Tibet Information Office Australia

DHARAMSHALA December 4: Photos depicting China’s brutality in Tibet and the Chinese security official’s high-handed and vulgar display of power over Tibetan monks and commoners have been leaked out of Tibet.
A Chinese website based in US – boxun.com, on Friday released eight photographs of Tibetans with their hands tied at their backs, being paraded publicly in military vehicles, escorted by security officials, and kneeling on the ground. Placards with their names and their “crimes” such as “separatist” are seen hung from their necks.

Other photos also show large contingents of People’s Armed Police and Special Branch of People’s Armed Police carrying automatic rifles, manning the streets.
While the website didn’t provide exact locations and date of the pictures, individuals and organisations in exile have identified few of the photographs.

Speaking to Phayul, a monk at the exile base of the Kirti Monastery in Dharamshala, Kanyag Tsering identified that four of the photos were from Ngaba in eastern Tibet.

The ground where hundreds of Chinese armed security personnel are sitting is a public basketball ground in Ngaba Kriti town” Tsering told Phayul.

“The photo taken from inside a car is also in Kriti as you can visibly see the Kriti monastery stupa at the back with Chinese security officials manning the intersection with automatic rifles right at the front,” added Tsering.

Although Tsering wasn’t sure of the dates when the photographs were taken, the exiled monk recognised the houses and the streets in two other photos with armed Chinese security personnel marching in a show of power.

“The photograph showing Chinese security forces in green and blue uniform is taken near the Ngaba town court,” said Tsering.
The Kirti monastery in Ngaba and its surrounding regions have been facing growing restrictions since March this year after Phuntsog, a young Kirti monk self immolated protesting China’s occupation of Tibet and calling for the Dalai Lama’s return from exile.

Since then, eleven more Tibetans, including monks, nuns, and lay people have set their bodies on fire, the latest being Tenzin Phuntsok who set himself ablaze in Chamdo on December 1.

In the only on-ground report from Ngaba since March this year by foreign journalists, Robert Saiget, an AFP reporter in October said that “police, many carrying riot shields and armed with clubs and iron, lined the streets of the town”.

“Large groups of soldiers in camouflage carried automatic rifles, metal rods with spiked tips and fire extinguishers, while police buses, trucks and armoured personnel carriers blocked the streets,” AFP had reported in accord with the recently leaked photographs.
Writing on Facebook, the Beijing based award-winning Tibetan blogger and activist Woeser said that she was shocked to see the pictures.

“These photos clearly show the suppression of the truth of the Tibetans,” Woeser said.

DHARAMSHALA: Receiving Dayawati Modi Award for Art, Culture and Education for his contribution towards universal peace, tolerance and social justice in New Delhi yesterday, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said women should take more active role towards building the world more peaceful and compassionate.

His Holiness was presented with the prestigious award comprising of a cash prize of Rs.2.51 lakh, a silver shield and scroll of honour, at a special ceremony in New Delhi.

“It is our honour to confer the award on His Holiness in recognition of his lifetime contribution towards universal peace, tolerance and social justice,” Dayawati Modi Foundation president Satish Kumar Modi said.

His Holiness has joined the list of previous awardees who include late Mother Teresa, actor Amitabh Bachchan, late singer Jagjit Singh, and Asha Bhonsle, he said.

The award award has been instituted by the Dayawati Modi Foundation for Art, Culture and Education of the Modi group in the memory of Late Mrs Dayawati Modi, wife of late Rai Bahadur Gujar Mal Modi, founder of the Modi Group.

Late Mrs Dayawati Modi was a great philanthropist and an educationist. The Foundation has established schools and colleges, libraries and hostels for students. It also seeks to spread the knowledge of Indian art and culture through cultural shows, exhibitions and seminars.

After accepting the award His Holiness spoke on the women’s power in building a peaceful and compassionate world. “Women have more inborn potential to build a society on the foundation of love and compassion, as they are more loving and compassionate.”

His Holiness stressed for the need of a education system to promote inner values like affection and warmheartedness. “The modern education system is materialistic oriented, one-sided, and concerned only about brain development and neglect warmheartedness and the sense of responsibility,” he said.

He further said, “despite having very good modern education system, the highly developed countries have lots of problems. Scientists and social workers have understood that social problems like unrest and violence among the younger generation were due to lack of human affection in the existing system. Starting from the family level, lack of affection causes competition, which bring suspicion, distrust, and loneliness. So, we really need more effort in the promotion of warmheartedness from the society to the global level.”

Describing mothers as the source of affection and foundation of a happier family, His Holiness said the females have more potential for loving kindness and are more sensitive towards others’ pain. “Even in animals, mothers take more care of their young ones,” he said.

To buttress his logic, His Holiness recounted his own experiences. “Once flying in a plane, I noticed how one couple look after their two little children. They both first took care of their children, the older who often running around, while the younger one always crying. But around midnight, the father was sleeping and the mother, throughout the night, took care of her two children. The next morning her eyes were red as she really sacrificed her sleep to fully take care of her children. So, biologically, females are more sensitive towards others’ pain,” he said.

Speaking of his mother, His Holiness said, “even though illiterate, my mother was very kind and warmhearted towards her children. She never showed angry face to them. So, the real seed of my compassion came from my mother, though Buddhist training immensely helped in strengthening my altruism.”

