Yet another move on the chessboard!!!

[Positive Change]

I came across this article and am wondering if HHDL really has stepped down and is solely focusing on spiritual issues. I find it disheartening to find out that HHDL is giving his 'approval' by attending this rally. Sound not stepping down mean completely not having anything to do with political situations or staying away from politically charged scenarios?

What message is HHDL trying to send in showing up? Surely HHDL knows the impact it would have on the rally with his 'silent' approval. Perhaps the answer lies in the paragraph I highlighted in red whereby the Chinese government is so paranoid that such actions will spur the Chinese government to kick into gear more 'offensive' measures with regards to the ban issue?

Perhaps HHDL is playing a game of chess whereby HHDL is sacrificing a valuable chess piece to get closer to the final check mate? As with all great 'chess players', HHDL is countless steps beyond our comprehension... perhaps even knowing... correction... definitely knowing what the outcome will be...

Daily Teleghraph
May 11 2012

A mass “solidarity” rally for Tibet has been organized in the Austrian capital city of Vienna due to take place on the 26th of this month.

Already, tens of thousands of people are expected to show up and attend this European Tibet Solidarity Rally which is being organized by pro-Tibetan groups in Europe.

The Dalai Lama also plans to attend the rally to address those attending.

The rally is being organized to basically pressure the nation members of the European Union to address the Chinese government and somehow work with the anti-Dalai Lama government to ease the repressive and human rights violating policies in Tibet.

Organizers of the rally have stated that, besides a high political level of discourse between the EU and China regarding greater autonomy of Tibet or Tibet in general, they wish to form a EU delegation to visit Tibetan areas and even make the position of ‘European Union Special Coordinator’ for issues that deal with Tibet.

The rally will be seen as an affront and threat in the eyes of the Chinese government which has so far been incredibly sensitive and wrathful when it came to the issue of Tibet, the Dalai Lama and the Dalai Lama’s visits to other countries.

In fact, just recently China overreacted to the Dalai Lama’s planned presence at the Global Buddhist Congregation in New Delhi meant to celebrate 2,600 years since the Enlightenment of Siddartha Guatma.

Fortunately, the Indian government did not comply with the Chinese government’s demands of barring the Dalai Lama from attending unlike the South African government when it essentially put the Dalai Lama in visa limbo after the Chinese government demanded that the Dalai Lama be barred from entering South Africa to attend the birthday party of fellow friend Desmond Tutu.

Ever since the Chinese government marched into Tibet with its military in 1950 and effectively ended Tibet’s autonomy, the Dalai Lama’s relationship with China has been sour and full of incredible, one-sided hostility from the Chinese government.

After a failed uprising in 1959, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee Tibet and set up a government-in-exile near India’s border with China.

For decades, the Dalai Lama has been traveling around the world raising awareness and support for what he calls “greater autonomy” for Tibetans who are dissatisfied with Chinese rule.

Meanwhile the Chinese government has been venomously trying to stamp out the Dalai Lama’s influence by forcing monks to live in “reeducation” camps, refusing to deal with other governments who invited the Dalai Lama to their countries or even “warning” others of a strain in relations, like with the United States when President Obama invited the Dalai Lama to the White House.

Many are outraged that the Chinese government has audaciously claimed the right to choose the Panchen Lama, who is to be the next Dalai Lama, as they see Tibet as just another province of China just as the Chinese government sees the virtually independent Taiwan as a Chinese province.

The Han Chinese ethnicity has also been recently clashing with other ethnic groups, such as the Uighurs, who lament that their cultures are being stifled by the overwhelming presence of Han Chinese.

In addition to attending a mass rally, the Dalai Lama has been attracting considerable attention over the news of him receiving the Templeton Prize, the biggest monetary prize in the world for spiritually contributing to humanity.

The Dalai Lama added that he will be giving the entire sum of money away and will announce who the recipient of this sum will be at the ceremony this Monday at St. Paul’s.

[vajratruth]

Retiring from his secular role does not mean that HHDL should refrain from participating in any pro-independent-Tibet activity. Tibet as an independent country was annexed and the people have struggled for more than half a century to regain autonomy. Not having military or economic clout, the only thing they can do is take their woes onto the world stage and ask for help.

