Author Topic: A First in 53 years, Dalai Lama not to address the Tibetans on 'uprising day'  (Read 12304 times)

Positive Change

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I came across this interesting article:

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/a-first-in-53-years-dalai-lama-not-to-address-tibetans-on-uprising-day-184235

It is said here that HHDL will not be making the usual key-note address but instead it will be Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay... How very interesting! I believe HHDL is really making a strong stance here in breaking tradition so to speak. What would be interesting to watch/hear is the Prime Minister's speech. I wonder what he would say with regards to the 'uprising day' as anything touching on equality, segregation and oppression would be hypocritical.

Interesting times ahead!!!

Galen

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Let's hope that this is one of the many changes coming up as the Dalai Lama is loosening his stance on the ban. Maybe he is really retiring from politics. But we will have to wait until we hear the speech from the Prime Minister, who is now the leader of the Tibetan people. Hopefully there will be some interesting changes like how the CTA has removed the damaging articles on Dorje Shugden. Another step to religious freedom for all. Waiting in anticipation!


dsiluvu

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Interesting article... it seems HHDL is changing the history of what is a so called tradition. Though many Tibetans may feel disappointed in this, but it looks that HHDL is trying His best to let His people get use to the new "democratic" mindset and encourage the PM's role as the political leader. This is good news for Shugdenpas because if the new CTA truly practices "democracy" then there should NOT be any discrimination for their Shugden practitioners. They should receive the same kind of welfare, education and support!!! That is rightfully theirs and right conduct of a democratic nation.

If it is so I think HHDL is extremely skilful and wise... by retiring himself as the political head for Tibetans, He is in a way giving Tibetans their own equal opportunity so to speak to think and choose instead of following without much thinking everything He says... it is actually creating the cause for no more bias sectarianism within their own society and in a way giving spiritual freedom to everyone including Shugdenpas I hope. Because being a Tibetan should not have anything to do with your religious beliefs, that is ones prerogative. 

Found this interesting interview with HHDL from the same source about His thoughts for not addressing the Tibetans this time around. Apparently He wishes to give the power and responsibility to the Tibetans... He claims that " all major decisions are in the hands of the elected political leadership - Lobsang Sangay.

He also calls Tibetans inside Tibet "Boss"... http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/full-transcript-just-a-human-being-says-the-dalai-lama-in-bodh-gaya-165646?slider































































 

jeremyg

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This is really quite something. A big change for the Tibetans, but all a good teaching of impermanence. There have already been protests regarding the change of leader, but I hope that this change is for the better. It can be said that the Dalai Lama is easing himself out of the public eye. He is leaving his roles, and he is creating an up rift with the ban. I wonder what he is trying to accomplish. Let's hope that the discrimination towards Shugden practitioners decreases in times to come. At least they should decrease with Sangay in power. He strives to lead democratically, and at least with him in power Shugden practitioners can attend this 'Uprising Day; Nothing is permanent, and we should never view things as permanent. Time is forever changing. The bigger picture will reveal itself soon. I hope and pray for that.

Ensapa

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This is further proof that the Dalai Lama is a forward thinking person that works for the benefit of the Tibetans and does not hold on to his power or his position. I really, really like what the Dalai Lama has done: It sends a very powerful message to all the Tibetans all around the world that it is time that they improve and adapt the modern ways because they have proven themselves to be more efficient.

With that too, lets hope that Dorje Shugden practitioners be not ostracized because of the government. And lets hope that the CTA will pull out from the business of spying and checking out who's a Dorje Shugden practitioner and making life difficult for them. That should stop because they are no longer tied to the Dalai Lama's will and the Dalai Lama not addressing this speech reinforces that.

The Tibetans need to be independent in order to gain independence. They cannot depend on the Dalai Lama alone or on Tibetan Buddhism entirely to help regain their independence. They have to earn it as their right, as their nation, and prove to the world that they deserve independence. Self immolations, protests and free tibet propaganda just will not work anymore because the Tibetans are not taking responsibility.

It is time that the Tibetans actually depend on their own strength and capabilities rather than dumping this responsibility on the Dalai Lama. The Tibetans are devoted to the Dalai Lama not because out of respect, but because they can dump their responsibilities and problems on the Dalai Lama for centuries. It is very kind of the Dalai Lama to have to teach CTA how to be independent and to not dump the Tibetan's problems onto him, that is if they want independence. HHDL Is helping them grow.

triesa

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Great news to hear!

