict of interest to become supporters of Tibet. That is why when Barack Obama was meant to meet with the Dalai Lama several months ago the government cancelled because he was due to go to China shortly after and the Chinese government had warned against it. However, the Dalai Lama is coming to America for about a week starting on the 17th and Obama intends to meet him this time, despite Chinese discouragement.
-This is the parliament's altar for Losar, which I will explain more in my next post-
After the PM we went to Parliament where we watched a great informational film that apparently we were the first group to see in India as it had just been finished. Tibet is the “smallest democracy in the world,” with a parliament of 46 members. As I recall the breakdown is 10 members from each region of Tibet: Kham, Amdo, and U-Tsang and 2 members from each of the 4 Buddhist schools of Tibet: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Geluk; also 2 from the Bon religion, the religion that preceded Buddhism in Tibet but which has largely transformed into a parallel of Buddhist ideology.
That makes 40—then there are two from Europe, and one from the US, each elected by the Tibetan citizens living abroad.
Finally the last three are the three positions I previously mentioned that are meant for the Dalai Lama to nominate into the parliament, but as he has given up this power there are only 43 members of parliament until those 3 are elected by popular vote.
Because transparency of government is so important to the CTA and the Dalai Lama, any citizen can sit in on parliament meetings, as well as watch it on TV (Tibetan CSPAN) or just the Internet.
After this we went to the Nechung Monastery, which was mostly empty at the time, but we got to go inside and take a look around while the monks were taking a break from their ceremonies. It is the monastery of the Nechung oracle. If you’ve ever seen Kundun, then you’ve seen a reproduction of the Nechung oracle in action. The spirit is called into them, allowing them to dance around with a hat that could otherwise break their neck (weighs around 20 pounds now but used to be heavier). When the spirit leaves the oracle several men have to hold up the medium and remove the heavy ceremonial garments. I’m getting some of this wrong I’m sure but it’s very interesting anyway. As I'm told there is a chance we will get to see the medium in trance at some point.
-Butter lamp at the altar. Yes, butter.-
-The bell (ghanta) and vajra scepter which all monks have/use during ceremonies like the one that must have been occurring earlier. The bell represents wisdom, specifically an understanding of emptiness, and the vajra has many meanings, but together they represent the perfect union of method and wisdom--the two components of Buddhist practice.--
-These are butter sculptures. Yes, butter. They mold the butter in water and then construct them piece by piece, after which they may paint them. They are often put on altars as well, and because it is so chilly, they don't melt. They are really quite impressive to see.-
(yes, still made of butter)
The detailed ones are really hard to believe.
-These are prayer bracelets or lanyards. One would be blessed and then given as a gift to a family member or friend who then wears it of course.-
-These are just some of the dogs on campus, the right one is Rex, the one we adopted before he contracted a terrible skin problem. [Photo credit: Gary S.]
Losar, the Tibetan New Year's began on the 14th and ends tomorrow, though it is much more than three days. It requires it's own post and unfortunately there aren't many photos, but there's a lot to tell.
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