Press Release Issued by Bureau du Tibet, Brussels

Deputy Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel with Mark H. Luttrell, JR, Mayor of Shelby County Government, in Memphis, Tennessee

DHARAMSHALA: After attending the 6th World Parliamentarians’ Conference on Tibet in Ottawa last month, the Tibetan Parliament in Exile’s deputy speaker visited US and met officials and general public to apprise them about the critical situation inside Tibet.

On the closing day of the WPCT conference on 29 April, Deputy Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel was invited by Palyul Buddhist learning centre in Ottawa.  During the visit, the deputy speaker met with a group of foreign and Tibetan students and explained to them the important issues raised during the world parliamentarians’ conference on Tibet and the issue of Tibet. (Read Ottawa Declaration on Tibet)

The deputy speaker left Ottawa on 1 May for an official visit to Memphis, Tennessee.

He met Memphis Mayor Mark H Luttrell, Jr, and the two discussed the critical situation inside Tibet in view of the desperate situation under the Chinese government’s rule which is pushing Tibetans to set themselves on fire.

He visited the National Civil Rights Museum and met with its director.

He also met with US Congressman Steve Cohen’s district director Mr Randy Wade and expressed the Tibetan people’s gratitude to the government, Congress and the people of the United States for taking great interest in the Tibetan issue and their strong support. He also briefed Mr Wade about the last wishes and slogans made by the Tibetans when they set themselves on fire. He also raised the issue of Tibetan language and the worsening religious freedom and human rights situation in Tibet.

Mr Wade pledged to extend strong support to towards resolving the issue of Tibet.

The deputy speaker returned to Dharamsala on 18 May.

The decision that would launch one of the most intense and improbable negotiations in the history of U.S.-China relations was made in the space of hours — and it was sparked by a series of phone calls to the American Embassy.

Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident, was somewhere in the sprawling edges of Beijing on Wednesday, April 25. His foot was broken in several places from a daring getaway from house arrest three days earlier, and his leg was beginning to swell. According to the activists who placed the initial calls, he was moving from place to place to avoid detection.

He was pleading for shelter.

The request hit the embassy like a rocket, setting off a flurry of secure calls among officials in Beijing and senior State Department officials in Washington. They weighed various scenarios, the possible diplomatic fallout with the Chinese, and the consequences for high-level meetings planned for the following week between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and China’s top leaders.

The name Fang Lizhi quickly came up. The last Chinese dissident U.S. officials were known to have ushered into the embassy, in 1989, Fang had remained stuck behind its walls for more than a year, exacerbating friction between the United States and China.

With Chen, the embassy had been told there was a narrow window of opportunity because of his need to keep moving. Senior White House officials were briefed. Then Clinton relayed her ultimate decision to the embassy: Bring him in.

Talks with the Chinese began four days later.

“When we proceeded, we did it with clear eyes about what we were getting into,” said a senior administration official involved in the process, which culminated Saturday with Chen’s arrival in the United States.

For weeks, U.S. officials have kept secret many of the sensitive details about their negotiations over Chen’s fate. But with the 40-year-old lawyer safely aboard a plane Saturday, senior administration officials described extensively for the first time their dealings with the Chinese — how they struck the first deal only to have it fall apart, and how the negotiations almost collapsed again.

The officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, detailed their efforts in the midst of continuing criticism by Republicans and some human rights groups over their handling of the crisis. Those critics argue that U.S. officials were too trusting of the Chinese and failed to secure hard guarantees — assertions Obama administration officials refute.

Diplomacy with China is often complicated by its government’s opaque nature, layers of bureaucracy, rule by the Communist Party and sometimes puzzling decision-making process.

But those involved in the negotiations said the high-stakes talks over Chen offer a rare glimpse into how China’s leadership operates in real time — under considerable internal and external pressures.

The Chinese Embassy did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Two unidentified men

The negotiation room at the Foreign Ministry compound in East Beijing was set up with two long tables, each with a microphone. Elaborate Chinese art hung on the walls.