Infact the first time when Dalai Lama told CTA that he would step down as the political head of Tibet and just concentrate on the spiritual matters, it was already a clear sign that this was meant for the first step of a series of events to unfold.

Then later when Dalai Lama gave a speech in India, January this year, his stance on Shugden was rather light and easy, he even told the audience that there were more and more people practising Dorje Shugden now.

Now he even gave away his official speech on the uprising day to be delivered by the Prime minister Lobsang Sangay, it is obvious that Dalai Lama is planning the exit route of being seen by some tibetans that he may still  have his ploitical influence in CTA or Tibet as a country.

All these are good signs, all these seem to have been well planned. As Shugden practitioners, we just need to carry on what we have been doing and the lifting of the ban could  just be around the corner.

Aurore

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I find his recent stand is to make his retirement seen and heard. HHDL just want to be a simple monk. Looks like HHDL is not only stepping down as the politicial head but is very very happy to be relieved off any other matters as well and just do his own thing.

The Dalai Lama said, "2 'o' clock, and up to six, some major portion of life, meditations and these things should complete. Like that. Like that. So that's my really interest. Other things I really don't have much interest."

So now he's got no interest in anything already! How impermanent things are. Not long soon Dalai Lama will announce "I don't care about Dolgyal. If you people want to practice, i am not bothered anymore. Do what you want.".

Wouldn't that be cool?

Lineageholder

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There is no evidence that the Dalai Lama is not writing the script and giving it to Lobsang Sangye to read.  Perhaps his 'retirement' from politics is just a move out of the public eye....

It's a bit early to celebrate.  The real acid test is what the Dalai Lama says when he comes to England, which is of course the country of origin of the biggest Shugden worshipping tradition in the world - the New Kadampa Tradition.  Will he take this opportunity to attack the practice on Geshe Kelsang's home turf?  It's hard to believe that he won't say anything as he has been so vociferously against the practice since 1978.

We shall have to wait and see!

Tammy

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HHDL's decision of not addressing the public during this memorable day shows his determination of segregating spiritual and political leadership between him and the prime minister Mr. Lobsang Sangya.

Now that HHDL's had announced his decision of not addressing the crowd, all eye should be on Mr. Lobsang Sangya on what message(s) he would spread and what would HHDL's reaction would be towards this speech (since HH is attending the event).

Well, Mr. Lobsang Sangya, I sincerely hope you would do something to ease the lives of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans who practise Dorje Shugden - for I am sure you know what 'religious freedom' means!

I look forward to hearing your speech...

Down with the BAN!!!

pgdharma

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Will this be one of the signs  that HHDL is losing his stance on the ban and will Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay take this opportunity to prove that he is a good leader who can lead democratically.  Let us hope so that the Prime Minister will do something to ease the lives of Dorje Shugden practitioners so that they won't be ostracized by the government and  the discrimination against DS practitioners decreases.

Looking forward to his speech.

WisdomBeing

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This is an encouraging sign that ostensibly at least, the Dalai Lama is stepping aside to let Dr Lobsang Sangay really be the political head of the CTA. Personally I found that the removal of the anti-Dorje Shugden information from the CTA website the most exciting development towards the lifting of the ban. This stepping back of the Dalai Lama is another step towards this. Of course what the Dalai Lama has in mind, nobody except the Dalai Lama himself will know. Perhaps – although I do not wish this - he is preparing for his departure from the world and empowering the CTA to take over. In any case – let’s see if the CTA will actually do something concrete – such as allowing DS practitioners travel documents and access to schools.
Kate Walker - a wannabe wisdom Being

Ensapa

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This is an encouraging sign that ostensibly at least, the Dalai Lama is stepping aside to let Dr Lobsang Sangay really be the political head of the CTA. Personally I found that the removal of the anti-Dorje Shugden information from the CTA website the most exciting development towards the lifting of the ban. This stepping back of the Dalai Lama is another step towards this. Of course what the Dalai Lama has in mind, nobody except the Dalai Lama himself will know. Perhaps – although I do not wish this - he is preparing for his departure from the world and empowering the CTA to take over. In any case – let’s see if the CTA will actually do something concrete – such as allowing DS practitioners travel documents and access to schools.

HHDL knows that if he passes away, China will find their version of the Dalai Lama that is nothing but China's puppet which will lead to the further decimation of certain cultural aspects of the Tibetans. China will attempt to take control of the little Tibetan colony in India as well and they will use their Panchen Lama to do it. When that happens, it will be the end of everything as China will not hesitate to modify the texts and lineages that do not conform to their political stance.

