May 7

Through My Eyes

Saturday May 7

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells more of his travels abroad!)

" The following day I flew to Switzerland for a week, where I met some of the 200 children who had been adopted into Swiss families. I found them very shy and awkward in their behaviour towards me. Sadly, most of them had completely lost the ability to speak their native language. ( However, on a subsequent visit, in 1979, I found the situation much improved. The children had taken lessons and spoke to me in broken Tibetan, rather like my own broken English.) Remembering their sad state six years previously, I was delighted to see their smiling faces and to discover that, as I had hoped, the people of Switzerland had greeted them with open arms. It was obvious they had grown up in an atmosphere of love and kindness.

From Switzerland, I travelled to Holland, where one of the people I met was a rabbi. This was a particularly moving experience. Because of the language difficulties, we hardly exchanged any words, but there was no need. In his eyes, I clearly saw all the terrible suffering of his people, and wept.

I spent only two days in the Netherlands and a few hours in Belgium before flying on to Ireland, then Norway, Sweden and Denmark, each only for a day or two. Time was far too short to gain more than the slightest impression of these places. But everywhere I went, I found the same kindness and hospitality and thirst for information about Tibet. It became clear to me that my country holds a special fascination for many people around the world. One of the particular joys of this energetic trip was the opportunity it gave me of thanking in person some of the many people who had organised aid to the Tibetan refugees. In Norway, Denmark and Sweden, for example, I visited the organisations which had made it possible for forty young Tibetan men and women to be trained as mechanics and agriculturalists.

The country in which I spent the most amount of time was the United Kingdom. I stayed about ten days and was pleased to find confirmation of my belief that, of all western countries, Britain has the closest links with Tibet. To my surprise, I met a number of very old people who were actually able to speak to me in Tibetan. It turned out that they, or in some cases, their parents, had been stationed in Tibet as officials at one time or another. One of these was Hugh Richardson, whom I had last seen about ten years previously when he came to Dharamsala.

While in Britain I met Sir Harold Macmillan, who impressed me very much. He seemed extraordinarily nice and had an air of authority combined with humility that was very striking. He also showed an interest in spiritual values. Another person whose acquaintance I made and who has since become a valued friend was Humphrey Carpenter , then Dean of Westminster, whose wife now always calls me 'My Boy.' I call her 'Mother'.

Although in 1960 I saw an Indian newspaper report saying that President Eisenhower had indicated that he would receive the Dalai Lama if I went to America, an enquiry into the possibility of my going there in 1972 suggested that there might be some difficulty in obtaining a visa. Naturally, I was very curious to see the country that is said to be both the richest and freest nation on earth, but it was not until 1979 that I was able to do so.

On arrival in New York, where I went first, I was immediately impressed by an atmosphere of liberty. The people I met seemed very friendly and open and relaxed. But at the same time, I could not help noticing how dirty and untidy some parts of the city were. I was also very sorry to see the many tramps and homeless people taking shelter in doorways. It amazed me that there could be any beggars in this vastly rich and prosperous land. I was reminded of what my Communist friends had told me about the injustices of the 'American Imperialist Paper Tiger' , how it exploits the poor for the benefit of the rich. Another surprise was to discover that although, like many Easterners, I held the view that the US was the champion of freedom actually very few people had any knowledge of the fate of Tibet. Now, as I have come to know the country better, I have begun to see that, in some ways, the American political system does not live up to its own ideals.

None of this is to say that I did not hugely enjoy that first visit, nor that I did not see much that impressed me. I particularly enjoyed addressing many student audiences, where I found continual expressions of goodwill. No matter how badly I expressed myself in English, the response I had was always warm, whether people understood everything or not. This helped me to overcome my shyness of speaking in public using this foreign language and helped me to grow in confidence, for which I am very grateful. However, I now wonder whether this kindness did not contribute in some way to a loss of determination on my part to improve my English further. For although I now made up my mind to do so, as soon as I returned to Dharamsala I found that my resolve had vanished entirely! The result is that I continue on the whole to prefer talking to German and French and other European people, many of whom speak English as I do, ungrammatically and with a heavy accent."

( As we know well, the Tibetan language is very different from English! I promise to add more tomorrow...)

*( please click here to read of the day with me )

* This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth

Dalai Lama of Tibet.

Through my eyes

( Please see my spinning for you!)

( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day by heading up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to trim around our trees and native plants then returned to our studio to work for awhile outside. After that I headed back up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to continue spraying but it was rather windy so I rested by your Medlar tree as usual then returned to our studio to spin for you then to work on the printing block which with we two working as one pulling strongly and patiently is going quite well! After that I worked on our a land of Tibet. Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes on the pages as usual. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up for now so we can rest.

