_________________WTN-L World Tibet Network News _________________

Published by: The Canada Tibet Committee

Editorial Board: Brian Given, Conrad Richter, Nima Dorjee,

Tseten Samdup, Thubten (Sam) Samdup

WTN Editors: wtn-editors@tibet.ca

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ISSUE ID: 00/01/29 Compiled by Tseten Samdup

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Saturday, January 29, 2000

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Contents:

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1. Future of Shangri-La (HT)

2. Bradley, Gore, Bauer take a stand on the Tibet question (ICT)

3. Happy Thoughts

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1. Future of Shangri-La (HT)

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Anand K. Sahay on the Tibetan question

The Hindustan Times, January 29, 2000

No matter how the Karmapa Lama tangle is eventually resolved, India is

unlikely to make its China policy hostage to the question of Tibet.

Although important in its own right, the Tibet issue is not a direct

bilateral concern between the two countries, though an independent Tibet

will undoubtedly bolster the security of India's northern frontiers by

establishing a buffer. But plainly Beijing is not about to let go a prize

it has held in its grasp - loosely or with brute force - for more than two

and a half centuries. Big powers armed with nuclear weapons are not apt to

act with such meekness. After all, Britain fought Argentina in the

Falklands/Malvinas half a world away just to protect its sheep pastures.

And Tibet is no grazing yard, given its strategic geographical location in

High Asia which is astir with intense international economic and political

rivalry on account of its impressive gas finds.

Among the reasons for which China has traditionally coveted Tibet - and

from time to time occupied it, as now - is the consideration to deny the

use of this huge territory to a potential adversary. If this implied

Russian or British imperial interests in the past, today Beijing will be

wary of the US. India, of course, is in no way placed to excite Chinese

concerns within these parameters. Nevertheless, China is unlikely to drop

its guard vis-a-vis Indian actions in respect of Tibet because this

country, on account of its historical and religious associations with

Tibet, actively proffered refuge to the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and

temporal head and symbol of its cultural, religious and political unity and

existence, when he escaped from Chinese persecution 40 years ago. In the

intervening years India has also come to host a fair-sized and active

Tibetan community who have constituted for themselves a government-in-exile.

The presence on Indian soil of Tibetan institutional entities has always

worried Beijing even though in 1980 it did replace its earlier policy of

repression in Tibet with a "policy of leniency" aimed co-option. For all

that, communist China's 50-year occupation of Shangri-La lacks legitimacy

in the eyes of the world, and concerns about human rights - civilisational,

not just political - are often raised. If a mutually satisfactory

accommodation between China and legitimate representatives of Tibetan

interests ever becomes possible, or alternatively if Tibetan independence

beckons, no matter how remote it may seem now, an Indian interest in such

denouements is clearly foreseeable.

It is this which gives India a modicum of leverage in its intercourse with

China, though the balance easily lies with Beijing as it occupies Indian

territory to the north, does not recognise Sikkim's accession to India, and

raises territorial questions in Arunachal Pradesh. The recent Karmapa Lama

episode causes concern here, for it has mischief potential in Sikkim in

case the fleeing boy Lama is actually a part of a Chinese game plan. As is

well-known, the seat of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism of which the

Karmapa is the high priest now lies at Rumtek in Sikkim and commands wide

following in that state.

Recognising that Sino-Indian relations, which are far from being steady,

have the potential to flower in many directions. China now has the

opportunity to move toward greater cooperation with this country if it is

able to shed past baggage and move on a positive path at least on the issue

of Sikkim. After nearly a dozen rounds of border talks in the last six

years, the technical aspects of settling the boundary issue are well

understood. Only the political will now needs to be displayed by Beijing

for a satisfactory solution to be approached.

Indian diplomatic skills will lie in determining how this matter is

broached in the intriguing backdrop of the Karmapa's flight from Lhasa. The

two countries can quickly put the whole episode behind them if China can

summon the necessary political will. That will certainly make for a

higher-path relationship.

