“What’s that noise?” I asked as a deep, soothing, melody danced through the streets of Lhasa. It was our first morning in Tibet, and we stood outside the Potala Palace watching worshipers walk the circuit around the palace.
“There,” pointed our guide. Behind me, a young man in tattered clothing chanted while prostrating himself on the road in worship.
Hands together, raise above head. Pray. Lower hands to knees. Lie down. Pray. Stand up. Hands together, raise above head. Pray. Step forward. Repeat.
Just watching him repeat the motion twice made me tired. Our guide interrupted my trance, “You know, he’s come here from Qinghai to worship. Walked for six months doing the same motions and will walk another six months back.”
“Six months?! Lying on the road every step of the way…?” I asked in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Raised
in a culture where organized religion is often looked down upon, this devotion
shocked me. Yes, I was raised in a Christian home and have family and friends
who go to church twice a week, but making a year-long pilgrimage… I’ve never
witnessed anything like it.
From my outsider’s perspective, I can’t help but conclude that religion is the driving force of this “country.” Religion offers hope, something to live for, and when one is thousands of meters above sea level, surrounded by the tallest mountains in the world with terrain that is unimaginably difficult for farming, people need hope. Religion is an indispensable part of Tibetans’ daily lives, the driving force that gets them out of bed in the morning.
In Tibetan Buddhism, all living creatures are reincarnated based on a system of karma—bad deeds in one life will affect the next life. Humans have reached the highest level of reincarnation, and thus, they are on Earth to obtain enlightenment, the ultimate goal in Tibetan Buddhism. The First Noble Truth maintains that discontentment, unhappiness, and disappointment are universal, and the Second Noble Truth states that desire produces suffering. Therefore, if one frees one’s self from desire, it’s possible to be free of suffering and to liberate the mind.
Tibetan Buddhism contains four different sects, and since the 17th century, the Gelug sect has ruled. The Gelug sect has two leaders, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama, the ultimate leader, is the embodiment of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and the Panchen Lama is the incarnate of the Amitabha Buddha. Upon either’s death, high lamas and the Tibetan Government search for his reincarnate.
Unlike in the U.S., where the First Amendment protects freedom of religion, Tibet’s religious practices are at the discretion of the Chinese government. What happens when you couple a “country” driven by religion with a country that views religion as an obstacle to achieving its goals? Needless to say, you encounter some serious issues…
Problems between Tibet and China were relatively few up until the 20th century. In 1912, with the decline of the Qing Dynasty, Tibet declared its independence from China. Although other countries did not recognize Tibet, it was safe from China’s rule; however, in 1949, the communists, led by Mao Zedong, gained control of China and wasted no time in reasserting their control of Tibet. By 1950, the People’s Liberation Army invaded parts of Tibet, and in 1951, Tibet signed the “Seventeen Point Agreement” acknowledging China’s rule, never once bringing up the topic of independence.
Change was greatly needed—the ruling Tibetan oligarchy maintained a lavish lifestyle while most were bound to the land in poverty—so at first, the agreement was accepted. Previously, the 13th Dalai Lama even recognized the need for change and attempted reforms, but to little avail since the ruling oligarchy greatly opposed such changes. Mao and communism brought hope for a new, more prosperous Tibet.
In 1955, the 14th Dalai Lama said of Mao, “From the time I left Lhasa, I had looked forward to our meeting. I was overjoyed to see him face to face, and felt he was a dear friend to our people.” His positive outlook continued up until 1959, when, after a dubious dinner invitation, rioting crowds, and mortar shells falling on the Potala Palace, the Dalai Lama fled to India where he began rallying for Tibetan independence.
In 1966, Mao launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to overthrow the old society, and his bands of student revolutionaries, the Red Guards, made their way to Tibet. In Tibet, the Red Guards wreaked havoc destroying thousands of monasteries and beating and killing monks. The situation in Tibet turned ugly and left a deep scar still felt today. From here, Tibet’s relation with China gradually improved, but numerous injustices remain causing riots like those in March 2008.
Today, China attempts to regulate Tibetan Buddhism causing one of the greatest points of contention with Chinese rule. For example, monasteries are under the government’s jurisdiction. The government limits the number of monks, makes becoming a monk difficult (all monks must obtain a higher education), offers incentives to leave the monastery, and can remove monks from their position.
These issues, however, are minor when compared to the most significant problem: The religious leader, the Dalai Lama, is exiled from his own home. Yes, that was partly his own doing, fleeing to India and then asserting the need for independence, but nonetheless, Tibet’s greatest religious figure is not allowed in his own home.
Coupled with this problem is the question, What happens when the 14th Dalai Lama dies? China has already demonstrated it will not allow Tibetans to choose their religious leaders. When the 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989, Tibetans, following the ancient tradition, searched and located his reincarnate. The Chinese Government, however, found its own reincarnate—a pro-China Panchen Lama who could greatly improve the Tibet situation in the future. Unfortunately, neither Panchen Lama resides in Tibet. The Tibetan chosen Panchen Lama remains at an undisclosed location under house arrest, and the Chinese version lives in Beijing.
When the Dalai Lama dies, what will be his fate? A Chinese chosen Dalai Lama seems unlikely to win over the people, but a young child, who could easily be arrested by the Chinese government if he is found in Tibet, also seems improbable to provide religious leadership.
As we drove through the countryside and saw villager after villager toiling in the fields, I could not help but think of their inner turmoil. Today, Tibetan Buddhism flourishes, fostering hope and joy to an unimaginably difficult way of life. But will it always be this way? Will Tibetans continue to look beyond their current hardships to the future for a better, enlightened life free of suffering? Or will China reincarnate Tibet through economic stimulus and end the cycles of suffering through material prosperity?
With such a contentious outlook to the future, it’s all too easy to join the masses and rally for a free Tibet so that the people can choose their destinies; however, there is more to both sides of the argument, and the answer is surely not that simple.
Stay tuned for more…
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