And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow

my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright

long dark mane in sunlight

so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)


	Through My Eyes Saturday May 7 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells more of his travels abroad!) " The following day I flew to Switzerland for a week, where I met some of the 200 children who had been adopted into Swiss families. I found them very shy and awkward in their behaviour towards me. Sadly, most of them had completely lost the ability to speak their native language. ( However, on a subsequent visit, in 1979, I found the situation much improved. The children had taken lessons and spoke to me in broken Tibetan, rather like my own broken English.) Remembering their sad state six years previously, I was delighted to see their smiling faces and to discover that, as I had hoped, the people of Switzerland had greeted them with open arms. It was obvious they had grown up in an atmosphere of love and kindness. From Switzerland, I travelled to Holland, where one of the people I met was a rabbi. This was a particularly moving experience. Because of the language difficulties, we hardly exchanged any words, but there was no need. In his eyes, I clearly saw all the terrible suffering of his people, and wept. I spent only two days in the Netherlands and a few hours in Belgium before flying on to Ireland, then Norway, Sweden and Denmark, each only for a day or two. Time was far too short to gain more than the slightest impression of these places. But everywhere I went, I found the same kindness and hospitality and thirst for information about Tibet. It became clear to me that my country holds a special fascination for many people around the world. One of the particular joys of this energetic trip was the opportunity it gave me of thanking in person some of the many people who had organised aid to the Tibetan refugees. In Norway, Denmark and Sweden, for example, I visited the organisations which had made it possible for forty young Tibetan men and women to be trained as mechanics and agriculturalists. The country in which I spent the most amount of time was the United Kingdom. I stayed about ten days and was pleased to find confirmation of my belief that, of all western countries, Britain has the closest links with Tibet. To my surprise, I met a number of very old people who were actually able to speak to me in Tibetan. It turned out that they, or in some cases, their parents, had been stationed in Tibet as officials at one time or another. One of these was Hugh Richardson, whom I had last seen about ten years previously when he came to Dharamsala. While in Britain I met Sir Harold Macmillan, who impressed me very much. He seemed extraordinarily nice and had an air of authority combined with humility that was very striking. He also showed an interest in spiritual values. Another person whose acquaintance I made and who has since become a valued friend was Humphrey Carpenter , then Dean of Westminster, whose wife now always calls me 'My Boy.' I call her 'Mother'. Although in 1960 I saw an Indian newspaper report saying that President Eisenhower had indicated that he would receive the Dalai Lama if I went to America, an enquiry into the possibility of my going there in 1972 suggested that there might be some difficulty in obtaining a visa. Naturally, I was very curious to see the country that is said to be both the richest and freest nation on earth, but it was not until 1979 that I was able to do so. On arrival in New York, where I went first, I was immediately impressed by an atmosphere of liberty. The people I met seemed very friendly and open and relaxed. But at the same time, I could not help noticing how dirty and untidy some parts of the city were. I was also very sorry to see the many tramps and homeless people taking shelter in doorways. It amazed me that there could be any beggars in this vastly rich and prosperous land. I was reminded of what my Communist friends had told me about the injustices of the 'American Imperialist Paper Tiger' , how it exploits the poor for the benefit of the rich. Another surprise was to discover that although, like many Easterners, I held the view that the US was the champion of freedom actually very few people had any knowledge of the fate of Tibet. Now, as I have come to know the country better, I have begun to see that, in some ways, the American political system does not live up to its own ideals. None of this is to say that I did not hugely enjoy that first visit, nor that I did not see much that impressed me. I particularly enjoyed addressing many student audiences, where I found continual expressions of goodwill. No matter how badly I expressed myself in English, the response I had was always warm, whether people understood everything or not. This helped me to overcome my shyness of speaking in public using this foreign language and helped me to grow in confidence, for which I am very grateful. However, I now wonder whether this kindness did not contribute in some way to a loss of determination on my part to improve my English further. For although I now made up my mind to do so, as soon as I returned to Dharamsala I found that my resolve had vanished entirely! The result is that I continue on the whole to prefer talking to German and French and other European people, many of whom speak English as I do, ungrammatically and with a heavy accent." ( As we know well, the Tibetan language is very different from English! I promise to add more tomorrow...) ( please click here to read of the day with me ) This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. Through my eyes ( Please see my spinning for you!) ( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day by heading up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to trim around our trees and native plants then returned to our studio to work for awhile outside. After that I headed back up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to continue spraying but it was rather windy so I rested by your Medlar tree as usual then returned to our studio to spin for you then to work on the printing block which with we two working as one pulling strongly and patiently is going quite well! After that I worked on our a land of Tibet. Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes on the pages as usual. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up for now so we can rest. And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright long dark mane in sunlight so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)