Sunday, April 18, 2010

Our audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama

So, it has been a while since my last update--a month, in fact. To make it up, I bring you photos of the Dalai Lama! Hope this suffices!

--Tara-la greeting him as we first sat down--

Our first audience was meant for yesterday but after some complications with him meeting the cricket players, we were asked to come today, so we agreed. We were told that we would also be allowed more time, but unfortunately it did not work out that way and we were with His Holiness a little less than half an hour. We were quickly ushered in and began with the questions, of which we were able to ask four. Impressively, he managed to quickly answer four in this time, talking almost entirely in English.

--Responding to Molly's question (I believe) about the selection or possible lack thereof of the next Dalai Lama.--


--Answering Francisco's question concerning the homogenization of Tibetan culture here in exile.--

Our audience was very enjoyable, with His Holiness being very joyful and clearly happy to have us, but he remained pressed for time from outside sources. He had an appointment to make at the cricket match, to be on national TV, so he could not be late. Most unfortunately, this meant that we were not able to present him with kataks and have those individual moments (and photos) with His Holiness. Thus, it was not entirely what we hoped for, especially after being promised quite a bit of time, but we are incredibly fortunate to have even as much time as we did, having a private audience, and being able to ask so many questions. He remains a beloved professor of Emory.
--Tara-la presenting a gift from the Emory program, an original antique map of India including Tibet from 1867 (I think).--




On Saturday night, the 17th, a vigil was held for the victims of the April 14th earthquake in what is being called western China by most media outlets, in Qinghai province. In fact, the earthquake took place near the border of the Amdo and Kham regions of Tibet, but more so in Amdo. The population of the area hit is 97% Tibetan, if that speaks to whether it's Tibet or China, at least ethnically.

The death toll continues to rise, even as reported by the official Chinese media source, Xinhua. However, reports coming from inside the region from the people suggest that the death toll is more likely between 10-40,ooo, which is truly appalling. Many people here in exile have received news that their friends or relatives have died in the disaster, including many children abroad here at TCV whose parents are still in Tibet.

--A young girl watches the candles burn inside the main temple here in Dharamsala while her mother silently prays for the victims.--

In the last earthquake that hit China, also in the Tibetan region, aid organizations were allowed in to help with the rescue effort, but lawyers who represented citizens that were suing the state for state-constructed buildings that were not built to code and thus more susceptible to collapsing in the event of a disturbance. Eighty percent of the buildings in the region hit this time have collapsed, many of them also because of poor construction. Whether or not it is the state's fault, this time it will probably not come out. Monks are a major part of the rescue effort as rescue efforts have not been able to cope with the large amount that needs to be done, and indeed the area is remote. Search dogs cannot be used because they cannot handle the high altitudes. Altitude is another issue, if you have been reading the story, as it goes far below freezing at night, and many are without homes, if not still alive and trapped under rubble.



--This was just a shot I took today on the walk back from the audience.--

Most of the students were actually headed to the same cricket match as His Holiness, but at the last moment I decided that I did not feel up to going. Unfortunately, they arrived late and the stadium has a policy of not allowing spectators in after the match has begun--a foolish policy indeed, and one we were not aware of!



There have been several events and trips for which I still need to post photos and some comments, but this is our last week of class and increasingly busy, so be glad for this post!

Last weekend we went to Norbulingka art institute, which was wonderful, but we also visited Gyuto monastery, to have an audience with His Holiness the Karmapa, head lama of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. (The Dalai Lama is the head of the Geluk sect) He is recognized as the proper incarnation of the previous Karmapa, but there is another Karmapa that is also recognized, and due to a lawsuit filed by the Rinpoche who discovered the other, the Karmapa is under house arrest and cannot leave without strict permission from the Indian police. There is also incredibly tight security, so we were not allowed to bring in cameras. This is one taken by his people and sent to us. We were of course allowed this with the Dalai Lama, as well as a video camera and audio recorder. It was a very pleasant but somewhat surprising audience, in which he first seemed very languid and bored but then began to warm up. He is around 24 I believe and spends many hours a day greeting group after group, so admittedly it would become quite tiresome for such a young man. However, when we presented kataks and he greeted us, he was exceedingly warm.

After this week, we begin our independent research periods in which many students will travel to various locations while others, including myself, will remain in McLeod Ganj to do our research. It will be a busy and exciting time but perhaps I will find the time to post old photos and some new ones maybe relating to my research.

Until next time, be well.