January 31

Through My Eyes

Saturday January 31

(We continue to listen to Dalai Lama as he describes his enthronement ceremony!)

" The Buddha forbade killing, but he indicated that under certain circumstances it could be justified. And to my brother's mind, the present circumstances justified it. He would therefore renounce his monastic vows , disrobe and go abroad as an emissary for Tibet. He would try to make contact with the Americans. It was certain, he felt, that they would support the idea of a free Tibet.

I was shocked to hear this, but before I could protest he urged me to leave Lhasa. Although a number of other people had said the same thing, not so many held this view. But my brother begged me to take his advice, no matter what the majority might say. The danger was great, he said, and I must on no account fall into Chinese hands.

After our meeting, my brother had discussions with various members of the Government before leaving the capital. I saw him once or twice more, but could do nothing to persuade him to change his mind. His terrible experiences over the past year had convinced him that there was no other way. I did not brood on the matter, however, as I had preoccupations of my own. My enthronement ceremony was only a few days away.

To mark the occasion, I decided to grant a general amnesty. On the day of my accession all prisoners were to be set free. This meant that the prison at Shol would now be empty . I was pleased to have this opportunity, although there were times that I regretted it. I no longer had the pleasure of our tenuous friendship. When I trained my telescope on the compound it was empty save for a few dogs scavenging for scraps. It was if something was missing from my life.

On the morning of the 17th I rose an hour or two earlier than usual, while it was still dark. As I dressed, my Master of the Robes handed me a piece of green cloth to tie round my waist. This was on the instructions of the astrologers, who deemed it to be an auspicious colour. I decided against breakfast as I knew that the ceremony would be a long one and I did not want to be distracted by any calls of nature. However, the astrologers had also stipulated that I must eat an apple before the proceedings began. I had difficulty forcing it down, I remember. That done, I went to the chapel where the enthronement was to take place at dawn.

It was to be a splendid occasion with the entire Government present, along with the various foreign officials resident in Lhasa all attired in their most formal and colourful regalia. Unfortunately, it was very dark so I was unable to see much detail. During the ceremony, I was handed the Golden Wheel symbolising my assumption of temporal power. However, there is not much more that I remember - save an insistent and growing need to relieve my bladder. I blamed the astrologers. Their idea of giving me an apple to eat was clearly at the root of the problem. I had never had much faith in them and this reinforced my bad opinion.

I have always felt that since the most important days of a person's life, those of their birth and death , cannot be set in consultation with astrologers, it is not worth bothering with any of the others. However, that is only my personal opinion. It does not mean that I think that the practice of astrology by Tibetans should be discontinued. It is very important form the point of view of our culture.

Anyway, my situation on this occasion went from bad to worse. I ended up by passing a message down to the Lord Chamberlain begging him to speed things up. But our ceremonies are long and complicated and I began to fear it would never end.

When eventually the proceedings drew to a close, I found myself undisputed leader of six million people facing the threat of a full-scale war. And I was still only fifteen years old. It was an impossible situation to be in, but I saw it as my duty to avoid this disaster if at all possible. My first task was to appoint two new Prime Ministers.

The reason for having to appoint two was that in our system of government, every post from Prime Minister down was duplicated, each being filled by both a layman and a monk. This was derived from the time of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, who was the first to assume temporal power in addition to his position as spiritual head of state. Unfortunately, although the arrangement had worked well enough in the past, it was hopelessly inadequate for the twentieth century. Besides, after almost twenty years of Regency the Government had become quite corrupt as I have already said.

Needless to say, few reforms were ever introduced. Not even the Dalai Lama could do this, for whatever he suggested had first to be referred to the Prime Ministers, then to the Kashag, then to each subordinate member of the Executive and finally to the National Assembly. If anyone objected to his proposals, it was extremely difficult for the matter to go any further.

The same happened when reforms were proposed by the National Assembly, except in reverse. In the event that a piece of legislation was finally presented to the Dalai Lama, he might then wish to make amendments, in which case these were written on to strips of parchment and stuck on to the original document, which was then back down the line for approval. But what made it even more difficult to instigate reforms was the religious community's fear of foreign influence, which they were convinced would damage Buddhism in Tibet.