The Americans were greeted at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 29, by familiar faces from the ministry — chief among them Cui Tiankai, a diplomat they had dealt with countless times. But on either side of the Chinese diplomats were two men who did not introduce themselves and were not introduced by others.

Not until days later, with an initial deal in sight, did the Americans learn that one of them was a representative of China’s Ministry of State Security — a powerful branch in charge of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations. The other, the Americans later surmised, was from an unidentified branch of China’s intelligence apparatus.

On the U.S. side were six State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell, who had been brought from Washington; legal adviser Harold Koh, who happened to be in the country for a conference; and the U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke.

The Chinese officials — 10 in all — conferred periodically in quiet huddles, but in a show of discipline, almost none uttered a word to the Americans over the course of four days. Only Cui talked.

Many in the room had worked with Cui on numerous sensitive issues. The previous year, in fact, Cui had sat across from some of the same U.S. officials, negotiating a joint U.S.-China statement during President Hu Jintao’s last visit with Obama in Washington.

Later, in response to criticism that the Americans should have negotiated with higher-ranking officials, or with China’s powerful security branch, several U.S. officials would argue that it was not up to them to choose their negotiating partners.

Their hands were tied in other ways as well. The Chinese warned that if word leaked that Chen was at the embassy, they would respond by charging him with treason.

The first pitch

At that first meeting, the Americans proposed that the Chinese negotiate directly with Chen. Chen had made it clear in long conversations with U.S. officials that he wanted to stay in China so he could remain relevant.

If Chen planned to stay, U.S. officials reasoned, he would need to build trust with government authorities. Having Chinese officials see him in person would also confirm U.S. claims about Chen’s injuries.

But the Chinese rejected a meeting with Chen. Foreign Ministry officials refused to go to the U.S. Embassy to negotiate. And the Americans couldn’t bring Chen out without losing all leverage.

Over the course of the negotiations, the Chinese never put any proposals on the table. Their role was strictly reactive. At the end of each meeting, Cui would leave to report the latest terms to Chinese leaders. At times, he would enter the next meeting having come directly from the compound reserved for China’s highest leaders.

“We would put something forward, and were getting answers back almost immediately from the highest levels,” one senior administration official said. “I have never seen the Chinese government working this rapidly and efficiently.”

Meanwhile, the 12-hour time difference with Washington meant U.S. negotiators were getting little sleep, spending most of their night hours briefing the White House and State Department via secure lines at the embassy.

Negotiating with Chen could sometimes be as difficult as negotiating with Chinese officials. Conversations with him could be deeply moving. He often seemed fragile — a blind man with few possessions, sleeping in a small unadorned room in the barracks of the embassy. He talked of how much he missed his wife and worried about his children.

But he could pivot in an instant, displaying a steely shrewdness as he detailed the demands he wanted conveyed to Chinese officials.

Timing as leverage

U.S. officials say they soon came to realize that Clinton’s impending visit to Beijing might actually play in their favor.

Chinese negotiators had made clear they had a strong desire to resolve the issue before the upcoming Strategic and Economic Dialogue, scheduled to begin May 3.

If negotiators didn’t succeed in resolving the matter before Clinton’s arrival, the crisis could escalate, drawing in higher-ranking officials. It was one thing for career diplomats to privately hash it out in a room; it would be quite another for Clinton to address the issue directly in meetings with China’s leadership. It was clear the Chinese negotiators wanted to avoid that.

As one senior administration official put it: “At end of the day, having Hillary Clinton come in and put things very directly and say this is what we’re seeking . . . is of a different character than having a team of negotiators say it.”

The breakthrough came on the fourth day, when the Chinese agreed to bring Chen’s family to Beijing by high-speed train. It was the sign of good faith that Chen had been seeking — his wife and two children would be out of reach of the local authorities in Shandong province — and although Chen hesitated a few more times, it was his family’s safety that persuaded him to finalize a deal.

