Is the Dalai Lama the end of the line? Options

[elleX0]

Will the Gelugpa Buddhist sect die out in the near future? Can they still hold out hope for returning to Tibet?

13 May 2011 Last updated at 15:58
China 'will not talk' to new Tibetan leader

Lobsang Sangay has said he is ready to negotiate with China "anytime, anywhere"

China appears to have ruled out talks with the Tibetan government-in-exile's new prime minister, Lobsang Sangay.

A top Chinese official dealing with Tibetan contacts said Beijing would only meet with representatives of the Dalai Lama.

In an interview with state media, Zhu Weiqun said the exile government was an illegal group with no recognition.

Mr Sangay was elected by Tibetan exiles around the world last month to take on the Dalai Lama's political role.

The Dalai Lama said in March that he wanted to devolve this responsibility to an elected official, saying that such a move was in the best interests of the Tibetan people.

The Dalai Lama will retain his role as Tibetan spiritual leader.

Analysts say he aims to ensure that even if China's government tries to select the next Dalai Lama, the Tibetans will have an elected leader they can look to who is outside China and beyond the Communist Party's control.

In recent years, the Communist Party's United Front Work Department has held unsuccessful on-off talks with the Dalai Lama's envoys.


The Tibet Divide
China says Tibet was always part of its territory
Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before 20th Century
In 1950, China launched a military assault
Opposition to Chinese rule led to a bloody uprising in 1959
Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to India
Dalai Lama now advocates a "middle way" with Beijing, seeking autonomy but not independence
And Vice-Minister Zhu's comments show little hope of improved relations between Beijing and the new exiled leadership in India.

In an interview with the official "Chinese Tibet" magazine, Mr Zhu described the government-in-exile as "a splittist political clique that has betrayed the motherland".

He said there was "nothing legal about them" and that they had "no status to 'talk' with the central government's representatives".

Mr Sangay, a Harvard University academic, said in a recent interview that he was ready to negotiate with China "anytime, anywhere".

He says his government will seek genuine autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule by following the "middle path" advocated by the Dalai Lama.

Analysts say Mr Sangay faces a tough challenge as the elected head of a government which no country recognises and with China as an opponent which has shown no sign of wanting to compromise.

[qwerty2010]

Read Michael Parenti's "Friendly Feudalism" to understand more about the nature of different sects of Buddhism vs its widely held stereotype, violence, political and economic, as well as an account of what happened before and after the Communists came, and why after centuries of dealing with the Chinese rulers, this particular Chinese government is anathema to the Tibetan oligarchs:

http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html


What's interesting is that among the exiled Tibetans, the Dalai Lama's vicious crackdown on the Shugden worshipers, a deity who is quite popular historically among Tibetans, is backfiring and the Shugden worshipers are openly rebelling against the Dalai Lama now :

http://www.westernshugdensociety.org/

It is apparent that there is no freedom of religion among the exiles, who are ruled by a clique of the inner circle.

Maybe it's just me, but I personally prefer the Tibetans to develop a modern society instead of adhering to a theocracy that blatantly exploits the majority, leaving religion in a less encompassing role. However, the whole concept of "karma" is to accept one's lot in life, and to believe that one's serfdom and slavery is the punitive result of evil acts in a previous life, so in order to be born into a better life, one must accept suffering, exploitation and humiliation, to act like a saint in this life instead of fighting for one's rights.

This post has been edited by qwerty2010: May 29 2011, 08:27 AM

[elleX0]

Read Michael Parenti's "Friendly Feudalism" to understand more about the nature of different sects of Buddhism vs its widely held stereotype, violence, political and economic, as well as an account of what happened before and after the Communists came, and why after centuries of dealing with the Chinese rulers, this particular Chinese government is anathema to the Tibetan oligarchs:

http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html


What's interesting is that among the exiled Tibetans, the Dalai Lama's vicious crackdown on the Shugden worshipers, a deity who is quite popular historically among Tibetans, is backfiring and the Shugden worshipers are openly rebelling against the Dalai Lama now :

http://www.westernshugdensociety.org/

It is apparent that there is no freedom of religion among the exiles, who are ruled by a clique of the inner circle.

Maybe it's just me, but I personally prefer the Tibetans to develop a modern society instead of adhering to a theocracy that blatantly exploits the majority, leaving religion in a less encompassing role. However, the whole concept of "karma" is to accept one's lot in life, and to believe that one's serfdom and slavery is the punitive result of evil acts in a previous life, so in order to be born into a better life, one must accept suffering, exploitation and humiliation, to act like a saint in this life instead of fighting for one's rights.

qwerty, excerpts from you second link:

The Western Shugden Society (WSS) is an international coalition of Buddhist practitioners who engage in traditional prayers to Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. This practice has been banned by the Dalai Lama for political reasons and in violation of basic human rights and constitutional law. Enforcement of this ban by his Tibetan government has resulted in intensive persecution and discrimination of Shugden practitioners worldwide, including in Western countries. This action has created a deep schism in the Buddhist community and is endangering the purity of the Buddhist religion.

The aims of the WSS are therefore:

To free practitioners who rely upon the enlightened deity Dorje Shugden and their families from suffering;
To restore peace and harmony between Shugden and non-Shugden practitioners;
To re-establish the common spiritual activities of Shugden and non-Shugden practitioners in Tibetan monasteries;
To free Buddhism from pollution by politics.

The hypocrisy of the Dalai Lama and the Gelugpa sect is clearly illustrated by the above quote. The Dalai Lama banned another Buddhist sect for fear of their challenging the Gelugpa doctrines in exactly the same way, the Gelugpa sect has been unseated in Tibet by the PRC. Greater Tibet was liberated from slavery and serfdom of the Dalai Lama sect. It had no place in modern history and I am glad it is gone.

[qwerty2010]

qwerty, excerpts from you second link:


The hypocrisy of the Dalai Lama and the Gelugpa sect is clearly illustrated by the above quote. The Dalai Lama banned another Buddhist sect for fear of their challenging the Gelugpa doctrines in exactly the same way, the Gelugpa sect has been unseated in Tibet by the PRC. Greater Tibet was liberated from slavery and serfdom of the Dalai Lama sect. It had no place in modern history and I am glad it is gone.

What the PRC can do is to ensure that Tibet develops into a relatively normal and stable region, with lots of opportunities and social mobility for Tibetans in China. Outside of China, there is little any one can do, except to occasionally refute lies, eg. the 1.2 million GENOCIDE whopper by the Dalai Lama, when the census showed 1.2million plus Tibetans alive in the 1950s.