With these factors in mind, I chose a man called Lobsang Tashi as the monk Prime Minister and an experienced lay administrator, Lukhangwa, as his opposite member.

That done, I decided in consultation with them and the Kashag to send delegations abroad to America, Great Britain and Nepal in the hope of persuading these countries to intervene on our behalf. Another was to go to China in the hope of negotiating a withdrawal. These missions left towards the end of the year. Shortly afterwards, with the Chinese consolidating their forces in the east, we decided that I should move to southern Tibet with the most senior members of Government. That way, if the situation deteriorated, I could easily seek exile across the border with India. Meanwhile, Lobsang Tashi and Lukhangwa were to remain in Lhasa in an acting capacity: I would take the seals of state with me."

( A tough time to begin as Dalai Lama! 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 spent the entire day working with the model for your loom and working a bit on our a land of Tibet. With us working two as one it went quite well! It took a bit of tinkering though. We now understand how the backstrap loom works and how to make one out of branches and twine. It looks rough but I was able to weave with it. For the strap I used the harness that we use with Mom's wagon. Anyway I made a short weaving with heavy twine which I thought was adequate. I ended up sitting on the workbench and applying tension to it as it was clamped in the vise. It could just as easily been tied to a tree and would have worked fine! When all the boards are made and have finished drying I'll use some for making your portable loom! In the meanwhile two as one, we'll continue working with branches and twine. I showed it to Kathy and Mom and they thought it was rather awesome! Mom actually thought about weaving as it turns out but more on the larger floor loom. We've gotten a lot done this month! I know it's been awhile since we listened to music or sounds but I think you understand beautiful one! The boards for your loom are almost ready; we've worked on our a land of Tibet,designed a loom, looked at a bunch of internet forums, and done a bit to get ready for the coming season in the Grove! We haven't looked the forums over together yet as there haven't been a lot of replies. I've had a bit of a sore throat this week and have been feeling somewhat sick so I'll to get to bed earlier. Still though, our commitment to each other is a great source of strength and hope to me gentle beautiful determined bright one! I'm going to put the pages 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 January 31 (We continue to listen to Dalai Lama as he describes his enthronement ceremony!) " The Buddha forbade killing, but he indicated that under certain circumstances it could be justified. And to my brother's mind, the present circumstances justified it. He would therefore renounce his monastic vows , disrobe and go abroad as an emissary for Tibet. He would try to make contact with the Americans. It was certain, he felt, that they would support the idea of a free Tibet. I was shocked to hear this, but before I could protest he urged me to leave Lhasa. Although a number of other people had said the same thing, not so many held this view. But my brother begged me to take his advice, no matter what the majority might say. The danger was great, he said, and I must on no account fall into Chinese hands. After our meeting, my brother had discussions with various members of the Government before leaving the capital. I saw him once or twice more, but could do nothing to persuade him to change his mind. His terrible experiences over the past year had convinced him that there was no other way. I did not brood on the matter, however, as I had preoccupations of my own. My enthronement ceremony was only a few days away. To mark the occasion, I decided to grant a general amnesty. On the day of my accession all prisoners were to be set free. This meant that the prison at Shol would now be empty . I was pleased to have this opportunity, although there were times that I regretted it. I no longer had the pleasure of our tenuous friendship. When I trained my telescope on the compound it was empty save for a few dogs scavenging for scraps. It was if something was missing from my life. On the morning of the 17th I rose an hour or two earlier than usual, while it was still dark. As I dressed, my Master of the Robes handed me a piece of green cloth to tie round my waist. This was on the instructions of the astrologers, who deemed it to be an auspicious colour. I decided against breakfast as I knew that the ceremony would be a long one and I did not want to be distracted by any calls of nature. However, the astrologers had also stipulated that I must eat an apple before the proceedings began. I had difficulty forcing it down, I remember. That done, I went to the chapel where the enthronement was to take place at dawn. It was to be a splendid occasion with the entire Government present, along with the various foreign officials resident in Lhasa all attired in their most formal and colourful regalia. Unfortunately, it was very dark so I was unable to see much detail. During the ceremony, I was handed the Golden Wheel symbolising my assumption of temporal power. However, there is not much more that I