Dalai Lama, set to meet Harper, warns Tibetan culture 'dying'

[icy]

"Dalai Lama told a - The small crowd of Canadian politicians Friday that his native Tibet is at risk of cultural extinction.
"In our own area, there are tremendous difficulties," he said. "The situation locally is one ancient nation, with very rich ancient cultural heritage, is actually dying."
The spiritual leader of the Tibetan diaspora spoke at a meeting in Ottawa attended by members of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet, an all-party group, before his official visit with Prime Minster Stephen Harper on Friday afternoon.
The Dalai Lama said that, although events around the world have shown the power of democracy and the will to self-determination, Tibet is still at risk.
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair was in the audience, as was Conservative MP Rob Anders and Conservative Sen. Consiglio Di Nino. They were joined by parliamentarians from Western Europe and other countries, as well as key figures from Tibet's government-in-exile.
Hollywood star Richard Gere, a long-time activist on Tibet, also spoke at the event. He commended Canada's immigration policies but warned against backsliding.
"I see there is a slight pulling back, shall I call it that maybe, of the kind of support Tibetans have felt (from) Canada, and I would hate to see that happen," he said.
The Chinese government has ruled Tibet for 60 years, but the Dalai Lama has waged an unwavering campaign for Tibetan autonomy.
Gere criticized Harper for holding his meeting with the Dalai Lama behind closed doors. "The positive thing is he (will) meet him," said Gere. "The less positive thing is that it (will not) be public."
A spokesperson for Harper said the prime minister would hold a "private courtesy meeting" with the Tibetan spiritual leader.
The confirmation followed vague comments from Harper and his office earlier this week as to whether a meeting would take place.
Nima Dorjee, a national member of the Canada Tibet Committee, had said this week he suspected the federal government was under pressure from China to distance itself from the Dalai Lama.
In 2006, the federal Conservative government angered the Communist regime by awarding the exiled spiritual leader honourary Canadian citizenship. When Harper and the Dalai Lama met in 2007, the Chinese Embassy warned Canada to "stop interfering with China's internal affairs." Two years later, Harper chose not to meet with the Nobel Peace Prize winner while he was visiting Canada. Later, the prime minister received an invitation to Beijing.
Gere warned the Harper government on Friday not to abandon its commitment to the Dalai Lama in pursuit of China's growing wealth".


Does this mean the Dalai Lama who has the bigger vision of preserving Lama Tsongkhapa's teaching orchestrated the controversies of Dorje Shugden at all cost to ensure it will survive the dying culture of Tibetan?  Tibetans may not gain freedom of their homeland during this era but the teaching of Lama Tsongkhapa shall continue to flourish and be preserved to benefit the world.  As we can see Tulkus are now emanating in different parts of the world to spread and uphold the Dharma.  There is a saying in Chinese that Feng Shui always changes hence the upholders of Dharma may no longer be Tibetans but it can be Chinese, Westerners or other nationalities.  It does not matter which race upholds the lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa but so long the essence of the Dharma continues from generation to generation to benefit mankind.

[dondrup]

HH Dalai Lama and TGIF had been striving for independence from China over the last 50 years to no avail.  Since HH Dalai Lama had retired from politics, his successor Dr. Sangay & CTA continue the struggle for autonomy.  Though HH Dalai Lama had garnered a lot of support from many Western countries leaders, but as can be seen from this article, Canada (and many other Western countries too) did not want to offend China and was careful in its dealings with HH Dalai Lama.  China had become a superpower today.  Many Western leaders had remained passive and chosen not to offend China.  There were many Western countries leaders whom HH Dalai Lama had met in the past but had not actively helped Tibet gain independence or autonomy until today.

[VS]

The quest for Tibet's struggle for autonomy may as slim as ever since HH Dalai Lama escape from Tibet. It is also a fact that there are more Chinese in Tibet now as compared to the local Tibetans and economic development are dominated by the Chinese.

Most of the once powerful nations are not prepared to have any head-on dealings that will go against the up and coming super power country, China. To them, it is more important to look after the welfare of their own countries. Many of these leaders has chosen not to offend China.

Even the meeting between US President Obama with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in 2011 was held very low profile despite the President reiterating his strong support for the preservation of the unique religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions of Tibet and the Tibetan people throughout the world. He underscored the importance of the protection of human rights of Tibetans in China.

Despite all these, Lama Tsongkhapa's teaching and DS practice has emigrated from Tibet and spread around the world. Isn't this a skilful way in spreading the dharma?

[Klein]

It is logical to warn that Tibetan culture is dying because of the majority of Han people residing in Tibet. After a few generations, Tibetan culture can only be read in the books.  CTA is not doing enough to help the Tibetans in exile. There is a large population who practises Dorje Shugden and is treated like outcasts.

So I believe HHDL's prediction is inevitable. It only shows that life is transient. As written by icy, what's more important is that the dharma lives on. Without the dharma, people will be stuck in samsara and the sufferings will continue.

Foreign countries won't directly go against China as they need to protect their countries' interests. That's obvious. Sorry to say, supporting CTA is a charitable deed that doesn't bring much benefit to their respective country. At the current rate that CTA is operating, they will not get anywhere. Perhaps CTA needs Dorje Shugden's help!!!

[dsdisciple]

Hi Icy,
 
I have to agree with you from my own experience with many Tibetan Exiles where I live have been influenced by the chinese in Tibet. I just about  fell off my chair when visiting Tibetan friends watching the latest chinese sitcom they watched in Tibet about a Tibetan Family in chinese language.

To younger 18-25yrs Tibetans in Tibet fluent in chinese and Tibetan and older generations even less so but can definitely see a time when Tibetan Culture would be non-existent in years to come.
 