U.S. officials had gotten agreement from the Chinese that Chen would stay at a hospital for two weeks, then relocate immediately to one of seven universities, most likely the one in nearby Tianjin. After about two years in Tianjin, Chen would be able to study in the United States or, if he preferred, transfer to a New York University-sponsored program in Shanghai.

If all went according to plan, Clinton would be able to announce the terms of the agreement to the news media at the end of the upcoming conference.

A few hours after Clinton’s plane landed on Wednesday, May 2, Chen agreed to leave the embassy and reunite with his family at the hospital.

Ambassador Locke asked Chen three times whether he was sure about leaving the embassy and accepting the deal to stay in China. Chen told Locke he was ready to make a better life for himself.

A misstep

U.S. officials had negotiated maintaining access to Chen while he was at the hospital. But on the evening Chen reunited with his family, the last official remaining decided to leave, out of a sense that they desired some privacy.

It was a decision that would be endlessly scrutinized and criticized in coming days, by Chen’s supporters, by Republican lawmakers and by human rights advocates — a decision even some U.S. officials would later acknowledge was a mistake.

The Americans had provided Chen with three preprogrammed cellphones to ensure access, but they did not anticipate that he would use them in a nonstop stream of interviews over the next two days — even calling in to a congressional hearing in Washington.

Chen began telling friends and anyone he could reach that he had been abandoned and feared for his safety. Supporters and reporters descended on the hospital, prompting a crackdown by security guards.

Suddenly, the Chinese Foreign Ministry broke its silence on the case, issuing a statement in which it lambasted U.S. interference and demanded an apology.

To many outside the government, it appeared as if the Chinese were annulling the deal. But many U.S. officials who were there say that the Chinese appeared willing to follow through on the deal and would have, if Chen hadn’t changed his mind.

“To this moment there is no aspect of those understandings that they didn’t fulfill,” said one senior U.S. official, noting that the Chinese had kept their promise to open an investigation into the abuse Chen suffered and allowed him to communicate freely.

The closing pitch

By the morning of Thursday, May 3, in Beijing, it was clear there was a problem: Chen wanted to leave China.

U.S. officials realized they had underestimated the animosity of Chen’s friends and fellow dissidents toward his decision to stay, and overnight as he sat alone with his family, they had clearly persuaded him to reconsider.

By then, the conference was in full swing, and any negotiations would have to take place in the short breaks between sessions.

For the first time, U.S. officials floated the idea of Chen going to the United States. With the situation rapidly falling apart, they suggested it was the quickest path to resolution. At an afternoon meeting, Cui appeared angry as he listened to the proposal but left to convey the message to his leaders.

That night, after a full day at the conference, Clinton gave her tired and dispirited negotiating team a pep talk. They weighed the options, including allowing for a cooling-off period. But ultimately, Clinton called for a full-court press to reach an immediate solution.

Hours later, Campbell contacted Cui to tell him they needed another meeting in the morning.

Cui responded heatedly, his voice so loud it could be heard by others in the room with Campbell: “We did this once already!”

By morning, Clinton decided to raise the stakes and meet directly with Dai Bingguo, China’s senior foreign policy official. A sit-down was scheduled for 9 a.m.

Clinton opened with praise for both sides’ negotiators and their original agreement. Then she carefully framed the new proposal in terms of the first deal.

The plan all along had been for Chen to be able to study in the United States after his two years in Tianjin, she pointed out. All the United States was asking for was to move up that timetable.

She described the moment in lofty terms — as an inflection point in history that could have enormous bearing on future relations between the two countries.

Dai sat very still and, when he spoke, did so almost in a whisper.

China has done all it can, he said. He hesitated, then added that if the Americans believed more was possible, the negotiating teams could sit down again.

“I don’t want to talk to him anymore,” Cui blurted out in Chinese, gesturing toward Campbell.

Dai told Cui to try once more.

“We go out uncertain what to expect,” one official said. “What we’re waiting for is a signal.”

