Author Topic: The Speech of the previous Prime Minister of Tibet, Mr. Samdhong Rinpoche.  (Read 3410 times)

icy

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The Speech of the previous Prime Minister of Tibet, Mr. Samdhong Rinpoche contd....


"A pure Buddhist culture remained in Tibet which has expressed in numerous Art and Literature. I think Tibet is the one richest, as far as spiritual canonical treatises and Buddhist literature is concerned. Tibet has a very short spell of cultural and spiritual history as I mentioned, 1300 years at the most, and having a small population, at any point of time, not more than 6 million, had produced enormous, the largest amount of literature in the world which was never in countries such as China or India, having a numerous number of population and having more than 5000 years of history.
Even then if we compare the amount of literature which was produced by China and by India and by Tibet, the amount of Tibetan literature is in no way less than the amount of presently available Indian literature or China’s literature. That means that Tibet has the richest accumulation of cultural heritage from India. Of course, we have also certain contribution from China, but China’s contribution was in the form of food preparation, cloth weaving or for certain extent agriculture. Apart from that, the entirety of spiritual heritage, the religion, the philosophy, the system of healing, the system of astrology, the system of art and sculpture, all these have been inherited from the Buddhist India.
Today you’ll find so many spiritual music instruments as you have witnessed this morning the chanting for the musical instruments, all of them have been inherited from Takshashila, Nalanda, or Vikramashila, Uddandpuri etc, etc, from India. Today you will not find this in India, but it is entirely preserved in Tibet. The butter sculpture, the image making, the Thangka painting, all these are based on the basis of Sanskrit literature which is called Chitra rachana that means the science of painting, the science of art. These are lost in Sanskrit originally in India, but its translation in Tibet version is still preserved in Tibet, and all these Thangka paintings, butter sculpture, sculpture of images, the mandalas, the sand colored mandalas, which completely disappeared from India but still these are preserved in Tibet without any distortion, without any deterioration , exactly in accordance with the specifications given in the treatises, in the root texts; are still available, the lineage, the oral transmission and the demonstration of the actual dream, all these are still preserved in Tibet. Therefore, Tibet has a very rich cultural heritage, spiritual heritage and which is very much relevant for the welfare of humanity even in the 21st century."

I concur what previous Prime Minister of Tibet, Mr. Samdhong Rinpoche said about the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of Tibet.  Let us not forget Dorje Shugden practice is part of this rich Tibetan cultural and spiritual heritage.  Let's not loose this immensely rich and beneficial heritage but preserve it by working hard to lift the ban.  This heritage is not only beneficial to Tibetans but to the whole world at large for the 21st century and beyond. If all Tibetans are united to this cause, all can be won effortlessly and swiftly.   Unity is a powerful weapon for Tibetans to achieve what they are fighting for even without lifting a weapon.  CTA has to be smart in winning their cause.  It is a big challenge no doubt but workable and a peaceful method within their capacity by lifting the ban and encouraging Dorje Shugden practice and becoming China's friends in a peace way to bring freedom for Tibetans.  Dorje Shugden is China's sovereign protector and is the protector China will condone.  So why oppose Dorje Shugden when Dorje Shugden can bring them freedom.  I hope CTA will consider this move seriously.

triesa

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Hi Icy, where and when do you find this speech of Samdhong Rinpoche?

I sometimes wonder, since Dorje Shugden is being suppressed by Dalai Lama and the then TGIE, and now the CTA, Dorje Shugden is not banned or suppressed in any way shape or form in China. It is like anything opposite to what the Dalai Lama or CTA are encouraging, China will be happily doing it.

So if CTA lifted the ban too soon, I wonder would there be any effect in the way Dorje Shugden is spreading and being practised in China now, just a thought. May be the practice of Dorje Shudgen needs to take a much deeper root before the ban should be lifted.

If Dalai Lama is working hand in hand to promote Dorje Shugden lineage, and especially now he has retired from being a political head of CTA, so there are actually higher chances for the ban to be lifted. But the fact that the ban remains as it is, perhaps there may be other issues.......

hope rainbow

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Thanks for sharing this transcript.

What Samdhong Rinpoche is describing is what need to be saved, not a physical territory, but a culture.
Why is this culture so important?
Because it was shaped around the Vajrayana Buddhism inherited from the great Indian universities now long gone.

The tibetan language is built around the Dharma teachings.
The music instruments for uses in pujas, the art & craft for the making of puja paraphernalia and Buddha statues, the dances for Buddhist festivals, etc...
This culture has great meaning because of its very close setting with spirituality.

It does not mean that the mastery of Tibetan language is compulsory to undertake a spiritual journey in the steps of Lama Tsongkhapa, no, I don't mean to say that.
I am saying that it would be a loss to not have an active Tibetan culture, or a culture all together that has such a powerful history and connection with spirituality.

China will benefit greatly from this culture that is now politico-geographically part of the Chinese culture.
China shall and will respect it, and embrace its spiritual aspect, because it is aligned with Chinese culture, in fact it is, now, Chinese already.