I came across this YouTube video yesterday morning that left me depressed and angry for the rest of the day. An inji nun, a Shugden follower, confronts His Holiness in a hotel lobby in San Francisco and keeps up a litany of insulting comments: “Stop lying Dalai Lama”, “Religious freedom for everyone”, “Stop lying”, “Dalai …
We Shall Overcome, Someday
Its coming around to that time of the year when we raise our fists in the air and sing “Longsho” (Arise!). I’m sure there is no argument, even from the most anemic Middle Path-er that this rousing ballad, sung at all March 10th gatherings and demonstrations, has helped exile Tibetans to hold on to their …
The Day I Saw Mandela
. Just four months after he was released from Robben Island, Nelson Mandela came to Boston – the first stop in his nine-city US tour. It was probably his way of thanking Boston for being the first US city take a stand against apartheid, which it and the state of Massachusetts had earlier done, against …
Toronto Book Launch
I would like to thank my TNC colleagues Kalsang Phuntsok la, Tenpa Gashi la and others for organizing my public talk “Forging a Rangzen Strategy” last Saturday at Toronto, and Lobsang Wangkhang la for introducing me to the audience. I must also thank Christophe la for the poster design. The hundred and twenty or so …
Forging a Rangzen Strategy
In my last post I mentioned that I would come up with an analysis of why the Chitue denunciations and the marginalization of the TYC and Gu-Chu-Sum had happened, and what the Tibetan public could do about it. Readers will have to wait a little longer for the article as I am preparing a talk …
The Sad Painful Joke of Tibetan Democracy
. When Bhutan set out on its democracy experiment in 2008, I must admit to a little skepticism. I thought the Dragon Kingdom would follow in the footsteps of Nepal’s Panchayat democracy (initiated by King Mahendra in 1962). In this party-less “guided” democratic system the people could elect their representatives for a tame parliament, while …
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Not Lost in Translation
Some readers asked if I could manage to have my last essay “The Case for a United Independent Tibet” translated into Tibetan. It took me a little while as many of the translators I previously used have moved away from Dharamshala. Finally Mangri Gangthik la took on the task and did a fantastic job . …
The Rangzen Imperative
I am giving a talk in New York City on October 5th to the Tibetan public. The English and Tibetan posters below explains the theme of the talk summarized in the words of Rangzen warrior and self-immolator, Phagmo Thondup: “without independence Tibet will be annihilated.” The talk (in Tibetan) is sponsored and organized by the …
The Case For a United Independent Tibet
On the surface of it the official Middle Way Approach (MWA) theory that even if Tibet were to become independent most of Kham and all of Amdo would somehow inevitably be excluded from this wonderful development, might seem just pseudo-historical speculation of a particularly simple-minded kind.
The Catch-22* of Middle Way Unity – Part
Asking a question and answering it yourself is a rhetorical device known to the ancient Greeks as hypophora. To be effective the answer should follow the question smoothly, perhaps with a well-timed pause in between to heighten the effect. For example: “You ask, what is our aim? (pause) I can answer in one word: It …