Breach of protocol

A glimmer of hope came not long afterward, at Clinton’s meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao.

In the middle of the meeting, as Wen and Clinton were talking, a junior Chinese officer stood up from the table and pulled Cui, China’s ambassador to Washington, Zhang Yesui, and their lieutenants from the meeting — an extraordinary breach of typical protocol.

Behind a large wall, the Chinese officials held an animated deliberation. When the officials returned to their seats, they appeared tense but slightly more confident.

After the meeting, one of them pulled Campbell aside. “Are you certain this is what he wants?” the official asked.

“We’re absolutely certain,” Campbell replied.

During a lunch break, as the State Department’s Victoria Nuland briefed reporters, a journalist handed her a BlackBerry with a news alert from Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

Chinese officials had declared that, as a Chinese citizen, Chen was free to apply to study abroad. Whether it signaled that the Chinese had fully committed to letting him go — or were simply stalling — remained unclear.

Shortly afterward, Cui met again with Campbell and three other Americans.

For a full hour, he harped on the issue of U.S. interference. Shortly afterward, Cui made his first mention of the Xinhua story.

“That’s when we knew it was a deliberate move,” one U.S. official said.

The Chinese laid out their demands. They wanted to make clear publicly that Chen was receiving no special treatment, and they needed an undefined period of time before releasing him so it did not appear as if they were caving in to outside pressure.

Most of all, they insisted the agreement was to be presented as a series of parallel and separate undertakings on both sides, not as a “deal,” or even as an “understanding.”

Cui departed with a final warning to the Americans: Don’t say anything that would force us to contradict you.

A last-minute statement

The meeting left the Americans 20 minutes before Clinton was to address reporters.

At least seven senior U.S. officials gathered around a computer to cobble together a statement.

At the news conference, as Cui had been promised, Clinton spoke in positive but general terms. Her spokeswoman released a statement describing U.S. expectations “that the Chinese Government will expeditiously process his applications” for travel documents.

After six days of nearly nonstop crisis diplomacy, there was nothing left to do but wait for word from the Chinese.

It came 15 days later, as Chen was whisked from his hospital and put on a plane to Newark.

The Governor of Corinthia Gerhard Doerfle presents His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Corinthian Gold Medal in Klagenfurt, Austria, on 20 May 2012/Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

Salzburg, Austria, 20 May 2012 – Arriving early at the Klagenfurt Hall this morning, His Holiness first addressed the community of about 350 Tibetans, mostly resident in Austria and Switzerland, who had gathered to meet him. He began by telling them, “We Tibetans, wherever we are, maintain our mental strength and keep a strong hold on our Tibetan identity as we need to do. In addition, we should always remember the Tibetans in Tibet and their strong determination too. They have no fear for themselves, but are devoted to the cause of Tibet.”

He remarked that prior to 1959, although there were spiritual links right across Tibet,  political unity was much weaker. However, due to the Chinese occupation, Tibetans now have a strong solidarity with each other. The robust sense of Tibetan identity that now prevails in Tibet and its bordering areas owes a great deal to the distinct spoken and written Tibetan language. This is something of which Tibetans can be proud. Tibetan literature contains, for example, profound explanations of the mind and its functions, because of which Tibetans can think of Tibetan Buddhism and its culture having a valued role in the world. Tibetan culture is also distinguished by its use of logic and epistemology to sharpen the mind. Although Buddhism came to China earlier than to Tibet, the Chinese do not have the range of books on philosophy and so forth that are found in Tibet.

His Holiness spoke of how Tibetan Buddhist culture is characterized by kindness and compassion for others. He recounted the story of a Tibetan he met in the USA, who worked in a factory processing vegetables. He told His Holiness that whenever he could, he would rescue insects he found in the vegetables, set them aside and later take them outside. His co-workers asked what he was doing and after he had explained Tibetan culture’s reverence for all living beings, they gradually began to do the same.