Beijing can fruitfully recall that the India-brokered 17-point Tibet-China

accord of 1951 became a nullity on the ground when China activated its

vigorous pacification and assimilation programme shortly after its armies

invaded Tibet. In its spirit the accord dealt with religious and cultural

freedoms, and Tibetan functional autonomy in the temporal sphere. Not long

after, prevailing conditions made the Dalai Lama's continued stay in Lhasa

impossible. But before his 1959 flight, India did reach a border trade

agreement in 1954 with China in which the Dalai Lama's domains were

referred to as the "Tibet region of China". India did not at any point

deviate from this restricted position to regard Tibet, as an "integral part

of China", though Beijing would certainly have liked that. Indeed, the 1954

agreement lapsed in 1962 before the India-China hostilities broke out, and

was not renewed.

While in practice India continues to be alive to Beijing's sensitivities in

respect of Tibet, there exists a vacuum as far as the paper work is

concerned. To fill it needs a new perspective on both sides; otherwise all

options will necessarily remain open theoretically, including that of

Tibetan "independence", even though of late the Dalai Lama has shown signs

of resigning himself to the thought that his country has now practically

become a part of China. If he is shown satisfactory accommodation by

Beijing, other issues can also plausibly head in the direction of

resolution. These will necessarily include the India-Tibet border question

- hanging fire for over a century - which is at the heart of the

Sino-Indian boundary talks in the eastern sector.

The twentieth century has offered Tibet little reprieve. While imperial

China, which faded out in 1911, had for two centuries asserted only

suzerainty rights over Lhasa, during its brief republican interlude, the

Chinese dragon claimed the right of sovereignty, though it was too weak to

effect it. Indeed, precisely in the three and a half decades between the

advent of Sun-yat Sen and the emergence of communism, it was Lhasa that

began to exercise de facto independence. Cartographers ceased to show Tibet

as part of China.

In 1911 Chinese government representatives were even expelled from Lhasa.

They could only return in 1933 under the guise of a condolence mission

following the demise of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, the present leader's

predecessor. They stayed on, but were expelled again in 1949! But the show

was over for Tibetan independence once the red star rose over China.

Whatever Tibet's proper status, even in Beijing's eyes it is not the same

as that of Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan which Beijing regards as its very

own. That is why it refuses to offer Lhasa the same terms of reconciliation

as it does to these. Doesn't this show that Tibet is not really China, but

only a conquered part of the old empire which could one day want to break

free?

In his introduction to Tibet in Pictures, Lama Govinda has said, "Tibet's

was a great and ancient civilisation which flourished with unbroken

vitality for more than a millennium, right up to our time, when it met with

total destruction by the conquering hordes ... this happened exactly at the

moment when humanity was on the verge of becoming conscious of its

essential oneness and its future common fate." Has that moment passed?

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2. Bradley, Gore, Bauer take a stand on the Tibet question (ICT)

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By International Campaign for Tibet, Washsington DC

Rally in front of State House aims to demonstrate local support

January 28, 2000 (Concord, NH) -- Democratic candidate Bill Bradley, Vice

President Al Gore and Republican candidate Gary Bauer each committed their

leadership to negotiating a settlement to the Tibet question if elected to

the presidency. Their recent statements came in response to a candidate

questionnaire posed to them by the New Hampshire Friends of Tibet and the

International Campaign for Tibet.

The candidates positions will be shared with New Hampshire voters and Tibet

supporters at a Tibet support rally in front of the State House in Concord

on Saturday, January 29th at 12 noon.

