-by Ugyen Gyalpo

Last month, I flew from New York to Dharamshala, India, to attend the Tenshug, long-life prayer offering, organized by the alumni of the Central School for Tibetans, Darjeeling. On the day before the Tenshug ceremony, thanks to the organizing committee, all the ex-students of CST Darjeeling were fortunate to receive an audience. As our winding line grew closer to meeting His Holiness outside his tranquil residence in the freshness of the early morning, punctuated by the chirping of the birds perched on the pine trees, all the questions I had conjured in my mind that I would ask His Holiness melted away. Finally, when his radiant face dawned directly upon me, while I was in total supplication, his compassionate loving-kindness smile welled up the brim of my eyes. I felt like an electric divine current had flowed through my body, as I stood there in awe, inundated by unconditional joy and barely able to utter more than the customary greetings.

Even through all of this in a flash of a second, when I regained my earthly senses hitherto lost in the transcendental realm and spiritual awakening before his divine presence, I felt a little tap on my shoulder from his aides to move on. In that instant frozen in time, I could not ignore the sagging, wrinkled skin of His Holiness under arms, a reminder that aging had certainly taken a toll on his heavenly abode, and the truth of impermanence unapologetically loomed large.

Dharamshala, the political capital of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the home of the Dalai Lama since he fled from his homeland in 1959, had a different tone and vibrant rhythm of its own. The only impermanence was the ever-changing landscape. The last time I was here was fifteen years ago. Much has changed around McLeod Ganj and Gangchen Kyishong, the DC of Tibetan politics.

Walking around, a resounding message to the Chinese Government was what I heard loud and clear through the imposing administrative buildings of a functioning democracy, with its executive branches and civil servants, prepared to replace the illegitimate CCP rule when the day shall come. It was a mental and physical construction hard to ignore! The Tibetan Government in Exile is the de facto continuation of the government that ruled Tibet before 1959 and is also the legal representative of the Tibetan people to act in the interest of Tibet. Click here to read more.