Most people see the Dalai Lama, and Buddhist monks they may have met here in the states, as nice, warm, caring, and very compassionate people. From these meetings, and the books, etc. people mistakenly conclude that the Tibetans are nice, but "kinda wimpy"....... letting themselves be walked all over, these 50 years....and ineffective. I hear it all the time, and frankly don't waste my time or breath trying to clarify something people don't really want to get: being nice, and being weak are Not axiomatic.
Nice people are usually much stronger than the "barbarians at the gate." Ignorance can blindly propel bullies forward, to aggressive "success" in the material world of ruthlessly fighting people... clawing their way "up the ladder," But in the long run..... patience, nurturing, caring, and yes "compassionate love for others" wins out.... though the personal price might be high (witness, Christ, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, etc)
This grave misconception of cuddly "Care Bears" belies the HUGE impact the Tibetan Buddhists have already had on the world, due to their unfortunate diaspora. It is a "blind-side" that the Chinese Govt will regret soon. And, it is a subtle example for all people who aspire to being better individuals.....
Soooooo, it escalates.....
The Chinese Govt has blocked YOUTube, CNN, BBC, Yahoo.....etc......
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/17/Google-News-YouTube-blocked-in-China-amid-Tibet-riots_1.html
To hide that slaughter thats about to begin, with the refusal of normal Tibetan people and caring monks to "voluntarily surrender" to Chinese Authorities by midnight last night. If someone announced on network TV news that all priests and ministers were "seditious separatists" and that they had till midnight tonight to turn themselves into local police stations, what would happen? Thats Essentially the same situation..... Except, I don't think the U.S. govt would call out the army to shoot unarmed people walking down the street....and go into every church and synagogue and arrest everyone... & take them to a hidden prison for beatings and incarceration. Millions of Tibetans have suffered this fate, and worse, over the past 50 years. That is why they won't give into it anymore......the nice guy's patience is at a limit, and they'd rather die quickly that continue to be destroyed slowly.
Can you blame them? And if it were you, wouldn't you be pulling out the guns? They don't want guns......they are strong enough to keeping walking into live gunfire, to prove a point.
So, nice can be strong, eh? ;-)
And "stupid?"..... they live on the other side of the planet, and we know their story.....and most care about it.
Patient, clever, and determined....and "uncorruptable" through the "normal" tools of bribes, promises of power, drugs, sex gambling, blackmail, or position/ego , etc...
Sounds pretty strong to me.....
But, they do need our help.... write all the politicians you can think of, boycott purchase of all Chinese made products.....until Tibet is freed; and before too many die to be able to restore it, once independence is achieved.
Here is a current BBC article, with references to many others: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7302956.stm
International Campaign for Tibet, news directly from Lhasa
http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1222
I Will keep posting articles and links, as things develop......
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Comments: 7
The Dalai Lama can't control this anymore.....the remants of the Freedom fighters and the non-Buddhist (and/or non-monk,'civilian' ) Tibetans are pushing this point. They know its now, or never; and they believe they are doing the best to protect the Dalai Lama and their world by making a stand....
I agree with, and support, the Dalai Lama 150%......but they are right too. Its the human "cost" that absolutely kills him; cuz he is sooo sensitive to life, and thru his life he has had to face the worst atrocities humans ever visited upon each other. Two big extremes, eh? So the pain he feels is soooooo huge. Everyone he has loved has been taken away from him......
He needs our help....and we need to help ourselves, by passing this "litmus test" of humanity.....else, we might as well write off the world, cuz it means no one is willing to protect and care for life on this planet. Meaning, that humans will just eventually swarm like termites and 'eat up' all resources, depleting the planet of all thats good/healthy.
This isn't about Tibet, its about life.....because, more than any other race/culture they represent the true human state of perfection ...as relates to respect for life. Its likethrowing out the best china a crystal everytime you eat dinner. How long can you do that, and have anything good left? treating humans and the world as disposable is very short term living, eh? When, what is the REAL job of humans on this planet.....as being the most intelligent and dominant life form? To protect those that can't. If we go over to not doing that, and destruction above nurturance......its a choice that leaves no avenues but one: slow death to all.
So this is why I think we need to wake the hell up; and shake the hell outta blind folks, to get on the right path of life-affirming behaviors. The Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy, built over 2,600 years and 'refined' in a remote (un touchable) place; is our best example to learn from/follow....
For 50 years, the Chinese govt has been degrading/destroying this.....because Mao sensed the true threat this posed to his ideology......followers of this way of life are un-corruptible , and therefore uncontrollable. But as I often remind folks about myself, uncontrollable doesn't mean "out of control"....even though the concept is threatening to control freaks everywhere. This is the human struggle of Tibet.....its a world-wide Ideological war. And if we lose the Tibetan Buddhist world, we lose are best chance to fix things
Make sense?
:-)
Misinformation" (look that one up in the Urban lingo online dictionary ;-)
And, yes, U R right......it is a disgrace, and we need to point that out to everyone. Folks have a propensity for denial....particularly uncomfortable topics. But that has to change, in order to get real & be able to fix things. Cant ask an alcoholic to 'recover,' w/o 1st acknowledging the addiction, eh?
In America, the addiction is to things/status/ego gratification vs. reflective thought/compassion, etc....I call it "The American Delusion" ;-)
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