But with that said, that is what the current ban is already doing to the Tibetans and the Tibetan Buddhists around the world also. Look what Sakya had did in order to appear to be politically aligned to HHDL's ban.  They altered their prayers, history and text. They start choosing their own tulkus and sideline the real one….as in Domo Geshe's case. So in that aspect, there is really not much difference between what CTA is doing to Tibetan Buddhism to what China is doing to Tibetan Buddhism.

The Dalai Lama is preparing for CTA to rule themselves without involving him because he knows for sure China will get their own Dalai Lama to try and control everyone. And he does not want to allow that to happen. However it is a huge step and revolution given that the Tibetans have been depending on the Dalai Lama for so long…I am not surprised at all that in order to prevent China from recognizing their own Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama might not reincarnate.

What Lobsang Sangay should focus now is to show the world that CTA does offer freedom and equal rights to all of their citizens, starting by either lifting the ban on Dorje Shugden or end the discrimination against His practitioners. The whole ostracizing thing is totally unnecessary and not ethical. He must do this because the whole world is watching and waiting..

Big Uncle

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There is no evidence that the Dalai Lama is not writing the script and giving it to Lobsang Sangye to read.  Perhaps his 'retirement' from politics is just a move out of the public eye....

It's a bit early to celebrate.  The real acid test is what the Dalai Lama says when he comes to England, which is of course the country of origin of the biggest Shugden worshipping tradition in the world - the New Kadampa Tradition.  Will he take this opportunity to attack the practice on Geshe Kelsang's home turf?  It's hard to believe that he won't say anything as he has been so vociferously against the practice since 1978.

We shall have to wait and see!

Haha! That's quite funny. You may be right about the Dalai Lama dictating Lobsang Sangye's speech but if we were to explore, what would that serve? He already has absolute devotion and power within Tibetan circles. His reputation is already somewhat stained by the ban and hiding in the shadows will do little to remove that stain. Anyway, he doesn't in the least worry about his reputation anyway. Perhaps, he is really preparing his people for the inevitable passing. 

Barzin

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this is rather interesting.

For the longest time, the Tibetans almost rely everything on His Holiness... and now His Holiness is stepping out of politic after making the final statement on the ban.  I wonder how the majority of Tibetans feel, those who gave up Dorje Shugden practice because of HHDL's statement...  Now would they feel lost without His Holiness guiding them?

Judging from the recent CTA website, a lot of information on the ban has been remove.  Also we have seen efforts from all around the world expressing their views on the ban maybe has prompted Lobsang Sangye to step up and make a change.  Maybe they also realize that spiritual and politics don't work after all.  Look at the outcome now, which is rather depressing for the Tibetans.  Certainly the ban does not benefit the people and the CTA.

Maybe it is the right time the His Holiness is manifesting this for CTA to become independent, unite the nation and lift the ban.  After all, what is there left to fight for?  Maybe the time is now.  Let's see.

Positive Change

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Considering the anticipation, The Prime Minister, Lobsang Sangay's address to the Tibetans on 'uprising day' was not so ground breaking nor earth shattering to say the least. A bit of a drab if you ask me.

Nevertheless, he did call to resume dialogue between the Chinese after a 2 year hiatus... however, am not sure how much more "talk" is going to help. We need positive action in the right direction NOW!

I found the following articles from two sources below:


(ARTICLE 1)

Make 2012 a Tibet lobby year, Sangay tells Tibetans
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 10
Young and elected Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay, who has inherited political power from the Dalai Lama, did not mince words while setting out his agenda during a speech delivered to Tibetans on the 53rd Uprising Day at McLeodganj today.

Instead of the generally diplomatic language used by the Dalai Lama in his political speech, Sangay was more direct in his attack against China. He called upon Tibetans to make 2012 a “Tibet lobby year”.

Sangay urged the Tibetans to reach out to elected representatives at the state and national levels in their respective countries and educate them about Tibet.

Sangay also stressed on educating Tibetans that had been his agenda since he got elected as the Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile. China was contemplating that a generational change in leadership might weaken the Tibetan freedom movement.

However, resiliency of the Tibetan spirit combined with a coming generation of educated Tibetans would provide dynamic leadership and sustain the movement till freedom was restored in Tibet. Education should be given top priority so that educated and community-minded Tibetans would be produced who could sustain the Tibetan movement, he said.

Sangay reiterated commitment towards the middle-way approach advocated by the Dalai Lama in which he had sought meaningful autonomy under the Chinese sovereignty.