“We say the Chinese are destroying our culture, but it’d be contradictory if we who live in free countries did nothing to preserve it,” His Holiness said, and explained that an important way to do this is to make sure young Tibetans can speak, read and write in their own language. One of the reasons the Chinese authorities deliberately try to suppress the Tibetan language is that they understand the important role it has in preserving the Tibetan identity. And this is also the reason why schools were urgently established soon after Tibetans first arrived in India.

Regarding his devolution of political authority to the elected leadership last year, His Holiness made clear that it was not a new idea. As early as 1951 and 1952 he had attempted to introduce such reforms in Tibet, but he was obstructed by the Chinese who wanted to change things in their own way. Since the election of Tibetan leaders in 2001, His Holiness has been semi-retired, so he was proud last year, with Samdhong Rinpoche beside him, to hand the Seal of the Tibetan Government that he had received at the age of 16 from Tagtrag Rinpoche to Kalon Tripa, Lobsang Sangay. He said, “Our democratic system has two purposes: to ensure the future of the Tibetan cause, but also to show the Chinese what we can do.” He pointed out that the Ganden Phodrang had existed as the Office of the Dalai Lamas before becoming the government of Tibet and that he had now restored it to its former status.

His final advice to the assembled Tibetans was, “Have a happy mind.”

Opening his talk about the Art of Happiness, he said he would talk about how to lead a happy life in a secular context. He clarified that he uses secular according to the Indian tradition, not disdaining religion, but viewing all religious traditions with respect in a more pluralistic way. As human beings we all want to live our lives free from disturbances, indeed we all have a right to a happy life. But we need to have a realistic method to achieve our goal. We need to take a long-term view and pay attention to our inner values. Warm-heartedness is essential and is something we are equipped with from infancy. It yields a calm mind and self-confidence, which means we can act openly, honestly and transparently, free from anxiety, fear and suspicion. His Holiness concluded, “I find this useful, try it yourselves and if it makes sense, put it to use. If it makes no sense to you, then just forget it!”

His Holiness thanked the organizers of the events in Klagenfurt and the Governor, Gerhard Doerfler, who he acknowledged had come to see him every day he had been there. He praised the Governor’s smile and the sincere warmth in his eyes. In his turn, the Governor thanked His Holiness for coming to his state and offered him the Carinthian Gold Medal.

From the Klagenfurt Hall His Holiness and his party accompanied the Governor to the Klagenfurt Boatyard where they boarded a motor yacht to ride the length of the Wörthersee to Portschach am Wörthersee for lunch. Afterwards, Mrs. Doris Appel interviewed His Holiness, asking him several questions of religious interest, for ORF TV. At the end, she asked who or what he prayed to and he replied that he prays to the Buddha, of course, but mostly in meditation he reflects on the Buddha’s teaching, especially about the nature of reality, applying analysis to it and considering it from various angles. That is what he finds really useful.

At Klagenfurt Airport, His Holiness boarded an aircraft for a short flight over forested mountains to Salzburg, where he was warmly received by the Governor Ms. Gabi Burgstaller. He gave two further television interviews at the airport, the second of which focussed on his recollections of Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter, the two Austrians who had first sparked his interest in Europe and technology. He said Harrer had told him that his seven years in Tibet were the best years of his life, that he proved to be a true friend to Tibet until his death and that his spirit survives in the warm friendship His Holiness continues to have with the people of Austria.

Met by faithful Tibetans and other well-wishers at the door of his hotel, His Holiness retired for the night.
 

Kalon Pema Chhinjor, the officiating Kalon Tripa (L) and Kalon for Security Ngodup Dongchung (R) addressing a press conference on His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s security in Dharamsala on Sunday, 20 May 2012/Photo/Tashi Phuntsok/Tibet Museum

In the recent days, there has been considerable media attention concerning reports of a possible security threat to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The security of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a matter of great concern.