With more and more going on into higher education at university level (I know of only a handful in the Tibetan exile community I live in because at this time the cost prohibits many parents sending kids to higher education and high standard of academic ability required for few placements available).

It is definitely exciting and interesting to see the development of Dharma outside of Tibet exciting times  ahead a renaissance I dare to dream is coming....that would benefit many

xo

[DharmaDefender]

Actually the Dalai Lama has a point. The Tibetan culture of tolerance and compassion is dying.

What I find interesting is how people never see a separation in His Holiness spiritual and secular roles, even though His Holiness has stepped down. He will forever be known as the Dalai Lama who lost then fought for Tibet, no matter how many times he insists he is just a simple monk. Maybe the Tibetans dont want to see him as anything else because if they do, then theyve lost hope for Tibetan independence? And maybe the Chinese need to create a villain to continue justifying their presence in Tibet? And maybe the West want to keep him idolised as the holy, mystical man from Shangrila because it's easier than dealing with all the complexities of the situation...Tibet wants China out of Tibet, Tibetans want Tibetans to stop suppressing their religion, India cant let the Tibetans down but at the same time want to kiss Chinese arse...

Whatever it is, I find the whole thing to be a giant game of charades and smoke screens that are pointless at the time of death. If only everyone just focused on helping the people next to them, instead of playing this game that benefits no one.

On another note, I find it hilarious that "Gere warned the Harper government on Friday not to abandon its commitment to the Dalai Lama in pursuit of China's growing wealth"...warned? Who does he think he is?

[kris]

Tibet has been "hidden" away from the world so many years, due to its geographic location. That is a indeed a good thing, because of this, all the ancient knowledge of Buddhism has been preserved. However, with all the new technology such as internet, etc, the globalization will definitely come, and in some case, some culture will "die" (Well, I have seen the culture of Korea does not die because of globalization).

I felt that with globalization, this is something inevitable. What I do agree is that we need to preserve the good qualities of the culture, such as compassionate, etc.

[Ensapa]

Tibetan culture is dying not because China took over, but because the Tibetans themselves did not do a good job of preserving it. They were too focused, far too focused on getting their independence which does not mean a lot if by culture, they mean the Dalai Lama. It would be so much better for the people in Dharamsala now to focus on passing on their culture (not idiotic mentalities) to their young ones so that it is alive within them rather than focusing on a ban on Dorje Shugden that distracts them from preserving their culture.

[Namdrol]

The only culture of Tibet that worth saving is the the Tibetan Buddhism, other than that, the rest of the so-called culture is really insignificant, it is just for nostalgic reasons.

Have you heard of any world famous Tibetan food, song, dance, calligraphy, poem??? None. Therefore, sorry to say, these things dont matter, let the Chinese preserve it (however superficial it may seem) in Tibet itself.

We the Buddhists outside Tibetan just have to make sure that Tibetan Buddhism is preserved and continues to grow.

[jessicajameson]

Systems like the Tibetan Children Village Schools (TCVs) help to preserve Tibetan culture, and pass them down to the next generation. Just last week, 16,000 more Tibetan orphans arrived from Tibet to India.

I do believe that Tibetans take much pride in their culture, and do put their efforts to preserve it, such as the Tibet Fund Program.

However, it's true what Namdrol says, the only culture worth saving for their country is Tibetan Buddhism. It's the only one that's the most worthwhile to put energy towards. They should be extremely proud that there's a sect of Buddhism named after their country! lol

[beggar]

I think a more interesting point is that yet another large country is starting to pull back its support of Tibet. China is emerging more strongly than ever as a force not to be messed with in the world, for both political and economic reasons. Are these countries scared of China's threat that they will withdraw financial aid, business, trade? I'm sure they are. On a secular level, any country would only want the best for themselves, economic growth, good political standing with a growing power, financial security for their people.

Unfortunately, siding with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause brings far fewer benefits than playing their cards right with the Chinese. As fair and just a cause it may be, siding with the Tibetans probably brings far greater trouble than its worth. Unfortunately, in this case, nice guys do lose.

There is no denying that China has an increasingly strong influence on the world. It may be just a political and economic influence for now, but this can eventually also lead to cultural, religious and social influence. After all, isn't this how American culture has infiltrated the homes of youths all over the world? Or how Christianity became so widely spread throughout Africa and Asia, during the time that the British had its greatest influence in the world?

And so, we might look forward to a similar influence that China will have on the world. Remembering that China has a very rich Buddhist history, this could very well see a renaissance that will eventually go back out to the rest of the world. It is already happening now - some of the grandest, most famous Buddhist sites are in China, which sees a growing influx of tourists every year. Dorje Shugden will have a part to play in this. As the Dalai Lama decreed that this practice would shorten his life and do bad for the Tibetan cause, the practice has only grown throughout China. As it continues to grow alongside China's growing economic and political stand in the world, we can only look forward to a time when Buddhism, its practices and protectors too start being introduced and adopted throughout the world.

This, I think, is a far more positive spin to the situation, and a much larger and more important picture than the small point about the dilution of Tibetan culture!

[Ensapa]

What could actually equally work is that CTA works together with China to preserve the Tibetan culture. To my knowledge, China is doing their best to restore ruined temples in Tibet proper and giving benefits and classes to monks and nuns as well, with the teacher probably being one of the former Trijang Rinpoche's or Pabongkha Rinpoche's direct disciples. Sure, more han chinese are moving into Tibet, but thats more or less because the Tibetans themselves are not working hard and they blame the chinese but overall, China is doing a much better job that CTA when it comes to preserving their culture as CTA held exhibitions on Tibetan Buddhist items, restored temples, and have exhibition on thangka painters etc over the past few years.

What has the CTA done?