Author Topic: London visit  (Read 9566 times)

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London visit
« on: May 22, 2008, 05:11:05 PM »
posted by rolang

UK university honours Dalai Lama  
 
The Dalai Lama received an honorary doctorate for promoting global peace
The Tibetan spiritual leader has received an honorary doctorate from London Metropolitan University for "promoting peace globally".

The Dalai Lama was in London at the start of a 10-day visit to the UK.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not receive him at 10 Downing Street but is due to meet him with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace on Friday.

Protests at his visit are expected from a variety of groups, with Scotland Yard having planned "appropriate" policing.

The Tibetan spiritual leader will address Parliament and give evidence on human rights to a parliamentary committee during his trip.

Territorial dispute

Demonstrators are expected to target his speech at the Albert Hall on Thursday and his meeting with Mr Brown at the end of the week.

The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile is also due to meet Conservative leader David Cameron and teach in Nottingham.

The visit, and particularly questions over where and whether he should meet Mr Brown, has proved controversial.

  Supporters of the Dalai Lama will be offended at this apparent downgrading of his political status

Jill McGivering
BBC News


Balancing act of Dalai Lama's visit

China and Tibet have long disagreed over the status of Tibet, and China sent troops into the region to enforce a territorial claim in 1950.

The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile have been based in India since fleeing Tibet nine years later.


Anti-China protests led by Buddhist monks began in the capital Lhasa on 10 March this year and gradually escalated into rioting.

The demonstrations took place after the anniversary of the 1959 uprising and ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.

China says at least 19 people were killed by the rioters, but Tibetan exiles say dozens of people were killed by the Chinese security forces as they moved to quell the unrest.

Beijing says the Dalai Lama incited the violence, which he denies and accuses the Chinese government of human rights abuses.



Dalai Lama accepts his academic honor
China says Tibet has officially been part of the Chinese nation since the mid-13th Century and so should continue to be ruled by Beijing.

Many Tibetans disagree, pointing out that the Himalayan region was an independent kingdom for many centuries, and that Chinese rule over Tibet has not been constant.

In London, worshippers of 17th-Century monk Dorje Shugden are due to protest during the Dalai Lama's visit, saying they want the freedom to practise their worship.

The Dalai Lama has rejected worship of Dorje Shugden, saying it is an evil force. However, the Western Shugden Society says it is a 400-year-old Buddhist practice.

Another group, Avaaz, is asking activists to join a three-mile "human chain handshake" on Thursday, ending outside the Chinese Embassy, to promote dialogue between China and Tibet.

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Re: London visit
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2008, 05:11:55 PM »
posted by wisdombuddha

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqYpgu8scNeJbwaNjCQfHRpLMFxA

Demos on third day of Dalai Lama visit to Britain

8 hours ago

LONDON (AFP) — China's response to its earthquake disaster is an encouraging sign of openness but Beijing lacks the moral authority of a true superpower, the Dalai Lama said Thursday, amid protests against his trip here.

On the third day of a visit here, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader warned that China's "ruthless suppression" in Tibet would only fan calls for independence, which he did not back.

"We are not seeking separation," the Buddhist monk told the BBC. "Sooner or later we'll have to talk with China's government so the question of independence or separation is out of the question."

He acknowledged opposition to his view within Tibet, where a Chinese crackdown against demonstrators in March left more than 200 Tibetans dead and 1,000 injured, according to the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile.

"The longer time (there is) no improvement inside Tibet and ruthless suppression continue(s), then more frustration, then this view can increase," he said.

The Dalai Lama is in Britain until May 30 as part of a five-country tour, with talks on human rights and peace as well as meetings with lawmakers including Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday.

On Thursday hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Royal Albert Hall, where he was to give his first public address since arriving in London.

Monks and nuns from the Western Shugden Society, whose worship of a deity was outlawed by the Dalai Lama since 1996, vyed with pro-Chinese protestors. In all there were more than 1,000 protestors, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

On the pro-Chinese side demonstrators held aloft banners proclaiming "The Dalai Lama is neither God nor King of Tibet," "No return to serfdom," and "Dalai Lama, stop lying."

In his BBC interview the Dalai Lama was asked whether the transparency shown by China in dealing with the earthquake gave him hope about the way Beijing might deal with Tibet in the future.