In his response, Bradley stated he, "will make human rights an integral

part of U.S.-China relations." He further stated, "China can only gain the

international prestige it seeks when it better implements human rights and

fundamental freedoms, including with respect to Tibet." He shrugs at

China's criticism of the U.S. as interferring in its internal affairs: "the

time is past when a state can consider the national sovereignty affords

immunity from international criticism if human rights and fundamental

freedoms are violated." Gore stated, if elected, his Administration will,

"promote a substantive, direct dialogue between the Chinese government and

the Dalai Lama or his representatives to resolve issues of human rights and

cultural preservation." He further commits to continuing, "to meet with the

Dalai Lama in his capacity as a religious and political leader," if he is

elected to the presidency. Since fleeing the Chinese occupation of Tibet in

1959, the Dalai Lama has never met with a U.S. President in his political

capacity as the head of the Tibetan government in exile.

Republican Gary Bauer was the most outspoken on the issues. He stated that,

if elected, he would "link trade concessions to human rights" and he would

oppose China's entry into the World Trade Organization until China

"respects human rights, frees Tibet, and stops threatening Taiwan."

The Clinton Administration has made efforts to promote dialogue between the

Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, but after the landmark press

conference during the Beijing Summit of 1998, all progress on the issue has

stalled. It is the hope of the Tibet support community that the next

presidency will take a leadership role in negotiating a settlement.

The questionnaire, distributed to all of the candidates in September 1999,

sought to determine the candidates' positions on issues of China, trade and

the future status of Tibet.

The leading GOP candidates have yet to file their responses. The full text

of the questionnaire and the candidates responses are available on the

website of the International Campaign for Tibet at www.savetibet.org.

New Hampshire Friends of Tibet and the International Campaign for Tibet do

not endorse candidates.

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3. Happy Thoughts

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Tibet scholar and former monk Robert Thurman prescribes Buddhism for a

stressed-out world

Jesse Hamlin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, January 20, 2000

Robert Thurman is a confessed Buddha-holic. He has an obsessive passion for

the ancient wisdom he's studied, taught and popularized for 40 years.

One of the top American experts on Tibetan Buddhism, Thurman was the first

Westerner to be ordained a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition. He

writes and lectures on transforming the mind to achieve happiness and

social change. But thus far

enlightenment has eluded the esteemed Columbia professor whose five

children include the actress named Uma.

``I have to work on myself all the time,'' says Thurman, 58, sipping black

tea the other morning at the San Francisco Zen Center.

He gave the first lecture and workshop in the center's yearlong series

``Buddhism at Millennium's Edge 2000,'' which features such diverse figures

as Zen teacher Lama Surya Das, writer Maxine Hong Kingston and Oakland

Mayor Jerry Brown.

More and more people are seeking a spiritual connection in this wired-up,

high-speed age of anxiety. The Zen Center series addresses the relevance of

age-old Buddhist ideas and practices to contemporary life.

Those ideas could offer an alternative vision for people who are, as

Thurman puts it, ``caught up in the morphic resonance of our American

frenzy, our physically oriented lifestyle (where) we're driven by

commercials, computers, to have more things.''

Thurman is a big, blond-haired man with a rich baritone voice, a hearty

laugh and a style of scholarly showmanship that plays equally well on

``Oprah'' and with congressional committees.

Last weekend, he spoke on ``Global Transformation as Inner Revolution,''

drawing on themes in his 1998 book ``Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty and

the Pursuit of Real Happiness.''

He offers his take on a basic Buddhist idea: When individuals free

themselves of the notion that they're the center of the universe -- the

source of alienation, fear and jealousy -- they can connect with other

beings and energies to create what Thurman calls ``a wave of positivity in

others.'' We can all become buddhas, changing society in the process.

The book's foreword was written by the Dalai Lama, an old friend whom

Thurman met in the early '60s while studying with exiled Tibetan monks in

northern India.

FROM MONK TO SCHOLAR

Thurman left the monkhood after returning to the United States in the

mid-'60s and pursued an academic career. As a teacher and co- founder of

New York City's Tibet House, he's turned a lot of Americans on to Buddhist

thought and Tibetan

culture. He's also a leading advocate for the liberation of Tibet, a cause

taken up by celebrity chums like actor Richard Gere and the rappin' Beastie

Boy Adam Yauch. He's testified before the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee about Tibet,

where he says the Chinese are committing genocide.

