Thursday, March 27, 2008

Jetsunma's advice to fight with Bodhicitta


(Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, Spiritual Director, Kunzang Palyul Choling)


On March 15th, Jetsunma gave a teaching to students of Kunzang Palyul Choling (KPC) in Poolesville, Maryland (just outside Washington, D.C.). The following statements are adapted from her remarks that day:

We saw it in Tiananmen Square. In Rangoon and the Burmese countryside. Now, as in 1959, in Lhasa and throughout Tibet. In this uncertain time, selfishness, unwholesome actions, brutality, and force . . . and for the time being, darkness seems to have the upper hand.

The attack on Dharma is happening all over the world. For as long as we can hold out as Dharma practitioners, we are charged with defending our faith. We have a right to defend against the darkness. The Tibetan people have a right to defend their faith. The monks and nuns who are standing up in Tibet, in Burma as well . . . I join them in body, speech, and mind. They have seen that it is time we cannot be pushed any further.

This is the time to rely most on our deepest and purest intention and our most wholesome qualities. It means being solid practitioners. It means not being afraid to speak up to defend one's sangha, or one's temple, or one's monastery. Remember that we are fighting, not with weapons, but with Bodhicitta, with virtue. So when we defend the Dharma, we want to do it for the intention of all sentient beings.

If those monks and nuns in Tibet are willing to be shot dead, we should be willing to stand with them.




For further information on upcoming teachings on Bodhicitta (The Great Compassion), as well as a retreat with Jetsunma, please visit the Events section of KPC's website here.

A Prince, a Polish Prime Minister and Lhasa Monks


(Photo of Lhasa Buddhist monk courtesy of AP Photo via www.cnn.com)


Today in Lhasa:

One monk shouted "Tibet is not free, Tibet is not free" before he started to cry, an Associated Press journalist at the scene, Charles Hutzler, reported.

Another monk said the rioting on 14 March "had nothing to do with the Dalai Lama".


This occurred at Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple while two dozen foreign journalists hand-picked by China, were allowed back in Tibet on a three-day, carefully scripted visit to Tibet. In the presence of the reporters, a group of about 30 monks shouted that there was no religious freedom and that the Dalai Lama was not to blame for recent violence there.

It took a lot of courage for the monks to voice the suppression they have suffered under Chinese rule, given the closely monitored visit of the foreign journalists.

Also courtesy of Students for a Free Tibet, we’ve also learned that Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk is also boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. This followed the French Foreign Minister’s suggestion that nations boycott the opening ceremonies.

Prince Charles is boycotting the entire Olympics.

If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, check the website of the Capital Area Tibetan Association (CATA) regularly for updates on the daily protests that are occurring, and do participate in them.

On March 31st, please join the International Campaign for Tibet and CATA to “publicly urge President Bush to make a statement, and to not stand next to the Communist Party Officials at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.”

Monday, March 31, 2008
12:30pm - 2:00pm
Lafayette Park at the White House
16th and H street NW, Washington, DC
Metro Stops: Mcpherson Square(Orange and Blue) Farragut North(Red)

After the rally, participants led by a group of Monks will march up Connecticut Ave to the Chinese Embassy to demand that China dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Media Contact : Mr. Namkha Tenzin (703) 673 8860

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

French President Responds to China's Violence

French president Nicolas Sarkozy was the first world leader to go on the record and raise the possibility of sending a strong message to China by boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Bejing this summer.

Monday, March 24, 2008

The Olympic Torch and Tibet

This just in from the Capital Area Tibetan Association (CATA):

THE OLYMPIC TORCH WILL BE LIT IN OLYMPIA, GREECE TODAY, LAUNCHING THE FOUR AND A HALF MONTH TORCH RELAY. THE FACT THAT TIBET CONTINUES TO BE ON THE TORCH ROUTE EVEN WHILE HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF TIBETANS ARE BEING KILLED, TORTURED AND IMPRISONED IS AN INSULT TO THE VALUES THAT THE OLYMPIC TORCH STANDS FOR.

JOIN US AS WE WALK DOWN EMBASSY ROW AND ON TO THE CHINESE EMBASSY REMINDING THE WORLD OF CHINA'S ATROCITIES IN TIBET.


SUPPORT TIBET - JOIN THE PROTEST

March 24, 2008 - MONDAY

WHEN : 2:00 PM - 5:00PM

WE WILL MEET AT DUPONT CIRCLE 2:00PM SHARP & WALK TO CHINESE EMBASSY
(CHINESE EMBASSY @ 2300 CONNECTICUT AVE NW)

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Pelosi addresses freedom-loving people


(Photo courtesy of AP)


On Friday, Nancy Pelosi met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. She is in India as part of a U.S. congressional delegation for bilateral meetings with the Indian government, and to discuss climate change.

Pelosi made the following comments during the meeting:

"If freedom loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China’s oppression in Tibet we have lost all moral authority to speak on human rights anywhere in the world. The cause of Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world. A challenge we can help meet."

Watch the YouTube video of her speech here.

Friday, March 21, 2008

What His Holiness said or didn't say

(Photo courtesy of Gurinder Osan/AP)

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been quoted in the news media the world over. Buddhist Relief finds the webcasts of his recent meetings with reporters, in Dharamsala, as being the best source of reliable information of what he said or didn't say, in proper context. Check out the website here.

If you are in the London area, use your freedom and march in solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet. If you are not in the area, do forward this information to those living or visiting London.

TIME & PLACE
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2008
Time: 12 noon - 2 p.m.
Place: Assembly at 11:30 a.m. at Park Crescent (west side - up towards Regents Park) to Trafalgar Square
Street: nearest tube - Great Portland Street
City: London, UK

This march is being organized by Tibetans and supporters in the UK in response to the continuing violent suppression of Tibetan protest in Tibet. Come and lend your voice to what is fast becoming a global movement for change in the region. For more details on this march, click here and here.

March organizers:
Free Tibet Campaign
Tibetan Youth UK
Students for a Free Tibet UK (www.sftuk.org)
Tibet Society of the UK
The Tibetan Community in Britain


"For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world."
- Shantideva - 8th century,
The Way of the Bodhisattva

China Loses Friends Over Tibet

An interesting article in the UK Telegraph titled "China Loses Friends Over Tibet" contains the jaw-dropping statement by Zhang Qingli, the Communist Party secretary in Tibet, describing the Dalai Lama as "a wolf in monk's robes, a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast".

As the reporter notes, "The party is shooting itself in the foot by demonising a man who is the living embodiment of peace."