On 8 May 2012, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave an interview to the Sunday Telegraph in Dharamsala, India, during which the interviewer commented on the security surrounding His Holiness. In response, His Holiness remarked that the concerned security agencies have taken his security very seriously ever since his first arrival in India. He mentioned that some time ago the officials responsible for his security received reports from a Tibetan working for the Chinese security establishment inside Tibet that Tibetan women were being trained to poison him by applying poison to their hair and to traditional greeting scarves. When His Holiness meets with Tibetans, they often present him with such scarves and bow their heads to receive his blessing. However, His Holiness also made it quite clear to the interviewer that there is no way to verify such reports. Although His Holiness takes security threat to his person lightly, there are a variety of threats to his well-being that the security agencies are obliged to take it seriously.

According to reports received from Tibet in June 2010, Chinese intelligence agencies are making concrete plans to harm His Holiness by employing well-trained agents, particularly females. It is also learnt that they are exploring the possibility of harming him by using ultra-modern and highly sophisticated drugs and poisonous chemicals. In another report received in October 2011, it is also learnt that Chinese intelligence agencies have stepped up their clandestine efforts to collect intelligence on the status of His Holiness’s health, as well as collecting physical samples of his blood, urine and hair. They are reportedly co-opting Tibetans inside Tibet to visit India with the intention of seeking an audience with him to this end.

In early April 2008, Zhang Qingli, the then Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) held a meeting of all top officials in the government. During that meeting, he quoted as saying, “those who must be killed should be killed and those must be imprisoned must be imprisoned.” Recently in February 2012, Chen Quanguo, the current Party Secretary of TAR, called for “a war against secessionist sabotage”.

In recent years, Chinese government has launched an unprecedented offensive campaign against His Holiness inside Tibet and has also issued instructions to its concerned officials to organise protests by overseas Chinese communities against the Dalai Lama during his visits outside India. A number of such protests have since been organised in the United States, Europe and Japan.

His Holiness’s efforts to reform and democratise Tibetan society have also emboldened certain fundamentalists within the Tibetan community. This relates to differences arising from the worship of the Shugden spirit, which His Holiness had advised the Tibetan people from worshipping against. The primary group among these fundamentalists is the Dorje Shugden Devotees Charitable and Religious Society (DSDCRS), founded in May 1996 with its headquarters in Delhi, India. The supporters of DSDCRS are perhaps the most violent group. The Indian police have identified and charged DSDCRS of murdering three monks close to His Holiness, including his Chinese translator. This triple murder occurred in Dharamsala, India, very close to His Holiness’s personal residence in February 1997. A Red Corner Notice was issued by Interpol in June 2007 for the arrest of two of the accused in this case. Various reports also point to the fact that the Chinese government is also covertly backing the Shugden fundamentalist groups. The leaders of an association called “North America Gelug Association”, which was established in March 2011 in United States, met Chinese officials in New York several times and have also visited China on a regular basis.

The Central Tibetan Administration is grateful to Government of India for the efficient security arrangements provided to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Central Tibetan Administration cautions all concerned to remain vigilant and alert in this regard.

The KASHAG

May 20, 2012

His Holiness the Dalai Lama demonstrating meditation techniques during the afternoon session of the teachings in Klagenfurt, Austria, on 19 May 2012/Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

19 May 2012, Klagenfurt

Under bright blue skies, His Holiness left early for the teaching hall, where he first undertook the preparatory rituals for the Medicine Buddha empowerment he was going to give. Those done, he said he would first complete his explanation of the Heart Sutra. The session opened with a recitation of that text in German by members of the Tibet Center, Hüttenberg, who were the organizers of the present series of teachings.

Quoting Nagarjuna, His Holiness explained that the reason we seek to understand emptiness is to understand reality and to eliminate wrong views and distorted ways of thinking. Wrong view here relates to the second of the Four Noble Truths, the origin of suffering. Once we begin to understand wisdom and eliminate wrong view we may glimpse that achieving liberation is actually possible. It is often said that those with especially sharp faculties realise emptiness first and then generate the awakening mind of Bodhichitta, whereas those who are less sharp first generate the awakening mind and then work to understand emptiness. His Holiness reminded his listeners that understanding of emptiness comes about by listening to or reading explanations of it, thinking about what you have heard or read and then meditating on what you have understood.

