Still in Dharamshala but I will be taking a 4am bus to Amritsar tomorrow to see the Golden Temple. It is the number one holy place for those who practice the Sikh religion and I think I should see it.
Dharamshala has been a peaceful place to hang out for a couple of weeks, though I have struggled with stomach upset most of the time I've been here. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama is in the US all this month at the Mayo clinic so there has been no chance of getting a glimpse of him. The Tibetan new year was on Tuesday, today is the last day of the annual 3 day celebration. I went to the temple on Tuesday and watched the monks chant and "perform" - it was fun even though I didn't understand any of it. They then passed out cups and small plates and gave us all butter tea and sweet rice. After it was over, they put up a ladder to the upper floor of the temple and all the Tibetans in their traditional garb lined up to go up it. After watching for awhile, my curiosity got the better of me and typical of me, instead of asking what was up there, I just got into line. An hour and a half later I was up the ladder and in a room leading to an alter where people were offering up white scarfs and money, feeling every bit the clueless fool. But everyone was kind and gracious and no one made me feel out of place.
I've been wanting to make a blog post about the plight of the Tibetan people but have been struggling to know exactly what I want to say about it. So, first just some history.
For centuries the Tibetan people lived in a remote mountainous region who's main protection was the fact that no one really wanted the worthless forbidding land they lived on. Then in 1949, China made claims that Tibet had long been part of it's territory and their army moved in. The 13th Dalai Lama had seen this trouble coming and warned of the Chinese threat before his death. Tibet had heeded this warning and had a small army, but they were no match for the Chinese and were systematically defeated and pushed back. In 1951, Tibet signed an agreement surrendering sovereignty to China. But, there was still a lot of rebellion and resistance in the form of guerrilla warfare going on. In 1959 China cracked down and the Dalai Lama escaped by way of a long walk over the Himalayas to Dharamshala. The Chinese crack down was brutal and almost total. In an attempt to wipe out the separate identity of the Tibetan people, the vast majority of the Tibetan temples were demolished, sacred texts were burned and used to make shoes. Monks and other Tibetans were imprisoned and tortured, forced into labor camps, or simply killed outright. It's a complex and sad situation. From my perspective it's unlikely that Tibet will ever regain independence but hopefully with all of the Tibetans that are in exile around the world, their rich and beautiful culture won't be lost to history the way so many vanquished civilizations have been.
There are many good documentaries on the situation in Tibet the one I saw was called "The Sun Behind the Clouds". The situation is complex and my thinking about it has been all over the place, but in the end...
"I stand with Tibet"
Dharamshala has been a peaceful place to hang out for a couple of weeks, though I have struggled with stomach upset most of the time I've been here. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama is in the US all this month at the Mayo clinic so there has been no chance of getting a glimpse of him. The Tibetan new year was on Tuesday, today is the last day of the annual 3 day celebration. I went to the temple on Tuesday and watched the monks chant and "perform" - it was fun even though I didn't understand any of it. They then passed out cups and small plates and gave us all butter tea and sweet rice. After it was over, they put up a ladder to the upper floor of the temple and all the Tibetans in their traditional garb lined up to go up it. After watching for awhile, my curiosity got the better of me and typical of me, instead of asking what was up there, I just got into line. An hour and a half later I was up the ladder and in a room leading to an alter where people were offering up white scarfs and money, feeling every bit the clueless fool. But everyone was kind and gracious and no one made me feel out of place.
I've been wanting to make a blog post about the plight of the Tibetan people but have been struggling to know exactly what I want to say about it. So, first just some history.
For centuries the Tibetan people lived in a remote mountainous region who's main protection was the fact that no one really wanted the worthless forbidding land they lived on. Then in 1949, China made claims that Tibet had long been part of it's territory and their army moved in. The 13th Dalai Lama had seen this trouble coming and warned of the Chinese threat before his death. Tibet had heeded this warning and had a small army, but they were no match for the Chinese and were systematically defeated and pushed back. In 1951, Tibet signed an agreement surrendering sovereignty to China. But, there was still a lot of rebellion and resistance in the form of guerrilla warfare going on. In 1959 China cracked down and the Dalai Lama escaped by way of a long walk over the Himalayas to Dharamshala. The Chinese crack down was brutal and almost total. In an attempt to wipe out the separate identity of the Tibetan people, the vast majority of the Tibetan temples were demolished, sacred texts were burned and used to make shoes. Monks and other Tibetans were imprisoned and tortured, forced into labor camps, or simply killed outright. It's a complex and sad situation. From my perspective it's unlikely that Tibet will ever regain independence but hopefully with all of the Tibetans that are in exile around the world, their rich and beautiful culture won't be lost to history the way so many vanquished civilizations have been.
There are many good documentaries on the situation in Tibet the one I saw was called "The Sun Behind the Clouds". The situation is complex and my thinking about it has been all over the place, but in the end...
"I stand with Tibet"
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