"It is an indication that China is changing, becoming more open, and I think the leadership gradually or cautiously moves onto more openness, more transparent," he said.

The Chinese government's handling of the earthquake and the openness of the media had been "transparent", he said, adding: "It is a wonderful, an encouraging sign."

The 8.0-magnitude earthquake which struck southwestern Sichuan province on May 12 has killed or left missing more than 74,000 people, according to the Chinese government, while 5.2 million people have been left homeless.

The Dalai Lama agreed that the West needed good economic ties with China as an emerging superpower.

"Their ambition is to become a superpower. It is deserved -- most populous nation and ancient nation," he said.

But he added: "In order to become a superpower, a respected superpower -- moral authority here now they are lacking. So the Tibetans are saying if you are real genuine close friend then make correction of your friend's mistakes!"

The Dalai Lama reiterated his call for the Beijing Olympic Games this August to be respected, along with the Olympic torch relay, which is due to pass through Tibet from June 19-21.

Appearing before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, the Dalai Lama downplayed controversy over his meeting with the British leader on Friday, which is not being held in Downing Street.

But asked if Britain was doing enough to support Tibet, he replied: "I think not enough."

The monk was also to hold private talks with Prince Charles at the heir to the throne's Clarence House residence in London, where he was to plant a tree to mark his visit.

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Re: London visit
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2008, 05:12:31 PM »
posted by wisdombuddha

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hJBVKi6bM5i2xFqXp8Mb9m0nMK6Q

Noisy rallies target Dalai Lama in London

10 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) — Fervent supporters and angry critics of the Dalai Lama battled to out-shout each other in noisy and sometimes tense demonstrations Thursday, on the third day of his visit to Britain.

Three groups were protesting in central London -- hundreds of Buddhists from a group opposed to the Tibetan spiritual leader chanted slogans yards from where pro-Tibetan and pro-Beijing demonstrators were kept apart by police.

"Dalai Lama, stop lying," shouted purple and yellow clad monks and nuns from the Western Shugden Society, Buddhists whose worship of a particular deity has been outlawed by the Dalai Lama since 1996.

The demonstrations outside the Royal Albert Hall came as the Dalai Lama was inside giving his first public address since arriving as part of a five-nation tour.

On Friday, he will meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who faces a delicate balancing act of supporting Tibetan rights while not offending the Chinese government.

Thursday's protests included a small crowd of exiled pro-democracy Tibetan supporters who waved aloft the sunrise flag of the ancient Himalayan kingdom.

Tshering Wangmo, a Tibetan who has spent the last 12 years in London, was outside the venue with her one-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son as fellow supporters shouted "Long Live the Dalai Lama."

She told AFP that she wanted to bring her family and friends to see the Dalai Lama, 72, for the first time, and rejected the Western Shugden Society supporters' claims, denouncing their beliefs as "Tibetan witchcraft."

"There is only Tibetan Buddhism and we don't understand what they really want," she said.

"Most of them have been organised by the Chinese government. That's why they are here. Most of the banners are professionaly made. How come so many of them are there?"

Instead, she called for all Tibetans to rally behind the Dalai Lama, adding: "We should be together and not split up."

But her call was rejected by hundreds of mainly Britain-based Chinese students who protested next to the exiled Tibetans, separated by a handful of police.

Among them was Hanwen Liao, an architecture research fellow at London's University of Greenwich, who told AFP that the Dalai Lama's visit was inappropriate so soon after the devastating earthquake in southwest China.

He rejected claims the five-nation tour was purely religious.

"Every time he comes on visits he only nourishes Tibetan secessionism. It is not a spiritual visit because he's meeting (Prime Minister) Gordon Brown," he said.

"It's hard to believe he's only coming for religious affairs, and we think it's very inappropriate for him to come at this time of sorrow, when the earthquake just took place and thousands of people just died."

Western Shugden Society member Kelsang Pama, who estimated that there were more than 1,000 Shugden practitioners, denounced the Dalai Lama.

"He is actually inflicting religious persecution on his own Buddhist community and the Tibetan in exile community also," said Bema.