Although Tibet is still not free, HHDL has done very well to bring the Tibetan cause into our living rooms and that is some achievement. As a result anything about the Dalai Lama is frowned upon by the Chinese government. I guess this deep anti Dalai Lama sentiment has been put into very clever and effective use by HHDL to get the Chinese to widely embrace the Dorje Shugden practice (if indeed such practice has yield harm to His Holiness). And of course HHDL would want to be in any activity that will rouse the Chinese to promote DS more.

Tibet's loss is the world's gain as it was the catalyst for Tibetan Buddhism to spread around the globe and highly attained Lamas to become more accessible.

I also would like to conclude that in my opinion HHDL alone has done more to draw attention to the Tibetan dilemma than the entire CTA.
 

[Ensapa]

HHDL is still the symbol for Tibetan independence and as such he appears to give his approval for any effort made to give hope to the people of Tibet that one day they can return to their homeland and get out from India, since the people in Tibet cant see what is going on due to China's censorship. Perhaps, it is also his way of planting Dharma seeds into the mindstreams of the people attending.

HHDL has been working extremely hard for the Tibetans, even at the cost of his life to promote their cause and to help them migrate back to their own country and promote more independence and autonomy for their sake. Aside from showing him superficial respect, what else has the Tibetans done to really alleviate HHDL's works for the Tibetans? Nothing! They just sit there and wait for instructions..

The Tibetans could have done so much more for their own happiness, that is, liberating the country such as making relations with other countries, or even have dialogue with the Chinese, or forging relations with the current Chinese government instead of keep demanding for independence which does not work as China does not listen to commands and demands....they should be smarter than this..

At the end, HHDL still has to do all the work of running around promoting Tibet's cause when it is really the Kalon Tripa's job. And this is on top of all the administration work he would have to do if he was still the secular leader. The Tibetans really do not do anything to help lessen his burden and at least take initiative to perform some of his duties but only increase and add on more...

[harrynephew]

Tibet's loss is the world's gain as it was the catalyst for Tibetan Buddhism to spread around the globe and highly attained Lamas to become more accessible.

I also would like to conclude that in my opinion HHDL alone has done more to draw attention to the Tibetan dilemma than the entire CTA.

Can't agree more with this statement. People within CTA is unable to (or maybe too busy with their own petty little things) to bring the world's attention to the predicament of the Tibetans(or rather are they too shameful to have monks self-immolate?)

HHDL is the only figure within the Tibetan community stepping forward(with the detriment of HH's safety for the cause of Tibet) for the cause of Tibet. When can CTA understand the severity of the Tibetans of the future when HHDL is not around anymore? If they do not take lead now, when will they be able to do it?

I think at the speed of their reaction, you can only say that CTA will slowly be deminishing in size and stature with time.

[Vajraprotector]

On one side His Holiness attended the rally, which means His Holiness made a stand and still pursues the cause of Tibet, and yet in another recent interview, talks about how how he's going to devote his time to promotion of values and religious harmony.

Although His Holiness did not mention directly about the autonomy and fighting for the cause of it, the part about how His Holiness appreciates those who are committed to the principal of non-violence and also the supposed 'approval' from Mao Zedong to fly the Tibetan flag does not seem so simple and has deeper connotations.


 See excerpts from 2 articles below,

1. The Dalai Lama: A year after devolving political authority
By Vishal Gulati, IANS
Dharamsala, May 28

- “He’s my boss,” the Dalai Lama said last week of Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay, adding: “Although, when it comes to spiritual affairs, I’m still his boss.”

-  “Since the Tibetan prime minister was first elected in 2001, I have been semi-retired. But after Lobsang Sangay was elected last year, I thought the time was right. So I retired completely and handed my political responsibilities to him,” he added.

- He said he was now devoting his time to his two commitments – promotion of values and religious harmony.

-  “In 2001, we had the direct election of the Kalon Tripa (prime minister) and following the two terms of Samdhong Rinpoche. The enthusiasm of the Tibetan people in the election process made me decide that I should go for the devolution of his political authority to the new Kalon Tripa and have complete retirement,” he said.

- The Dalai Lama believes that he will see Tibet again. “I think at a practical level, my health is quite good. So I’m expecting another 10-20 years. So within that period, definitely things will change,” he told the BBC Radio in an interview this month.