“One who receives maximum affection and love in their childhood tend to much happier with more self-confidence. On the contrary, those who lack affection and love, have deep inside some sense of insecurity. So in order to build a happier generation, mothers have immensely important role to play,” His Holiness said.

On women taking on leadership role, His Holiness said presumably, under a more matured female leadership, there is less danger of violence.

“Now, the time has come to make more real effort in the promotion of warmheartedness, affection, compassion, for which the females should take more active role,” His Holiness said.

His Holiness was to give a talk on The Art of Happiness in the afternoon today as part of the Penguin Annual Lecture Series at the India Habitat Center.

 

DHARAMSHALA: In a letter of condolence sent to the Central Tibetan Administration, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism has expressed sadness and solidarity with the Tibetans on the recent cases of self-immolations in Tibet.

“Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism is genuinely saddened by the recent cases of tragic self-immolations in Tibet and would like to express our heartfelt condolences and sympathies. We would like to confirm that we stand in solidarity with all the Buddhists of the world,” the letter stated.

“We stand firmly behind non-violence and wholeheartedly oppose the use of military forces as a solution to any conflict in the world”.

“All temples in Korea will continue to send our sincere prayers so that the monks and nuns who passed away in act of protest may safely move on to the pure land and for those who remain in critical condition would swiftly recover.

‘We pray for Tibet to find peace and harmony without any further sacrifices by the people,” the letter noted.

DHARAMSHALA: A former monk from the Karma monastery has set himself on fire in Chamdo in eastern Tibet on 1 December and his condition is unknown, reports coming out of Tibet say.

Tenzin Phuntsog, who is in his 40s, set himself on fire in Chamdo. He was taken away by the police and his whereabouts is not known. He and his wife Dolma have two sons and a daughter.

12 Tibetans who self immolated earlier this year have called for freedom, and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his people.

Reports say that monks from Karma monastery in Chamdo were not allowed to leave the monastery at the time.
 
The Chinese government has enforced intense security restrictions in Chamdo since the widespread peaceful protests shook Tibet in 2008, a US-based human rights organisation said.

The region has become a frontline for the security forces and the imposition of ‘patriotic education’ to stifle the genuine grievances of the Tibetan people, it added.

The Central Tibetan Administration has been urging the Chinese government to stop it’s repressive policy on Tibetans and allow more freedom of religion and speech.

The Kashag had appealed to China that it should accept independent delegations and media to travel to examine the situation and allow medical teams to give treatment to those hurt after self-immolations.

On 29th November 1956, on the occasion of the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha’s Parinirvana, I had the opportunity to meet Indian leaders and Buddhist representatives from many countries here in New Delhi. At that time I gave a detailed account of the historical development of Buddhism in Tibet and the unique Indo-Tibetan relationship.

Since then the world, including India and Tibet, has witnessed many changes and so have the Buddhist traditions in different countries.

Until the last fifty years or so, the world’s diverse Buddhist communities had only a distant inkling of each other’s existence and little appreciation of how much they held in common. As the Buddha’s teaching took root in different places, certain variations in the style in which it was practised and upheld evolved naturally. Indeed, the Buddha himself gave different teachings according to the predispositions of his disciples at different times. What distinguishes our contemporary situation is that almost the entire array of Buddhist traditions that evolved in different lands is now accessible to anyone who is interested. What’s more, those of us who study and practise these various Buddhist traditions can now meet and learn from one another.

Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya about 2600 years ago, yet I believe his teachings remain refreshing and relevant today. Moved by a spontaneous concern to help others, following his enlightenment the Buddha spent the rest of his life as a homeless monk, sharing his experience with those who wished to listen. Both his view of dependent arising and his advice not to harm anyone, but to help whoever you can, emphasize the practice of non-violence. This remains one of the most potent forces for good in the world today, for non-violence is to be of service to our fellow beings.

Siddhartha’s renunciation – his choosing to live the homeless life – symbolises the practice of the training in morality; his six-year asceticism symbolises the training in concentration; and his attainment of enlightenment through the practice of wisdom under the Bodhi tree represents the importance of the cultivation of wisdom. The role of these threefold trainings in the Buddha’s life highlights their importance in our daily practice. To be able to carry out these practices, we have to study the Buddha’s teachings contained in the Tripitaka.

In an increasingly interdependent world our own welfare and happiness depend on many other people. Other human beings have a right to peace and happiness that is equal to our own; therefore we have a responsibility to help those in need. Today, in a new millennium, our world requires us to accept the oneness of humanity. Many of our world’s problems and conflicts arise because we have lost sight of the basic humanity that binds us all together as a human family. We forget that despite the superficial differences between us, people are equal in their basic wish for peace and happiness. Part of Buddhist practice involves training our minds through meditation. But if our training in calming our minds, developing qualities like love, compassion, generosity and patience, is to be effective, we must put them into practice in our day-to-day life. Even as our world continues to develop materially, there is increasing need for similar progress in our sense of inner values. The 20th century was a century of war and violence; now we all need to work to see that the 21st is a century of peace and dialogue. We Buddhists can contribute to this by learning from the world’s other religious traditions and sharing with them the distinctive qualities of our own tradition. Read the rest »