At one point, one of the Chinese students took a Chinese flag and walked up and down in front of the Tibetans, triggering an angry reaction, but there were no physical clashes as the police looked on.

rolang

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Re: London visit
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2008, 06:12:53 PM »
A very good one on one of the biggest papers in Spain, ABC:

http://www.abc.es/20080522/internacional-asia/budistas-contra-dalai-lama_200805221828.html

Budhists agains the Dalai lama in London


Budistas contra el Dalai Lama en Londres
Chinos, tibetanos y occidentales coincidieron en la protesta
EFE. LONDRES
Varios centenares de personas se manifestaron hoy pacíficamente en Londres contra el Dalai Lama, al que acusaron de restringir la libertad religiosa de los budistas y de discriminar a quienes no siguen su línea de fe.
Durante la visita del líder espiritual al Reino Unido, otros grupos de manifestantes pro chinos han criticado también que mezcle la política con la religión y que luche por la independencia del Tíbet.
En la puerta del Royal Albert Hall, edificio victoriano dedicado a conciertos y actos masivos, donde el Dalai Lama pronunciaba una conferencia, los congregados, pertenecientes a la Western Shugden Society, lanzaron gritos a favor de la libertad religiosa.
En el otro lado de la calle, simpatizantes del Gobierno chino reivindicaron la pertenencia del Tíbet a China y desplegaron pancartas de apoyo a la celebración de los Juegos Olímpicos de Pekín y contra la "distorsión" por los medios de comunicación de lo que acontece en el Tíbet.
Devotos de la deidad protectora Dorje Shugden
La Western Shugden Society es una organización que reúne a los budistas que creen en la deidad protectora Dorje Shugden, a la que, según asegura, el Dalai Lama renunció en los años 70 del siglo pasado.
Según la portavoz de esta sociedad, Kelsang Pema, el líder espiritual ha promovido una línea espiritual caracterizada por la discriminación de los budistas que creen en esta deidad.
En declaraciones a EFE, Pema explicó que el Dalai Lama ha mandado crear documentos de identidad personal en los que los budistas juran renunciar a su creencia en Shugden.
Los que no lo hacen, continuó, tienen dificultades para acceder a un trabajo, a una escuela y a monasterios tibetanos en el exilio, por lo que el número de personas que rinden culto a esta deidad ha descendido drásticamente.
Pema explicó que el Dalai Lama se ha creado una imagen de defensor de los derechos y libertades humanas en Occidente mientras que limita la elección espiritual de su pueblo.
Por ello, los miembros de esta organización calificaron al líder espiritual de "hipócrita" y denunciaron el ostracismo al que está sometiendo a la comunidad seguidora de la deidad citada.
Pema, que apuntó que a la manifestación han acudido personas de países tan dispares como Australia, Canadá, Estados Unidos, Francia, Suráfrica o México, sostuvo que esta sociedad seguirá al Dalai Lama por todos los actos que tiene en el Reino Unido.
Además, agregó que no dejará de manifestarse hasta que el líder espiritual los reciba y le devuelva la libertad religiosa al pueblo tibetano y a los budistas de todo el mundo.
"Hacemos mucho ruido, pero somos pacíficos y sólo gritamos para ser escuchados", apuntó.
Por su parte, los manifestantes pro régimen chino pidieron al Dalai Lama que separe la religión de la política y dijeron que el Tíbet "es y siempre será parte de China".
"El Dalai Lama no es el dios ni el rey del Tíbet", rezaba otra pancarta.

rolang

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Re: London visit
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2008, 06:15:01 PM »
And another very goo one in "La Vanguardia", again, one of the largest papers in Spain:


http://www.lavanguardia.es/lv24h/20080522/53465974424.html

Protests against the Buddhist lider

Protestas contra el líder budista
En la puerta del Royal Albert Hall, edificio victoriano dedicado a conciertos y actos masivos, donde el Dalai Lama pronunciaba una conferencia, los congregados, pertenecientes a la Western Shugden Society, lanzaron gritos a favor de la libertad religiosa. En el otro lado de la calle, simpatizantes del Gobierno chino reivindicaron la pertenencia del Tíbet a China y desplegaron pancartas de apoyo a la celebración de los Juegos Olímpicos de Pekín y contra la "distorsión" por los medios de comunicación de lo que acontece en el Tíbet.

La Western Shugden Society es una organización que reúne a los budistas que creen en la deidad protectora Dorje Shugden, a la que, según asegura, el Dalai Lama renunció en los años 70 del siglo pasado.