He said Hong Kong and Macao had been granted high degree of autonomy by the Chinese government. Despite resistance from Taiwan, China had offered the country a high degree of autonomy. However, Tibetans were not being granted even the genuine autonomy as stipulated in the Chinese constitution.

He said the Central Tibetan Administration (changed name of the Tibetan government-in-exile) represented and spoke for six million Tibetans.

If the Chinese government claimed that Tibetans enjoyed freedom and equality, it should allow democratic, transparent and fair elections in Tibet.

In the 53 years of Chinese occupation, no Tibetan had ever held the party secretary post in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Forty per cent of the Tibetan high school and college graduates were unemployed, he said.

Speaker of Tibetan parliament-in-exile Penpa Tsering also read a political message.

(ARTICLE 2)
The Associated Press
Date: Saturday Mar. 10, 2012 7:45 AM ET

DHARAMSALA, India — The head of Tibet's government-in-exile blamed China on Saturday for a recent wave of self-immolations by Tibetans, saying that they have been denied the right to hold conventional protests.

Lobsang Sangay said Tibetans were left with no choice but to take extreme action by setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule. There have been 14 cases of self-immolations reported in the past 2 1/2 months to protest what Sangay called China's suppression of Tibetans' religion and culture.

Sangay's statement came as Tibetans observed two significant anniversaries Saturday: the unsuccessful 1959 revolt that caused their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to flee Tibet to India, and deadly anti-government riots that rocked Tibet's capital, Lhasa, in 2008.

Nearly 3,000 Tibetans attended a rally addressed by Sangay in the courtyard of a Buddhist monastery in Dharmsala, the seat of the government-in-exile in the northern Indian town. The Dalai Lama attended the meeting, but did not speak on the occasion.

"Long Live the Dalai Lama," the Tibetans chanted as they later marched through the town. Some of them had "Free Tibet" painted on their cheeks and carried the Tibetan flag with a yellow border and red and blue stripes.

Hundreds of Tibetans also marched through parts of New Delhi, starting from the memorial of India's independence leader Mohandas Gandhi. They carried banners reading "Justice has been raped in Tibet" and chanted slogans such as "What we want, we want freedom," "People of the world, support us."

"In actuality, Tibetans are treated as second-class citizens," Sangay said in his speech in Dharmsala. "When Tibetans gather peacefully and demand basic rights as outlined in the Chinese constitution, they are arrested, fired upon and killed as in the Jan. 23-24 peaceful protests when Chinese were celebrating their new year."

In January, Tibetan areas in western Sichuan province saw large demonstrations. Police fired on crowds in three separate areas, leaving several Tibetans dead and injuring dozens, according to Tibet support groups outside China.

On Saturday, London-based activist group Free Tibet and U.S. broadcaster Radio Free Asia said police had shot three Tibetans on Tuesday, killing one and wounding the others. The police had been looking for or had detained another man in connection with a Jan. 25 incident in which protesters tore down a Chinese flag at a police station in a Tibetan area of western Qinghai province, the reports said.

China blames the Tibetan leadership in exile for encouraging the self-immolations by Tibetans. Many of the protesters have been linked to a Buddhist monastery in the mountainous Aba prefecture of Sichuan province.

However, Sangay said the self-immolations were an emphatic rejection of the empty promises made by Chinese hard-liners.

Twenty-six Tibetans have committed self-immolations since 2009, he said.

He called upon Beijing to accept the Tibetans' middle way policy, which seeks genuine autonomy for Tibetans within the framework of the Chinese constitution.

"Hong Kong and Macau have been granted high degrees of autonomy," he said in reference to the two Chinese territories. "Despite resistance from Taiwan, China has offered Taiwan more autonomy. Why are Tibetans still not granted genuine autonomy as stipulated in the Chinese constitution?"

China's government says the Dalai Lama seeks to destroy the country's sovereignty by pushing independence for Tibet.

Sangay expressed his willingness to send envoys to resume dialogue with China after a gap of nearly two years, saying a peaceful resolution to the Tibet issue is in the best interest of China, the Chinese people and Tibetans.

Nine rounds of talks between Chinese officials and the Dalai Lama's representatives have failed to produce any breakthroughs.

He also said that Tibet has become one of the most militarized areas in the region, with China stationing several army divisions and dispatching thousands of paramilitary forces there.

"A Chinese scholar recently observed there are more Chinese than Tibetans, more police than monks, more surveillance cameras than windows in Lhasa. The entire region is under undeclared martial law," he said.