Tag: History

མིག་ཆུ། Tears

Namkyi, a former political prisoner, sheds tears as she speaks of the torture she endured under Chinese repressive rule.

Tears,

They have shed tears for too long,

If they were a glacier, it would eventually dry up one day.

The warmth of heart will wither away,

If they were a river, one day their flow would cease,

And hope would wither away, like a fading breeze.

If they were an ocean, even its vastness would turn into a dunes,

And happiness’s smile would set, like the sun in a distant land.

Tears are mere droplets, a symbol of our deepest longing,

But they cannot quench our thirst,

nor ease our heart’s tormenting.

Tears alone cannot sustain us,

nor can they quench the fire within.

Even our heart aches within

For the freedom we seek, let us march forward, undaunted and unbroken,

until we claim our victory.

By Sonsnow

Propaganda Tool

I have seen several videos of this kind, where the Chinese Covid Teams are traveling far and wide to the remote regions of Tibet to test nomads. What worries me the most is that the Chinese government is making its best effort to use the Pandemic as a Propaganda Tool. What if they become the primary source of the Pandemic in many of the remote regions in Tibet? After all, the general public and the common masses will be blamed for all the Chaos it may cause.

What a way to treat the common man? That too in front of the Camera. With this, we will understand how the Chinese authorities are treating the Tibetans who are put behind the bars for no reason.

My Late grandfather

My Late Grandfather
A resembling picture I randomly picked from the net
My grandfather is one of the few Tulkus we have in our region. He is a monk with few words, and duly does his daily rituals. He enjoys chanting prayers all day long with his musical ritual items. He was not only revered and respected by the people around his locality, but people from a distant district come to see him and regularly seeks his advice and blessings.
He was the one who taught me the Tibetan alphabet. Tibetan script was developed into its present form as early as the 7th century by Thonmi Sambhota, one of the ministers of 33rd King Songtsen Gambo. He was sent to India to learn, and he returned with a Tibetan script based on the Sanskrit script.
My grandfather constantly pushes me to practice my Tibetan calligraphy on a wooden plate. I must have gained a great knowledge in Buddhism and perfectly putting the Tibetan script in different styles if I were lucky enough to stay a little longer under his training and tutoship. But unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough and had to leave him and others in the same year I left my country. When he is happy, he tells us the tales from the great epic Ling Geser Gyalpo, to which I am fond of listening, and sings the poems in a great rhythm. To my utter surprise and astonishment, he got a permanent bulb-like bump on his head, and he choose not to share how the bump was developed. Out of my curiosity, I often ask him about the same and touches it when he wears a smile on his face. But I wasn't a lucky kid who had the priviledge of understanding all the things they have gone through. Later on, I understood that he was beaten by the Chinese soldiers during the culutral revolution in Tibet that destroyed more than 97% of the monasteries and nunneries and disrobed 93% of the monks and nuns.  If I knew about the same when I was with him in Tibet, I would have annoyed him with endless questions.Some of the people whose name still lingers in my mind were Tsering Losar, Sonam Rinchen and Phakpa, etc. Who suffered the same fate under the Chinese repressive policies. 
Sadly, my grandfather passed away few years back, and I send him some prayers from the Land of Lord Buddha for a swift rebirth. 

By Sonsnow

* "tulku" is an honorary title given to a recognised reincarnate Lama

Looking for Tibet

87-Year-old HHDL looking out at the view in the early morning from his residence in the remote Himalayan village of Lingshed, Ladakh, UT, India on August 11, 2022. (Photo by Tenzin Choejor)

“At the age of 16 I took responsibility for Tibet at a difficult time and in so doing I lost my freedom.  At the age of 24, I lost my country and became a refugee. I have met all kinds of difficulties, but as the Tibetan says, ‘Wherever you are happy, you can call home, and whoever is kind to you is like your parents.’  I lost my country, but I’ve been happy and at home in the world at large.  Living a meaningful life is not about acquiring money and other facilities; it’s about dedicating your life to helping others as much as you can.”

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

As His Holiness sits silently without a slight sign of his usual smile, 

My heart pains in great depth. 

As His Holiness gazed towards the homeland hills, as far as his eyesight can reach, My heart pains in great depth. 

As His Holiness prays for the well-being of his people, who he couldn’t reach out to, 

My heart pains in great depth. 

By Sonsnow

Covid cases in Lhasa

The nerve-wracking news of covid cases detected in my city (Lhasa) has left me and many of my kind in panic. May my prayers from the land of lord Buddha reaches there and shield them from this deadly disease. People’s Liberation Army has taken enough lives of my countrymen and I dare not witness death and destruction anymore.

The next Dalai Lama:

Young monks in line for a little walk around Mcleod Ganj, Dharamshala. August 8, 2022, Photo by Sonsnow

China has no moral rights and political authority to choose the next Dalai Lama. China has constantly been portraying him as an enemy of the Chinese people, “A Wolf in Monk’s Robes” and blamed him for instigating Self-immolation and separatist activities inside Tibet with baseless allegations and accusations. Still, CCP is interested in choosing his reincarnation. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is widely known as a beacon of peace and a living example of an enlightened being who can practice love and compassion to such an extent that he treats his enemy as his friend. But China continues to accuse him of engaging in anti-china activities in exile and attempting to split China. Ironically, it is a worldwide known fact that he has been advocating for genuine autonomy within the framework of the Chinese constitution.

In fact, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has made it crystal clear in his statement made on September 24, 2011, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama said “As far back as 1969, I made clear that concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnations should continue in the future”. He further stated that “When I am about ninety I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism, and re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. On that basis, we will take a decision”

Therefore, China has no moral right and political authority to get involved in choosing the next Dalai Lama.

Read abc News coverage on The Next Dalai Lama