remember - save an insistent and growing need to relieve my bladder. I blamed the astrologers. Their idea of giving me an apple to eat was clearly at the root of the problem. I had never had much faith in them and this reinforced my bad opinion. I have always felt that since the most important days of a person's life, those of their birth and death , cannot be set in consultation with astrologers, it is not worth bothering with any of the others. However, that is only my personal opinion. It does not mean that I think that the practice of astrology by Tibetans should be discontinued. It is very important form the point of view of our culture. Anyway, my situation on this occasion went from bad to worse. I ended up by passing a message down to the Lord Chamberlain begging him to speed things up. But our ceremonies are long and complicated and I began to fear it would never end. When eventually the proceedings drew to a close, I found myself undisputed leader of six million people facing the threat of a full-scale war. And I was still only fifteen years old. It was an impossible situation to be in, but I saw it as my duty to avoid this disaster if at all possible. My first task was to appoint two new Prime Ministers. The reason for having to appoint two was that in our system of government, every post from Prime Minister down was duplicated, each being filled by both a layman and a monk. This was derived from the time of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, who was the first to assume temporal power in addition to his position as spiritual head of state. Unfortunately, although the arrangement had worked well enough in the past, it was hopelessly inadequate for the twentieth century. Besides, after almost twenty years of Regency the Government had become quite corrupt as I have already said. Needless to say, few reforms were ever introduced. Not even the Dalai Lama could do this, for whatever he suggested had first to be referred to the Prime Ministers, then to the Kashag, then to each subordinate member of the Executive and finally to the National Assembly. If anyone objected to his proposals, it was extremely difficult for the matter to go any further. The same happened when reforms were proposed by the National Assembly, except in reverse. In the event that a piece of legislation was finally presented to the Dalai Lama, he might then wish to make amendments, in which case these were written on to strips of parchment and stuck on to the original document, which was then back down the line for approval. But what made it even more difficult to instigate reforms was the religious community's fear of foreign influence, which they were convinced would damage Buddhism in Tibet. With these factors in mind, I chose a man called Lobsang Tashi as the monk Prime Minister and an experienced lay administrator, Lukhangwa, as his opposite member. That done, I decided in consultation with them and the Kashag to send delegations abroad to America, Great Britain and Nepal in the hope of persuading these countries to intervene on our behalf. Another was to go to China in the hope of negotiating a withdrawal. These missions left towards the end of the year. Shortly afterwards, with the Chinese consolidating their forces in the east, we decided that I should move to southern Tibet with the most senior members of Government. That way, if the situation deteriorated, I could easily seek exile across the border with India. Meanwhile, Lobsang Tashi and Lukhangwa were to remain in Lhasa in an acting capacity: I would take the seals of state with me." ( A tough time to begin as Dalai Lama! 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 spent the entire day working with the model for your loom and working a bit on our a land of Tibet. With us working two as one it went quite well! It took a bit of tinkering though. We now understand how the backstrap loom works and how to make one out of branches and twine. It looks rough but I was able to weave with it. For the strap I used the harness that we use with Mom's wagon. Anyway I made a short weaving with heavy twine which I thought was adequate. I ended up sitting on the workbench and applying tension to it as it was clamped in the vise. It could just as easily been tied to a tree and would have worked fine! When all the boards are made and have finished drying I'll use some for making your portable loom! In the meanwhile two as one, we'll continue working with branches and twine. I showed it to Kathy and Mom and they thought it was rather awesome! Mom actually thought about weaving as it turns out but more on the larger floor loom. We've gotten a lot done this month! I know it's been awhile since we listened to music or sounds but I think you understand beautiful one! The boards for your loom are almost ready; we've worked on our a land of Tibet,designed a loom, looked at a bunch of internet forums, and done a bit to get ready for the coming season in the Grove! We haven't looked the forums over together yet as there haven't been a lot of replies. I've had a bit of a sore throat this week and have been feeling somewhat sick so I'll to get to bed earlier. Still though, our commitment to each other is a great source of strength and hope to me gentle beautiful determined bright one! I'm going to put the pages 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!)