- Later, on his hopes about Tibet, he said in Vienna: “Observing the power of truth compared to the power of the gun for over 50 years, it seems that in the short term the gun may prevail, but in the long run the power of truth is much stronger.”

From: http://tibet.net/2012/05/28/the-dalai-lama-a-year-after-devolving-political-authority/


2. His Holiness Meets the Austrian Chancellor, attends a Science Symposium and the European Rally for Tibet
May 27th 2012

- “Because of our Buddhist culture we are committed to the principle of non-violence. We are an example of a small community who have remained dedicated to pursuing our struggle through non-violent means, which is why your support is so extremely valuable and I want to tell you how much I appreciate it.

- “Finally, I see how many of you are waving the Tibetan flag. Chinese hard-liners often refer to our flag as a symbol of splittist tendencies, but I want to tell you that when I was in China 1954-55, I met Chairman Mao Zedong and other leaders on several occasions. Once, Chairman Mao asked me, 'Do you have a flag?' I hesitantly answered, 'Yes,' and his reply was to say, 'Good, it is important that you keep this flag and fly it next to the red flag of China. So I feel I received permission then to fly this flag from Chairman Mao himself.”

From: http://dalailama.com/news/post/804-his-holiness-meets-the-austrian-chancellor-attends-a-science-symposium-and-the-european-rally-for-tibet

[Big Uncle]

Do you know that a Bodhisattva will never retire from his work and in fact, there's never been a Dalai Lama that retires from what he is suppose to be doing in that life. There are some Dalai Lamas that remained more of a recluse than others.

However, my point in bringing that up is to face the facts that the Dalai Lama is still very healthy and alert. So there's no way, he will be attending these kind of rallies and events to give his talks and to meet people. That's what he does best and what he will continue to do until his very last breath. That's also a proof of his true nature inside of him. He has never treated this like a job that he just retires from when he gets to a certain age. It is his life blood and purpose for living.

That's just amazing dedication and why he has gotten so far with what he does. His endless passion brings him to greater heights on the world's stage. He influence is global and that has tremendous benefits for Buddhism and one of the main reasons why it is surviving and in some cases, prospering. So, it doesn't really matter what the Dalai Lama does, it will only serve to bring tremendous benefits. 

[dsiluvu]

Do you know that a Bodhisattva will never retire from his work and in fact, there's never been a Dalai Lama that retires from what he is suppose to be doing in that life. There are some Dalai Lamas that remained more of a recluse than others.

However, my point in bringing that up is to face the facts that the Dalai Lama is still very healthy and alert. So there's no way, he will be attending these kind of rallies and events to give his talks and to meet people. That's what he does best and what he will continue to do until his very last breath. That's also a proof of his true nature inside of him. He has never treated this like a job that he just retires from when he gets to a certain age. It is his life blood and purpose for living.

That's just amazing dedication and why he has gotten so far with what he does. His endless passion brings him to greater heights on the world's stage. He influence is global and that has tremendous benefits for Buddhism and one of the main reasons why it is surviving and in some cases, prospering. So, it doesn't really matter what the Dalai Lama does, it will only serve to bring tremendous benefits.

This is a different perspective to look at it and it is definitely so TRUE. Come to think of it HHDL is still very much in control even in the political scenes and well Mr. PM looks like a trainee next to him - sorry. But we must realise one thing without HH the Dalai Lama so many people would not have been benefitted. We basically in the West would not have even heard of Vajrayana Buddhism so quickly.

I sincerely do not think that HHDL has not achieve his goal, which many think is getting Freedom for Tibet. Truly I think His one true goal is spreading the Dharma in any way shape or form... even if it means through the political scenes... unfortunately. And I honestly do believe that this whole Dorje Shugden BAN which is so wrong in all logical aspects... seems to be another of His Holiness goal... to spread it! LOL
What more?

If He is not the real Dalai Lama like how some would say and was a fake... then he is also one super smart powerful charismatic dude that has such a strong energy pull with people.... now if you are a fake, to fill such a huge shoes as being His Holiness the Dalai Lama would still mean you are somebody. No ordinary person could do it. Vice versa with what they say about the 11th Panchen Lama.

Anyway at the end of the day... we can check the results... and now results shows Vajrayana Buddhism has gone global and so has Dorje Shugden