Before granting the Medicine Buddha empowerment, His Holiness teased the audience saying that some people think that once they have received it they will no longer fall ill. It is not like that, he said, citing the fact that he has been reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra daily since he first received it at the age of 13 and has eaten a great deal of Tibetan medicine and yet, three years ago, he had to have his gall bladder removed. On the other hand, he said that he has found the practice has some special features, so there is benefit in receiving the empowerment.

After lunch, His Holiness, accompanied by Gerhard Doerfler, the Governor of Carinthia, attended a ceremony to award diplomas to 73 graduates of the Tibet Center study programmes in Buddhist Philosophy and Tibetan Medicine. In his speech congratulating the graduates His Holiness recalled the international medical conference convened by the Tibetan emperor in the eighth century CE attended by delegates from Tibet, China, India, Persia and Arabia. Nowadays too research in collaboration with modern scientists is going on, paying particular attention to one of Tibetan Medicine’s special features: pulse diagnosis. His Holiness would like to encourage further collaboration and to that end has suggested that the 300 or so volumes of the Kangyur and Tengyur, the scriptures originally translated into Tibetan, mostly from Sanskrit, should be categorized under three headings: Buddhist science, Buddhist view and Buddhist religion. The first two categories would be of interest to scientists and other researchers, whereas the third is only the concern of Buddhists.

Back in the teaching hall for the afternoon session several questions were put to His Holiness. Among them was one asking how Buddhist teachings help him deal with feelings of helplessness or anger when confronted by what Chinese authorities are doing in Tibet. His answer was, “When things occur that have the potential to disturb your mind, that’s the time to apply the teachings.” He recounted the story of a senior monk of Namgyal Monastery who spent 20 years in a Chinese prison. After his arrival in India His Holiness was chatting to him one day when he remarked that during his imprisonment he had faced danger several times. His Holiness asked what kind of danger, and he replied, “The danger of losing my compassion for the Chinese.” His Holiness declared this to be the conduct of a real practitioner, someone who kept up his practice even under duress.

Turning to Atisha’s  Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment His Holiness explained how the Ngari King invited him to Tibet and asked him to compose a text for Tibetans to follow. The great Indian master complied by writing this concise Lamp for the Path intended to capture the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. This seminal work, encompassing the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment, subsequently inspired commentaries in all four Tibetan Buddhist traditions, including Je Tsongkhapa’s three volumes of the Stages of the Path. Finally, His Holiness gave an incisive exposition of the Seventh Dalai Lama’s Song of the Four Mindfulnesses. Derived from a lineage passed from Je Tsongkhapa to Je Sherab Sengge and on to Gendun Drup, the first Dalai Lama, it reminds the practitioner to remember his or her teacher, the awakening mind, his or her body as a divine body and the view of emptiness.

In his words of thanks at the end, His Holiness expressed his gratitude to Carinthia Governor, Gerhard Doerfler, for his steadfast interest and support, and to Geshe Tenzin Dhargye for overseeing the entire event. He also thanked the Tibet Centre organizers, the translators and all the students who had come to listen. The organizers announced that, of the approximately €97,000 remaining from contributions and ticket sales for the five teaching events they have arranged during His Holiness’s current tour, 30% will go to the organizers, 30% for charitable purposes in the locality and 40% to the Dalai Lama Trust

His Holiness folded his hands and smiled as he left the crowd with his final remark: “The source of happiness is the mind itself. Good night.”

Report by Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

DHARAMSHALA: Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay yesterday visited TCV school at Gopalpur near Dharamsala and encouraged students to put their best efforts in studies to achieve academic excellence.

To awaken enthusiasm and kindle determination in students, Kalon Tripa recounted his own journey from school life to a world’s top university through sheer hard work.

