The Tibetan Situation

Politics, History, & 'Conspiracy'
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shankara
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The Tibetan Situation

Postby shankara » Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:11 am

Posted this on a few other forums, thought it might be interesting to some people here... Recommend to anyone interested to check out the last link which is to a book from the Tibetan Government-In-Exile)

“Traditional Tibetan society was, by no means, perfect and was in need of changes. The Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders have admitted as much. That is the reason why the Dalai Lama initiated far-reaching reforms in Tibet as soon as he assumed temporal authority. The traditional Tibetan society, however, was not nearly as bad as China would have us believe.” (The Tibetan Government-In-Exile)

Tibet has existed for well over one thousand years, since the reign of emperor Songsten Gampo in the 7th century. Since the 8th century Tibetan Buddhism, which draws on the pre-Buddhist “Bon” religion, has been the primary religion of the country. The reign of the Dalai Lamas and the “Gelug” order began in the 17th century under the 5th Dalai Lama, previously there were various political situations including a period of domination by the Mongols under which another school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Sakya, had a great deal of political power.

We cannot say that Tibet was such a perfect place under the rule of the Dalai Lamas. It was a theocratic feudal society, deeply superstitious perhaps, certainly steeped in magic and ritual. Cruel punishments were meted out to criminals and political opponents. The Lamas held a great deal of power and the different sects of Tibetan Buddhism went to war with each-other on occasion. There was a feudal aristocracy, with all of the problems that entails, and a great deal of poverty. This however was in another age, before modern technology arrived and modern ideas were widely disseminated, circumstances which would likely have changed the situation as they have in many other countries. On the other hand in some respects Tibetan society was positively progressive, ending capital punishment as early as 1913.

Furthermore, there was a good degree of religious tolerance. Tibet has a proportionally large Muslim population, still there were no wars between them and the Buddhists despite the vast differences between Tibetan Buddhism and Islam, which are much greater than the differences between the Abrahamic religions. Evidently there are some principles of tolerance and peace in Tibetan Buddhism, even if there is (and there actually is) another side to the story, the fact of its long peaceful co-existence with Islam speaks for itself.

It is difficult to imagine anything worse than the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Many forms of peaceful protest are met with violence, activists tortured, and lengthy sentences of imprisonment are handed out to those committing such crimes as possessing a Tibetan flag or an image of the Dalai Lama. Vast numbers of Tibetans, estimated between 400,000 and 1.2 million, have been killed since the beginning of Chinese rule (the figure is probably closer to the higher estimate). Monasteries are demolished, a vast amount of cultural patrimony has been destroyed. Tibetan children are indoctrinated with communism in an attempt to make them abandon their traditions, and banned from taking part in religious ceremonies.

In general severe human rights abuses of all kinds are rife, far too many to list.

On their side, apart from falsely stating that Tibet has been part of China for 800 years, the Chinese also claim that they “liberated” Tibet from the oppressive rule of the Lamas. This seems quite different from the reality that the people of Tibet resisted the Chinese occupation, their resistance being met with brutal repression. The present Dalai Lama has set up democracy in the Tibetan Government-In-Exile (the CTA) and renounced his political authority. He even states that he is not in favour of full independence, only real autonomy for Tibet. The Chinese still won’t even negotiate with him.

But the real motivations behind the Chinese “liberation” of Tibet are just as material as ideological, nothing to do with “freeing” the people. Not only does Tibet have enormous mineral deposits, but it has the largest reserves of fresh water after the two poles. Many of the rivers necessary for the survival of nations like India have their sources on the Tibetan plateau. Thus China can effectively “switch off the tap”, a huge strategic advantage against it’s regional rivals or enemies.

It is a sign of how much suffering the Tibetans are in, that protests of self-immolation (“desperate acts” the Dalai Lama calls them) have become common. There was violent resistance at the beginning of the occupation, however since that time the Tibetan struggle has been non-violent in accordance with the fundamental principles of Buddhism, unlike many other national liberation movements. Unfortunately no major powers are willing to take a serious stand against China, and without their support the Tibetan Government-In-Exile has little power to change the situation.

It is unfortunate that in these times, when colonialism is said to have ended, that various peoples in the world still rest under the yoke of occupiers, of oppressors. It is ironic that Mao spoke out against “the evil system of colonialism and imperialism”, while the occupation of by Tibet by the barbaric Communists of China is among the most brutal, perhaps even the most brutal, example of colonialism in the present time.

Links:

https://tibet.net/2016/10/tibet-a-narrative-of-cultural-holocaust/

https://www.freetibet.org/about/human-rights

A Book: https://tibet.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/DIIR_report_web-april-2019.pdf

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Masato
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Postby Masato » Fri Aug 09, 2019 3:03 am

Good to see you shankara, hope you are doing well man

Very nice, this history gets way too little attention. I often wonder if there was perhaps something in Tibet they feared, some knowledge, some abilities, truth in their texts etc. Something they had to wipe out.

I remember the Nazis were supposedly going to Tibet with dreams of recovering lost histories or even the location of Shambhala etc

I've read that Tibetan book of living and dying, its pretty impressive, and that was written post-China massacres I wonder what shit they knew and recorded in the old days

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shankara
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Postby shankara » Fri Aug 09, 2019 3:48 pm

Tibet is a crazy magic place, maybe the only place where magic and temporal rulership were so entwined. Tibetan Buddhism has all sorts of crazy rituals, obscure, Tantric stuff...

The Shambala prophecies are really interesting, they basically predict a vast war between the Shambala Tibetan warriors (everyone initiated into the Kalachakra) and Islam.

The "Tibetan Book Of The Dead", the "Bardo Thodol" is often used a guide for psychedelic experiences, Timothy Leary even made his own version of it.

There is a rumor that the reason the Tibetans could be attacked by the Chinese was because they had lost the mantras used to drive away foreign invaders.

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Masato
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Postby Masato » Fri Aug 09, 2019 3:57 pm

shankara wrote:Tibet is a crazy magic place, maybe the only place where magic and temporal rulership were so entwined. Tibetan Buddhism has all sorts of crazy rituals, obscure, Tantric stuff...

The Shambala prophecies are really interesting, they basically predict a vast war between the Shambala Tibetan warriors (everyone initiated into the Kalachakra) and Islam.

The "Tibetan Book Of The Dead", the "Bardo Thodol" is often used a guide for psychedelic experiences, Timothy Leary even made his own version of it.

There is a rumor that the reason the Tibetans could be attacked by the Chinese was because they had lost the mantras used to drive away foreign invaders.


Hellz yeah

lets keep this thread going, I could enjoy a dive into these themes. I will look into Kalachakra, had not heard that term before.

Also interested in Tibetan Bardo guides being interpreted by Leary (??). An an ex-LSD junkie I would be curious about this. I have not practised enough meditation in life, but often wonder what states of mind might actually be reached by years of hardcore technical instruction and practise like those Tibetans... and if it might at all be comparable to LSD effects

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shankara
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Postby shankara » Mon Aug 12, 2019 8:55 am

You know I never had such a good time with the old Lysergic Acid. Not sure I ever had a trip that wasn't bad. Had much better experiences with mushrooms etc.

Leary seemed to take a lot of his ideas from spiritual sources, his "eight circuit model" is like the Chakras.

I meditate quite a bit, though it's chanting japa which actually the Tibetans do a lot of as well though they call it a mala. It definitely changes your perspective on things, though it's never taken me quite so far as anything psychedelic induced. It's more subtle but more permanent I think.


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