Guest guest Posted January 8, 2000 Report Share Posted January 8, 2000 In alt.meditation, "Christopher Calder" <calder wrote: >London Electronic Telegraph > >Saturday 8 January 2000 > >Lama's long trek to a holy summit >By David Rennie > >Boy lama recovering from Himalayan flight > >THE Dalai Lama, the living symbol of Tibetan Buddhism, stood in an >ill-heated room in the foothills of the Himalayas, gazing at a young >boy-priest whom he can hardly dared to hope to meet - at least in this >incarnation. The exhausted 14-year-old, with blistered feet and scraped >hands, had just risked his life to defect from Chinese-controlled Tibet, >walking for more than a week with three loyal monks through one of the worst >winters in living memory. > >To the devout, that meeting on Wednesday, in the muddy, scruffy north Indian >hill station of Dharamsala, was a holy summit between the heads of the two >great sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In more human terms, the 64-year-old Dalai >Lama could have been looking at his younger self, as he gently greeted the >young Karmapa, leader of the powerful and wealthy Kagyupa sect. > >Forty one years ago, the Dalai Lama himself took to the high passes of the >Himalayas, in the shadow of Everest, to leave his native kingdom for a life >of exile. Now, four decades on, the young Karmapa had taken the same >decision. >Two days earlier, rumors had reached Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan >government in exile, that history was repeating itself, and one of the most >senior clerics in Tibet was fleeing Communist rule. At first, nobody >believed them. But then, at 10.30 on Wednesday morning, the Karmapa was >there. Now the boy priest is resting in a Dharamsala guest-house. Despite >his ordeal, his health is said to be "basically fine". > >China confirmed the Karmapa's disappearance from his monastery high above >the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Officials in Beijing and Tibet issued a flurry >of conflicting statements about his departure. The Xinhua state news agency >issued a terse bulletin, explaining that the Karmapa had left China to >collect some musical instruments and sacred hats, but remained a loyal >patriot. > >The Karmapa had left a letter at the Tsurphu monastery, his Tibetan home, >Xinhua said, quoting a spokesman for the Information Office of the State >Council. In it, the agency said, he wrote that he had gone abroad "to get >the musical instruments of the Buddhist mass and the black hats that had >been used by the previous living Buddhas of Karmapa". > >The boy had added that "this did not mean to 'betray the State, the nation, >the monastery or the leadership'," Xinhua said. An administrator from the >Tsurphu monastery, which lies in mountains 20 miles north-west of Lhasa, >valiantly tried to maintain yesterday that the teenager was still shut away >with sacred scriptures. He said: "I can confirm that the Karmapa is now >inside our monastery." >Officials from the local Religious Affairs Bureau, the Chinese religious >watchdogs, were more frank. "We got news on Dec 31 that he had disappeared. >We have no idea how," one said. "Our bureau head went on Monday to the >monastery to investigate." China appears to be leaving the door open for the >Karmapa to return, but his defection will have stunned Beijing, which had >painted him as a loyal servant of Communist China. > >However, disciples who have met the Karmapa describe him as a figure of >unusually steely will, and a maturity far beyond his age. The reason for his >flight to India has not been announced, but the Karmapa is thought to be >angry with Beijing for breaking the terms of a deal struck when he was a >child, promising him access to high-level Buddhist teachers now in India, >including his guru, Tai Situ Rinpoche. > >The Karmapa's intense looks, with his fiercely flushed red cheeks and >piercing stare, are all redolent of the true lama to Tibetan believers, as >is his determination. >"Thanks to the Dalai Lama, many people in the West have this idea that top >Buddhists are affable figures, filled with compassion," said Robbie Barnett, >a Columbia University academic who is in close contact with Tibetan leaders >inside and outside the country. "The Tibetans have a quite different idea - >they would expect a Karmapa to have great pride and even arrogance. All the >reports are that this child doesn't stand fools gladly." > >China's state media has until now hailed the Karmapa as a model citizen. In >contrast, within Tibet it is widely rumored that until last year the young >spiritual leader refused to meet the Beijing-approved Panchen Lama, another >senior boy-priest. He is regarded by many Tibetans as a fake. He was imposed >in place of another boy identified by the Dalai Lama who has not been seen >since 1995 when he and his family were arrested by Chinese security forces. > >According to one popular story, the Chinese showed their total >misunderstanding of the Karmapa's character when they gave him a white >Lincoln limousine for his 10th birthday, only to take it away when he >refused to meet their Panchen Lama. >The Karmapa's upbringing would be unrecognizable to most in the West. Before >he was born, his parents promised him to a monastery, and he was raised with >the special education of a reincarnated lama even before it had been decided >who, exactly, he was. His childhood was spent deep in study of the >scriptures by the light of guttering yak butter lamps, grappling with >abstruse metaphysics in the cold high air of his ancestral seat. > >"He has been raised more or less in isolation, and treated as a prince," >explained Mr Barnett. At times of political tension, he was surrounded by >bodyguards, not least because of death threats emanating from the >notoriously fractious Tibetan Buddhist community. There was fierce factional >infighting over his authenticity at the time of his choosing, and a rival >candidate lives in Germany. > >Evelyn Tsang, a devout Buddhist from Hong Kong met the Karmapa on a >pilgrimage to the boy's remote mountain-side monastery. Ugyen Trinley Dorje, >the Karmapa's formal name, was then just 11, but she was struck by the >dramatic transformation that came over the child when he entered a state of >"empowerment". "When he was not doing empowerment, he was just like a boy >playing," she said yesterday. "But when he was doing empowerment, he looked >very mature, he looked in his 20s." >All his courage and his strong will would have been needed for his escape. >The high lama left the Tsurphu monastery on about Dec 28, saying he was >going on a retreat. It seems likely that he then drove towards the Indian >border with his attendants, stopping some way short of the checkpoints which >seal off a 22-mile strip next to the frontier. > >After leaving the car, the small group then walked for seven or eight days >along rocky paths bordered by thorny bushes, possibly traveling at night to >avoid patrols. The party may have hoped to bribe their way past the border >guards. Many Chinese guards find it hard to tell Tibetans apart, but there >are many native Tibetans in uniform, who would pose more of a threat. > >The most common route is into Nepal, to avoid ending up in the hands of the >Indian military, who frequently send Tibetans back across the border, after >a period of detention. Supporters of the Karmapa could only hope yesterday >that he had not risked the most direct, but perilous, route of all, a pass >to the west of Everest which rises to some 19,000 feet. Even in perfect >conditions, the crossing takes three or four days. In winter, there are >never perfect conditions. > >Large numbers of refugees choose the winter months, hoping guards will be >less vigilant. Most refugees cross the high passes and many lose feet or >limbs to the cold, as they are too poor to afford more than thin clothes. >Mr Barnett said: "This is the most dangerous time of year, and this has been >by far the worst year for some time. This is the weather when people die. >There are low passes, but you need expert guides. The Karmapa may have had >guides who could lead him along those, but they tend to be better guarded." > >A well placed source in India expressed his astonishment that he had got >through. He said: "For a person of the Karmapa's stature to escape the >Chinese noose is unbelievable. Conditions in Tibet are so tight." >The Tibetan government-in-exile is maintaining a nervous silence about their >sudden arrival, who represents a diplomatic headache for the Indian >authorities which have granted the Dalai Lama exile since 1959. Relations >between China and India have been cold for decades. > >A spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that Delhi had >nothing to say. Beijing's foreign ministry was equally tight-lipped. The >news of the lama's arrival had leaked out among followers in America before >the Indian government could approve their new guest. > >The boy-priest's reputation for decisiveness makes life difficult for the >Chinese propaganda machine, as they try to decide how to portray his flight. >Beijing has three options, Mr Barnett said yesterday. They can say he was >deluded, kidnapped or that he stole money from the monastery funds. "If the >Chinese are to claim that the child was misled, or taken against his will, >that's really not going to be tenable within Tibet. He's known for his >strong will. > >"China believes it has sewn up the technique of dealing with minorities - >you give the elite enough money, fancy clothes and privileges and they will >play along. The Chinese do not have to police these people with thugs. >That's the way they run Tibet. This is a disastrous failure of that system." > > http://come.to/realization http://www.atman.net/realization http://www.users.uniserve.com/~samuel/brucemrg.htm http://www.users.uniserve.com/~samuel/brucsong.htm m(_ _)m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2000 Report Share Posted January 8, 2000 Thank you for the story, here is a pic of the young lama. LLL Annette [This message contained attachments] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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