Según la portavoz de esta sociedad, Kelsang Pema, el líder espiritual ha promovido una línea espiritual caracterizada por la discriminación de los budistas que creen en esta deidad. En declaraciones a EFE, Pema explicó que el Dalai Lama ha mandado crear documentos de identidad personal en los que los budistas juran renunciar a su creencia en Shugden.

Los que no lo hacen, continuó, tienen dificultades para acceder a un trabajo, a una escuela y a monasterios tibetanos en el exilio, por lo que el número de personas que rinden culto a esta deidad ha descendido drásticamente.

Pema explicó que el Dalai Lama se ha creado una imagen de defensor de los derechos y libertades humanas en Occidente mientras que limita la elección espiritual de su pueblo.

Por ello, los miembros de esta organización calificaron al líder espiritual de "hipócrita" y denunciaron el ostracismo al que está sometiendo a la comunidad seguidora de la deidad citada.

Pema, que apuntó que a la manifestación han acudido personas de países tan dispares como Australia, Canadá, Estados Unidos, Francia, Suráfrica o México, sostuvo que esta sociedad seguirá al Dalai Lama por todos los actos que tiene en el Reino Unido. Además, agregó que no dejará de manifestarse hasta que el líder espiritual los reciba y le devuelva la libertad religiosa al pueblo tibetano y a los budistas de todo el mundo. "Hacemos mucho ruido, pero somos pacíficos y sólo gritamos para ser escuchados", apuntó.

Por su parte, los manifestantes pro régimen chino pidieron al Dalai Lama que separe la religión de la política y dijeron que el Tíbet "es y siempre será parte de China". "El Dalai Lama no es el dios ni el rey del Tíbet", rezaba otra pancarta.

rolang

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Re: London visit
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2008, 07:24:39 PM »
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=United+Kingdom+%26+Europe&month=May2008&file=World_News2008052172533.xml

The Peninsula
Qatar´s Leading English Paper
   
 Tibetan Buddhist sect plans protest
Web posted at: 5/21/2008 7:25:33
Source ::: AFP
LONDON • A Buddhist group yesterday announced plans to picket public appearances in Britain by the Dalai Lama, accusing him of restricting religious freedoms in his homeland and among exiled Tibetans.

The Western Shugden Society, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism that reveres a god denounced by the Dalai Lama since 1996, said demonstrations were planned outside Britain's parliament and at several other locations on his 11-day tour.

The 72-year-old monk-widely respected in the West and courted by celebrities but accused by Beijing of fomenting trouble against Chinese rule in Tibet-arrived in Britain yesterday on the second leg of a five-country tour.

One Shugden follower, Kelsang Pama, said Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, lawmakers and Western media were mistaken in portraying the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner as a champion of human rights. Instead she said that he sanctioned the outlawing of their worship of the deity Dorje Shugden "for no valid reason" and the expulsion of practitioners from monasteries, and that he forced Tibetans into abandoning support for the movement.

"He comes to the West, talks about religious freedom, love and equanimity but then his actions are not following his speech," she said.

"Why do we accept this from this person when any other leader in this world is questioned?" In particular, she said it was now not clear when the Dalai Lama was speaking as a religious or a political leader.

Pama, also known as Helen Gradwell, said his actions were affecting Buddhist monasteries particularly in India as well as inside Tibet.

Indian police have suspected Shugden supporters of involvement in threats to the Dalai Lama and even the murder of a respected Tibetan scholar and two of his followers.

But Pama insisted they were a peaceful movement and "not against the Dalai Lama," also rejecting other claims that they have the tacit support of the Chinese government.

Instead she said they were trying to secure talks with the Dalai Lama or his representatives over a theological dispute. "The moment the Dalai Lama will start a meaningful discussion we will stop our demonstrations," she added.

Tsering Tashi, the Dalai Lama's representative in London, said later that they respected the Shugden Buddhists' right to protest but said their allegations were untrue.

"It (their worship of Dorje Shugden) goes against the very concept of the teachings of the Buddha. It degenerates Buddhism into a spirit worship," he added.

The group had not made any formal request to meet the Dalai Lama or his representatives, he added.

 
 

rolang

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Re: London visit
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2008, 10:36:01 PM »
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)


Protest planned against Dalai Lama
Article from: Agence France-Presse

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From correspondents in London

May 21, 2008 04:17am

A BUDDHIST group has announced plans to picket public appearances in Britain by the Dalai Lama, accusing him of restricting religious freedoms in his homeland and among exiled Tibetans.

