February 14

Through My Eyes

Saturday February 14

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he describes the town of Dromo! )

" A river ran along the bottom of the valley, close enough to the village that it's roar could be heard day and night. Not far from the water, the hills rose steeply. At some places, the river was bordered by vertical cliffs soaring straight up into the crystal blue sky. And in the near distance stood the mighty peaks which give Tibet both majesty and menace. Here and there were clumps of pine and thickets of rhododendron, peppering acres of green pasture. The climate, as I was to discover, was rather damp. Because it is situated so close to the Indian plains, Dromo is subject to monsoon rains. But even then the sun shines frequently, shouldering its way through massive cloud banks and washing the valleys in a sparkling mystic light. I longed to explore the area and climb some to the more accessible mountains when they were carpeted with wild spring flowers, but for the time being there were several more months of winter.

On arrival in Dromo, I stayed first at the house of a local official-the one who had sent me toys and apples- before moving to Dungkhar, a small monastery situated on a hill with a view of the entire Dromo valley. It was not long before we were settled in and I was back into my usual routine of prayers, meditation, retreats and study. But although I could have wished for a bit more free time and although I missed some of my usual diversions in Lhasa, I felt that something within me had changed. This was perhaps in response to the sense of freedom I caught from being able to do away with much of the rigid protocol and formality that was so much a part of my life in Lhasa. And whilst I missed the company of my friends the sweepers, the void was filled by the extra responsibility I felt. One thing that the journey down had convinced me of was the need to study hard and learn as much as I could. I owed it to the faith of my people to be the best person I could be.

One significant event that took place soon after reaching Dromo was the arrival of a Sri Lankan monk, who had with him an important relic which I received at a very moving ceremony.

With Lukhangwa and Lobsang Tashi left behind in Lhasa, my main advisors were the Kashag, the Lord Chamberlain, Ling Rinpoche ( Now my senior tutor) and Trijang Rinpoche, the senior tsenshap who had recently appointed my Junior Tutor. My eldest brother, Takster Rinpoche, was also there. He had arrived a few weeks previously on his way to India.

Our first piece of bad news was that only one of the delegations sent abroad before I left Lhasa had reached its final destination: the one to China. Each of the others had been turned away. This was very devastating. Tibet had always maintained the friendliest relations with Nepal and India. After all they are our closest neighbors. As for Britain, thanks to Colonel Younghusband's expedition, there had been a British Trade Mission in Tibet for almost half a century. Even with Indian independence in 1947, the Mission at first continued to be run by the same Englishman, Hugh Richardson. So it was almost impossible to believe that the British Government was now agreeing that China had some claim to authority over Tibet. They seemed to have forgotten that in the past, for example, when Younghusband concluded his treaty with the Tibetan Government, they had found it necessary to deal with Tibet as a fully sovereign state. Nor was this their position in 1914, when they convened a conference (the Simla Convention) to which Tibet and China were both invited independently. Besides, the English and Tibetan peoples had always had good relations. My countrymen and women found them to have a sense of decency, justice and humour which they respected very much.

As for America, in 1948 Washington had welcomed our trade delegation, which even had a meeting with the Vice-President. So they too had obviously changed their minds. I remember feeling great sorrow when I realised what this really meant: Tibet must expect to face the entire might of Communist China alone.

The next development, after the return of all but the one delegation within only a few weeks, was the arrival of a long report form Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, Governor of Chamdo. Most of the Chamdo region was by now in Chinese hands and the report had been taken to Lhasa by one of the area's leading merchants. He saw it safely into the hands of Lobsang Tashi and Lukhangwa, who in turn sent it to me. It set out in painful and gloomy detail the nature of the Chinese threat and made it clear that, unless some sort of settlement could be reached, troops of the PLA would soon march on Lhasa. There would be inevitably great loss of life if this happened and I wanted, at all cost, to avoid this."

( How shameful it was that Tibet had no aid! The Dromo area is much like the Lhodrak region south of Yamdrok Yutso. 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.

( Please see my spinning for you!)

( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I spent the morning looking over soil tests for the Grove, then headed up to the Grove to check on the trees and native plants. It was tough again as I found some more injury. I rested by your Medlar as usual then returned to our studio to work the design of your loom. This is going quite well ; two as one we've set up the design so it can be moved about and tied to a tree or some other anchor without it getting snarled up! I tied it to the high bench near where the lotus blossoms are and sat in front of your table to weave a bit. In spite of it falling on the floor a few times everything stayed organized; I was able to weave a fair bit more to test the design. I hope you liked the view of me in your mirror. Pruning actually isn't for awhile yet since there can be more injury. Two as one we've fixed a few things in yesterday's pages and those of recent weeks. I'm going to put the pages on our infosite and work on our a land of Tibet;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 February 14 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he describes the town of Dromo! ) " A river ran along the bottom of the valley, close enough to the village that it's roar could be heard day and night. Not far from the water, the hills rose steeply. At some places, the river was bordered by vertical cliffs soaring straight up into the crystal blue sky. And in the near distance stood the mighty peaks which give Tibet both majesty and menace. Here and there were clumps of pine and thickets of rhododendron, peppering acres of green pasture. The climate, as I was to discover, was rather damp. Because it is situated so close to the Indian plains, Dromo is subject to monsoon rains. But even then the sun shines frequently, shouldering its way through massive cloud banks and washing the valleys in a sparkling mystic light. I longed to explore the area and climb some to the more accessible mountains when they were carpeted with wild spring flowers, but for the time being there were several more months of winter. On arrival in Dromo, I stayed first at the house of a local official-the one who had sent me toys and apples- before moving to Dungkhar, a small monastery situated on a hill with a view of the entire Dromo valley. It was not long before we were settled in and I was back into my usual routine of prayers, meditation, retreats and study. But although I could have wished for a bit more free time and although I missed some of my usual diversions in Lhasa, I felt that something within me had changed. This was perhaps in response to the sense of freedom I caught from being able to do away with much of the rigid protocol and formality that was so much a part of my life in Lhasa. And whilst I missed the company of my friends the sweepers, the void was filled by the extra responsibility I felt. One thing that the journey down had convinced me of was the need to study hard and learn as much as I could. I owed it to the faith of my people to be the best person I could be. One significant event that took place soon after reaching Dromo was the arrival of a Sri Lankan monk, who had with him an important relic which I received at a very moving ceremony. With Lukhangwa and Lobsang Tashi left behind in Lhasa, my main advisors were the Kashag, the Lord Chamberlain, Ling Rinpoche ( Now my senior tutor) and Trijang Rinpoche, the senior tsenshap who had recently appointed my Junior Tutor. My eldest brother, Takster Rinpoche, was also there. He had arrived a few weeks previously on his way to India. Our first piece of bad news was that only one of the delegations sent abroad before I left Lhasa had reached its final destination: the one to China. Each of the others had been turned away. This was very devastating. Tibet had always maintained the friendliest relations with Nepal and India. After all they are our closest neighbors. As for Britain, thanks to Colonel Younghusband's expedition, there had been a British Trade Mission in Tibet for almost half a century. Even with Indian independence in 1947, the Mission at first continued to be run by the same Englishman, Hugh Richardson. So it was almost impossible to believe that the British Government was now agreeing that China had some claim to authority over Tibet. They seemed to have forgotten that in the past, for example, when Younghusband concluded his treaty with the Tibetan Government, they had found it necessary to deal with Tibet as a fully sovereign state. Nor was this their position in 1914, when they convened a conference (the Simla Convention) to which Tibet and China were both invited independently. Besides, the English and Tibetan peoples had always had good relations. My countrymen and women found them to have a sense of decency, justice and humour which they respected very much. As for America, in 1948 Washington had welcomed our trade delegation, which even had a meeting with the Vice-President. So they too had obviously changed their minds. I remember feeling great sorrow when I realised what this really meant: Tibet must expect to face the entire might of Communist China alone. The next development, after the return of all but the one delegation within only a few weeks, was the arrival of a long report form Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, Governor of Chamdo. Most of the Chamdo region was by now in Chinese hands and the report had been taken to Lhasa by one of the area's leading merchants. He saw it safely into the hands of Lobsang Tashi and Lukhangwa, who in turn sent it to me. It set out in painful and gloomy detail the nature of the Chinese threat and made it clear that, unless some sort of settlement could be reached, troops of the PLA would soon march on Lhasa. There would be inevitably great loss of life if this happened and I wanted, at all cost, to avoid this." ( How shameful it was that Tibet had no aid! The Dromo area is much like the Lhodrak region south of Yamdrok Yutso. 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. ( Please see my spinning for you!) ( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I spent the morning looking over soil tests for the Grove, then headed up to the Grove to check on the trees and native plants. It was tough again as I found some more injury. I rested by your Medlar as usual then returned to our studio to work the design of your loom. This is going quite well ; two as one we've set up the design so it can be moved about and tied to a tree or some other anchor without it getting snarled up! I tied it to the high bench near where the lotus blossoms are and sat in front of your table to weave a bit. In spite of it falling on the floor a few times everything stayed organized; I was able to weave a fair bit more to test the design. I hope you liked the view of me in your mirror. Pruning actually isn't for awhile yet since there can be more injury. Two as one we've fixed a few things in yesterday's pages and those of recent weeks. I'm going to put the pages on our infosite and work on our a land of Tibet;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!)