December 6

Through My Eyes

Saturday December 6

(We continue to listen to Dalai Lama as he describes his stay at the Norbulingka! )

" I had slightly better luck in making friends with the fish which lived in a large well stocked lake. I used to stand at the edge and call them. If they responded, I rewarded them with small pieces of bread and pa. However, they had a tendency to disobedience and sometimes would ignore me. If this happened, I got very angry and, rather than throw them food, I would open up with an artillery barrage of rocks and stones. But when they did come over, I was very careful to see to it that the small ones got their fair share. If necessary, I would use a stick to prod the larger ones out of the way.

Once whilst I was playing at the edge of the lake, I caught sight of a lump of wood floating near the edge. I started to try to sink it with my fish-prodding stick. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the on the grass seeing stars. I had fallen in and started to drown. Luckily, one of my sweepers, and ex-soldier from far eastern Tibet, had been keeping an eye on me and came to my rescue.

Another attraction of the Norbulingka was its proximity to a tributary of the Kyichu river, which lay a few minutes' walk beyond the outer wall. As a small boy I used to go out incognito quite often, accompanied by an attendant, and walk to the water's edge. At first this practice was ignored, but eventually the Tathag Rinpoche put a stop to it. Unfortunately the protocol regarding the Dalai Lama was very strict. I was compelled to remain hidden away like an owl. In fact, the conservatism of Tibetan society at that time was such that it was considered improper for senior government ministers even to be seen looking down the street.

At the Norbulingka, as at the Potala, I spent a great deal of time with the sweepers. Even at a very young age, I had a dislike of protocol and formality and much preferred the company of servants to that of say, members of the Government. I particularly enjoyed being with my parents' servants, with whom I spent a lot of time whenever I went over to my family's house. Most of them came from Amdo and I liked very much to hear stories about my own village and others nearby.

I also enjoyed their company when we went and raided my parents' food stores. They were also glad of mine on these occasions, for obvious reasons: it was an exercise in mutual benefit. The best time for these forays was in late autumn where there would always be fresh supplies of delicious dried meat, which we dipped into chili sauce. I liked this so much that, on one occasion, I ate far too much and soon afterwards I was violently sick. As I bent over, retching in agony, Kenrap Tenzin caught sight of me and gave some words of encouragement, something like 'That's it. Get it all up. It's good for you.' I felt very foolish and did not thank him for his attention..

Although I was Dalai Lama, my parents' servants treated me just as they would any other small boy, as in fact did everyone except on formal occasions. I received no special treatment and no one was afraid to speak their mind to me. Accordingly, I learned at an early age that life was not always easy for my people. My sweepers likewise told me freely about themselves and the injustices they suffered at the hands of officials and high lamas. They also kept me in touch with all the gossip of the day. This often took the form of songs and ballads which people sang as they worked. So although my childhood was quite lonely at times , and although at the age of about twelve Tathag Rinpoche forbid me from going any more to my parents' house, my early life was not the least like Prince Siddhartha's or that of Pu Yi the last Emperor of China. Besides, as I grew up I came into contact with a number of interesting people.

There were about ten Europeans living in Lhasa throughout my childhood. I did not see much of them and it was not until Lobsang Samten brought Heinrich Harrer to me that I had the chance to get to know an inji, as Westerners are known in Tibetan."

( We know where the Kyi chu river is now although I wasn't able to find the name of the tributary in our Footprint Tibet handbook. 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? It snowed like crazy here most of the day. I spent most of the time working on our a land of Tibet reading from our Footprint Tibet handbook. I continued struggling along working with the computer files. It was a bit difficult but two as one we got things done! You'll notice I've done the usual transition with the website to keep the file size down. I did get up to our Grove in the late afternoon and spent a bit of time by your Medlar tree. I got water in my boots from the stream though so I didn't stay up on the hill long! It's getting a bit late; I'll put this up 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 December 6 (We continue to listen to Dalai Lama as he describes his stay at the Norbulingka! ) " I had slightly better luck in making friends with the fish which lived in a large well stocked lake. I used to stand at the edge and call them. If they responded, I rewarded them with small pieces of bread and pa. However, they had a tendency to disobedience and sometimes would ignore me. If this happened, I got very angry and, rather than throw them food, I would open up with an artillery barrage of rocks and stones. But when they did come over, I was very careful to see to it that the small ones got their fair share. If necessary, I would use a stick to prod the larger ones out of the way. Once whilst I was playing at the edge of the lake, I caught sight of a lump of wood floating near the edge. I started to try to sink it with my fish-prodding stick. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the on the grass seeing stars. I had fallen in and started to drown. Luckily, one of my sweepers, and ex-soldier from far eastern Tibet, had been keeping an eye on me and came to my rescue. Another attraction of the Norbulingka was its proximity to a tributary of the Kyichu river, which lay a few minutes' walk beyond the outer wall. As a small boy I used to go out incognito quite often, accompanied by an attendant, and walk to the water's edge. At first this practice was ignored, but eventually the Tathag Rinpoche put a stop to it. Unfortunately the protocol regarding the Dalai Lama was very strict. I was compelled to remain hidden away like an owl. In fact, the conservatism of Tibetan society at that time was such that it was considered improper for senior government ministers even to be seen looking down the street. At the Norbulingka, as at the Potala, I spent a great deal of time with the sweepers. Even at a very young age, I had a dislike of protocol and formality and much preferred the company of servants to that of say, members of the Government. I particularly enjoyed being with my parents' servants, with whom I spent a lot of time whenever I went over to my family's house. Most of them came from Amdo and I liked very much to hear stories about my own village and others nearby. I also enjoyed their company when we went and raided my parents' food stores. They were also glad of mine on these occasions, for obvious reasons: it was an exercise in mutual benefit. The best time for these forays was in late autumn where there would always be fresh supplies of delicious dried meat, which we dipped into chili sauce. I liked this so much that, on one occasion, I ate far too much and soon afterwards I was violently sick. As I bent over, retching in agony, Kenrap Tenzin caught sight of me and gave some words of encouragement, something like 'That's it. Get it all up. It's good for you.' I felt very foolish and did not thank him for his attention.. Although I was Dalai Lama, my parents' servants treated me just as they would any other small boy, as in fact did everyone except on formal occasions. I received no special treatment and no one was afraid to speak their mind to me. Accordingly, I learned at an early age that life was not always easy for my people. My sweepers likewise told me freely about themselves and the injustices they suffered at the hands of officials and high lamas. They also kept me in touch with all the gossip of the day. This often took the form of songs and ballads which people sang as they worked. So although my childhood was quite lonely at times , and although at the age of about twelve Tathag Rinpoche forbid me from going any more to my parents' house, my early life was not the least like Prince Siddhartha's or that of Pu Yi the last Emperor of China. Besides, as I grew up I came into contact with a number of interesting people. There were about ten Europeans living in Lhasa throughout my childhood. I did not see much of them and it was not until Lobsang Samten brought Heinrich Harrer to me that I had the chance to get to know an inji, as Westerners are known in Tibetan." ( We know where the Kyi chu river is now although I wasn't able to find the name of the tributary in our Footprint Tibet handbook. 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? It snowed like crazy here most of the day. I spent most of the time working on our a land of Tibet reading from our Footprint Tibet handbook. I continued struggling along working with the computer files. It was a bit difficult but two as one we got things done! You'll notice I've done the usual transition with the website to keep the file size down. I did get up to our Grove in the late afternoon and spent a bit of time by your Medlar tree. I got water in my boots from the stream though so I didn't stay up on the hill long! It's getting a bit late; I'll put this up 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!)