``Buddhism is really the art of happiness,'' says Thurman, echoing the

title of the Dalai Lama's best-selling book.

``In order to teach that, you have to try to stay a little bit happy

yourself, (when) you're a typical miserable, overworked, workaholic,

completely driven professor. I'm basically trying to share with people

whatever I've discovered that works here and there about the art of

happiness.''

Unlike the great 11th century Tibetan yogi Milarepa, who forgot whether he

meditated or not because he was in a constant state of awareness, Thurman

``unfortunately'' still needs to meditate.

``I lose my temper, I lose my cool, I can't remember anything. Then I have

to go and calm down and focus.''

NOT FULLY EVOLVED

He has definitely not evolved to buddhahood, he says with a laugh. ``I'm a

pain, just ask my wife (Nena). I can be unkind, unfriendly, grumpy. But

there's been a little improvement over the years. Therefore I'm encouraged

enough to still have

confidence in the efficacy of the method.''

Thurman is a major-league talker who can riff on everything from religious

fundamentalism to trashy Hollywood films, biophysicist Rupert Sheldrake's

concept of morpho-genetic resonance, the ``psychic Internet'' that connects

us, and the corporate ``industrial savagery'' that's destroying the planet.

``The art of happiness is there for us to take ourselves out of being

commandeered by this machine civilization,'' Thurman says, ``to have us

assert some sort of self-control and realize that the inputs we allow into

our awareness are totally affecting us.

``Make choices about those inputs. Don't watch the commercials. At least we

have a clicker; click off the channels that make us feel insecure. Exercise

a clicker of the spirit.''

Thurman argues that Buddhism has historically been less a religious

movement than an educational one, teaching people to transform themselves.

Buddha, he says, never insisted that anyone adopt a particular belief.

`DO WHAT YOU FIND SENSIBLE'

``He was a funny guy,'' Thurman says. ``He said, `I know everything and you

can know everything if you follow the method I give you. The first element

of the method is don't believe that I know everything. Don't do it because

I say so. Only do

what you find sensible.' ''

What might Buddhism have to say to stressed-out strivers glued to their

cell phones, caught up in the daily madness?

``Cool out, give yourself a break,'' Thurman says. ``Try not to do so much.

Don't worry you didn't get a ride on the right IPO. Stop living this way.

You're going to be dead shortly. You're wasting your precious moments of

awareness.

``You've spent billions of lifetimes earning your human life. It wasn't

given to you by Mom and Dad in the back seat of a Chevrolet; that's where

your genes and body come from, but you came from infinite pasts.''

NO PRESSURE ON CHILDREN

Thurman has never pressed these ideas on his children. He says he doesn't

know whether they're Buddhists or not.

``I don't know what they are. I think they think in similar freethinking

ways. I never tried to enroll them, sign them up and tattoo them anywhere.''

What about Uma?

``I have no idea. You'd have to ask her. She practices thinking for

herself, clearly and freely, making humane decisions, and she's a good mom.

That's enough Buddhist for me.''

BUDDHISM SERIES

BUDDHISM AT THE MILLENNIUM'S EDGE 000: The San Francisco Zen Center's

series continues with a lecture by Zen teacher and social activist Bernie

Glassman at 7:30 p.m. February 18 at the Unitarian Center, 1187 Franklin

St., San Francisco. Tickets: $15 (or $165 for the entire series).

Glassman will conduct a workshop called ``Peacemakers Without Weapons'' at

10 a.m. February 18 at Green Gulch Farm on Highway 1 near Muir Beach in

Marin. Tickets: $60-$75, including a vegetarian lunch.

The series continues through November 10 and includes lectures and

workshops by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Baker, Jerry

Brown and others. For information, call (415) 863-3133 or visit the Zen

Center's Web site at www.sfzc.com.

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