“I went to a school in a very small village in Darjeeling. Notwithstanding poor facilities in the school at that time, through determination and hard work I achieved the opportunity to do my higher studies in law in one of the world’s top university in America,” Kalon Tripa told a packed school auditorium.

Kalon Tripa stressed the need to improve the position of Tibetan students’ performance at India’s national level from the present average of 60/70 percent to 80/90 per cent.

“To achieve this target, you need to be cultivate interest and diligence in your studies,” Kalon Tripa said.

Kalon Tripa also emphasised that education is a quintessential part of innovation and self-reliance, two the three guiding prinpicles of the present Kashag.

Referring to the refugee community in South Africa, Kalon Tripa said lack of interest to become self-reliant stymies progress and attitude of permanent dependence on others may lead to the loss of one’s value of life.  “If you want to make your life meaningful, you have to become self-reliant. This can be realised only if you put your best efforts and hard work in your studies,” he told the students.

Kalon Tripa expressed gratitude to all the former and present staff members, including Kasur Jetsun Pema, for their invaluable contribution to the education of Tibetan children.

TCV Gopalpur has provided education in both traditional Tibetan and modern studies to over 4269 students since its inception in 1997.

It has currently 1264 students and 155 staff members.

View more photos:

DHARAMSHALA: Tibetans in Dharamsala are eligible to apply for the 14th agricultural training cum work in Israel being organised by Arava International Centre for Agriculture Training (AICAT) in Israel.

The announcement was jointly made by the Central Tibetan Relief Committee of the Central Tibetan Administration and Tibetan Settlement Office, Dharamsala, on 15 May.

This year, 55 young Tibetans will be selected from different parts of the Tibetan Settlements in India on the basis of their knowledge and experiences in farming and other criteria.

Tibetans living in and around Dharamshala, a scattered community, will be given their first ever opportunity with special consideration on experimental basis to be a part of this group of 55 young Tibetans. It was also announced that special seats will be reserved for the people of Dharamshala.

Speaking to the public gathering at the community hall in Dharamsala, Mr Chimey Rigzin, Additional Secretary, Department of Home, said: “Since 1998, Tibetans living in various settlements were benefitted to be a part of this programme, but this is the first time for Tibetans in Dharamsala”.

CTA has decided to give the equal opportunity to those Tibetans living in Dharamsala who meet the set criteria, he said.

Selected candidates will have to undergo 10 month’s programme, during which they will be given a rigorous practical and theoretical training.

Out of 55 seats, only 8 seats are reserved for female candidates.

Kalon Dolma Gyari Presents Scroll Painting of Buddha signed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Archaeological Survey of India on its 150th year celebration at Kangra on 18 May 2012

DHARAMSHALA: Kalon Dolma Gyari yesterday graced the 150th year celebration of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Kangra Fort Museum and presented a scroll painting of Buddha signed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the occasion as a symbol of millenia-old cultural ties between Tibet and India.

Kalon Dolma Gyari was invited by the Archaeological department of the Kangra fort museum, a statement from the Department of Home said.

The Director of ASI, Himachal Pradesh said, “The precious thangka will remain as an important asset of the ASI and find its appropriate place in the Himachal museum.  

The Kalon extended her greetings and happiness to be part of the happy occasion and meet the school children. She shared her thoughts that the history of a nation is kept alive in museum and one should preserve, take interest in studying history, since through past history a nation’s rich cultural heritage and values can be learnt and understood.
 
She also stated that India and Tibet share millenia-old historical and cultural relationship, adding, Tibet remain indebted to India as its Buddhist religion originated from India.  

The organiser of the programme thanked the Kalon Dolma Gyari for taking time from her busy schedule to grace the event. She was honoured with a statue of goddess Saraswati Ma.

Schoolchildren in colourful costumes showcased their traditional song and dance performances on the occasion.  

Kalon Dolma Gyari also inaugurated a photo exhibition on the occasion.