The Western Shugden Society, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism that reveres a god denounced by the Dalai Lama since 1996, said demonstrations were planned outside Britain's parliament and at several other locations on his 11-day tour.
 
The 72-year-old monk - widely respected in the West and courted by celebrities but accused by Beijing of fomenting trouble against Chinese rule in Tibet - arrived in Britain today on the second leg of a five-country tour.

One Shugden follower, Kelsang Pama, said Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, lawmakers and Western media were mistaken in portraying the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner as a champion of human rights.

Instead she said that he sanctioned the outlawing of their worship of the deity Dorje Shugden "for no valid reason" and the expulsion of practitioners from monasteries, and that he forced Tibetans into abandoning support for the movement.

"He comes to the West, talks about religious freedom, love and equanimity but then his actions are not following his speech," she said. "Why do we accept this from this person when any other leader in this world is questioned?"

In particular, she said it was now not clear when the Dalai Lama was speaking as a religious or a political leader.

Pama, also known as Helen Gradwell, said his actions were affecting Buddhist monasteries particularly in India as well as inside Tibet.

Indian police have suspected Shugden supporters of involvement in threats to the Dalai Lama and even the murder of a respected Tibetan scholar and two of his followers.

But Pama insisted they were a peaceful movement and "not against the Dalai Lama," also rejecting other claims that they have the tacit support of the Chinese government.

Instead she said they were trying to secure talks with the Dalai Lama or his representatives over a theological dispute.

"The moment the Dalai Lama will start a meaningful discussion we will stop our demonstrations," she said.

Tsering Tashi, the Dalai Lama's representative in London, saidlater that they respected the Shugden Buddhists' right to protest but said their allegations were untrue.

"It (their worship of Dorje Shugden) goes against the very concept of the teachings of the Buddha. It degenerates Buddhism into a spirit worship," he said.

The group had not made any formal request to meet the Dalai Lama or his representatives, he added.

Ewin

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Re: London visit
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2008, 11:10:09 AM »
METRO (UK Free paper) It was on all the underground trains stations in London...

Protests overshadow Dalai's latest speech

THE Dalai Lama's tour of Britain ran into multiple protests yesterday as demonstrators voiced their opposition to his political and religious beliefs. As the Tibetan spiritual leader spoke inside the Royal Albert Hall, hundreds lined the streets outside.

By far the largest group was de Western Shugden Society, members of which believe their religious rights are repressed by the Dalai Lama. They waved signs reading `Give us religious freedom' and ´hypocrisy'. Across the road, a counter rally in support of the Dalai Lama and another pro-China group were easily out-chanted by the Shugden demonstrators. The Buddhists follow the teachings of the ancient deity Dorje Shugden. They claim the Dalai Lama, who speaks against the ´destructive spirit', stops them practising. Inside the hall in London, the world's best-known Buddhist monk accused Britain of not doing enough to support Tibet. He warned his people were facing `cultural genocide' at the hands of the Chinese. Asked if Britain was helping them in their struggle for autonomy, he replied: `l think not enough.'

Photo of banner: Hipocrisy!
(Caption) Anger: A Western Shugden Society member protests


a friend

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Re: London visit
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2008, 04:40:11 PM »
Thank you Ewin and all that have been posting clips, its very useful.

I have to add that when I see him like that, exposed, it breaks my heart. Why this beloved, stubborn old man is not capable of showing some measure of humility and wisdom? Why is he forcing us to show his faults to the world? All of this is very unfortunate indeed. May our Lamas inspire him some solution for this terrible situation he himself has created so meticulously. We have to fight his wrong actions, he HAS to find a solution!

...
« Last Edit: May 24, 2008, 06:16:36 PM by a friend »

basically

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Re: London visit
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2008, 06:27:05 PM »
Dear a friend

Doesn't the DL need to care about other people?  It seems through his activities he only cares about himself.  We have to think "How do you get through to a person who only cares about themself?"  Then we might find a way to affect him. Maybe the exposure of the media will help when they confirm the abuses perpetrated in the name of this person?

Also, a lesson for us all, we need to ask "how did a humble monk transform into a terrifying religious dictator?"

We must continue to tell the world the truth...